Thoughts about ‘ The Little Mermaid’

 

 

 

 

 

‘The Little Mermaid’ is a fairy tale from the Hans Christian Anderson collection, and perhaps most famously known as the loosely based Disney animated film, which has equally enchanted audiences and readers around the world.

It is a story about a young mermaid princess, who wants more from her life and escape her limitations. Having fallen for and saving a human prince from drowning, she makes a bargain with a sea witch. She gives her voice away for two legs, and needs to have her feeling returned or else perish with the rising sun. Not to be loved and not to attain a soul. She chooses to be the self-sacrificing person and even if she doesn’t the prince, she gets what she truly wants, a soul.

‘The little Mermaid’ in the simplest form is a recount of unrequited love. It’s about not getting what you want, perhaps a selfish or greedy journey, but what stands out is the emotional investment and the sacrifices that go in the way for that dream. It is something that speaks to the private feelings of the personal lives of people, who hide their hurt, and make way by sublimation, by destroying the past. But the young girl does with all her desire, all her pain, does not let the bitterness or defeat corrupt her.

In that sense the story is more of a hero’s journey, of self actualization, a path for a painful loss of innocence and change. It is both tragic and beautiful, because she gets what she wants just not how she wanted it.

The story may not always be a feminist favorite, since she willingly leaves everything for a man, and her love involves a lot of suffering and she doesn’t get what she wants, which narratively contrasts with how male characters are able to pine for a get the girl. Symbolically also the color red is associated with the male in the story. The coral around the statue that the mermaid idolizes is a bright red, and when she dies the sun is a burning red flame, showing a victory or overpowering of the male over the female. People also generally take issue with the protagonist being a questionable role model, stating she is silly, for giving up her life. They take issue with the fact she runs away from home, falls in love with someone she doesn’t know and par takes in black magic. So obviously conservative society and parents don’t want their daughters doing the same.

I personally don’t feel that way. I think what Anderson did was inverse a generally anti-woman trope into something humane and heart-felt. He turned Sirens into mermaids. A siren is basically the sea version of what witches were on land, the images and lives of women demonized and disrespected through the male gaze. Be it Medusa, Homer’s fight with the sea witches or general stories of sailors being brought down to death at the voices of bewitching sirens, it’s hard to see how female sexuality and romantic feelings have always been seen as something worthy of punishment. And they in the biblical sense must be cursed and become a symbol for all other women to not do the same. And that it only men who can actively battle and fight for love, that also outside the consent or control of the women that they love. They must fight those in their way and she must accept the victor, because he is the winner. Not because she can decide for herself.

 

 

‘The little Mermaid’ does not exist in the same context. Here is have a child who will through her encounter with the world become who she was always meant to be. She is not evil, wicked or filled with any jealous intentions, she is just young, innocent and in love. Instead of bringing the prince down to die, she saves him from death, but is not recognized for it. There is a selfless quality in her actions. And even when she leaves her family, home and makes a deal with the devil, we forgive her. We don’t feel the need to watch her pay for her sins, because she is brave enough to willfully suffer if she is able to be with the boy she comes to love. Every step she takes with human legs is like walking on knives, and without a voice she is unable to confess her feelings. And when is left out in the cold by the prince she still decides to spare him his life, for her character and her spirit out ways his ignorance and existence. The heavens at last do not strike her for having a heart but it blesses her. She becomes an angel like being, literally rising above the mess.

 

The story overall has very strong Eco-feminist tones to it. The girl is raised by her wise grandmother, who makes sure the child gets her education. She has older sisters to look up to, she is able to get legs through a sea witch. The women dominate the story, and the only place we feel a lack feminine care, is that the mermaid does not have a mother, and that she has this obvious fascination and love for the male spectacle. This also follows the mermaid as a character who is able to transcend all the divided parts of society, probably because she wants to actually more than what society deems acceptable.She moves from the sea, to the land and finally to the ethereal realm.

It is a story of dynamic magic, transformation, growth and following one’s dream and being what we all are as young star-crossed people. We are alone in our personal battles against destiny.

Why you should watch Living Single

 

‘Living Single’, is a show from the 90’s that I recently started watching, for the most part I’m hooked on it. It stars Queen Latifah as ‘Khadija James’,, who lives in Brooklyn with a group of eccentric, funny and animated friends, and she runs her own magazine by the name of ‘Flavor’.

‘Living Single’ is a nice feel good tv show, that sort of uplifts the spirit, and makes you wish you lived on your own in a vibrant city with a group of fellow successful, attractive friends who are always there, and always entertaining.

It was a hit when first came out and the freshness has not faded.

Reason 1

It’s a captivating adorable show. The premise is a young confused person’s fantasy. Who doesn’t want a supported group and to be out there and working at their dream job?

All the characters have very distinct character traits and funny personalities, so they often get into teasing comical verbal exchanges. It may not be the most serious show, but the episodes, plots, characters and situations hold up strong. So it doesn’t take a lot of effort to like it, or find the charm.

 

Reason 2

It’s good for that nostalgia bug. It’s hard to notice Hollywood has been trying to milk our fascination and need for content that looks like it’s not from our time. Oddly enough it’s only brought in dissatisfaction and the destruction of everything we love.

So what better to quench our thirst for nostalgia then what actually made up our nostalgia.

You can take inspiration from older fashion, music and dialects that made way for us. It’s a good way to deal with wanting to belong to different generation and maybe learn something new.

 

Reason 3

It’s a fun way to learn English. This of course depends on how well you are with the language already, and are aware that people don’t always speak in the formal manner that we are taught English at school.

The good thing about this show is that all the characters have a very distinct way of speaking and a vocabulary that fits their personalities and backgrounds very well.

This way you will be exposed to different vernacular, vocabulary and learn how to throw ‘juggats’ outside of Urdu and Punjabi.

 

Reason 4

They had excellent writers. All the characters are well formed and believable and recognizable.

 

Reason 5

They have really cute romantic couples on the show. Especially Sinclair and Overton.

 

Reason 6

It’s about time people got over this cult like obsession with the sitcom Friends. That show has hype around that to outsiders of the fandom does not match the content writing and output of that show. So I have decided that if people can watch that they can watch ‘Living Single’ and witness something similar just better.

 

The End.

P.S Do comment if you’ve already watched the series, and what shows do you like.

 

 

 

 

Presently watching Daria

This isn’t really a review but more of a opinion piece on the animated series ‘Daria’. It ran from from the late 90’s to the early 2000’s and had a big impact and even if some people didn’t necessarily watch it on MTV it was iconic enough for everyone to know it was something good.

‘ Daria’ is a densely packed animated series that followed the daily activities of Daria Morgendorffer an angst filled teenager who likes to read, is sarcastic , realistic and sees through the shallowness and almost vomit inducing, capital driven and moralistic inflation of the suburban American scene.

I only faintly remember watching ‘Daria’ as a kid, so I spent the whole week crash-watching all of the five seasons. And unlike most binge-watch in experiences I don’t regret this one.

The main character Daria is a first child with middle-child syndrome, who lives with her detachment to her superficial , troubled and volatile caricature family and friends. The fun thing about Daria is that even if she is supposed be the voice of reason, she has it without being fake or annoying. The voice actress for Daria even talks like an answering machine, which is kind of symbolic.

I also really like Jane Lane and Trent, because they embody the broke and hot artist and musician. I’m pretty sure anyone can recognize their own artsy friends in them, and Trent looks exactly like the lead from every band at the time. Plus it’s fun how realistically lazy and always working on something at the same time. It inspired me.

Quinn the fashionable, social butterfly who thrives on her popularity is also fun to watch.

I honestly wish we could have a satirical show like this in a Pakistani setting. I know I’d watch it.

And to make things brief ‘Daria’ was and still is a ‘breath of fresh air’ as one critic called it. The writing is great, the characters are cartoony enough to be fun and real enough to be sad, the look is unique and something not overdone to death. The plots go strong and the repeated character tropes don’t lose their charm and overall the series and theme of the holds strong years after it’s release and I’m confident that that’s how it will stay.

The show did great a comic strip like depiction of society at that time and about the fear of what we were going to go down as. The show was a study of probably the last few years during which people were concerned about the lose of innocence and scholary intelligence, which would be and maybe has been lost to shopping,plastic surgery, nerds that are nerds for an image, superficiality for superficiality, reality TV over poetry. The stress, annoying dumbness, lack of depth, the cynicism that intellectual kids feels, and not having any immediate solutions to saving the rain forest or the ozone layer that till now didn’t really catch up to us, really cements the show like a Bible guide to that time of our shared past.

So overall I feel like everyone should consider watching Daria. Because is something almost everyone in our twenties will recognize and probably enjoy and post about as their spirit animal.

And within all the the things ‘Daria’ was right about when it came to human consumer nature and trends in society. The one thing that it maybe wrong was that viral internet videos and not mindless television would make us crazy.

Plus I think season 1 to 3 are the best ones.

And hopefully the reboot won’t destroy my recently developed nostalgia.

My term paper on ‘Old Man and the Sea’

Hi everyone. Since all my grades are up for these subjects, I would like to post them here. These were all last-minute, sped up, desperate attempts to actually something good enough to be a term paper. I don’t feel like this is my best work, but hopefully my final thesis will be the best out of the whole class, and the most insightful thesis that the university has ever seen.

I’m going to turn heads and get awards just for that thesis. And make my family proud.

Plus please give me suggestions, critic and improvements tips.

 

 

 

 

American Novel (Term Paper)

The Old Man and the Sea

 

Name: Maheen Ahmed

Major: English Literature

 

Without a win: Tracing Nihilistic undertones and denial of failure within the

The overtones of positive Existentialism in ‘The Old Man and the Sea’

 

 

Introduction

‘The Old Man and the Sea’, is what projected Hemingway as a literary and masculine legend. It is a tale about an otherwise pathetic and insignificant sailor who has been unable to catch any fish but is determined to oppose the forces of nature, fulfill his hunting ambitions therefore becoming almost a biblical allegory for the defiant, heroic, ideal man who is be held as an example for positivity and greatness. It is under the consideration of several critics as a Moby-Dick adaption of ‘The Myth of Sisyphus’, because it lives up to the ideals of existentialism for fighting and opposing meaninglessness.

This research paper looks to question those ideas of the novel reinforcing these notions, and instead focuses on the inversion of these philosophical concepts, which is apparent in Nihilism.

 

 

Literature Review

 

Existentialism and further branches of its theories have been applied to ‘The Old Man and the Sea’, and on its own the novel is a reflection of the life philosophy that Earnest Hemingway held important for young men, and people of grand ambition. He wrote the novel during a time in his career when he had a likeness to the protagonist of the story, and in its inception became a literary hero. The story has mythical, historical, social and political and of course existential traits, and readers and researchers have been able to see and feel different aspects of the uplifting mentality that people can defeat nature.

The majority of the research done on the novel, regarding existentialism has been conducted to agree with Hemingway’s sentiments. In that they are able to relate with and assure all the notions of being the ‘Supreme Being’ who has strength, in without loss, and is able to defy human needs for greatness.

In ‘Man’s Interaction with Himself in The Old Man and the Sea with a view of Existentialism’, the researcher points out the narrative of how the old man is able to transcend his woes and his condition, by focusing of Sarte’s ideas of being, which insists that man is responsible for everything that is capable of happening to him.

In ‘Navigating the Absurd: Camus, Hemingway, and the Sea’ by Stephanie, the essay talks about the likeness between Sisyphus and Santiago, reinforcing and recognizing a lack of ‘Bad Faith’ in the novel, and insisting that there is no ill will within the protagonist and how the novel is a tale of confrontation and slaying the inner dragon.

To continue the string of existential analysis papers, is Dwight Eddins paper, ‘Of Rocks and Marlin’, he literates that the negation of Santiago’s efforts being destroyed and hurt, and his remaining dignified is makes him an ‘island of human dignity’.

Lastly a research paper titled ‘Existence of Human being as reflected in Ernest Hemingway’s ‘The Old Man and the Sea’ novel – an existential approach’, there is a discussion about the three levels of existential places of human existence, namely, ‘aesthetical, ethical and religious’ and how one may find of pin point them within the themes and characters in the novel.

Thus to conclude that the majority of work has been done on the positive side of the existential crisis, and there was rarely a mention of Nihilism. Nihilism is a the belief that there is no point in anything and that life is meaningless, and the aim of this paper is to see and find an argument that the novel and narrative need not be as hopeful as it has always been seen and analyzed.

This paper will trace out points that don’t agree with the philosophy of the previous research papers, and will not imagine Santiago happy.

 

 

 

 

Discussion and Analysis

 

‘The Old Man and the Sea’, starts at the failure of a sailor, who in the progression of the novel seems to have undergone a personal development or at least as a man who has proven himself and his worth to the reader and to the one boy he wishes to bond with, which would have one believe that this is a positive and inspirational tale, of a man beyond limits and reality. But then is that realistically how greatness is measured with the context of the time, and is this mindless will to capture and destroy the natural world really an image of spiritual and emotional transcendence.

The ‘Nothingness’ and ‘Meaninglessness’ of the character’s pathetic and hopeless existence is in his state in the novel, which is that of a low-class laborer, more a commodity to a consumerist society. He is described as poor, unlucky, old, alone, on welfare, unable to move on, and is fixated on a younger sailor who he himself fears to bring down with his bad luck. So the overall tone and mode around his is not of anything fulfilling on any level, he is without dignity, love and security all of which would suggest that he has very little to believe in and live for. So this grand heroic journey does not spring from self-determinism but from having nothing to live for or having something to ground him to the land, and put his life and health on the line. It would also explain his stubborn fixation with Manolin, whom he sees him own youth in, and is mentally obsessed with because he is one of the few people who actually cares for him, and he fears losing him. Therefore Santiago does not have any clear compass to self-worth but is doing his antics as an act of desperation and need.

 

“No one should be alone in their old age, he thought.”
― Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea

 

To compare Santiago with Jake from ‘The Sun Also Rises’, and with Hemingway himself, we notice an obsession and compulsion towards exerting manliness and an attraction towards stereotypically, manly ideals and a battle between different personas of men, and they Santiago would come under the category of the strong man who is not easy to control or defeat. But then why is this theme so consistent and one-sided. It can be argued that the reason all these male-centric characters are like this is because in face of some failures, they are trying to heavily compensate for something by acting out and using physical strength, instead of something material or societal to boost their egos. Santiago goes on this hunt because the people have provided him with a complex about not being able to catch fish. This can be related with how Jake has no issue with the woman he loves being with other younger men because he realizes that he lacks the ability to fully commit to a romantic relationship with her, and to the expense of his feelings and health he makes her wishes come true. So for both men their activity is derived out of insecurities and not some ideal of being a strong human, as Albert Camus would have the Greek heroes, who defied the gods. This realization steals the essence or impact of all the positive and idealistic thoughts of the sad sailor, it adds a bitter almost delusional taste to his thought like,

 

Now is no time to think of what you do not have.
Think of what you can do with that there is”
― Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea

 

Santiago can also be seen as someone who is in ‘denial’ of a lot of painful things, and depleting situations that he is in. The character is ashamed and bothered that he has been taken care of and have to take food from others just to survive. This hunt for the Marlin, therefore is a mid-life crisis and he trying to prove something to the world and to society at the expense of nature and not for the greater good of mankind, like Sisyphus who took the torture head on and also Prometheus. Santiago is in ‘denial’ of the fact that he must take care of himself, and that perhaps there is nothing wrong with being taken care of , he fears being powerless and out-of-control so controlling nature is symbolic of going against nature and aging itself. He is unable to accept this reality, so his mind and actions defend his psyche by bringing him to a near death situation, just to protect him from realizing that he has lost his youth, which would leave him to active pessimism. But he still has those dreams of the ‘Lions’, ‘White beaches’ and ‘Africa’, all of which he saw in his youth.

 

One major factor of Humanism and Existentialism is ‘Self-Actualization’ and being self –aware of one’s weakness and wanting to ‘Be’ and be better. But Santiago does not really change throughout the novel, his character does change or grow as much as the surroundings or the boy when he sees his hurt hands, and beyond that one must consider that Santiago is a senior citizen and as the saying goes, ‘you can’t teach an old dog new tricks’, so there is little possibility for change, development or having a positive view which is free of the horror and visualization of a Nihilistic ideals and reality.

Even in the way he views the natural world, he is continuously ‘projecting’ his internal hopes and calamities on to the animals, water and solar bodies. The natural world is not inspiring change, developmental or decency in him it is instead fueling his ‘passive nihilism’.

 

“It is good that we do not have to try to kill the sun or the moon or the stars. It is enough to live on the sea and kill our true brothers.”
― Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea

 

Further on his need to destroy things and kill things like a noble savage, is reminiscent of what Nietzsche believed of the meaningless soul. To him, the building up of a lack of morality makes men more destructive and feel a need  to capture or work without any consequences, but it is this destruction of all things that allows there a space for new life and change and innovative creation. So his killing of the fish is what sparks the climax and end of the personal guilt, he is released of his fire, but that does not mean that he has found himself or undergone anything spiritual, his duality is centered in animatistic and survival. And such environments for not ideal  for bringing something better to the table, Santiago would after killing the fish would be left with a feeling of the same nothingness, only now he will need to hunt more to feel that drive and high again.

 

Where most critics and theoretical papers see his battle and unwillingness to lose as authenticity and adversity, but based on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, Santiago is not in a position to work or act outside of paranoia and hunger and fear. His deprivation does not allow him to think or act well or in his senses. His being pulled into the sea by the strong fish is just a display of how powerless he is nature and the natural, but his insecurities and nihilistic existence is what compels him to hold on. Had he been living life to a certain standard he would not have anything to prove, and if had something to live for and something to channel his energy towards this destructive behavior would be unheard of, as happy, fulfilled people do not feel the need to move or change.

 

“My big fish must be somewhere.”
― Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea

 

It is also significant to the idea of Nihilism that even with all his work and effort, by the end the sharks are able to destroy and eat away the Marlin, and this time he is unable to defy nature or be a grand human-being, and maybe this inability to change reality is what leads these absurdist heroes to be so strong in the face of defeat, is it enough for them that they tried? Or is this just their way of dealing with the loss and defeat, Santiago wanted that fish, he wanted and needed the big fish, so his eventual loss, might again just be ‘denial’ working to protect his feelings where his body and existence is broken.

 

To provide a counter argument one may agree with every previous paper on the matter and see the base level analysis of how determined and self-reliant Santiago is, he does give his all and his thoughts provide an air of magical realism which is kind of the masculine energy most male heroes are loved for, and it almost inspires the readers to actually want him to win, even if he fails in his own mind. Besides this protagonist and narrative is riddled with biblical references and allegories, so philosophy and science is secondary, as he is like a Christ like figure who wins in his defeat, and it was the journey and not the goal that strengthens him and his character. His pessimism is not as great or powerful an image as the blood on his hands, and that the boy is able to recognize his sacrifice, leaving the story as actually hopeful and inspiring.

 

Conclusion

To conclude it is just a point a perspective and actual analysis to be able to recognize the nihilistic discourse within the text, but that does not cancel or overturn the previous Existential research about the story. But to be able to see the story and character and struggle in its entirety is what will help further the research and understanding of a work of literature that embodies the human struggle either ethical or insane.

 

 

References:

 

https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/69741-the-old-man-and-the-sea?page=3

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Old_Man_and_the_Sea

http://www.davidpublisher.com/Public/uploads/Contribute/574263bf71952.pdf

https://stanfordfreedomproject.com/multi-media-essays-on-freedom/navigating-the-absurd-camus-hemingway-and-the-sea/

https://www.iep.utm.edu/nihilism/

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/236749230_Of_Rocks_and_Marlin_The_Existentialist_Agon_in_Camus’s_The_Myth_of_Sisyphus_and_Hemingway’s_The_Old_Man_and_the_Sea

https://academyofideas.com/2012/11/active-and-passive-nihilism/

http://eprints.ums.ac.id/50601/14/PUBLICATION%20ARTICLE.pdf

https://www.slideshare.net/goswamigayatri/existentialism-in-the-old-man-and-the-sea-40214880

 

 

 

Looking back at Peter Rabbit

 

 

The ‘Tales of Peter Rabbit’ are a collection of short illustrated stories about a wild and farm animals who interact with each other natural enough to be real, but human enough to  be emotional.

For me the name alone reminds of the scene of a woman painting and then escaping the rain, to go home where she perhaps lives alone, where her pet rabbit Peter is waiting with her English tea. And as she paints the lightly water-color based art of the series comes in and her imagination comes to life.

The story had since its inception inspired or been enjoyed by thousands of children. I also grew up with a strange alienated attachment to those animals, especially the rabbits, but what makes the story  endearing and relevant? How does a show maintain its freshness, sensitivity and honest ambiance .

I feel like what makes the show good ( The original series) is that it was honest to the text, and for a kids story, it spoke about the well dressed danger that walks around the safe lines of life. There is intelligence and artistic beauty integrated so that the end product is almost paradoxical, to the point of enchanting an adult mind, while keeping the children entertained.

Even as an adult I still binge watch shows of this nature, that are typically targeted for children. I think what it does for mature minds is provide a vision into the space of beautiful chaos that once had in their lives, and they enjoy seeing a world that is full of evil and danger but has a clear compass that protects the good in its world. The lack of apparent complexity also helps makes the world more likable, for a while our fantasies of happy spaces can be real, or at least something to be seen.

I suppose the hyper-reality of the fictional is also something that eases the burden of truth for us as we see  danger that is not real. It more comfortable to feel and imagine because of the knowledge that it is fake.

But at the end of the day can the same claim be made for the minds and reception of children. Is beauty and movement enough for them, or is their understanding and demand of the balance between reality and magic the same as mature people, and they just don’t know how to fully express their feelings and feel more.

Either way I feel like Peter Rabbit is a treasure and a treat for its detail of animal like motion, human sentiment and British culture.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beatrix_Potter

 

 

 

 

Not every hand that feeds you: Seduction by love in ‘Coraline’.

Hi everyone, Coraline is actually a movie I’ve seen recently and it was really good, so off the bat I just wanted you guys to know that is was a good experience. But right now I do not want to talk about the film in detail, instead, I would like to focus on one single aspect of the story.

 

 

‘Coraline’, is a story about a little girl, who is bored and frustrated with her life and parents. While exploring her new house she comes across a tunnel like portal that leads her down to a parallel realm, where everything is as perfect as a button.

Coraline, comes to meet her ‘Other Mother’, who showers her with all her love, and indulges her fantasies. All of which seems fine, because from jump the parallel place is visually more inviting and warmer with the use of colors and a general warmness and action that the real world lacks. Coraline is of course enchanted by this place and goes there often, but from the very beginning she is struck by the sight of the mother with the button eyes.

What I took from ‘Coraline’, is how children are very easy to manipulate and seduce, which is not a new discovery but it might be to young children, because generally kids see love and attention as a sign of love, and not a means of someone getting what they want, no matter how sinister. The strange thing is that, as a society we uphold politeness and good deeds as actions that show finer intentions, we also are trained from a young age to react nice when someone is being nice to us, but more importantly, children and people in general are not taught to see kindness, affection or favors as something to be suspicious of.

That training comes in early, and children learn just as fast they are scolded, children are molded into behaviors by the taunts of their parents and guardians – and that early case of strict love is what leaves many people tainted and psychologically and emotionally in need of a buffer thirst for love and tenderness. Oddly enough when a parent or close relative is seen hurting or being slightly abusive towards a younger person it is not seen as something wrong r damaging, it is instead seen as giving the child discipline, or preparing them for the difficulties of the real and external world. This kind of training is often a mystery and inclination of confusion for children, but for adults that time is witnessed or recalled as something that made them stronger. But people often say that about anything that was difficult, as a means of getting over it.

Therefore, if abuse from people who genuinely love you is nothing to be afraid of, then how should one face or acknowledge love or softness from strangers? Is it something should be welcomed or is it something to be shunned just because it comes from a distant place, that may be dangerous. Men and women in seduction often put their best foot forward and use certain buzzwords to entice the person that they are trying to win over. Let take an example of a man opening a door for a woman, initially when a man opened a door for a lady it was seen as a polite gesture, it was a show of being aware or conscious of the needs of other around him, like basic human decency. Strangely enough with the advent of the feminist movement, women urged themselves to not appear weak or be docile and take personal responsibility, symbolically and physically opening the door themselves and walking through when a man opens it for them. In most recent times, the opening door debate it still seen as simple two-way thing – essentially as men only want to open the door in order to a polite gentleman, and women only want to refuse to cross that door in order to be empowered. The verbal exchange of opinions even never comes across a different reason for both sides of the story, apart from some people arguing over being traditionalist or modern. I, however once came across a book that talked about a hidden intention behind men opening the door for a woman. Quite simply, when a man opens a door for a lady to walk into before him, it allows him to look freely at her backside, the same goes for when he pulls back a chair of her, it allows his eyes to see her bust.

So behind the facade of being polite, what was actually being met was the desire of the predator at the price of the ignorance of the recipient.

It is a paradoxical irony that honest love is often something that inflicts abuse and hurt, and a more destructive intention may use sweet words and kindness to meet its means, but if so then how is the recipient supposed to decode any of this. Should the recipient take on the harshness as a sign of love, or should they oppose love as a sign of misconduct? Perhaps this is something that should be attested to a gut instinct. But it would be foolish to asses that any pain endured is not felt in a way that is detrimental, and it is also foolish to asses that any kind of kindness is not attractive.

The mother in Coraline is initially mean and annoyed by her daughter’s neediness, not at the level of abuse but perhaps neglect. Coraline often tries to get her attention or tries to get her mother interested in her activities, but her mother is focused on working, but even so compared to the father there is no tenderness in her exchanges with Coraline, and with the way Coraline is never hazed by that shows that this behavior is very common. So despite the mother’s obvious indifference Coraline sees it as normal and it not deflected by it, this is contrast with how the ‘other mother’ talks to and treats the child, she indulges and caters to the wants of the child, but Coraline is already taken aback by her eyes. It is like a hunch or something disturbing that keeps reminding her that something is terribly wrong, and she mentions the eyes as the reason why this is not her mother.

 

Coraline in her innocent wisdom is still pushed away from her mother, and is pulled in by the ‘other mother’. She does feel the unease of the atmosphere in the perfect world down the portal, but she does make a decision to leave her real parents for good, and when given the price for all the love in the other world, she insists on going back to her real mother.

It is significant that the conflict Coraline faces in both worlds is associated with the mother, which is a relationship that is supposed to be everyone’s primary care-giver, thus in both places Coraline is a victim or mixed signals and disrupted gratifications, leaving her open for abuse in both places. The conflict with the mother is somewhat mirrored by fact that Wybe who is otherwise nice to her gives her the doll that is the catalyst to her trouble, while the aggressive cat is what helps her out of the trap.

Coraline is a lucky child, who was able to sense the truth and feel the danger around her, but what about those whose senses are dimmed? Plenty of people fall victim of being blind of intentions, and with reference to several predators they target people who vulnerable and they work on isolating their selected victims. Which is something that other mother takes note of and has her eyes over the child’s life, and she did the same thing with earlier victims, whose eyes she already stole. The robbing of their eyes is symbolic of stealing their perception of reality, thus their independence of thought, and this mixture of love, abuse and submission is what makes the children complete slaves, but on the brighter side these kids know that they are trapped.

A true tragedy would come forward if the children were in the fantasy trap, and were completely unaware of it. Our fantasies and all the fun things in the world are all ways or modes of numbing our senses, and mixed with the mind of ignorance and desperation it becomes very easy for a sadistic villain to come to the rescue. Coraline was very close to that end, but that strong sense of freedom and reality is what saves her in the end, and this awareness and vigilance should in everyone to be safe.

 

 

‘Only Yesterday’ Review: Stuck in Time

Hi everyone, I hope you guys and girls are good, and today we are going to talk about a Studio Ghibli film ‘Only Yesterday’.

Compared to other movies and media directed towards children,’Only Yesterday’, for the most part doesn’t deal with a child or teen protagonist. Instead we see on our screens a woman in her thirties, or late twenties, who is leaving her job to go on a farming trip. Which is an interesting thing, since most Ghibli films normally deal with kids plus some larger than life adventure. But this movie was not directed by Hayao Miyazaki, it was written and directed by Isao  Takahata.

Another film by him that I love is ‘Princess Kaguya’.

The story follows Taeko, as she travels to the country-side away from her life in the city. This is something she enjoys doing, and it sort of become a once in a year thing for her, but in that sequence we learn that the movie shifts from the adult Taeko to the younger Taeko in her memories. The shifts fall into to place really well, and it helps the audience relate and understand Taeko better. She also makes some nice friends in the village, and they mostly help her deal with problems with the past, especially her friend/love interest Toshio.

There may be nothing grand or over the top here, but there is a strong human struggle and dramatic element. The plot could have easily been a novel, or a light-hearted drama for TV. But the mix of real but subtle emotion and animation really propelled the internal struggle that many women go through in their minds. Another cool factor was that different time periods were animated different, which did make it artistically pleasing and nostalgic to watch.

I was impressed by how real everything came of as, the humor is awkward and cute, and the characters are likable since they don’t have great flaws of problems. They just want to be happy, and I guess return to simple farming times, which is why they left the city. We get to see how Taeko and Toshio bond and how she talks to him about the trouble she had as the youngest child, and he helps by giving her a different perspective. I thought their relationship was a breath of fresh air, because everyone likes to see them together, but there is a little distance between and no grand gesture of romance, but more like a supportive friendship that could grow into something more.

 

I also enjoyed all of the scenes in which Taeko is a child, the animators and writers did a good job, at showing how innocent, hurtful and difficult it is to be a child. There are happy moments, and we do  get to see how Taeko was stubborn and did silly kid things, but we also see how she was not given enough attention and was snubbed or shunned by her family. It looks like that Taeko was always made to made to be self-conscious from a young age, and not allowed to express herself or her disappoints that much. Like how she almost got to be a child actress but her father didn’t let that happen, and afterwards her mother advises her not to let anyone know she was offered a good part.  These stories really capture how childhood can be hurtful, because you don’t have any great control over your life, and you’re basically an open book for your family to traumatize.

Nothing extremely bad, but in a way that damages your inner voice.

I think that this is a good movie for both kids and adults, especially girls. I think it’s one of those films that confuse you about how time passes, and makes you want to put your life in perspective. Plus it’s a strong nostalgia bullet. Another thing that the movie does is how very well, how when people are scarred from the past, they are unable to move on from that phase in their lives. We don’t see a lot from Taeko’s life as a teenager, probably because it’s her childhood she has trauma or conflict with. It could also be that now she is getting older, she is going back to time, she felt less responsible at. Her mind however is in a time cage, and I believe this is the adventure that is supposed to help her make peace. Peace that can achieved by talking about her problems, and not bottling them up.

The last couple of scenes are especially deep and dramatic. A woman suggest that Taeko should marry Toshio, which makes her  run out into the rain, where Toshio finds her near a bridge. A heart touching scene follows in which Toshio puts her perception of a past incident in perspective again, and this is probably where she finally decides to let the past go.

The ending was bittersweet, as all the characters from the past, and the younger Taeko escort her away, and the background fades on the Taeko.

So conclude, this was another really emotional Ghibli film, which will make you go to the countryside and cry. It might be too long and kind of slow, but I think it’s worth the watch.

‘Gilda’ A review of something well done.

Hey world, hope you’re doing well. Today we are going to be looking a classic from the 1940’s that captured many of the traits of that time, Gilda.

 

Now this is just my opinion, but Hollywood has been a disappointment lately. I’m surprised most of their own films are able to win much, since most of them are doing nothing more these days besides whitewashing amazing Japanese franchises. Which obviously leads to massive backlash and flops- which they deserve. Apart from that it looks like they want to make money out of nostalgia factors, but mostly failing, and what else? I’m not particularly happy with the dialogues.

The only movie out of the recent bunch that I really liked,and that actually made a huge impact was ‘Get Out’. It was well-written, had multiple meanings, the acting was good and it gave people something to think about.

But hey, why do that when you could ruin a respected franchise?

But it is visible that audiences are looking for something nostalgic, and for that my solution is actually watching old movies. And you should watch Gilda.

Gilda gets its name from the femme fatale played but the talented Rita Hayworth, who still has feeling for Johnny Farrell, played by Glenn Ford. Only problem is he is the trusted worker to her criminal and closet psycho, aristocratic, probably British husband, who has ties with the German mafia.

Glida, by all standards is a good movie, which is enchantingly beautiful. It’s black and white, and the focus isn’t strictly on the frame, but the atmosphere captures your eye, the use of silhouette and shadows is genius and everyone looks amazing in the closeups. You can tell that the directors knew how to show internal struggle with little actions.

The dialogues and the delivery is also a breath of fresh, they actually have a flow,character and emotion in their voices. Which is something I’ve always respected and enjoyed in old Hollywood movies, every actor has a strong distinct voice, they all have something to add to the film and are articulate to the point that you wish you sounded like them. That only happens when someone is God-gifted good.

I also like that there was an active and interesting humanistic and emotional focus in the film. The conflict could be many things, but I think it revolves mostly around Johnny and Gilda, and how they love each other, but in a hateful way and spend most of their time making the other jealous and miserable. I think this kind of dilemma won’t do well with modern audiences because it does come of as slow and you have to pay attention to the screen. And there is also not a lot of active action, like excessive gunshots, but I think the movie did an excellent job at showing how the mafia works, and how secret societies are controlled.

The characters are charismatic and full of energy, and I noticed that all of them are trying hard not to be eaten by feelings of love or the past. They don’t want to be ruled by their feelings, and in this  Johnny is the most  steadfast. Gilda does try to shut excitement away by closing a door, but she does try to spark up Johnny is a reckless and care free manner. Her older husband Ballin, catches on to the obvious fire between them, but doesn’t show a lot of anger against them. He does warn Gilda, but even he seems to take some enjoyment out of the heat between everyone, by tempting and testing them. He even expresses with his face in the dark that, ‘hate can be an exciting emotion’.

The music also does justice to its time, and on a good note, they don’t have background all the time, which adds more suspense and drama in the atmosphere. But when a song or dance does happen its welcoming. One very iconic song from the movie is, ‘Put the blame on Mame’, which addresses how Johnny blames Gilda for everything in his life, and wants nothing but to punish her. Like that is ever going to solve anything.

To conclude, Gilda is a movie you really should watch and sense. It has all the ticks of a good dramatic and intriguing tale, with a nice,expected ending. It may not reach out to the masses, and not have a processed pop album with blonde wig, and there is no CGI, but surprise it doesn’t need any of that.The movie is a unique thing, with its own personality and style and it is liked because of that by the audience it touches.

Changing it that won’t make it any good, and filmmakers needs to realize that. And should also leave Asian content and roles away from their vulgar hands,and destroy their own content.

‘Adhi Gawahi’ On fake marriages, fickle reputations and dumb stuff .

Hey world.

I hope everyone is doing well today, and this time we are going to talk about a  new drama that I really like. I do not know exactly why this one seems fun…actually I do and that is what we are going to discuss today. We are going to talk about ‘Adhi Gawahi’, a Pakistani drama that focuses on strange marital situations, minus the actual marriage.

Pakistani dramas in the opinions of many people, including me are very unique compared to the rest of the world, and in the best of ways. Pakistani cinema in  the last couple of years somehow wanted to make it very obvious that life does not imitate art, so they decided to make art imitate life, making very prominent lines and scenarios that life is not a movie. I don’t I’ve seen that in other dramas from around that world.

Another thing that is visibly obvious is that when one thing resonates very well, they tend to do with every story line, which can be weird but allows everything to happen in a different world. Either our dramas have actually held on to an idea of innovation and change and experimental design, in both good and bad ways. Plus Pakistani dramas with a strong woman’s issue as the center are actually able to put a point across and have a good show along with developed characters. Not that doesn’t happen in other dramas, but the look and feel is unique and different.

If only the same talent could understand that the same thing doesn’t make good movies.

Any way in ‘Adhi Gawahi’, we focus on a young Salwa who is engaged to her cousin Saad, but in some accident is acting in a college play,where her character is getting married. Sounds innocent, until she finds out that the marriage in the play by some stupid logic, actually got her married to some crazy jerk. Why? Because a piece of paper has their name on it. Oh and she has an evil cousin and aunt duo, and she loses the guy she loves, and she loses are reputation and she gets her herself into trouble, and she annoys your intelligence. You know the usual.

I’m glad that this drama among the several plots in it is able to show how the constitution of marriage laws, is sometimes confusing but in many cases completely stupid. Adhi Gawahi asks its audience what is a legitimate marriage? With showing a good amount of contrasting relationships and just making a case of better rules, and telling society that they should fix their perceptions and be less judgmental.

For the most part Salwa and her cute but very weak mother can never really tell their family what happened, the family does not trust Salwa in anything and her boyfriend/cousin/fiancee/ turns his back on her in less than a day. And the creepy guy she gets married to accident is an obvious dangerous jerk, but that never stimulates her brain. But of course all of this is explored while all the parents talk about the importance of family and saving your respect while putting your safety on the line. None of them are in sync with each other, which makes it realistic but also unsatisfying since the suspense is always there.

Adhi Gawahi does a good job with how the characters deal with the fake wedding problem, and society’s perception of a well a real wedding. Salwa marries the well-developed and interesting evil character Hamdaan as basically a mock wedding for a play, but somehow takes over her life and she wants a divorce for a wedding that never really happened. If that wasn’t bad enough Hamdaan actually treats the wedding license as a real thing, I guess that’s what we can expect from the creepy jerk in your chemistry class. Salwa can’t even tell her uncles to help out, because she is scared of what they will say to her, but for the most part all they do is torture the girl. Her cousin Saad get forced to marry the evil annoying other only cousin in the family, Soha. And we get to see their marriage for the hellish sham that it is, and with this even the parents learn their lesson. Maybe next time they’ll think twice before blackmailing their son to marry the cousin that likes him.

Ironic how people who treat marriage as sacred treat it like a cheap buffet, which they vomit out afterwards. ( points finger at society and rishta aunties )

With all of that I enjoy this show, the actors are extremely good and deliver their dialogues perfectly, which is rare these days. Its true, everywhere I turn I am hit with bad writing. The characters have strong personalities and they change and grow pretty well with every episode. And there some impressive moments where the acting and writing hit a whole new dimension. Specifically for me it was when Salwa finds out that the cousin she once loved and now hates is going to be a father, she hold her face and presses her lips which hits home. Seriously give the girl some award for it.

But what is an audience supposed to learn from Adhi Gawahi? Is that we should really reevaluate our legal system when it comes to weddings, something the world already is obsessed with. Then how is it that these problems, are never addressed in a way that helps the greater good. Salwa is actually trapped in a fake marriage because of a piece of paper, even if logic dictates otherwise. Saad is obviously unhappy with Soha, and still loves Slawa, but he trapped himself . Hamdaan is doing nothing more but twisting religion, influence and fear to destroy a girl.

But the more you think about the fact that this actually happens in real life is stupid, religion already tells us that you can’t be officially married without two consenting people. We already know that a one time divorce is only a one time divorce, no matter how many times you say. We already know you cannot make someone marry the Quran, and that people only do that to protect property. We know that it’s wrong to ask for a dowry, and that you are supposed to treat your daughter-in-law like shit, and we know that it is okay to leave an unhappy marriage . But we are all trapped, and we don’t have to be.

A little attention, reformation and change and fix all of this. Even recently India got rid of the three-time divorce thing. So clearly it’s not impossible to fix things and untrap ourselves.

You can watch the episodes here

 

 

 

 

 

 

‘Laputa: Castle in the Sky’ (1986) Review

Hey world, I haven’t done a movie review in a while, so here it is. I will probably do a lot of that when the magazine comes out. With that I’ll learn to write more professional movie reviews but for now let’s keep it friendly.

For this review we will be talking about a classic,Japanese favorite of mine,Castle in the Sky.

 

‘Castle in the Sky’ is a movie directed and written by Hayao Miyazaki, who is one of the most respected and famous animators to come out of Japan. And with good reason to, because his work is beautiful, heart-felt, nostalgic, conscious of the environment and  breathtakingly inspiring.

In this film we are taken to strange fictional world, where the period is both old and new and air ships are used. The conflict in the first scene  captures our attention really fast so we are curious and in suspense as to why all this trouble over a girl with a necklace. As the lovely music based soundtrack carries us away from time and allows to dwell deeper as this mysterious little girl falls from the sky and begins to float.

I would say that the entire was very well-balanced and that the characters were all unique and likable and easy to enjoy and have feelings for, plus the grand scale of the art style was always pleasing. There was a pretty amount of blue and green landscapes, and the architecture again provided a nice emptiness which added on the feeling of nostalgia. Plus the pacing was perfect, there were slow heartfelt  moments where the characters got to bond well, but I feel like every scene was like real life because it was linked and had a bit of all the emotions people go through. Like even in the slightly romantic scenes there is an element of fear, a sensation of courage and adventure, an addition of visual comedy in the company of expressive dialogues.

 

So I loved the movie, as you can tell, and I have loved it ever since I was a little child. It is one of those movies that you want to watch to feel how time has passed you by, and also it is a movie that grows in meaning everything you watch. The message is different when you watch is as an adult compared to how it was an epic adventure when you were a kid.

The plot basically consists of two kids who are thrust into this search for an abandoned and almost forgotten city that floats in the sky. But also in this pursuit is the army and a family of pirates. And in the process the characters come face to face with their fears, and grow as they get closer to the city.

 

Thematically the movie talks about love, dreams, peace and power and the fate of mankind.

 

Love of any kind because we get to watch are two adorable protagonists, Sheeta and Pazu, become closer and save each other. Relationships and expressions of love are handled in a unique way in Miyazaki’s films. There are no abrupt confessions, or flashy songs, or obvious reasons or even set gender roles when it comes to a growing relationship or understanding. I like that they are able to communicate with each other fully and that they take care of each other, where as in most other movies the biggest cause of a problem is the lack of common ground between the lovers, or lack of communication.

Miyazaki even said so himself in an interview.

“I’ve become skeptical of the unwritten rule that just because a boy and girl appear in the same feature, a romance must ensue. Rather, I want to portray a slightly different relationship, one where the two mutually inspire each other to live – if I’m able to, then perhaps I’ll be closer to portraying a true expression of love.”
― Hayao Miyazaki

The other kind of love in the movie is spiritual love or the love for nature, and making peace with the earth and its ways. Sheeta says this as Muska points a gun at her.

“The world cannot live without love”

Castle in the Sky may be an innocent movie  and it does not have anything vulgar in it, but there is a very good and reflective portrayal of the evil in the hearts of men, and how those forces of greed and selfishness can lead to the destruction of mankind. Which speaks a lot about on the current situation the earth is in now. Even if people don’t believe in global warming, they can see the change when Lahore has lost most of it’s for trees to urban construction. They can see how the tigers are being killed in India, and sense the heat or the sting in the air. And most of this is our own fault, but all these big corporations just want what benefits them with no concern of the land.

 

But nature eventually does win. We get to see that when the kids land straight in Laputa. They are met with a rusty robot, who is all alone and takes care of the animals and plants in the city. This was one of favorite scenes, because of the art and the message those movie stills leave behind. Laputa as we are told really was a great power of legend, and there in the clips it is empty and at peace like the ruins of any other civilization we have here among us. Even in its death it is alive, but the feeling is bittersweet, it’s like looking at those pictures of the ruins of Egypt. Which was once a great power in Africa, and it was also looted time and time again by Europeans, and been robbed of something.

Which leaves one to believe it is truly best to leave these cities and buildings as they are, and protect them.    The city floats away in the movie, and the only thing that is ever left of any nation is their children. An old house is never really used as a house ever again.

But even so there needs to be an appreciation of the past and a personal bond should be developed with nature if we are to survive. Castle in the Sky just reminds us of that. It is all this and a lot more.

And again the amazing art work deserves a class award of its own, because it brings the entire concept to life. And the soundtrack doesn’t need any words to justify it.

So I would recommend everyone to watch it. Watch with your family and your kids, and be swept away on an amazing journey and yeah be inspired.