How Have the Tables Turned?

"For A Change" by Teo Zirinis

I wrote a blog post before called The Monster & the Victim about how monsters and women (the victims) were portrayed in posters for The Creature From the Black Lagoon. Artist Teo Zirinis has this monster shirt design up for vote on Threadless. The words at the bottom say, "The tables have turned!" I took a closer look to see how the horror poster has changed.

Teo Zirinis flips the poses of monster and victim, but is "The Hot Woman" a victor and against who? 

The woman in the monster's pose visually gives her power over him, but did she defeat the monster? Going by old horror posters, she should be a threat to the monster.

The Curse of the Werewolf from 1961

Because she looks docile and dainty, juxtaposition and comedy results in the consideration that she defeated the monster. The artist probably gave her closed eyes to reflect the kidnapped women in horror posters who are usually drawn as having fainted or screaming. She has no signs of harm on her body or clothes so "The Hot Woman" is no longer a victim of violence. However, she also lacks signs of a fighter so she is not a producer of violence either. The poses, but not the roles, have been switched. 

Interestingly, she does not look pleased to be the one still standing and conscious. Her closed eyes make her look sad.  Does she mourn the monster's rampage which is now over or can she not bear to see the monster's defeated body? She is still portrayed as sexy, which leaves room for attraction.

Close-up of  the figures.

The title says she "Carried" the monster not "Defeated," "Destroyed," or "Killed." You cannot defeat someone by carrying them. The worst you could do is injure the person's pride. The act of carrying someone shows strength, compassion, and affection. She looks more like his savior by gently carrying the monster above the sharp trees pointed at his body. With this train of thought, the title reads more as "The Hot Woman Who Loved the Monster." Maybe she had enough of the violence from both sides.

Another way she is no longer the victim is by consenting to be in the monster's presence. She is not there by force or by accident. The monster is unconscious or dead so we cannot tell what he wants. We just assume he is like the usual monster who comes into our society and finds attraction in female humans. Usually in werewolf movies, the cursed man bonds with a woman before he becomes a monster. Most of the time, the woman does not reject the cursed man after his transformation. Okay, now it definitely sounds like Beauty & the Beast!

It is questionable if this horror poster woman has become a victor or hero. We do not know if she "Carried" the monster because she defeated him or saved him after someone else defeated him. On a poster, she has not stepped up to a contributing role yet. In the title she is labeled as sex appeal.

What do you think? Do not forget to vote for the shirt design at Threadless! If the shirt is printed, I hope it leads to conversations over horror poster portrayals.

The Lego Movie is Awesome

Hey guys, I enjoyed The Lego Movie this past weekend for plenty of reasons. I hope you found many as well.

Because I work at Legoland California, I was familiar with the sets and movie characters before knowing the story. I had wondered if the movie would feel weird from my familiarity with Lego pieces and working in a Lego gift shop. This question would apply even more to Lego fans though. Instead of feeling weird, I laughed even more from recognizing Lego pieces, their multiple uses, and their limitations. If you are a Mystery Minifigures collector, then you will enjoy appearances from different series.

If you have a chance to visit Legoland California, then check out the special exhibit called The Lego Movie Experience with Lego model scenes from the movie including the dad's workspace. The opening was Feb. 20, but the exhibit is available for a year. The location is next to Studio Store on the left side of the park.

The Lego Movie Experience at Legoland California

The Lego Movie had some humor similar to Muppet humor. It is not so much the literal vs. figurative meaning of words. I have not been able to label it yet. I do not want to list examples of this humor either so you can enjoy the moment. I also cracked-up over the sound effects and use of Lego pieces for special effects such as explosions.

An explosion example of a special effect with Lego pieces.

Those of you who have read my other blog posts know I love Meta and dystopias. Well, The Lego Movie has both aspects! :D

Two of my favorite characters are Metalbeard and Benny the 80s spaceman. Since I saw the Lego set Metalbeard's Duel, I thought Metalbeard looked cool with his many unique pieces. My friends and coworkers know very well that I like puns and cheesy corny jokes. Yesterday at work, I kept pointing out the chest pun in Metalbeard. He is great to watch and hear on the screen.

Metalbeard

I wish this "Spaceship!" tee had Benny's whole body.

My family knows I am drawn to funny-voiced characters such as King Candy in Wreck-It Ralph and Shrek the Final Chapter. This fact is one reason why spaceman Benny is a favorite character of mine. Thanks voice actor Charlie Day! ;)

The main reason I like Benny has to do with his attempts to build a spaceship. I will keep an eye out for a good shirt with Benny. By the way, he is based off of the Lego figure Blue Classic Spaceman.
Rumpelstiltskin in

There are more things I enjoyed and laughed over, but one last aspect I'll say is that the story's messages are awesome. :) I recommend watching it. If you have already, who was your favorite character?

Frozen But Still Moving

Here is one of my favorite aspects of the new Disney movie Frozen:

Elsa's statement on marriage is a step forward from most Disney princesses.

Olaf

I was also pleased with the act of true love. :) I could not blink back the tears like I did at the beginning. The act of true love reminded me of another cursed princess movie with a non-traditional resolution. I recommend the movie Penelope with Chritina Ricci and James McAvoy. <3

I love conflicts of emotion and powers. In the case of Elsa, I was both surprised and pleased by her knowledge of her powers.

Before Frozen came out, I feared that Olaf the snowman would have long tangent annoying moments that dominate the scene. Having seen it now, I don't think Olaf strayed or dominated the scene. He added to it. :) Props to the voice actor Josh Gad too.

Problems I Had

What did bother me about Frozen seem to be ways that the movie did not step forward.

Elsa on r and Anna on left.

Elsa wore too much makeup. I don't know if it was to differentiate Elsa from Tangled's Rapunzel or for more color because Elsa's face and hair is pale. If the first possibility is the reason, then maybe that is why Anna has a lot of freckles. Anna's freckles make her more adorable and are natural, but Elsa's makeup does not add to her character. You could argue that she is closer in age to becoming a woman, but both girls grow in the film.

I am fine with their faces looking similar to Rapunzel's face because they are princesses created in the same decade. I don't like that Elsa probably has more makeup than any other Disney princess.

I also questioned why both sisters were isolated. The best answer I could think of is for plot twists to occur. I thought the line "First time in forever" sounded like Rapunzel's first time outside the tower.

I liked Frozen and would watch it again because of warm adorable Anna, but I feel that more time should have been spent on the movie. Adding to the sisters' shared isolation, I also could not get over how both girls wore a similar colored outfit with a magenta cloak. My sister noticed that their mother wore a magenta cloak too so maybe royal women wear magenta cloaks in Frozen.

What are your thoughts on Frozen? :)

Ender's Game Touched My Heart Again

Published 1985

Thanks to a cousin's recommendation, I read Ender's Game during high school. It is one of my top favorite sci-fi books!  I love the book because of how humane the hero Ender Wiggins is throughout the story even when trained to be a brilliant killer.

I am glad I did not reread Ender's Game before watching the movie so the emotions could hit me. By forgetting details such as Ender's isolation, I re-experienced the story's beautiful and painful message. 

Some people say that once you read one military sci-fi, you can't enjoy another one because it's too similar. Well, I could not enjoy Starship Troopers because Ender's Game is different by surpassing military.

The actor, Asa Butterfield, was perfect for to play Ender. He had very expressive eyes. I forgot he played Mordred in BBC's Merlin. As Mordred, he has few lines, but his expressions dominate the scene.

I speak of beauty and emotions, but there is action too. The zero-gravity battle room scenes had the wonder, action, and strategy I had hoped for! The music captures the wonder of it too.

I watched the movie with a group. Some of them now want to read the book. For one of them, that was her first time a movie motivated her to read the story. Their reactions touched my heart even more. I want to reread Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead.

Divergent Isn't Much of a Dystopia

I've mentioned Divergent by Veronica Roth, but barely read it. The book series is labeled "The new/next The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins." There are similarities, but the dystopic society in Divergent isn't as developed as in The Hunger Games. There will be spoilers in this post to explain why I think Divergent is a weak dystopia. I try to be vague.

Immediate Reaction

The beginning of Divergent felt slow and for a younger audience than The Hunger Games. I also saw a big flaw in the dystopic society. Dystopic societies are false utopias because they have flaws and usually have false intentions from rulers, but the society is typically united as a whole even if the citizens do not believe the government's proclamations.

Single belief broadcast everywhere in Equilibrium.

The dystopic society in the movie Equilibrium concluded that emotion caused war so emotion was eliminated with sedatives. They united under this envisioned utopia. Violence is used only on those who oppose.

In Divergent, separation from different races, religions, and politics is proclaimed as a cause of war. So for peace they decide to unite by values. However, they remain separated by dividing into factions with different single values. For example, the Dauntless faction live brave, but they have the aggression that Amity faction forbids. This society does not share the same vision and the new arrangement does not sound too different from before. The difference is that you live with people of same expressed thinking. You're still part of the same nation as those who are different..

Shirt design of The Hunger Games districts.

Districts in The Hunger Games have unique cultures as a result of their different production and climates. They all have the same rules from the same ruler. If one district disobeys, then all are punished. The districts are united from the same ruler and on-going punishment. To keep them from uniting into a force against the ruler, they are physically separated from each other. The government forces two children from each district to fight each other annually.

Divergent doesn't have a single ruler figure. One faction has the society's government positions as their contribution.

Factions in Divergent see each other in public areas such as school so anyone can notice the obvious differences. As different as different countries. The devoted members despise the other factions. "We are right. Those guys are arrogant. And these guys are actually ruled by greed." The factions automatically fight each other. They don't even pretend to work towards the same goal, which is peace.

The curious ones observe and consider leaving their own faction. At age 16, everyone chooses which faction to live the rest of their life. Although choosing another faction is felt as betrayal and "Faction before family" is taught to those who change, the choice has too much freedom for a dystopic society. Someone else choosing for you or rigged test results is more dystopic.

But I Still Got Hooked

The concept of living under one value and denying yourself the rest is interesting. The freedom to choose another faction isn't dystopic, but it's interesting too.

Left to right the factions are Dauntless, Erudite,
Candor, Selfless, and Amity.

The main character, Beatrice "Tris," may seem more passive than other heroines because she was raised to be selfless, but she has attitude. She has the teen problems of not meeting family and society expectations.

I was hooked after Tris made her choice. I enjoyed her reactions to new experiences such as running for fun. The author Veronica Roth gave a good description for that example. The story became thrill action militaristic adventure now that she had to pass the initiation for the faction to accept her. This part is the majority of the book. The teen interactions reminded me of the military sci-fi Insignia.

Another problem I had though was that Tris separated herself from everyone with the label Divergent. Even after agreeing with the boy Four that we should have all the values not choose one and put down others. I felt like I was hearing, "I'm special. Who else is one of the special people like me?" instead of "We are all human. Humans cannot live limited by one value. We are all those values." Hopefully she learns in another book.

Then I Lost Interest

After the initiation, the story changed quickly. The evil mastermind and the evil plan appeared. I thought they were weak. A peer during initiation is a stronger antagonist. I lost interest in reading the rest especially as certain characters died. Their deaths were weak scenes. One event was too close to one in Mockingjay, the 3rd book of The Hunger Games.

I had hoped that these events were a simulation. That would explain the quick weak turns. That was the only way I'd be pleased, but the weak events were not a simulation. It was a short section left but I still wasn't eager to read it.

I don't know if the next book Insurgent has a thrill ride too, but I'll stop at Divergent. I'd recommend Divergent for its teen identity struggles, trials, and "What if.." concept, but not as a dystopia. I'll probably see the movie in March 2014 with friends.

I'm with the Mockingjay

I heard some readers felt emotionally-drained from Mockingjay, the 3rd book of The Hunger Games. I enjoyed it because it had concepts similar to Nineteen Eighty-Four. =) Catching Fire was the emotionally-draining book for me. I felt that Katniss was weighed down by her worries.

There's some spoilers in this post even though I indirectly talk about them.

In the drawing, I wrote vague terms for what I thought were Katniss' main worries in each book before the games. I added trees because nature is her relief. With each book, she is more cut off from it. Dystopic societies usually cut people off from nature or see it as too wild.

Also this series shows nature used as and altered into a weapon. However, nature continues to live as if independent from the story's events. Man suffers and struggles to survive because of man.

I have a drawing tablet now.
I'll try quick sketches to illustrate points.

 In The Hunger Games, Katniss was a survivor but she was numb. Her main focus and devotion was her family's survival.

At this point, she doesn't know that other districts suffer just as bad or worse. Her own district has had worse days, which the adults recall.

In Catching Fire, she should no longer have to worry about her family, but Snow proves that fact wrong and adds more worries to her list. Katniss fears even her own actions and the interpretations of her actions because of consequences.

For fans of the love story/love drama, the second book seems to be their favorite.

I feel that Katniss had the most spirit in Mockingjay. She rebelled at almost every moment. She wants to be more informed on situations. She acts more than fearing on acting. Because of this strong spirit, I was not shocked at her move during the peace ceremony.

I had hoped for that move because the leaders fit George Orwell's attitude in  Nineteen Eighty-Four  that all parties are the same. The people still had to trust a leader blindly. Some people still feared for their lives. Daily life was controlled by the leader. The rebel society still lacked humanity. In the final conference, Katniss states that things are still the same.

I could not think of a right replacement for Snow, but when author Suzanne Collins showed the final leader, I agreed strongly with the choice. That person had showed interest in the people and had suffered from the Capitol.

Mockingjay is perfect...if you expect a dystopia. The first book had the dystopic setup, but was told as an adventure thriller. The second book is the transition to dystopic. Mockingjay is the dystopia of the series. I felt that Collins held back themes and attitudes in the other books. Mockingjay explains the society such as the careers in the games. This book may be my favorite of the three because of these reasons. The first book is still a great example to me of constant conflicts and the audience's influence.

I say perfect, but the book is not flawless.

The reader may get confused when the pace is too fast for storytelling near the end, but you are put in Katniss' position. You feel the rushed moment as she does.

The ending is short and quick, but I am fine with that. Although I read the book over a week instead of a few days like some readers, I needed the story to end already. You feel burnt up by the events and need relief from the tension. I recommend stopping once in a while because of the numerous events and their impact.

If you have not read  Nineteen Eighty-Four, then I recommend doing so including the prologue or section about George Orwell. I was just told that the districts and Capitol in The Hunger Games are similar to Brave New World. I bought a copy, but I'm taking a break again from dystopias.