Frozen Worries

Recently Disney’s adaptation of the fairytale The Snow Queen, now called Frozen, has come up a couple of times on the internet and in conversation. And honestly, the more I hear about it, the more apprehensive I get.

Before I get into that, let me tell you about the original Hans Christian Andersen fairytale so you understand where I’m coming from. It was a favorite story of mine when I was little, partially due to the beautiful illustrations that accompanied the simplified version I was reading then. Several years ago I picked up a collection of all the tales and discovered, to my delight, that one of my most beloved tales was actually a thirty-five page (in my version) story! There was so much more plot and more interesting characters involved. It can be found here, although below I have written a (slightly lengthy) synopsis for the sake of convenience. As always, reading the original version is best, because Andersen fills it with many amusing and interesting details and writes beautiful descriptions of the places that Gerda visits.

The story begins with a sort of prologue: an evil troll constructs a mirror that reflects the good things in life so as to make them appear ugly and terrible, and which magnifies the bad things in life. He and his minions decide to reflect Heaven and see what will happen, but as they get closer the mirror quivers until it shatters into millions of pieces, which fall to earth, each piece retaining the properties of the whole. Then we meet Kay and Gerda, two poor children who are neighbors and grow roses together. One winter night, Grandmother tells them about the Snow Queen, and later when he is alone Kay sees her outside the window. He is frightened and runs away. In summer, Kay is later struck with a mirror shard in his eye, which causes him to see the bad in people, and one in his heart, which turns his heart into a lump of unfeeling ice. Kay turns cruel and scornful of “childish” things. In the winter he goes sledding in the square, and ties his sled to a large sleigh that pulls him out of the city. The sleigh belongs to the Snow Queen, who kisses him twice, which makes him colder and wipes his memory of Grandmother and Gerda, and Kay journeys on with the Queen to her home in the storm clouds. Everyone thinks that Kay is dead, drowned in the river, and Gerda does as well until spring, when the sunshine and swallows convince her otherwise. She goes to the river and offers her prized red shoes in return for Kay, but in trying to throw them far enough in she becomes trapped on a boat that drifts into the current and carries her away. Eventually an old woman with a lovely colorful house pulls the boat ashore. Gerda immediately asks if she’s seen Kay, but the woman offers her some delicious cherries and combs Gerda’s hair, using a little magic to make her forget Kay. The woman then hides all of her roses, afraid Gerda will see them, remember her quest, and leave. But she forgets the painted rose on her hat – which Gerda sees. When the girl runs out into the garden and cries because she can’t find any roses, her tears make the plants come back, and in answer to Gerda’s query they tell her that Kay’s not dead, because he’s not in the ground. She runs out of the garden gate only to find that many days have passed – it’s now autumn. A well-meaning crow strikes up a conversation with Gerda, who pours out her woes to him. He think he might have a lead for her, and tells her about a very intelligent princess who wants a husband she can actually have conversations with, so puts an advertisement in the newspaper. Everyone who applies is too awed to say anything of interest, until the third day when a boy matching Kay’s description marches up, not the least bit intimidated, and intending to only hear the princess’ wisdom and not propose. (Of course, they take to each other.) With the help of the crow and his tame sweetheart, Gerda sneaks into the castle and finds the prince in his bed, but it’s not Kay. He and the princess readily help her (and set up the crows with permanent court positions so they can have a good retirement), by letting her rest and then giving her a horse, carriage, and boots so she can keep looking for Kay. Unfortunately, Gerda is attacked by robbers and her attendants are killed. The robber crone decided Gerda will make a tasty meal, until the crone’s daughter bites her and insists that Gerda will be her playmate. The two girls go for a drive in the carriage, where Gerda relates everything that has happened. They spend the night at a robber castle, where the wood pigeons mention having seen Kay, and say that the Snow Queen probably went to Lapland, where her summer home is. A reindeer, the robber girl’s pet, is from there, and the robber girl frees him in the morning, telling him to run to Lapland and take good care of Gerda. In Lapland Gerda and the reindeer are helped by a Sami woman and a Finn woman. The Finn woman confides to the reindeer, who had asked for a magic drink that would give the girl the strength of twelve men, that Gerda is already powerful from having traveled so far and her strength is in her heart. She also tells him that Kay loves being with the Snow Queen and won’t leave unless the mirror pieces come out from his heart and eye. The reindeer drops Gerda off at the nearby Snow Queen’s garden, where she is confronted by snowflake sentries. She says the Lord’s Prayer and her breath becomes angels that defeat the sentries and protect her from the cold. But then we catch up with Kay. He’s blue from cold but can’t feel it, and is working on a sort of puzzle challenge that the Snow Queen has given him. Gerda walks in right after the Snow Queen leaves for the warmer countries, and rushes to the cold, stiff Kay. She cries hot tears on him, which melt the ice in his heart and consume the bit of mirror, and then she sings a hymn they used to sing together when they were younger, which makes Kay cry out the piece of mirror in his eye. Gerda and Kay have a very happy reunion, and then lie down in the shape of the correct answer to the Snow Queen’s puzzle, freeing Kay completely. They walk out of the place to find the reindeer and another reindeer waiting, and are carried to the Finn and Sami women who give them information about the journey home and new clothes. At the first sign of green the reindeer leave them, and a magnificent horse appears carrying the robber girl, who has decided to travel. She promises to look them up if she’s ever in their city, and gives Gerda news of the prince and princess and helpful crow. Upon returning home, Kay and Gerda find that everything is just as they left it – but now they are grown up. However, they still remain children in their hearts.

Now tell me that would not make a kickass story! Not only does it have a compelling, fantastical plot, there are loads of varied female and male characters, with a great range of economic classes too. All are strong and have interesting motivations, even Kay when he’s under the influence of the mirror. (In the story he actually becomes really good at math and logic, although this is shown to be not as valuable as spiritual morality.) There’s even a lot of potential for the usual Disney animal sidekicks. Naturally, when I heard that there was a possibility for a Disney film of this, I was over the moon. It’s such a beautiful fairytale, and there are very few prevalent adaptations in any medium. It was probably around 2010 when I came across this potential for the first time, which is actually when the film – originally begun (sort of) in 2002 – was put “on hold.” And after seeing some of the concept art for the Snow Queen herself, and one sketch of Gerda that I can no longer find, I was beyond disappointed.

But then, hope was restored: at the end of 2011, it was announced that The Snow Queen was back in production. And I recalled hearing somewhere that Disney wanted to do a traditional animation movie every other year, and that this film would follow Winnie the Pooh on the cycle. In this 2009 article, it seemed all would be as I imagined it, considering the synopsis given: “From what I can gather, the Hans Christian Andersen story can be distilled down to a tale of a young boy and girl who fall in love. Unfortunately, the boy becomes infected with a fragment of a shattered demonic mirror that makes him see only the worst of the world, and ultimately leads to his seduction by the Snow Queen, while the girl goes on an adventure to find and free him. It seems like the film would be filled to the brim with beautiful wintry environments.”

Earlier in the year, the film was given a new title along the same lines as Tangled; the film is now known as Frozen. All right, I thought, that’s nice and simple. And while reading up on all this tonight, I learned that Idina Menzel will play the Snow Queen, which would undoubtedly be awesome. The songwriters have a lot of success on Broadway, which is always good to hear. I was getting ridiculously excited, especially with a release date in November 2013! That is, until I came across this article with the new synopsis for the film, released this month: “In “Frozen,” a prophecy traps a kingdom in eternal winter, so Anna must team up with Kristoff, a daring mountain man, on the grandest of journeys to find the Snow Queen and put an end to the icy spell. Encountering Everest-like extremes, mystical creatures and magic at every turn, Anna and Kristoff battle the elements in a race to save the kingdom from destruction.”

Um…what? That doesn’t sound anything like The Snow Queen. It sounds like The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Snow White and the Huntsman decided to combine forces. And, if I didn’t know that Frozen was supposed to be an adaptation of The Snow Queen, I would probably say that it sounded like a great movie. But I do know, and I admit that the more I think about that new synopsis the more upset I get. Not only that, but it appears that the movie will now be CG animation instead of traditional 2D, and that makes me even more disappointed. This video explains why a lot of the changes were probably made.

All right, have you got all that? Because now I’m going to start analyzing why this makes me unhappy. And I’m warning you, you might not like it.

Let’s take a look at two films that have had a deep impact on my thoughts tonight: Tangled and Brave. I loved Tangled; I remember seeing Rapunzel when she still looked like this and her name was still in the title of the film. Like The Princess and the Frog, Tangled was a return to the popular Disney princess movie, with songs and silliness and love interests and animal sidekicks. I’ll be honest: this formula really works for me, despite a lot of unfortunate implications in some of the films. I think the classic princess films are some of the best things Disney ever turned out, so whenever I see they’re about to make another I get really happy. Tangled fits into this model, although it is much more comedic and more of an adventure film than a straight-up fairytale. And that’s fine. I enjoyed seeing the genre livened up a little, between that and The Princess and the Frog.

But I also think Tangled is responsible for a lot of the changes to Frozen that I’m not convinced will be for the better. Like Tangled, Frozen will be an adventure story – except that the original fairytale was also an adventure story, a great one, so I’m not sure why that needed to be changed. Apparently there were story problems? Frozen also had its title modified to sound less like a fairytale, much like Tangled. Understandably, this broadens the marketing appeal, since it is much more stigmatized for boys to participate in perceived “girly” activities (such as seeing an obviously princess movie) than it is for girls to show interest in traditionally male-coded ones. A name change is perfectly reasonable. But I’m not so sure when it comes to almost completely altering a story from the source. Tangled still has the basic elements of the Rapunzel tale – a woman is pregnant, and lusts after a witch’s plant. In retaliation, the witch takes the child and locks her up in a tower, because she is too beautiful, or rather, her hair is powerful, and the only way in and out is by the girl’s hair. A man comes and exposes Rapunzel to the outside world, inciting the witch’s fury. Eventually, after some misadventures in the forest, all is resolved. The beauty of Tangled is that it takes these elements and plays them in different ways, such as Flynn, who was a prince in the fairytale but a thief in the movie. But I can’t see much of the plot of Andersen’s story at all in that synopsis. I’m not sure if the people at Disney realize that although they made an entertaining, successful version of Rapunzel, part of that success does come from being faithful to the original story. Then there’s the matter of animation. Tangled is a great film to be done with 3D computer imaging, in large part because of the life it gives to Rapunzel’s hair. And the animation is nice, but I don’t think it’s quite right for Frozen. The movie draws its inspiration from an old world tale, and is quite dark. Somehow, I don’t see that coming off properly in the type of animation they used for Tangled. If it were at the standards of Pixar’s Brave or Dreamworks’ How to Train Your Dragon, I might be able to say “Yes, stepping away from traditional animation is a good choice.” But I imagine this film as having a similar aesthetic to Anastasia, and that movie would never have worked in 3D computer imaging. Without traditional animation, it would lose a lot of its magic. Where does Tangled come into this particular problem? Well, it was a lot more financially successful then the traditionally animated The Princess and the Frog, sending the message that traditional animation is less financially viable. Like a lot of what I’ve mentioned here, this is not really the fault of Tangled, which is still an excellent movie; Tangled just seems to be an indirect cause of a lot of the changes to Frozen.

Now let’s consider Brave. This film is not technically Disney, but Pixar, which I generally hold to have better storytelling ability. John Lasseter, formerly just in charge of Pixar, now also heads Disney, and it seems some of his and his team’s creative habits (like getting the story just right) are carrying over. A friend of mine couldn’t get excited at all about Brave, which I did not understand very well (but now perhaps I do). She was worried because it was Pixar’s first female protagonist, and she had no idea what the plot would be – but we went to the midnight opening, and she loved it. It seems, though, that critics share her initial ambivalence even after they see the movie, and I’m not sure why to be honest. I can’t help feeling like they just don’t get it, or that their lukewarm response is a lingering cultural rejection of the feminine and the fairytale formula. Because, as one (very positive) review put it, “…Brave feels like a classic fairy tale that you've just somehow never heard of before.” And that is essentially what The Snow Queen is, right? A rather unpopular but nonetheless classic fairytale. It’s also dark, much like Brave, and also focused on female relationships, specifically the different types, even though Kay and Gerda's incredible friendship with him is the point of Gerda’s quest. Better yet, there’s no Smurfette Principle. If Pixar can pull off a movie like that, why can’t Disney see that there’s clearly a place, and a demand, for more like it?

And finally, let’s take a quick look at some of the concept art. This may be slightly unfair, seeing as it is concept art, but my goal is less to criticize than to provoke thought.

In the middle is the design I originally saw for the Snow Queen. Isn’t it great? It actually looks wintry, fits in with one of the descriptions in the story, and points to the Scandinavian roots. It’s the design on the right that concerns me. It just looks so…blah. Kind of generic villainess wear. I wouldn’t know she’s supposed to be the Snow Queen unless you told me. There’s also the different expressions between the figures’ faces. The two to the left look coldly, perfectly beautiful; they’re lovely but it’s unnerving. On the right, however, the Queen looks menacing and evil, and she’s really not. In the Andersen fairytale the Queen is an antagonist; she is a force of nature and does pretty much what she likes, but she’s not evil. She’s kind to Kay in a way and offers him a fair way to escape. I know that I get spoiled with Miyazaki and Pixar, but I happen to like my villains a little morally ambiguous.

With all of that, I’d like to pose one more thought. Do you remember what the first animated movie ever nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture was? It was Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. No matter how may times I watch it, I can still see why it received that honor. It was gothic, and character driven, and magical, and ultimately a journey of self-discovery for both Belle and the Beast. I just don’t know why Disney would pass up the chance to make a movie like that again.

I hope now it makes sense why I’m more than a little worried about Frozen. There are still a lot of great things going into the film, so I’m probably going to see it; I just don’t want to be disappointed when I do.

Brave: Pixar Strikes Again

This review will not be coherent. This review will not be very technical. Mostly, this review will be me gushing and trying to sort out the mess of emotions Brave left me in.

Um, what to say besides that I have just witnessed damn near perfection? Honestly, see this movie with your parents if you can. Particularly if you’re a girl, see it with your mom. See it tomorrow. See it as soon as you can so you too can know the awe strangeness torment that is the essence of every mother-daughter relationship put on the silver screen with the most gorgeous animation in existence.

Merida’s relationship with both of her of her parents is…well, what can I say? She loves them and they love her, and that’s obvious even when they stubbornly fight over what the best course is. To be honest, the dynamic is so similar to the one in my own family it’s a little unnerving. Merida and her father bond over adventure and archery, and delight in poking fun at overwrought decorum. Queen Elinor, on the other hand, has very specific ideas about what Merida’s life will hold; they stand in stark contrast to what the princess would prefer. But we are shown, in the beginning of the film and through a flashback or two, that although the surface of their interactions is turbulent and incendiary, everything is threaded with love and a wish to reach an understanding. Merida’s three brothers are every bit the annoying, mischievous siblings that will come through for you in a pinch, and the relationship between Elinor and Fergus is also a highlight.

Make no mistake; the bond between Merida and her mother is the center of the film. (Anila actually pointed out that this would be perfect for Mother’s Day and Finding Nemo for Father’s Day.) Elinor confronts her daughter with the wisdom of experience and specific tradition, while Merida fights back with the stubborn righteousness of a teenager. Chances are, you’ve probably been on one side or the other, maybe both, at some point in your life, and their interactions will strike home. All of this comes to a boiling point at the competition for Merida’s hand in marriage, and naturally this leads to regretted actions and the external plot of the film: Merida asks for a spell to change her fate and it does not go as planned. And this is where Elinor and Merida’s relationship truly becomes the focal point, because they have to fix things and only they can do it. Both women are forced to learn from each other by necessity. There is one moment where Merida channels Elinor’s particular brand of BAMFness that leads to both a Crowning Moment of Awesome and a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming.

One of my many favorite things about this movie was that it embraced both empowerment and femininity. Elinor is certainly a lady, but that doesn’t mean she can’t command attention and respect when she needs to. Her daughter loves to ride, shoot, and explore, and she hates lessons, but this never feels like a total rejection of anything feminine as inferior. That’s a very difficult balance to strike, and I’m impressed and deeply appreciative of the Pixar writers for doing it so beautifully.

As always in films, and animated ones in particular, nothing is wasted. The threads of story are woven lovingly together into an extraordinary tale. The mythic element is carefully added to be a full part of the world but also mysterious and believable. All of this is helped by the art and the music; Brave is easily Pixar’s most wonderfully animated film to date, and the departure from the usual three composers to Patrick Doyle is an excellent choice.

Like most Pixar films, bringing a box of tissues with you is probably a good idea. The climactic scene is stunning and desperate and ultimately so impactful, just thinking about it is turning me into a quivering blob again. However, the movie is also hysterically funny, with witty dialogue and lots of marvelous sight gags. If you’re worried because you have no real idea of what the plot is, don’t be. This film is lovely and a treasure, and proves yet again why everyone goes to see Pixar films in the theater. And on that note, the short that precedes Brave, La Luna, is wonderful and poignant as well, with beautiful music by Michael Giacchino.

What a good movie. What a good, good movie.

The Avengers: Juggling Fun

After seeing The Avengers twice in the past few weeks, I find that I have a few things to say. The most important one, of course, is that this movie is fucking awesome. If you ever had doubts about a movie that follows a team of superheroes, or the pitfalls of a shared universe in the Marvel films, drop what you’re doing and see this movie because it will blow your mind and make you realize why gamblers take huge risks – because when you win, you win it all. I’ll warn you now that this review will mostly be incoherent expressions of delight and fangirling. The core of the film is, of course, the delicate and volatile relationships formed when people who are used to being in charge and working alone are tossed together as the last resort to get the earth out of a desperate situation. And with Joss Whedon at the helm, these relationships are a wonder to behold. There’s Tony Stark and Bruce Banner, two men with very different personalities who nonetheless find a kindred spirit in each other as people of science. They have a serious lab bromance that involves Stark helping Banner to accept himself and his abilities more, and to realize that his rampaging alter ego did not mean the end of his life. Then there’s Tony Stark and Steve Rogers, who act as foils to each other and yet, eventually develop an awkward but effective partnership (see the scene where they repair one of the airship’s engines). Next there’s Thor and Loki; the background we get from Thor (which I definitely recommend seeing before this, especially if you’re not familiar with the comics like me) quietly remains at the heart of the conflict. Despite what Loki’s done in the past and what we learned about his origins in the previous film, Thor still loves his brother and wants him to come home. Loki, on the other hand, is struggling to define himself – in Asgard he often felt inferior to Thor, which was only compounded by his true origins, and now he wants power and to feel validated. He can achieve both by serving whoever he serves (who I believe is a Dragon to Thanos…? This is actually one of the few flaws I found in the film; too much of Loki's new power and goals went unexplained, because it was clear he had ulterior motives for taking Earth) and lording his godly superiority over the Earthlings. Loki makes for a fascinating antagonist, and at some points I had to remind myself that he wasn’t the protagonist. Then we have the shadowy, hinted-at past and interactions of Hawkeye and Black Widow, which add a layer of depth to both of their characters. We see enough to know they are closer to each other than the rest of the team, and that neither is, perhaps, quite as “clean” as the others, even Stark. They’re haunted people, and that shows, but it doesn’t stop them from doing what’s right and what needs to be done. It would be really, really nice to see more of this explored in a sequel, if only because their interactions were more interesting and unexpected than the ones between the others. As characters individually, there’s also a lot to appreciate. Each is wonderfully realized and faithful to the previous films, while you can still see Joss Whedon’s touch on each of them. Thor and Steve Rogers are both quintessential fish-out-of-water, who are not only attempting to deal with a new team dynamic and their responsibilities as “heroes,” but also alien values, technology, and scopes of experience. Nick Fury, who at times represents the ordinary person/audience’s perspective, also has to wrap his head around the new higher forces that have become involved in Earth’s present, and the amount of superheroes he must try to direct. Many of Nick Fury’s moments were highlights in the film, particularly his interactions with Loki. Agent Coulson was definitely at his best in this film, where his personality and role have been expanded beyond that of a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. The excellent, witty dialogue is responsible for a lot of this, but look for his collection of vintage Captain America cards, which were one of my favorite parts of the movie. And then…then we have Black Widow. Some have complained that this film doesn’t really pass the Bechdel Test, which is unfortunately true. There are fewer female characters than I’d really like, although Agent Maria Hill and the brief scenes with Pepper Potts were good. Guess what? Black Widow makes up for all of it and more. With the film universe that’s been set up thus far, there unfortunately wasn’t a lot of room to add strong female characters, so Joss Whedon took all the awesome he usually distributes and crammed it into the former Russian spy. The first scene with Natasha Romanoff will, I think, go down in my memory as one of my favorite scenes ever. The Black Widow is deadly, manipulative, intelligent, and really really fun to watch. You don’t want to mess with her, because she will take you down. I’m hoping we get to learn more about her in future films, because it’s clear what happened in the past still has a profound effect on her. If nothing else, go see this movie for her. On a technical note, the way that the final battle was stage and filmed was absolutely excellent. For once, a modern superhero battle actually felt like a battle, with the team playing to each others’ strengths, making quick tactical decisions in middle of violence everywhere, plans made based on surrounding buildings, actual city locations referenced in dialogue, how to deal with civilians, and more. All of these things would need to be taken into consideration in real life, and The Avengers truly reflects that. The battle is shot beautifully as well. There’s a definite contrast between aerials and ground shooting to portray what the characters fighting in either place would feel and see, and the transitions between different members of the team flow smoothly and effortlessly. A couple of other things stand out as well. For one, there’s giant evil mechanical space manatees which are just awesome all around. The manipulation of characters by other characters is also masterfully handled, particularly when it comes to Loki and Black Widow – if you’ve seen the movie, you know which scene I mean. Overall the film is excellently cast and acted, especially in the cases of Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/the Hulk and Tom Hiddleston as Loki. Elements from all of the preceding films were excellently tied together, from the consequences of what happened in Thor to the trauma and remembrances of Captain America: The First Avenger. If you haven’t seen the preceding films, I definitely recommend it, particularly Iron Man, Iron Man 2, and Thor, since elements from those films are more heavily drawn upon in The Avengers. If you haven’t seen this movie yet, you desperately need to. It’s excellent in so many ways and reminds why comics and superheroes became meaningful in the first place. Avoid spoilers if you can, for there are many moments where impact depends on you not knowing what happens next. If you’re looking for another review, I recommend iO9’s review, which points out a few more obscure reasons to watch. The film is nearly two and a half hours, but it’s such fun and has pretty decent pacing, so you won’t feel it. And finally – as always, stay for all of the credits.

Cosplay 2012

I have found myself with unexpected time tonight, and was thinking about this subject in the shower this morning and it turned into a post. And it’s good that I’m finally posting, since I am very very far behind on my goal of two posts a month. Um. Sorry about that. School sort of swallowed me again, and it doesn’t look like it’s going to get much better. But anyway, back to the post.

In part this post is a prelude for what’s to come this year, because I am actually going to a fan convention! My boyfriend and several other friends and I will be attending the Denver Comic Con in June, which of course means that I will be cosplaying. There are several other events coming up which I will, or may, or may not, attend which will also involve costumes of some sort, and so I’m putting up a legitimate list this year. Hopefully, I will stick to it.

The costumes:

Steampunk fashion show – Our library district is holding a steampunk fashion show in June this year and I’m a little bit fascinated by the aesthetic elements. This costume would be very simple for me and pretty easy to put together (likely a vest-skirt-blouse ensemble), and I can definitely reuse the costume.

Starfleet Uniform – Long have I yearned to be a Starfleet officer myself, and long have I yearned to make the uniform dresses from Star Trek: The Original Series. This is a costume I will definitely do, because it should be relatively simple (admittedly, I’m not going for 100% exact accuracy here) and I can wear it to other events besides Comic Con. Also, the pattern I plan to use for it can be recycled for an outfit further down the list…

Trisha Elric – A costume that I may or may not do, but probably will. This will be for Comic Con as well and should be good for the weather. I’ve been meaning to do it for a while, again because it is simple and easy, and I can use my real hair, which is always a plus.

Belle – Yet another costume I can use my real hair with! Belle is almost certainly my favorite Disney princess, I suppose because I can relate to her and I’m a bit like her. This costume should also be relatively simple, and also comfortable in the June weather. I haven’t quite made up my mind whether or not to do it, mostly because I might recycle one of my other costumes for a day of Comic Con, but we’ll see.

Sailor Jupiter – Frankly, this isn’t likely to happen this year. While I can use my own hair for the costume and it would be good for June, I’m not sure I want to tackle a fuku for Comic Con, since I only have about 5 weeks between when school gets out and the convention starts. I have wanted to do her for a while since Sailor Moon holds a lot of nostalgia for me, but if I’m already sewing two other costumes the chances of doing this one to my standards are pretty slim.

Brave – Do you ever have those moments where crazy ideas come to you in the shower? That seems to happen to me a lot, and this idea was one of those moments. It came out of nowhere. If I do do this (and I very likely won’t) I’ll use this pattern from Butterick (view B), with the blue-green/teal color in satin (maybe with a print) on top and a cream/off white satin (maybe) on the bottom, with gold trim for the belt. And I wouldn’t bother with a wig. And then I would wear it like the Pixar nerd I am to the movie when I went to see it.

ABBA outfit – Absolutely happening this year. My friends and I have made a tradition of going to the ABBA tribute concert every summer at Red Rocks and this year I am determined to dress up (and hope the others will too as they say). I plan to use the same pattern I’m using for my Starfleet uniform to make an awesome green minidress, and I’m going to see if I can’t find some inexpensive go go boots to wear with it.

The Avengers – We’ll see. If I do it, it will be ridiculous and I’ll throw accuracy out the window, but my friends and I plan to go the midnight opening and someone suggested we go in costume. What I’ll be costumed as…we’ll see.

The Hobbit – Depending on how motivated I feel and how broke I am, I would like to make a costume to wear to the midnight premiere. I’ve always liked the costuming in the LOTR movies and medieval/Renaissance fashion is, in a way, my bread and butter, so I would probably make a bodice, chemise, and skirt and go as a hobbit.

If Only All Film Adaptations Were This Good

By a stroke of good fortune, I had the chance to see the new film adaptation of The Hunger Games at midnight on Thursday. I had wanted to see the movie, but I wasn’t especially excited about it and had very neutral expectations. Boy, did I get a surprise.

The story follows Katniss Everdeen, a teenage girl living in a crapsack world who volunteers for the eponymous Hunger Games when her sister’s name is drawn from the lottery. Each year a boy and girl from each district must journey to the ruling Captial to participate in the sadistic Games, a fight to the death to remind the Districts of the Capital’s power, and of the failed rebellion over seventy years ago.

Not only is the adaptation excellent, the film itself is incredible. The quality shown and the effort put in are truly surpassing, and as both a reader and movie lover, that just makes me so happy. The transformation of the story from page to screen is one of the best I have seen, ever. The film’s more faithful than most of the Harry Potter movies to the source material, in capturing the feeling of the book, the characters, and the plot. It is absolutely beautiful to behold. What’s even better is that the book works so well in a visual medium, and as an observer you can take in so much more. Of course a few minor things were changed, as they must be, but any changes made are small, logical, and still keep to the essence of the book. One change of particular note is that the scope of the movie is broadened a touch more than in the book, and it is a very wise decision. In the book Katniss narrates for us, and because she understands the world she lives in and can make explanatory notes in passing, there is no need to show much outside of what’s happening to her. That’s quite a bit harder (if not impossible) to do in a film, so we end up with a few scenes of Haymitch acting on Katniss and Peeta’s behalf, the gamemakers deciding on new challenges, and scenes from outside the Capital to show the impact of the Games on Panem. There’s also commentary from the hosts with several “as you know” moments. These scenes are integrated seamlessly into the action and do a lot for the reader’s comprehension. And as far as comprehensibility goes if you haven’t read the book, you should be able to understand and enjoy the film with no trouble. Of course some things will resonate a lot more if you have read the book, such as the three fingers gesture and characterization, particularly of minor characters like Rue, Cato, and Foxface. The world will also make more sense, although a film viewer is less likely to be concerned about worldbuilding than a reader. Katniss and Peeta’s relationship receives less attention as well, in part because there’s simply not enough time to develop it fully. Unfortunately, this does result in the relationship being slightly less believable and not nearly as major a part of the plot, but your mileage may vary on whether or not this is a good thing.

A large part of why this story works so well as a film is that all of the characters are extraordinarily well cast. There are several famous faces that don’t draw attention to themselves and fit their parts well – the best example would be Donald Sutherland as President Snow, who gives off that subtle repulsion beneath a genteel exterior that the character needs to work. Effie and Haymitch are also wonderful, and provide some of the movie’s funny moments. And now I must take a moment to fangirl about Jennifer Lawrence, because this movie would not be what it is at all without her. In the book, Katniss is strong, aloof, and lethal, but at times it’s a bit hard to relate to her because not a whole lot truly gets to her. That is not a problem here. Jennifer Lawrence is an immensely talented actress, and her face says what words can’t, humanizing Katniss a little more without sacrificing any of her toughness. The death of a specific ally and Katniss’ reaction especially proves this, and the acting was glorious to behold.

Part of what turns some people off about this series (my mother comes to mind) is the amount of violence involved in the story. Because of the premise, filmmakers obviously can’t get rid of it – but they can, and did, portray it with taste. Graphic violence is used sparingly, so there’s enough to leave an impact and a deep impression about the sort of world these people live in, but it’s not gratuitous (especially considering the subject matter/premise). Not that that means you should be taking your ten-year-old to see this movie, but still, the depiction was a pleasant surprise.

On a technical note, the production design, cinematography, and use of sound are all done exceedingly well. The costumes and makeup look exactly as I imagined they would, and the contrast between the aesthetic of the Districts and the Capital only underlines how dystopic this world is. The camera work is quite interesting, and contributes a lot to capturing the feeling of the movie. Tons of close-ups keep the focus narrow and internal, while the “shaky cam” technique (never one of my personal favorites) gives the audience a sense of utter confusion and chaos of the Games (and is also not used ubiquitously, a definite plus). The use of silence is fantastic, and provides isolation and impact. It also makes you pay attention, because at times scores can distance us from the characters and actions. Not to say that the score in this film isn’t used well, because it is, although it doesn’t particularly stand out either.

Overall, The Hunger Games is a beautifully made film, which still has some of the flaws of the original (like serious holes in worldbuilding). Most of these flaws, though, can be overlooked or at least aren’t as important in a movie. The story’s also an interesting treatise on reality television and manipulated (and manipulative) it is, although that’s hardly the point. Moreover, the film is well-paced – the action doesn’t move at breakneck speed, but nor does it ever really drag. There is also, as pointed out by my boyfriend, a subtle Lady Macbeth reference if you’re the type of person who enjoys those things.

Definitely worth your money to see it in the theater, or at least on Netflix.

A Woman Like That

Originally, I had a marvelous plan to do a post about feminism for Valentine’s Day. Clearly that didn’t happen, but for once I do not regret it. That Thursday, I had to attend a film for my “Thinking About Art” class. It was entitled “A Woman Like That” and had been screened at the Denver Art Museum the night before. We were lucky because the director, Ellen Weissbrod, was there to present her film, and there was a question and answer session and reception following the film. First, let me say that if you are so fortunate as to get the chance to see this film, you definitely should. The director’s distributing it herself, so you might not, but if you do you will not regret going.

The film is a documentary, and follows Weissbrod’s journey to tell the story of Artemisia Gentileschi, and also tells of the inspiration that Weissbrod takes from her. Who is Artemisia Gentileschi? It’s a shame so few people know the answer to that question. I didn’t, before I watched the film. Artemisia was a female Renaissance-Baroque painter of extraordinary talent, great notoriety during her time, and relatively little fame today. She had passion and determination, and I wish I had learned about her sooner. Her work is scarce and mostly lost, but what survives is beautiful. There is no doubt that she was just as good as her male contemporaries, although she suffered extreme discrimination because she was a woman trying to make a living at a man’s profession. However, Artemisia never gave up doing what she loved because of adversity; painting was her life and her heritage, and so she stayed the course and carved out a place in history.

While we learn Artemisia’s story, we follow the people she has touched and inspired. There’s a wealth of people who speak about the artist, from scholars and historians to high school students and regular people off the street. Owners of her work and Italian museum employees also make appearances, and it’s fascinating to hear what the world takes away from Artemisia. I wish a few more men had given their opinions in the film; they seemed quite underrepresented. As a film, “A Woman Like That” isn’t too bad. The beginning and the end are rather slow, but the middle is absolutely excellent. Weissbrod’s story of herself is tedious at times, and does not exactly explore new territory in terms of the Who Am I? narrative, but it’s a worthy addition and certainly helps to bring Artemisia out of the past. One of my favorite parts of the film was the groups of random women who had never met acting out scenes that Artemisia painted. Of particular note is the comparison between Caravaggio’s depiction of Judith slaying Holofernes (top) and Artemisia’s (bottom); acting out the scenes reveal how much more sense Artemisia’s painting makes.

I suppose what I take away from the film, Valentine’s Day, and the original post I had planned is that feminism is still very much necessary and important, and that it always has been. What feminist women are striving toward is to be like Artemisia – to have the right to do what we love, and by doing so contribute to the destruction of social barriers that keep women from being equal to men. Artemisia is a person who did that, and while she may not be especially famous or important in the grand scheme of art and history, she is invaluable as an inspiration to people of all stripes. Shouldn’t we all try to be women like that?

Never Let Me Go Review

4.5 stars
It’s difficult to articulate exactly what this book is to me, or how well-written it is. On the surface it’s a very simple story, and the plot is not exactly complicated. The best way to see is to read it for yourself. Perhaps its highest recommendation is that those snobs at CollegeBoard actually allow you to use this book for the open essay question, and that is almost a miracle. (And a rant for another day.)

Reading Never Let Me Go is similar to going to the optometrist. You go in and sit in the chair, and the eye doctor moves this enormous cold contraption in front of you and covers your eyes. At first you can’t see anything, and then there’s a click and a very blurred image of light. The doctor keeps clicking, switching lenses until he gets to where your eyes were the last time you visited, and that blurry image gets clearer and clearer until there it is, you see whatever’s in front of you. For those who have never had that particular experience, this book is also like a beautiful old masters Renaissance portrait. There is the painted person before you, but it’s not just them. There are layers upon layers upon layers of oil paint that color the person, until they look golden and warm and real like your roommate next to you. Certainly the person in the portrait would be the same person without the layers, but the layers are what really make the painting art. They color your interpretation of the person so that it’s not just some random person on the canvas, it’s that person beyond a doubt.

The point that I’m attempting to make is that Never Let Me Go is a wonderful book that you have to appreciate the depth of. No, the plot is not complex, but that’s not the point. This is a character book. An event or conversation will be set up, and then Ishiguro will take you back and relate several other stories that happened before. When you get back to the original event and read it, you have a different understanding, and you can see all the factors that went into how the event unfolded. It’s a beautiful way to write a book.

Furthermore, while I would not call this book a page turner, it nags you. There’s something you don’t get. You sort of figure it out, and you’re fed little tidbits along the way. As one Guardian puts it to the Hailsham students “You’re told and not told.” And so you keep reading. At the end, what you think is confirmed. However, it’s not the confirmation you expect; it’s exactly what you thought but there’s a sickening thud because it came at you in a very unexpected way. I would have liked to see a bit more of the dystopian element that’s hinted at, but at the same time this would be a very different book if that were there.

I write all this about the experience of reading Never Let Me Go because I think the experience is half of what makes this book so good. It’s the way it’s written and the way you figure things out that make what is a relatively ordinary story transcend mediocrity and teach you things that you always knew but never realized about people. And that, too, is part of what makes this book so good: the people. The characters are wonderfully vivid and hopelessly flawed, and you love them and hate them because you know them. Ruth is a fantastic example of this: she is authoritative, almost ethereal at times, selfish, vain, creative, funny, but always Kathy’s friend.

Finally, one quick note about Ken Ishiguro’s writing. It’s lovely. It’s beautiful and evocative and clear, like reading nostalgic poetry. That’s the other part of what makes the book so good, because the author can transform the most normal scenes into the most gorgeous prose.

Truly, it’s impossible to get a sense of this book from a review, and you should really just read it for yourself.

This review may also be found here on Goodreads.