The Cinderella Plot -- Male

Hey ya'll.  So in my last post I mentioned that men have their own Cinderella story.  It's true.  Granted, it's not entirely like the female version, but it's the same basic idea of the protagonist getting swept away in amazing circumstances and being judged better than his rivals.  It's the same in that it's the male fantasy, fashioned the way the male mind likes its rags to riches tales of glory.

There's a fundamental difference between mediums of the female and male versions of the Cinderella story.  That is, the female version is predominantly in book form, and the males' is in movies.  Sure, vice versa exists, but it's the result of how men and women view excitement differently.  Women are more mentally in-tune, which is why an otherwise good looking guy will become instantly hideous to us the moment we learn he's a scumbag.  We don't separate beauty from personality very much, and books work for us because they display personality traits and leave the looks up to our own imagination.

Men, on the other hand, are very visually stimulated, hence action movies.  'Splosions, hot chicks, guns and cars are all better for them when visual.  And while the male Cinderella story isn't necessarily an action film, many of these are action types, or else realistic fiction.

But let's get to the specific elements now, shall we?  Unlike for women, men don't have a set down, specific story for this, so I'll just use Rocky as an example.

1. A man from a bad, rough, or common background, or perhaps just a guy in bad cirumstances, has a hard time of handling his life.

The Cinderella Plot

Hey y'all.  So I was thinking about the Cinderella trope, and how feminists are so lit up by it.  They say it's a bad thing for women to be portrayed as damsels in distress.  Though also female, I have never been really against this.  After all, I wouldn't mind being rescued by a hot guy, heh.  The only real "damsels in distress" in my opinion are those in literature or movies that literally do nothing but whine, and have no redeeming qualities.  It doesn't ruin a girl to be a daydreamer, or a glam princess, or happen to be saved by a man at the end.  Whatever.

But still, the idea that a prince saves a woman in the end and makes her life complete is offensive to the overly sensitive.  I guess the idea is that men don't automatically makes womens' lives better.  Which is true, particularly when the man or woman involved has personal issues, or outside circumstances work against them.  And you know what?  That's the whole point of the Cinderella trope.  Sure, a man is involved, but he's only a part of the "prize package" that comes along with the story of bitterness to happiness that Cinderella embodies.  Simply put, he's not the point.

Let's go over the trope, bit by bit.  There are basic elements that compose the story, and even when Cinderella's story is adapted into other forms, all the elements are relatively unchanged.  So what are those elements?

1. A girl from a noble, wealthy, or otherwise important background is forced by circumstances into a situation of servitude or disadvantage, where she is judged by her unworthy peers.  These peers are jealous of the girl's beauty, kindness, or personality (usually all three).

Nitpickery -- The Lego Movie

Hey y'all.  So I just got done watching the Lego Movie.  It's one of the most hyped things I've seen so far this year.  One guy called it an "instant classic".  I'm not sure how I feel about it.  So I'll nitpick it.

In any case, it's the story of a Lego guy named Emmett, who is the most boring guy in the Lego universe.  He has no individuality, and just lives life according to the whims of President Business, who controls every single aspect of Lego lives.  Then he finds a mystical artifact, called the "piece of resistance", or some silliness, and this means that he's "the special one" who will save everyone from President Business.

So, I'm going to nitpick, and as usual nitpickery means spoilers.  Don't worry, this is the kind of movie that's fun even when spoiled.

Spoiler free review: It's a fun good time, so long as you don't overthink it.  Bring your kids.  Both you and they will have something to laugh at.  Good times were had by all.

And...that's all the spoiler free stuff I have to say.  Really, this isn't a complex movie, and it doesn't need a complex review if you don't care to read an analysis.

Alright, spoiler time.  Also, the rating system for this movie is going to be a series of positives versus negatives.  Because things have to be switched up from time to time.

Go!

The Istari -- Myers-Briggs Rationals

Hey y'all.  So I was reading Please Understand Me II by David Keirsey, and apparently the rational person (whoever is a NT in Myers-Briggs typology) aspires to be a wizard -- a scientific or philosophic savant with great understanding.

Let me quote the book:
"Because Rationals value the strategic intellect so highly, the tend to take as their idol the technological wizard, especially the scientific genius.  After all, a wizard is the ultimate scientist, with what seems an almost magical power over nature, and in single-minded pursuit of the four aims of science: the prediction and control of events, and the understanding and explanation of their contexts."

Yeah, that.  Granted, a rational person might not be strictly scientific, but only "scientific" in the humblest of senses: observation.  See, that's what science is at its base point.  It's looking, observing, and making conclusions based on what one has observed.  It is not a tall man in a white coat staring at beakers of colored liquid.  It's not a giant jellyfish of knowledge that will punish you for saying or doing something "unscientific".  Human understanding is limited, and thus we must with the most childlike, humble observation go forward in science, allowing our old notions to be wrong if experience shows that to be the case.  So, a child playing with a faucet is science, because the child is observing and coming to conclusions about a small piece of the world: a sink where he is taking a bath.

But beyond that, Istari!

Top Ten Favorite Movies

Hey y'all.  So I just realized that in the realm of movies, I hate everything.  Not quite literally, but almost.  Working at a used book/movie/music store has brought me into a lot of contact with a lot of stuff I just can't stand.  Comedy these days seems like nothing more than get-togethers between famous people who do stupid stuff while someone films them.  Don't even get me started on chick flicks.  Dramas are pretentious playgrounds of ideas, and actions films are simply things blowing up.

I like none of those things.  In one sense, it's an unfair criticism of Hollywood, as my tastes range in appreciating nature, spiritual truth, and learning the secrets of history -- none of which are popular topics in film these days.  Then again, in another sense, this is showing that Hollywood isn't going after what people really want in films, but simply putting up whatever they want to say.  Or I'm just too picky.

Either way, I do actually like some movies.  My basis for whether or not a movie is good is by how it makes me feel when I'm done watching it.  If I feel good or refreshed in some way, it's a good film.  That's why I find digital effects so unimportant in the long run.  Very rarely will someone's digital creation produce emotions in me.  Good story on the other hand?  Heck yeah.

Keep in mind that this isn't a list of best movies, necessarily, but simply ones I like best.  Basically, the standard by which I will list these is by how they make me feel, and to a lesser degree, how they're produced.  Now, without further ado...

---- My Top Ten Favorite Movies ----

10. Robocop

Rational Love

Hey y'all.  This is just a poem I wrote, sort of in the tradition of the Irish storytelling narrative in songs and such.  Many of the songs that passed down in Irish song tradition are true to life stories, and this poem is true in the sense that it...well, I'll let you figure out the meaning.  That's always more fun in poetry.


You're the man I never met
Oh maybe I saw you once or twice
How would we know if I've seen you yet?
I never said hello

Walking a straight path on crooked roads
Doesn't lend itself much to love
Every adventure sorted out alone
Should I have looked to the left or right?

Every scene more beautiful than words
With colors in their place they tell
The loveliest story we've ever heard
Yet I never saw your place in it.

Paths among trees stretch for miles
Or suddenly end two feet ahead
The end has been there all the while
I didn't tell it to stop

I looked for you when I left
Expecting you, I saw you in my mind
I saw things worth seeing again and again
But you I didn't find

We were so beautiful
We held hands on hard roads
It would be devastating to learn
You're as imaginary as I am

We were so beautiful
There in my mind
And you were my love
In my imagination

Chances are I never saw you
And if you exist, you never saw me
I thought I died first
But maybe, perhaps, you beat me

Tea of the Day: Lemon Fight and a Mystery

Hey y'all.  So I managed to get Dad to participate in another tea contest.  Yeah, we had some tea and watched Star Trek '09.   Thing about Dad is that you have to trick him into trying new things, because he's the sort of guy that distrusts anything in his food or drink that is different.  However, if you get him to eat or drink it before he knows what it is, he might find out he'll like it. 

In that spirit, I tried to trick Dad by making the first two flavors of tea lemon, so that he'd think the third was lemon also.  Nope, it's ginger peach, one of my favorite flavors of all time.  So let's see how he liked it all, shall we?

Competitor #1: Bentley's Lemon Green Tea

Ingredients: Premium Chinese green tea, lemon flavor.