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Showing posts from September, 2022

Jurassic Park, a more inclusive Indiana Jones

Is Alan Grant trying to tell us something? Is he Indiana Jones’ more modern cousin? The similarities between the two men are striking. With his authoritative professor air and battered fedora and khakis, Alan Grant was giving off serious  Indiana Jones  vibes. Like Jones, Alan Grant excavates the secrets of history that “belongs in a museum,” like Jones. He is an engaging professor who lands in an unexpectedly dangerous situation. He even has a blonde companion. However, Jurassic Park shows the viewers that Indiana's story can be different. Equality among the sexes— Jones’ companion screams and panics rather than contributing to their situation. She has less value than the ten-year-old boy and cannot be trusted with anything, not even sit there and look pretty. While Jones’ companion is a pretty, weight around his neck, Grant and Sattler have a different relationship. They're frequently shown shoulder to shoulder. He treats his romantic and professional partner, Dr. Sattler

The ultimate simplicity: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

Have you ever experienced that weird what-if moment? You know you’re watching tv and an odd thought pops into your mind:  What if snow is just dandruff on the giant we live on? What if a machine burrowed from the ground and flooded the air with water? What if the world is really in a fishbowl? The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy conveys that sleepy, somewhat drunken philosophical feel as it asks its what-if: What if someone demolished Earth to build a highway because our leader was too distracted to notice? Well, some people can hitchhike off the planet. There is such a thing as death by poetry, and a whale can fall from space. The story embraces an appealing “there’s no wrong answer” so just enjoy it attitude. And I enjoy the story because, despite the wild what-ifs, the story remains familiar—ridiculously convoluted bureaucracies, poetry so bad it feels like death, homesickness—while mixed in with the unexpected. Courtesy of https://www.syfy.com/ Part of this story’s appeal—asi

It’s more than romantic: Legally Blonde

Is Legally Blonde a rom-com? I assumed yes; after all, Elle Woods applies to and studies law at Harvard University because her ex-love needs someone serious. Despite his summer reconnection with an old girlfriend, Elle plans to win her lover back. Besides, (spoiler alert for a twenty-year-old movie: she ends up in a happy relationship with a proposal on the way.)  However, the story breaks tradition immediately. The audience doesn’t follow Elle as she falls in love with Warner; instead, they’re breaking up. Still, she can have him if she breaks up his current relationship (a rom-com no-no). Still, elements of romance are present, and the main character achieves a happy career and a romantic ending. Plus, the audience quickly discovers this story isn’t about the guy. It’s about the girl. This movie transcends generations and woke culture because of its simple teachings. When Elle realizes her dream marriage to Warner is impossible, her story shifts to life’s most important lessons.

Rom-com redesign: The Bromance Club

I love romance. Sprinkle in a little fantasy and badass warrior-esque characters and I’m hooked for at least a few chapters. But I’m also a rom-com lover, and I loved this novel, and I’m surprised I didn’t see the series before now. Bromance Club lives up to the rom-com formula that every romance lover knows and loves about the genre. The novel doesn’t shy away from it. Since the couple has already met cute and answered the call before the story begins, the romance seems like an easy next step. However, Bromance ’s rejection of the relationship seems more severe since it means the end of a marriage rather than an end to what might have been.  Fortunately, they agree to give the relationship a chance and experience the trials that bring them back together. Still, husband and wife reconnected without fixing what was broken, so Gavin and Thea break up, Gavin making a sacrifice that they need to improve, or their marriage is doomed. Yet, when positive steps are taken, a big declarat