Wednesday, December 28, 2005
Happily Ever After
American movies have happy endings 99% of the time. You cannot say that for European or Asian movies. So I was thinking about why American movies are happy, and this is what I came up with with some help from my mom.
I watched a European movie once about several sisters and the hardship of their lives. I didn't like the movie because it was depressing and ended the film by the narrator voicing over all the bad things that continued to happen in the sisters' lives until they died. There was no mention at all of anything good that came from their trial. I was left with the feeling that their lives had had no happiness. It was not even suggested that one of their daughters or granddaughters had learned from the sisters' hardship.
In almost all of the wars the United States has been in we have had happy endings--the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, the World Wars. Our military has been victorious. We can have happy movies because our history has been filled enough with encouraging prospects. It is like The Incredibles--Bob Parr (Mr. Incredible) surmounted all of his battles, with his struggling marriage, his archenemy, his job, his physical shape, his confidence: he won.
We have chosen to be optimistic. From our ability to work ourselves up and become better than what we were economically to educationally to socially we have decided to be positive. Our Founding Fathers wrote the Declaration of Independence and our Constitution, and we have carried on in their spirit and we have chosen to be happy. In The Incredibles, Violet really helps a boy to ask her out; she decided that she was going to have fun.
The United States was built on the foundation of a small group of people who believed in God. They believed that good would triumph over evil. Our country was built by a people who believed without a doubt that God was good and that he would win over everything that was not good. At the end of The Incredibles (I really like The Incredibles) there was a new villain, but everyone in the audience had no doubt that he would be toppled, that good would triumph over evil. Why shouldn't we think so? The family had already done it once.
I like American movies. I like happy endings. I believe that if a movie has a sad ending then it did not finish the point it was trying to make. A film that ends unhappily is not a finished story--they are leaving something out. If there is a story, then there is always something good that comes from it, even if you need to look generations farther or think in a different way to see the good.
I watched a European movie once about several sisters and the hardship of their lives. I didn't like the movie because it was depressing and ended the film by the narrator voicing over all the bad things that continued to happen in the sisters' lives until they died. There was no mention at all of anything good that came from their trial. I was left with the feeling that their lives had had no happiness. It was not even suggested that one of their daughters or granddaughters had learned from the sisters' hardship.
In almost all of the wars the United States has been in we have had happy endings--the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, the World Wars. Our military has been victorious. We can have happy movies because our history has been filled enough with encouraging prospects. It is like The Incredibles--Bob Parr (Mr. Incredible) surmounted all of his battles, with his struggling marriage, his archenemy, his job, his physical shape, his confidence: he won.
We have chosen to be optimistic. From our ability to work ourselves up and become better than what we were economically to educationally to socially we have decided to be positive. Our Founding Fathers wrote the Declaration of Independence and our Constitution, and we have carried on in their spirit and we have chosen to be happy. In The Incredibles, Violet really helps a boy to ask her out; she decided that she was going to have fun.
The United States was built on the foundation of a small group of people who believed in God. They believed that good would triumph over evil. Our country was built by a people who believed without a doubt that God was good and that he would win over everything that was not good. At the end of The Incredibles (I really like The Incredibles) there was a new villain, but everyone in the audience had no doubt that he would be toppled, that good would triumph over evil. Why shouldn't we think so? The family had already done it once.
I like American movies. I like happy endings. I believe that if a movie has a sad ending then it did not finish the point it was trying to make. A film that ends unhappily is not a finished story--they are leaving something out. If there is a story, then there is always something good that comes from it, even if you need to look generations farther or think in a different way to see the good.
Monday, December 19, 2005
Red and Green Forever! An Out-pouring of My Adoration for Christmas
Christmas is so wonderful. Sometimes it takes me a while to get into the Christmas spirit, but once I do, there is nothing like Christmas. Consider the festive atmosphere, the decorations, the food, the messages, the family, the relief, the singing, the excitment of little kids.
One reason I look forward to Christmas, base as it is, is the respite from other stuff that is usually routine. A time to relax! A time to breath! A time to get enough hours of sleep--except, of course, on Christmas Eve. We do need holidays, especially in winter when our spirits get low.
Family! Christmas is the time to tickle young children until they scream for mercy--actually, probably until right before they scream, otherwise you get in trouble. One of my teachers puts miseltoe all around the house so that he can kiss his wife all the time. (One of my other teachers said that it is ironic that we kiss under miseltoe, but he wouldn't tell us why; so I charge you to find out why.) A lot of times Christmas is the only time of the year I see family from farther away. I am very lucky; all of my grandparents live close, and every Christmas Eve we get together to read and act out the nativity scene.
We are always reminded the real reason for Christmas. It is for children, and for happy times and showing love, gift giving and gift receiving, decorations, food. But first and formost, Christmas is the celebration of Jesus Christ's birth--the beginning of his ministry, his love, his Atonement, his peace. Even with the cold, the snow, the runny noes and the frozen feet, standing outside to see a live nativity is worth the discomfort. It is incredible. It is all that is joy.
Hurray for Christmas! Hurray for the season, it doesn't matter what holiday you celebrate: this is the most splendid time of the year. Merry Christmas! Feliz Navidad! Joyeux Noel! Happy Hannukah! Happy Kwanzaa! And if I knew how to say it anyother way, I would.
One reason I look forward to Christmas, base as it is, is the respite from other stuff that is usually routine. A time to relax! A time to breath! A time to get enough hours of sleep--except, of course, on Christmas Eve. We do need holidays, especially in winter when our spirits get low.
Family! Christmas is the time to tickle young children until they scream for mercy--actually, probably until right before they scream, otherwise you get in trouble. One of my teachers puts miseltoe all around the house so that he can kiss his wife all the time. (One of my other teachers said that it is ironic that we kiss under miseltoe, but he wouldn't tell us why; so I charge you to find out why.) A lot of times Christmas is the only time of the year I see family from farther away. I am very lucky; all of my grandparents live close, and every Christmas Eve we get together to read and act out the nativity scene.
We are always reminded the real reason for Christmas. It is for children, and for happy times and showing love, gift giving and gift receiving, decorations, food. But first and formost, Christmas is the celebration of Jesus Christ's birth--the beginning of his ministry, his love, his Atonement, his peace. Even with the cold, the snow, the runny noes and the frozen feet, standing outside to see a live nativity is worth the discomfort. It is incredible. It is all that is joy.
Hurray for Christmas! Hurray for the season, it doesn't matter what holiday you celebrate: this is the most splendid time of the year. Merry Christmas! Feliz Navidad! Joyeux Noel! Happy Hannukah! Happy Kwanzaa! And if I knew how to say it anyother way, I would.
Monday, December 12, 2005
Lines Are Our Friends
My mom doesn't like to shop on Saturdays. She'd rather do without. Around this season a lot of people feel the same, the lines and the crowds are usually just not worth it. But lines do serve a very important purpose; they serve several very important purposes, actually. For one, without lines America would turn into a purely hierarchical country. Lines also teach us patience and help us to get things done.
Without the accepted rule of first-come-first-served, those who were served first would be the ones that had the highest position or the most money. But ours is a government and a country of the people, all the people, not exclusively one group or another's. Because of standing in lines--dreary as it is--we preserve the ideal of equality!
Lines teach us patience! They have to; it is either learn patience or die of impatience before the destination is reached. Lines also teach us what is really important. Not long ago I was in a fabric-craft store and stood in line for about twenty minutes. It wasn't that bad, actually. The conversations around me were interesting and there were nice things to look at. During our vertical shuffle a woman with a baby and an item in her hand came up to the line and looked at how far it reached,"I guess that answers my question," she said, and put what she was carrying on a shelf and left. Some things are just not important enough to us to stand in a line for. If something is important enough than we will benefit from the patience that a line will teach us.
If we did not have lines everything would be harder to keep track of, and in consequence we would get less done. Consider the emergincies in which lines have to be disregarded. If lines were not already in place than we would not be able to see where the exeption would lie. If my logic is faulty, please at least accept that we need order, and lines get it done.
I have heard it said that standing in line is a national sport in Britain. Whether or not that is true, I will not verify, but it is a sure thing that no matter where we go we will stand in lines. Whether or not standing in line is conforming to a system that could be better I will not get into. I am simply greatful that the lines I stand in are not the life and death positions of food lines all over the world.
Without the accepted rule of first-come-first-served, those who were served first would be the ones that had the highest position or the most money. But ours is a government and a country of the people, all the people, not exclusively one group or another's. Because of standing in lines--dreary as it is--we preserve the ideal of equality!
Lines teach us patience! They have to; it is either learn patience or die of impatience before the destination is reached. Lines also teach us what is really important. Not long ago I was in a fabric-craft store and stood in line for about twenty minutes. It wasn't that bad, actually. The conversations around me were interesting and there were nice things to look at. During our vertical shuffle a woman with a baby and an item in her hand came up to the line and looked at how far it reached,"I guess that answers my question," she said, and put what she was carrying on a shelf and left. Some things are just not important enough to us to stand in a line for. If something is important enough than we will benefit from the patience that a line will teach us.
If we did not have lines everything would be harder to keep track of, and in consequence we would get less done. Consider the emergincies in which lines have to be disregarded. If lines were not already in place than we would not be able to see where the exeption would lie. If my logic is faulty, please at least accept that we need order, and lines get it done.
I have heard it said that standing in line is a national sport in Britain. Whether or not that is true, I will not verify, but it is a sure thing that no matter where we go we will stand in lines. Whether or not standing in line is conforming to a system that could be better I will not get into. I am simply greatful that the lines I stand in are not the life and death positions of food lines all over the world.
Monday, December 05, 2005
The Reason We Sometimes Have Good Hair Days: Shampoo
Shampoo is the commodity of gods. Just think of where we would be without shampoo . . . we would all have greasy hair, itchy scalps, and low self esteem. Shampoo is so wonderful because of what it does for our hair and our self esteem.
As for myself, I use whatever shampoo my mom buys. My little sister, however, needs her own. She buys something called True Brunette Enriching Mosturizing Extra-Conditioning Shampoo. (I may have gotten the name wrong.) Apparently this special shampoo is meant to bring out the brunette and stuff--kind of like what my mom buys--so that her hair smells nice. Without shampoo our hair would probably fall out in disgust.
On an old reality show with a point, a family was put back in time (not literaly) into the 18th century. As part of this whole experience, no modern convienences were allowed. This included shampoo. The mother of the family would make shampoo with various herbs and produce, like eggs. One day the cameras caught the mother and daughter sneaking out and buying something forbidden: shampoo. They couldn't take it anymore. It is very valuable to note that the two women did not buy fast-food, make-up, or toliet paper. These things are not as important when faced with the loss of shampoo. Having clean hair enables us to stand up straight with confidence. They were being filmed for a TV series, and the only thing they wanted to have was shampoo.
Kudos for the men and women who have perfected our shampoo.
As for myself, I use whatever shampoo my mom buys. My little sister, however, needs her own. She buys something called True Brunette Enriching Mosturizing Extra-Conditioning Shampoo. (I may have gotten the name wrong.) Apparently this special shampoo is meant to bring out the brunette and stuff--kind of like what my mom buys--so that her hair smells nice. Without shampoo our hair would probably fall out in disgust.
On an old reality show with a point, a family was put back in time (not literaly) into the 18th century. As part of this whole experience, no modern convienences were allowed. This included shampoo. The mother of the family would make shampoo with various herbs and produce, like eggs. One day the cameras caught the mother and daughter sneaking out and buying something forbidden: shampoo. They couldn't take it anymore. It is very valuable to note that the two women did not buy fast-food, make-up, or toliet paper. These things are not as important when faced with the loss of shampoo. Having clean hair enables us to stand up straight with confidence. They were being filmed for a TV series, and the only thing they wanted to have was shampoo.
Kudos for the men and women who have perfected our shampoo.
