Little Talks

[Warning: this post contains spoilers] I made a rather sad discovery while reading Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde  (a title which, by the way, tends to get shortened, but that is what the book is actually called). I realized that some of these classic horror stories have become so ingrained in our culture that we already know them too well to get the full effect of the story. Take the case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, for instance. We've all come across it in numerous forms. The double itself is a very common trope, true. But I can think of at least three cartoons that I watched as a child that adapted this story. Most of you would likely be more familiar with the Looney Tunes  episodes (and, yes, there are a couple), but Arthur  and Veggie Tales  have also done their own takes on this story. The names of the character and his alter ego have even become so commonly associated with the idea of a split personality that it is nearly impos

After reading Watchmen  by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons in my pop lit class, I understood why this comic series, though I had never heard of it, was a total classic. It has so much substance to it. And the visual medium was entirely necessary to make the points that this graphic novel makes. Without the illustrations, the story could never have this kind of depth to it. The novel poses this most interesting question: what if superheroes really did exist in our world? But what if most of them were more like Batman: ordinary people who use their talents to go about in disguise and help the helpless? Yet, in some sense, they admit that this could never happen in our own world, and so there are subtle changes (which become more obvious as the story progresses) which prove that these events are happening in an alternate timeline. The addition of overly vibrant and somewhat unusual colours plays into the fictional atmosphere of the whole thing. At the same time, they use the paratext to c

[This is a piece I wrote at work, but as these events are no longer current and I doubt that this post will get through the publishing process anytime soon, I've decided to share it here.] No pun intended. On October 7, journalist Jamal Khashoggi went missing after going to the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. On October 9, President (can’t believe that’s his title) Trump responded to allegations that the Saudi Arabian government is responsible. Here is his statement to the Associated Press : “I think we have to find out what happened first. Here we go again with, you know, you’re guilty until proven innocent. I don’t like that. We just went through that with Justice Kavanaugh and he was innocent all the way as far as I’m concerned.” And I think, in part, he’s right! It’s not that straightforward For starters, I think the Kavanaugh comment was intentionally inflammatory and totally out of line. Knowing the cultural temperature at the moment with the #MeToo movement, a

[Warning: spoilers ahead...although, frankly, you might read this and realize that this film is not what you would have expected. As always, read at your own risk.] The Witch  is not exactly a horror movie in the classic sense. It is, however, a great example of Gothic horror, which is why I was assigned this film for a class on--you guessed it--Gothic horror. Why is not traditional? Well, there aren't a lot of jump scares or gory moments (although it does have a few moments that come close). There also really isn't a whole lot that happens throughout the span of the movie, other than the slow unraveling of a family in crisis. Unlike Final Destination  or The Shining , our characters don't spend a lot of time investigating or running from the supernatural things that plague them. Also, they speak as one would expect early Puritan settlers to speak. Side note: I love Ralph Ineson, but between his deep voice and the Old English dialect (much of which is taken directly

[Warning: spoiler alert. If you have not seen Gifted , read at your own risk.] That's right, internet, it's me! I have returned! Now that I write blogs for my job, I've had far less time and motivation to do it for myself. But I think it will be good for me to pick up where I left off and try to keep updating my content. So here we go! When my family suggested watching Gifted  for our movie night, I knew very little aside from the fact that it was a custody battle over a genius child happening between her grandmother and her uncle (played by Chris Evans!). It had potential, and we couldn't agree on much else, so I agreed. Interestingly, this movie touched on a topic that I have long been grappling with: how to deal with differences. Young Mary is a child prodigy who is being raised by her uncle after her mother's death. Problems quickly arise when Frank decides to send Mary to a public school instead of continuing her education at home. She doesn't like the

Walter Mosley's Devil in a Blue Dress is a classic noir detective story set in 1940s LA (the height of the genre)...but there's a twist: the amateur detective is a black man. You might not have ever thought about the fact that detective stories of this type tend to have few characters of colour, if any, and they certainly don't tend to fill the role of detective. For the classic novels, which were actually written in the '40s, this is not surprising as racism was still quite strong in America (and other places) at that time. This is a really smart move on Mosley's part because it works well with certain elements of the genre, while creating a poignant commentary on both the genre and the era when things don't match, and even when they do. Easy Rawlins, our detective, like so many of the others is a World War II veteran struggling to find work. This is a common theme in works of fiction written after each of the World Wars because women were having to fill jo

Frankenstein . A classic. Typical of Gothic Horror.... Wait horror? Yes. Oh yeah, angry mobs, violent monster, fires, and all that? Nope, just a killer monster minus any of the usual accompanying suspense. Cheesy one-sided conversation aside, my point is that Frankenstein is not what most of us consider horror. It doesn't fit the levels of suspense and violence that we have come to expect with modern films. This isn't completely unexpected, since those are elements that are harder to transfer onto the page. But Mary Shelley's "ghost story" is frightening because of the story itself. Frankenstein is a cautionary tale about what happens when you create a living being and then abandon it to learn and survive on its own. Victor's monster angrily kills everyone that his creator loves because he feels that his abandonment was cruel and unfair. Victor only makes the irrational decision to create his monster because his mother, the one person who ever really c

Ah the romance! Always a classic, the romance novel has a long tradition of telling stories about love and relationships. But as any woman can tell you, the idea that female characters are dependent upon men to have a place in the narrative (whether fictional or historical) is wrong. Here's the thing: the genre traces its roots back to the early days of the novel, sometime around the 18th century, when women in society had absolutely no legal status apart from their connection to husbands and fathers. So the fact that these tales are all about loving relationships that end in marriage means that people were aware of the fact that women were expected to marry, but were increasingly intrigued by the idea of marrying for love rather than necessity. Jane Austen, Helen Fielding's inspiration, wrote many such novels. Yet in the mid-'90s, when the columns were first being published, things were very different from the Gregorian days of yore. Feminist movements had been on the ris

[Warning: This post contains some spoilers. Read at own risk.] The Castle of Otranto is the first (and perhaps most bizarre) Gothic horror novel there is. The dialogue is frantic and hard to distinguish from one speaker to the next, the ghost rarely makes a proper appearance and seems to be only a small danger for most of the plot, identities are repeatedly mistaken, and no one is happy by the end. Perhaps the most troublesome thing in this whole story, however, is that the patriarchal system causes as much destruction as treachery that upset the system in the first place. Manfred, the ruler of Otranto and main antagonist of the story. While it is widely debated whether Manfred should be held responsible for the usurpation of the throne by his grandfather, he nonetheless becomes responsible for all kinds of tyranny when his sole focus becomes the continuation of his lineage for the sake of maintaining said throne. Seeing as there was no legitimate ruler known to the people

To the untrained eye, Doctor Strange is nothing more than a superhero story or a journey of self-discovery. But I am here to tell you that it is actually a story about idols. "Idols?!" you say, "I saw no weird little gods. Devil worship, or something of that sort, maybe." That's true. Of course, I'm not talking about the mysticism at all. The idol in this particular tale is success. Stephen Strange, like so many medical professionals, has spent his entire life training and over-working in hopes of achieving great success and notability. His skills are renowned, and his job is the most important thing in his life. So important, in fact, that when a dangerous car crash destroys his hands and takes away his ability to operate, he throws his life away as he feels that it is hardly worth living. He continues on a mission to find a way to restore his hands, meeting a man who happily explains to him that he found a cure for partial paralysis in a mystic alternat

Well, I will be honest -- it has been quite a while since I read this book and I do not entirely remember it. There were a lot of anecdotes, and far fewer practical tips and biblical explanations than I think I was expecting, but that is not really what matters here. What matters is that we are living in a society where a book explaining the importance of sharing the gospel is necessary. When and why did we stop? If God is truly such an important part of our lives, we should be sharing that with people all the time. I think that Greg Laurie's chapter about the importance of personal stories highlights this. Personal anecdotes, real experiences that are relatable and understandable, are the best way of helping people to truly see the life-changing power of Jesus Christ. Perhaps, in a way, that is why Laurie's book feels so anecdotal. He proves this point by helping us to see the impact of evangelism by relating some of his experiences. This not only shows us how many lives have

[Warning: This post contains major spoilers... Seriously, if you have not seen this movie then DO NOT read this post! It will ruin everything!] The Prestige is an amazing movie because it keeps you guessing the entire time. And the best part? The solution is the simplest, and perhaps most obvious, one you could think of (especially if you are familiar with the ways of the old magicians) and yet the writers encourage you to dismiss such a simple solution at every turn. As the audience, we are taken on a journey along with Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman!) exploring the relationship between science and magic. Angier, always trying to best his fellow magician Alfred Borden (Christian Bale...seriously, this cast is awesome!) wants to figure out how to make himself disappear from one place and appear in another, but he doesn't want to share the limelight with anyone else, so he goes to speak to the greatest "magician" he can find: Nicola Tesla. "But Tesla is a scientist!&

What if the King of England was nothing more than the pawn or prize for some of the most powerful women in the country? This is the question which frames Philippa Gregory's novel The White Princess . The story is told from the perspective of Elizabeth of York, daughter of King Edward IV, who marries King Henry Tudor after her mother made a promise with his in order to protect both of their families. Henry Tudor, though he is both king and enemy of the York dynasty which he overthrew to take the throne, is the most desirable prize for Elizabeth Woodville, the princess' mother, because he is the only way that her descendants can ever reach inherit her husband's crown. He is also a pawn for his own mother, Margaret Stanley (nee Beaufort) because she is unable, as a woman, to rule the country herself and so she desires to rule through him. It is thanks to her associations, marriages, blood status, and manipulation (read possible murder of York princes) that her son is ever a

[Warning: Contains spoilers] At first glance, Peter Parker is your average teenager. Yet, underneath that nerdy façade lies the heart of a hero with and powers contracted from a spider bite (which, interestingly, Marvel has chosen not to portray in this round of films). What is interesting about this is that Peter truly does appear to most people as nothing more than a high school student from Queens. Unlike other Avengers -- *cough* Tony *cough* -- Peter does everything he can to hide his identity for the sake of protecting his aunt. This kid, who is equally brilliant, intelligent, and brave, chooses not to let the world know who he is. In fact, he objects to their ever knowing. Let us consider this for one second: Peter fought with the Avengers in a massive and particularly public conflict, and yet he tells NO ONE! Not his aunt, not his best friend...not even the girl he has a crush on who has openly confessed her feelings for his alter ego. And then comes the kicker. Ned, the loy

[Warning: may contain spoilers. If you haven't seen this movie, you've been warned.] For a children's movie, The Boss Baby  does meta fiction pretty well. It is a story told by a young boy (although he is now grown up) about how he got his new brother. But the one thing that runs through his whole tale is the fact that adults never believe childrens' stories. They think that it is all just a result of limitless imagination, and so they never take kids seriously. Yet the movie is intentionally ambiguous about whether Tim's account, even though he is an adult, is true.  It would seem ridiculous to create babies like some kind of assembly-line product and have some babies assigned to work instead of families. Even more ridiculous is the plot to out-cute babies by breeding new the perfect puppy. And yet, in the world of cartoons, this is more than possible.  What leaves you guessing is the fact that Tim and Boss Baby are the only characters who seem to see things this w

Perhaps I don't remember much of the movie after all this time, or perhaps there really was not as much of a deep and impactful message to be gleaned. It was good, but it was nothing to special. Yes, there is the obvious underlying idea that "just because it's what is done does not mean it's what should be done", but I think this is something about which our society has become particularly aware. I do not think that we should still have to be explaining that a few years down the road, but when the film came out this certainly served as a good reminder about all of the less-than-preferable elements engrained in our society. What I have always found most interesting about this movie is the key place it holds in the development of Disney's live-action reboot efforts. Beginning with Maleficent (a retelling more than a reboot) and extending to Beauty and the Beast , the current lineup of reboots follows a progression from recreation to replication. When Maleficent

[Warning: if you have not seen this movie, this post contains spoilers] About Time  is a unique time travel movie because it conceives of and understands time travelling in a new way, at least compared to most other things I've seen. For starters, these men can't go to any time and place whether it be past, present, or future. Instead they can only go back and relive events in their own lives. Following the classic time travel rules, changing key events can alter things dramatically in the future, and this frequently leaves the main character at a crossroads between preventing tragedies in his own life and changing his children. Births are important events, and we learn that travelling beyond that will inevitably cause a different child to be born. But otherwise, small changes don't always have to have big consequences. Time tends to work itself out. Time travel ends up being used, not for altering the past, but for reliving it. The main character, Tim, uses his powers to v

I want to start with a little disclaimer. If you have read my blog before, you may be expecting a review. But I'd like to do more than just tell you what the movie is about and what I thought (the same goes for books). So let's see how this goes this summer. When discussing the movie  The Shack , it is hard to ignore the negative feedback that the book has received. Some people are quite concerned with the depiction of God. They say it is too casual, too familiar, perhaps even too loving (as in not as focussed on justice, sin, right and wrong). But these people are forgetting a few important things. One, this is a work of fiction. While it feels like it could (or should) be a true story, and resonates with certain real incidents, it is in fact a fictional story that is meant to demonstrate how God can work in the lives of individuals. Are we to believe that God will manifest himself as a black woman who cooks for us, a young carpenter, or an Asian girl who likes to garden?

Aside from having my favourite cover in the whole series, The Kingmaker's Daughter  provides an alternate interpretation of many of the events in The White Queen , this time told by the young Anne Neville. Despite her opposition to Elizabeth, Anne was a character I liked (perhaps because of the tv show more than the other novel). She was not her daddy's chosen one or the court favourite, and she never expected to be queen, but she was strong and reasonable. Her fight was always quiet and solitary, yet she stood by her sister through all of the hardships that Lord Warwick forced upon them. She was loyal to her family no matter how they treated her. Anne was a pawn in everyone else's game and yet she remained steadfast in her belief that she could be more than the silly girl that others saw her as. Unfortunately, I'm not sure this portrayal of her totally did her justice. Yes, she was all of the things I just said. Yet she was also paranoid and easily persuaded, whic

I grew up watching old Wonder Woman  reruns with my mom and my sister after school. I don't remember much besides the invisible plane (a plastic model with Barbie dolls inside, hanging in front of a cloud background) and Diana's rather obvious disguise, but I know that we always had fun watching together. So, of course, when the new Wonder Woman movie was announced my mom immediately made my sister and I promise that we would go see it together. The trailers looked very promising, but the awful experience of watching Batman v. Superman  had me worried. In the end, I was pleasantly surprised by the film. The plot was good; it had all of the right drama and intrigue, and made sure not to take itself too seriously. There were, as with all good movies, moments of comedy, romance, action, tension, and cinematic beauty. The classic good versus evil narrative structure that defines the superhero genre was used well, one might even say cleverly because the enemy remains faceless, in a

The Lady of the Rivers is Philippa Gregory's most family-focused book in the Cousin's War series. Like the other installments, the story of Jacquetta Woodville is one of female empowerment and ambition. However, the role of love in this narrative is far more important than status and success. In most of the books, the women are mainly concerned with love, but there are questions raised through Gregory's telling as to whether these ladies were motivated by the potential of a royal status as well. Jacquetta, on the other hand, is a member of the French nobility who is married off to the brother of Henry V for her family's advantage. The deal works out well enough for her, yet she gives up her reputation and status to marry the love of her love, Richard Woodville, who was chamberlain to her first husband. Gregory interprets Jacquetta as a noblewoman who wanted nothing more than success for her children, love, and a peaceful life with her family. The number of Woodvill

Approaching New Year's Eve, I had no specific resolutions in mind. I set a few simple goals for myself: spend more quiet time with God, make more time for friends, learn to be bolder, and live in a way that sets me apart so that others may know that I am a child of God. This past week I have read other people's resolutions and intentions. I've also done a lot of reflecting on my past year and what I want this year. What I have come to realize is that I don't want to set a goal for my life. My year should not be evaluated solely by my success or failure in achieving said goal. Rather, I would like to define my year with a phrase, a focus, a feeling: love. As human beings, the thing we crave most is love. I know that I am loved by those whom I love, but I want to work harder at building these relationships and demonstrating my love to others. I want to learn to be content without romantic love, but I also want to work harder at understanding what such love looks like prac

The last instalment of the Pirates of the Caribbean  franchise was a bit of a full-circle moment in many ways, especially for my friends and me. "In what ways?" you might ask. Well, for one, my best friend introduced me to the franchise when we were 10 and we desperately wanted to become pirates. I attribute my longing for adventure to these movies. I distinctly remember that many of our birthday parties (especially my bff's) revolved around pirate themes, had pirate cakes, or consisted of our little group going to the theatre to see the latest Pirates  film. We went to see Dead Men Tell No Tales  as a spur-of-the-moment thing for my best friend's birthday this summer - and as we've been moving into new phases in our lives, it felt right that the franchise was also wrapping up. In terms of the movie itself, the original characters all returned, and their stories were finally happily resolved. The proper young girl in love with the adventurous young man of pirating