Is Divergent Worth It? (short answer: nope)

I am the most likely the only teenager who does not enjoy the Divergent franchise.  I find it tacky and ridiculous.  The books lack character development and decent writing.  I also became rather bored with the halfhearted story lines.  This boredom haunted me again when I was dragged to the Divergent movie over the weekend.  Before I entered the theater, I had hope.  I had hope that the screenwriters would find a way to reconstruct Veronica Roth's characters and ideas so that they would be, put bluntly, good.  All I was hoping for was good, not even great.  

The film I ended up watching barely scratched my optimistic expectations.  The acting was mediocre at its best- what the cast possessed in good looks was apparently overcompensation for skill (coughcoughTheoJamescoughcough- yes he was attractive, no he was not a good thesp).  The performances did not feel genuine.  Perhaps this was partially the fault of poor characterization that was carried over from the (inappropriately and needlessly) popular series.

The main character, Tris, was sightly less of a drag in the movie than she was in the books (thank you Shailene Woodley). Nonetheless, I soon tired of her.  And Tris and Four had very, very minimal onscreen chemistry.  Not that they seemed to have any in the books.  I personally find the relationship between Four and Tris to be somewhat alarming. The following is an actual quote from Divergent: 
"'My first instinct is to push you until you break, just to see how hard I have to press.'" he says, his fingers squeezing at the word break. My body tenses at the edge in his voice, so I am coiled as tight as a spring, and I forget to breathe." 
So, this older boy is holding a sixteen year old girl and telling her how much he desires to snap her in half.  Naturally, she is extremely attracted to him and they have a totally healthy relationship. Also, if you've read the books, you've probably noticed that Tris talks a lot about her breathing and her enduring struggle to do so. 

Also: I cannot be the only one who finds the entire premise of the books to be ridiculous.  Being Divergent simply means that you can have multiple personality traits.  A person can be- get this- both honest and selfless.  Or both reckless and smart. Mind blowing. Being Divergent is really an innovative conecept.

Although Divergent did a decent job delivering thrills, when the knives stopped flying the movie became dull.  I specifically remember fishing my phone out at one point to see how much longer I had to sit through the movie (alas, I was only halfway done). Cue the yawns.

As the only teenager alive with common sense when it comes to Divergent, I urge you, kind world citizen and potential movie-goer, to skip this film.  If two roads (leading to different theaters) diverge, choose the road not taken and avoid Divergent.
(That was a Robert Frost joke, by the way. Deliberate humor. ANOTHER thing the film lacked. Although there was a good deal of unintentional humor.)

Happy 2014!

Happy New Year all!!!
I know you're supposed to live the first day of the new year the way you want to live the rest of that year.  I am spending the day in pajamas while watching pirated television and procrastinating on work while dreading school tomorrow. Not how I plan on spending 2014.  Anyways, I hope you make your year absolutely WONDERFUL and kick all the habits you want to and start the routines you've been saying you would and basically have a really great 2014!

Thoughts on Like Crazy

I just found this in my drafts- I wrote this a few weeks ago but, being the scatterbrained human I am, somehow forgot to publish it.  Here it is now!


To get a basic summary of Like Crazy, watch this trailer:

Here's what I thought about the film:
I was looking for a feel-good film and this did not fit that description. However, I am very glad that I did see it because although it made me feel all sad and sort of empty inside it was also very beautiful.

The movie was bittersweet, as it had uplifting and happy moments that had me smiling and feeling urges to go hug strangers on the street intertwined with scenes that made me want to weep and throw whatever I was currently snacking on at my TV screen while singing the Anne Hathaway version of I Dreamed a Dream.

The movie has such a simple premise and an extremely small budget, yet a Sundance Festival-winning film came out of it through the strong performances and the excellent way that it was shot and put together. Felicity Jones stood out in particular to me.  She managed to portray vulnerability and eagerness and aspiration in a way that not many actresses could pull off.

I did not know this until after watching it, but the script was extremely minimalistic and the vast majority of the film dialogue was improvised. Wow.

This movie will not make you sob your heart out, although it is emotional.  It will not make you elated, although its lighthearted moments may inspire and touch you. I do definitely recommend Like Crazy so long as you do not make my mistake and expect a simple feel-good movie- it's much more complex and better than that.

"I thought I understood it, that I could grasp it. But I didn't, not really. Only the smudgeness of it; the pink-slippered, all-containered, semi-precious eagerness of it. I didn't realize it would sometimes be more than whole, that the wholeness was a rather luxurious idea. Because it's the halves that halve you in half. I didn't know, don't know, about the in-between bits; the gory bits of you, and the gory bits of me."  -Anna, Like Crazy 

A Sunday in Photos

Some pretty things to soften your day

Click on a pretty picture for a pretty song.

Soufflé Sunday

Hello all! Posts have been too infrequent recently, my apologies.

Today I made a soufflé. I just thought I'd share that.

This decision was partially inspired by my geeky passion for Doctor Who.  The most recent companion, Clara, has the untheatrical title of Soufflé Girl (in addition, of course, to the melodramatic Impossible Girl).  I like Clara quite a bit, possibly even more than- dare I say it?- Amy Pond (there, I said it. Sorry Amy). Clara's penchant for soufflés has puzzled me slightly: Why is she so obsessed with them? Until this afternoon I had never made or tasted this particular dish before.  I was also very hungry and unsure of what to make for lunch.  I then set off on a culinary escapade to satisfy my hunger and discover what a soufflé exactly was!

Turns out soufflés require a lot of work.  It took me a solid half hour or so to create the soufflé mixture. The process was very fun, what with juggling the various components before eventually combining them all to form the mixture.  I really enjoy baking by myself because it's so relaxing (following a recipe doesn't exactly require much brain activity) but in a productive way. 

This was my result.  

Not as puffy or pretty as the pictures on the internet.  Aesthetically satisfying enough though. More yellow than I had expected. And it tasted rather good as well.  

So, there I have it.  I now know exactly what a soufflé is.  And I just wrote an entire post on what I made myself for lunch.

Banned Books Week

Hello everybody! Today concludes the week to celebrate our intellectual freedoms and read banned books. I for one am working my way through The Golden Compass, which has been banned and challenged frequently for its religious content.
How have you been celebrating? What are your favorite controversial works? Here are a few of my most beloved:

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky since its publication has been banned and challenged regularly for obvious (once you've read the novel) but not acceptable reasons (drugs, alcohol, sex, depression, smoking, abortion, relationship abuse). These are all subjects teens will encounter growing up; by censoring literature that depicts this nothing is being gained.

The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling, often banned for witchcraft by some extremely unimaginative individuals.  These are the most frequently challenged/banned books of all time!

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee for racism, strong language

Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson is often censored for themes of death and Satanism

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card for one instance of strong language and supposed sexual themes that either do not exist or are very cleverly hidden

Looking For Alaska by John Green banned for (again) some obvious but not excusable reasons.  Things shouldn't be censored just because they contain material already available to teens through culture (also, congratulations to John for making the Top Ten list of banned books for the year!)

In The Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak again for these supposed sexual themes and for illustrated nudity. Yes, this the classic children's book we all know and love.  Who knows, maybe it is as terribly explicit as it has been accused of being.

I also found out that Of Mice and Men is frequently banned as well but I am not too concerned as I despised every word of it. Sorry John Steinbeck. 

One common thread that these censored books all share is their honesty.  I think that the people who complain so adamantly about these works are trying to shelter their readers from whatever truths are expressed in the books.  What they don't realize is that by being exposed to these books they are safely able to explore these topics, and maybe be able to apply what they find to their own worlds. 

I think J.K. Rowling does a nice job of summarizing the reverse effects of censorship in Order of the Phoenix when a magazine containing a certain article becomes banned from Hogwarts.  Hermione is thrilled, telling Harry "If she could have done one thing to make absolutely sure that every single person in this school will read your interview, it was banning it!"