For Jose (Joey) Valdez

A boy died last week.

A 15 year-old boy died needlessly and now his parents are tormented with nightmares and what-if scenarios.

A boy died because people in his life, at his school, told him mean horrible things, bullied and harassed him endlessly.

A boy died because depression lied to him, told him he wasn't good enough, that he wasn't worth it. And he listened.

A boy died because..... God knows why.

That boy was Jose Valdez (Joey). This boy was a very good friend's God son. I'd met him a handful of times, saw his smiling face at birthday parties and barbeques. While I didn't know much about him, I'm heartbroken by his loss. His family and all of those people that loved him are left wondering why. And sadly there's no real answer. For whatever reason, he felt he he should take it upon himself not to be here anymore.

Way back when, I wrote a post about Amanda Todd, a girl I never knew who took her own life because the bullying was so bad she felt like escape was the only thing. But then I didn't do anything. Back in September at the start of the school year, Robbie Cox and bevy of other bloggers and authors did a Bloggers Against Bullies blog campaign and while I wanted to participate, I decided against it. I could give you several excuses, but none of them are worth listening to. But when that campaign rolls around next year, you can bet I will be participating, for Joey. For all of the upset, depressed kids who we've lost before or are on the verge of losing.

This can be prevented, and should. It starts with talking to your child, talking to every child about the very real harm that can be done by just a few snickering jokes, planned pranks, tiny shoves. It starts with listening to the harm being done, even if that child won't talk. We have to coax it out of them so they can get the help they need.

Sadly it's too late for Joey. But it's not too late to do something real and significant to help his family and friends. His friends (especially his God-mother and dear friend Maria Lizeth Martinez) are trying to raise money for the funeral costs. Got a few dollars to spare? Please go to Joey's GofundMe page and contribute.Want a t-shirt so people see the face and remember the name and know how much more work their is to be done to save kids like Joey?  Buy a T-shirt. In Northern California? Well there's several fundraisers you can attend. Just check Maria's facebook page for details.

Can't contribute monetarily? Signal boost. Post it on your facebook walls, post it on twitter, hit all the social media websites. Get people to listen. Make them understand. Take it to our school boards and see if we can't shore up anti-bullying policies and education. Take it to our local and state government, let's go national. It has to stop. Wouldn't it be an incredible legacy if somehow we made it stop with Joey?

Random conversations sparked by the 100 All-Time greatest issue of EW: Part 2, the TV edition

So, I was reading the letters to the editor section for the next EW issue after the 100 greatest issue, and after reading letter after indignant letter, I'm aware that my husband and I weren't the only people left seething about the their lists. It's not like I was surprised or anything, but it still does the heart good to know that people were as annoyed as we were by their lists.

The interesting part though is if you think Fighting Nun was indignant after the movie portion, you ain't seen nothing yet. Apparently, the TV list made him see red in ways I could not foresee.

Fighting Nun: The Wire is number 1? Who watched The Wire?
Bloody Munchkin: A bunch of people who weren't us? I don't know. It has a pretty devoted fan base.
Fighting Nun: But then its listed in their best drama list and their 10 greatest cult classics? No, that's some bull crap. You can be one or the other not both. By the standard definition of Cult classic, Dr. Who should've top it.
Bloody Munchkin: Yeah, that does seem a bit odd.
Fighting Nun: All in the Family is #6! Are you kidding me? All in the Family?!?! Archie Bunker's racist ass gets under the ten spot and The Cosby Show was 16? Have they lost their minds? Did they even have it to begin with? What is wrong with these dickweeds?
Bloody Munchkin, reaching: I don't know, I guess it appealed to people....
Fighting Nun: And Honeymooners is in the top twenty? That show was only one for a year and was completely boring and it is among the top twenty television shows of all time?
Bloody Munchkin: I don't know. To the Moon Alice was relatable I guess?
Fighting Nun: To who wifebeaters and the codependents that love them?
Bloody Munchkin: I guess so.
Fighting Nun: And the Golden Girls?
Bloody Munchkin: Don't you be talking shit about my Golden Girls. Many a babysitter spent nights learning comic timing from Dorthy Zbornak. You leave her out of this.
Fighting Nun: Fine, but onto my next question, how can shows like Twin Peaks, and My So-Called Life...
Bloody Munchkin: Oh Jesus, here we go again with My So-Called Life...
Fighting Nun (ignores me): And Freaks and Geeks....
Bloody Munchkin: And.... here we go with Freaks and Geeks again....
Fighting Nun (continues to ignore me): How can shows with only one season possibly be on the list?
Bloody Munchkin: Devoted fans?
Fighting Nun: Some small set of rabid fans does not merit a place in the top 100. How did these shows get on? And while I'm at it, how the hell do series that are A) either still on TV or have just finished their runs or b) a series that finished within the last five years on this list. Isn't there some sort of mandatory waiting period shows have to adhere to before they get indoctrinated.  Homeland, Mad Men and Friday Night Lights should be expunged from the list until we've had at least a decade to decide if its good or not in retrospect.
Bloody Munchkin: But you love Breaking Bad and that's pretty high up on the list.
Fighting Nun: Ok, I'll agree with that, but there is no reason absolutely none while Sanford and Sons should be on the list.

Random conversations sparked by the 100 All-Time greatest issue of EW: Part 1

There are certain rules that remain true in all situations but none more important than this: If you ever want to get Fighting Nun's Irish up in any given situation, hand him a 'definitive list of something'. He will become filled with the steamiest hot air and will have to argue said list until every avenue of said list's wrongness has been explored and every point has been thoroughly riddled with enough holes as to make it completely implausible. I'd forgotten this rule until just recently, when I went rifling through this issue (yes, I know I'm like four or five issues behind. I'm perpetually four or five issues behind. That is my cross to bare. Shut up.)

The following random conversations that have transpired simply because this issue was at the top of the reading pile in the bathroom (sorry, TMI, but it maybe helpful for scene setting. Just sayin').

Fighting Nun, looking at the 10 greatest family movies of all time list: Toy Story is number 2? I mean it was good, but I don't think it was #2 worthy. Bambi at #1 I get, Thumper, his mom died. I can get behind that. But Toy Story. Hold on The Sound of Music is #3? What? How?

Bloody Munchkin: You know, I've never seen The Sound of Music.

Fighting Nun: What? What kind of hippie communist wierdo did I marry? You've never seen The Sound of Music? Doe a deer a female deer. You never knew where that came from?

Bloody Munchkin: I knew where it came from. Doesn't mean I've sat through it all the way through. Pop culture has given me the Cliff's Notes on that.

Fighting Nun: But the hill twirling and the Von Tramp children. You need to see The Sound of Music. I mean, I thoroughly dislike that movie, but you still have to see it.

Bloody Munchkin: Never mind that, we need to figure out how Fox and the Hound didn't make that list.

Fighting Nun: I never saw Fox and the Hound.

Bloody Munchkin: What? Who's the hippie communist now?

Fighting Nun: Fox and the Hound isn't on this list, so that makes your point moot. Also, what the hell is the Red Balloon. New rule. If people like me haven't seen it, it shouldn't be on this list. Red Ballon should be stricken from this list.

Bloody Munchkin: I'll call EW right away.

Fighting Nun: And while you're at it, have them explain to me how Old Yeller didn't make the cut but some bullshit like National Velvet did. Also one I haven't seen.

Bloody Munchkin: Okay, I agree with you on The Red Balloon, but I draw the line at National Velvet. Elizabeth Taylor and a horse trying to fulfill their dreams. That shit was awesome and life affirming and heartwarming and perfect.

 Fighting Nun: Fine, but at the very least you have to agree that Mary Poppins deserved that tenth spot and Spirited Away should be stricken from the list completely.

Bloody Munchkin: Critics have come down hard on the Poppins in the intervening years as being too weird and schticky and just because you stopped watching Anime after Dragon Ball Z doesn't mean there isn't anime made with some sort of merit in the intervening years.

Fighting Nun: Ok, but Shrek.

Bloody Munchkin: Oh no, I get you. No Shrek. I agree.

And that folks, is just the first conversation of many this issue has sparked. I'm sure you're eagerly anticipating other installments. You're welcome.

Adventures at the DMV

I had to go to the DMV this morning to get my driver's license  renewed. The following conversation took place afterward.

Fighting Nun: Hold on, you're back home already?
Bloody Munchkin: Hey nobody's more surprised than me that I'm not still at the DMV.
FN: How'd you manage that one?
BM: All I can say is setting up that appointment like a month ago worked like gang busters.
FB: So they issued you a new license?
BM: Well I have a temporary one. The new one will be mailed to me in like three weeks.
FN: So you'll finally have a new driver's license with a photo on it where you don't look stoned or drunk or homeless,  or a combination of all three like you did in your last one?
BM: I wouldn't got that far. I saw the proof and I can't rule any of those out definatively.
FN: Now we talked about this. You had rules this time. No t-shirt and jeans, you had to commit to actually doing your hair this time.
BM: Oh no, I did all of that, I put make-up on even.
FN (Sound of a gasp on the other end of the line): You did?
BM: I did. But I don't think even that could've saved the picture.
FN: You didn't Pterodactyl it did you?
BM: No, for once. But I did that other thing that I do where I'm holding the smile for too long and it goes from pretty to constipated.
FN: That's not good.
BM: No it's not. All I can really say to defend myself is that its like the opening credits of Freaks and Geeks, you know where Sam Weir is waiting for the damn flash with his smile and then his face falls because he's waited too long and then he's got no choice but to hand out crappy 9th grade photos of himself?

FN: Oooookay. Well, at least you're home.
BM: Yeah, thanks for that.

Worried for My Daughter's Future

So this morning, I watched this movie called Beware the Gonzo. I had started it a few weeks ago, but finally got around to watching the rest so I could clear it off my DVR. The movie is mostly forgettable, but you know me and my high school movies. I am compelled to watch them at least once. I wish it were better. I mean, Campbell Scott and Amy Sedaris are both in it and yet are given hardly anything to do. Ezra Miller is Ezra Miller playing Ezra Miller but admirably. Jesse McCartney, Ugh.

But I don't want to review the movie, not really. There's a scene with Zoe Kravitz that struck a nerve with me. It's basically a cell-phone video of her character right after she had been essentially gang raped. She's humiliated and the humiliation is caught on video. I shuddered, not because of it being graphic, but because I was holding my daughter at that moment and I thought about her and how utterly I am worried that something like that could happen to her. It's terrifying.

Also terrifying is the idea that my daughter could end up like Amanda Todd:



If you haven't seen it, watch it. The ever amazing warrior/writer Lorna Suzuki tweeted it last week and it hasn't stopped shattering my world. For those faint of heart, I'll recap. The video features Amanda Todd, some time before she committed suicide, explaining in detail, one scrap of paper at a time the type of torture she's had to endure at the hands of bullies. It ranged from cyber-bullying to flat out physical abuse and beatings by her bullies. It was something she felt she couldn't face any longer and that's utterly heartbreaking.

What's more heartbreaking is how persistent bullying can be at this day and age. Yes, I was bullied and absolutely hated junior high and high school, but then I got to go home and at least I was in a safe environment and could compartmentalize. Now, thanks to social media, that bullying can follow the kids home and can continue to follow them through their years. Now some drunken mistake could be posted on the internet and never be taken down, or somebody starts a hate blog about another kid, or some text involving something sexually explicit supposed to stay between two people doesn't and it ends up haunting and torturing these kids for a long long time. Kids today have a lot more to deal with, especially on this level than I ever did. And who knows what my daughter is going to face when she reaches puberty. She could come out relatively unscathed, or she could have a slight lapse in judgement and there could be a video like the one in the movie, or worse, she could end up like Amanda.

In the same movie I mentioned at the end Zoe's character says that the she's tired of being a victim and she's not going to let that video the fact that it's out in the world control her. That was a very powerful statement and one I'm glad she made. But the very next scene undercuts the entire sentiment. The scene featured a character named disgustingly enough Horny Rob Becker. He's showing a friend (Ezra's character) a video he uploaded to the internet of him having a three way that he said "was [him] communicating with god." It's totally barf inducing and it's totally the thing I thought the movie was partially standing against. In putting that video out to the world, he exploited the other girls in the video. This message that maybe, just maybe we shouldn't be video taping this sort of thing and exploiting and humiliating these girls was completely thrown out the door in that one scene.

We need to be talking about this more, as a society. We need to be telling girls that people will do this sort of thing and have no guilt about it whatsoever. We need to be talking about how prevalent bullying and humiliation have become with teenagers and come up with constructive methods for dealing with it.

As for me, all I can do is try to arm my daughter appropriately when the time comes and tell her that not everyone has her best interests at heart. I guess I can always buy her The Gift of Fear and force her to read it. But unfortunately this is something I have to prepare myself and her for. I hope for a brighter future, especially in regarding to this, but I'm preparing for a lot messier one.

Helping Hands

via

If you've lurked around here for any period of time or if you just look at my my blog archive timeline you'll notice I go MIA for big chunks of time. There's a lot of reasons for that. For one I have a lazy streak a mile long, for another I have a full time job, a daughter and husband that keep me plenty busy. But sometimes it boils down to something else, something a little more sinister. I can sometimes succumb to long periods of being down in the dumps. From the time my son coded in the car, up to and definitely for a long time after he passed away I spiraled down into my own depression. It could've been a lot uglier, but it wasn't pretty. I started going to therapy and working myself out of it. I was never officially diagnosed and I'm not seeking medication or therapy for it any longer.

For the most part, I manage it. I'm able to see the silver lining around those low hanging clouds. That silver lining is there in my daughter's giggle or my husband's crack comic timing and I can and do enjoy life on a daily basis. But sometimes it rears its ugly head in ways I'm keeping hidden from people around me and especially from myself. Sometimes I hit a low spot without even noticing it.

It happened the other day and it took just a little word of kindness for me to identify it for what it was and start digging my way out again. It was a simple acknowledgement of something being out of place by someone who cared enough to straighten me out and it doesn't seem like much but in fact it was huge. (Thanks again Jason. I might be thanking you a  lot.)

The topic of mental illness has come up a lot lately in my mind. I've been reading a lot about mental illness on Laura Zera's blog, and having discussions about it with family, and obviously having my own mental health battles. What I'm coming to realize is that a little concern goes a long ways in helping. Just voicing some concern in someone's life who may be struggling with a mental illness or who has someone in their life dealing with mental illness goes a long way. Voicing concern to any one going through a difficult time mental illness or not goes a long way. I know we all get busy and forget to reach out to the important people around us and just see how their doing. But imagine how better off we'd all be if we just reached out every once in awhile to people and find out how they are. I know it did me a world of good. (Thanks again Jason. Told you I'd be thanking you a lot.)

An especially unimportant rant regarding the latest Supernatural episode

So, apparently the most recent episode of Supernatural bugged me enough that I went on a tirade last night to my husband, while running, which is a feat in and of itself. Said tirade bares repeating.

Bloody Munchkin: So I have a bone to pick regarding Supernatural.
Fighting Nun: We've already talked about the flashbacks!
BM: No not the flashbacks.
FN: Ok then. What about it?
BM: Kermit TX!
FN: What's wrong with Kermit TX?
BM: That they mentioned Kermit TX! This is the second or third show in recent memory* that has used Kermit TX in any kind of capacity and it pisses me off every time they do! (This may take some explaining. I grew up in a town (THAT SHALL REMAIN NAMELESS!) that wasn't Kermit, but was very close to Kermit, thus making Kermit kind of my running grounds. Where I grew up, you had to drive an hour to get to the nearest Wal-mart, the nearest decent mall was an hour and a half away and so basically anything within a two hour driving distance of my hometown is basically home turf. I visited a friend in Kermit like every other weekend of my teenaged life. I had a very serious high school boyfriend from Kermit. I would drive to Kermit just to get my Sonic fix. I am very territorial about said town and its surrounding environment that I get uppity when said turf is featured in pop culture. If you feature my little neck of woods, freaking do it right).
FN: But they are featuring Kermit! What, are you like Romney and suddenly hate Sesame  Street and Big Bird and Kermit now too!
BM: Don't bring Romney into this! And don't invoke Sesame Street! You know I love Sesame Street!
FN: So what's your problem?
BM: That they mentioned Kermit TX but that it wasn't the real Kermit TX. And don't tell me they did. They picked some random house in Toronto or Vancouver or wherever the hell Canada and called it Kermit TX, but if they are going to find some backwoodsy house and call it Kermit, they might as well film in Kermit TX, that's as desolate and remote as they come!
FN: So your problem with a show about two people fighting demons, vampires, and other wackadoo creatures is that there isn't enough location realism?
BM: Yes!  God yes. And another thing? Kermit does not have a veterinary clinic. You need your cat fixed, go to Odessa.
FN: Didn't have a veterinary clinic. You haven't been there in what? A Decade plus? They could have one now.
BM: OK good point, but if it did I seriously doubt it would be occupied by the world's hottest veterinarian.
FN: So what, Sam was supposed to fall for an overweight fifty year old with a hump.
BM: Yes! At least then I'd know for sure Kermit was represented properly!

[* Ed. Note: The one other instance that sticks out in my mind was from Heroes. Hayden's character goes from Midland to Kermit. For the record, their representation of Kermit didn't feel right either. I think there is one more, but I can't quite remember from where.]

 

A few more conversations tangentially about Coma

So we watched part two of Coma last night and had a few more random conversations involving the show.

Fighting Nun: So James Woods isn't the bad guy?
Bloody Munchkin: I know, right?!? Surprising! Also, beware the Garbage Truck of Doom, James Woods, beware the Garbage Truck of Doom.

Later On....
Fighting Nun: Oh, Dreyfuss.
Bloody Munchkin: Should've known. If not Woods, then Dreyfuss. I feel there's some sort of math equation in there: If Both Woods and Dreyfuss are in a project and one isn't the bad guy, always assume the other is, or something.

And a little later:

Bloody Munchkin: I am Ellen Burstyn! Fear me and my hypodermic needle of death!

Other things that I found out by watching the show. Micheal Weston is never not going to give me the heebie-jeebies. Ever since that one episode of Six Feet Under where he kidnaps the brother and takes him on a drug-fueled rampage, he scares the living bejesus out of me. I know in this show his character was meant to freak people out, so the casting director did a spot on job. Mission Accomplished, good sir or madam. I couldn't not shudder every time he was on screen, and using a microphone to announce your murdering of someone? Who does that?

Also this show may not have killed off little Joe Mazzello, but they made him and his story line, or lack thereof boooooooring. If this actually gets picked up, he better be given more to do. But don't kill him off or I will rampage. That's all I'm saying. 

Two conversations tangentially involving the episode of Coma we watched last night

So, my still prevalent Lauren Ambrose girl crush (which dates all the way back to Can't Hardly Wait, for those of you wondering) compelled me to watch Coma last night and because of this, some weird conversations arose that are sort of but not totally related. Enjoy! 

Conversation 1:
Bloody Munchkin, Watching Fletch on cable while wrangling the little munchkin: Morning
Fighting Nun, walking down the stairs: Is that Geena Davis? Are we just going to make it Geena Davis week?
Bloody Munchkin: Why yes! I fully intend to find Earth Girls Are Easy followed by Thelma & Louise and if the cable gods are with me, Beetlejuice.
Fighting Nun: Ok, then.

Conversation 2:
Fighting Nun, out of nowhere while feeding baby: James Woods is bad right? Because James Woods is always bad, even on Family Guy, so he's bad right?
Bloody Munchkin:  Well, yes, history implies that. There was that one show, Shark I think, where he was a good buy but it didn't even last a full season* because, well James Woods is the bad guy.
Fighting Nun: Just so we're clear.
Bloody Munchkin: But what I really want to know is how conflicted are you that the awesome black cop dude from Speed looks like he's playing an eeeeeevil doctor?
Fighting Nun: Who?
Bloody Munchkin: Not very conflicted apparantly.
*IMDB corrected me. Shark lasted two seasons, which WTF? How, because that show looked really stupid. Guess I don't know my James Woods roles like I thought I did.

I would've launched into a rant about how protective I am over Joseph Mazzello ever since he was in The Cure (God, I miss Renfro, sniff) because he was an adorable kid with AIDS and I just wanted to put him in my pocket and keep him safe and how The Pacific took that feeling and turned it up to 11, because here's this adorable kid who is now a young adult and he's in a war! A big bad war and if they killed him off in that miniseries I was going to rampage! Rampage! But they didn't so I was OK, but if they kill him off in this miniseries I will most definitely rampage! Protect Joseph Mazzello from harm at all costs people!!!! But I didn't have to rant about that while I was making coffee. So this is what you get.

An open letter to the world from my uterus

Dear World;

Thank you for your multiple inquiries into my current employment status. No, I am currently not taking on any nine month projects at the present time nor do I plan on accepting any roles as an incubator in the near future. I am weighing my options presently and I will get back to you if the opportunity presents itself. I appreciate the inquiries but am just not interested. Please stop inquiring about my status or plans for future projects. I would deeply appreciate it.

Sincerely;

The Bloody Munchkin's Uterus

Addendum from the Uterus's owner: I'm serious people. Now that the little munchkin is one, I've had to deal with an onslaught of questions about when I'm going to have the next one. Uhm, how bout 'None of your damned business' is when! Seriously. My uterus is flattered but not interested. Are we all clear?

Bullied Girls, Ears That Stick Out, and Plastic Surgery

So I read this this morning. I also read this (I read this one first).  I wish I had something witty and articulate to say but the best I might be able to do is rantingly all over the place but insightful. When an issue is too personal and also when I haven't chosen a "side" on the issue, my ability to be articulate (which is fleeting at best anyhow) goes out the window.

And the articles, this girl, this whole issue is personal for me. It's not personal in the since that I know this girl, but I do 'know' her because I was her. Every description about the girl, from the too big ears that stuck out, to the relentless taunts I lived. If you were to compare a picture of this girl to me at that same exact age, our ears would've been a match. I had those ears that stuck out way too far and were too big for my head. If you were to compare our experiences at that age, they would've been eerily similar. I was called 'dumbo' on a daily basis, along with Dopey, the stupidest dwarf from Snow White, and I was called a donkey and about a thousand other 'clever' taunts the kids in my school could come up with. Sometimes, when I wore my hair up, some jerks at my school would run past me, flicking or thumping my ears. I was a very sensitive kid and it would make me cry all the time. Everything described about that girl's bullying  I experienced for myself.

I should also mention that 14 was the exact age I first looked into the same surgery she had, otoplasty. I should also mention that because it was elective we would've had to pay for the surgery out of pocket and because it was what I considered at the time to be way too expensive, I opted out at the time. In that way I'm a bit different from the girl in the article. I put up with the taunts and the evilness through high school and it did get better.

Based on the picture, do I think she was beautiful just the way she was in the before shot? Yes. Do I think having her nose and chin done at the same time was excessive and unnecessary? Yes. Am I a little grossed out that this non-profit helped get these elective surgeries? Yes, but they sound like they help with a bunch of other facial deformities and given my history with clefts I won't badmouth them.

But I'm not going to preach that she shouldn't have had the operation, the way the Jezebel article tries to say. I won't that she should've stuck it out.  Because I did have the surgery later in life. I was in my early twenties, when I had the income to pay for the procedure myself and also the good sense to know that a) the surgery wasn't a game changer, self-confidence and security wise and b) just because I was changing this one thing did not give me reason to go ahead and change anything and everything else. And I'm glad I had the surgery. I'm glad I made the change, because making that change gave me the ability to forget about my ears. The amount of mental energy and time I wasted, especially when I was a teenager thinking about my ears, making decisions solely based upon my insecurities around my ears, the bad hair choices I made in an effort to hide my ears became a total non-issue after I had the surgery. And can I just say perms are out of the kettle and into the fire as far as hair choices based on ear insecurities is concerned? Yes the big spiral perm I sported between sophomore and junior year did a good job of hiding my ears but but that afro-perm had its own orbit! So not helpful!

My Hair in the 90's.

Ahem. See what I mean about rantingly insightful? Although finding out I had hair that was similar to that new contestant on Project Runway maybe stretching the defintion of insightful, but whatever.

What was I saying again? My point is a) I don't think she would've grown into those ears as the article suggests because I sure as hell didn't b)I am happy for her that she did get it done because now she doesn't have to spend the time I did worrying about her ears, but c) I am a little miffed that she pulled a 'while you're doing that, we might as well go the whole nine yards' thing and got her chin and nose done at the same time. That smacks a leeeeeetle on that side of the line of body dysmorphic disorder and that is definitely a slippery slope but d) I'm glad she is getting counseling so that she keeps her self-image in check.

I think what I'm saying is that we shouldn't be too hard on these sort of decisions and make it a capital c Case about the state of teenagers' self image and Oh My God the Horror that she should feel good about herself now. Yes, now that her ears are taken care of, she's going to move on to feeling insecure about other things. But she's a teenager. That's her birthright.

The Headline in that Jezebel article just pisses me off a tad. "Is heartbreakingly thrilled". You know what. She's allowed to be. I was too when my ears were revealed. She's allowed! Now leave her alone and let her be a teenager.

I put the rant in rantingly insightful don't I?

Casting Notes: The Hunger Games

The problem with handicapping The Cast of the Hunger Games vs. the characters in the book is that coming into the book, I already knew most of the people cast for the movie, so I couldn’t not imagine them in those roles. I mean I saw the trailer dozens of times before I read the book so I saw Josh Hutcherson as Peeta Malark coming. But still I think there’s something to be gained in figuring out how close or far the movie came to getting these characters right, at least as far as I'm concerned.

I’ll be using the IMDB casting information as reference, just an FYI.

Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen – I sort of remember the chatter being that Abigail Bresilin was up for the part and that, to my mind, would’ve been a complete miscast. Other than X-Men: First Class, I haven’t really seen Jennifer Lawrence in anything. Yes I’m sorry I missed Winter’s Bone. I promise I’ll watch it on cable. Get off my back. But the character needed a hardness and an edge that I think Lawrence has. It’s the way she is in that trailer that proves to me that she can nail the character pretty solidly. Casting Ranking A-

Josh Hutcherson as Peeta Mellark – Here’s the thing. Peeta goes through Hell ya’ll. I mean through the first book all the way through the third book, they torture that character like nobody's business. I have been following Josh Hutcherson’s career since Little Manhattan and Zathura. And yes, his career has had a few missteps and pitfalls (Yes I consider Cirque Du Freak a misstep. Sue me.) but he’s still interesting to watch. I am not entirely comfortable with that tiny kid I knew getting his first kiss in Little Manhattan going through that kind of torture. He was all little and adorable and he can’t be all grown up and forced to go through torturous things that Peeta went through in the books. Odd reasoning on my part? Sure. But that’s the reason I’m not entirely sold in this casting choice. Casting Ranking B+

 

Elizabeth Banks as Effie Trinket – I… don’t get it. I just don’t. I mean I like Elizabeth Banks fine. I think she’s a great actress, but I just don’t completely see her in this role. Effie is so mannered in such a way that Elizabeth Banks is going to have to shoot for the moon to make the character effective and I just don’t know if she’s got it in her. She looks fine in the trailer but I'm still not buying what she's selling. I’m happy to be proven wrong and she seems to hit the right notes in the trailer, but I still don’t trust it. Casting Ranking B-

Liam Hemsworth as Gale Hawthorne – This is another case of the casting being done for so long and the trailer being so engrained in my subconscious that I really can’t see any one else in the role. He’s strong and hardy in the way that I imagine Gale to be. And even though the only thing I’ve seen him in is The Last Song and I feel OWED by somebody for having spent two hours on that piece of crap (one of these days I’ll write a proper rant about that POS, but today is not that day) he was not the real problem and was fine in the movie. I think he could really shine in this role. We’ll see. Casting Ranking A

Woody Harrelson as Haymitch Abernathy – Again, once I saw the trailer and some of the stills from the movie, Woody Harrelson made complete sense to me for the role. There’s a few difficult scenes in the books as a whole that I’m not completely convinced he can carry, but I’m more than willing to see if he can. Maybe if I can see Rampart before then that will have me completely convinced. We’ll have to see. Casting Ranking A

Wes Bentley as Seneca Crane – Did I miss something or was there not actually a Seneca Crane mentioned by name in the first book? Because I could’ve sworn the first I heard of him is once he was killed off in the second book. Which, if I’m correct and not totally off my rocker, means the movie created a character just for Wes Bentley, which I’m not complaining about. Hmmmm, let’s see, create a character for the sole purpose of having Wes Bentley in a movie or not right the character and not have Wes Bentley in it at all? I will always, always bet on the former, period. I mean It’s mother-effing Wes Bentley. Since when is he a bad idea? Looking over his C.V., I realize I’m missing a lot of his movies, which I will try and remedy, but he always makes an impression. I mean P2 come on! And I kinda want to see Gone just to confirm my suspicions that he’s the bad guy, because he makes a great bad guy! Casting Ranking A+ (It’s Wes Bentley! I mean come on!).

Willow Shields as Primrose Everdeen – Judging by the trailer I think this girl is decently cast and don’t have much to say on the choice. I think she’ll do great. Casting Ranking A

Stanley Tucci as Caesar Flickerman – Saw the trailer, saw him coming. Think he’s great for the role. The only other thing I have to add is for some reason Caesar Flickerman and Gamesmaster Plutarch kind of melded into the same person in the books for me, so I see him in that role too, and since I’m not sure who is cast as Plutarch, I keep thinking he might show up in the other movies at both characters. I know. Weird. Casting Ranking. A-

Donald Sutherland and President Snow – Let’s face facts shall we, Donald Sutherland is always the right answer. Always. I’d watch the man read a phone book, I’d watch him shovel shit for two hours straight, I’ve listened to those commercials he narrates simply because he’s narrating them. And, here comes the real shocker, I watched both seasons of Dirty Sexy Money and he was fabulous in that series even if that was a bit of turd pile. (See my comment about him shoveling shit.) And based on some of the stuff I’ve read about him and the role, I think he’ll knock it out of the park. He’s studious about the part but I don’t think it’ll come off too studied. He’s awesome and I’m thrilled at the choice. Casting Ranking A++++++

Toby Jones as Claudius Templesmith – Nailed it. He’s what I was thinking of for the part. Casting Ranking A

 

Lenny Kravitz as Cinna – I’ve heard that people thought he was a terrible choice for the role, but I think he’s kind of perfect. The book makes the character out to be someone as someone who is always thinking, that can see the machinations behind the simplest and tiniest of choices, but hides all of that under clothes and a rock star persona and let’s face it. Lenny is that person, period. I think its an imaginative choice that makes a ton of sense. Casting Ranking A-

Book Reviews: The Hunger Games Trilogy

So, over the last week or so I’ve been tearing through The Hunger Games Trilogy. I downloaded all of them onto my Kindle mostly because I had reached a plateau of indifference with The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series and needed a palate cleanser but also because I genuinely wanted to finally find out what all the fuss was about before the movie got released. And I have to say I’m really glad I did.  I’ve decided to review the trilogy as a whole instead of reviewing the books individually, because I’m not sure what I can say about them individually that everyone and their dog hasn’t already said. I also want to do a blog post or multiple posts comparing the movie cast with who I have in my head, which I’ll get to later.

But for now lets deal with the books shall we? I wanted to talk about each book on their own merits, but I think I’d like to talk about the entire story arc instead. The problem I had with the story as a whole that I did not have with the individual books themselves is that I think the series wanted to be two things, it wanted to be about love triangle between three people put in a very difficult situation, which is why it kept putting Katniss in between Gale and Peeta. But it also wanted to be a story about governmental power and how media and entertainment can be perverted and manipulated to control the masses but how it can also be used as a tool of rebellion. Both stories are fine and can be told together, as was shown masterfully by the first two books, but if you can’t figure out how to end both uniformly, which I feel was the case in the third book, just do one.

See, the thing is, I’m still really hung up on the third book for reasons I can’t quite put my finger on. I fell asleep the night after I finished the book, perturbed with how the book  and the series as a whole finished and I woke up the next day just as perturbed for reasons I don’t understand. What I’m coming to figure out is that for the first three-quarters of the book, I was excited because I couldn’t quite tell where the author was going with the story. And then I realized neither did she. Susanne Collins, I truly believe, did not know how to end the story and so she wrote about a million different endings that kept piling onto each other in ways that didn’t make sense.

O.k., I’m about to get really spoilery for quite awhile.  If you haven’t read the third book, stop reading. First of all, the book pissed me off when Prim got killed off because it got rushed to that part. How Prim ended up in the middle of the battle field felt so forced and strange and absurd to everything else that had happened. Having Katniss injured (AGAIN! Seriously, this is some kind of torture porn on par with the abuse The Bride has to take in the Kill Bill series, its almost ridiculous!) and in this weird comatose state didn’t help matters either because it felt inauthentic to the Katniss we’d known throughout the entire series. And then! Pinning the whole bombing back on the leader of the rebel alliance, President Coin, felt even more forced and absurd. The big kicker was assembling the survivors of the games and having them decide if another games should be held, this time with Capitol survivors was so completely craze balls random that I can’t even figure out why it would be there. I mean I get it, but I still don’t get it. And to solve the whole romantic triangle between Katniss, Gale and Peeta by having Katniss and Peeta just sorta… end up together. It felt off. You build these characters up, and explain their reliance and love for each other and then you just let it peter out like that? Really? Like I said, the first three-quarters gave me the feeling that it could’ve ended any number of ways, so for it to end up the way it did just felt like a lot of wasted energy.

I still love the series as a whole, but I feel there could have been some forethought placed on the ending that would’ve put for heft on everything that preceded it. An argument could be made for the ending that is there being more realistic. It’s not as if I thought the Mockingjay would rise to power and start running the government. That really wasn't Katniss's bag from the very beginning. I very much thought she’d end back up in the forest she loved, but not the way she did. Okay, rant done.

So, to be thorough, I give Hunger Games, the first book an A, Catching Fire an A+ and The Mockingjay a solid B. The series a whole, I give a B+ and I’m really super excited for the upcoming movie. Keep it tuned here for my casting analysis for all three books.

The All Star Problem

So I’m watching Project Runway All Stars the other night, and was pretty much underwhelmed by their line up of “All Stars” for a variety of reasons. One, it felt as if some of the contestants brought back on this season weren’t brought back based on the merits of their design skills or craftsmanship but on their infamy. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of talented designers that should’ve won their respective seasons or placed higher than they did (Mondo, Anthony, here’s looking at you!) But, and I’m sorry about this, there’s no way Sweet P, just based on the merits of her work on her season would’ve ever been picked as an all star, and Alyssa…. Good Lawd Child No! When Heidi Klum herself said you made a model look like she was pooping fabric, you’re aesthetic isn’t where it should be, no? She was picked pretty much on the basis of the fact that she was loopy and made for good trashy television. Now, I don’t know that for sure, and haven’t read any insider dirt to back that up, but writing’s on the wall, ain’t it?

But Project Runway isn’t the only one guilty of stunt-casting from previous seasons. Let’s take a minute to talk about America’s Next Top Model All Stars shall we? As a whole, the season was jam packed with stunt-casted past contestants that were … “very polarizing” is the polite term. Perhaps the better term is the bitchiest bitches to have ever bitched in Bitchville? Bianca, Alexandra, Angelea for crying out Freaking loud. Angelea(who if the internet is to be believed, maybe WON the season of the ANTM all stars but she couldn’t keep her big mouth closed, so they ended up re-taping the finale and giving it to Lisa. Like Really?!?! Allison deserved that title damn it! I’m not bitter. What?), based on her modeling skills in her season, was not an All Star, she was a loud mouth who made an impression, and they make for good trashy TV, but unfortunately, not compelling TV.

And I mean, I get why its casted like that. First of all, the ones who are more character than talent are a brand unto themselves. People, whether we want to admit it to ourselves or not, are drawn into basket cases, the loud mouths, the wierdos, the bitches (that has been made plainly obvious by the myriad Real Housewives spin offs. Ha!), because they are easy to box up and digest for our viewing pleasure. We know we’re getting kooky when Alyssa comes on the screen and spits on fabric. We know we’re getting bitchy when Bianca waves her hand in the air and does her patented ‘Oh no you di’in’t’ look for the camera. We want our reality TV populated with the jerks, guidos, bitches, and weirdos also because of how easy it is to judge. My favorite thing on this season of ANTM was snarking on Shannon and Alexandra, because it was easy to be dismissive. The harder thing is to look at the characters for more than what gets shown to us. My husband, God bless him, actually liked Alexandra and rooted for her solely because of how vilified she was by the show and the audience, me included. It’s easy to type cast, and it’s easy to portray certain personality traits when you’re only given an hour of time each week to get to know these people.

I also get the allure of All-Star editions versus casting complete unknowns again. Each person you bring back is their own brand, has their own fan-base or has people eager to watch the season just to see a few familiar faces again. It reawakens a plodding series when it needs a new life. I get all that. But sometimes, it’s still not very compelling.

Yet, there’s still plenty of talent that has been on previous seasons that needs to be given a second chance, that if done correctly, could be very compelling. I encourage you to consider that these shows should do a “first-offs” or ‘rejects’ edition, of people who, either by circumstance, or perhaps they didn’t bring their best selves to the game that day, got kicked off too early before we ever got a chance to know them, really find out what they are about. The best example I have is from Project Runway. The first episode out of the gate was the redo of the grocery store challenge and this one guy made a deranged raincoat/dress out of a shower curtain and some picnic table clothes or some such and you could tell he just didn’t bring his all that day. I’d assume if given the chance, he’d love to redeem himself. I’d love to see him try.

I’m sure a lot of ‘first offs’ would be plenty hungry at another shot to prove themselves. Also, I’m pretty sure there would still be more than your fair share of kooks too. But ask yourselves this, what would you rather see, a bunch of hungry competitors, hoping, praying for another shot to prove themselves or a bunch of bloated ‘all-stars’ stretching out their fifteen minutes. Also, I love the underdog aspect of this idea. Imagine if somebody dumped at the beginning of Project Runway’s season came back to win an entire season? How good would that be? That’s some good redemptive arc right there. AmIright? You know I’m right.