Nearly everyone has seen the 2007 movie Juno. In this movie, teenager Juno McGuff becomes pregnant, and we all know how that happens. But interestingly enough, the movie isn't about the boy and the circumstances leading up to the taboo subject of sex. The movie starts after the sex has happened, and only briefly goes back to it. There is a flashback where Juno is telling the viewers who she had sex with, but nothing is shown: The movie jumps from right before the act back to Juno telling her story. So what does it mean when a movie revolves all around sex, but there's not really any in it?
The movie is all about what results from sex: pregnancy. More specifically, Juno's pregnancy. A teenage girl, still struggling through high school, trying to figure out what she wants, who she likes, has learned that she is with child. If that's not the epitome of stress, I don't know what is. Juno deals with her situation beautifully. She finds a couple to adopt her baby, and throughout her pregnancy she grows up. She learns how hard it is to part with a part of herself, not only her baby, but the girl she left behind when she stumbled upon womanhood.
The suggested sex, which is of course verified by the fact that Juno is pregnant, makes the movie way less about the actual sex, and way more about the struggle that Juno is going through. It shows that Juno is not, in fact, a "tart" who really "gets around," but is a girl who just wasn't careful enough one night, and now must pay the consequences. In my opinion, the movie isn't just about the problem of teenage pregnancy: it is about dealing with what life throws at us, learning to live with the results of the actions we make, and doing so in such a graceful way that we grow and learn from what we've been through. And who said sex couldn't mean more than just sex?
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Monday, July 18, 2011
Chapter 15: Flights of Fancy
When most people relate flight to effects on a story, it is human flight, or flight by some actual character. In the novel The Kite Runner though, I find the flight of the kites to mean something more than just a simple kite flying contest.
1. The first contest we see: Amir and Hassan working together. Amir flies the kite, cutting the strings of other fliers' prized weapons, and Hassan assists while waiting for the final competitor to be cut down. He is the kite runner, the one who chases the trophy down. But back to the point. Amir and his father differ greatly. They often do not get along, and hardly ever see eye to eye. But one thing they can relate over is the annual kite flying competition. Amir's "Baba" supports him in the contest and Amir knows that if he can only win and bring home the kite of the final opponent that his father will be pleased with him. So the flight scene that we see with Amir, with glimpses of a pleased Baba in the crowd, signifies an escape from the usual world of disagreement and disappointment, to a world where father and son can be united and love one another with no tension.
2. The second: Amir has traveled back to Afghanistan to see a dying friend, and promptly rescues Hassan's son Sohrab from the house of his long-time enemy Assef. Sohrab has endured losing his parents, living with a cruel master who forces him to entertain and rapes him, and later attempting to commit suicide when he believes that he may have to live in an orphanage. Amir eventually takes the boy back to California and adopts him, where Sohrab, reclusive after his experiences, refuses to talk or interact with anyone. That is until, at a picnic, Amir flies a kite with the young boy. Sohrab's interest is sparked as Amir reminisces about his flying days with Hassan, and the boy comes out of his shell, if even just a little, to participate and even speak to Amir. This flight symbolizes exactly what flight so often means: freedom. With the release of the kite into the air, Sohrab releases some of his anger, depression, resentment, and embraces a little bit more love and acceptance. He begins his journey to becoming whole again, to becoming completely free from the harsh feelings he harbors. Amir, guilty because he blames himself for part of Sohrab's mentality, begins to free himself from his guilt as he sees his adopted son open. He releases his blame and welcomes the inviting thought of a healing Sohrab. Like the kite soars through the bright blue sky, Sohrab, and even Amir, let their souls fly free on a lovely summer day.
1. The first contest we see: Amir and Hassan working together. Amir flies the kite, cutting the strings of other fliers' prized weapons, and Hassan assists while waiting for the final competitor to be cut down. He is the kite runner, the one who chases the trophy down. But back to the point. Amir and his father differ greatly. They often do not get along, and hardly ever see eye to eye. But one thing they can relate over is the annual kite flying competition. Amir's "Baba" supports him in the contest and Amir knows that if he can only win and bring home the kite of the final opponent that his father will be pleased with him. So the flight scene that we see with Amir, with glimpses of a pleased Baba in the crowd, signifies an escape from the usual world of disagreement and disappointment, to a world where father and son can be united and love one another with no tension.
2. The second: Amir has traveled back to Afghanistan to see a dying friend, and promptly rescues Hassan's son Sohrab from the house of his long-time enemy Assef. Sohrab has endured losing his parents, living with a cruel master who forces him to entertain and rapes him, and later attempting to commit suicide when he believes that he may have to live in an orphanage. Amir eventually takes the boy back to California and adopts him, where Sohrab, reclusive after his experiences, refuses to talk or interact with anyone. That is until, at a picnic, Amir flies a kite with the young boy. Sohrab's interest is sparked as Amir reminisces about his flying days with Hassan, and the boy comes out of his shell, if even just a little, to participate and even speak to Amir. This flight symbolizes exactly what flight so often means: freedom. With the release of the kite into the air, Sohrab releases some of his anger, depression, resentment, and embraces a little bit more love and acceptance. He begins his journey to becoming whole again, to becoming completely free from the harsh feelings he harbors. Amir, guilty because he blames himself for part of Sohrab's mentality, begins to free himself from his guilt as he sees his adopted son open. He releases his blame and welcomes the inviting thought of a healing Sohrab. Like the kite soars through the bright blue sky, Sohrab, and even Amir, let their souls fly free on a lovely summer day.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Chapter 10: It's More Than Just Rain or Snow
In Jodi Picoult's The Tenth Circle, weather, or more specifically, snow and ice, plays a very important role. There is nothing but cold and wet in the entire story, as the novel takes place in a wintry Maine, and later, Alaska. The weather helps set the tone of the novel: cold, cruel, harsh, unforgiving. With themes such as rape, murder, suicide, and adultery, it's no wonder that freezing, chilling weather was chosen to be in the background.
Trixie Stone, all within the first few chapters, has to weather (nice pun, right?) the hardships of being raped, resorting to self-mutilation, and learning of her mother's unfaithfulness to her father, Daniel. The snow, just like the awful crime of rape, is forceful and relentless and can be extremely cruel. Trixie's cutting on the other hand, to her, is a refreshing method of cleansing her mind and subtracting from her pain. It's fresh and new, and makes her feel better, while in reality it is only harming her. The snow, likewise, is a beautiful, cleansing blanket, fresh and clean with a tendency to please people and make them feel a little bit of magic, but people forget that snow can ruthlessly kill when it's power is forgotten. Snow's ability to turn from beauty to cruelty, a betrayal of sorts, parallels the implications of Laura Stone's affair: a betrayal to her husband and daughter.
Later, suicide and murder enter the scene, as Trixie's rapist is found dead, splayed across the ice coating the river, which ultimately caused his death. At first, suicide seems to be the answer. But after new evidence is uncovered, it is apparent that Jason was, in fact, murdered. The two methods of death are, of course, cold and bleak, enhanced by the presence of snow, and the role that the ice played in the death of Jason.
When Trixie can longer handle living in the small town where everyone knows her past and where she is surrounded by horrible memories, she heads to the most remote place she can think of: the tiny Alaskan village in which her father grew up. Being during the dead of winter, the whole of Alaska is blanketed in snow and plagued by blizzard. The blizzard fits in perfectly with the story, as it characterizes exactly what Trixie feels inside: turmoil, ice, hatred, fear. An endless stream of harsh, cold feelings.
Trixie Stone, all within the first few chapters, has to weather (nice pun, right?) the hardships of being raped, resorting to self-mutilation, and learning of her mother's unfaithfulness to her father, Daniel. The snow, just like the awful crime of rape, is forceful and relentless and can be extremely cruel. Trixie's cutting on the other hand, to her, is a refreshing method of cleansing her mind and subtracting from her pain. It's fresh and new, and makes her feel better, while in reality it is only harming her. The snow, likewise, is a beautiful, cleansing blanket, fresh and clean with a tendency to please people and make them feel a little bit of magic, but people forget that snow can ruthlessly kill when it's power is forgotten. Snow's ability to turn from beauty to cruelty, a betrayal of sorts, parallels the implications of Laura Stone's affair: a betrayal to her husband and daughter.
Later, suicide and murder enter the scene, as Trixie's rapist is found dead, splayed across the ice coating the river, which ultimately caused his death. At first, suicide seems to be the answer. But after new evidence is uncovered, it is apparent that Jason was, in fact, murdered. The two methods of death are, of course, cold and bleak, enhanced by the presence of snow, and the role that the ice played in the death of Jason.
When Trixie can longer handle living in the small town where everyone knows her past and where she is surrounded by horrible memories, she heads to the most remote place she can think of: the tiny Alaskan village in which her father grew up. Being during the dead of winter, the whole of Alaska is blanketed in snow and plagued by blizzard. The blizzard fits in perfectly with the story, as it characterizes exactly what Trixie feels inside: turmoil, ice, hatred, fear. An endless stream of harsh, cold feelings.
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