This post is coming from a lot of places:
From watching Amanda Palmer sing on YouTube about one of her influences that she had previously overlooked when being interviewed. (NSFW due to some language)
From reading and listening to discussions about Joss Whedon and his strong female characters.
From reading an article that, among other things, claims that readers get more invested in characters than movie goers.
And from other articles that worry about our expectations and our attitudes toward young girls.
From the inability of the vast majority of people online to be able to use critical thinking when it comes to sensationalism.
From a friend on Facebook wanting to know what book to read this winter.
And from loving friends who gave me the gift of a new life motto thru a tee-shirt.
It would be difficult to say which book (or movie, or what-have-you) has influenced me the most. Few things are truly earth-shattering in a good way. (I can tell you much more easily the books or movies that traumatized me most.) But when I think specifically on what moment shaped the person I have become in the most positive way, I suddenly have an answer. It was fourth grade, I was at my desk, and instead of listening to the lesson (let's pretend it was math), I was reading a book under my desk. For the record, the book was on the optional reading list, so it was something I was supposed to have with me (sort of). Just not at that moment (sorry, Mrs. Weathers). The problem I was having was that for the first time in my life I was reading a book that I couldn't put down. I remember in early elementary school being more concerned with my conduct grades than actual subjects. I think my love-of-reading epiphany was a major factor in how my attitude toward learning evolved. Math suffered, to be sure, due to the novels hiding in every text book every time I should have been doing homework.
As a person with two degrees in pretend, I can attest to how narrative can create empathy in audiences. As a consumer of media, I can admit to crying, laughing, or cheering when watching or reading something that particularly resonates with me. As a creator, I know that if something does not resonate it will not last. As a kid who was, quite frankly, unable to cope with her peers on a social level, I can attest to the power of what we sometimes derisively call escapism.
Amanda Palmer wrote her song about author Judy Blume. Strong female characters have been an endless discussion in the world of film (especially SciFi). And most people I know will bemoan that child-centered programming is not what it once was, female characters or not. Amanda reminds me that those characters we wish for on-screen are out there already.
I am interested in the idea that books are more effective forms of immersion that movies. The human imagination is more powerful than IMAX 3D. Time constraints are not an issue. And, fortunately for us all, the people writing books are not the studio execs who care most about the bottom line. I am always dismayed when an analysis of a movie picks apart certain details or themes that were addressed differently in the book. Because to me, the movie is a visual aid and the book is the substance. In books, characters are free to be ugly or flawed or weak or human in ways that we deny on-screen characters.
The book that changed me forever in fourth grade was A Wrinkle in Time. Meg was ugly, unpopular, stymied in school, and at the end of the book, none of those things really changed. What changed was that she learned reliance on herself and others, acknowledged her good qualities and accepted her poor ones. Let's just say the made-for-TV movie misses the mark.
If I wanted to give a child a tool that would help provide emotional support, improve her grades, encourage creative thinking, and give her an opportunity to practice decision making and responsibility, I would give her a library card.
I believe that if you find the right preparation, anyone can like any vegetable. I believe there are quality books out there for all tastes and levels. Don't tell me you don't like to read when you were camped in front of a bookstore waiting for the release of the next Harry Potter.
Hollywood has a problem with an accurate portrayal of what it means (and should mean) to be female. I firmly believe the answer to this is books.
For my birthday this year, my friends bought me a shirt which says:
My favorite movie is books.
From watching Amanda Palmer sing on YouTube about one of her influences that she had previously overlooked when being interviewed. (NSFW due to some language)
From reading and listening to discussions about Joss Whedon and his strong female characters.
From reading an article that, among other things, claims that readers get more invested in characters than movie goers.
And from other articles that worry about our expectations and our attitudes toward young girls.
From the inability of the vast majority of people online to be able to use critical thinking when it comes to sensationalism.
From a friend on Facebook wanting to know what book to read this winter.
And from loving friends who gave me the gift of a new life motto thru a tee-shirt.
It would be difficult to say which book (or movie, or what-have-you) has influenced me the most. Few things are truly earth-shattering in a good way. (I can tell you much more easily the books or movies that traumatized me most.) But when I think specifically on what moment shaped the person I have become in the most positive way, I suddenly have an answer. It was fourth grade, I was at my desk, and instead of listening to the lesson (let's pretend it was math), I was reading a book under my desk. For the record, the book was on the optional reading list, so it was something I was supposed to have with me (sort of). Just not at that moment (sorry, Mrs. Weathers). The problem I was having was that for the first time in my life I was reading a book that I couldn't put down. I remember in early elementary school being more concerned with my conduct grades than actual subjects. I think my love-of-reading epiphany was a major factor in how my attitude toward learning evolved. Math suffered, to be sure, due to the novels hiding in every text book every time I should have been doing homework.
As a person with two degrees in pretend, I can attest to how narrative can create empathy in audiences. As a consumer of media, I can admit to crying, laughing, or cheering when watching or reading something that particularly resonates with me. As a creator, I know that if something does not resonate it will not last. As a kid who was, quite frankly, unable to cope with her peers on a social level, I can attest to the power of what we sometimes derisively call escapism.
Amanda Palmer wrote her song about author Judy Blume. Strong female characters have been an endless discussion in the world of film (especially SciFi). And most people I know will bemoan that child-centered programming is not what it once was, female characters or not. Amanda reminds me that those characters we wish for on-screen are out there already.
I am interested in the idea that books are more effective forms of immersion that movies. The human imagination is more powerful than IMAX 3D. Time constraints are not an issue. And, fortunately for us all, the people writing books are not the studio execs who care most about the bottom line. I am always dismayed when an analysis of a movie picks apart certain details or themes that were addressed differently in the book. Because to me, the movie is a visual aid and the book is the substance. In books, characters are free to be ugly or flawed or weak or human in ways that we deny on-screen characters.
The book that changed me forever in fourth grade was A Wrinkle in Time. Meg was ugly, unpopular, stymied in school, and at the end of the book, none of those things really changed. What changed was that she learned reliance on herself and others, acknowledged her good qualities and accepted her poor ones. Let's just say the made-for-TV movie misses the mark.
If I wanted to give a child a tool that would help provide emotional support, improve her grades, encourage creative thinking, and give her an opportunity to practice decision making and responsibility, I would give her a library card.
I believe that if you find the right preparation, anyone can like any vegetable. I believe there are quality books out there for all tastes and levels. Don't tell me you don't like to read when you were camped in front of a bookstore waiting for the release of the next Harry Potter.
Hollywood has a problem with an accurate portrayal of what it means (and should mean) to be female. I firmly believe the answer to this is books.
For my birthday this year, my friends bought me a shirt which says:
My favorite movie is books.
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