The Lego Movie: Two Readings

Yeah, thematic discussion, therefore: SPOILERS, SPOILERS, SPOILERS!

The Conflict of Interest Reading

The Lego Movie is a fun, quick-paced romp with an uncertain moral. The movie is bogged down by the conflict between wanting to tell a story about an evil corporation taken down by the little guy when the storytellers are in fact on the side of the villain.  Pitting teamwork and rule-following against individual achievement is a problematic theme to present to children, unless you want them to see their teachers and parents as the bad guys.  The convention switch 2/3 of the way in is too abrupt and makes the search for a moral even more muddied.  The climax of the movie attempts to solve the thematic problems with a sort of "work together to do whatever you want" attitude.  The conclusion of the moral "Everyone is the Special" is no better or more revealing than "Everything is awesome." The movie boils down to being a nostalgia vehicle for the viewers old enough to carry credit cards.


The Unreliable Narrator Reading

To understand The Lego Movie, you have to look at it from the perspective of Finn as storyteller.  Apparently conflicting themes, derivative story arcs mashed together, and a general sense of naiveté about societal structures pervade the film because the story is the product of the mind of a young boy.  Children's logic, only a step away from dream logic is the ideal framework for a movie about legos. And the prevailing themes are surprisingly sophisticated. The real world presents a fully-fleshed struggle of a father who must discover that the best way to recapture his childhood is by connecting with his son.  The implicit theme of the lego world by the climax of the movie is one of teamwork through creativity and flexible thinking.  The idea that you make your own destiny was perhaps underdeveloped when reduced to the trite "Everyone is the Special," but an overly elegant moral would contradict the convention that the story is being told by a child.


Which is the better interpretation? I probably fall somewhere in-between the two (and need to re-watch to see if I missed anything thematically).

A Love Letter to Psych

USA announced that Psych will be cancelled in its 8th season. During, mind you, not after. And with no real advance notice to the producers and writers. I greeted this information with sadness but not shock.

For the first 3 seasons or so, I was the only person I knew who watched Psych. I loved it enough to buy seasons as they came out, rather than my traditional wait-six-months-and-pay-half-price route.  I watched all the commentaries. I looked for pineapples. I have the Psych refrigerator poetry set. So I never quite understood why it took people so long to catch on to how amazing this series is. 

Psych has only been nominated for 1 Emmy (for original score, 2010) and has only won 1 People's Choice Award (Favorite Cable TV Comedy, 2014!).  So, except for—apparently—this year, neither critics nor viewers thought much of this plucky show. 

In a television age of overstated pathos and passion, Psych is an ode to the music, movies and television shows that brought joy and fun to our lives. From episode themes (See: Dual Spires) to guest stars (Ally Sheedy, Cary Elwes, and William Shatner) to character names (a character named Jason in the Friday the 13th ep. "Tuesday the 17th"), Psych was devoted to reminding its viewers that it's ok to acknowledge those who came before and to build on them.  

I don't understand why Psych occasionally gets billed as a drama. Psych was always intended to be a comedy along the lines of Moonlighting and Remington Steele. Like Moonlighting, Psych is more romantic comedy than crime-solving drama, however, the central relationship is a friendship of the highest order.  Having sexual tension play a secondary role to fun-loving characters who constantly get in over their heads (wow, just realized the similarities to Scooby-doo) means that no character's dating life is allowed to high-jack the show.  

Psych stays true to its message: the joys and consequences of irresponsibility and making light of the serious.  Beyond the characters, the independent and silly nature of the show can be found from the top down.  Steve Franks is the creator, producer, director, writer, and composer AND performer of the show's theme song.  This is a guy that my generation would expect to find making a web series, not 8 seasons of cable TV (because nobody does everything in the corporate world). 

Everyone talks about the amount of improv in shows featuring former SNL stars.  No one talks about how Psych scripts include lines like "/angry whisper fight/" or that every button of a scene with James Roday is the funniest take of him talking until the cameras stop rolling.  What other show would resurrect an outtake of an improved line at the end of a scene (thus cutting something else) and turn it into the icon of the entire series?  

What other show would quote movies so obscure that they feel compelled to explain what was quoted in the commentaries? (But only the truly obscure ones.)

What show would reference popular products regardless of sponsorship? (Then end up getting sponsorship in a burst of serendipity.)

What show could get away with openly mocking another show on a different network as being a blatant rip off? "'If I were a fake psychic, it would be eerily similar. ' 'Exactly the same' 'A virtual carbon copy.'"

And of course, what other show would have a pregnant interim police chief, a feline witness, a tap-dancing detective, an apartment in a dry cleaning store, a falsely accused polar bear, a lovable-yet-creepy mortician, even more lovable criminals, and of course a fake psychic detective?

No other show. Psych stands alone.

My Favorite Movie: Thoughts on strong female characters

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. 

Douglas Adams' Spinoffs and Spoilers

If you haven't read Dirk Gentley's Holistic Detective Agency, be warned this post will contain spoilers.

Dirk Gentley is one of my favorite books by one of my favorite authors. Recently, after coming across websites that provide suggestions on 'what to read next after finishing a book', I had considered doing something similar for 'what to read after watching this show/movie.'  Like Downton Abbey? Try reading Wodehouse. Like Dr. Who, read The Hitchhiker's Guide. I never thought to recommend Dirk Gentley, because Hitchhiker's Guide has more mass appeal. Which is ironic because…

Recently I was browsing a bookstore and stumbled on a new Douglas Adams book.  Doctor Who: Shada, The Lost Adventure by Douglas Adams, by Gareth Roberts (another Dr. Who writer).  Most Whovians (I am not one except casually) know that Douglas Adams wrote for the original series.  Of the 3 episodes, one did not air due to a writers' strike. It was later released on video with Tom Baker narrating to fill in the gaps of what didn't get filmed.

I am vaguely aware of other Dr. Who novels, particularly between the old and new series, that are not considered cannon.  Then there is that new collection of short stories.  This is different. This is a Tom Baker adventure, written by the man who conceived the babelfish as an actual episode meant to air, and revised, finished, and polished by another Dr. Who writer. Besides, how long has it been since the world had seen something new published that was written by Douglas Adams. These facts alone were exciting enough.  But there was an additional surprise…

Douglas Adams, like many writers, recycles ideas in his various works. The true-life story of the biscuits made its way into HH2G.  He also had plans to revise the third Dirk Gentley book, The Salmon of Doubt, into a sixth Hitchhiker's book.  So it should come as no surprise that he had a hard time letting Shada go.

The Dirk Gentley books, as a series, are disjointed. The third is unfinished, the second is mythic (and doesn't seem to fit with anything else he wrote, IMHO), and the first has strange plot holes.

In the first book, understanding the plot requires a decent knowledge of Coleridge. (If Malcolm Reynolds can read a poem, you can too.)  But the backstory and mechanics of how you get to the point of needing English Lit to understand the resolution was shrouded in mystery.

SPOILERS: There's this Cambridge professor and his flat is a time machine. He doesn't know how old he is, or how he ended up living in a time machine, or even how the machine works, exactly. He admits once that he "retired" to Cambridge, but that is about all he can remember.

So, sure there's a time machine with an impossibly old dude living in it, but that does't mean he's a Time Lord. There are, after all, lots of time travel stories, including Hitchhiker's Guide (i.e. The Restaurant at the End of the Universe).  But Dirk Gentley isn't just another time travel story.

The professor's name is Chronotis.  And he is a major character, and Time Lord, in Shada.

One of my favorite books is a Dr. Who spinoff and I didn't know. 

Shada is great. Gareth Roberts captures Adams' voice in the way you wish Eoin Colfer had. The book is a cultural window to 1970s SciFi, without the bad special effects.

I'm only left with one question.

Is the Professor still in Cambridge?

Dating Rules for SciFi Characters

Do you deal with aliens, ghosts, werewolves, demons, vampires, or super-villains  on a weekly basis? Do you have trouble finding the right girl/guy to eventually settle down with? The dating world can be rough in the paranormal, pan-demensional world you find yourself in. Here are some tips to help you find the right person.

Does the person you are interested in:
- Live on another planet? If so, unless you both have good access to interplanetary travel, it's probably not the best idea. Sure, you'll date for a few days, then you'll go home and get sent to some other planet and never hear from her again.

-Live on a planet you are currently trapped on? Look, you can despair of going home all you want, but this will only end one of two ways: Your enemies find you and kill your love interest, or you live a long life only to have your friends show up and reverse your aging and whisk you back to your old life.  Doesn't matter how committed you are, you'll likely never return. And you definitely won't have kids.

-Live on the planet you are from? Yes, you won't be home all the time, but provided you don't mind long distance this can work. Most of the above scenarios could still apply, though.

-Belong to the other side? He may not just be the enemy, he may be the very creature you've dedicated you life to fighting.  There's a thin line between love and hate, but trust me on this, it's not going to end happily.  IF your true love joins your side, there's more than a good chance she'll die heroically saving you. Or you'll wind up as an awful teen romance franchise. It's a lose-lose.

-Work with you? I get it, small dating pool. You only see the same 6 people on a regular basis. But you know as well as I do that dating a co-worker is against the rules of your organization. And neither of you is looking to retire any time soon. If you wanted a less complicated relationship, you should've gotten a desk job.

-Come on to you immediately, at first introduction? New, sexy stranger going beyond typical dating etiquette while you're out on a mission? This person wants you dead.  That may not be the only element of his mysterious plan, but it's a major bullet point.

-Seem subtly different after a recent jaunt in another dimension?  It's not just you. Trust your instincts. And always keep team member info somewhere safe so you can compare notes, as it were.

-Have a mysterious, troubled past, much like you do? Backstory matter. Don't make commitments while still in the dark? She could be a sworn enemy, a relative, or, if you are lucky, a lost love. Knowledge is power.

-Not know you exist? Try a simple handshake before making any deals with the local witch.

-Make you wild, grandiose offers disproportionate to your expectations of dinner and a movie? Rule of thumb, anybody who likes you too much, too soon does not have your best interests at heart. And ruling the galaxy conflicts with the ethics contract you signed for you job.

-Only know you as your fake identity? Lying is no way to start a relationship. That said, you have like a 20-80 chance of success, which is higher than most of the other scenarios on this list.

-Require you to die, or otherwise fully transform, before you can be together? Both he and you need to love and respect you as you are.  But beyond that, you are going to trust that your personality (and your love) will survive a process that purports to change everything about you, provided you survive? There are easier ways to get a date.

-Have to defy her entire culture to be with you? And more importantly, does this culture have laser technology? DO NOT start an intergalactic war for someone you have known less than a week.

-Have feelings for your nemesis? Someone is going to get hurt, and it's probably going to be you.

-Belong to a team whose job is to protect the planet? You may be dating the hero. Let's take a moment to ponder your life expectancy.

-Appear to be the underdog, secretly aspiring to greatness? But he also loves you, his first and only love? Good news, you ARE the backstory. Bad news, you are about to be very dead.

-Hide things from you for your own protection? Your relationship is doomed, possibly ending in death.

-Have an unhealthy obsession with something? Be it revenge, justice, cats, or even you, focus on the word 'unhealthy.' And run the other way.

-Generally annoy everyone around you? Marry her. She will never die.

Most importantly, is he a handsome smuggler? He's a keeper.

Thanksgiving Tips

There have been innumerable statements published about the importance of the family dinner.  As we approach the one American holiday centered solely around a meal and one of the only true feast days left in our culture, here are a few ideas for making your Thanksgiving holiday delicious and memorable. As far as I'm concerned, the first three are year-round rules, the rest are tips.

1. Instead of pepper, use grains of paradise on any dish containing potatoes. It really highlights the earthy flavor. Buy grains of paradise from any spice shop, and grind in a clean (preferably spice dedicated) coffee grinder, or an empty reusable pepper grinder.

2. Marshmallows are not for dinner. Save them for dessert.  For sweet potatoes/yams, try roasting with butter, vanilla extract, and cardamom alongside acorn squash rings.  You'll still get some sweetness, without resorting to puffed sugar.

3. Brussels sprouts should not be steamed or boiled. EVER. The punishment for this sin is your children's lifelong aversion to this versatile veggie. Roast, sauté, or braise.  These methods will brown and bring out the non-bitter flavors you didn't know Brussels had. My favorite is braising: you get the high heat of sautéing plus extra tenderness and flavor by way of the braising liquid, which also become a light sauce.

4. Pre-plan how to use your leftovers as a part of your overall meal planning.  You won't have to think about it later, and you ensure no food goes to waste.

5. Experiment with new ingredients: put chestnuts in your stuffing, substitute parsnips for carrots for an earthier flavor, get a whole goose instead of a turkey breast.  Try out new side dishes like lentils or make mincemeat pie instead of pecan.  Traditions have to get made some time, so make your holiday unique. And if you've never contributed by making something then this year step up, buy some salad mix and make a vinaigrette from scratch.

6. Set goals with your family and friends: "This year let's make stuffing from scratch." or "Let's have every dish showcase a New World ingredient." or "No traditional T-Day dishes allowed."

7. Make your motto for Thanksgiving "The More the Merrier."  T-Day was just a present-less Christmas for me growing up, until my family started spending the holiday with friends of my aunt.  It's the perfect holiday to open your family circle and celebrate with friends, old and new.

8. If you want traditional ingredients without quite so many pies, roast pecans (or candy them), pumpkin, and sweet potatoes; and bake your apples. Sweet potatoes and apples sauté together nicely.

9. Consider serving your meal in courses, clearing the salad(s) before loading the table with the turkey, dressing, etc. in order to free up some space while passing dishes.

10. Screw popular health warnings. It's called stuffing for a reason. Just make sure everything gets completely cooked.

I already celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving this year. But I'm available in November if anybody in a 200 mile radius of Atlanta has an extra place at their table. Or, if you're willing to come to me, I'd cook for you. Provided you like Brussels sprouts and lentils. 

I Am More Than My Emoticon: Or Why I Hate Happiness

The other day, I wrote on Facebook:

"So incredibly tired of happiness being touted as the natural state in life, as fundamental to your spirituality, as being indiscernible from joy. What I find to be true, in almost every case, is that Happiness seems to come from focusing only on positive things, effectively denying, or at least ignoring, the bad in life. Unquestioning positivity whitewashes, refuses to acknowledge, and does NOT prepare you for terrible, difficult, grey, doubt-ridden situations. This form of happiness also denies empathy, feeling the pain of others, simply because THAT'S NOT HAPPY. Well, I am not a happy person. I worry that my friends will make good decisions. I wrestle with doubt. I sorrow with those experiencing loss. And, from time to time, I suffer. I acknowledge suffering as a fundamental human condition. Which requires hope and love to keep from becoming despair. I learn to cope; I learn joy. And while you tell me to smile more, I hope your Happiness can stand up to the pain of living. But if not, I'll be waiting with a shoulder you can cry on."

Since posting and reading the responses, I feel a need to unpack my position a bit more. Because of my belief in the perniciousness of Modern America's Portrayal of What Happiness Should Be™, I find I react very strongly to the suggestion that MAPWHSB™ is one of the most desirable states that you can strive for. Which is not to say I hate happiness. But the plastic, consumer-friendly version has got to go. And I think I make a decent, concise case for that in my FB post.

What I didn't go into then was the underlying problem, which is more about emoticons and ebooks than about a particular emotion or state of being. The problem is both one of attention span and language.

CHALLENGE: Find a single internet post by someone under forty (yes, I am including myself in this) that describes the poster's emotional state as something other than: Happy (MAPWHSB™), Sad, Angry, or Bored. (We're going to say that confusion is the 'sometimes Y' of emotions, as it is often an intellectual state.)

You may find what at first appear to be variations, but are really just a clever use of synonyms. For example: "Feeling blessed!!!!!!!!" is a religious way of saying "MAPWHSB™!!!!!!!!" Which is not to say that acknowledging blessings is any worse than being happy, but this statement is just a repackaging of the same idea. Upset is a synonym for Sad and/or Angry. And with very few exceptions, that is the sum total of society's ability to describe emotional states in depth.

In a society driven by our neuroses, where virtually everyone has been in therapy at least once, how have we lost our ability to name, and thus understand, our emotions? ill tell u. We live in a world of instant gratification. But that isn't the problem. Instant gratification is wanting to read Bram Stoker's Dracula and downloading it to your Hitchhiker's Guide without having to leave the couch. The problem is the rate at which we want to be gratified. Instant per Instant gratification if you will. Each moment must be something new and pleasing, and it isn't the fault of text messaging or the internet or television. It's our fault, the Matrix just makes it easier. Just like fast food makes it easier to get fat.

But impulse control simply blazes the trail to where the root of the problem lies: reducing everything to a sound bite. Because sound bites boil down:

"In sooth, I know not why I am so sad.
It wearies me, you say it wearies you,
But how I caught it, found it, or came by it,

What stuff 'tis made from, whereof it is born,
I am to learn;
And such a want-wit sadness makes of me
That I have much ado to know myself."
to:

:(

I don't think internet communication is destroying the English language; I think our lack of patience is. Because how can we know when we feel melancholic, serene, piteous, chagrinned, smug, impertinent, disgraced, bewildered, entranced, irked, sanguine, choleric, phlegmatic, enraptured, or even contented, if our working vocabulary only allows for four emotions? And if we aren't comfortable enough with the definitions to use such words in our spoken conversation, why would we choose a state of being more complex than MAPWHSB™on which to pin all our desire?

I have a melancholic temperament and I strive to be serene and content. I simply don't have the emotional energy for MAPWHSB™.