Ignorant Historian

Okay, so the title is overly dramatic, not to mention cliché.

But I can’t help but think that the amount of TV I’ve watched in the last couple of months isn’t healthy.  I don’t feel I watch excessively (maybe an average of 10-12 hours a week…you all know how much I read, but that still sounds like a lot), but I still feel too tied to that little gray box, or really, the little gray computer screen.

I hate being tied to a TV show.  Yet shows like 24, Glee, and So You Think You Can Dance “make” me come back week after week.  And then there are all the crime shows that suck me in.

During finale season, I repeatedly cringed as conversation after conversation, online and off, dealt with this show or that show.  And then just the other day we had some friends over, and the group of us sat around discussing TV for about an hour.  We could have intelligently discussed any number of topics, but we went for the lowest common denominator (and I definitely was a part of the problem on this one).

I guess that’s what I don’t like about TV…it IS the lowest common denominator, rarely challenging.  There’s nothing inherently wrong with it, sure.  There’s nothing wrong with mindlessly relaxing occassionally, but a book can have the same affect while improving your vocabulary and reading abilities without you even realizing it.

Like most things, TV’s best in moderation with a healthy dose of discernment and critical thinking.  Moderation has never been something that I’ve been good at.  If I start watching TV any given evening, I’m not likely to stop before going to bed (late).  So I’ve been trying not to start.  Aside from the previously-mentioned SYTYCD (hey, at least dancing is “the arts”), I don’t want to watch any TV during the week.

By cutting out a lot of my TV watching, I’ll be able to keep up my reading habit and be social (obv not at the same time).  And if I know what’s good for me, I’ll throw in some exercise, too.

Photo by schmilblick

Okay, forgive me.  If you’re a Twilighter, you won’t like this post as I’ll be dissing Edward.  If you’re not a Twilighter, then you won’t like this post because I’m going to talk about Twilight.  So basically, you have to have the exact same opinion as me (And why wouldn’t you if you have been reading my blog, right? I’m incredibly persuasive.) to enjoy this post.

I do realize that this post is at least a few weeks late, if not years.  Still, I wrote it now.  Actually, I’m rather pleased that I wrote anything “real” this week at all.

I read Twilight a couple of months ago after the umpteenth suggestion.  Didn’t hate it, but didn’t like it, either.  Over Thanksgiving break, I significantly miscalculated the number of books I’d need (I guessed 3, but 2 were youth books, so bad call) so I needed something to read.  Knowing my mom had New Moon, I thought I might as well continue the series.

After reading these two tomes, I still don’t get what it is about Edward that people like. At all.  In the interest of full disclosure, my ideal man-in-a-book/movie is Edmund in Mansfield Park (the movie, not necessarily the book).

9 Reasons Why I Couldn’t Like Edward

1. He’s pale as all get out.  Sure, being pale isn’t necessarily a bad thing (though I must admit I like my guys darker), but I don’t see how it’s a good thing, either.

2.  He’s a stalker.  Sure, Bella eventually gave permission for Edward to watch her all-night (like that isn’t creepy itself), but he did it before without asking.

3.  He sparkles.  If someone is going to sparkle in a relationship, it better be me.

4.  He’s mopey.  Sure, we all can be sometimes, but he seems to be too much (Bella, you too).

5.  He’s hard. How is that cuddly?

6.  He doesn’t bother to check his facts before making a big decision (killing himself).

7.  He likes Bella ’cause she smells good. That isn’t shallow…

8.  Other than these things, what else do we know about him?

9.  And then there’s something about being non-human…what was that again?

I’m a big fan of romantic comedies, but if I watch another movie where hedonism (the search for pleasure) is the final answer, I might scream.

I already talked about how sex isn’t everything.  Well, on a related point, neither is pleasure.  The adage, “Do what makes you happy” might well define our culture, but that doesn’t make it right or true.

I think for any of us who have tried to follow this (and I think most have at one point or another) find that the pleasures that we seek never fully satisfy, are never enough.  Just like the alcoholic wants one more drink, and Rockefeller, one of the richest men of his time, says that enough money is “just a little bit more,” we want “just a little bit more” of whatever we’ve determined will make us happy.  If it’s someone, we might smother them.  If it’s something, we might poison ourselves or drown ourselves in debt to get it.

Instead of pursuing my own pleasures (and I’m more than willing to admit that I do that all too often), I’d rather seek to obey the greatest commandments:

” ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’  This is the great and foremost commandment.  The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ” – Matthew 22:37-39

And perhaps I’ll stick to 24.

Photo by mandj98

I love to read.  That’s nothing new.  Many of you read, too.  There’s two major reasons why we read: to learn and to be entertained.

Yet, even the reading for entertainment requires discernment.  Though I’m just a baby fiction writer (“embryo” might be the better term…a complete novel has yet to be birthed), I know that part of why I write is to express my worldview.  Even if that wasn’t my obvious goal, my worldview is bound to work itself into the piece.  Even the more entertainment-only authors still express a worldview.

That’s why I don’t buy arguments for books like The Shack that say, “It’s just fiction” as if that’s code for “no thinking allowed” or “for entertainment purposes only.”  I imagine William Young would take offense if you were to tell him that it was a great story but nothing more.  I don’t want to speak for him, but I’m pretty sure he meant there to be a deeper purpose behind his writing than just a pleasant way to spend an afternoon.  It’s the same thing for many other books and authors, though it might not be as clear.

Lest you TV-watchers and movie-goers think you’re in the clear, these forms of media are also excellent conductors of worldview.  Possibly more so, since we tend to be in a more passive position (rather like a sponge) when we’re imbibing them.  I love these types of visual entertainment, but I also enjoy parsing them a bit.  I listen for key value statements and look for stereotypes.  The world of a show or movie is often what the creator makes it…is there a part of reality that has been written out?

When I see these things, I ponder them, and when I have a young, captive audience, I’ll point them out, too.  Thankfully, Lana didn’t mind me pausing the movie to point out something…like how often the Star Wars characters entreat each other to look to their feelings for validation (more often on the dark side, but both do it) as if that was the final source of truth.

So what do you think…do you think fiction can just be fiction?

Photo by swruler9284

I like to watch television, I really do.  I know most of you do, too.  But over the last year or so, I’ve realized that I had to cut out watching shows that I just must see.  I don’t have a DVR, so if I watch TV, it must be live.  I found that I was limiting social opportunities because I couldn’t plan things on certain nights/times because I would miss my shows.  The hardest ones to miss, I found, were reality shows (Survivor, the Amazing Race, and American Idol), because I didn’t want to miss what happened each week.

I still occasionally catch 30 Rock, Numb3rs, or a CSI, but these don’t require me to watch every episode.  I make them a treat for when I happen to be home at that time and don’t have anything else pressing.  I also have started watching Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune, because they come on during my typical dinnertime downtime and don’t require close, or regular watching.

There’s really only two exceptions: sports (for obvious reasons, but I only have to watch Big XII football and the NCAA tournament when they’re on) and in the summer, for SYTYCD because it IS the summer, and my friends like to watch it with me.

I don’t feel I need to cut TV watching out of my life completely, but I have limited it.  I don’t have to watch TV everyday, and more often than not, I’d rather read than watch TV anyway.  Since I’ve weaned myself off of must-see TV, I guess you could call me a TV weanie.

What show would you find to be the hardest to give up watching?

I’m not a fan of commercials or advertisements, period, but the commercials that are bugging me the most right now (from watching football) are the commercials for car insurance.  They all seem to have this “those that switch to us have saved an average of $XXX” approach (well, except Geico; they have some great commercials!).  The thing is, you’re not likely to switch car insurance unless you’re going to save money.  So it’s not like the average person will necessarily save move by switching to them, it’s just that they’re saying that those that could save money, switched.

On the other hand, there was a commercial in Kansas when I was there over Thanksgiving that I enjoyed.  It was a car commercial, no less.  Sadly, it betrays my lowbrow sense of humor.

Why did it make me laugh?

It had a dancing chicken.  A person, dresed in a chicken costume, dancing next to the cars they were selling.  Something that would terrify me in real life, made me laugh on screen, and I don’t know why.

Have you heard that the Facebook guy, Mark Zuckerberg, is worth $1.5 billion at the ripe old age of 23? There’s a reason for it. Facebook is one of the few Internet sites that is able to specifically target marketing. If you want to run an ad, you can ask that it be run specifically for females between the age of 25-30 that like reading and are located in the Raleigh area, for example. Since you fill out your interests, age, gender, location, relationship status, etc. on your profile, these ads can be strategically placed in the viewing of prospective clients.

That’s what worries me about the ads that I get. They seem to have me pegged (mostly). I get a lot of advertisements for dating sites (one was even specifically targeted for people 25 and up!) and travel opportunities. Other ads, well, I just don’t know about.

Here are a few:

“Cause of belly fat” with a picture of man’s six-pack. Even if I were to say, want to lose some of my belly fat, I don’t want my stomach to look like THAT. I get lots of more targeted ads for weight loss (one I saw today said simply, “You fat?”) which makes me wonder, has Facebook figured out my BMI based on the pictures I have on there? I’d really rather not know!

“Bald hair creme” with a picture of the top of a bald man’s head. Um, I’m not a man, and I have plenty of hair. Shouldn’t this ad have been targeted to someone else?

I get the same “Meet 5 guys” ad that I talked about before, but I actually got one that had pictures on it…of FOUR guys. Is the fifth supposed guy so anxious to meet me too ugly to include his picture?

On the dating topic, one of the more pointed ads advertised “find your husband.” I wish it were that easy!

One I got this morning was just strange. It was for Jansport, the backpack company: “Wherever you go please take us with you.” Nope, I like my old backpack of a competitive brand just fine don’t travel without it. If I brought you along too you’d probably just get in a fight when I wasn’t looking. Plus I’d have to carry one on the front, which would just be suspicious as I go through security.

Another totally random ad was for Philadelphia real estate. I live in North Carolina, why would I buy a house in Philadelphia?

What funny ads have you seen online?

**Looks like I stumped you all on 6, 8, and 20! All the answers are now below…thanks for playing!**

I’m nothing if not a follower. When Debra posted quotes from her favorite movies and asked us to guess, I knew I had to do the same. I had planned on listing favorite movie quotes anyway, but this way just makes it fun.

How well do you know your movies? Some of them I know are easy (especially if you like the same movies as me!) and some are hard. Leave a comment with your guesses/answers. Don’t look them up, just guess! I’ll give you hints if you ask. Let’s see how well you do!

1. “I know you can be overwhelmed, and you can be underwhelmed, but can you ever just be whelmed?”
“I think you can in Europe.”
- 10 Things I Hate About You

2. “Where’s Elizabeth?”
“She’s safe, just like I promised. She’s all set to marry Norrington, just like she promised. And you get to die for her, just like you promised. So we’re all men of our word, really. Except Elizabeth, who is in fact, a woman.”
- Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl

3. “If I were Hitler you’d give me my father. If I were Hitler, you’d give me your country!”
- Forget Paris

4. “Ain’t nobody gonna pick up three filthy, unshaved hitchhikers and one of them a know-it-all that can’t keep his trap shut.”
“Pete, the personal rancor reflected in that remark I don’t intend to dignify with comment. But I would like to address your general attitude of hopeless negativism.”
- O Brother, Where Art Thou?

5. “You called everyone but Slurpee Heaven.”
“That’s not true. I did call Slurpee Heaven. They didn’t want you. Heard you had attitude. Said you weren’t Slurpee material.”
- Two Weeks Notice

6. “My mom never hid the fact that my dad chose his career over us. What was it she always said?”
“Once a carnie, always a carnie.”
“Mom still cries every time she sees a tilt-a-whirl or a fat lady in a tube top.”
- Drop Dead Gorgeous

7. “I’m making you taller. Don’t you want to be taller? You’re a midget in 34 states.”
“Yeah, well, I’m an animal in the other 34…24…22.”
- Ocean’s 13

8. [in a letter to a woman who loves him] “She is the only woman in the world whom I could ever think of as a wife.”
- Mansfield Park

9. “I cannot remember a time before you started telling that story.”
“I was asked to provide a detailed explanation of the evening.”
“And you did, Rosie, you really did. I really felt like I was there…sort of against my will.”
- Win a Date with Tad Hamilton

10. “It’s my choice not to go. I could have gone. He would have supported it.”
“But you don’t have to choose.”
“No, I have to. I want a home; I want a family, that’s just not something I’ll sacrifice.”
- Mona Lisa Smile

11. “Laws don’t touch men like Thaddeus Rains. Only justice does.”
“Whose justice, yours or God’s?”
- American Outlaws

12. “I have great insight. I’d use it on myself, only I don’t have any problems.”
- Music and Lyrics

13. “Do we have to use that term?”
“What term?”
” ‘Freak.’ The National Institute of Mental Health estimates that…percent of adults develop agraphoraphobia.”
“Agoraphobia.”
“Whatever. I’m just saying, I mean, do we need to be an organization that labels people?”
“Now we’re an organization?”
“You’d call Emily Dickinson a freak?”
“Are you hosting a telethon I don’t know about?”
“Who’s Emily Dickinson?”
“Am I the only one who feels funny about stealing from a handicapped guy?”
- Ocean’s 12

14. “To lose one parent, Mr. Worthing, may be regarded as a misfortune. To lose both looks like carelessness.”
- The Importance of Being Earnest

15. “Do you have an ethical problem with rifling through a woman’s purse?”
“Uhh, yeah, I guess I do.”
“Well, it’s hardly a purse. Dude, it’s more like a clutch or something.”
“Guys, a woman’s purse, alright, it’s her secret source of power. Alright? There are many dark and dangerous things in there, that we, the male species, should know nothing about.”
- How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days

16. “It’s been many years since I’ve had such an exemplary vegetable.”
- Pride and Prejudice

17. “I just don’t think that Brooke could’ve done this. Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy. Happy people just don’t shoot their husbands, they just don’t.”
- Legally Blonde

18. “A flower is good for nothing. You can’t eat a flower, a flower can’t keep you warm…”
“And a rose never knocked a man off a horse either.”
“You’re just a silly girl aren’t you?”
“Better a silly girl with a flower than a silly man with a horse and a stick.”
- A Knight’s Tale

19. “So, uh, who told you?”
“Uh, who told me what?”
“You found out, didn’t you?”
“We still have time for one more interview…”
“It’s called leukemia…and yeah, I would like to come with you, but are you just asking me because you feel sorry for me?”
“I don’t know…maybe.”
“Okay.”
- Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

20. “Aren’t you going to congratulate me?”
“Congratulations.”
“Aren’t you going to ask what for?”
“What for?”
“I’ve made a great decision. I’ve decided to get married.”
“My! Who to?”
“That part is yet to be decided.”
- An Ideal Husband

I try not to follow celebrity gossip too closely (after all, it’s still gossip), but I must admit that it has shocked me to hear that Heath Ledger died. He used to be a favorite actor of mine in the A Knight’s Tale and 10 Things I Hate About You days.

Last night for my birthday, my roommates and I went out for Turkish food and to see the movie Enchanted. We went to the 9:55 showing so I assumed that it would be pretty empty, but I was surprised by who else was in the movie theatre.

Besides the 3 of us, there were only 3 other people there: two guys in their mid-twenties who came together (though they didn’t seem like they were a couple) and a guy in his early-thirties who came by himself. What about this movie appeals to guys? Did they go to the 9:55 showing because they didn’t want anyone to see them?

We all enjoyed the movie which was clearly written for girls like us who grew up with Disney fairy tales: Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and The Little Mermaid (I can’t think of any other allusions, though I certainly might have missed them). Don’t be fooled, this movie is definitely written for adults though the “adult” content is quite mild, it is still there. Moving on.

***Spoiler alert*** (though who doesn’t know how a Disney movie will end?)

As we were leaving the theatre (and after we got done laughing about our fellow audience members), my roommates and I started to discuss the “happily ever after” that Giselle (from the fairy tale land) has. Despite the marriage of their former beaus, Giselle and Robert (from reality) aren’t showed getting married. Maybe it’s supposed to be assumed, but I specifically looked to see if either had a wedding band in the final scene and I couldn’t tell. I think it was intentially overlooked.

Giselle’s “happily ever after” scene consisted of a family (of one child) and running her own design business (of little girls’ princess dresses). (Update: Andie reminded me that she also saved her man from the dragon which is another part of the modern “happily ever after,” minus the dragon of course) What my roommates and I reflected on is that marriage is no longer what our generation dreams of. Sure we want the man, but we want the family and the successful career just as much (if not more so). Getting married to Prince Charming is not enough and not necessarily required for our dreams to come true. Living together is a perfectly legitimate substitute for marriage. In fact, they are interchangable.

I could get mad at Disney about this, but they are merely reflecting our culture. It’s sad, but God’s ideal of marriage is not deemed “necessary” to have a family.

What do you think? If you’ve seen the movie, do you think I’ve painted an accurate picture of it?