Jump off the Bridge

NPH's Tony (W)Rap-Up

2011-06-15T17:06:00.000-04:00

I'm sure you've already seen this, but WTF, JUST WATCH IT AGAIN! Because it combines my favorite things: Broadway, Neil Patrick Harris, and Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Lyrics written by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Tommy Kail:

Tomorrow, if anyone asks you what happened at the Tonys, you can say this:
We straightened things out in the opening number,
Ellen Barkin and John Benjamin Hickey took home awards for their hilarious performances in The Normal Heart.
Daniel Radcliffe kicked some butt, and we were so elated
Even Voldemort was sad he wasn't nominated
Norbert Leo Butz has won the Tony Award for best actor in a musicalNorbert Leo Butz sang and danced and tried to catch ya, comin' atcha
Chasing Trey and Casey 'cause they nabbed a Tony statue
Commencing in the Chattanooga station
From the grand imagination of the Kander-Ebb collaboration
It takes a lot for a recipient to humble me
But everybody cried for gorgeous Nikki James, the bumblebee
Andrew Rannells sang I Believe and he landed it
So well now he's Mitt Romney's VP candidate
All across the country, from the north and to the south
They're saying Brooke's a hottie with a crazy potty mouth
John Larroquette brought an eloquent mood to the room
I'm still imagining him at home in his Fruit-of-the-Looms
Spider-Man and Mary-Jane gave us perspective here
They sang a ballad, we didn't need protective gear
Patina Miller's nun sang Raise Your Voice with cheer
And Memphis is relentless, they're performing every year
The Normal Heart won, Larry Kramer made us weep
And War Horse dazzled us with a theatrical sweep
Sutton Foster never lost her knack
For talking smack
And tapping a full-on assault attack
I'm awesome, Hugh Jackman, take that
Go ahead and roll the credits if you need to
I'm out of control, I'm on a roll, this is my Tonys speed-through
Anything Goes took the best revival prize in stride
We didn't see it, we were singing Side By Side By Side
McDormand loves her job, Sutton Foster won again
Paul Shaffer sang and suddenly it started raining men
Mark Rylance runs at fences, he's won the Tony twice
That guy can do it all, his follow-up is Fanny Bryce
Norbert Butz and Mormon swept the floor
Won even more awards than War Horse
Par for the course,
Someone get a car for the horse
And in the final analysis, what survives tonight?
Theater, because it's what we live, we're changing some lives tonight
And theater thrives because we live to give it, so to speak
This ain't reality TV, this is eight shows a week
Every chorus member that you saw tonight tappin'
Had to make miracles happen
For a chance to see you clappin'
And applauding in the audience. What's next? Who knows?
Anything goes. Now go see a mother [expletive] Broadway show.
Thank you, good night.

Obama, Trump, and Birth Certificates

2011-04-28T10:13:00.000-04:00

By now, you may have already seen Baratunde's response to Obama releasing his birth certificate. If you haven't you really must watch it, and if you have, it wouldn't hurt to watch it again. I myself have seen it three times now, simply because it's so moving and so honest and reflects what a lot of people feel but can't quite express in words. Here's the video, and I've included the transcript (by Numol Bites) below.

it’s been a very difficult morning for me. um, got the news that President Obama released his long-form birth certificate, um, due to the increasing media circus surrounding claims that he is not one of us, that he is not an American. and it comes at an interesting time for many reasons — one of which is that it’s April 27th, 2011, and *this just happened*, so that’s… really interesting, to me. also, because i’m reading, right now, a book by Manning Marable — it’s called “Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention”, and he unearths a lot of amazing detail and correspondence around this exceptional American, and through this book, you also get a window into the Civil Rights Movement throughout this country’s history, especially in the ’40s, ’50s and ’60s. and you are reminded, if you read this book — or see a documentary special, or know anything about the history of the United States — you’re reminded of the extraordinary level of sacrifice that has been involved in allowing all Americans to exist as, be treated as, participate as *Americans*, to *be that which they are* [laughs, shakes head]. a *lot* of *work*, a lot of tears, a lot of pain, a lot of death. there were people who dropped out of their ordinary lives — sacrificed their personal safety, their reputation, their ability to earn money — to intervene on behalf of those who they also saw as American. they got on buses in Freedom Rides, they sat in, they *died* in waves and waves of domestic terrorism, so that someone like me could go to a voting booth and not be asked by some racist poll worker to pay a tax, or prove that my grandfather wasn’t a slave, or pass a literacy test which got increasingly difficult the more i might pass it. [pause] and today, the *President of the United States* had to prove that he was an American to the satisfaction of the 75% of Iowa republicans who doubt that, or the 43% of national republicans who doubt that, or the one *heinous, low-class individual* who took credit for it after: Donald Trump. a man who was given every advantage, who inherited millions and lost it all twice, but *had that opportunity* because no one’s ever had to ask him to prove *anything*. a man who lacks intelligence, compassion, common sense, respect, decency, or an understanding of what the *fuck* it means to be an American, that he would come out moments after *the President of the United States* — and i stress that, *the President* — released his long-form birth certificate, and Donald Trump comes out moments later and says, “i’m really proud of myself, *but*… shouldn’t have taken so long. i wanna see the birth certificate for myself. i wanna test it for *authenticity*. i don’t want the press asking me about birth certificates anymore.” [pause] i find it hard to… summarize, in mere words, the amount of pain and rage this incident has caused. it’s… *humiliating* — not just to Barack Obama, not just to the office of the President, not just to black Americans who died and those who supported our quest for freedom… it’s embarassing to the *entire nation*, that we would sit and *let this happen*. [shaking his head] we have *all* been debased by this incident — by a charlatan, by a con man, by a mere *promoter of himself*. and for him to take credit for this, and for him to *revel in it*, and yet… and still not be satisfied, makes him no better than a klansman, no better than a Bull Connor, no better than an anonymous privileged white man in the 1950s who — regardless of his position in society — knew his position was higher than that of a common nigger. and that is what the fuck Donald Trump has done… to the *President of the United States*. to the *office* of the President of the United States. to me, and to you. i am *disgusted*, i have cried, because i know my ancestors paid a very high price, and never… would never have imagined that we might have the President that we do. but certainly part of their joy, in the ancestral celestial skies right now, has been greatly diminished by what has happened here today. i hope that eventually — not just in the post-mortal world of karma and spiritual justice — Mr. Trump pays an exceptional price. i hope that price comes during his life. [pause] to then be able to walk around a super-free, super-white, super-privileged man, lording over all who would pay attention — which is far too many — at what you have done… has got to cost you something in this life as well. [shaking his head and laughing] i don’t wanna hear about “The Apprentice”, i don’t wanna hear about your new cologne, i don’t wanna hear about the new tower you’re building in whatever fucking town. [pauses, shaking his head] that cologne smells of racism, that tower is built on the blood of disrespected slaves and freedom fighters, and that show is merely a showcase… for the dishonor you have brought upon anyone who would call themselves an American. [pause] my name is Baratunde Thurston and… i’m *heartbroken* over this. [shakes his head and rests his face on his hand as video ends]

Random thought of the morning...

2011-03-22T11:19:00.000-04:00

In J. Holiday's song Bed (lyrics below), it sounds so pretty and slow and people I know love/hate it because it's all the wonderful lovey things he's going to do with this woman. It's all "love is war, I'm your soldier" and "love you 'til your eyes roll back" and "my angel [...] thanks for letting me bless you."

But it's really all about him.

What is wrong with you, J. Holiday? Can't even just love a woman and sex her up without having her put on the lingerie YOU like and giving YOU a back rub? And, really, why does she have to give you a back rub before you guys have sex? That's your foreplay? Really?! You want to be a sex god but your foreplay is all about your pleasure?

Morning thought done.

What's on your mind today?

J. Holiday, Bed

[J. Holiday: speaking]
Aye, Aye, Aye, Aye, Aye, Aye, Aye (repeat 8x times)
Put you to the bed, bed, bed
Put you to the bed, bed, bed
Aye,Aye, Aye, Aye

[Verse 1:]
Girl, change into that Victoria Secret thing that I like
Alright
Ok, tonight your having me your way
Perfume, spray it there
Put our love in the air
Now put me right next to you
Fittin to raise the temp in the room
First rub my back like you do
Right there, uh-uh, right there uh
You touch me like you care
Now Stop
And let me repay you for the week that you've been thru
Working that 9-5 and staying cute, like you do
oh, oh, oh

[Pre-Chorus:]
I love it (I love it)
You love it (You love it)
Everytime (Everytime)
We touchin (We touchin)
I want it (I want it)
You want it (You want it)
I'll see you (see you)
In the morning (In the morning)

[Chorus:]
I wanna put my fingers thru your hair
Wrap me up in your legs
And love you till your eyes roll back
I'm tryin to put you to bed, bed, bed
I'mma put you to bed, bed, bed
Then I'ma rock your body
Turn you over
Love is war
I'm your soldier
Touching you like it's our first time
I'mma put you to bed, bed, bed
I'ma put you to bed, bed, bed

[Verse 2:]
I'm staring at you while your sleep
You replaced it for beauty
Put my face up in your neck and breathe (aww, breathe)
Take you into my senses
Wake up, it's time to finish
Round two, It's round two
Matter of fact it's closer to three
She like, "how long I been sleep?"
Shorty, kisses turn into the sweetest dreams
Like give it to me
And I can feel her tell me
My angel this is wonderful
Thanks, for letting me bless ya
Come down, fly, right, drift back into heaven
Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh

[Pre-Chorus:]
I love it (I love it)
You love it (You love it)
Everytime (Everytime)
We touchin (We touchin)
I want it (I want it)
You want it (You want it)
I'll see you (see you)
In the morning (In the morning)

[Chorus:]
I wanna put my fingers thru your hair
Wrap me up in your legs
And love you till your eyes roll back
I'm tryin to put you to bed, bed, bed
I'mma put you to bed, bed, bed
Then I'ma rock your body
Turn you over
Love is war
I'm your soldier
Touching you like it's our first time
I'mma put you to bed, bed, bed
I'ma put you to bed, bed, bed

[Bridge:]
Watch the sunlight peak over the horizons
Ou-Ou, Ou-Ou, Ou-Ou, Ou-Ou
Sun ain't the only thing that's shining
Ou-Ou, Ou-Ou, Ou-Ou, Ou-Ou
Now, I'mma send you out into the world with my love
Tell everybody aye, aye, aye [x10]

[Chorus:]
I wanna put my fingers thru your hair
Wrap me up in your legs
And love you till your eyes roll back
I'm tryin to put you to bed, bed, bed
I'mma put you to bed, bed, bed
Then I'ma rock your body
Turn you over
Love is war
I'm your soldier
Touching you like it's our first time
I'mma put you to bed, bed, bed
I'ma put you to bed, bed, bed

Happy International Women's Day!

2011-03-08T10:21:00.000-05:00

It's International Women's Day, y'all! HOORAY! Here are a few things I found to celebrate:

Change.org is featuring several campaigns that can improve the lives of women around the world by labeling them with the IWD logo.

The Guardian has a list of their top 100 women. Now, I find it somewhat problematic (some of their choices seem random, if not completely ridonk), but as I learned more about some women I'd practically never heard of and by the end I was all "we can do it!" so I guess that says something.

Equality Now has a 100 Steps to Equality campaign with facts and action steps. (There's also a PDF with all 100 steps.)

Even Google is getting in on the fun by promoting the Join Women on the Bridge event they're co-hosting with Women for Women International at the Millenium Bridge, the Brooklyn Bridge, and the Golden Gate Bridge. They've also got links to some really great orgs (they want you to donate, but you could just as easily click through to simply learn more or take action).

There are countless others, so please promote your org/cause/event/whatever of choice in the comments. I'll also try to update this if/when I can.

Happy WHM (& a Reminder)

2011-03-01T13:14:00.008-05:00

Everyone! Don't panic! I'm still alive!

After a roller coaster of a year in 2010 and a hectic start to 2011, I'm finally gearing up to write again. My return will be awesome, I assure you, but in the meantime, I want to remind everyone that it's Women's History Month. I say remind because I forgot myself until I saw it trending earlier today and that sort of what snapped me back to reality.

I have to say that things have been looking grim for women as of late (though, do they ever look so hot?), what with Lara Logan, the Pence Amendment killing Planned Parenthood, the bill in Georgia, and now this fetus testifying in court...

I took a step back from things a while ago when I simply couldn't handle it anymore. But now what I simply can't handle is sitting back and watching everything fall apart around us.

Which is to say: celebrate WHM this month in a way that really counts. I'm starting now. It's good to be back.

In the Heights In Real Life: Powerless

2011-01-05T17:35:00.000-05:00

Originally posted during Blogathon '09, now re-posted because In the Heights is closing this weekend and I'm incredibly sad.

***

One of the major themes in the musical In the Heights is balancing the new world with the old world. This theme is epitomized in the song Carnaval del Barrio, but that's not why I love it (or not the only reason anyway). I love it because in just a few words, it sums up how so many Latinos and immigrants feel: powerless.

(click here if you can't see the video.)

To be fair, the Powerless refrain actually comes up earlier in the show, but it means so much more in this section (starting around 5 minutes in):

We are powerless,
We are powerless!
...
Maybe you're right, Sonny.
Call in the coroners
Maybe we're powerless, a corner full of foreigners.
Maybe this neighborhood's changing forever
Maybe tonight is our last night together, however!
How do you wanna face it?
Do you wanna waste it, when the end is so close you can taste it?
Y'all could cry with your head in the sand
I'ma fly this flag that I got in my hand!

As Latinos, as immigrants, we are constantly being ignored. Despite the fact that Latinos are the largest and fastest-growing minority group in the U.S. Despite the fact that immigrants are, in fact, people. We are constantly discriminated against and targeted. We are ridiculed and insulted. Republicans court us for a vote one year, and feel threatened by Sotomayor in the next.

So we cling to our culture and heritage and the people who understand us and support us. Wouldn't you?

UPDATE: The other posts in this series are: Paciencia y Fe and Nina's Story.

In the Heights In Real Life: Nina's Story

2011-01-05T07:35:00.000-05:00

Originally posted during Blogathon '09, now re-posted because In the Heights is closing this weekend and I'm incredibly sad.

***

One of the leads in the musical In the Heights is Nina Rosario, whose parents are immigrants and who is the first in her family to go to college. I connected a lot to her story and struggles, especially what she expresses in the songs Breathe and When You're Home.

(click here if you can't see the video.)

There's a part in the song Breathe (about 2 minutes in) that expresses how most young Latinos I know have felt throughout their lives:

They are all counting on me to succeed
I am the one who made it out
The one who always made the grade
But maybe I should've just stayed home...
When I was a child I stayed wide awake, climbed to the highest place,
on every fire escape, restless to climb
I got every scholarship, saved every dollar
The first to go to college

And she later sings (about 3:20 into the song):

Oh, God
And what will my parents say?
Can I go in there and say
"I know that I'm letting you down..."

I know that most people feel pressure from their parents to succeed. We all have our own struggles that stand in the way of that success and feel that we are letting them down at that point. But when you grow up knowing that your parents brought you to this country specifically for that one goal -- expending thousands of dollars, countless hours and perhaps sacrificing their social standing in their native countries -- that is a weight on your shoulders of incredible measure. Doing poorly one semester, not getting that important scholarship, not graduating on time, changing your major... all of this makes you feel like you are letting your parents down in the biggest way you can.

Inevitably, we end up asking a lot of what ifs, just as Nina does in When You're Home.

(click here if you can't see the video.)

There's a section of the song (about 3:25 in) where she sings:

When I was younger I'd imagine what would happen if my parents had stayed in Puerto Rico
Who would I be if I had never seen Manhattan
If I lived in Puerto Rico with my people?
My people
I feel like all my life I've tried to find the answer
Working harder, learning Spanish, learning all I can

What if my parents had never left D.R.? Would they have struggled so much in establishing their business? Would they have gone into so much debt to create a life for us? Would I be married and pregnant? Would I have a college degree? These are the questions we ask ourselves, and the questions our parents ask themselves.

But ultimately, we move on because, as my mother would say "'si hubiera' no existe" -- "'if onlys' don't exist."

UPDATE: The other posts in this series are: Paciencia y Fe and Powerless.

In the Heights In Real Life: Paciencia y Fe

2011-01-04T17:35:00.000-05:00

Originally posted during Blogathon '09, now re-posted because In the Heights is closing this weekend and I'm incredibly sad.

***

Paciencia y Fe means Patience and Faith, and it's a phrase that's used throughout the musical In the Heights. The song by that name tells the story of one of the characters, Abuela, and her immigration from Cuba to the U.S. with her mother.

(click here if you can't see the video.)

There are two parts that I want to discuss a little.

The first part (about 1 minute into the song) expresses the ambivalence so many Latino immigrants feel:

Ay, Mama, so many stars in Cuba
En Nueva York we can't see beyond our streetlights
To reach the roof you gotta bribe the supa
Ain't no cassiopia in Washington Heights
But ain't no food in La Vibora

I can't count the number of times I've heard a Latino and/or an immigrant offer a criticism of their life in the U.S., quickly followed by a comment to the extent of "if you don't like it here, go back to where you came from." It seems those people don't realize at that moment that it's completely possible for anybody to simultaneously complain about something about their life in America and love the opportunities presented here. Americans born in the U.S. start entire organizations dedicated to changing aspects of American society, so why are we denied the right to express our own opinions?

Near the end of the song (about 3:45 into the song), there is a line that particularly gets to me:

Ay ay Mama
What do you do when your dreams come true?
I've spent my life inheriting dreams from you

I was five years old when I came to this country, and my parents never let me lose sight of what they came here for: for my sisters and I to get a better education and have more opportunities than we would have in D.R. For immigrant children, a large part of our identities are directly influenced by the goals our parents have for us. At what point do you dream for yourself instead of your parents? Stay tuned for more on that in my next post...

In the Heights In Real Life: Intro

2011-01-04T07:35:00.000-05:00

Originally posted during Blogathon '09, now re-posted because In the Heights is closing this weekend and I'm incredibly sad.

***

For as long as I've been blogging, I have shared my love for the Broadway musical In the Heights and its creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda. More than just enjoying the acting, singing, and dancing (though all of that is freaking awesome, you need to watch this show), I think there is a real effort to talk about the immigrant experience in the story and lyrics.

For a long time now, I've wanted to write about why I connected to the themes in this show in a way that I never have with any other Broadway show I've watched or listened to. Perhaps it'll give you a bit of appreciation show you can enjoy it right along with me when I keep blogging and tweeting about it. Oh, but it might also contain a few spoilers, though I'll keep them to a minimum.

I've chosen a few songs and characters that help illustrate my experience as a Latina immigrant, and the experiences of my friends and family. (I could have really chosen a whole lot more, but then I'd be here forever.) I might sometimes make generalizations in these posts, but I just want to be clear that just like all Americans are unique, all Latinos and all immigrants are unique as well. I'm in no way speaking on behalf of all Latinos here, but my reflections are definitely true to my personal experience and observations.

Saying Goodbye to In the Heights

2011-01-03T19:34:00.002-05:00

So my favorite Broadway musical, In the Heights, closes this coming weekend. I'm excited that I'll be at the matinee performance on the last day, but I'm incredibly sad to see it go. Without much time to write all new posts professing all the reasons I love it so much, I'll re-post some of the things I've written in the past. Hopefully you'll be able to understand and appreciate at least a little bit of why it's so important to me.

Book Review: Beachcombers

2010-12-05T11:15:00.000-05:00

By Nancy Thayer

Sometimes there is so much heavy reading material to get through, that what you really need is a short, light, fun book, and Beachcombers is just that. The novel centers on three sisters and their father and what they learn about themselves and each other in that time.

Their mother died when they were young and the oldest sister, Abbie, took some of the burden of raising her younger sisters because her father was dealing with his grief. Now adults, the youngest sister, Lily, is the only one who still lives with her father in Nantucket. The middle sister, Emma, moves back home after being dumped and losing her job because of the bad economy. Abbie has returned to help console her sister and spend time with her family. Meanwhile, their father has rented a room to Marina, a woman who is dealing with a break-up of her own.

As the summer starts, the family is scattered as each member deals with their own lives. As the summer progresses, they start to come together as they face falling in love and letting go of their mother, whose death still affects them.

What I loved most about this book is how much the reader gets to know each woman in the story. Though written in the third person, each chapter focuses on one of the sisters or on Marina. We get to know their insecurities, what they’re really thinking, and how they really feel about one another. Most importantly, we get to see how the past continues to affect them and how they reconcile that with the promise of their future.

The thing that surprised me about this book was how it was able to bring up issues of grief, mental health, depression, suicide, etc. while remaining a light read. I suppose most people would classify this as chick lit, so in some respects, you know what you’re getting when you start reading it. And yet it kept me interested on a deeper level than I expected when I picked it up.

Of course, most of it was very predictable, but I was impressed by how much I enjoyed reading it in spite of that. If you completely hate anything that might fall near the realm of chick lit, then I suppose it’s best to stay away. But if you’re open to having some fluff accompany interesting women characters and discussions about mental health, then it’s definitely worth checking out Beachcombers.

Election Day Reminder!

2010-11-01T11:05:00.000-04:00

You might still be hung over from celebrating Halloween all weekend, so here's your reminder that tomorrow's Election Day!

CNN's Election Center is pretty cool -- it has general information about voting and the races to watch, and it also has a "My Election" section that lets you personalize the news and info to your area. Feel free to leave links in the comments for other resources folks can tap into.

Book Review: Broken Glass Park

2010-10-04T08:57:00.000-04:00

By Alina Bronsky

Broken Glass Park is the tough story of a young girl whose upbringing and current life situation is hard, to say the least. After a former abusive boyfriend murders her mother, Sascha has to take care of her younger siblings with the help of a guardian she doesn’t particularly respect. From her point of view, we’re taken through her grieving, her distrust and hatred of men, her failing schoolwork, and her experience as an immigrant. There is a lot going on in this novel, and sometimes I did wish that it would focus a bit more. Then again, this is also what made it such a fascinating read.

Sascha finds herself in strange situations, and many would probably categorize her as self-destructive. She befriends a newspaper editor who feels bad enough about her mother’s death that he offers to help in any way he can. Suddenly, she’s staying with him and his son, and caught up in her own weird love triangle.

Even though this serves as the main plot, there are other things that happen to her throughout that are also strange and somewhat unbelievable. I don’t want to give too much away, but I will say that some of these are created by her rather than things that simply happen around her. In that way, I understand why some people feel that her character is unsympathetic, but I think they don’t fully appreciate how deeply she is affected by everything going on around her that she doesn’t have control over.

The story is surprisingly violent, and there is one scene in particular where it almost feels gratuitous. But the violence works because it is authentic and symbolizes the turmoil that Sascha is going through. In some ways, the story reminded me a bit of Stieg Larsson’s Millenium series. It is not nearly as violent and doesn't tell the same story, but the female protagonist in both struggles with issues of trust, violence against women, and being an outcast. In that sense, I came away from Broken Glass Park with the same feeling of sympathy and empowerment that I felt after reading The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.

The story may not be completely original, but it still captivated me and held my attention so closely that I read it in a day. As is often the sign of how much I enjoy a book, my biggest complaint was that it was too short. Just as I was hoping that Sascha’s life would take a turn for the better and that she would reclaim it for herself, the book was over. I can only hope that the author revisits this girl’s story so that I can get wrapped up in it all over again.

Film Review: The Romantics

2010-09-10T09:20:00.001-04:00

Directed by Galt Niederhoffer

Walking in to watch The Romantics, I feared it might be a movie that relies on star power to get by. Valentine’s Day is what came to mind, and even though the level of celebrity of the stars of The Romantics isn’t exactly the same (Katie Holmes and Anna Paquin aren’t quite Julia Roberts and Jessica Alba), I was nonetheless worried. As it turns out, I didn’t have much to worry about on that front, though I still struggled a bit with this movie.

The Romantics is about a group of college friends who got this nickname because of, in the words of Katie Holmes’ character, their “incestuous” dating history. At the center of this group are Laura (Katie Holmes) and Lila (Anna Paquin), who were roommates and best friends. The group has reunited for Lila’s wedding, with Laura as her maid of honor. The problem is that Lila is marrying the one man Laura loves, Tom (Josh Duhamel). Everyone – the Romantics, Lila’s family, and even Lila herself – knows that Laura’s still in love with Tom.

I want to start by saying that the main thing I didn’t like about this movie is the sense that it is trying too hard. The characters are completely unlikable, references to their days as undergrads seem forced, and the ending is somewhat unsatisfying. Any of these things on their own would simply make this a different kind of movie, but all of them together gave me the impression that the film is trying to be different, which I don’t generally like. As I thought about the film moments, even hours, after, I was disappointed.

But for some reason, I got over it. When I looked back on the film the next day, I realized that it didn’t matter if it tries too hard, because it's still very refreshing.

The characters are unlikable, but they’re also familiar. I may not be best friends with the girl who's with a guy she knows doesn’t want to be with her, but I’ve certainly known that girl. I also know the couple that just can’t make it work, no matter how much they seem right for each other.

And while my friends and I don’t constantly start sentences with, “Remember that English paper junior year,” we do randomly bring up our all-nighters or the class that kicked all of our butts. It isn’t farfetched to think that if we all got together and were reminiscing, these memories would come to us much more quickly.

So maybe the film is trying too hard, but the fact is that I still really enjoyed it. The acting was great, and the main characters had very good chemistry as an ensemble. There were some uncomfortable moments, some sad moments, and some really funny moments. Then there was the music, which I completely loved and was carefully weaved through the film to help tell the story.

In the end, I was pleasantly surprised and looked back at The Romantics as a good story told by the right people in just the right way.

Book Review: The Passage

2010-08-28T11:00:00.000-04:00

By Justin Cronin

Trying to explain The Passage is like explaining Lost or the Harry Potter series to an outsider. You end up having to sum it up in the simplest terms: Lost is about people stuck on a really weird island, Harry Potter is about a boy defeating evil wizards, and The Passage is about a little girl trying to save the world. Since this is a review, I’ll go a bit deeper than that, but it might sound ridiculous, so bear with me.

The Passage starts with a military experiment gone wrong. This experiment created beings that resemble vampires (don’t go out during the day, don’t age, feed on humans, etc.), and they have escaped. There’s a little girl, Amy, who was also a subject in the experiment, but who fared better than the others because she retained some of her humanity. The creatures are killing most of the U.S. population, and a man helps Amy escape. We jump forward a hundred years to a small settlement of survivors still trying to protect themselves against these creatures. It’s up to them and Amy to save what’s left of the country, perhaps the world.

No pat description can really do this book justice. The first part could have been a novel all on its own, and it probably would have been one of my favorites if it ended there. But as I kept reading, the storyline, character development, suspense, and surprises made the book unforgettable. Beyond that, there was the strength of the female characters, the significance of race—or lack thereof—in a society that believes they’re the last humans left, and the contemplation of how we pass down our history and what it means to future generations. All of this took me away from any traditional idea of sci-fi, fantasy, or trendy vampire lit to a look at what our culture is and what it could be.

I’ve read through negative reviews of this book, and while I can understand where others are coming from, I don’t agree. The biggest complaint I’ve read is that the book ends abruptly. That’s because this is the first book of three, and there’s more of this story to tell. Even then, The Passage easily stands alone because the first journey is complete by the end.

Another complaint is that while the first part of the book is beautifully written, it stumbles a bit after that. I agree that the first part is written much better than the rest, but it’s something I didn’t worry about as I let myself get into the story rather than focusing on the writing. After a hundred pages or so (a drop in the bucket for a book over 700 pages long), the story and the suspense carried me through to the end.

The best way I can sell this book is to admit that I could not put it down. Even when the story started to slow, even when I found myself awake at three o'clock in the morning with my fiancé groaning that I wasn’t asleep, even when I should have been eating food rather than words during my lunch break, I kept reading. It was hard to leave that world, even for a few hours. I finished all 700+ pages of The Passage in a week, and my only regret is not savoring it more.

I hope you aren’t intimidated by the page count, and I hope you’re not put off by the negative reviews, because this may end up being one of the best books you’ve read in a long time.

Book Review: Starting from Scratch

2010-08-24T11:13:00.000-04:00

By Susan Gilbert-Collins

In Starting from Scratch, Olivia Tschetter successfully defended her doctoral dissertation and lost her mother all in one day. The youngest of four siblings, Olivia moves back home to be with her father, to run away from her responsibilities at school, and to grieve. Her connection to her mother, who was an incredible cook, is food. At first, she uses food as a way to shove her pain aside, but it eventually becomes one of the ways she gets past her grief.

This is the simplest way to describe a book that is both straightforward and layered at the same time, particularly when revealing those layers would give away all the best parts. Let me just say that it’s easy to enjoy this book on a superficial level—it’s well-written, the characters are easy to relate to, and it’s a quick read—but there are also moments that can be appreciated more deeply.

For example, when Olivia unexpectedly starts with an old friend of her mother’s, Winnie, she stumbles into a minefield of sorts as Winnie reveals secrets Olivia’s family has kept from her. It turns out that Winnie is estranged from her own daughter, and the parallels between the way Olivia is suffering and the way Winnie and her own daughter deal with their own issues are quite compelling. It all reminds the reader that life-changing moments are universal, and that even if we deal with things in our own way, we don’t have to deal with them alone.

Another thing I must point out (again, without giving too much away) is the way this novel pulls off having both food and abuse as its subject matter. It sounds completely absurd, yet Starting from Scratch does it in a beautifully poignant way.

Food is almost like this family’s own language; it’s the way they communicate with each other, for better or worse. As Olivia works to finish the cooking newsletter her mother was working on when she died, the reader is taken through Olivia’s mourning and her reaction to the secrets she’s learned from Winnie. Meanwhile, the way women and their families deal with abuse is at the very heart of this story. Surprisingly, one thing does not take away from the other or make the abuse seem trivial.

In short, Starting from Scratch is a pleasant surprise. I found myself laughing out loud at some parts, and weeping at others. The story sucks you in and it’s over all too soon. By the end, I felt like I was a part of this family, and I wanted desperately to find out what happens to all of them beyond the point at which the story ends.

I Love Online Activism

2010-08-04T11:15:00.000-04:00

There are few things I love more than learning how people use digital media. Combine that with feminism and/or online activism, and I'm sold. Here are some stories I read this morning that inspired me.

France 24 launched the first interactive documentary for the iPad. This is news enough for a media geek, but here's the subject: rape in the Congo. I often get so caught up in feminist circles, that I forget how little people know about rape in the Congo and rape as a weapon of war. Having them choose this as the subject matter for such an innovative idea means many more people will become aware of this terrible problem. Here's more info about the Rape in Congo: Peace Violated.

In India, women are using social media as a way to organize and speak out against street harassment. Most recently, a community art project called Blank Noise organized hundreds of women to become Action Heroes, and other community groups like Pink Chaddi and Gulabi Gang are also getting organized. Read more about their inspiring activism to make the streets of India safer for women.

This isn't actually new, but every time I see anything about "You Are Beautiful," I get really happy. In their own words:

Advertising elicits a response to buy, where this project elicits a response to do something. The attempt with You Are Beautiful is to create activism instead of consumerism.

It's simple, but incredibly moving. Check out installations, read their statement, order stickers, etc. to help others know their beauty.

Share other projects and ideas in the comments.

News You Can Use

2010-07-20T11:30:00.000-04:00

Between work and life, I haven't had much time for writing these days. Luckily for you, my job requires me to read a ton, so here's some news you can use.

For all the former Degrassi fans out there (like me), you might be interested in knowing that this season raises the issue of incest and introduces a transgender character.

More states are starting to ban shackling during labor in prisons and more women have been suing states for engaging in this practice.

There's a new gel women can use during vaginal sex to lower the risk of contracting HIV and herpes. Love the potential for women to take control of their reproductive health.

A 12-year-old girl used Facebook to get help as her mother's ex-boyfriend attempted to sexually assault her.

Rachel Maddow's high school yearbook picture has Republicans commenting on how pretty she was. I actually think she looks hotter now, but maybe that's just me.

Happy Birthday Frida Kahlo!

2010-07-06T09:26:00.003-04:00

My love for Frida Kahlo is far from secret, but apparently Google loves her too! That, or they're running out of people to celebrate on the homepage.

Either way, happy birthday to Frida, an incredible artist, a fearless woman, and one of my idols. I'm sure you're somewhere celebrating with lots of music and booze.

"I hope the end is joyful - and I hope never to come back."

Cross-posted at Feministe

Film Review: Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky

2010-06-28T13:44:00.001-04:00

Even though I love Coco Chanel’s style almost as much as I love Igor Stravinsky’s music (quite a lot), I had no idea about the connection between these two iconic figures until I saw the film Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky.

In 1913, Igor Stravinsky premiered a new, controversial work in Paris: The Rite of Spring. Audience reaction was not exactly positive – it caused a riot, with many people walking out, booing, or yelling in outrage. There was, however, one notable audience member who was pleased and impressed, and that was Coco Chanel. Seven years later, Igor has left Russia and upon meeting each other, Coco invites him and his family to stay in her villa in order to support his work. It is rumored that the two had an affair during this time, and that is what unfolds in this film.

Based on the novel Coco & Igor, the film depicts how their relationship developed and how they inspired each other. Through the passion and creativity their affair ignites, Igor is able to finish a new and improved version of The Rite of Spring, and Coco creates Chanel No. 5. All of this happens as Igor’s sick wife, Catherine, sits by wondering what is going on until she is forced to confront them.

I found the film truly captivating. The passion between Igor and Coco leaps off the screen, thanks to the wonderful performances by Mads Mikkelsen and Anna Mouglalis. Their steamy love scenes were so realistic, I almost felt as if I was watching a private moment that I shouldn’t be a witness to. That said, I also liked that the film wasn’t only about their affair, but also about them going through the process of creating and feeling fulfilled by their work. His music is almost as important as the dialogue itself, constantly playing in the background. Seeing Coco in her element as a designer was great, and though her quest for the perfect scent was a little overly dramatic, there was some clapping in the audience when she does finally get to Chanel No. 5. One of my favorite moments in the film is when Coco is comparing her work to Igor’s work. He insults her by saying that she is merely a shopkeeper, and it is implied that this is one of the reasons their connection begins to break.

I think the best part about the film is Elena Morozova’s portrayal of Catherine Stravinsky. At first, her character seems to be the typical wife who chooses to accept her husband’s infidelity. As the film continues, however, her character becomes more complex. The tension between Catherine and Coco is uncomfortable enough to be believable yet subtle enough to make the audience tense as well. It is also interesting that rather than treating her as “the other woman,” Catherine does have some admiration for Coco and her independent, unconventional life. At the start of the film, I barely noticed her, yet by the end, I found myself rooting for her.

I tried hard to find something I didn't like about the film, but I just couldn't. In the end, it doesn't even matter how much of the story is true and how much of it is fiction -- the story still managed to take me in.

TV Time

2010-06-18T08:00:00.000-04:00

Now that LOST is over, I must cling to the tv shows I watch and enjoy. And with that, I bring you the Feministe True Blood roundtable and my SYTYCD recaps WOOT! Lauren and I will post our True Blood reactions every Tuesday and I'll give a recap of performance night every Thursday. So if you're a fan of either show, go ahead and check it out.

I'm Entering the Passage

2010-06-08T11:45:00.000-04:00

So for everyone who's tired of listening to me complain about what will come of my life now that I don't have Harry Potter or Lost to obsess over, you're in luck, for I've a new addiction: The Passage by Justin Cronin.

I finally got around to starting the advance copy I received ages ago, and I can't put this thing down! It comes out today, so somebody is going to need to buy a copy so they can read it with me. This doesn't seem like one of those things I can read by myself. Just like HP & Lost, I need somebody to at least react with. This is the best description I've seen: "'The Passage' is a story about vampires, viruses and a young girl who has a chance to save the world."

I'm not a big fan of vampire lit, but seriously, this book is not that.

Cutest part is that he came up with the idea because of his daughter. She suggested that he write a book about a little girl saving the world and, together, they started mapping out this story.

At any rate, I was going to post today about how I'm starting to get back on track with my blogging, except now I worry this book will take up all my time. Luckily, it won't take all that much time at the rate I'm reading...

Book Review: Captivity

2010-05-14T11:30:00.000-04:00

By Deborah Noyes

Captivity is a historical novel based on the true story of the Fox sisters, who claimed they could communicate with the dead. Able to convince a group of people of their abilities, they garnered a following that would grow to become a religious movement known as American Spiritualism, or simply Spiritualism. The three Fox sisters relied on raps to communicate with the dead, having the spirits count off the letters, words, and numbers they were trying to say.

Deborah Noyes uses the history of the Fox sisters and then builds on it with the story of Clara Gill. Clara has suffered the death of a loved one and while she is skeptical at the ability of the Fox sisters, she begins to embrace the possibility of reconnecting with the spirit of the love she lost. The novel switches back and forth between Clara’s narrative and that of the Fox sisters—particularly Maggie who, in the novel, works for some time at Clara’s house.

One of the things I liked best about this book is the fact the way each chapter shifts between the women’s points of view. I’m a big fan of nontraditional narratives because I feel it keeps the momentum going and keeps the reader interested. Even more to my liking, Clara’s story jumps a bit through time. In the first few Clara-centric chapters, for instance, you learn that she has suffered some sort of loss that has left her reclusive from even her father, the only family she has left. What you don’t immediately learn is how she got this way. As her narrative unfolds, the reader it taken back about ten years to explain her past, but it takes several chapters to get to the full story. People who prefer traditional narratives will likely get very frustrated that it takes so long to understand what’s going on.

Because communicating with spirits is already a seemingly fictional topic, it was hard to separate fiction from the alleged reality, and it certainly sparked some interest in me to learn more about the Fox sisters and Spiritualism. Within minutes of finishing the book, I was online, searching for Spiritualism and the history of the Fox sisters. From the little I could find out, it certainly seems that Noyes spent quite some time researching for this novel.

In the end, though, it doesn’t really matter what’s fact and what’s fiction. The novel is written in the third-person, but Noyes still describes what people are thinking and feeling enough for the reader to become invested in the characters. On top of that, she was able to pull me into the story and believe everything she’s presenting as complete truth. It’s rare that a novel can do that with as much ease as this one.

Book Review: No Permanent Waves

2010-05-14T11:00:00.001-04:00

Edited by Nancy A. Hewitt

As an undergraduate, my major was Women’s Studies, so I’ve read my fair share of feminist texts over the last several years. It’s hard to find one that offers a new perspective or, at least, a perspective different enough to satisfy both the expert and the novice. That said, I think No Permanent Waves: Recasting Histories of U.S. Feminism does a good job of it by covering the fundamentals—women’s history, and issues of race, class, and sexuality—as well as topics like hip-hop feminism, religion, and sex work, which don’t generally make it to academic anthologies.

For example, the New York City tenant movement is something that I have very little knowledge of. This topic is something I encountered briefly in a couple of history courses and the occasional segment on television programs about New York City history. Certainly the role of women in this movement was even further from my mind, at least until I read the chapter by Roberta S. Gold about intergenerational feminism in the tenant movement. Although the piece centers on the tenant movement of the 1960s and 1970s, it does include some historical background information and lays a strong enough foundation to serve as context for New York City’s landscape in the 1980s and 1990s. I found it one of the most interesting chapters in the book, and one I didn’t expect in a feminist anthology.

Another thing I particularly enjoyed about the book is that, while it’s clear No Permanent Waves is more of an academic text than something like, say, Sisterhood, Interrupted, Full Frontal Feminism, or even Manifesta, the language is still very accessible. It’s possible that my reading of it is skewed because I’m used to academic texts that are dry, analytical, and dense, but I found that none of these words would accurately describe No Permanent Waves. Instead, most of the pieces in this book are easy to understand and follow, even as they delve into identity politics, intergenerational issues, women’s history, and so forth.

My one criticism of the book is that the chapters don’t flow very well. The book is divided into three sections: Reframing Narratives/Reclaiming Histories, Coming Together/Pulling Apart, and Rethinking Agendas/Relocating Activism. While these titles generally reflect the pieces included in that section, they’re also very vague, and therefore, end up with a few pieces that could easily fit into a different section or that don’t adequately fit into any section. Part of feminism is the idea of rejecting labels and it’s difficult to categorize things that touch on so many cultures, philosophies, and moments in time, but it still seems a bit disjointed to go from reading about church women in the nineteenth century to President Kennedy’s Commission on Women.

I have to admit this is a small criticism about a great collection of writings. I learned much more from this work than I expected to, and enjoyed reading through No Permanent Waves more than any general feminist anthology I have read in some time. I could easily see this as the first volume in future anthologies, each looking at the role of women and feminists in various other movements and critical moments in time throughout history.

Fight Breast Cancer... at KFC

2010-04-29T07:06:00.000-04:00

These days, the world of fast food is hard to keep track of. Burger King's got brunch, Subway's got breakfast, IHOP's got, well, more unhealthy ways to eat pancakes.

In an interesting turn of events, KFC just announced that they've got pink buckets to raise money for breast cancer. Apparently, they're trying to donate a record-breaking $8.5 million by donating 50 cents from each pink bucket sale. I'm sure KFC will say they're doing this out of the goodness of their heart, but I have to wonder if the backlash from the Double Down might have something to do with this announcement.

I guess all this money towards breast cancer research can't be bad, right? I wonder if the money will be used to research how dietary habits affect breast cancer...