The Infinite and John Green

I've always believed in infinites. For a time I lost sight of those infinites, so to speak, instead swimming through oceans of things that disguised themselves as infinites, or felt almost precious to the same degree as an infinite, but not so. Tricky things those things are.

There is a lot in the way that I used to think that I have abandoned and in the rare instance, I stop and think how tragic that could be; That the grand finale to some of these infinites could ever be summarized in so few words. Almost nightmarish if I were to think about it a second longer than I should; which is why I stopped doing that.

I don't know if it exists, because the longer I stick around the more I come to terms with this concept of "I don't know" and "that's life" — it becomes almost dreary if I spend a second longer than I should  on that thought as well. So I don't.

What I do know is that you have to make the best of everything you get given; and to me that can't and won't ever come in the form of cheap thrill or fuzzy hoo-ha. There's no comfort in the flesh or the material and it's deeper to me than that, it's always been, and that won't ever change.

I watched the Fault In Our Stars.

Bless John Green. Augustus Waters is everything I could imagine in the infinite. And that's not me saying "aw" or melting at the idea of love; he's a hero. And not in line with Disney or any of that sap, but I think we all search for the Gus in our lives; in our friends, family, and in ourselves. I think finding that may be all of our infinites.  I'll keep a tiny candle lit til the day I'm living mine.   

"We are like a bunch of dogs squirting on fire hydrants. We poison the groundwater with our toxic piss, marking everything mine in a ridiculous attempt to survive our deaths. I can't stop pissing on fire hydrants. I am an animal like any other. Hazel is different. she walks lightly, old man. She walks lightly upon the earth. She knows the truth: We're as likely to hurt the universe as we are to help it, and we're not likely to do either. People will say it's sad that she leaves a lesser scar, that fewer remember her, that she was loved deeply but not widely. But it's not sad. It's triumphant. It's heroic. Isn't that the real heroism?"

Reactions to The Hunger Games 2: Catching Fire

The gradual plot build up followed by the consecutive wham bam thank you ma'ams of gut wrenching, fist pumping metaphorical punchlines. Well thank you. I can't even begin to express how moved I was by the entire film. My heart was racing throughout, through the walk home, and as I type this post. Themes that hit too close to home and too close to my heart. 

After a friend finished reading the trilogy he said, "Deb, you're exactly like Katniss." "In what ways?" I asked. "Watch it," he said. 

For the sheer genius in Collins' ways of incorporating very real themes into our mainstream media. The irony that is the Hunger Games vs. us as the audience, sitting there and watching those kinds of truths brought to screen.

I was discussing this with my cousin after the movie, and he shared a fair point; the entire notion of the way in which these truths are pursued are dependent on how comfortable your life is. In that, if you started with not much, and have succeeded, the system works; the system has filled your hole. In that, if you've lived a comfortable life, you tend to question - and the system doesn't fill that hole. 

At the same time, if the system didn't demand for these things in the first place, there would be no holes to fill. So are we coping, or are we asking for more (or perhaps less if we're being blunt)? And what is that for you? 

I asked a question, "if you didn't have your job, and there was no such thing as the education system, the monetary system - what would you live for?" And it's a funny question. Because obviously (?) we should all be living for something more than this. But reality is, there is a major chunk of our population that can't answer that question. Maybe it's because they've never seen the point in asking it; maybe it's because these questions simply don't exist in their lives. Maybe it's because they live for the entirety of our reality today.

Majority of our population live a life of - doing their best, reaping the rewards, breathing light through the amount of ways they manage to impress people. Which isn't my way of saying that these don't quantify as lesser virtues. Which isn't my way of dismissing reality either, but I beg to plead the question - why? 

Yes this is far fetched and yes it takes more than one angsty blog post to start any kind of revolution, but I'm not dismissing the way the world goes round. I'm challenging it, and I believe Suzanne Collins was, too. 

To sum it up, great movie, great cinematography, stellar acting, brilliant wardrobe and set design. And who couldn't love that wedding dress? And yes I could say perhaps I very strongly relate to Katniss Everdeen,  in more ways than one, save one thing. Can someone teach me how to use a bow and arrow?

Michael's Essay - The Blind Side Movie

"Courage is a hard thing to figure. You can have courage based on a dumb idea or a mistake, but you are not supposed to question adults or your coach or your teacher. Because they make the rules. Maybe they know the best or maybe they don’t.It all depends on who you come and where they come from. Didnt at least the six hundred guys think of giving up and joining with the other side.I mean The Valley Of Death! That’s pretty salty stuff. That’s why courage is tricky, should you always do what others tell you to do. Sometimes you might not even know why you do something. I mean any fool can have courage. But honour, that’s the real reason you do something or you don’t. It’s who you are and maybe who you want to be. If you die trying for something important then you have both honour and courage and that’s pretty good. I think that’s what the writer was saying, that you should hope for courage and try for honour and maybe even pray that the people telling you what to do have some too."

Spoiler Alert; My little tribute to Captain Phillips

I underestimated Phillips (Hanks) at the start of the film. Captain of a cargo ship, they portrayed him as the average Joe, the family man, who isn't all that charming, charismatic, or witty, and is stuck doing something he isn't particularly fond of. A grizzly, grey man who has gone through enough of the same monotony and has clearly accepted that.

You slowly begin to warm up to his character as he's underestimated by his second in hand and the rest of the crew. Initial concerns rise as he leads his ship through waters highly populated with pirate activities; a warning email sets him off to go through defensive drills.

I was impressed by Hanks' character development; the quick wit and stealthy cleverness that he executes in humble desperation. He definitely does not fit the regular hero mold, but you begin to see that he might just surpass that in his quick decision making and the strength he finds in his weakness, and his kindness.

The pace was perfect; just the right amount of fast and slow. Slower at the details, faster when necessary. As for the acting, I can't even begin to describe how well the cast worked together, and how authentically real, and sensitive they all were towards the tribute. Vulnerable, sublime acting.

A question of power. Four armed men and one unarmed hostage; what defines power? Who was really helpless here? Politically, philosophically, this film deals with so many themes to discuss. I found a brilliant writer at the Film School Rejects website who explains it more eloquently than I ever could: click click

I was traumatized after watching Hanks' trauma at the final scene. If I could stop time and space just to fully immerse myself mind, body and soul in his acting, I would. The tear ducts are at it still just thinking about it.

Stellar acting, brilliant directing and a great story. Definitely one for the watching, and the best movie I've seen all year.