The Muppet Movie and What You Want

Let me preface this post by saying I LOVED The Muppets. It was completely wonderful and hilarious. Have you seen it yet? If not, go see it. Funny and fun for people of all ages. I can almost guarantee that you will enjoy it. Anyway, having said that, of course I have a problem with it.

Amy Adams is hilarious and adorable and a wonderful singer. In many ways, she is the perfect person to be in a kids movie! So why was her character barely a character at all? We get a little bit of motivation from her at the beginning but I guess the writers didn't want her to just be a woman waiting for a ring, probably because there is precedent for that, and it is not pretty*.

So then her motivation kind of stays but isn't really that strong and... she ends up with little character, just a cute face and a lovely singing voice.

So how does a body in a movie (or any story) become a character instead of a simple plot device? Motivation. If there is something that the character wants that motivates all of her actions, then she becomes a person, not just a prop. Oh, and by the way, Jason Segel, if you're reading this, I love you man, and I'm not blaming you. Writers do this all the time to the women in their stories, and rarely seeing full, human, motivated female characters can make it hard to write them.

Let's think about this. During any given day, what do you want? Seriously, make a list. There's the basics: food, shelter, sex. Then there are interpersonal relationship desires that are as diverse as people and their relationships can be: to win a parent's approval, to get your sister to admit she was wrong, to get an apology from your friend, to receive a compliment, to receive forgiveness for your wrongdoings. The list goes on and on.

In a Disney movie, women have far more limited desires, if any, and women in grown-up movies aren't that much different. If women are good, they can want love, also known as "magic" and "dreams" before they meet the prince. If women are bad, they can want beauty (after they've lost it due to pesky aging which turned them evil)... and that's pretty much it.

Although, I gotta give those female villains some credit. Sure, there's the implication that as women get older they can either become a fairy godmother who helps an ingenue or more likely a spiteful villain who tears her down out of envy. But at least the villains are active. And often they are very funny. The villains set the plot into action by pursuing what they desire. Motivation. Action. The two parts of a character's story. I can't help but be impressed with the one-upsmanship of the evilness of villains in Disney stories. From kidnapping little girls to pushing princesses out of a magical land and into Manhattan to attempting to turn puppies into coats. Puppies for God's sake!

Our female protagonists don't get the same kind of respect as motivation and action, and if they have motivation, they usually just want to get married. In romantic comedies, there is no desire big enough that it isn't just a front for wanting to get married. She wants to excel in her field? No, actually she just needs to learn to slow down and fall in love! She wants to fight crime at a Miss America-like Pageant? I think she needs one dude to turn her pretty and another dude to love her for it. She's already engaged and is spending a nice weekend with her family? Wrong, she's engaged to douchebag Bradley Cooper and just hasn't met the lovable liar and womanizer Owen Wilson yet! It's like screenwriters try to avoid the route of a woman only being motivated by catching a man, but all the solutions are still, you guessed it, catching a man.

I have a secret for you. I really hope this one doesn't get out, because it's actually pretty awesome. The secret to writing a great female character is to write a great character. Here's something to try: take that short story you haven't written yet or that screenplay or that sketch or that novel, and think about the male protagonist in your mind. Now ask yourself, why does he have to be male? In many cases, there is really no reason he has to be male.

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*Incidentally, I have a little rant about how this movie, which I watched on a plane, exemplifies everything wrong with romantic comedies. There are great romantic comedies out there, but they are few and far between, and this is certainly not one of them. If you would like to hear my rant about Leap Year, ask me sometime.

Time for Thanks

Hey, Thanks for reading my blog!

Let's give thanks. I love Thanksgiving. I think it's the simplicity of the Holiday that really makes it special. You get together with your family, some of whom you can hardly tolerate, according to popular American tradition. I am still young enough to really love every member of my family, but I assume I will start resenting them soon if movies and television are to be believed.

And yet, despite the fact that Americans tend to dislike their families in movies, our families and friends are often the first thing we can think to be thankful for. Family, friends and food. The three major things we are thankful for are also the center of the holiday, imagine that (Secondary list: wine, The Muppets, employment.) Thanksgiving is neither secular, nor do people accuse it of being "satanist" (like Halloween, horrible day.) And whether you're thanking God or not, taking a moment to humble yourself to the point of gratitude can't hurt every now ant then.

I don't think I will ever understand what possesses people to wake up at 2:30 AM the day after eating a giant tryptophan laced meal to be near the front of the line for "doorbuster" deals at Toys-R-Us or Kohls, but if that is part of their Holiday tradition, who am I to judge? My favorite cranberry sauce has pineapple in it, for Pete's sake! We all have our own holiday traditions, and unlike trashing sluts on Halloween or bad-mouthing the consumerism of Christmas, we accept others' traditions at Thanksgiving because we recognize that everyone has different backgrounds. Not sure why we feel the need to be judgey for pretty much every other major holiday, but who knows.

And, it is the start of when people actually tolerate all the Christmas stuff happening around the city. The restaurant I work at put up our decorations over a week ago, and when I go into work on Friday, I won't have to hear guests complain about how it's too early to decorate. Nobody can laugh at me for listening to the Christmas station or yell at me for singing "Oh Holy Night" at the top of my lungs. By the way, if anybody wants to go caroling or just get together and have a Christmas sing along, hit me up! I love singing, so why shouldn't I love the one time of year when my habit of wandering around singing will be a little less crazy and a little more cheery!

In other news, my Twitter followers may have already seen it, but I stumbled upon this bizarre cover of one of my favorite Christmas songs. It sounds like one of those terrible songs they play in the Juniors section of Macy's because the normal Christmas songs aren't "hip" enough for their clientele. But I kinda like it...

I am off to buy some peppermint schnapps to compliment my Williams-Sonoma hot chocolate that I will be drinking now.

Something I love: The Nerdist Writers Panel

There's this podcast that I am totally digging right now, and I thought I would share it with you since I always want to talk about things I'm listening to. It's like when I listen to NPR, I always want to talk about it, but I never know who to talk about it with.

I discovered this podcast through a fiction class I was taking at Story Studio Chicago. One of my classmates recommended it, despite the fact that it discusses television writing, a completely different medium than we were studying. As usual when somebody mentions a podcast, I was wondering "How the hell do people learn about podcasts?" I just have no idea who consumes podcasts and why and how they hear about them and when they consume them. All of these are a total mystery to me, but you know the story of how I discovered this one, and in case you're wondering, I'm listening to it during my relatively quick commute to work.

So anyway, the podcast is called The Nerdist Writers Panel and every episode, they have a panel of television writers discuss the business, their process, etc. It is completely fascinating. I obviously love television, and it is what I would like to be doing eventually, so knowing a few tips and familiarizing myself with the business can't hurt. However, the podcast is very interesting even if you don't want to get into the business and perhaps even if you don't enjoy television (I've heard these people exist.)

I am thrilled that they often have Buffy writers on the series. As a huge Buffy fan, I can understand all of the examples that they use from the series. It's also pretty awesome to hear about how the show worked when it was being written, and it's nice to know that it was generally a positive experience for all involved. Although, you can never really be sure because one of the first things you pick up on is that working TV writers have to remain positive at all times. Apparently publicly trash talking people you've worked with is not a good way to find more work in the future. Who knew.

I've also been gaining a lot of knowledge about how to break into the writing for TV business, but I will not be sharing that here, mostly because I fear that it's stuff that everybody knows, and I would sound like an idiot being like "Hey, do you know what a spec script is?" And perhaps, ultimately, that's the reason why I don't talk about things I've learned. I fear that other people already know them.

Anyway, check it out. It's super entertaining. You can find it on iTunes and put it on your mp3 player or phone for your commute, just like I did. It's kind of hard for me to just sit and listen to it when I'm at home, since I figure I need more stimulus, but it also functions as a nice distraction while I'm working out (never.)

I'm turning into my mom...

Do you ever have those moments where you go "Oh my god, I'm turning into my parents!" Well, my mom and I have always looked alike, and we have a lot in common, both in interests and personality, so it's not really surprising that I'm turning into her. Here are my moments of realization that, wow, I really am going to be just like that lady:

I forgot about a cup of coffee in the microwave today. About 20% of the time, if it is in the afternoon and I happen to be at my parents house, the house I grew up in since I was 9 months old, I will find something forgotten in the microwave. It is often coffee, but sometimes it is leftovers that she hasn't yet remembered to eat for lunch during her hectic schedule of accomplishing everything. She could win any contest at getting things done, but "Remember that coffee in the microwave" doesn't show up on her todo list.

I sing the weirdest songs to my cat. As long as I have been alive, my mom has had a silly streak. Whether it's singing to the dog or still to this day refering to me as "Wizzers," she just may be the goofiest person I have ever lived with. She turns everything into a song, whether anybody is listening or not. I have always been a fan of singing, and around my new cat Olive, my singing has gotten sillier and sillier.

Despite her silliness, I must recognize that I could do much worse than to turn into my mom. Remember that old Army slogan "We do more before 9am than most people do all day?" That's her. She is one of the most efficient people I know. She finds time to be silly, and I'm lucky to be so close with her.

Me and mom after our travels through Europe.

Young Comedienne Seeks Writing Buddy

I'm going to apologize for the unfocused post this week. Just trying to get myself to write SOMETHING.

Happy November Everyone! Just like I love the start of a new year, new week, new school year, I love the start of a new month. This month, I have banned myself from shopping and from getting lattes at starbucks. I'll update you on how well that one goes... Budgeting is surprisingly enjoyable for me.

It's also National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), for anybody else out there who is a writer, there's your challenge. I won't be writing a novel, but I will be attempting to create a good amount of content in non text message form. I realized recently that I probably write more in text messages than anything else, not that there's anything wrong with that.

I am very envious of people who have strong writing partnerships, like John and Paul or Trey and Matt or Batman and Robin. I got into group writing while working with Lenny Dee at Carleton. While Lenny Dee had some bumps in the road during the writing and editing process, I really miss writing with them. Spending four hours a week creating content with my friends was at once enjoyable and productive. In the wide world of Chicago where everybody wants to "make it" and we all have different experience levels, it's tough to find people I gel with that get me excited about their work. When I do find people that I think are funny or I would like to collab with, they are normal people with normal jobs who work during the day, not write all day.

I figure finding collaborators should get easier, but I worry that I'm not being proactive enough about the whole process. Most times when I meet people in classes, it takes a lot of effort to break through the initial awkwardness, which I always feel is my fault, although I suppose in awkward encounters, it might be the fault of both parties. I suppose finding people who want to be funny with you is just a more selective version of attempting to find new friends, which is difficult as well.

As the new month begins, I have so many big goals. I am suddenly motivated to do laundry, even though I have a few days of underwear left (too much information? or is honesty really the best policy?) I am continuing my job search and redefining my "brand" as a candidate (biggest headache ever.) And I am going to get back on track with writing, right? Right! I'll write a song, and sketches every week, and I'll make a video... Oh, and the perpetual goal that always arises while making goals: I will work out more! Now, I am reminded of this comic. Sighs.

Unsurprisingly, while working 30-35 hours/week, all of these goals can be accomplished by creating a routine for each one and incrementally increasing it, rather than saying "I will wake up, go for an hour run, do forty minutes of yoga, then write for the rest of the day. I can probably write a post and 85 sketches before I have to go to work!" But it is so tempting to become completely awesome all at once rather than being realistic by running two miles and writing for 15 minutes. The money thing (no shopping, no lattes) I can do because there is an end to it, and very clearly defined rules. I know I get to shop in December for Christmas, and I can start a wishlist.

So these are my goals, and then myself dooming my goals all in the same post. And somewhere in there I talk about wanting creative partners.

But hey, there's hope. It's 10am and I've already written a post, not a great post, but it is a post.

(image from the comic linked above, Hyperbole and a Half)

Edit- since I wrote this post, I have installed Nanny for Google Chrome, to make sure I keep my facebook, hulu and reddit time in check!

Love your body!

Yesterday was national Love Your Body Day, but I didn't know until it was too late to post, as I was hella busy yesterday. I figured I should post my thoughts anyway, since this topic is near and dear to my heart.

I am currently in the middle of reading Lessons from the Fat-o-sphere: Quit Dieting and Declare a Truce with your Body by Kate Harding and Marianne Kirby. Upon explaining the subject matter, fat acceptance and loving your body, to a friend of mine, he responded "But you're not fat!" I know, I am not fat by any stretch of the imagination, unless you were to compare me to a ballet dancer or a runway model. However, body positivity is still important to me as it is important to everyone. Despite the fact that I am not fat, standing up and saying "I love my body just the way it is" is a radical choice. The media, society and even your friends and family put pressure on you to look a certain way and weigh a certain amount (especially if you're a woman.) I must recommend, no matter what size you are, check out Health at Every Size, if you're tired of people equating thinness with health, if you're tired of depriving yourself in the name of a diet, and if you're tired of exercising for fitness and exercising for vanity being considered the same thing. And how can that be surprising, since in our culture "fit" usually means "thin" by some measure?

Nobody benefits from a huge cultural lie that only a size 2 is healthy. That lets size 2 ladies off the hook for never exercising (cough, cough me in college) and ladies who will never be a size 2 aren't allowed to feel great in their bodies, even when their bodies (regardless of size) are in great shape.

I love my body. I like the way it looks, especially the parts that never get complimented by men. It's like those parts are truly mine. If a part of my body never gets complimented, my ribs for instance, then it is truly mine to love because I love it, not because somebody told me to love it.

I love focusing on what my body can do. I have found that the more I focus on my body's abilities rather than it's size (girth, height, weight) the happier I am with my body. Going for a run doesn't make me feel better because I'll lose weight or "tone up;" It feels great because no matter what size my thighs are, they have amazing abilities to carry me far and fast. I am so proud of myself for having completed the Carleton Triathlon in June. I managed to mentally and physically bring myself to the point of being able to work out for nearly four hours, despite my previous hate of running and sports.

Today, if you're feeling brave, pick a body part that you usually can't stand the look of. Check it out in the mirror and thank it for being there. This is your body. It is the one and only vehicle you have to go through life. Thank that body part that you previously wished you could get rid of. Thank it for what it does for you and why it exists within this whole wonderful machine that gives you so much. And give back to your body. Eat something that you know makes it feel great. Do a type of physical activity that puts your mind and body in perfect harmony. We can all get gloomy in this type of weather, and getting up and moving tends to help (Says the girl who is sitting in front of her computer at 12:20PM)

The more you love your body, the better you feel and even look. Good Luck!

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Name droppy side note: I went to see TJ & Dave last night, and Tracy Letts was there instead of TJ. I missed TJ, of course, but I gotta admit, it was pretty awesome. Most people won't get this, but it was awesome.

Halloween costume ideas! Mini Hats!

This year, tiny hats are big. No, not big, they're so huge, they're tiny! I didn't realize until I visited a Spirit Halloween Shop a couple days ago that tiny hats are far sexier than normal sized hats. It's not enough to wear a mini dress that vaguely resembles an iconic character, oh no. To take your sexy factor above and beyond, make sure to wear the littlest hat you can find!

Mini Cowgirl Hat!

Want to distract people from the fact that cowgirls never existed and your mini skirt is completely impractical for horseback riding? Grab this sexy tiny hat! All of the other historical inaccuracies won't be able to keep their hands off of you!

Mini Witch Hat!

With this tiny hat, you'll cast a spell over all of the douchebags who refused to put on any kind of decent costume! (ooh, you're a warewolf, but it's not a full moon, that's so fucking clever!) Willow would be proud.

Slightly Less Mini Top Hat!

If you're a little more alternative, check out this gothic slightly larger top hat! This hat exists in between the realm of a normal sized hat and a mini hat. It may actually be a baby hat or a dog hat and the web site either got confused or decided to market it to grown women anyway. Either way, this shit is hot! Snatch it up soon, because this mini-ish hat is flying off the shelves!

Happy Halloween, beeches!