मैं तुम से प्यार करती हूँ: A Bollywood Love Affair

It's official now. I don't know how it happened. I didn't plan it. I probably should have seen the signs, but it's too late now: I'm a Bollywood addict.

I suppose it all started with "Lagaan." Just one crazy night, staying up into the wee hours of the morning, crying, laughing, cheering, yelling... and I was hooked!

What is it about Bollywood movies that makes them so intriguing and - dare I say - addicting? A Brief History of Bollywood is helpful, though all one really needs to know is that Bollywood is a term applied to Indian cinema.

Bollywood Characteristics Appealing to (Some) Americans:

1. *Clean* Romance

Almost every Bollywood film has an element of romance, and most of these include love triangles, arranged marriages, unrequited love, etc. Granted, some of it gets sappy, but because of traditional Indian culture, there is usually no explicit sexual material. Although modern Bollywood may include risqué material, anything before the early 2000's doesn't even include kissing. ***note: Some Americans may object to the different view of modest dress; dance numbers often include bare backs/midriffs.***

2. Melodrama
If you think that Downton Abbey is too dramatic, try watching a Bollywood film! It's FULL of drama: family feuds, forbidden love, political tension, lovers' secrets... the list goes on. Thankfully, many films don't take themselves too seriously, which is half the fun.

3. Family Values
As is the case in many other countries, family is a much higher priority in India than in America, which is evident in the films. Parents and elders are more often than not respected, and young adults and adolescents are expected to value their family members, even extended family.

4. Religious Values

Though it may be a bit shocking to American audiences at first, Indian movies often contain a lot of religious material... and not the satirical take on those pesky Christians that we often see in our own media. Many movies' plots actually focus on religious themes and their complexities. A beautiful example of this is found in "Jodhaa Akbar."

5. Silliness
Exhibit One
Exhibit Two

6. Song and Dance Numbers
This is probably my favorite part of Bollywood films. The dancing, the singing, the randomness.... so good. Ye Ladki Haye Allah is probably my favorite.

7. Criticisms
Some people are critical of Bollywood because it doesn't portray Indian life acurately. While I agree that Indian life is much more likely to look like this:

rather than this:

the point is that it's not meant to be taken accurately most of the time. Since life in India is often hard and impoverished, films are a form of escape from reality. Thus, the entertainment is not the equivalent of a documentary for Americans. If we should expect Indian films to accurately portray the harshness of the average Indian life, shouldn't they expect the same from us? Pretty sure that would mean that this:

and this:

are accurate portrayals of American life. Pretty sure that's not the case most of the time!

8. Last Plug

If you still have no desire to watch Bollywood, at least try this one:

I'm Going On An Adventure: A Review of "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Adventure"

Oh, the Hobbit. The road goes ever on and on, as Bilbo used to say, and yet, I'm not quite sure I'm satisfied with the road taken by Peter Jackson in his latest Tolkien installment. Yes, I was looking forward to this  much more than any movie I've anticipated... since seeing The Return of the King, in fact. However, this film definitely had a different "feel" when compared to Jackson's other film adaptations of Tolkien's work. That's not a bad thing by any means. And yet, it leaves much to be wanting. I'll explain.

The character development (or lack of): It was disappointing for me to see some of my most beloved literary characters reduced or morphed into something I failed to recognize. As excited as I was to hear that Richard Armitage (if you haven't already, please see BBC's "North and South"! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbLqy2ONnU4)  had been cast as one of the dwarves, his portrayal of Thorin was not what I had expected. Yes, he's a prince among dwarves - which I suppose implies some level of attractiveness - but he's quite a bit older than many of the other dwarves, at least according to the book. I wanted him to be proud, stubborn, a bit arrogant, and regal - not one or the other, depending on the scene. The ending in particular - I'll get to the orcs in a minute - was especially lacking in terms of character.

Some of the casting, however, was done quite well. Martin Freeman as Bilbo was fantastic and completely believable as a younger Ian Holms. I had hoped more for Ian McKellen's and Hugo Weaving's performances, but I mostly alarmed by Galadriel's character. I realize that she doesn't even appear in the book, but I didn't appreciate the strangeness of her relationship with Gandalf (she's married, after all!) and her impersonal presence during the White Council.

I could go on and on about the dwarves, but I'll just say this: they weren't what I had hoped. I wanted slightly grimy, grumpy, gravelly-voiced dwarves, NOT a replacement for Legolas (i.e. Fili and Kili). Yes, they're Thorin's young nephews... but STILL!

On the positive side, this song gave me chills! 

Well done, Howard Shore. Well done. 

The Riddle Game: This was perfect - probably my favorite scene! The introduction of Gollum, the riddling, the moment of mercy..... AHHH, so good. Although I'm a bit of a purist when it comes to book adaptations, I liked the Smeagol/Gollum humor even if it wasn't in the book.

Did I mention how much I liked Martin Freeman? Hmmm, probably - but why not mention him again?

The orcs: gah! The albino, crippled orc?! What on earth? I really didn't thing that they need to include that character - he reminded me too much of Voldemort from Harry Potter! And the goblins... yes, they were disgusting, but I was more amused and annoyed that frightened as I had been by the Moria orcs in the Fellowship. It's almost like Peter Jackson, in his attempt to make a children's book into a movie appealing to adults, he divided up his scenes so that some were for children (the cheesy orc chase in the mountain) and others for adults (the riddle game).

Radagast the Brown: I don't want to talk about him.

The elves: Elves should not ride mutant deer. I'm slightly concerned now for the next film, which will not only include Legolas' fairy father (--->)
but the great golden prince himself. Ugggh, this could be gag-inducing. Pray it is not so!

Alright, I'm finished with my negativity. I'm actually really excited for the next film coming out this summer, mainly because of Smaug. We'll see what happens with that.... For now, I'll patiently await the release of the first film's special edition (coming out around Christmas).

Also, if anyone could be so kind as to inform me on the location of this restaurant, I would be forever grateful! ---->

Mother Mary: Immaculate Conception or Harlot?

Reason #497 that I love my Catholic university: the homilies are (almost) always awesome!!!!! 

Last week, at one of the daily Masses I heard an amazing homily in which the friar mentioned the Immaculate Conception. He was preaching on the fact that so many young Catholics at my university worry so much about “looking” holy than actually being holy. “Some people who look holy are not, but some people who don’t look holy are,” was his tag line. A very poignant example of his theme was that of Mother Mary.  He described a paradox: as an unwed mother in the ancient Near East, Mary was viewed as a harlot when she was actually the Immaculate Conception!

A HARLOT?! Our Lady placed on the same level as a woman who sold her body, a woman who was an outcast in society, a woman who was a disgrace? For a cradle Catholic who was taught from an early age that the Blessed Virgin as the holiest of all woman, this took me a while to process. Of course, I knew the consequences of her Fiat were serious... but A HARLOT?! That's pretty strong language. I suppose, like many other dogmas and teachings in our Faith, our childhood catechesis needs updating from time to time. It's a very thought-provoking paradox, isn't it? Mary, the greatest woman who ever lived, was misunderstood to a very great degree for her faith. On this most holy feast day and solemnity of the Immaculate Conception - when we celebrate her preservation from sin at the moment of conception in St. Anne's womb - let us consider this: 

When we feel like outcasts, abandoned by the world because we are misunderstood, let us look to Our Lady and ask for a small amount of her great faith and trust in the mercy of God. 

P.S. This is a clip from "The Nativity Story." Though I don’t completely agree with the theology of this film adaptation, I really appreciate St. Joseph’s portrayal in this scene:

Hobbit Day, Saints, and A New Adventure!

Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins in "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Adventure"

hobbit |ˈhäbit|nouna member of an imaginary race similar to humans, of small size and with hairy feet, in stories by J. R. R. Tolkien.ORIGIN 1937: invented by Tolkien in his book The Hobbit, and said by him to mean[hole-dweller.]I identify very much with hobbits. Physically, I could be mistaken for one with my honey-brown, curly hair, round cheeks, bright eyes, and rather short stature. We enjoy many of the same pastimes, such as eating, gardening, having a pint of good ale, and smoking (actually, I don't smoke, but I do like the smell of pipes). We're both quiet folk who don't care to be pushed out of our comfort zones, who prefer the country to city life, and who like nothing more than to live simply without any uncomfortable adventures. And, just like Bilbo and Frodo Baggins, I often find myself in the midst of adventures without really planning on doing so. I thought of the two Misters Baggins yesterday, as it was not only their birthday but also the 75th anniversary of the publication of "The Hobbit." I thought of how these two memorable characters have brought joy and inspiration to many people, thanks to Professor Tolkien. I thought of my own current adventures and wondered if Frodo or Bilbo ever had conversations with God similar to my own:"God, I told you that I'd decided that I'm never going to do THAT. It would be too scary and uncomfortable. Why are you making me do THAT?!""My child, don't you trust Me?""....""Well?""Uh..., of course I trust You, God. But this is... really scary. It's not going the way that I wanted!"Yeah. Pretty pathetic, I know, but this has been my attitude about many things in my life. I'm reminded of the quote: "If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans." Well, that was the first mistake I made in the area of dating. As a precocious twelve-year-old, I gave God my list of qualities that I wanted in a future husband. As a naive high-schooler, I altered the list, planned out my future dating life and asked what was taking so long. Now, as a slightly disillusioned college student, I thank God that He has guarded my heart for so long and taken me on several other adventures prior to this one: just last weekend, I officially became a girlfriend...and I'm still freaking out! But God is good, nonetheless. He takes all of my "freaking out" in stride.I've pretty much decided that God uses reverse psychology. I tell him I'd rather not do something a certain way, and He marks it on His "To Do" list. Ok, perhaps that's a little snarky, but I'm pretty sure that St. Teresa of Ávila felt the same ways sometimes. She had quite a quirky relationship with the Creator of the Universe. One of my favorite stories of her tells of how she fell off her donkey, looked up to heaven, and said, "If this is the way that You treat Your friends, I'm not surprised that You don't have very many!" Dang, talk about gutsy! Or think of Padre Pio, whose feast we celebrate today: after begging God to take away the visible stigmata and allowing him to continue receiving the pain, God gives him even more supernatural gifts in addition to the stigmata! I could go on and on, not just with other saints, but with examples from my own life. My point, though,  is this: God likes to push us a little. Sometimes he only knocks on the door of our hearts, as Gandalf the Wizard knocked on the round, red door of Bilbo's hobbit-hole. Other times, he forcibly pushes us out onto the road, via circumstances, and before we know it, we're in the middle of an adventure. Why does God do this? Isn't it enough that we struggle with concupiscence, with human frailty, with fear? Why does He feel the need to ask us to do hard things? Because He wants us to be SAINTS! Teresa of Ávila, Padre Pio, Rose of Lima, Miguel Pro, Pope John Paul II, Gregory the Great, Angela of Foligno, Kateri Tekakwitha, Joseph the Worker, Clare and Francis of Assisi... the list goes on. Did these people suffer as we do? Yes. Did they struggle with their faith at times? Yes. Did they sometimes doubt that they would reach the end of their adventures intact? Yes. And yet, these people are all held up by the Church as examples of extreme holiness. God pushed them all a little bit (some more than others). He sent His Spirit to speak to their hearts, asking "are you willing to do My will?" And their replies were, "Yes, Lord." With God's grace, I hope that I may one day reach half their level of piety... but until then, I'll continue on my adventure of life and pray.P.S. In honor of yesterday's celebration of Hobbit Day (which I missed due to illness), I end with Bilbo's poem for your enjoyment:

The Road goes ever on and on

Down from the door where it began.

Now far ahead the Road has gone,

And I must follow, if I can,

Pursuing it with weary feet,

Until it joins some larger way,

Where many paths and errands meet.

And whither then? I cannot say.

The Human Experience

I've been incredibly busy. Contrary to popular belief (or at least that of my mother), college students do not have endless hours of free time. Actually, we're lucky to have more than six for sleeping! Anyway, that is my reason for my delay in writing for quite a while; I've had a lot on my mind, a lot to write about, but I just haven't had the time to go with it. However, I just viewed a trailer that reminded me so much of the purpose of this blog that I decided to sacrifice some of my valuable sleeping time to make a small post. Hopefully, there will be more to come soon.

For those of you who speak English...

Una versión en español también:

Summer Movies Satisfy My Cravings!

I have a confession to make: I am a MOVIE JUNKIE! Yeah, I'm one of THOSE PEOPLE: 

• the annoying people in the movie theater who've already seen the film twice before and comment the WHOLE time
• the people who correct you when you try to make witty comments about the latest film ("The Hobbit is NOT the sequel to The Lord of the Rings!")
• the people who go to the midnight premier even though they have to get up early the next morning... and then proceed to go again the next day
• the people who quote various movies ALL the time and don't have the courtesy to explain the reference
• need I go on?

Not surprisingly, the latest summertime flicks did nothing to discourage my addiction - in fact they probably mase it worse! This summer had a particularly impressive list of movies, especially superhero movies! I've commented briefly on each one that I've seen for those who don't mind *Spoiler Warnings*!

To start things off, The Avengers was probably one of THE BEST movie theater experiences since The Lord of the Rings (which is why I went to see it more than once!). I am a huge Marvel fan, and even though I didn't care for Thor all that much and didn't see all of The Hulk, The Avengers was a breath of fresh air for me! I was so concerned that they had hyped up this giant movie project so much that it would be disappointing. Thankfully, I was pleasantly surprised. There was witty humor (thanks to Ironman), exciting action, a good blend of characters, an interesting villain, implied romance, and a tragic death *sniff*. I was very, very impressed and hope that they don't make a stupid sequel just to rake in more money. In fact, what I'd like to see first is a film about Black Widow and Hawkeye's relationship... there was definitely something going on! Besides, they're the only two main characters who don't have their own movie yet!

As a huge fan of the Sam Raimi's Spiderman films (except for the third one, of course *shudder*), I was looking forward to a new take on Spiderman, though I didn't expect to be "wowed." And I wasn't, at least not completely. I appreciated the fact that MJ was absent and replaced by Gwen (hurray for goody-two-shoes!). I felt that Andrew Garfield's performance was definitely more emotional and angsty, though there were times when the angst reminded me too much of Peter Parker's "dark side" in the third film! Finally, the Lizard really freaked me out! I didn't expect him to be creepy - I mean, the Goblin is supposed to be Spiderman's #1 Bad Guy, right? - but I actually jumped several times! The techie/computer guys did a good job.

I had been looking forward to the final Batman movie since I made myself watch the second one for the first time. Here's another confession: I have an irrational fear of clowns, and I just didn't think that I could handle the Joker. Thankfully, I faced my fear and experienced one of the greatest movie experiences of all time. However, I had no idea what to expect from The Dark Knight Rises. I'm not a comic geek, so I wasn't very familiar with the storyline (though a good friend did give me a spoiler - thanks M!). I could probably write an entire blog post on this movie, which I may do in the future, but for now I'll say this: Batman was a complete jerk to Alfred, Officer Blake was my favorite, Anne Hathaway did a fairly good job as Catwoman, and the entire time I KNEW that Miranda/Talia was no good! Oh, and I actually felt bad for Bane at the end (despite all of the previous neck-snapping!).

Besides the superhero flicks, I had greatly anticipated Pixar's latest film... and was sadly disappointed. My little sister enjoyed it more than me, probably because I had much greater expectations. She loved the pretty horse, the little girl who shot arrows at bears, and the fairy glowy lights. I cringed at the cliched feministic approach to a girl's coming of age story, reveled in the lush animation and Celtic soundtrack, and cried at the end because I wanted there to be more of... something, especially to the story! Just as Cars 2 failed to meet my expectations, Brave (which was originally titled The Bear and the Bow - who the heck wanted to change that title?!) wasn't quite as inspiring as it could have been. Still, it was enjoyable, just not the same sort of Pixar experience that I have come to expect. Though, I must say that Merida's hair was the best I've ever seen on an animated character!




Finally, I saw The Bourne Legacy - not because I enjoyed the other three movies (I've actually only seen one of them.) but because I had been so impressed by Jeremy Renner's performance in The Avengers. And once again, his character was very engaging. He brought a lot of energy to the movie, which was definitely necessary for an action film. The ending was very abrupt, the script was difficult to follow at times, a chase scene went way too long in my opinion, but other than that it was a fun spy flick. Oh, I must also comment on one scene in particular: due to recent events this summer involving various shootings around the country, a scene in which a group of people are locked in a room and shot down by a colleague was much more chilling than it would have been otherwise. Perhaps, out of sensitivity to the still-grieving families in Colorado and Wisconsin, that scene should have been cut or at least shortened for audiences. Just a thought.




So, why am I such a junkie? Why do I love movies so much to the point that I'm a little compulsive? I, just like all people, love stories, plain and simple. Our lives are stories, stories that intertwine and cross with the stories of others. Some stories are a bit more exciting (The Bourne Legacy), some are more complex (The Dark Knight Rises), some are just fun (The Avengers), and some are tragic (For Greater Glory, see first above poster). The point is that movies may not be factual, but they do mirror something of reality, something we recognize in our own lives... and I think that is what people find appealing and applicable in films. Films are just another medium in storytelling - a more colorful and exciting medium than say radio - but a form of storytelling, nonetheless. The best part about movies is when the stories teach us something or give us a chance to think about something deeper than the special effects or script. Movies have accomplished their purpose when one leaves the movie theater... thinking.

*Note: The film that I mentioned (the first movie poster) but didn't expound upon, For Greater Glory, was the ONE movie that I wanted to see this summer but didn't. Sad day. There wasn't a large release, unfortunately, but hopefully, I'll have a chance to see it once it comes out on video!

Life Stops for No One

Oh my goodness, this was a/an [add any combination of adjectives - all are relevant: difficult, frustrating, long, short, crazy, awesome, exciting, instructive, God-filled] summer! My summer job, teaching religious education (see http://catholicdioceseofwichita.org/totus-tuus/totus-tuus-home) to children and teenagers, was one of the most challenging experiences I've ever had... and it is finally OVER!

Earlier today, I bade farewell to many dear friends/teammates/coworkers with whom I had the pleasure of spending almost my entire summer. Hugs were shared, tears were wept (ok, I actually bawled as soon as I got in the car!), and now I'm home again, preparing for my next adventure: another semester of college. Which leads me to explain my title: life stops for no one.

Several years ago, this was a particularly poignant life-lesson for me as a teenager; while in the midst of high school, I experienced the illness and death of a family member. It was at that point of my life that I realized that no one is truly invincible. Sooner or later, you...me...everyone will fail, will suffer, and will die. And you know what? Life will continue on as it always has. I'm reminded of a song from one of my favorite movies:

Eliza does her best to prove that she does not need 'Enry 'Iggins in her life in order to be happy (which may or may not be true - those of you who've seen the movie know what I mean :P), and she does so by pointing out that normal, everyday things will continue occurring whether or not he's around.

Similarly, if I fail all of my classes this coming semester, if I lose a dear friend, if I'm fired from my library job, if no one likes my blog (sure, that's not incredibly important, but still!), if I die in a car accident, will the world end? Of course not; life will go on its merry way along the path of time... at least until the Parousia (or the Zombie Apocalypse, take your pick). My point is, though it may seem that life is too hectic, too difficult, too MUCH, it will continue on. Sometimes we need to remind ourselves of this reality so that we may resist the urge to give into fear of what the future may hold. Endure, dear reader(s)! Life stops for no one, so hang on tight, be brave, and trust that "this too shall pass."