Raissa Rivera Falgui's Blog, page 2
February 25, 2021
A Future view of the Edsa Revolution
I remember the Edsa Revolution well though I was just nine at the time and barely aware of the political situation. I knew we had something called Martial Law but didn’t know what that meant.
The stories all came out when the revolution began, of activists being imprisoned, quite a few of them friends of my parents. Though our hopes for a better government system and the retrieval of stolen funds would be dashed, I still remember the euphoria of the days that followed the ousting of the Marcoses.
Given its impact in my early life, it’s no surprise Edsa and related events frequently crop up in my fiction. I paid tribute to activist artists in Woman in a Frame. I mention Martial Law in the title story in Virtual Centre and other science fiction stories as a state of our country that put in a relatively better light the classist current system in the future Philippines (where the rich lived out their dreams virtually, cared by the poor). And in another story I mention, tongue-in-cheek, that many Edsa Revolutions followed, that it became the default way to deal with unsatisfactory leaders. Edsa Dos, which unseated impeachable President Estrada inspired that, of course.
I wouldn’t want things to actually be that way, of course. It’s sad that Edsa Dos had to happen, showing most Filipinos hadn’t yet learned their lesson. One Edsa was something to be proud of, it’s aftermath was not. If I had the ability, I’d already have built an imposter android president. Since all I really can do is write, I had to make a character do it.
Well, of course that’s not all I can do. There’s voting and speaking out against wrong practices and teaching my own children. I’m not very patient, though. But I’m still living here, so you know I haven’t quite given up on my country. Here’s praying we will finally have a breakthrough, that things will get better.
The stories all came out when the revolution began, of activists being imprisoned, quite a few of them friends of my parents. Though our hopes for a better government system and the retrieval of stolen funds would be dashed, I still remember the euphoria of the days that followed the ousting of the Marcoses.
Given its impact in my early life, it’s no surprise Edsa and related events frequently crop up in my fiction. I paid tribute to activist artists in Woman in a Frame. I mention Martial Law in the title story in Virtual Centre and other science fiction stories as a state of our country that put in a relatively better light the classist current system in the future Philippines (where the rich lived out their dreams virtually, cared by the poor). And in another story I mention, tongue-in-cheek, that many Edsa Revolutions followed, that it became the default way to deal with unsatisfactory leaders. Edsa Dos, which unseated impeachable President Estrada inspired that, of course.
I wouldn’t want things to actually be that way, of course. It’s sad that Edsa Dos had to happen, showing most Filipinos hadn’t yet learned their lesson. One Edsa was something to be proud of, it’s aftermath was not. If I had the ability, I’d already have built an imposter android president. Since all I really can do is write, I had to make a character do it.
Well, of course that’s not all I can do. There’s voting and speaking out against wrong practices and teaching my own children. I’m not very patient, though. But I’m still living here, so you know I haven’t quite given up on my country. Here’s praying we will finally have a breakthrough, that things will get better.
January 12, 2021
A Year of Watching Books
Last night, my boys were talking about Home Alone 2 as we were going to bed, which is probably why I dreamt of being in the movie Dash and Lily, which references the Macaulay Culkin movie. In the dream, my whole family was in New York for Christmas, and we were letting an apartment in Lily’s building. We were invited to the fateful party where she met Dash, and she came to the kitchen to help us prepare some chocolatey treats to serve at the party. As we worked, I gave Lily love advice, telling her that I now found some of the movie and book romances I loved when I was young cringey, including ones that I’d written. From the kitchen, we peeked out into the living room where Dash was giving his opinion of Home Alone 2 and I said, “He’s cute, but more important, do you agree with his ideas about the movie?”
Based on the YA novel Dash & Lily's Book of Dares, Dash and Lily is just one of many book-to-film adaptations I’ve watched over the past year. It’s been hard for me to settle down and finish reading a book for most of this year given all that’s been going on, but at least I’ve been able to catch up on watching movies. It’s easier to watch a movie while doing tasks like folding laundry or supervising kids doing homework (I usually turn down the sound and read subtitles, still that kind of reading takes less concentration than reading a full page of text). Apart from Dash and Lily, many of the other movies and shows I’ve watched last year were based on books.
I finished Anne with an E early in the pandemic. While some of the divergences from the text annoyed me, I enjoyed others. I thought Gilbert’s storyline was melodramatic to the point of competing with Anne’s pathetic past, though at least he escaped being abused as she was. It did make me reflect something L.M. Montgomery herself hints at having realized in later books--that Anne had it easier than most orphans of the day. In fact, a tragic character from Anne’s House of Dreams, chides her with never having known tragedy, since she’d been neglected when young but hadn’t seen people she loved die horrifically before her eyes. Montgomery’s later orphanage denizen creations since Anne include Mary Vance, who was shunted from home to home and acts nonchalant about having been beaten. Anne being a more sensitive type is shown to deal with such abuse by retreating into her imagination, which makes sense. It’s just at odds with the romantic image of Anne of the book whiling away her lonely hours with daydreams.
I preferred additions to the Anne books rather than changes in existing characters and events. I loved Sebastian and his romance and the addition of native tribal characters which gave a more complete and rustic picture of Prince Edward Island, and liked the historical perspective on disease and medicine. I was touched by Anne’s efforts to support Gilbert in his decision to study medicine even when he was shaken by doubt, and so related with Diana’s adolescent struggles with being in love with love and choosing the direction of her education. Most of all, I loved Anne and Gilbert’s realization of their feelings of each other, developing earlier and different ways than it did in the original, but still fitting with the friends-to-lovers arc associated with them.
Another romantic movie I enjoyed was Crazy Rich Asians, though somehow, even though I really liked both Rachel and her boyfriend, I didn’t really feel kilig in watching their love story. Maybe it was tainted a little with Nick’s lack of romantic gestures early in the film. The fact that he doesn’t use his wealth to lavish his girlfriend with gifts may be commendable to practical Rachel, but seems suspect to me. Compare with a character in a similar situation, the young man of The Blue Castle , who is hiding his wealthy background from his wife, yet buys her a real pearl necklace, which she assumes is fake due to his apparent circumstances. I think I would have been more touched if Nick had made a similar gesture that shows he loves with no holds barred, rather than waiting till he’s sure of her before he splurges on an expensive ring for her, as if rewarding her for passing his tests. I’m not much for expensive presents myself, but if a guy can afford them and doesn’t at least try to give them, it seems cheap and smacks of lack of commitment. Nevertheless, Rachel and Nick are separately lovable and seem like they would make a good match. Maybe the next movie or the book will make me feel like shipping them more.
Having ordered a copy of Looking for AlaskaLooking for Alaska, I settled down while waiting for it with a movie adaptation of another John Green book: Paper Towns. Its beautiful and free-spirited Margo is incredibly similar to Alaska of the other book and the main character and his barkada are similarly quirky. There’s more of a cleverly conceived mystery here, though, and happier outcomes for the characters. It’s a good movie for the depressing days of the pandemic, engaging and feel-good with hints of romance. Its good-boy character is refreshing. He’s neither of the popular YA extremes of golden boy or rebel. He is a sweet nerd who plays it safe but while he takes risks to help and find the girl he loves, he doesn’t drop his responsibilities or forget about other people in his life afterwards. It’s a good film to watch to counteract the very similar but much more painful Looking for Alaska.
I was excited to see the new adaptation of RebeccaRebecca and thought it began pretty well. The protagonist seems more awkward and relatable here, and her imagination and artistic tendencies are emphasized. The coarseness of her employer is really brought out here, making the young companion more sympathetic. The Maxim here is more attractive than that in the Hitchcock movie, but beside the now more interesting girl, he seems to have become less so. There are a couple of sour notes in their relationship for me caused by his pointed remark on needing an heir--was that why he cast his eye on a young woman, then? Was he looking for a new partner principally for that? He is kind to her but does not seem particularly amused by her, even in the condescending manner that original Maxim was. He condescends and appears intrigued but not that charmed by her.
But then, I had difficulty as an adolescent finding their relationship romantic, and now I realize it probably wasn’t meant to be so, which is why the new movie ending emphasizing romance seems contrived. It was in fact a little creepy in making it seem the young wife was turning into a Rebecca! The protagonist of the book didn’t have a particularly happy ending, except maybe for realizing her honest, simple worth (for what it’s worth) was greater than false, manipulative Rebecca’s. I’m not romantic enough to find being the one good thing in a sad, tortured man’s life romantic. Some consolation for sharing someone’s sad, tortured life. I think most women these days would agree, and so it’s absurd to force a beautiful spin on the ending. The best conceivable ending for Rebecca is relief at having gotten away with, well, murder. You’d need a whole other book to make it believable that they can have an actual happy life after that (not Susan Hill’s, though). I also found the weird dream sequences in the book overdone and Mrs. Danvers’ scenes too rushed. But the movie was visually beautiful, especially the full-color Manderley, and having seen all that tasteful opulence makes me feel the tragedy of its destruction all the more.
I watched Dahling Nick and was delighted to see one of my favorite stories, "May Day Eve" brought to life. The depiction was true to the text, but I’ve always wished for a version that filled in more of the gaps in the lovers’ courtship and married life. I’ve always felt uneasy reading the last segment of the story, being compelled to be sympathetic to Badoy while knowing that he had made Agueda’s life unhappy though I realize part of his tragedy is his inability to realize his domineering behavior towards his spirited wife was wrong. He adhered to the conventions of society even if it resulted in him destroying what he loved best in her. It’s an incredibly beautiful and perceptive story, and while it’s right not to meddle with it, and certainly not like in Rebecca in a way that would insist its central couple had a truly romantic life together, it wouldn’t hurt to draw out more from the story in adaptations.
I also checked out some snippets from the TV series of my daughter’s and my favorite Roman Mysteries and found the cast delightful. I still prefer reading the books, though, to pick up more historical knowledge.
And there was Little Women. I finally finished watching all the existing feature-length film versions, but I expect a comparison of them will take a whole other blog post so more on thatin the future.
Dash and Lily was the series I ended the year with, and a delightful one it was. Dash and Lily are a great pair to hang out with, with their creativity and wit. I hope to see the next installments of their series on Christmases to come, and read the books as well. Reading unfortunately takes more time and concentration than watching, and it’s hard to come by those these days with all the distracting tasks and issues. So it’s a good thing there are some really good literary film adaptations out there.
Based on the YA novel Dash & Lily's Book of Dares, Dash and Lily is just one of many book-to-film adaptations I’ve watched over the past year. It’s been hard for me to settle down and finish reading a book for most of this year given all that’s been going on, but at least I’ve been able to catch up on watching movies. It’s easier to watch a movie while doing tasks like folding laundry or supervising kids doing homework (I usually turn down the sound and read subtitles, still that kind of reading takes less concentration than reading a full page of text). Apart from Dash and Lily, many of the other movies and shows I’ve watched last year were based on books.
I finished Anne with an E early in the pandemic. While some of the divergences from the text annoyed me, I enjoyed others. I thought Gilbert’s storyline was melodramatic to the point of competing with Anne’s pathetic past, though at least he escaped being abused as she was. It did make me reflect something L.M. Montgomery herself hints at having realized in later books--that Anne had it easier than most orphans of the day. In fact, a tragic character from Anne’s House of Dreams, chides her with never having known tragedy, since she’d been neglected when young but hadn’t seen people she loved die horrifically before her eyes. Montgomery’s later orphanage denizen creations since Anne include Mary Vance, who was shunted from home to home and acts nonchalant about having been beaten. Anne being a more sensitive type is shown to deal with such abuse by retreating into her imagination, which makes sense. It’s just at odds with the romantic image of Anne of the book whiling away her lonely hours with daydreams.
I preferred additions to the Anne books rather than changes in existing characters and events. I loved Sebastian and his romance and the addition of native tribal characters which gave a more complete and rustic picture of Prince Edward Island, and liked the historical perspective on disease and medicine. I was touched by Anne’s efforts to support Gilbert in his decision to study medicine even when he was shaken by doubt, and so related with Diana’s adolescent struggles with being in love with love and choosing the direction of her education. Most of all, I loved Anne and Gilbert’s realization of their feelings of each other, developing earlier and different ways than it did in the original, but still fitting with the friends-to-lovers arc associated with them.
Another romantic movie I enjoyed was Crazy Rich Asians, though somehow, even though I really liked both Rachel and her boyfriend, I didn’t really feel kilig in watching their love story. Maybe it was tainted a little with Nick’s lack of romantic gestures early in the film. The fact that he doesn’t use his wealth to lavish his girlfriend with gifts may be commendable to practical Rachel, but seems suspect to me. Compare with a character in a similar situation, the young man of The Blue Castle , who is hiding his wealthy background from his wife, yet buys her a real pearl necklace, which she assumes is fake due to his apparent circumstances. I think I would have been more touched if Nick had made a similar gesture that shows he loves with no holds barred, rather than waiting till he’s sure of her before he splurges on an expensive ring for her, as if rewarding her for passing his tests. I’m not much for expensive presents myself, but if a guy can afford them and doesn’t at least try to give them, it seems cheap and smacks of lack of commitment. Nevertheless, Rachel and Nick are separately lovable and seem like they would make a good match. Maybe the next movie or the book will make me feel like shipping them more.
Having ordered a copy of Looking for AlaskaLooking for Alaska, I settled down while waiting for it with a movie adaptation of another John Green book: Paper Towns. Its beautiful and free-spirited Margo is incredibly similar to Alaska of the other book and the main character and his barkada are similarly quirky. There’s more of a cleverly conceived mystery here, though, and happier outcomes for the characters. It’s a good movie for the depressing days of the pandemic, engaging and feel-good with hints of romance. Its good-boy character is refreshing. He’s neither of the popular YA extremes of golden boy or rebel. He is a sweet nerd who plays it safe but while he takes risks to help and find the girl he loves, he doesn’t drop his responsibilities or forget about other people in his life afterwards. It’s a good film to watch to counteract the very similar but much more painful Looking for Alaska.
I was excited to see the new adaptation of RebeccaRebecca and thought it began pretty well. The protagonist seems more awkward and relatable here, and her imagination and artistic tendencies are emphasized. The coarseness of her employer is really brought out here, making the young companion more sympathetic. The Maxim here is more attractive than that in the Hitchcock movie, but beside the now more interesting girl, he seems to have become less so. There are a couple of sour notes in their relationship for me caused by his pointed remark on needing an heir--was that why he cast his eye on a young woman, then? Was he looking for a new partner principally for that? He is kind to her but does not seem particularly amused by her, even in the condescending manner that original Maxim was. He condescends and appears intrigued but not that charmed by her.
But then, I had difficulty as an adolescent finding their relationship romantic, and now I realize it probably wasn’t meant to be so, which is why the new movie ending emphasizing romance seems contrived. It was in fact a little creepy in making it seem the young wife was turning into a Rebecca! The protagonist of the book didn’t have a particularly happy ending, except maybe for realizing her honest, simple worth (for what it’s worth) was greater than false, manipulative Rebecca’s. I’m not romantic enough to find being the one good thing in a sad, tortured man’s life romantic. Some consolation for sharing someone’s sad, tortured life. I think most women these days would agree, and so it’s absurd to force a beautiful spin on the ending. The best conceivable ending for Rebecca is relief at having gotten away with, well, murder. You’d need a whole other book to make it believable that they can have an actual happy life after that (not Susan Hill’s, though). I also found the weird dream sequences in the book overdone and Mrs. Danvers’ scenes too rushed. But the movie was visually beautiful, especially the full-color Manderley, and having seen all that tasteful opulence makes me feel the tragedy of its destruction all the more.
I watched Dahling Nick and was delighted to see one of my favorite stories, "May Day Eve" brought to life. The depiction was true to the text, but I’ve always wished for a version that filled in more of the gaps in the lovers’ courtship and married life. I’ve always felt uneasy reading the last segment of the story, being compelled to be sympathetic to Badoy while knowing that he had made Agueda’s life unhappy though I realize part of his tragedy is his inability to realize his domineering behavior towards his spirited wife was wrong. He adhered to the conventions of society even if it resulted in him destroying what he loved best in her. It’s an incredibly beautiful and perceptive story, and while it’s right not to meddle with it, and certainly not like in Rebecca in a way that would insist its central couple had a truly romantic life together, it wouldn’t hurt to draw out more from the story in adaptations.
I also checked out some snippets from the TV series of my daughter’s and my favorite Roman Mysteries and found the cast delightful. I still prefer reading the books, though, to pick up more historical knowledge.
And there was Little Women. I finally finished watching all the existing feature-length film versions, but I expect a comparison of them will take a whole other blog post so more on thatin the future.
Dash and Lily was the series I ended the year with, and a delightful one it was. Dash and Lily are a great pair to hang out with, with their creativity and wit. I hope to see the next installments of their series on Christmases to come, and read the books as well. Reading unfortunately takes more time and concentration than watching, and it’s hard to come by those these days with all the distracting tasks and issues. So it’s a good thing there are some really good literary film adaptations out there.
October 6, 2020
A Belated Happy Book Birthday!
They arrived in a box on my doorstep, like so many foundling children or kittens. Okay, not really. A courier handed my husband a box and left, then he delivered it into my arms, the reverse of the process of birthing human babies. The author copies of my new book!
I wanted to celebrate the birthday of my new book Virtual Centre and other science fiction stories but I had to go to Amazon to find out when it was exactly. The ebook's precise publication date is over a month ago, as it turns out, August 22. https://www.amazon.com/Virtual-Center...
I guess that 's the official book birthday and I suppose we can consider that we celebrated it jointly with my son's that was a few days later. He had two cakes, anyway, since he wanted a sans rival AND a strawberry cake, and those don't exactly go together. But just to make sure it doesn't get jealous, I'll get my book baby another cake. Any excuse for cake.
There are so many people who helped in the birthing of this book, but true to its nature as science fiction, there is also a technological entity that played a major role in its development: Facebook. Two of the stories were directly based on stories I saw on Facebook. They were not shared directly to me by anyone, so I have to thank the FB algorithm for knowing I would be interested in stuff like new findings on the causes of the dinosaurs' extinction and old myths about eclipses.
But of course the people in my life gave me the most help and inspiration. If I could, I'd share a slice of book birthday cake with Penguin Random House SEA editor Nora Nazerene Abu Bakar, and the following, whom I thanked a year ago, but it bears repeating, so thanks again to:
Dean and Nikki Alfar for encouraging spec fic writing in this country. Your careers have inspired me: you two are my rabbits!
Paolo Manlapaz, Ian Rosales Casocot and Marikit, who admired and published some of my early work in this collection. Also the judges of the 2002 Palanca Futuristic Fiction Awards, because I was told your decision was unanimous, so thank you whoever you are--sorry I don't remember!
My creative writing classmates who helped me in the growth of some of my work: Jenette, Hammed, Mabek, Mo, Francis, Raymundo, Karen, Paulo--I don't remember if all of you were in my first class under Charlson Ong, whom I thank as well for his mentoring, but it doesn't matter. You supported me in my process of growth as a writer, then and always.
Also Lorie, Gerry, Emil, who advised me on the development of this same story and Neil Garcia who commented on another. Tin Lao, Glenn, Joanna, and Bambi, I think you were in that class too, so thank you.
Honey, of course, who advised me on preparing my submission, and finally, Joel who commented on and helped me edit the manuscript, including the story I wrote for him as a birthday gift (at least he didn't take a red pen to it like a bad guy in a romance!). It's a myth that a person who is close to you can't adequately help you improve your work, not if you have the kind of partnership we've built over almost twenty years.
Thanks again to all those above, and I wish my other writer friends success as well, because whatever we do, we Filipino writers should support each other. We are all on the same journey.
I wanted to celebrate the birthday of my new book Virtual Centre and other science fiction stories but I had to go to Amazon to find out when it was exactly. The ebook's precise publication date is over a month ago, as it turns out, August 22. https://www.amazon.com/Virtual-Center...
I guess that 's the official book birthday and I suppose we can consider that we celebrated it jointly with my son's that was a few days later. He had two cakes, anyway, since he wanted a sans rival AND a strawberry cake, and those don't exactly go together. But just to make sure it doesn't get jealous, I'll get my book baby another cake. Any excuse for cake.
There are so many people who helped in the birthing of this book, but true to its nature as science fiction, there is also a technological entity that played a major role in its development: Facebook. Two of the stories were directly based on stories I saw on Facebook. They were not shared directly to me by anyone, so I have to thank the FB algorithm for knowing I would be interested in stuff like new findings on the causes of the dinosaurs' extinction and old myths about eclipses.
But of course the people in my life gave me the most help and inspiration. If I could, I'd share a slice of book birthday cake with Penguin Random House SEA editor Nora Nazerene Abu Bakar, and the following, whom I thanked a year ago, but it bears repeating, so thanks again to:
Dean and Nikki Alfar for encouraging spec fic writing in this country. Your careers have inspired me: you two are my rabbits!
Paolo Manlapaz, Ian Rosales Casocot and Marikit, who admired and published some of my early work in this collection. Also the judges of the 2002 Palanca Futuristic Fiction Awards, because I was told your decision was unanimous, so thank you whoever you are--sorry I don't remember!
My creative writing classmates who helped me in the growth of some of my work: Jenette, Hammed, Mabek, Mo, Francis, Raymundo, Karen, Paulo--I don't remember if all of you were in my first class under Charlson Ong, whom I thank as well for his mentoring, but it doesn't matter. You supported me in my process of growth as a writer, then and always.
Also Lorie, Gerry, Emil, who advised me on the development of this same story and Neil Garcia who commented on another. Tin Lao, Glenn, Joanna, and Bambi, I think you were in that class too, so thank you.
Honey, of course, who advised me on preparing my submission, and finally, Joel who commented on and helped me edit the manuscript, including the story I wrote for him as a birthday gift (at least he didn't take a red pen to it like a bad guy in a romance!). It's a myth that a person who is close to you can't adequately help you improve your work, not if you have the kind of partnership we've built over almost twenty years.
Thanks again to all those above, and I wish my other writer friends success as well, because whatever we do, we Filipino writers should support each other. We are all on the same journey.
May 22, 2020
"To Write a Cyrano, You Need to Be a Cyrano"
That’s what I told my husband after watching Netflix’s Sierra Burgess is a Big Loser. Since he has taught Cyrano de Bergerac for some twenty years, we are always intrigued by adaptations. The first teen adaptation set at high school I ever watched, years ago, was awful. I can’t even remember the title; anyway, you wouldn’t want to see it. It tried to play its concept without ever presenting the lines. The dialog wasn’t so hot either. This makes it impossible to believe that the Cyrano character has either the skill with words or the understanding of the girl to win her. More importantly, he lacked Cyrano’s nobility, which is what makes it possible for us to like him through his constant deception.
This nobility is important. Cyrano’s insecurity about his appearance is often emphasized in teen adaptations because it’s a common teen dilemma too. But it’s often forgotten that the original character is a deeply honorable soul, which is what makes his motives less despicable. He isn’t wilfully deceiving. He actually sees himself as helping two good people in love get what they want—or think they want—and deserve. In the teen comedy with the forgotten title, the Cyrano is helping a guy get a girl in exchange for helping him win over his crush. Also, the actual Cyrano notes that the object of his Roxanne’s desire, Christian, actually has a particle of wit and thinks all he needs is tutoring in how to use it to express deep romantic feelings--and only finds out later he has no deep romantic feelings to express. In Sierra Burgess, Sierra knows the girl the guy thinks he’s courting is actually a mean and shallow girl. And while she does tutor her, it’s initially for mercenary reasons alone.
Netflix's new teen Cyrano adaptation, The Half of It, rises above these problems with a girl Cyrano who is both deep and witty and shows it. While not perfectly honorable, she does have the sympathetic higher purpose of trying to help out a depressed father. It also doesn’t force the conventional happy ending, which the original after all doesn’t have. And by doing this, it not only remains truer to the source material than any teen adaptation but brings us to an important realization about young love—that it rarely turns out to be forever love, but serves a purpose in playing a valuable role in our development: helping us to work through our confusion about who we are and what we want to be, uplift our self-esteem and keep us believing we are worthy and capable of true love.
While it doesn’t give the usual happy ending, and is rather choppy in the middle, causing the main conflict meant to wedge the characters apart to unbelievably come out of the blue and fall flat, The Half of It provides satisfaction of a different sort. It lets us see our teen selves in all our awkwardness and confusion. For even the idealized Roxanne character is deeply confused and wonders where she fits in. And all struggle to figure out what love really is and are never able to completely define it. These are very real conflicts we struggle with as we grow up, and continue to throughout our lives.
Another thing to appreciate here is the movie's promotion of reading and literature. I have a thing for YA that makes literary references; I do it myself in my own YA book, https://www.swoonreads.com/m/if-you-w.... This movie does it without being off-putting. You get exposed to higher literature whcih the writer clearly understands and appreciates and while it's not dumbed down, it focuses on aspects that are very relatable, unlike the trite treatment the great philosophers got in Sierra Burgess. A good cast delivering good lines manages to rise above some unbelievable weirdness, and in doing so capture the true spirit of Cyrano.
For the humor of Cyrano has always lain partly in the outrageousness of its plot. Everything is as over the top and ridiculous as the classic hero’s extremely unclassical nose. What makes us willing to suspend disbelief and enter Cyrano’s world is his being such an enjoyable, sympathetic character who we can respect and esteem. The Half of It gives us not just one but three of these, for even the doofus Christian counterpart has his moments of awkwardly-expressed profundity. This achievement that makes it possible to overlook not only its main character’s flaws but ultimately forget the awkward blips in unrolling its plot. Like most teenagers going through an awkward stage, the movie comes out graceful and sure of itself in the end. The ending is pitch perfect, proving the writer of this Cyrano is a Cyrano and an excellent young adult writer as well.
This nobility is important. Cyrano’s insecurity about his appearance is often emphasized in teen adaptations because it’s a common teen dilemma too. But it’s often forgotten that the original character is a deeply honorable soul, which is what makes his motives less despicable. He isn’t wilfully deceiving. He actually sees himself as helping two good people in love get what they want—or think they want—and deserve. In the teen comedy with the forgotten title, the Cyrano is helping a guy get a girl in exchange for helping him win over his crush. Also, the actual Cyrano notes that the object of his Roxanne’s desire, Christian, actually has a particle of wit and thinks all he needs is tutoring in how to use it to express deep romantic feelings--and only finds out later he has no deep romantic feelings to express. In Sierra Burgess, Sierra knows the girl the guy thinks he’s courting is actually a mean and shallow girl. And while she does tutor her, it’s initially for mercenary reasons alone.
Netflix's new teen Cyrano adaptation, The Half of It, rises above these problems with a girl Cyrano who is both deep and witty and shows it. While not perfectly honorable, she does have the sympathetic higher purpose of trying to help out a depressed father. It also doesn’t force the conventional happy ending, which the original after all doesn’t have. And by doing this, it not only remains truer to the source material than any teen adaptation but brings us to an important realization about young love—that it rarely turns out to be forever love, but serves a purpose in playing a valuable role in our development: helping us to work through our confusion about who we are and what we want to be, uplift our self-esteem and keep us believing we are worthy and capable of true love.
While it doesn’t give the usual happy ending, and is rather choppy in the middle, causing the main conflict meant to wedge the characters apart to unbelievably come out of the blue and fall flat, The Half of It provides satisfaction of a different sort. It lets us see our teen selves in all our awkwardness and confusion. For even the idealized Roxanne character is deeply confused and wonders where she fits in. And all struggle to figure out what love really is and are never able to completely define it. These are very real conflicts we struggle with as we grow up, and continue to throughout our lives.
Another thing to appreciate here is the movie's promotion of reading and literature. I have a thing for YA that makes literary references; I do it myself in my own YA book, https://www.swoonreads.com/m/if-you-w.... This movie does it without being off-putting. You get exposed to higher literature whcih the writer clearly understands and appreciates and while it's not dumbed down, it focuses on aspects that are very relatable, unlike the trite treatment the great philosophers got in Sierra Burgess. A good cast delivering good lines manages to rise above some unbelievable weirdness, and in doing so capture the true spirit of Cyrano.
For the humor of Cyrano has always lain partly in the outrageousness of its plot. Everything is as over the top and ridiculous as the classic hero’s extremely unclassical nose. What makes us willing to suspend disbelief and enter Cyrano’s world is his being such an enjoyable, sympathetic character who we can respect and esteem. The Half of It gives us not just one but three of these, for even the doofus Christian counterpart has his moments of awkwardly-expressed profundity. This achievement that makes it possible to overlook not only its main character’s flaws but ultimately forget the awkward blips in unrolling its plot. Like most teenagers going through an awkward stage, the movie comes out graceful and sure of itself in the end. The ending is pitch perfect, proving the writer of this Cyrano is a Cyrano and an excellent young adult writer as well.
January 24, 2020
Kid and YA LiteRATure to Check Out: 8 Reads for the Year of the Rat
I hate rats. I've had a rat phobia since I was eight and saw a 3D movie with girant rats. It was a movie on the history of London and those rats that signified the Black Death have appeared in my nightmares periodically all my life since i first saw them. But the year of the rat is special to me in a way because it's the zodiac year of my firstborn, who we even contemplated naming Remy.
And I have to admit, some of my favorite books have rats in them. Most often these rats are villains, like Chiaroscuro in Desperaux and Ron's pet in Harry Potter. But there are, I admit, rats you can't help but like. Mostly in kids' books. The must-read to understand the significance of the zodiac year is the folktale of why the rat comes first. Here are my top eight books with rats, in order of reading level.
1. Tight Times - The characters in this book weren't intended to be rats, but I have to admit the illustrator's choice added an interesting dimension to the story, which is otherwise a cozy domestic story of how a family gets through the breadwinner's loss of his job.
2. Clementine and the Family Meeting - In this cute kids' book, Clementine's lab rat goes missing. While the rat doesn't cause as much mischief as I expected (nor does the maturing if still ever-restless Clementine), the story is fun and heartwarming, though to witness Clementine at her most Ramona-like hysterical, read the first two books of the series.
3. Otis Spofford - In its earlier companion book, Ellen Tebbits, Ellen plays a rat in a school play; here her archnemesis Otis befriends an actual rat. It's just one of the offbeat things Otis does, but shows he does have a heart despite taking his merciless teasing of Ellen too far.
4. The Pied Piper of Hamelin- The innocous-looking rats as drawn by Kate Greenaway allow her pretty children to take center stage. But of course the story would not have hapened without these unusually clean, rudimentarily-drawn rats.
5.Charlotte's Web - This classic has just about any animal you'd find on an American farm of old, though strangely, not a barn cat, which may explain the presence of one irritating, disgusting, but ultimately sympathetic character of a rat, Templeton. I don't exactly like him, but he definitely adds an interesting layer to the sweet friendship story.
6. A Little Princess - a true princess, Sarah believes, has no airs. And one way she demonstrates this is by befriending a rat in the attic of her school. The rat figures here very briefly but Sarah's little scenes with him are as delightful as those of Mary in sister book The Secret Garden, if not as pretty to picture.
7. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH - the one book with a truly admirable community of rats, an animal tale with convincing science fiction elements this is one of my all-time favorite books.
8. Stargirl - one of the eponymous protagonist's quirks is that she has a pet rat. Not a white rat but a brown one named Cinnamon. While mostly in the background, the rat does play a role in the poetic romance at the heart of the book, making Cinnamon perhaps the most romantic rat in literature.
The presence of rats, which I hate, can't take away my love for these books. That, I think, is all the recommendation you need.
And I have to admit, some of my favorite books have rats in them. Most often these rats are villains, like Chiaroscuro in Desperaux and Ron's pet in Harry Potter. But there are, I admit, rats you can't help but like. Mostly in kids' books. The must-read to understand the significance of the zodiac year is the folktale of why the rat comes first. Here are my top eight books with rats, in order of reading level.
1. Tight Times - The characters in this book weren't intended to be rats, but I have to admit the illustrator's choice added an interesting dimension to the story, which is otherwise a cozy domestic story of how a family gets through the breadwinner's loss of his job.
2. Clementine and the Family Meeting - In this cute kids' book, Clementine's lab rat goes missing. While the rat doesn't cause as much mischief as I expected (nor does the maturing if still ever-restless Clementine), the story is fun and heartwarming, though to witness Clementine at her most Ramona-like hysterical, read the first two books of the series.
3. Otis Spofford - In its earlier companion book, Ellen Tebbits, Ellen plays a rat in a school play; here her archnemesis Otis befriends an actual rat. It's just one of the offbeat things Otis does, but shows he does have a heart despite taking his merciless teasing of Ellen too far.
4. The Pied Piper of Hamelin- The innocous-looking rats as drawn by Kate Greenaway allow her pretty children to take center stage. But of course the story would not have hapened without these unusually clean, rudimentarily-drawn rats.
5.Charlotte's Web - This classic has just about any animal you'd find on an American farm of old, though strangely, not a barn cat, which may explain the presence of one irritating, disgusting, but ultimately sympathetic character of a rat, Templeton. I don't exactly like him, but he definitely adds an interesting layer to the sweet friendship story.
6. A Little Princess - a true princess, Sarah believes, has no airs. And one way she demonstrates this is by befriending a rat in the attic of her school. The rat figures here very briefly but Sarah's little scenes with him are as delightful as those of Mary in sister book The Secret Garden, if not as pretty to picture.
7. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH - the one book with a truly admirable community of rats, an animal tale with convincing science fiction elements this is one of my all-time favorite books.
8. Stargirl - one of the eponymous protagonist's quirks is that she has a pet rat. Not a white rat but a brown one named Cinnamon. While mostly in the background, the rat does play a role in the poetic romance at the heart of the book, making Cinnamon perhaps the most romantic rat in literature.
The presence of rats, which I hate, can't take away my love for these books. That, I think, is all the recommendation you need.
December 25, 2019
Thoughts on Tradition
Christmas holidays always put me in mind of my grandmother. I have mixed feelings when I remember the holiday feasts she created. There was always roast chicken. My mother contributed embutido (a meatloaf with raisins) stuffing and apple pie. My grandmother always made mashed potatoes, cucumber and corn salad, fish with sweet and sour sauce, and spinach lasagna with handmade fresh noodles. And occasionally she added a new dish as well.
Plus she had spent the weeks before Christmas making sweet treats for gifts and dessert.
As wonderful as these feasts were, they were always accompanied by a barrage of a complaints. I helped as much as I knew how. Male relatives shrugged off the complaining with "if you don't want to do it, don't." Occasionally they might stir a pot or some batter, but kitchen tasks were pretty much regarded as women's work. They didn't help with dishes either. We'd have one maid to help us usually and that was it.
Okay, I admit from the pragmatic point of view it didn't make sense to work so hard on what was supposed to be a holiday. My father felt excessive feasting and presents didn't really reflect the Christmas spirit. The people of Medieval times would have agreed with him. Karen Cushman's book Catherine, Called Birdy
shows that in those days, most of the weeks before Christmas were spent fasting. That meant there was true cause for celebration when Christmas heralded the end of Advent. Everyone could finally eat a full meal! But dishes weren't anything fancy then. Mostly just a lot of meat to make up for the lean weeks.
Obviously traditions have changed. While advent is still treated as a time of prayer, people don't fast anymore. We keep the traditions we enjoy the most.
Except for some people, it isn't that enjoyable. And I don't mean the ones who worry about their diet but the ones who have to worry about producing this fine meal. I also don't see the point of eating something you like only once a year. If it's something as long and as a hassle to cook as turkey, maybe. But we don't do that here. Maybe that's why we feel we have to make lots and lots of elaborate dishes to achieve a fiesta feel.
In my book If You Want to Be Happy Connor's mother and grandmother, both careerwomen, prepare the simplest of Thnaksgiving meals, with canned goods and contributions from neighbors instead of making numerous elaborate side dishes to go with their turkey. While I love good food, I wanted to show the contrast between their home and his rich snooty relatives'. I felt this simplicity was in keeping with the simplicity of his love interest and the beginnings of their relationship.
I also felt it was in keeping with how modern households should regard traditional ways of celebrating. My grandmother had honed her kitchen skills since she hadn't worked outside the home for most of her life. Connor's mother and grandmother, I figured, would be more like my mom, who had learned just a few special recipes because she spent most of her time working.
It's how it is for many women now; still, we are the principal ones expected to make Christmas preparations, especially when it comes to food. Considering that most of us are working and have to struggle through traffic in dense urban areas, it seems unfair if men don't step up more. Do they really want us to not make the effort to prepare? I do think my grandmother could have cooked less, but many of the dishes didn't require any special techniques, just regular cutting, peeling, and mixing. I learned to make all of them gradually over the years. Even before I learned cooking in school, I was stirring pots, rolling pastillas, and scooping out batter. Sometimes my brothers would help a bit, but I was the only one who would stick to filling a cookie sheet till the end. And we had large sheets to fit our industrial sized oven.
The women in your lives in charge of making Christmas happen may well appreciate your presents, but I think even more they will appreciate your presence and help in the kitchen. I always felt an emptiness about our Christmas meal that grew as I got older. It wasn't just the natural loss of excitement over presents but my sense of separation with the family who lay around the living room waiting for the large, invariably late meal to be served. We women bonded as we cooked, but once we "kids "were too old to play with our Christmas presents together, there was little to bind my brothers and me.
So I hope that all will share with the work as well as the joy of the holiday season and experience the difference it makes in developing family closeness. In the modern family, there should be no line between men's and women's work and men should not be shooed out of the kitchen by anxious women but put to a task suited their abilities--there's always something, whether mashing potatoes or mixing salad dressing. My husband only knows how to cook two things, but he peeled chestnuts for our stuffing (a task which I detest) while my eleven-year-old daughter cut bread and made an icebox cake with a little assistance. I expect to draft the younger children too soon--in fact they happily do simple kitchen tasks for me occasionally. This isn't child labor or a punishment; it's something that benefits the whole family and is particularly meaningful during a holiday. Only when all help and contribute as much as they're able will it truly be a family feast.
I do hope you can help or ask for help from your loved ones in preparing your family meal and thus experience true family bonding this Christmas. Happy holidays!
Plus she had spent the weeks before Christmas making sweet treats for gifts and dessert.
As wonderful as these feasts were, they were always accompanied by a barrage of a complaints. I helped as much as I knew how. Male relatives shrugged off the complaining with "if you don't want to do it, don't." Occasionally they might stir a pot or some batter, but kitchen tasks were pretty much regarded as women's work. They didn't help with dishes either. We'd have one maid to help us usually and that was it.
Okay, I admit from the pragmatic point of view it didn't make sense to work so hard on what was supposed to be a holiday. My father felt excessive feasting and presents didn't really reflect the Christmas spirit. The people of Medieval times would have agreed with him. Karen Cushman's book Catherine, Called Birdy
shows that in those days, most of the weeks before Christmas were spent fasting. That meant there was true cause for celebration when Christmas heralded the end of Advent. Everyone could finally eat a full meal! But dishes weren't anything fancy then. Mostly just a lot of meat to make up for the lean weeks.
Obviously traditions have changed. While advent is still treated as a time of prayer, people don't fast anymore. We keep the traditions we enjoy the most.
Except for some people, it isn't that enjoyable. And I don't mean the ones who worry about their diet but the ones who have to worry about producing this fine meal. I also don't see the point of eating something you like only once a year. If it's something as long and as a hassle to cook as turkey, maybe. But we don't do that here. Maybe that's why we feel we have to make lots and lots of elaborate dishes to achieve a fiesta feel.
In my book If You Want to Be Happy Connor's mother and grandmother, both careerwomen, prepare the simplest of Thnaksgiving meals, with canned goods and contributions from neighbors instead of making numerous elaborate side dishes to go with their turkey. While I love good food, I wanted to show the contrast between their home and his rich snooty relatives'. I felt this simplicity was in keeping with the simplicity of his love interest and the beginnings of their relationship.
I also felt it was in keeping with how modern households should regard traditional ways of celebrating. My grandmother had honed her kitchen skills since she hadn't worked outside the home for most of her life. Connor's mother and grandmother, I figured, would be more like my mom, who had learned just a few special recipes because she spent most of her time working.
It's how it is for many women now; still, we are the principal ones expected to make Christmas preparations, especially when it comes to food. Considering that most of us are working and have to struggle through traffic in dense urban areas, it seems unfair if men don't step up more. Do they really want us to not make the effort to prepare? I do think my grandmother could have cooked less, but many of the dishes didn't require any special techniques, just regular cutting, peeling, and mixing. I learned to make all of them gradually over the years. Even before I learned cooking in school, I was stirring pots, rolling pastillas, and scooping out batter. Sometimes my brothers would help a bit, but I was the only one who would stick to filling a cookie sheet till the end. And we had large sheets to fit our industrial sized oven.
The women in your lives in charge of making Christmas happen may well appreciate your presents, but I think even more they will appreciate your presence and help in the kitchen. I always felt an emptiness about our Christmas meal that grew as I got older. It wasn't just the natural loss of excitement over presents but my sense of separation with the family who lay around the living room waiting for the large, invariably late meal to be served. We women bonded as we cooked, but once we "kids "were too old to play with our Christmas presents together, there was little to bind my brothers and me.
So I hope that all will share with the work as well as the joy of the holiday season and experience the difference it makes in developing family closeness. In the modern family, there should be no line between men's and women's work and men should not be shooed out of the kitchen by anxious women but put to a task suited their abilities--there's always something, whether mashing potatoes or mixing salad dressing. My husband only knows how to cook two things, but he peeled chestnuts for our stuffing (a task which I detest) while my eleven-year-old daughter cut bread and made an icebox cake with a little assistance. I expect to draft the younger children too soon--in fact they happily do simple kitchen tasks for me occasionally. This isn't child labor or a punishment; it's something that benefits the whole family and is particularly meaningful during a holiday. Only when all help and contribute as much as they're able will it truly be a family feast.
I do hope you can help or ask for help from your loved ones in preparing your family meal and thus experience true family bonding this Christmas. Happy holidays!
November 28, 2019
They broke up at Thanksgiving, will they be back together by Christmas?
My YA book on Swoon Reads is a multicultural romance set in LA!
“If you want to be happy, don’t focus on your looks.” That’s what Benita’s parents always tell her. With a face her own mother doesn’t love, she doesn’t expect to win a guy’s heart anytime soon. She’s just going to strive to become a Hollywood screenwriter, determined to learn how on a visit to LA, where she meets Connor.
“If you want to be happy for the rest of your life, never take a pretty woman for your wife...” At eighteen, Connor isn’t seeking a wife, just a girlfriend. His tall, gorgeous lab partner has made it clear he’ll never have a chance with a girl like her: he’s so short! He doesn’t find Benita pretty--the opposite, really--but she's fun, so maybe he can date her, just to get some experience.
Then in Disneyland he looks at her and sees she’s beautiful. How did that happen? And how can he bear to let her go?
Read and comment here:
If You Want to Be Happy
Grace.Tenorio
"I like how the characters and events are described in the the story. I feel like I am transported right there with them. I can feel feel every heartache, pain, happiness and butterflies in their tummies when they started falling for each other. Oh, to be young and in love!!!"
“If you want to be happy, don’t focus on your looks.” That’s what Benita’s parents always tell her. With a face her own mother doesn’t love, she doesn’t expect to win a guy’s heart anytime soon. She’s just going to strive to become a Hollywood screenwriter, determined to learn how on a visit to LA, where she meets Connor.
“If you want to be happy for the rest of your life, never take a pretty woman for your wife...” At eighteen, Connor isn’t seeking a wife, just a girlfriend. His tall, gorgeous lab partner has made it clear he’ll never have a chance with a girl like her: he’s so short! He doesn’t find Benita pretty--the opposite, really--but she's fun, so maybe he can date her, just to get some experience.
Then in Disneyland he looks at her and sees she’s beautiful. How did that happen? And how can he bear to let her go?
Read and comment here:
If You Want to Be Happy
Grace.Tenorio
"I like how the characters and events are described in the the story. I feel like I am transported right there with them. I can feel feel every heartache, pain, happiness and butterflies in their tummies when they started falling for each other. Oh, to be young and in love!!!"
September 24, 2019
How Rape Could ever Have been Found Romantic
Last month, I told my sister-in-law, who lives in my parents' house, to feel free to go through any of my grandmother's romance book collection if she found it. She's teaching a class on romance lit this sem, so I thought she might find the collection useful, if it ever turned up, but I warned her that a lot of it was dated. In many books the ingenue is seduced or raped (including what would be defined as statutory rape these days), and she falls in love with the perpetrator.
I started reading these books when I was fifteen. Not sneakily, my grandmother and mother gave me permission. There were some good stories there but what I can't unsee is how much rape there was--and that it was considered romantic.
This disturbs me all the more because in all other ways my grandmother was a woman ahead of her time. She was the first woman to drive in her hometown, Zamboanga, and she even studied flying (probably inspired by Anne Morrow Lindbergh, whose books she also had). She defied her father in going off to marry my grandfather during WWII. He most certainly did not seduce her, by the way, he was over a year younger and was as far as I can tell, a sensitive intellectual. She limited her family to two children--unusual in those days. She helped with the family business and wanted to work outside the home, against my grandfather's wishes. So how could she embrace the paternalistic world presented in so many of these books?
Perhaps its as well I read them at idealistic fifteen to eighteen, when I could question: How could anyone find rape romantic?
Several stick out in my mind. There's one Victoria Holt with a lovely Bavarian setting in Victorian times. The girl is seventeen and she claims she knows about sex and its consequences. But when she meets the guy and he invites her to bed, she feels herself powerless to say either no or yes. She goes to him without willing it, in her words, it's as if her body has a will of its own--and she ends up feeling guilty and worrying about the consequences afterward. And this happens several times. So creepy, but reader, she married him.
I suppose some people might see that as romantic, sort of being swept off your feet. I never did. I read the book for the beauty of the setting and the intriguing mystery but I could just not ship those two.
The Regency ones nearly all had an alpha male advertised in the blurb and I avoided them because of that. Even books I liked could have this issue lurking, though. In The Wind Dancer, Juliette is just fourteen when a much older man starts hitting on her. He doesn't make a secret of it even then. She decides to give in to him five years later. She's attracted, yes, but it's more out of resignation. He gives her great sex as her "reward" and wins her over. Ugh. At least the book contained the more satisfying romance of Francois who helped Juliette's friend Catherine recover from her trauma of rape in a tender, gradual way. But by having the two kinds of relationships alongside, it's like it's saying one is as good as the other. In fact, Catherine's relationship is treated as secondary, implying it's "less" romantic.
Books in modern-day settings (sixties to eighties) could have this element as well. There are two books I read set at this time where an angry, jealous man abused the girl (stupidly) in love with him verbally and physically. In the Mills & Boone one, he even violently rapes the girl on their wedding night and makes her sign divorce papers. Twisted much? But she still loves him! And some remarkable coincidence makes the guy finally believe the girl in each case and all is well.
Let's not lay all the blame on adult romances. Even the rare YA with sex from those years could be problematic. And even by a good Christian writer like Madeleine L'Engle. A House like a Lotus has always sat uneasily on me because of the weirdness of its relationships. Seventeen-year-old Polly dates a guy who's like ten years older. Her parents (insanely) let her, maybe because Polly is such a cold fish. She makes it clear she likes him but is not in love with him. But when she suffers a terrible shock, she calls him and he takes advantage of her vulnerability. He tells her to listen to her body and she does, finding she enjoys it and has no regrets. She still doesn't fall in love with him--don't know if that's to her credit or not. The sex scene is written so poetically I used it in a report in CW class on writing about sex (the class was not about writing about sex, just the report, which my teacher roped me into. He probably figured my younger virginal classmates needed it). But over time I have grown more disturbed about it. She's seventeen and he's like ten years older--it's statutory rape. I do feel that L'Engle could've been making a point that we're okay with that kind of abuse, forgive it easily, but not the drunken terror that Polly's much older woman friend inflicts. But it's also possible that there was no intended point, that L'Engle didn't find it so bad because she was a product of the same generation as my grandmother. As groundbreaking as A Wrinkle in Time and its first three sequels were, L'Engle here reverts to being a product of her patriarchal time, with Meg of A Wrinkle in Time, determined to sacrifice her intellectual interests to raise her children, despite her mother's admirable work-at-home example presented in those other books.
In those days, women were not supposed to have desires but they did, of course. Being seduced or raped absolved the heroine (and the vicarious reader) of responsibility but still allowed her to experience sex. It was romantic to women who couldn't acknowledge their desires because they didn't have to contend with guilt.
Rape in these novels often happens to fulfill the desires of these women that they didn't know they had. This taps in to a more common fantasy: That the lover read the woman's mind and give her what she never knew she wanted. She can thus maintain the chaste purity of her mind while achieving satisfaction. This, psychologists tell us, is highly immature. Communication is key to a healthy relationship, sexual or otherwise, and you need to figure out what you want rather than handing that responsibility to someone else.
Finally there's the suggestion that the guy must really be crazy about her, which is why he just couldn't help himself. I don't think I need to analyze that at length. You might not be able to help how you feel, but you can help how you act. Unfortunately, in earlier times the patriarchal myth that men just couldn't rein in their strong desires persisted. A self-reported article written by a nude male model that I read recently suggests otherwise: A man can control himself in any situation--it's a matter of choice and self-awareness. Naturally, you want to be loved and desired--but surely not by a sick sadist?
That's important to remember. Only in a book could you be so lucky that the guy is hunky, doesn't physically harm you or impregnate you, and ultimately loves you--though that love is questionable. Many seemed to see the woman as just some prize to be won or a creature to be kept in a gilded cage, as modern Karina complains in Love by Square Foot when her fiance offers to ensconce her in a house he decorated himself.
I think it's my growing up in more modern, feminist times, that protected me even at fifteen from being seduced into thinking forced kisses and sex or being stalked, kidnapped, or even just bought with luxury are thrilling beginnings to a beautiful relationship. I didn't even like the ones where men rescued and bossed women around insisting it was for their own good. Occasional rescue and aid is fine and good, of course, but not to the point of the male rescuer treating you as incompetent.
In what seems bid to placate women who loved these books, Brownmiller says in her 1975 book, Against Our Will: Men, Women, and Rape: "Fantasies are important to the enjoyment of sex, I think, but it is a rare woman who can successfully fight the culture and come up with her own non-exploitative, non-sadomasochistic, non-power-driven imaginative thrust. For this reason, I believe, most women who reject the masochistic fantasy role reject the temptation of all sexual fantasies, to our sexual loss."
I'd like to believe this is no longer true. Romance, for me and most of the post-women's lib generations, can only blossom where there is equality, mutual respect, and friendship. If all the romances my grandmother owned that showed otherwise were consumed by termites, then it is just as well.
I started reading these books when I was fifteen. Not sneakily, my grandmother and mother gave me permission. There were some good stories there but what I can't unsee is how much rape there was--and that it was considered romantic.
This disturbs me all the more because in all other ways my grandmother was a woman ahead of her time. She was the first woman to drive in her hometown, Zamboanga, and she even studied flying (probably inspired by Anne Morrow Lindbergh, whose books she also had). She defied her father in going off to marry my grandfather during WWII. He most certainly did not seduce her, by the way, he was over a year younger and was as far as I can tell, a sensitive intellectual. She limited her family to two children--unusual in those days. She helped with the family business and wanted to work outside the home, against my grandfather's wishes. So how could she embrace the paternalistic world presented in so many of these books?
Perhaps its as well I read them at idealistic fifteen to eighteen, when I could question: How could anyone find rape romantic?
Several stick out in my mind. There's one Victoria Holt with a lovely Bavarian setting in Victorian times. The girl is seventeen and she claims she knows about sex and its consequences. But when she meets the guy and he invites her to bed, she feels herself powerless to say either no or yes. She goes to him without willing it, in her words, it's as if her body has a will of its own--and she ends up feeling guilty and worrying about the consequences afterward. And this happens several times. So creepy, but reader, she married him.
I suppose some people might see that as romantic, sort of being swept off your feet. I never did. I read the book for the beauty of the setting and the intriguing mystery but I could just not ship those two.
The Regency ones nearly all had an alpha male advertised in the blurb and I avoided them because of that. Even books I liked could have this issue lurking, though. In The Wind Dancer, Juliette is just fourteen when a much older man starts hitting on her. He doesn't make a secret of it even then. She decides to give in to him five years later. She's attracted, yes, but it's more out of resignation. He gives her great sex as her "reward" and wins her over. Ugh. At least the book contained the more satisfying romance of Francois who helped Juliette's friend Catherine recover from her trauma of rape in a tender, gradual way. But by having the two kinds of relationships alongside, it's like it's saying one is as good as the other. In fact, Catherine's relationship is treated as secondary, implying it's "less" romantic.
Books in modern-day settings (sixties to eighties) could have this element as well. There are two books I read set at this time where an angry, jealous man abused the girl (stupidly) in love with him verbally and physically. In the Mills & Boone one, he even violently rapes the girl on their wedding night and makes her sign divorce papers. Twisted much? But she still loves him! And some remarkable coincidence makes the guy finally believe the girl in each case and all is well.
Let's not lay all the blame on adult romances. Even the rare YA with sex from those years could be problematic. And even by a good Christian writer like Madeleine L'Engle. A House like a Lotus has always sat uneasily on me because of the weirdness of its relationships. Seventeen-year-old Polly dates a guy who's like ten years older. Her parents (insanely) let her, maybe because Polly is such a cold fish. She makes it clear she likes him but is not in love with him. But when she suffers a terrible shock, she calls him and he takes advantage of her vulnerability. He tells her to listen to her body and she does, finding she enjoys it and has no regrets. She still doesn't fall in love with him--don't know if that's to her credit or not. The sex scene is written so poetically I used it in a report in CW class on writing about sex (the class was not about writing about sex, just the report, which my teacher roped me into. He probably figured my younger virginal classmates needed it). But over time I have grown more disturbed about it. She's seventeen and he's like ten years older--it's statutory rape. I do feel that L'Engle could've been making a point that we're okay with that kind of abuse, forgive it easily, but not the drunken terror that Polly's much older woman friend inflicts. But it's also possible that there was no intended point, that L'Engle didn't find it so bad because she was a product of the same generation as my grandmother. As groundbreaking as A Wrinkle in Time and its first three sequels were, L'Engle here reverts to being a product of her patriarchal time, with Meg of A Wrinkle in Time, determined to sacrifice her intellectual interests to raise her children, despite her mother's admirable work-at-home example presented in those other books.
In those days, women were not supposed to have desires but they did, of course. Being seduced or raped absolved the heroine (and the vicarious reader) of responsibility but still allowed her to experience sex. It was romantic to women who couldn't acknowledge their desires because they didn't have to contend with guilt.
Rape in these novels often happens to fulfill the desires of these women that they didn't know they had. This taps in to a more common fantasy: That the lover read the woman's mind and give her what she never knew she wanted. She can thus maintain the chaste purity of her mind while achieving satisfaction. This, psychologists tell us, is highly immature. Communication is key to a healthy relationship, sexual or otherwise, and you need to figure out what you want rather than handing that responsibility to someone else.
Finally there's the suggestion that the guy must really be crazy about her, which is why he just couldn't help himself. I don't think I need to analyze that at length. You might not be able to help how you feel, but you can help how you act. Unfortunately, in earlier times the patriarchal myth that men just couldn't rein in their strong desires persisted. A self-reported article written by a nude male model that I read recently suggests otherwise: A man can control himself in any situation--it's a matter of choice and self-awareness. Naturally, you want to be loved and desired--but surely not by a sick sadist?
That's important to remember. Only in a book could you be so lucky that the guy is hunky, doesn't physically harm you or impregnate you, and ultimately loves you--though that love is questionable. Many seemed to see the woman as just some prize to be won or a creature to be kept in a gilded cage, as modern Karina complains in Love by Square Foot when her fiance offers to ensconce her in a house he decorated himself.
I think it's my growing up in more modern, feminist times, that protected me even at fifteen from being seduced into thinking forced kisses and sex or being stalked, kidnapped, or even just bought with luxury are thrilling beginnings to a beautiful relationship. I didn't even like the ones where men rescued and bossed women around insisting it was for their own good. Occasional rescue and aid is fine and good, of course, but not to the point of the male rescuer treating you as incompetent.
In what seems bid to placate women who loved these books, Brownmiller says in her 1975 book, Against Our Will: Men, Women, and Rape: "Fantasies are important to the enjoyment of sex, I think, but it is a rare woman who can successfully fight the culture and come up with her own non-exploitative, non-sadomasochistic, non-power-driven imaginative thrust. For this reason, I believe, most women who reject the masochistic fantasy role reject the temptation of all sexual fantasies, to our sexual loss."
I'd like to believe this is no longer true. Romance, for me and most of the post-women's lib generations, can only blossom where there is equality, mutual respect, and friendship. If all the romances my grandmother owned that showed otherwise were consumed by termites, then it is just as well.
February 19, 2019
Love is Not All, or Not Every YA Heroine has to have a Love Interest
For the past fifteen years, I've hardly had any time to watch movies, so I'm glad to have Netflix to help me catch up. Last week, I watched High School Musical 3. I enjoyed it, but was puzzled by an unexplained bit of the storyline. Ryan asked Kelsi to the prom. It was clear he had a good time singing with her, but not so clear if he was doing it because his sister thought it would help her get Kelsi to give her the best songs or because he liked her. I didn't remember seeing a scene of them at the prom together, which could have helped. I googled to check if there was such a scene. I found there wasn't, and in the process read a lot of fans' thoughts about what they hoped for the characters, including a love interest for Kelsi. Some thought the boy who helped her dunk a basket in the first movie dated her, others thought she'd have a relationship with Ryan.
But Kelsi's story arc doesn't require a love interest for her. In the first movie, her growth is from a mousy loner to a girl who has the strength to stand up for her friends. And I think it's nice that it shows the hottest boy in school taking a friendly interest in her and that for her that's enough. She's endearingly supportive of Troy and Gabriela in all the movies. She and Troy make a great model of "just friends" teens and Gabriela the secure and independent girl who isn't jealous of Troy's attention to another girl.
And it's enough to see the nerdy girl has the power to attract some attention from the opposite sex. And that's enough for the young character because her real focus is her future. I do wish they'd done a sequel on her rather than Sharpay, a kind of squeaky-clean Coyote Ugly.
Because at seventeen or eighteen, you've got many years before you'd feel compelled by biology to settle down and have a family. If you are capable of maintaining good friendships and have had a few admiring glances cast your way, that's all the assurance you need that you can build a relationship with someone when you're in your twenties or thirties or even later, depending on when you're ready.
That's better than the ending of a YA romance among two mathematically inclined teens that I read last year. The girl is poor and is desperately hoping to get a scholarship to an Ivy League school. In the end, she
doesn't get one, but she hooks up with the boy she loves. Of course she's happy and doesn't think about how she's getting into college anymore, but that hardly seems enough when you think about it. It would have been more reassuring to know that she would be able to go to college.
A dance movie I saw has a similar ending. The girl ends up walking away from a domineering boyfriend, shallow friends, and a temperamental dance teacher. She ends up with a guy in a lower station in life. They have great chemistry and all, but sweet as they are there are too many loose ends left untied. Did it mean that she didn't really want a career in dance? Her teacher wasn't really abusive and she was giving up a chance at a scholarship. She gets to dance with the guy she really loves and that's great for that one night, but what about the rest of her life? Was she going to get an ordinary job, try for a college scholarship or what?
Because, as Edna St. Vincent Millay says, "Love is not all, it is not meat of drink/ Nor slumber nor a roof against the rain." Love can't always provide for you and keep you healthy. We mothers who try to feed our children out of love know that only too well--so often do we struggle to make them eat but they won't! But even if your beloved could do that, love still isn't enough, especially when you are young. Ironically, that is the time it most seems enough, but you will find in the future that it isn't. Love is wonderful, but it not only doesn't fulfill most of our physical needs, it doesn't fill all our emotional needs either! Among our non-material needs is a need for self-actualization, defined by Business Dictionary as: "The motivation to realize one's own maximum potential and possibilities. It is considered to be the master motive or the only real motive, all other motives being its various forms." After you're secure in your love you will go back to seeking this. The trouble is by then you may have lost your chance at the preliminaries that would have helped you achieve it: training and education. Dance is something you need to train for when young, and while ideally teachers shouldn't be bitchy, sometimes those kinds are the best to help you achieve your best. And a college education is best to take when you are younger and your brain more capable of retaining new knowledge.
Finding love is a happy ending, but for the happiness to be lasting, the lovers must have the means for self-actualization. In others, they should not only end up with someone they love but be able to do something they love, something that uses their talents. If the couple not only get together but are able to do this, that will make the ending truly happy.
Read more: http://www.businessdictionary.com/def...
But Kelsi's story arc doesn't require a love interest for her. In the first movie, her growth is from a mousy loner to a girl who has the strength to stand up for her friends. And I think it's nice that it shows the hottest boy in school taking a friendly interest in her and that for her that's enough. She's endearingly supportive of Troy and Gabriela in all the movies. She and Troy make a great model of "just friends" teens and Gabriela the secure and independent girl who isn't jealous of Troy's attention to another girl.
And it's enough to see the nerdy girl has the power to attract some attention from the opposite sex. And that's enough for the young character because her real focus is her future. I do wish they'd done a sequel on her rather than Sharpay, a kind of squeaky-clean Coyote Ugly.
Because at seventeen or eighteen, you've got many years before you'd feel compelled by biology to settle down and have a family. If you are capable of maintaining good friendships and have had a few admiring glances cast your way, that's all the assurance you need that you can build a relationship with someone when you're in your twenties or thirties or even later, depending on when you're ready.
That's better than the ending of a YA romance among two mathematically inclined teens that I read last year. The girl is poor and is desperately hoping to get a scholarship to an Ivy League school. In the end, she
doesn't get one, but she hooks up with the boy she loves. Of course she's happy and doesn't think about how she's getting into college anymore, but that hardly seems enough when you think about it. It would have been more reassuring to know that she would be able to go to college.
A dance movie I saw has a similar ending. The girl ends up walking away from a domineering boyfriend, shallow friends, and a temperamental dance teacher. She ends up with a guy in a lower station in life. They have great chemistry and all, but sweet as they are there are too many loose ends left untied. Did it mean that she didn't really want a career in dance? Her teacher wasn't really abusive and she was giving up a chance at a scholarship. She gets to dance with the guy she really loves and that's great for that one night, but what about the rest of her life? Was she going to get an ordinary job, try for a college scholarship or what?
Because, as Edna St. Vincent Millay says, "Love is not all, it is not meat of drink/ Nor slumber nor a roof against the rain." Love can't always provide for you and keep you healthy. We mothers who try to feed our children out of love know that only too well--so often do we struggle to make them eat but they won't! But even if your beloved could do that, love still isn't enough, especially when you are young. Ironically, that is the time it most seems enough, but you will find in the future that it isn't. Love is wonderful, but it not only doesn't fulfill most of our physical needs, it doesn't fill all our emotional needs either! Among our non-material needs is a need for self-actualization, defined by Business Dictionary as: "The motivation to realize one's own maximum potential and possibilities. It is considered to be the master motive or the only real motive, all other motives being its various forms." After you're secure in your love you will go back to seeking this. The trouble is by then you may have lost your chance at the preliminaries that would have helped you achieve it: training and education. Dance is something you need to train for when young, and while ideally teachers shouldn't be bitchy, sometimes those kinds are the best to help you achieve your best. And a college education is best to take when you are younger and your brain more capable of retaining new knowledge.
Finding love is a happy ending, but for the happiness to be lasting, the lovers must have the means for self-actualization. In others, they should not only end up with someone they love but be able to do something they love, something that uses their talents. If the couple not only get together but are able to do this, that will make the ending truly happy.
Read more: http://www.businessdictionary.com/def...
February 14, 2019
My Top 7 Epic Romance Endings
I once had this book called Modest Proposals by Rosalind Miles. it compiled all kinds of proposals and propositions from life and literature. The book is no longer in print and I lost it to floodwaters, but it has played its role in my life as I have sought out my favorites in classic novels.
Since I just finished a novel about a love long unrequited. I was prepared for the ending, but still it got me down a bit. So I thought i'd cheer myself up by remembering my favorite romantic endings, the ones that were most dramatic and felt most rewarding. Moments that made you want to break down like Elinor at the end of the Sense and Sensibility film. Here is mylist with best saved for last.
1. Much Ado About NothingAs You Like It -- The rest of the plot isn't much, but the romance of Beatrice and Benedick will keep you on your toes.
2. Dragons of Autumn Twilight - Along with all the other adventures, we await Goldmoon to overcome her foolish pride and fully commit to Riverwind. We know he has her heart, but will she be willing to give him her hand?
3. The Lady and the Unicorn - You're kept in suspense about the outcome of the romance by multiple pov device--the girl's pov is withheld from us till the final pages. But then, we don't need to hear her finally figure out what is so obvious to us, that she and the boy next door are perfect for each other anyway.
4. Everything, Everything - You know they love each other and will find a way to be together but the way this is orchestrated is such a sweet and lovely moment.
5. North and South -- "Margaret...Margaret!" Did the simple repetition of a name ever sound sweeter? For the first time, after hundreds of pages, the hero, a man of few words, breaks out of his reserve and shows his heart.
6. Jane Eyre - There's a reason why this classic is a classic. While the first proposal is the most exciting, after Jane's and Rochester's travails, the second is deeply moving.
7.A Monstrous Regiment of Women - My husband and I took turns reading chapters of this book between checking papers when we were first married. More than the mystery, we found the romantic outcome absolutely thrilling! I gave the book away but I still remember every word of that delightful ending.
While many novels end with a romance, too often these days they are presented in an understated fashion, as Jane Austen did--her irritating withholding of detail keeps her from making the cut despite her consistent happy endings. When it comes to a declaration of love, especially over many pages and at times many years, I like mine no holds barred! What are some of your favorites?
Since I just finished a novel about a love long unrequited. I was prepared for the ending, but still it got me down a bit. So I thought i'd cheer myself up by remembering my favorite romantic endings, the ones that were most dramatic and felt most rewarding. Moments that made you want to break down like Elinor at the end of the Sense and Sensibility film. Here is mylist with best saved for last.
1. Much Ado About NothingAs You Like It -- The rest of the plot isn't much, but the romance of Beatrice and Benedick will keep you on your toes.
2. Dragons of Autumn Twilight - Along with all the other adventures, we await Goldmoon to overcome her foolish pride and fully commit to Riverwind. We know he has her heart, but will she be willing to give him her hand?
3. The Lady and the Unicorn - You're kept in suspense about the outcome of the romance by multiple pov device--the girl's pov is withheld from us till the final pages. But then, we don't need to hear her finally figure out what is so obvious to us, that she and the boy next door are perfect for each other anyway.
4. Everything, Everything - You know they love each other and will find a way to be together but the way this is orchestrated is such a sweet and lovely moment.
5. North and South -- "Margaret...Margaret!" Did the simple repetition of a name ever sound sweeter? For the first time, after hundreds of pages, the hero, a man of few words, breaks out of his reserve and shows his heart.
6. Jane Eyre - There's a reason why this classic is a classic. While the first proposal is the most exciting, after Jane's and Rochester's travails, the second is deeply moving.
7.A Monstrous Regiment of Women - My husband and I took turns reading chapters of this book between checking papers when we were first married. More than the mystery, we found the romantic outcome absolutely thrilling! I gave the book away but I still remember every word of that delightful ending.
While many novels end with a romance, too often these days they are presented in an understated fashion, as Jane Austen did--her irritating withholding of detail keeps her from making the cut despite her consistent happy endings. When it comes to a declaration of love, especially over many pages and at times many years, I like mine no holds barred! What are some of your favorites?
