Merida is a wonderful Action Princess

I felt inspired today, so I was looking back on what I've written about before and realized I never posted my thesis paper from the Women in Art course I took last year. With Merida about to make her debut on Once Upon a Time, now seems a good opportunity to remember where she came from! Some may also remember my post on female characters in Disney/Pixar films from a few years back, too.

Archetypes of Female Representation:

Merida from Disney-Pixar’s Brave

Back in the summer of 2012, I was watching an episode of the comedy show, The Colbert Report, in which the host, Stephen Colbert, called out critics of Pixar’s latest movie, Brave, for complaining that the children’s film was about a lesbian princess. Many news magazines and entertainment blogs were writing about it, speculating that a strong, independent female who wants to fight like one of the boys and isn’t interested in marriage can't be anything other than gay. It was incredibly bizarre to witness the internet and news media explode over this issue of a fictional character’s sexual orientation, and I couldn’t help but compare the ongoing debate to other times when a female warrior equated lesbianism, such as in the television show Xena: Warrior Princess (Stein). It all seemed rather silly to me, because it shouldn’t matter if a female is gay or not, she should be allowed to be a warrior and decide if she is ready for romance or not! Plus, this film was an animated fantasy set in a quasi-historical time period, it’s adherence to realism is very tenuous. Overall, I feel the debate over Merida from Pixar’s Brave highlighted once again how very few mainstream children’s films star females as a heroic lead, and what kind of message this situation sends not only to young girls, but young boys as well. The biggest contradiction, though, is that after the critical and commercial success of Brave, the Disney Company followed the pattern of “feminizing” the character of Merida for use in the Disney Princess product line (Fig. 1).

Fig 1 Disney Princess Merida Redesign (Morrisey)

Many people already have issues with the generic sparkly format that the characters in the Disney Princess brand has, which appear in things ranging from computer apps to outfits, toys, and other products. Taking a female character that was already presented as the opposite of the standard Disney fairy tale princess fare and then making her more girly struck a lot of nerves, to the point that a Change.org petition took place to keep the remade Merida off of merchandise sold under the Disney Princess brand (A Mighty Girl). The public outcry was enough for Disney to pull the redesign from its Disney Princess website, but the image was still in use on the range of Disney Princess products developed for sale (Sperling). Exclusion, inferiority, and objectification were recurring themes in the textual readings for this course, so a study of a movie that attempted a different perspective on femininity that then changed its heroic character for commercial sale is appropriate for the larger issues of entrenched sexism in Western culture.

First, some history on Pixar movie studios and the Disney Princess brand. Pixar as a movie studio has been associated with Disney since the agreement to make and distribute a computer-animated movie in 1991, which would then become the 1995 hit film Toy Story (Nevius). The studio became wholly a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company in 2006, and therefore has to adhere to the same policies in its creative process and marketing as other animated Disney films. The Disney Princess brand was conceived in the late 1990s and launched in the early 2000s (Orenstein). The brand currently includes the characters Snow White from her film, Cinderella from her movie, Aurora from Sleeping Beauty, Ariel from The Little Mermaid, Belle from Beauty and the Beast, Jasmine from Aladdin, Tiana from The Princess and the Frog, Rapunzel from Tangled, and also Pocahontas and Mulan from their films. The latter two characters aren’t as frequently featured on Disney Princess products as the rest of the others, but Disney’s issues with race are another essay entirely (Johnson). One primary issue people have with these redesigns is that they aren’t always in keeping with the message from the films. Mulan, for example, is like Merida in that her interests are in physical activities normally popular with men, and she is not overly concerned with maintaining an image of the popularized ideal of femininity such as wearing makeup or pretty dresses. One could even argue that wearing the dress and makeup for her matchmaker appointment made her miserable, while the garb of a warrior was liberating (Orenstein). With these redesigned Disney Princess characters, the ultimate message is that these characters have found happiness in a restrictive definition of femininity, and so the nonstop Disney marketing of this brand that young children are subjected to on a daily basis begins to act as a real-world sequel to the films themselves (Bartyzel). According to the Disney Consumer Products division that handles the Disney Princess brand, their intention behind these products is clear:

Disney Princess stories are timeless and classic and appeal to girls and women of all ages. As women grow up with the Disney Princess characters, they are inspired by their stories, personalities and inner qualities and pass along their love for these heroines to their own daughters.

 Individual princesses have been part of Disney since Snow White first graced the screen in 1937. In 2000, Disney Consumer Products brought all of Disney's beloved heroines – Ariel, Belle, Cinderella, Jasmine, Mulan, Pocahontas, Sleeping Beauty and Snow White – together in a collection of fantasy-based girls' entertainment and products called the Disney Princess brand. (Liz Virji)

 Each of the characters are changed from their original film depiction to a version that has more feminized model proportions. Physically they all have tinier waists, more makeup, neatly styled hair, and sparkly outfits, while also sporting a more coy, and perhaps sexy personality to go along with their new fashions (Appendix A). While there are positive traits in the Disney Princess as characters when in their own movies, there is plenty of criticism about their roles in the story and their symbolism. In terms of female representation, the earliest films, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty, are very classic examples of the idea of a damsel in distress princess. The lady in question takes on a passive role, waiting for the prince or worthy man to save her, or else perform the tasks necessary to prove worthy of her hand in marriage. Cinderella isn't exactly the same, but there is still that moment near the end of the film where the female lead needs others, usually male, to rescue her. This pattern didn't change until the 1990s with the release of films like Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, Pocahontas, and Mulan (Barytzel). All these women in the later releases were more aggressive in personality and action in their respective stories, but still displayed a grace and standard of beauty common in many Disney female characters. Therefore when Brave was released, it was refreshing to see a fairy tale princess who differed from the Disney pattern seen thus far. Merida looks and acts like a teenage girl. She’s rebellious, has a short temper, and, rarest of all, is an accomplished athlete. Her physical appearance reflects this personality, with a simple dress, childlike physique, and wild curly hair that she rarely tries to tame. Much of the initial conflict in the film is due to Merida’s mother wanting her to be more feminine.

            The general plot of Brave follows Merida and her mother, Queen Elinor, as the audience is shown how their relationship deteriorated once Merida grew into her teenage years. Some of the opening scenes show how Merida loves horse riding, archery, and generally enjoying the outdoors. Later on she is even personally cleaning her horse’s stall! In the mind of her mother, though, Merida should focus on the duties, expectations, and responsibilities of being a princess, as well as being more ladylike: study poetry, geography, music, and history, while displaying manners, cleanliness, and modesty. Queen Elinor fulfills a classic role for queens in literature: she is the calm voice among wild warrior men, the diplomat, and the keeper of her people’s myths and history. Merida’s father is much more laidback and willing to encourage his daughter’s preferred hobbies, as he is both visually and actively a warrior king. It is interesting to see a medieval period piece where both male and female rulers are shown to be true equals. Both king and queen in this world are expected to rule together and take on the political responsibilities of running the kingdom, so even though Merida is female, she is still next in line for the throne as the eldest child.

Back to the plot: when the time comes for suitors from the other three clans to be presented for Merida’s marriage, the two women butt heads. Merida still treasures her independence and it hasn’t even occurred to her to consider romance, much less a marriage. The queen is focused on the tradition of a marriage to bind the four clans through kinship and political alliance, and is bewildered that her daughter will ignore everything she has been educating and preparing her for all this time. There is even a myth told in the film that a former kingdom fell into ruin when the king’s sons broke the bonds of kinship, underlying the overall message of this film that family is important. To put off the marriage, Merida sets up an archery challenge and competes for her own hand, beating the three suitors astoundingly. Her mother is furious, and afraid war will break out between the four clans. In the fight that ensues between the two women, the queen’s tapestry she has been working on since Merida was young is torn by Merida’s sword, and the queen then throws Merida’s bow into the fire. Devastated, Merida rides off in tears, and comes upon a witch way out in the wilderness. Buying a spell, Merida returns home, only to have the result turn the queen into a bear. Merida and the queen must then work together to break the spell. There is an added threat that the queen will lose her mind and become a real bear within two days’ time. What follows are some beautiful montage scenes of the mother and daughter working together to survive in the wild. Being much more of a civilized lady, the queen is at a disadvantage to care for herself while still under her human personality without Merida’s help. At one point they even find the ancient kingdom from Queen Elinor's story, and awaken a demon bear that nearly kills Merida. They run back to the kingdom in a narrow escape, and are faced with the task of figuring out how to break the curse on the queen.

At this point in the movie there are two main sources of conflict besides the threat of the queen becoming a wild animal: The queen is in danger of being mistaken for a real bear and killed by the king, and the visiting clans will go to war if a suitor for Merida is not chosen. It is in working together that the two women resolve both these conflicts. In order to reach a resolution Merida has to negotiate with the clans in an echo of an earlier scene where her mother wandered into the chaos of males fighting to calmly put an end to the fight. It is decided in a very well-done scene where the princess acts as her mother's voice that Merida will choose a husband when she is ready, thus buying more time for the other main conflict. For the climax, there is an intense battle with the humans chasing after the queen, still believing her to be a dangerous bear. Merida stands up to her father, the favorite parent, and defends her mother from the humans. Then the demon bear shows up. The queen defends her daughter and the other humans from the demon bear, finally killing it. Both women then reconcile, and the queen is restored.

One of my biggest criticisms in recent years when it comes to Pixar and its films is their seeming inability to break away from the two males "let's be buddies" plot line, which originated with Toy Story. Even with fourteen films released at the time of this writing, the company seems to have difficulty portraying a female character as anything other than a motherly nurturer or as sexual enticement to the male characters, at least until Brave. Disney isn’t much better. Females in all their movies tend to follow a pattern of being damsels in distress, mothers, or seductive femme fatales, with very little deviation in 70 years of theatrical film releases. As for princess culture — as promoted by the Disney Princess brand — there are many scholars and internet websites worried about the damage such imagery can do to young girls. While sociological studies and other scholarship does not conclusively prove that playing princess directly damages girls’ self-esteem or dampens other aspirations, there is statistical evidence that young women who hold the most conventionally feminine beliefs — avoiding conflict and being perpetually nice and pretty — are more likely to be depressed and less likely to use contraception (Orenstein). There are also surveys showing an overall decline in girls’ participation in sports and other vigorous activity between middle and high school, the reasoning being that athletics is unfeminine (Orenstein). While there is nothing inherently wrong with makeup or pretty dresses, the example that the Disney Princess brand sets is that there is only one way to be female. Merida was created to be opposed to that mindset, and to redesign her character to match the stylistic choices of the Disney Princess line was for many, a betrayal. Merida’s creator, Brenda Chapman, writes along these lines in her personal blog, describing how Merida was created for her daughter, to be an individual, and an alternative choice of how to be female. As she says in a post in support of the A Mighty Girl Change.org petition, “The message Disney sends to the public in changing Merida is that she is not good enough the way she is. In doing that, they are making the same statement to all the young girls out there” (brenda-chapman.com).

With more public support in favor of creating positive change, there may still be a chance that corporations like The Walt Disney Company will take a chance and allow for more diverse choices in what it means to be feminine. The Disney Princess brand is only one aspect of the overall problem that girls face while growing up in Western culture. The dissonance between what girls are told they can be and what they are shown they should be is still quite wide. Merida is not the first female character to be glamorized for commercial purposes, and she certainly won’t be the last. However, with images like the pretty princess holding a bow and arrow in the Disney Princess online shop, I think society is making progress (Fig. 2).

Figure 2 Disney Princess Store Banner

  

Works Cited

A Mighty Girl. “Disney: Say No to the Merida Makeover, Keep Our Hero Brave!” Change.org.

Web. 19 January, 2014.

Brave. Dir. Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman. Disney Pixar Animation Studios, 2012. Blu-Ray + DVD. 24 January, 2014.

Bartyzel, Monika. “Girls on Film: The real problem with the Disney Princess brand.” The Week. 17 May, 2013. Web. 22 January, 2014.

C. W. Nevius. SFGate. “Pixar tells story behind 'Toy Story'.” August 23, 2005. Web. 22 January, 2014.

Chapman, Brenda. “Staying True to Merida: Why This Fight Matters.” Brenda Chapman (blog). May 24, 2013. Web.

Colbert, Stephen. The Colbert Report. “Pixar’s Gay Agenda.” 26 June, 2012.  Web. 20 January, 2014.

Johnson, Matthew. “The Little Princess Syndrome: When Our Daughters Act Out Fairytales.” Natural Life Magazine. Web. 22 January, 2014.

Morrissey, Tracie Egan. Jezebel. “Disney PullsSexy Merida Makeover After Public Backlash.” 15 May, 2013. Web. 24 January, 2014.

Orenstein, Peggy. “What’s Wrong With Cinderella?” New York Times. 24 December, 2006. Web. 22 January, 2014.

Virji, Liz. Disney Consumer Products. Web. 21 January, 2014.

Sperling, Nicole. “Disney's sexier, skinnier Merida to stay, despite protests.” Los Angeles Times. 15 May, 2013. Web. 17 January, 2014.

Stein, Atara. “Xena: Warrior Princess, The Lesbian Gaze, AndThe Construction Of A Feminist Heroine.” Whoosh: IAXS project #007. 1998.  Web. 19 January, 2014.

Appendix A

Greb, Andrea.  “DisneyPrincess Makeovers – When Being The Fairest Of Them All Isn't Enough.” Hellogiggles.com. 13 May, 2013. Web. 24 January, 2014.

Mozart's The Magic Flute, Or Genderbent Paranormal Romance

I took myself to the opera recently, as Mozart's The Magic Flute was playing at the local theater and it's one of my favorite operas. I love it for its bonkers story and beautiful music, and any production of it I've seen has always gone as all-out as it can on the fantastical story and characters. It also may be because I saw this afterschool animation version of the story when I was young. Nostalgia is a powerful force after all. According to my research, the opera can be as shallowly or deeply read as one desires. From thoughts of it being a political commentary to symbolically portraying freemason ritual, this fairy tale opera has withstood the test of time and continues to capture audience attention.

As I've been enjoying scathing commentaries on badly written paranormal romances recently, both Jenny Trout's 50 Shades of Grey reading and Nella's reading of The Tiger's Curse over on Chez Apocalypse, I was inspired to do a similar commentary of Mozart's famous opera.

Feel free to follow along with one of the many recorded operas on the internet, although for best chance of experiencing both the music and the story, I recommend this playlist of the opera with accompanying English subtitles (does not include the Overture). It is quite strict to the source material, too. Afterward, I'll talk about some of the additions made to the story over time, particularly to the Queen of the Night's character.

Act 1
In the land of fantastical, wherever, the story opens as our brave hero, Prince Tamino, is running for his life from a monster and screaming for help. He promptly faints and the monster is slain by three women in service to the Queen of the Night.
No really, that's what happens. He's our hero, the brave and cunning warrior who will go on this big epic quest and save the day, yet the first experience the audience has of him is passing out and needing to be saved.
The three women then spend a music number gushing about how hot the prince is, and argue about who will go tell the Queen of the Night, and eventually agree to all go so no one is left alone with the prince (hur hur).
During this part I kept thinking of how pretty much any paranormal romance marketed as YA these days has a similar part, wherein the heroine spends an inordinate amount of time spewing about how amazing and beautiful their love interest is.
The second best character in the story then enters, Papageno. Papageno captures birds for the Queen of the Night, but longs for a girlfriend/wife to cuddle and love oh so tenderly. He is a simple soul, a touch cowardly, and a great comic relief aspect in the story.
Depending on the theater company, he is either a bird person, or just a wild man who likes nature and imprisons it for the entertainment of his rich patron (*insert commentary on exotic animal poaching/trapping here). He has even been featured in his own short animation! Either way, if this role is miscast, the whole story suffers, as he must be both effective comic relief and taken seriously throughout his character arc. His whole libretto is so fun! Also depending on the production, all the romance talk can be very creepy, misogynistic, or sweet. Sometimes all at once. 

I know he just sang about catching girls in a net to find a wife, but he looks so sweet and hopeful! #Conflicted

When Tamino wakes, he comes to the conclusion that Papageno slew the beast pursuing him. Brilliant AND brave, our hero! Papageno of course does not discourage this belief. The three women return and punish the bird man by giving him water and stones instead of his usual treats, and also lock his mouth to prevent him telling any more lies.
Again, depending on the production, this bit is either really creepy or mildly funny.
The women then present Tamino with a picture of the Queen's daughter, Pamina, saying she was kidnapped by the wicked Sarastro and won't the brave prince please rescue her? Tamino in response belts out a solo of love at first sight that would put those pop chart teen boppers from any decade to shame. After promising that if Tamino rescues Pamina he can totally marry her, the best character in the opera makes her grand entrance.
The Queen of the Night has hands down the best arias in the whole work, an effective singer and actress really carries the production through. Plus her costume is usually the most badass. 
The Queen's aria here is a mother's grief and plaintive begging for her daughter's return. After praising Tamino, calling him her daughter's gallant saviour, she gifts Tamino with the titular magic flute to help him on his quest and exits.
Although gotta wonder if the Queen has such powerful warrior women and magical resources at her side, why she would think a fainting prince would fare any better at rescuing her daughter, unless the hapless Tamino is supposed to be bait.
Papageno is then freed, and a musical interlude preaching about how wonderful the world would be if all liars wore a lock on their mouths. Also Papageno is roped into helping Tamino, because every prince needs a handy servant friend when going on an adventure. They gift the cowering Papageno with magical chimes (a glockenspiel!) to help with the quest.
I really hope Tamino and Papageno have levels in bard or ranks in the perform skill, or those magic musical instruments won't be of much help in fighting the demons they're being sent against. 
They also bequeath three helpful spirits to guide the two heroes to Sarastro's domain. In this production the three spirits are played by three boys in a balloon, but I've also seen them played as animals, nature spirits, and even fairies.

I wasn't kidding about the balloon

The three spirits promptly get the teleport spell wrong and separate the two. The next scene we finally get a glimpse of Pamina and the men who've kidnapped her. This scene is also an uncomfortable glimpse into the casual racism in the story, and this particular production amped it up to 11:

Blackface, y'all. When having an actual person of color is too difficult.

This unfortunate character is Monostatos, a "Moor" in service to Sarastro. He's clearly one of the bad guys, as his prime motivation in kidnapping Pamina is to have her for himself. It's one of the lazy tropes of writing from days of yore that is still unfortunately very present in modern storytelling: the person of color besmirching the virtue of some poor white girl because the writer needed to show who was the bad guy in an obvious way.
Papageno ends up meeting this fearsome man, and in a marvelously comedic exchange the two scare each other, with Monostatos running away. What luck right? Then there is another funny scene with Papageno attempting to identify Pamina, but thinking she's not the right lady because her picture lacks arms and legs.
 The two share a nice little conversation with some humor thrown in, before taking another musical break to preach at the audience, this time about how great love is! Of course, keeping it totally Christian and implying the best expression of love is being married as man and wife...
Tamino meanwhile is being preached to be steadfast, patient, and use discretion by the three not helpful spirits. He finds Sarastro's sanctuary and proceeds to monologue about vanquishing the evil within. What follows is a rather funny sequence in which Tamino tries to find the portal to face Sarastro, only to have bodiless voices warn him to turn back. So instead of questioning these warnings, he continues to try different portals until he meets with one of Sarastro's brotherhood. As his actions have established thus far, Tamino is not the sharpest tool in the shed. 
Upon finding out that Sarastro is basically the head priest and rules with virtue and wisdom, Tamino starts to question his quest, as it would be totally hypocritical for an evil guy to be a ruler in the good religion of the land. The priest guy has a point though, in asking Tamino why he hates Sarastro so much without any evidence. This part and many of the scenes with Sarastro are highly evident of how 18th century this opera is, for not only do the characters get preachy about virtue, masonic ritual, and the enlightenment of reason in the middle of the plot, but it gets really misogynistic as well. I do like the end of this conversation, though, as Mr. Priest basically says "I can't tell you any more info cuz my oath to my secret club forbids it, so unless you join the secret club we're done, lol"
In fairy tale logic, asking the air if Pamina still lives, it answers back in the affirmative. Overjoyed, Tamino decides to play his magic flute in prayer and gratitude, to which all the animals of the forest are attracted to (and for those following along with the English subtitle version I rec'd, holy cow does it get trippy). Hearing Papageno's flute, Tamino runs off toward the sound. It's weird and hilarious that in this version Tamino never actually plays the flute, just waves it around and it makes noise like the Doctor with his sonic screwdriver on Doctor Who.
Meanwhile, Papageno and Pamina are still running from the bad guys who had caught her earlier. In a hilarious sequence, Papageno takes out his magic chimes as they are captured, and the bad men dance away in a hypnotic fog, the music is so fine. Yet, they do not escape, as Sarastro finally makes his appearance!

Dang, what an entrance.

After Sarastro's entrance chorus (and wow do I want one of those for special events!), Pamina explains that she was only running away because, Monostatos, the guy he hired to kidnap her, was coming onto her and that was just icky, nevermind being kidnapped from her mother's home. Don't worry though, Sarastro is totally cool, he'll punish Monostatos, but Pamina can't go free. Here is another skeevy bit, as during his libretto Sarastro calls the Queen of the Night a vain and arrogant woman, saying that women need to be guided by men in order to be virtuous. Ugh, 18th century gender politics. Still, the abrupt turnaround of events has left more than one opera critic scratching their head. Despite earlier hints that things are not all they seem in this strange fantasy land, Sarastro is a kind and wise ruler seems really sudden.
Tamino enters, and it's love at first sight for both he and Pamina. Sarastro sends Monostatos away to be punished, and if Tamino really wants to wed Pamina, he and Papageno will need to pass three trials to prove their virtue and enter Sarastro's brotherhood. Psst, this is freemasonry stuff! Papageno is understandably less than thrilled to be roped into these shenanigans.
And thus ends Act 1!

Act 2
Beginning where Act 1 left off, Sarastro is leading the ceremony to welcome Tamino and Papageno into the brotherhood. I have read more than one critic who is really moved by Sarastro's song here. The spirituality and baritone range creates and incredible experience, especially live in the theater. Their first trial is is about to begin, and in the very next scene this production continues to be unintentionally funny:

Teleporter malfunction, again?

I think the production team was shipping Tamino/Papageno

Okay, okay, back to the story. Tamino is all ready to risk his life for the sake of friendship and love, Papageno not so much. At least until he's given the promise of his heart's desire: a wife to love and cherish *wink, wink. This part is really where the contrast between the two men is most emphasized. Tamino is willing to seek higher on the hierarchy of needs for spiritual fulfillment, while Papageno is firmly rooted in earthly concerns. In order to pass the first trial, they both must keep silent. No, specifically, they must keep silent toward women. Again, unfortunately, deception is characterized as a feminine trait, and the priests leave. The three warrior women in service to the Queen of Night turn up though, and what's this? The queen has snuck onto the temple grounds! For a trial of silence, there's an awful lot of singing/talking that goes on here. Still, the men succeed by ignoring the women and refusing to talk to them.
Next scene, we spy Monostatos, as he bemoans his appearance as ugly, but questions why he can't find love too. I am still cringing over the blackface, so piling more offensive bullshit here isn't doing any more to sympathise me with this character. Hearing someone enter, he hides to overhear the Queen of the Night enter and perform the best damn song in the whole opera, which is an angry command to her daughter to murder Sarastro. By the way, Diana Damrau is forever the bar by which I measure any Queen of the Night:

Ahh, that voice, the fury of her performance! I love it. 

As an aside, though, is anyone else weirded out by the tree people in the background of the follow along video?

The trees always remember

After the queen leaves, Monostatos pops out and tries to blackmail Pamina into loving him lest he reveal the murder plot to Sarastro. But who should enter and again discard all this built up drama, but Sarastro himself! Seriously, this part is why so many people believe Mozart was making direct political commentary with The Magic Flute. Sarastro was built up in Act 1 as this scary, evil king, but here he explains that no evil or traitorous impulses can exist in the sanctuary, because he and his brethren radiate virtue, love, and forgiveness!
Meanwhile, Tamino and Papageno continue their trials. Or it's the same trial, since they both must still maintain silence. It's possible though that this trial is about dedication considering what's about to happen. Papageno of course, can't shut up to save his life. It's amazing. Though, knowing Papageno isn't all about attaining higher wisdom and all, it's my firm belief that Sarastro's brotherhood decide to test Papageno's dedication in another way. An old woman enters and the two playfully flirt a bit before Papageno realizes this is the woman promised to be his wife and freaks out just a bit. After she leaves, the three spirits return and give the two men their magic instruments as well as some food. Tamino is advised to remain strong, while Papageno once again is told to remain silent. Gotta admit though, without his chatter there wouldn't be much action at this point in the story.
Pamina then enters, and what follows is, I kid not, some of the most angsty conflict I've ever had to witness in theater, and I've seen performances of Romeo and Juliet. She tries in vain to get Tamino to speak with her, even pleads with Papageno to say just one word. Instead they both ignore her. The thing is though, THIS WAS ENTIRELY UNNECESSARY. Tamino and Papageno were instructed to keep silent, not entirely ignore any woman who entered. Still, this is some Bella being rejected by Edward Cullen level angst here: 

Annnnnnnnnngggggggggssssssssstttttttttttttt

Pamina, dejected, sings that if Tamino no longer loves her, then only death can free her from such suffering. I feel I must remind both readers and audiences that Pamina has known Tamino for about 3 minutes of screen time. Yes, yes, fairy tale logic and love at first sight and all. But really!? Suicide because he won't speak to you? The devastation of true love y'all. Another question I have at this part is doesn't Pamina know they are undergoing religious trials or something? That's why I want to think that this is all an illusion constructed by Sarastro to test Tamino's resolve, except it turns out to be completely serious.
Next scene all seems well, Tamino is greeted by Sarastro and his brethren, and Pamina is brought in to say goodbye before Tamino leaves on his last trial.

Annnnnnnnnngggggggggssssssssstttttttttttttt

Next we return to Papageno as he is once again wandering around lost somewhere. Seriously, he needs a magic compass. In another hilarious exchange, a priest comes out and again tries to solicit Papageno to buy into seeking heavenly wisdom. Papageno would rather have a glass of wine.

ALONE, thank you!

He sings again of having a lovely woman to be his wife. I confess, it's really cute, despite being really shallow. The old woman shows up again, and declares that if he won't take her hand in marriage, he'll be lost in darkness forever. Grudgingly, he agrees. AND GUESS WHAT HAPPENS.

Bam.

This is some Wife of Bath-level inception here. Predictably, Papageno now actively works for his reward now that he knows what that will be.
Next scene the three spirits are hanging around when they spy Pamina about to commit suicide with the dagger her mother gave her. They talk her down and bring her to where Tamino is undergoing his final trial.

Balloon!

So now we are at the scene of Tamino's final trial before being declared Enlightened and accepted into Sarastro's brother...wait what.

What are these costumes!?

Okay distraction over, let's continue. Tamino must be cleansed by the four elements: fire, water, earth, and air. Conquering his fear of death, he will achieve Enlightenment and ascend to heaven, blah, blah, blah. Anyway, Pamina shows up, and Tamino is allowed to speak to her. So, happy and overjoyed to be together, the loving couple enter the temple to face whatever the future brings with only their love and the magic flute to protect them. After they walk through fire and water, the two are considered consecrated and may enter the temple. I know the green screen effects aren't too dramatic, but most stage versions aren't any flashier. Also, the way Tamino still holds the flute like its the Doctor's sonic screwdriver is just as amusing as it was before.
Back to Papageno, he is frantically searching for his Papagena. After shouting in vain for awhile, he decides that life is too painful to live without her. In either tragic comedy or comical tragedy, he sets up a rope to hang himself from a tree, but can't seem to make the final jump and end it all. This part involves a lot of audience participation usually, it can be really fun. Luckily the three spirits find him and help him out before he hurts himself. He uses the magic bells to call his lovely lady to his side. The two celebrate with a love duet and start discussing having a large family. If well acted, this performance is really funny.
Next, we see Monostatos leading the Queen of the Night and her three warriors to attack the temple. Monostatos had bargained to help the queen if he got Pamina. However, something...happens...and their power is destroyed and they're sent to hell, or something. This is literally the writers going, "Oops, gotta wrap up this loose end! Uhhh, they lose their powers because reasons, so they just leave!" And yes, I know this act is actually metaphor, it's spelled out in the last song: sunshine disperses the night and takes the power of fraudsters. IT'S STILL SUDDEN AND WAY TOO CONVENIENT.
Sarastro and the chorus congratulate the new initiates and welcome Tamino and Pamina into the temple.
The End!

There are many, many essays online right now analyzing Mozart's opera, ranging from the structure of the music to the symbolism of masonic rituals. One thing I keep seeing, though, is adding different story elements to try and make sense of the plot. Especially with the Queen of the Night's motivations. In comics and cartoons where being able to follow a cohesive story is important, such changes when adapting the opera are understandable.

For instance, in this BBC animation special, the Queen is shown to be jealous of Sarastro receiving the dying sun king's source of wisdom and power. Therefore when she spies a prince wandering on the border of her kingdom, she hatches a plot to send the prince to kill Sarastro. Having the queen be the one who sends the monster after the prince in the first place and make him indebted to her by saving him with her "warrior women" is kind of brilliant. It makes the twist during Act 1 that Sarastro is not the villain a lot easier to swallow. Plus, it's one of the better depictions of Papageno that I've seen, for all the weird stylistic choices in art. Another aspect to the story as may have been noticed from this afterschool animation version of the story I mentioned at the beginning of this entry, is that Pamina is Sarastro's daughter, making the whole opera a drawn out custody battle. This addition to the queen's character is often seen in graphic novel adaptations as well. When the story is done well, it fleshes out the Queen's character more, without detracting from the fact she's an evil woman full of  spite.

Unlike some others I could mention

Regardless of how deeply you read into it, Mozart's The Magic Flute is an enjoyable fairy tale with wonderful music. And I can certainly admire the spirit of the drama even if it's content is not always palatable to my 21st century sensibilities.

Hello again

It's been awhile internet. My unscheduled hiatus is due primarily to the steps needed to ensure that I am graduated, credentialed, and ready to search for my new career in the field of nutrition and culinary arts. By the way, I'm now an alumni of Truckee Meadows Community College, a Dietetic Technician, Registered, and looking for work in nutrition or food service!

I went to see Godzilla with my brothers. It is a very good Godzilla movie, in that Godzilla is the most interesting part of the film. We all ended seeing the IMAX 3D version, which may be hazardous for people with vertigo or get nauseous at 3D films, but it is incredible to see that first panning shot of Godzilla climax with his head reaching into the auditorium to unleash his famous roar.

Otherwise I'm trying to rediscover what it is to suddenly have a lot more leisure time on my hands punctuated by a frantic job search, preferably in Washington, near Seattle.

Best wishes, and I hope to have better content for next time!

The Lego Movie is lovely, and attempts to be subversive

The Lego Movie has generated a lot of positive buzz since its release on February 7, and the rating over at Rotten Tomatoes is hovering around 96%. In fact, box office success has been so great, the Warner Brothers studio is wasting no time planning for a sequel to be released in 2017. My favorite geek site The Mary Sue has given The Lego Movie a positive review. However, if you look at the comments for that linked article, and if you have recently read their piece on a nostalgia LEGO ad from the 1980s and the article that inspired it, this fun family movie and the toy it is based on has created some complicated feelings in fans of both LEGO and of films, myself included.

       

I've had some experience with LEGO in my life. Having two brothers who were big fans of the toy, I was constantly exposed to play sets encouraging creativity and others meant to be models that would easily snap together by following the instructions. Pirates, Jedi Knights, space exploration, and Bionicle cyber warriors were common games with my brothers that would inevitably implicitly or explicitly exclude me. I was also constantly exposed to the idea that LEGO was not for a girl like me, as shown by how my brothers would hoard all the pieces in their room and that LEGO was only found in the boys' section at toy stores. If I wanted to make or build something, I would have to content myself with LEGO knockoffs in pink and purple, or play with a different brand entirely such as K'Nex. Granted, my brothers didn't want to share any of their toys with me, mostly because I terrorized my older brother since I could walk by stealing his toys, but that's a story for another time. My point is, when I saw this movie advertised, I wasn't expecting them to cater to a female demographic at all, based entirely on my childhood experience with LEGO.

Now after seeing the film, let me say that the primary description I can give of this movie is FUN. The characters, music, humor, and the animation all give a feel of what I remember LEGO being about -- a fun time for kids to build and be creative. It's very childlike in its comedy and for most of the story. It does do some unique plot turns, but overall remains a quintessential monomyth, as the movie poster says, of a nobody who saved everybody. Monomyth, as described by Joseph Campbell, as some may recall from my analysis of Disney and Pixar films, is a pattern theorized to occur in pretty much every world mythology and influences many stories today (watch a video essay of this topic here). This film, for all its promise of nonstop action, fun, and adventure, is about that opposing force in LEGO for either unrestrained creative building, or to build a perfect model by following the package instructions. It also gets really meta, but it's not hard to spot the hints of this plot thread as the film goes on. Another positive point is that the animation in this movie is especially incredible. It is CGI, but the frame rate is dropped and all the characters, environments, and even special effects such as fire or lasers are done so that it looks like a stop-motion animation style made with real LEGO toys! Heck, there is one scene out in the ocean, and the entire ocean surface is behaving like water, but has each little bump on the surface as if it was made from real LEGO!

That being said, there is a lot of debate in various internet forums over whether the two most prominent female characters, Wyldstyle and Princess Unikitty are positive representations of women. There are legitimate points on either side of this argument, which because the film is also a giant advertisement for LEGO, also brings into question how LEGO markets itself and creates gendered dichotomy in its toys. This complexity about female representation, in addition to other points in the plot that really didn't gel with the rest of the story for me, keeps it from being perfect in my mind. Still, if you like silliness, action, adventure, and LEGO, there's no reason not to see The Lego Movie at least once. I will warn you though, there is a song in the beginning that will meld with your mind and never leave.

Final rating 4/5 stars. Click on the jump for a discussion on the gender representations in this movie. Spoilers!

The Hobbit, and My Complex Love of Tolkien

Not really spoilers ahead for The Hobbit movies. Technically the book too, but for something that's been around in the popular consciousness since 1937 I think is less a spoiler than indicating something exists.

First off, it should surprise no one that I really like Tolkien even with all the flaws. He was an English professor and really loved mythology, so I can at least dig his chosen subject matter even if I find the execution sometimes falling rather short. I may not be as incredibly familiar with all of his works as others, but The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings were part of my childhood in the form of the books and animated films, and to this day it is still something I remember with great fondness. That being said, the film adaptations of Peter Jackson's The Hobbit thus far are, let's just say, giving me complicated feels. On the one hand, they are visually well done, clearly trying to stay faithful to the source material, and are some incredible examples of the film medium. On the other hand, Peter Jackson has made a very bloated and overly complicated adaptation of what is supposed to be a more lighthearted and fun prequel to The Lord of the Rings trilogy. This movie has a lot more pacing problems than the first Hobbit film, which is really saying something.

The original novel was just over 300 pages, so everyone knew Peter Jackson would have to be padding the hell out of the plot to extend the story into three films. The thing is, for pretty much a significant of the movie, I was taken out of the experience by trying to guess what was going to happen next from what I already knew about the story. A lot of scenes that actually happen fairly quickly in the book are drawn out by fancy action scenes. I'm not really against fancy action scenes generally, and I'm sure a lot of internet people have already gushed about the river barrel scene; however, I kept questioning the whole time when it was going to be over because the film was nearly two hours in and we still needed to get to Lake Town and from there to the Lonely Mountain and deal with the dragon Smaug. I kept getting the feeling that we were rushing the main plot, but at the same time taking forever to get there.

Another common point of contention in these movies is all the references to later events in The Lord of the Rings. To that I say that it was quite clear with the first film, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, that Peter Jackson was going to remind us every step of the way that all of these events happen before those of the The Lord of the Rings. Which brings me to what some reviewers have already realized: these films aren't for the general public, they are for the fans. All of the extended scenes, bonus content, and other extra information included with these movies is to bring Tolkien's works to life as best as can be done in an early 21st century Western society, while still subtly reinforcing problematic issues Western culture has dealt with for a very long time. That being said, there are some glaring flaws in the second movie released, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, that are not entirely related to the same issues as a lot of films that are in the middle of a trilogy. Since this film is only part of the whole story, no matter where it finishes, the action is going to be halted in a bizarre way that will more likely leave audiences angry than eager to continue. At least it did for me. My friend and I were the only ones who screamed in frustration at the rolling of the end credits, and I haven't bothered checking for similar experiences from others. The same frustration happened with Pirates of the Caribbean, Star Wars, and many others too, don't pretend it didn't, I know people out there who had the same issues.

Another thing I didn't realize until it was pointed out to me is that in these film adaptations, Bilbo Baggins isn't really the hero of the story. Yes, he is heroic by virtue of the heroic things he does, but he isn't really the story here. If anything, these films are about Gandalf and Thorin. This situation is best shown by how the first Hobbit film took 40 minutes to even get to Bilbo, and the second movie has to open with about 10 minutes of Gandalf/Thorin flashback before getting to the title and where we left off last time with Bilbo and the gang. Mark my words, the third movie will focus a significant chunk on Thorin Oakenshield and his tragic downfall.

Now in terms of Tolkien's works, many people have already listed some broad issues with the entire body of fiction on Middle Earth. There is the issue of racism, since very few of the human or fantasy races have people of color as main characters, and there are also rather few POC in the backgrounds of crowd shots. There is also the issue of sexism, which Peter Jackson tried to counter by shoehorning in a romantic subplot with an original female character in the form of Tauriel in Desolation of Smaug. I don't really mind the inclusion of an original character, since Peter Jackson has been doing that the whole time with the characters of the dwarves and other minor characters that don't have much role in Tolkien's stories, but are still there. The thing is, with Tauriel, I really like her as a character, but I don't like the romance subplot she was chosen to fulfill in these movies. She is clearly quite competent at her job as a warrior of the Wood Elves, and an aspect of the story I enjoyed a great deal in the theatrical release was her ability to see the big picture of what was happening in Middle Earth at the time. However, I felt a distinct lack of romantic interest from her end in any of the male characters interested in her, but that could definitely be changed in either the extended edition of this film or else in the final movie, The Hobbit: There and Back Again. As for seeing Legolas again, that wasn't too surprising since it appeared Peter Jackson would bring back as many actors from the The Lord of the Rings as possible. It also wouldn't be that improbable that he was in The Hobbit, since his father is King Thranduil. However, if there is one thing I love that came of this movie, it's the party king Thranduil internet meme.

Something else I think people understandably struggle with is the length of these movies. These film adaptations of Tolkien's work, perhaps more so than anything else, have to be viewed all in succession in order to appreciate the scope of story happening. Waiting each year between theatrical releases makes it difficult to pick up where the action left off, which makes it difficult to become reinvested with what's happening to the characters. It also doesn't help that a lot of the history, mythology, and heck, character development is lost with so many characters and plot meandering all over the place. There is a very good reason these films are dubbed a 16 hour walking tour of New Zealand. So, strangely enough though, my overall feeling of the Hobbit films so far is that there is both too much and too little. By the end of Desolation of Smaug I was incredibly frustrated with the story and how the characters were developing, but at the same time craving the extended edition in hopes it would make sense of the sloppy pacing.  I am also really praying to the powers that be that Tauriel won't become another Arwen pining after a non-elf lover, or worse, die off in the coming Battle of the Five Armies. Be a brave warrior woman unhindered by tacky romance subplots, Tauriel. Overturn those Hollywood conventions and rekindle my faith, Peter Jackson, I dare you.

Tl;dr watch some How It Should Have Ended wonderfulness. They'll explain it.

Selected Discussions from ART 270

"Discussion" is actually a misnomer, since very few of the assignments from this art history class required response to other people's posts. Still, the course Women in Art was quite enjoyable, but I wouldn't recommend taking a 22 day college course meant to be spread out over 15 weeks. It suffers from having to focus on nothing else but the material, making it very hard for much of it to sink in and be savored. Thought if nothing else, the course was great for learning more about the long history of exclusion, objectification, and outright abuse of women artists in Western culture, and I don't regret taking it. One of my final projects is on medieval illuminated manuscripts and the other is writing a thesis paper on the movie Brave. I got high marks on many of my discussions, so since art, criticism, and feminism are things I like writing about, well, it seems appropriate to share them!

Fair warning: Long post is long, very heavy with topics of female representation, male gaze, and art terminology. Also, trigger warning for mentions of rape.

So if you're ready, click behind the jump to read about my exciting pedagogy!

Holiday. Celebrate.

I hope everyone managed to have a safe and enjoyable holiday. Also, if anyone else is feeling down, I hear that's normal because of all the stress and weirdness of forced interaction with other people. The majority of my gifts this year were books I found at the used book store. For my stocking stuffers at family Christmas, I did a bit of a gag gift by packing candy bars along with sticks of deodorant.

Here's what I got over the course of December, including birthday gifts:
Ed Hardy Geisha Car Fresheners in Love Tonic scent
A new red fleece robe
$50 in Starbucks cards
The Christmas Shoes on DVD
A crystal angel car dangly thing with purple wings
A bundle of snacks and candies
A bag of candy and treats
A Christmas mug full of fancy chocolates
Packs totaling 36 glow bracelets
a fancy box of Harney & Sons teas

this frackin awesome shirt

this frackin awesome infinity scarf 

these frackin awesome earrings

A statue that might be a horse

DVDs of an anime from my childhood: The Fantastic Adventures of Unico and Unico in the Island of Magic. Incidentally I was reminded of how odd my early years must seem.









I was also able to see The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug with a good friend, a recap of which will be coming as soon as I finish some research to support some of my observations. And let's not forget both friends and family took me out to Broadway shows that came through town back in November!

In addition, my sister and I created a power team with my niece to to express ourselves in the art of cookie. Unsurprisingly our tormented inner selves came out in rainbows and sparkly sugar.

It would surprise no one that most filming was of my niece as she opened her presents. Everyone else was content in watching the crazy antics of our family exchanging gifts as well as try to keep the dog out of the room to avoid stray chewing of wrappings. I should recount this funny moment after all the gifts were opened that my niece took her new butterfly Barbie to her room and started trying to help her toy fly by flinging it across the room. She would then take her new toy doctor kit and try to give the Barbie a "check up" for injuries.

Dinner went smoothly, and I didn't even have a vertigo episode! It might have helped that I researched many recipes to ensure it was a very simple menu.

Good tidings during this close of the year. May the next one bring plenty of endings, beginnings, and fond memories.

Post-holiday Lethargy

Thanksgiving turned out great this year, as all four of us kids chipped in to help. Thank the powers that be that I had the foresight to plan ahead and make bread and dessert the day before. We wrangled a 24lb bird for the dinner, which we slathered in herb butter. The gravy was thus very rich, oh yes. As part of my "make things simple" initiative, I also found recipes for slow cooker potatoes and a cranberry chutney. There was also a simplified recipe for a green vegetable with mushroom sauce casserole, roasted sweet potatoes and pears,  However, halfway through the day I experienced a bad episode of vertigo, so I was shoved into the conductor role from the couch as my two brothers and sister finished things. Here is a lovely pinterest menu.

School is wrapping up, it looks like I'll pass with good grades and thus be eligible for graduation from the Dietetic Technician program! What this will mean is that once the school processes my transcripts and classes, they will mark me as "graduated" and I will be able to take the credentialing exam to become a Dietetic Technician. With this national credential I can apply for a position anywhere in the U.S. of A!

Playing games: spent less than two days getting a 100% completion game for Psychonauts, including all the Steam achievements! So proud ^_^.
Other games I've played: Incredipede, Eets Munchies, and Fez. I'm also planning to replay Dust for more achievements, possibly Limbo, and then I think some quality time with Dungeon Defenders. I may bust out my consoles to play some Okamiden, or maybe Wind Waker...oh, I definitely want to reacquaint myself with Tomba, which my brothers got on PS3. It's still a touchy state of mind with trying to relax after so long letting my brain buzz with NEEDTOWORKWHATNEEDSTOBEDONE. I'll get twitchy in the morning, buzz around the house cleaning this and that before remembering to chill out, rest a bit, so as not to suffer another vertigo attack.

This season I seem to be in a better position to go to musical theater shows in town. I had the privilege to see my community colleges's fall musical, Rent with one of my good friends. This performance brought me to tears, as it usually does. The story of these friends throughout a year of struggling with relationships, art, and society in the 90s still resonates quite powerfully, I feel. In addition, as part of my birthday this year, my parents did an awesome thing and took me to The Addams Family Musical at one of the local theaters. This show is something to behold. While one may not think the Addams family is conducive to musical accompaniment, the show was amazingly well done. The plot for sure is much better than any of the film adaptations. There are snippets and amalgams of the Broadway performance on Youtube, if anyone is interested, and musical sites like Spotify have the soundtrack available for listening. Finally, I took my young niece to see the community college production of A Year With Frog and Toad. It was ADORABLE! Not only did the performing arts program make a great musical adaptation of the book series, but it did so in a way that was accessible for young children. The play was a series of short story performances, connected by the friendship of a frog and a toad (played by girls!).

Otherwise, I'm just trying to get back into creative output. I'd love to be making art again.

Hello again

I breathe.
This feeling of calm is elusive and will not last.
I measure my ingredients, and under the whir of the mixer's motor I can feel my heart grow lighter as the batter is whipped and beaten to smoothness.
Carefully the apples are chopped. I inhale deeply the smell of cinnamon and the sweetness of sugar. The lightness of being as I pour the cake batter into the pan and place it into the oven is as ephemeral as everything else.
The finished cake is brought out to cool, and I linger in the kitchen for a moment, surrounded by the warmth of the oven and the scent of cinnamon and apples. It feels good to be creating again.
I breathe.

Before the Storm Hit

I kept meaning to update before school started, but procrastination can be very difficult to overcome. In the weeks leading up to classes starting, I played a lot of games through Steam (Summer Steam Sale, WOO!). Most of these,though, were acquired through the website Humble Bundle, a service that “bundles” electronic media for consumers (mostly video games, but also ebooks and music), allowing them to name the price they want. The site partners with different charities, allowing the purchaser to choose how to divide up the contribution between the creators, the charities, and the website’s fee. It’s a marvelous idea, and I like the thought of getting games being of benefit to the world, and not just between myself and the creators.

UPDATE: They now have a web store that donates to charity!

So, among the great games I’ve played so far are:

Bastion

Dust: An Elysian Tail

Bleed

Thomas Was Alone

Primordia


Superbrothers Sword & Sworcery

McPixel

There are many more now in my Steam Library, and I won’t be playing much in the coming months due to school and work obligations, which is a shame. Except, I think for McPixel and Bleed, each of these games was not unlike reading a novel; there was a lot of depth to the story and overall experience, and a journey I will not be forgetting for a long while. 

Anyhow, besides working two part-time jobs, I managed to score a clinical internship at the local VA Hospital, which, in addition to my two classes this semester, will finally allow me to complete my AAS in Dietetics! Then, I only have to complete the credentialing exam to become a DTR! After that, I only to need to complete one class for my Culinary Arts Certificate, and I will be back in the workforce!!!!!

I am both enthusiastically and dreadfully expectant of that time.

Peace.