Monday, May 4, 2009

X-Men Origins: Wolverine: I Wasn't Overwhelmed or Underwhelmed. I Was Just Whelmed

The new Wolverine movie. Oh, what to say about that. I love watching movies with a whole bunch of action and intensity in them, which was why I was excited about this movie when I first saw the trailer. I thought that the action packed scenes in the trailer were only just a taste of what was to come in the full length movie and that's I had been pumped up about. And those scenes were in there along with a few more. But for me, the movie didn't live up to the trailer.

While I enjoyed the plot for what it was worth, I paid ten bucks to see some revenge killing by Wolverine. I come to find out that he didn't even really have to kill anyone because *SPOILER ALERT* his lover wasn't even dead, and what's more, she was a mutant, too! And on top of that, she was working with the guy who was using him as a military experiment. Very Days Of Our Lives. Furthermore, I appreciate showing Gambit, *SPOILER ALERT* a mobile Professor X, and a young Cyclops, but I think that they were underdeveloped as characters in this one. For goodness sakes, Professor X was only there in the last ten minutes of the movie. I understand that the movie was about Wolverine, but for someone who has never seen any of the other X-Men movies would look at this Professor X and ask “Who’s this dude?” We can’t have that now, can we? And speaking of random dudes coming into the movie, the special ops team Viktor and Wolverine were part of in the beginning? Who was this bunch and where’d they come from?

Cinematically, I thought the movie was good. I like the use of the panoramic view when going through the Canadian Rockies and the beginning sequence when the two brothers were going through each war, From the Civil War to Korea, and then the stills they would use when they were on a killing spree throughout each one. And then at the end when the two brothers joined forces and fought back to back against “Weapon 11,” formerly known as the smart mouthed, sword slinging Wade, and Weapon 11 was using Wolverine’s power of claws and regeneration and Kestrel’s power to teleport against Viktor and Wolverine and a 360 degree shot was being used made for a more dramatic butt-kicking for both sides.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. I thought that it entertained and was worth the money I paid. I loved seeing Gambit being introduced as he is one of my favorites. I loved the power struggle between brothers and the internal struggle within Wolverine between being an animal and being a human or in his case, a decent mutant. I would recommend this movie to my friends. I would just be sure to tell them that all though it is a good movie, they should be prepared to be a little disappointed on the level of “epicness” the movie actually reaches.

What to Say About Mr. G...

My experience in English 111 is one for the ages. I must start off by saying that I can honestly say that Mr. Gasparo's class was never dull. And now I must write that while I know that there is only six allowed absences in any particular class, I was out for more, for personal reasons, not just for the thrill of not attending. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the times I when I did attend.Whenever there was a class, I knew that I would not only be educated but entertained as well, and not only by Mr. G, but by my peers as well. The atmosphere of the class was one where the students could befriend the teacher. The class would dish it out to him, and he’d come right back with it.

He may have been one of the more quick-witted of the bunch, but he was also a good educator. Mr. G knew how to not only teach, but teach in a way that would enable his students to better grasp the concept of what he was trying to get across. When he first presented the class with rhetoric, he presented with Coco-Cola advertisements, Springsteen lyrics, youtube.com clips, and a video spot for Vegan Week that made you need a cold shower after having watched it.

The assignments that were presented to us were usually creative and made the class really try and push past mediocre. The first assignment given to us was a diagnostic essay, an essay that he assigned to see where each student was at in terms of their writing “level”. One of the prompts was about having a superpower. Being as I am a girl, I wrote about making the world a prettier world with the power to make people dress better. I have encountered one too many fashion crimes and thought that this was the perfect superpower for me to have. I loved writing that paper, and being as it was the first paper I had written since my graduation last June, I liked that it gave me a chance not only to exercise my writing techniques but my creativity as well.

Another assignemnet that I liked that Mr. G gave us was the Restaurant Review. This was a favorite for me because it gave me a reason to go out and go to dinners with my friends. But it also held educational merit to it. I liked that we were already using rhetoric even though we hadn’t been taught it yet. By this I mean the power of persuasion. Good food coupled with a good paper. Too bad I don’t think he ever got it. But I know I had sent it.

And the last assignment given to us, a revision of the diagnostic essay, had us integrate the argument paper we had written into the diagnostic. I especially enjoyed writing this one because not only did it challenge me to write more creatively but I was also able to talk about the body issues that I had mentioned in my argument paper, which dealt with the perception of a perfect body and how there was actually no such thing as one.

For my first English class in my college career, I think that Mr. G did a good job at introducing me and preparing me for my future classes, and not just the English ones. I believe that he gave me the tools to write better and make my points come across better and more clearly. I can say with confidence that I will actually be taking what I’ve learned here in English 111 into my future classes and potentially my future career.

Changing The World, One Negative Image At A Time

Ugh. It’s another day. Another day of school. Another day of being depressed because I have to squeeze my thunder thighs into jeans again. Ugh, God, this blows.

That’s what I used to say every morning. I’d look in the mirror and be completely disgusted with the person looking back at me. Not just because her clothes were on the “eh” side, but also because her body sucked. She had these thunder thighs, a gross pooch at her stomach, and no butt whatsoever. But what sucked was that she was me. I used to hate my body and in turn hated myself. I prayed and prayed and prayed to be like the models in Vogue, InStyle, and Glamour. But one day, I got something even better.

It wasn’t any special sort of day. It was just another day, like any old day. I think it was raining. Or maybe it was just muggy. I don’t remember, but the weather doesn’t really have anything to do with this story. The day started like all the others have before, I woke up, grabbed some jeans and a t-shirt, gave myself a look of disgust in the mirror and proceeded to get on with the rest of my day. I remember thinking to myself, “If only my clothes didn’t suck. At least that would be a bit of an improvement.”

Ugh. I made my way down to the kitchen. Time to go eat my feelings. I trudged down the stairs, my headphones on so as not to hear my brother poke fun at me. I went straight to the refrigerator, grabbed the orange juice and turned to get a glass when my mother walked up to me. She was moving her lips but all I heard was the lyrics of the music I was listening to. She was smiling from ear to ear. I remember thinking she looked totally creepy.

“Huh,” I asked as I took out my earphones out.

“You look so good, honey! When’d you get this skirt? You look great? Did you pick this up without me? We should’ve shopped together!”

“Huh?”

“You look so good, baby! It’s about time you get out of those jeans.”

“Riiight…”

I went to the cupboard to get that glass for my juice. Wait a second! Skirt? I grabbed jeans. Huh?

I bolted for the downstairs bathroom and closed the door. The mirror on the back of the door came into view and I almost dropped to my knees. I was taken aback by the reflection looking back at me.

The girl had on a deep purple blouse thing that made its arms look great, toned even. The skirt she was wearing was A-line and had a black and white pattern. It made her legs look nine miles long and her butt looked good in it too. But as great as this girl looked, why was she standing where my own reflection should be, the one wearing the jeans and dumpy t-shirt? There was no way that this was my reflection. And then I touched the mirror.

It was me. That was my reflection. What the hell? Where’d this skirt come from? The blouse is actually kind of cute. I think I’ve seen it in InStyle.

I pulled myself together and walked out of the bathroom. I returned to the kitchen with my family looking at me, confused at my behavior.

“Sorry, sudden… bladder urge,” I blurted out, reaching for the first excuse that could possibly explain my sudden exit from the room.

“EWW!” My brother always has to say something.

I left my house and started for school. On the drive there, I kept looking down at myself, trying to think up an explanation as to how I got into this outfit. There was no logical way. But I had to admit, that I looked pretty good. I looked good in purple apparently, and the skirt was pretty cool. I liked it.

The parking lot was where my friends and I met up before class. My best friend, Alysha, was already parked and chatting it up with my other friends.

Alysha was a lot like me. Same body issues, same hate towards self. So imagine her surprise when I stepped out of my car.

“Wow! You look so cute! You went shopping without me? When? Why? You look so cute!”

Everyone else seemed to have the same reaction. I continued to get these reactions well into lunch. It made me feel good. I never had someone tell me that I looked good in school, let alone almost everyone in my classes. I felt my confidence rise a little bit. I think I smiled a lot that day.

I sat down at lunch with Alysha, like I did every day. She started asking me about my new look. I didn’t want to tell her that I didn’t know how it happened. She was my best friend but she would’ve thought me a mental case if I had told her the truth. So I just told her that I thought it was time for a change.

“I wish I had a change like that. My butt is so huge and don’t even get me started on my thighs. I don’t know. But I’m going to get some water. I’ll be right back.”

I nodded. She left and went into the lunch line. I thought to myself, “She just needs a good pair of jeans. Maybe a straight leg in a dark wash. I’m so jealous of her curves.” I put that idea into the vault in my mind so I would remember to bring it up the next time we were out shopping.

When she returned, she noticed that I was looking at her kind of funny.

“What?’

“Those jeans..”

“Yeah, aren’t they great? Thanks for noticing this morning, by the way. I compliment you but you don’t do the same for your best friend.”

“I guess I didn’t notice.”

“Or you were just jealous of my awesome booty!”

I’ve never heard her refer to her “booty” as “awesome.” I was so confused. She was wearing jeans like the ones I thought I had put on this morning. What was going on? And where were our jeans going to?

And then the light went off in my head. I was doing this. I was changing the clothes, and not only that, but negative attitudes with them. I didn’t change the person. I just made them look better and feel better about themselves. I know I did that with myself. I stood tall that day. And Alysha said her booty was awesome.

So now, when I hear a girl say something negative about the way she looks, I just think of how she could look better. Maybe a pencil skirt or a two button blazer with a low stance. And I think that I help whenever I do what I do, one body image at a time.