B&B

Alright… well eventually I want to get back to the subject of Beth because I am really interested in her character, but I stumbled on a quote that is taking priority. On page 367, Mrs. March is talking to Meg about her trouble with John. She says, “…I’d try to take an interest in whatever John likes- talk with him, let him read to you, exchange ideas, and help each other in that way. Don’t shut yourself up in a bandbox because you are a woman, but understand what is going on, and educate yourself to take part in the world’s work, for it all affects you and yours.”
I feel like she is saying two different things in this statement. I feel like she starts off by telling Meg that it doesn’t really matter what she is interested in. She should talk about and push herself to be involved in what her husband wants. Then, she turns her statement to say that what John is interested in, politics and the world, is something she should be curious about because it directly affects her as a woman. On one end, she seems to be pushing a male- dominated relationship or at least is telling Meg to make her husband think that he is in control like when she tells Meg to “let” him. Then, she seems to be saying that women need to be worldly and develop opinions about politics, which seem like characteristics of a strong person, not a submissive one.

I took the test that I posted below, and somehow I ended up being Beth everytime.
Because of this, I feel the need to talk a little bit about Beth’s character in the novel. I don’t know if I really ever related to Beth all that much, even though we share a name. I was never quite as submissive and thought it a fault to be so. I do think Beth has faults and she isn’t an image of perfection. Beth readily admits that she is frightened of people. Being afraid of others is more than just being shy. It can impede you from doing a lot of things. As someone who is shy, I’ll be the first to admit that sometimes I don’t participate in class, even when I have something to say, which to me is a fault. Maybe Alcott makes Beth seem so mysterious and distant because that’s how she acts. She is afraid of other people, so maybe no one, including the reader, is allowed to get into her world. I think a very important scene is the novel is when Beth goes and gives Mr. Laurence a hug. We hardly see her express her own emotion in this way.

I found this test and it will tell which character (meg, jo, beth or amy) you are most like. I will blog more about this later, because i have to get to class(our class actually), but I thought it was really fun and I wanted share it right away.

http://www.quizfarm.com/test.php?q_id=121818&first=yes

Class discussion today brought up an issue that is close to my heart. I have struggled for a long time with the balance between what I want. I want a family and to be a mother, but I also want to have a career and academic success. People can claim that it’s not a struggle to have both, but I disagree. Maybe that’s because I want to be the mother that my mom was to me, but I also want to be the intellectual that my father is. This semester I decided that I didn’t want to be an elementary school teacher and that I was going to apply to grad schools instead. Now, most people might say, ‘big deal’, but to me it was just that. I realized that I, although teaching would allow me certain liberties, it wasn’t my passion and it was what I had pictured myself doing. I’ve always wondered if I was just crazy for thinking about how I’d love to have a family and I let that weigh into my decisions. This is the first time that I have totally ignored that fact in my decision making. I’d love a male perspective on family and career. Who wants to share?

I think the fact the story is not a typical coming of age story is what makes exploring and experiencing it so memorable. I read a lot of books when I was younger and, although I loved reading them, it seems like the generic storylines are easily forgotten. Only a few books that I read stuck with me the way Little Women did, except maybe The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.
Maybe this was because I read both of those with my mom and we talked about them a lot. I’ll never forget how my mom cried when Beth died. Perhaps, a little part of me grew up as I was reading the story. That’s the first time I remember realizing that my mother, the strong person that she is, also cried and could breakdown. Also, it was one of the first books that didn’t really end happily ever after (at least for Beth). I think Alcott tries to allow the reader to grow along with her characters. I could be way off on this though.

On another note, I think that the ability to analyze the text makes rereading it more enjoyable. I love to look at Alcott’s subtle and not so subtle use of language and phrases. I don’t think I am quite as immersed in the story though, which seems sad to admit. I feel almost like I’m Meg and I’ve moved on past the games and stories and maybe I’ve grown up before I am ready. Somewhere I am sure that there is a Jo saying how sad and unfortunate it is that I am missing out.

As I reread Little Women, I can’t help but think back to the first time my mother, my two sisters, and I read the novel. I remember falling in love with the story and characters. Of course my sisters and I would fight over who was more like Jo ( I have to admit now that I am not like Jo at all and I don’t think I ever was). Now, I am enjoying the novel less for the story line and more for its subtleties. There are many hints and references that I do not think I picked up on all those years ago. Interestingly enough, I remember feeling as though Laurie had romantic feelings towards Jo, yet I didn’t realize how flirty their banter is sometimes. It’s interesting to analyze what gave/gives me the feelings, the emotions that are supposed to go along with the text, when before i just concentrated on the feeling.
A I was reading the back cover of this version, I thought that it was odd they gave so much of the plot line away. I assumed that it would say something more general like about the tribulations that occur when one is growing from a girl to a woman, or something along those lines. To an extent I think this emphasizes that the novel is more about the journey of reading it, the emotions along the way, the attatched and inverstment the one makes while they are reading it, rather than the events and plot line.

As I was watching the first part of Miller’s Crossing, I noticed that the camera shots were really amazing. The glass of ice caught my attention right away. In high school, I learned how to develop my own black and white photos and the photography classes made me really aware of what makes a “good” shot. The glass of ice on the table would have made a great photograph by itself. I feel like a lot of the camera angles and placements are very meticulously planned out. It seems like an atypical thing to have a shot that could stand alone and capture a mood or has an essence about it. Another example of this is from the movie Dead Man’s Chest. There is a shot in the movie where Kiera Knightly’s wedding dress is floating by itself in the blue ocean water. Not only is the shot pretty, but it seems to express the mood and feelings going on in the movie at that point. It’s amazing how a single shot can evoke so many feelings.

I was watching a reality show on mtv and usually I just see it as a way to kill time and don’t really pay attention. Typically, I do some sort of homework while the show is playing in the background. I will look up sporadically. After our class discussion yesterday about directors picking specific shots for a reason, and how they may be trying to show us something subtle, I decided to watch a little closer. I was watching “Dance Life” (yeah I’m admitting that I am a reality tv junkie) and one of the dancers, Kenny, went home to visit his family (bare with me). He has two younger brothers and, because he lives in LA, his family doesn’t see him very often. While he’s home he takes the time to teach a dance class at his old studio. At the end he tries to get his little brother to dance, but he refuses. Kenny, sadly says, “Maybe later then”, which I found touching because he knows he is only there for a day or two and there really won’t be a “later” (I can relate to this but that’s another topic). Anyway, after he says this and walks away, the camera stays focus on the studio room, and in the background (not in the center of the screen) the little brother tries one of the dance moves that Kenny had been teaching. I thought it was very touching especially because Kenny probably had no idea that he really had an impact on him and is looked up to in the manner. Plus, it was such a subtle shot. Someone was trying to say something without being blatant. Usually when I think of reality tv, subtlety is not something that comes to mind.

This movie and I did not start off on the best foot. As the title appeared on the screen, I said, “Please let this not have subtitles. I have read all day long.” Now, looking back on the movie, I didn’t dislike it, but I really think that subtitles take away from the fantasy-like experience of going to a movie. I like to be engulfed by a movie. It is very hard to watch the words while also trying to concentrate on visual aspects of the movie. I think that forgien films, especially Japanese and Chinese, are difficult for me to watch because, not to be cliche, but there is something lost in translation. Obviously, there are cultural elements that I miss out on, but also there are elements of the language that I am missing. Reading a sentence is different then hearing it said. I could say Beth’s chocolate CAKE is the best. or Beth’s CHOCOLATE cake is the best (I used capitals to suggest different word emphasis/stress). While it might not alter the meaning that much, the difference it is still present.

This is going to be a short post, but let me just say that I would hate to be the actress playing Janet in the version of the Glass Key that we just finished watching. I really wonder how the actress (Veronica Lake) felt about the character she portrayed. Although Janet was witty at times in the novel, I feel like she was not portrayed as intelligent in the movie. Rather, I think she seemed quite deperate. I would never push myself on a guy like that, let alone be satisfied with the way Ned treated her. I think the way Janet is portrayed in the movie is definitely worth a closer look.