They're Not Old Enough!

Earlier this year, when I was beginning to take Civics & Economics at school, our teacher showed us an episode of a television program titled The West Wing. The show itself was well-written; even if I didn't know it was penned by Aaron Sorkin, I'd recognize his ultra-fast dialogue anywhere, but it was good dialogue.

The problem was that it was the sixth episode or so, and I had no idea what the hell was going on. Later I mentioned this to my maternal grandmother on the phone and she said something about the "themes" being something I'd "come to appreciate more as I gained age and, therefore, maturity." OK, Grandma, I love you, but this is a common mistake. Trust me, plenty of teenagers don't realize the finer side of art, nor do plenty of younger children and a frightening number of adults. But some adults (not all) consistently belittle us. For example, I was unscathed by R-rated movies by age thirteen. I learned most swearwords early on. And I can fully well understand most forms of art without having to wait.

They seem to think us younger than we are. I first saw a PG-13 movie, as I recall, at age eight. It was Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, which I remember being pretty cool. Sure, I had forgotten most of it by the time I decided to watch it again at age eleven. But eleven-year-olds are not toddlers. They can understand things perfectly well. One thing I think turns many kids off of the love of reading would be English assignments that suck the life out of the written word, i.e. "What do you think the author meant?" I think the author meant what they said, or if not, then it either wasn't clear enough writing or it will strike us later without it being shoved in our faces. Stephen King compared these things to the golden goose. Once killed and butchered, it won't produce any more golden eggs. Or appeal to youth. We can figure stuff out if properly motivated and if given a fair chance.

Anyhow, I'm much more mature than most people my age. Sillier, sure, but that is actually part of my maturity. I know that it's good to laugh and have fun instead of being dull and doing the bare minimum in life. In addition, I'm beyond stupid things like perversion and bigotry. In some senses I am much more intelligent than most of these herd-sheep. Moreover, I understand people to a further extent than many, despite my mother's frantic claims of my social inadequacy. Generally, I can read faces and know the safest thing to say. And being eloquent doesn't hurt. I can back up most of my arguments and find the weaknesses in those of others. That's why I need to join Debate in the fall, if I can. In the meantime, Ethics sounds interesting, but I need to find out how to get into that.

So basically, youth does not equal stupidity or immaturity, or, of course, lack of ability to appreciate the finer things in life.

Book Review: Coraline by Neil Gaiman

I saw the movie when it came out, expecting a nice children's film. I was wrong: while aimed at youths, this is by far one of the creepiest stories ever told. Thinking of the Other Mother still makes my spine cold. I loved that film, so I read the book.

PLOT. - When Coraline Jones and her parents move into a boring old house, Coraline is desperate to find something to do, so she goes exploring. She finds nothing at first, and then she finds an old door sealed shut by layers of paint. Her mother cuts open the layers and opens it, and they find...a brick wall. Disappointed, Coraline leaves, but late that night she follows a mouse to the door, which now leads to a tunnel. She walks into a parallel world and finds that it is mostly the same, except much better. The food is good, everything is colorful, and the people are nice. They also have jet-black buttons for eyes. Just as Coraline is beginning to get comfortable here, they offer to let her stay forever, with one "teeny little thing she has to do": let the Other Mother sew buttons into her eyes. Coraline has to find a way out of this nightmarish world and then back once the Other Mother steals her original parents. Thoroughly mortifying, this.

I enjoyed the story, but I thought the writing, while not bad, was a bit sparse. Needed more "meat on the bones," as my grade-school teachers would say. Also, I thought it odd that the Other Father tried to help Coraline when he was created and controlled by the Other Mother. You'd think he'd be like a puppet in her bony, knobby hand. With giant nails. Ugh. That part was awesome, but I digress. I actually liked the movie better, just because it filled in the bone-spaces. Both were quite dark, however, and are sure to induce nightmares in all ages. But I liked it. Very good.

Final grade: C

All You Need is Love

“Don’t let hate control you. Let love control you.” – One of my friends in elementary school

“We hate hate. We hate it.” – Psychiatrist guy from Get Smart (the TV show)

“All you need is love!” – The Beatles

I’m writing this on MS Word, since last time I typed directly on Blogger it was deleted due to some stupid error. And yes, I stole the opening-with-a-quote thing from Olivia. First of all, I know it’s always a long time between posts. I keep saying I’ll try to make it more frequent, and not counting that last time (when my words went down the drain), I’ve done zilch. I wonder if I should make it a scheduled thing. Anyhow, here’s the point:

Happy Valentine’s Day!!! If you’re reading this, whether I know you or not, I love you. This is because I love all living things, and feel hate for none. In my eyes, hate does nothing but poison the world, and love is the cure. I’m not saying I love everyone equally; there are certain persons I dislike, but I still love them. I love different people to different extents, and in different ways: I have friends, family, and occasionally a friend who resembles family. I will accept a hug from practically anyone (as long as I trust them not to hurt me), including other dudes: I am straight, but I see nothing wrong with a guy-hug. And no, I am not homophobic: I don’t judge people for things like that. Remember, I love all!

I have had a couple of relationships in my life, but neither was very long-lived. I do hope to marry someday, and perhaps have a child (two at the most – too many people on Earth), but adopt more. That’s a long time from today, and for now, I am content with life as is.

In other news, I recently attended my first wrock concert and met Lauren Fairweather, Matt-something from the Whomping Willows, and both of the Blibbering Humdingers, who are apparently from my hometown. It was awesome! Crud; I just lost the game. Anyhow, I got autographs from all four of them, and spoke to each one. In addition to that, I bought I wizard rock—literally a stone with the word “wizard” painted on it.

I have more to say, but I’m going to try to fit it in another post, since this is supposed to be about love.

Love,

Lewis