Okay guys, so although I write about books, now is the time for us to open our minds to all other fandoms. :)
So as many of you know and for those of you that don't, I really, really, really really really love the Disney fandom. The movies are great and as a musician the music is bomb and for really really lengthy reasons that I will not explain right now Walt Disney is pretty much my hero. And when people say that Disney is for kids I just think about how much I feel I love Disney more now that I'm a teenager rather than a young child. (Bro, I just had a birthday and my mom did this Disneyland party for me oh my gosh it was so cool.)
Well anyway, now I will tell you the stories of what so inspired this post. I kind of have a feminist spirit, like when I was in fourth grade we had to do a research paper on an inventor and the inventor I chose was the inventor of the windshield wiper who just so happened to be a woman. I was in Girl Scouts and all that good stuff. And so sometimes I have a problem with women being portrayed as weak if they make an effort to be pretty all the time or if they like to do traditional women jobs like cooking or sewing or if they don't have a paying job themselves and relying on a husband and stuff like that. Like, that bothers me. Is there something wrong with a woman being like that? You know, I think it's okay for women to have jobs but then I also think it's okay for them to not. If we're really about women's rights then we should be okay with women making choices like that. You know?
Okay, cool. But what does that have to do with the Disney princesses? Well, I'll tell a story as an example. Many of you also know that I am in color guard. My freshman year at band camp, we were working on a piece of flag work. And one of my favorite things even to this day to say about color guard is that we're like Disney princesses: we're strong and beautiful at the same time. Well I said that to the group I was working with and they were all like "That's so awesome" and whatnot. Right? And then one of my friends says, "Especially Mulan."
Okay, what?! Heck no! If y'all are thinking I don't like Mulan, you're wrong. I love Mulan; she's a great character and that's a great movie. But that is not the point I was trying to make.
Again, at this year's band camp, I said the same thing to a group of mostly new girls that I was leading in their flag work. They all loved that comparison too. And then another one of my friends said that we were all being like Mulan.
No. No. Did I say we were being like Mulan? No, I said we were being like the Disney princesses. Just because Mulan is the only Disney princess who fought in a war does not mean she is the only one who is strong and beautiful at the same time. That is my problem. I feel as if the Disney princesses are very misjudged. I have a problem with Mulan being the only one portrayed as strong. They are all strong, every single one of them.
So yeah, that's what inspired me to write this post-- or rather, this series of posts. Every post in this will feature one of the thirteen official Disney princesses in the Disney Princess franchise-- Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Pocahontas, Mulan, Tiana, Rapunzel, Merida, Anna, and Elsa. I just feel a strong desire to write about why each of these princesses is super awesome and strong in their own way. Just because you aren't rough and hard and untouchable doesn't mean you are weak.
I'll get started soon! Love ya, mean it!
--Lizzo
Monday, August 31, 2015
Monday, August 3, 2015
The Best Paragraphs Ever Written
(Spoilers for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and The Roar)
Okay, so we just really need to talk about these real fast.
I have these two paragraphs that I read and when I read them I just wanted to be dead because they are so darn beautiful and so well-written. #WritingGoals So here they are:
"Harry realized what Wormtail was about to do a second before it happened-- he closed his eyes as tightly as he could, but he could not block the scream that pierced the night, that went through Harry as though he had been stabbed with the dagger too. He heard something fall to the ground, heard Wormtail's anguished panting, then a sickening splash, as something was dropped into the cauldron. Harry couldn't stand to look... but the potion had turned a burning red; the light of it shone through Harry's closed eyelids...."
--Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, J.K. Rowling
Is that not perfection?! You know exactly what's happening without being told it directly. You are standing right next to Harry in that graveyard. It's stuff like that that makes Goblet of Fire my second favorite Harry Potter book.
"Awen stayed on the bed and watched Mika get up. Mika pressed his ear against the cupboard door and listened. The noise didn't sound like a Telly Head. It was gentle and purposeful, as if something was being made. Feeling reassured, he carefully opened the door and his lungs filled with air that was so cold and fresh, he felt as if he had eaten a whole packet of mints in one go. The cupboard was filled, floor to ceiling, with a plant that was growing before his eyes. It reached out, waving soft green tips, leaves unfurling and arching back like moth wings. Awen jumped down from the bed and walked into its midst, and as Mika tried to follow, something amazing happened-- as he took a step forward, his body folded over and suddenly he was walking on his hands as well as his feet, and when he looked down, he saw in the dim light that they had transformed into paws just like Awen's. He had become a dog. Awen's head reappeared among the foliage and he yapped playfully, as if this was a "chase me" game, and then he disappeared again. Laughing, Mika made to follow but woke up instead."
--The Roar, Emma Clayton
You can feel it! You can see it! Can't you just imagine exactly what that's like? She uses familiar things, "moth wings", "a whole packet of mints", so that we can feel and see exactly what Mika sees. That is so excellent! This book got terrible reviews and I have no idea why. It got excellent reviews and is absolutely beautiful and a super fun and creative story. You all should definitely check it out!
Any favorite paragraphs? Feel free to comment!
Love ya, mean it!
--Lizzo
Okay, so we just really need to talk about these real fast.
I have these two paragraphs that I read and when I read them I just wanted to be dead because they are so darn beautiful and so well-written. #WritingGoals So here they are:
"Harry realized what Wormtail was about to do a second before it happened-- he closed his eyes as tightly as he could, but he could not block the scream that pierced the night, that went through Harry as though he had been stabbed with the dagger too. He heard something fall to the ground, heard Wormtail's anguished panting, then a sickening splash, as something was dropped into the cauldron. Harry couldn't stand to look... but the potion had turned a burning red; the light of it shone through Harry's closed eyelids...."
--Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, J.K. Rowling
Is that not perfection?! You know exactly what's happening without being told it directly. You are standing right next to Harry in that graveyard. It's stuff like that that makes Goblet of Fire my second favorite Harry Potter book.
"Awen stayed on the bed and watched Mika get up. Mika pressed his ear against the cupboard door and listened. The noise didn't sound like a Telly Head. It was gentle and purposeful, as if something was being made. Feeling reassured, he carefully opened the door and his lungs filled with air that was so cold and fresh, he felt as if he had eaten a whole packet of mints in one go. The cupboard was filled, floor to ceiling, with a plant that was growing before his eyes. It reached out, waving soft green tips, leaves unfurling and arching back like moth wings. Awen jumped down from the bed and walked into its midst, and as Mika tried to follow, something amazing happened-- as he took a step forward, his body folded over and suddenly he was walking on his hands as well as his feet, and when he looked down, he saw in the dim light that they had transformed into paws just like Awen's. He had become a dog. Awen's head reappeared among the foliage and he yapped playfully, as if this was a "chase me" game, and then he disappeared again. Laughing, Mika made to follow but woke up instead."
--The Roar, Emma Clayton
You can feel it! You can see it! Can't you just imagine exactly what that's like? She uses familiar things, "moth wings", "a whole packet of mints", so that we can feel and see exactly what Mika sees. That is so excellent! This book got terrible reviews and I have no idea why. It got excellent reviews and is absolutely beautiful and a super fun and creative story. You all should definitely check it out!
Any favorite paragraphs? Feel free to comment!
Love ya, mean it!
--Lizzo
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