A movie with unresolved issues

Last night my family went and saw Hotel Transylvania 2 and while I enjoyed it, I was discontent with it. It may be the influence of the "media smarts" class I took in college, or the time I've spent listening to the Writing Excuses podcasts. The following blog contains spoilers.

First, the idea that "Human, vampire, unicorn. I'll still love you" a.k.a. love you for being you. Drac, wants Dennis to be a vampire and tries everything he can to help Dennis' fangs come in. Just as Drac accepts Dennis for being human Dennis gets his fangs. While I'm glad that Drac had accepted Dennis before his fangs, Dennis' transformation pulls the teeth out of the whole "accepted for who you are" message - We love you even though you are not special but it turns out you're special so no problems." See what I'm saying.

And this idea of special. Dennis is a cute kid and I would have to say pretty normal. We see that he is picked on a little by his cousins. Nothing that I wouldn't expect from ignorant kids who are interacting with a younger relative who is a different and who they don't see often. He gets into danger when one of Vlad's minions comes after him and Winny. And as soon as his fangs pop in everything is fixed. The cousin's respect him and he is able to beat his captor but lays waste to him and all of his friends. This is a common theme in movies and books - the transformation fixing all problems. I don't have a huge problem with it, but it does get monotonous and predictable. What's more, it's just lazy story writing.

Continuing the idea of being special, the human characters were all portrayed as boring, slacking, insulting, and insensitive. Johnny was practically no-existent as a character and his problems weren't ever taken seriously (more on that later). His family was so two-dimensional that if they turned sideways you wouldn't see them. For all intents and purposes they could have been removed from the script and nothing would have changed. So the message is, be special or be invisible. Special people can protect others. Special people can do anything. If you're special everything will be okay. Great message for kids especially considering the "Human, vampire, unicorn" message they were trying to build the movie around.

While Dennis' transformation seems to solve his problems, there were other issues that weren't resolved and weren't addressed. Mavis and Johnny for instance. Johnny has clearly been booted to the back seat with the arrival of Dennis and while he loves his son, he craves attention from his wife. Yet, despite acknowledging this, as some kind of joke, they focus on his desire to stay at the hotel. They brush what I consider the greater need, under the carpet. It is never resolved but everything appears fine between him and Mavis at the end when Dennis gets his fangs. This is strange considering that the first movie focused on their relationship and on Drac's loss of his wife.

Another issue that I think they could have taken a lot farther was Mavis' over protectiveness of Dennis. They could have easily done a scene where Drac accuses Mavis of being just as overly protective of Dennis as he was of her. Maybe it was one conflict too many, but it seemed an important part of the plot, maybe even critical, and yet was unresolved.

Again, I enjoyed the film. Yes, I would watch it again. I won't lobby for it to be added to the collection, but if it ends up there, I'll be okay with it. I just couldn't help thinking about these things. With all this said there are some pretty big flaws with the movie 10,000 BC but I still really like watching it.

Ready for School?

As I work in education the month of August is very, very busy for us. In fact, if I had known that I couldn't take vacation days in August (because of how busy it is) I probably wouldn't have gotten married in August. As it is, I'll be celebrating my anniversary in October, but I digress.

The institution I work at has open enrollment which means that we don't have admissions standards that students need to meet (other than completing high school/GED and paying the admissions fee). We also don't have deadlines for admissions or registration - although we always recommend doing it before classes start. Classes are starting on August 31st this year and it always seems that as soon as August hits, everyone who thought about going to school, but hasn't done anything yet, suddenly panics and starts the process of getting admitted and registered.This translates into a very busy advising office with lots of students asking what classes they need to take and why they aren't able to.

This is strange to me because it was not the kind of  student that I was. My roommates and I would log on to the computer at midnight with our classes all chosen and would be registered in less than two minutes. I always bought a copy of the schedule (this is when they printed it like a huge magazine), and would eagerly look through the classes with a pen, circling the ones I wanted and comparing days and times. Then I would sit back until the start of classes and not have to worry about it.

I know (because I am constantly reminded of it every August) that this is not always possible for some students. We always have a large number of returning LDS missionaries or current/former military service personnel that are anxious to get into classes, but may not be available until August. We have first generation students that don't know how early they can apply and register. While it can be draining to work with any student who is anxiously trying to get into a class, it is easier to be patient and helpful to these students.

The students that really get to me (although I do everything I can to keep from showing it) are the ones that are returning and know how registration works and just didn't do anything until August. Many times they will also come in to our office, often aware that we work on an appointment only basis, and ask to meet with an advisor to "sort out their schedule." We had a student in last Friday, 10 minutes before we closed, desperate to meet with someone. He confessed that he had slacked on his classes and hadn't checked his E-mail about his waitlist classes until it was past the opportunity. I was glad I wasn't at the front desk because I would have found it difficult to keep my impatience with him out of my voice. With that said, I feel that I'm generally pretty good and not letting my impatience or dislike impact my interactions. It is something that I actively try to prevent.

With all that said, with as busy as life gets, and with the hectic nature of my work at this time of year, I really enjoy the start of school. I've always enjoyed school and the excitement that comes from starting a new year with new subjects and new teachers. My kids are excited to start (2nd grade and kindergarten). At back-to-school night my son's teacher asked him what he was excited to learn about in kindergarten. He said, "Science! Like volcanoes and space!" She gave a small grimace and said, "Well, we don't actually study science in kindergarten, but I bet you could teach me about volcanoes." Which prompted him to start sharing what he knew about volcanoes. It made me proud.

So, all in all, when people ask me if I'm ready for school to start, Yes. Yes I am.

To my daughter's future dates/boyfriends

I saw this "application to date my daughter" on Facebook and it got me thinking. I've had a variety of ideas on what I'm going to do / how I'm going to act to my daughter's dates. My sister-in-law's friend's father required all of his daughter's dates to write their name on a shotgun shell and kept them in a basket in his room. For a wedding gift he gave them to her husband. Angel says I can do that if I want and I am sorely tempted. I've also thought that if one of her dates picks her up by honking the horn from the driveway I would simply walk out and ask him to try again. I had a Young Men's leader who would introduce his daughter's dates to "Jaws," a cast iron nutcracker with inch long teeth. You can bet what he threatened if anything untoward happened.

The idea of the protective father and "little princess" has been around for a while. The more I think about it, I would be happy to play that role and I'm sure I would enjoy it. However, rather than threaten my daughter's dates with a shotgun I would rather that my daughter know how to handle herself and inspired her dates to treat her well. I don't want her dates to be afraid to treat her wrong. I want them to want to treat her right. This will mostly be her responsibility.

She will need to the sort of person that brings out the best in others. That means kind, gentle, fun, witty, and intelligent. She'll need to have an interest in others and be able to convey it. I want her to be someone that is good company, someone that is "good people." She will be a force unto herself, but a force for good.

She should also be astute enough to seek out like minded people to date. If my daughter is going on a date with someone I object to, I'm going to wonder what was her part in the decision. Why is she with someone I (or she) has an issue with? I want her to have a fine sense of other people and make good decisions about friends.

This doesn't mean that if something goes wrong that it's her fault. It is more than possible that she, her mother, or I make a bad call on one of her dates and he tries to take advantage of her. While I would want the guy to know that if anything happens should he do anything to hurt my daughter, I again would rather that she can take care of herself. My daughter will be armed on her dates. Like my father before me, I believe everyone should care a basic pocket knife and the one I get for my daughter will be sufficient to deter any one with an intent to harm. I'd just as soon she never have to use it, but I want her to have the option. There may even be a time when she may have a conceal carry weapon. In short, any violence that I threaten her dates with will be nothing compared to what I want my daughter to be able to inflect if the need arises. If I really wanted to mess with someone, I would have them write their name on a bullet and then hand it to Kanga who should then load it into a gun she is taking on the date. That is how you encourage good behavior on a date.

In short, as much as I want to protect my daughter, and as much as I will do everything in my power to protect her, the best protection I can provide is by teaching her how to protect herself and then be there to back her up.

Don't you know who I am?

I read this Facebook post last week.

Howard was having difficulty with a company fixing an order of his. This post made me want to write some musings I've had for a while about social media and it's influence.

The is a common image of famous people getting things their own way. If they don't get good service, everybody knows about it and the business may suffer bad consequences. It's not uncommon for them to get special treatment where ever they are. This is because these people hold the public's attention. Look at the interest that is netted by people such as the Kardashians and other reality TV stars and it's not hard to see that a word or action from them could have some impact on the a business or person targeted.

It's a bit of a cliche on how important someone thinks they are if they say "Don't you know who I am?" when interacting with someone else. You see it happen in film and T.V. and with little variation the person who says that is someone of little importance just trying to enforce their will. However, in today's world of social media and international reach you never know who a person can be. There are lots of bloggers out there that have wide reach, not to mention Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. There are channels that I subscribe to on YouTube that have as many as 9 Million subscribers. If you are an online retailer and you do something bad to one of these people, you might find business impacted as word spreads.

I think the biggest lesson people should learn from social media is that you never know if the person you are talking to has an audience of social media minions. If you are a business, it is in your best interest to treat every customer like a VIP. In social interactions, it is best to be polite. If people choose to abuse that and take offense and persecute others, that is their choice and condemnation.

To the troll on War Thunder...

Ninth grade. You must be in ninth grade at a junior high. You aren't? You fooled me. You're acting like you're at the top of the pile, but you don't realize that it's a pile of crap. I bet your report card says, "doesn't play well with other." You are screaming profanity laced insults at your team members because we are losing. You threaten fellow team members because you do not approve of their location on the battlefield. We all know your threats are empty. You obviously care more about winning than other people and you are not going to go out of your way from trying to take the capture point "punish" those that are not doing what you want. That and friendly fire subtracts penalizes you. You really need to worry about people like me. People who, if tired of your tirades and annoying behavior, will put an 85mm shell through your tank without warning because we would rather fight a losing battle without the commentary than try to win with a self-important prick.

Sincerely yours,

SU-85

Why New Year

This time of year is one of reflection and goal setting. Many people make resolutions. Last year I made one myself - to get healthier and work out. I've been pretty good at it. I've lost some fat and put on more muscle. I feel better about myself - physically and mentally - and I've come to enjoy exercise. I got to thinking though, why now? Obviously the throwing away of one calendar and the putting up of another marks a boundary. And clearly the tradition has been around for quite a while. But it seems that New Year is "the time" to make goals and I guess my musings are why only now?

Interestingly enough, if people only reflect and plan at the start of the new calendar there are multiple times that they can do that. My occupation has to observe three calendars: solar (January to Dec), fiscal (July to June), and academic (May to April). Technically that last one could also be August to May depending on if you relate it to usual time students attend classes or the catalog year of the institution. It is certainly true that pondering, reflecting, and planning happen at the start of the academic year, but I would have to say that the end of the fiscal year is when those activities tend to happen. There is also Chinese New Year which is celebrated by many people, some that aren't even Chinese. My daughter's school throws a Chinese New Year party (which has gotten bigger ever year) as they have a Chinese immersion program. Anniversaries and birthdays also mark the end of a solar year.

Perhaps New Year is seen as "the time" to reflect and make goals because, as a holiday that is the tradition. People often reflect and make goals on annual occasions (some are mentioned above) but as there are often other traditions associated with those celebrations the goal making and reflecting are not noted. Regardless of it being overt or covert, I think that reflecting and making goals is something that can only be beneficial.

Puzzling song lyrics

This is something that I've been musing over for a while. I've posted about music before, so my interest in it is fairly established. I have to say that many songs have lyrics that just don't make sense to me.

Just some examples

Ariana Grande, Break Free

"This is part when I say I don't want ya.
I'm stronger than I've been before.
This is the part when I break free
'Cause I can't resist it no more."

Is it breaking free if you "can't resist" it? Seriously. "I can't resist" is normally associated with compulsions, addictions, or other circumstances when you are powerless to act or give in to weakness. I have a hard time reconciling "I'm stronger than I've been before" and "This is the part when I break free" with "I can't resist it no more." Seems like you're just trading one type of bondage for another.


Maroon 5, Maps

"I like to think that we had it all
We drew a map to a better place
But on that road I took a fall
Oh baby why did you run away?

I was there for you
In your darkest times.
I was there for you
In your darkest nights.

But I wonder where were you?
When I was at my worst
Down on my needs
And you said you had my back
So I wonder where were you?
When all the roads you took came back to me

So I'm following the map that leads to you
The map that leads to you
Ain't nothing I can do
(repeat)"

In addition to be very repetitive I wonder what the intentions of this person are. His friend, I assume a girl-friend (or ex girl-friend), benefited from his help but then when he was caught in a lurch totally abandons him. Yet he is seek her out. Is it because he is looking for help? Perhaps he wants to make sure she's okay. He might be looking for revenge. Or, he could just be obsessed - since a later line proclaims, "I hear your voice in my sleep at night / Hard to resist temptation / 'Cause something strange has come over me / And now I can't get over you / No, I just can't get over you " Can you say "Unhealthy Relationship"? You're looking at the wrong map, Buddy. You need the one that takes you to counseling.

Magic!, Rude

"Can I have your daughter for the rest of my life?
Say yes, say yes ' cause I need to know.
You say I'll never get your blessing 'til the day I die
Tough luck, my friend, but the answer is 'No'

Why you gotta be so rude?
Don't you know I'm human too?
Why you gotta be so rude?
I'm gonna marry her anyway.

Marry that girl
Marry her anyway
Marry that girl
Yeah, no matter what you say
Marry that girl
And we'll be a family
Why you gotta be so
Rude"

There was a parody version of this done this summer that I really like, but moving on. I can't help but think that by the time a guy is ready to ask a girl's father for her hand that the answer shouldn't be a surprise. You're planning on marrying her and you claim that "we'll be a family" and you didn't take the effort to placate your future father-in-law so that family gatherings wouldn't be awkward? You just assumed that he's going to say yes - you haven't taken any efforts to give him a reason to say yes? You're telling him to say yes, but you still "need to know." And now you just assume that the girl who wants you to have daddy's blessing is going to run off with you and ignore it? I think you're going to be standing at that alter by yourself, Dude. Also, you asked for his daughter "for the rest of my life." You better hope that the father doesn't shorten your life for blatantly disrespecting his wishes. And you call him rude!