It's been done
Category: Chocolat, Dead Poet's Society, Hide and Seek, Movies, School, The Hours
Tags: creative writing, discrimination, yearbook
Welly welly well. Internet's been crazy up and down lately, but now it's completely down, and dad's out of town. And that makes me frown. I should go found a clown. Or some other noun. Maybe I'll go eat some hay. I think I just may.
Anyway (Fuck!).
We started watching "Hide And Seek" in my peer tutoring class. When the kid who brought in the movie was describing what it was about, he basically ruined the whole thing. I'm not sitting through the movie thinking "oh yeah, it's so obvious", because it's not really. But I'm sitting through the movie playing "spot the cliché". Secluded location? Check. Cute but freaky little girl? Check. Music box? Check. Doll? Check. Imaginary friend? Check. Dead pet? Check. All things necessary for a horror movie. And the whole subplot about her father finding a new girlfriend right away is soooo done.
Wait! I got it! The little girl is Hurley! Cor! Why didn't I see it before? Charlie!
Today I finished counting up the mistakes in our yearbook. I got… one-oh-eight. Only twenty nine of them I would count as major mistakes, meaning spelling or bad pictures. Little things like a space before a name that's centered causing it to not be centered and two spaces in between words… yeah, no one but me is going to notice that. Most of the problems were punctuation and capitalization, which are important, but not too much of a problem. And none of the mistakes were anything that made the book unreadable. I don't know what I did with the mistake list from last year's book, but I think the total was well over three hundred (and counting). So we did alright. I haven't really talked to anyone since we gave the books out, but everyone else says it's all been good feedback.
In Creative Writing we've been watching "The Hours". My friend Kristen made me watch it a few years ago because she absolutely loved it and no one else did. She warned me that it was weird, but I watched anyway. I don't remember when this was exactly, but boy, I was a dumb kid. Kristen must be really observant, because there were so many things in that movie I just did not get the first time around. I mean, really obvious things. Spoiler alert now, I suppose. Like the little boy? His mom's friend called him "Ritchie". Obvious! And when Richard committed suicide? I should've seen that coming the minute Clarissa stepped into the apartment. That wasn't even something they were trying to hide, you knew it was coming, they told you! But I still didn't get it.
I've found I quite like this movie. Back then, I didn't realize how interconnected everything was, except for the really obvious things like "I think I'll buy the flowers myself". Oh ha ha, it's like the book! But I didn't realize that everything was like the book. I was thinking the other day about what my favourite movie we watched in Creative Writing was, because that sounds like one of the lame kind of things the teacher would have us write about. "The Notebook"? Well, obviously not. "The Changeling", I think it was? Had potential, as it was an old horror movie, but it was just too boring to be good. "Chocolat"? Did I complain about that movie here, or only in my Creative Writing journal? Well, it was lame.
"Dead Poet's Society"? Spoilers for this as well, as I've got a bit to say about it. The beginning looked promising, despite it being so blatantly fucking obvious what the ending would be. Although, this is an older movie, and maybe at the time this was a new idea, but seeing it now, it's like "The Notebook" and "Hide And Seek". I missed the middle part and then saw the ending. They did a great job with the suicide scene, but I'm only realizing that now that I realize they did it on purpose. They couldn't have possible thought slow motion fit in anywhere but in a comedy. I'm sorry I mistook this film for a drama. For fuck's sake, it had Robin Williams in it! That should've given me a clue!
I did some research (read: Wikipedia) last weekend to see what I missed in the middle of the movie. I read one reviewer's review (gasp!) and they said that the student's shouldn't have stood on their desks at the end. They should've just sat there, because that's how it would've happened in real life. The ending would hardly be as happy, but it would be so much more powerful. And the more I thought about it, the more I agreed. That would've been a kickass ending. But again, it's a comedy, so they had to make it funny. Standing on desks is funnier than not standing on desks, I suppose.
But back to "The Hours". I've been meaning to write about this for awhile, so here goes…
Fuck. Fuck fuck fuckedy fuck. Fuck. Fuck you, fuck me. Fuck fuck fuck. Fucker fucking fuck. F-U-C-K. Fuck.
That wasn't so bad, was it? It's just a word. Nothing to be afraid of. If we all used "fuck" everyday, then it would just be a word. But people make it into something else. The only reason they're afraid of it is because they aren't used to it. They aren't used to it and they don't use it. Use it. It's just a goddamn word. If we didn't shelter people so much from fuck, then no one would care when people said fuck. You're only making it worse by hiding it away and pretending it's not there.
You know what else we aren't used to, and so makes us scream when we see it? Two chicks kissing. Yep.
Yesterday, we finished off "The Hours" right at the part where Julianne Moore is making out with the neighbour chick. Everyone in the class goes "WHOA!". I didn't think anything of it until this reaction came about. If I was watching this on my own, I would've just went on watching like normal, in the normal robot television watching mode. But everyone brought this to my attention by gasping and giggling.
Today we got to the scene where Virginia Woolf starts making out with her sister. Our teacher was actually in the room for once and she immediately gasped and cried "NICOLE! You didn't tell me this was in that movie!". "Huh," I thought. "And uh, why does she need to tell you if that was in the movie?" The teacher realizes what she says and goes "I mean, just in case anyone was offended by that… I mean, not that you have any reason to be."
Well, uh, you never told me that there would be kissing in "The Notebook". I was never warned that I'd be seeing graphic kissing in the rain. Oh, wait, it was between a guy and a girl? No problem then, you don't need to tell me. Oh, and the sex scene? No, that's alright too, because it's a guy and a girl.
For FUCK'S SAKE! Isn't this the teacher with the rainbow triangle symbol on the door? Isn't this the room that's so accepting of anyone?
Yeah. Fucking. Right.
If we hadn't established it already, I think my Creative Writing teacher has won the "Hypocrite of the Year" award by many many miles. I really need to start writing down everything my teachers do. They all have quite a list.
I don't think all people dislike the word 'fuck' because they're not used to it. In fact, I think everyone's generally used to it now — just listen to some rap songs! However, I think what it really boils down to is the meaning of the word. It's a harsh word and really should only be used to signify severe anger or a similar state.
It's kind of like the word 'whore'. I once used it to convey my love for native plants — so I wrote I was a "native plant-whore". You like fonts, so I could call you a "font-whore". Many girls our age also use the word playfully among themselves (*giggle giggle* "You're such a whore!" *giggle giggle*).
While I'm sure most won't get offended by it in that context and in this day and age, it's sad to see the severity of the word go. Think about it, it's a word that really means: "To associate or have sexual relations with prostitutes or a prostitute". There are tonnes of girls (and guys) our age that are being forced into positions like this — usually because they've got no way out, and it's sad. The word used to have enough power to stun crowds.
Now, I'm not saying you've ever used the word nor would you ever mean something like that, but it's essentially the same idea with the word 'fuck'. I still say it whenever something truly awful occurs, though I try not to.
Not only do I know you have a stronger vocabulary than that, I'm sure you're not as angry as that word suggests you are. At least that's how see it.
I have to disagree; I think in certain situations people aren't used to it. Hearing it from a teenager or in a song doesn't phase me, but my grade nine French class was watching a movie and a "fuck" suddenly came out of nowhere, which was actually quite shocking since the rest of the movie had no swearing whatsoever.
One of the things I forgot to put in the original post that you've basically said is that I don't think we should use it all the time, because then it loses its value. And then what are we going to say when we're really angry? It's a fine line. We've got to use it more so it isn't taboo, but not often enough that it loses its meaning. I guess it still needs to be slightly taboo. But people shouldn't get worked up over it being used. Yeah, I think that's what I mean.