Friday, October 5, 2007

I don't want to watch Cars right now.


My son is a movie addict. He gets it from his Daddy. If he is not watching a movie, he is wishing he was, or talking about when he was. He woke up from his nap, and immediately asked for Cars. I have a headache (which is on day five) so Cars, no matter how soft, is not going to aid in my next 4 hours of being Justinless. I put in Pride and Prejudice without asking him first. He likes to dance to that kind of music, and he likes to look at pretty things, so I figured he wouldn't complain when he found out what I had put on for him. So far, so good. He is dancing along, and watching the pretty things flicker away.

Now, some of you know of my deep seeded dislike of Jane Austen. And for those of you who don't, I think she is over-rated, and that most people say they like her because they think they are supposed to like her. I am convinced that I am not alone in my dislike of Jane, but that girls are too afraid to come out as Anti-Janes. I do not try and convert people to my opinion, but will own up to it when the situation presents itself. I do enjoy ONE of her novels, Northanger Abbey, and it is because she is making fun of what she ultimately turns into, a popular novelist who has to write things to sell the book.

I once watched the forever long eating and dancing Pride and Prejudice. I was a freshman in college, and had not discovered that I didn't like Jane yet. My only exposure to her, up until then, was the Sense and Sensibility movie, which I happen to like (I have since tried the book, didn't like it). But no amount of pizza and giggling could have saved the P&P marathon for me. Had it merely been "cute guy, silly girl, get to the story and finish the story," I may not have been motivated to find reasons to dislike Jane. I've read P&P, S&S, Emma, Persuasion, and Northanger Abbey, so I consider my dislike an educated decision, and will not change it until for some reason I enjoy reading a Jane book. (I would also like you to note that that is more of a chance than I give other authors whom I am not impressed with.)

Okay, back to why I started this. Those of you who knew about my Jane-hate asked, "Why do you have that movie?" I say, "'Cause the music and cinematography is excellent, and Justin really wanted it." One of you asked, "Why are you writing about choosing it instead of Cars?" To this I say, "Because today was a hard day, and I didn't have any good material for the blog, and haven't for several days, so I thought if I could find something good in a story that I don't like, then I might be inspired about today's story that I didn't like."

So, here it is: I have just discovered the best way to watch a movie with beautiful music, nice cinematography, and a story I don't like--too quiet to have to pay attention to the plot, but just loud enough to hear the music and periodically look up and see something pretty. Now, if I didn't have to pay attention to work, and could just have it playing in the background, I could notice that our walk to the out-going mail box was very nice. Reuben did not try to run into the road which is a big improvement, and seeing the sun was pleasant.

2 comments:

Tammy Lorna said...

Brecken,

While I respect your decision to hate Jane Austen, I must admit that I really quiet like her :) I have read P&P, S&S, Emma, Persuasion, Northanger Abbey, Mansfield Park and Lady Susan. So I too believe that my decision to stand behind her is an educated one!

:) But don't worry, I won't try and convert you to my way of thinking either.... haha!

I'm really sorry to hear about your headache though - I hope it feels better soon.

xoxoxo t.

JoJo said...

Dude, I hate Jane Austen, too. Okay, correction. I hate Jane Austen's WRITING. I actually am a total sap for the movies. How sad is that? I'm going to try to read more of Jane... since it seems silly that I love the movies but hate the books... but not yet.

I HAVE only read Sense and Sensibility. Well, I read about 3/4 of it. It drove me crazy... all of her descriptions... all of the gossiping going on and on and on... and her tone... urgh. So NOT my taste.