Aladin Said What?!

  Chapter 16- It’s All About Sex

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After reading this chapter, I feel like my entire childhood was in some way a lie. As innocent children, we often do not pick up on all the erotic innuendos that are included in the books we read or the movies we watch growing up. However, now looking back, I see how basically everything relates back to sex.

Back in the old days, when our society was slightly more modest than it is now, it was often frowned upon to openly talk about sex and/or show it. Because of this, many writers and directors were forced to come up with other more creative ways to represent sex in their stories. For example, Aladin was always one of my favorite Disney movies when I was growing up. Is it appropriate? Of course. Until you rewind it and hear a whisper in the background of one of the scenes saying “all good teenagers take their clothes off.” Seriously- YouTube it! Or how the underwater castle in The Little Mermaid is comprised of multiple genitalia. Or how in The Lion King, the stars spell out “SEX” in the nighttime sky. I had never noticed all the sex-related themes in these movies when I was younger, but I sure do now.

Another fine examples of sex in movies is in the very famous Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet movie, Titanic. What keeps the two main characters together? Love? No, I say lust. The director chose not to show the physical act, but it is implied. I think the reasoning behind that decision was to allow the viewer’s imagination to roam more freely. Also, the fact that the more recent film Fifty Shades of Grey is a best seller should point to what a sex-crazed nation we are. It’s not a bad thing- it’s simply human nature. God created us to reproduce, so essentially sex is our duty. Everyone thinks about it and that’s why we love reading books about it or watching movies.

A literary article that I found online supports the idea of how literature is like a “mirror on the human condition,” so therefore it’s bound to be a hot topic in books. It’s up to the author how explicit they are willing to be, but in some form or another, sex is probably being referenced to. Another note is that the sex doesn’t have to be two people “doing it”- it could be represented by a doorknob, a wave, a cake. Honestly anything! You just have to read between the lines and try to focus on what is really trying to be said. If you want to read more into the secondary source, here is the link: http://literacle.com/literary-sex-and-sexuality/

It’s funny how it took me 17 years to finally understand just how prevalent sex actually was. I feel like reading will be a lot more entertaining now that I now the clues for what to look for. A light switch will never be the same again. When it is turned on, I now know what’s up…

 

The Dangers of Being a Hero’s Buddy

Chapter 10- Never Stand Next to the Hero

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No one likes to be the second best. Standing in someone else’s shadow. Getting the leftovers. But not everyone can be a hero (or main character.) All good stories have secondary characters that bring the plot together and often times they are forced to make sacrifices for the main character’s benefit. Readers and viewers hate when the main hero or heroine dies, and an author doesn’t have much of a story without them, so usually he will do everything to keep them safe.

The best way to punish a hero is not to hurt him, but to hurt those closest to him. Being friends with the big guy is risky business. Let’s put this into a context that everyone can understand: high school. There’s always that star athlete, the prom queen, the student council president, and all of them have one thing in common- friends. Those friends will never be as good at football or as popular, but they sure are loyal. If the star athlete were to be caught with steroids, their friend might take the fall and claim them as their own. If the prom queen were to be caught without the hottest arm candy, the best friend might give up her guy for the queen. If the student council president were to be caught cheating on a test, their best friend would probably take the blame just so that the president wouldn’t lost his/her position. Do you see the vicious cycle? Why do we make all these sacrifices? According to an article published by the Saint George Greek Orthodox Cathedral, God would want us to be selfless and put other first because it will bring you happiness and honor. http://www.stgeorgegreenville.org/TenPointProgram/Putting%20Others%20First.html

There’s always someone whose needs take precedence over someone else’s. In the Harry Potter book series, countless people die to protect him because they know that he is the only wizard capable of taking down Voldemort. If JK Rowling had decided to kill off Harry, she wouldn’t have had much of a story, now would she? She would’ve had fewer books and therefore made less money, so of course she is going to kill off Dumbledore or Dobby instead of Harry. Another example lies in the John Green books “Looking for Alaska” and “The Faults in our Stars,” where both main character lose their true loves. The story line is devastating but makes perfect sense- it’s not like Green can kill off the person who is narrating the story… Now that would just be silly and anger a lot of hormonal teen girls.

The spot light on a stage was created to focus on one person, not two. Yes, the main actress on a Broadway play needs her makeup artist, agent, hairstylist, and moral support team, but at the end of the day, it’s all about her and people will do whatever they can to ensure that the show will be a success. Not everyone was meant to play the hero, and those people who associate themselves with one must be willing to accept the fact that at some point in time, sacrifices will be made.

Got Blood?

Chapter 3- Nice to Eat You: Acts of Vampires

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Everyone knows that vampires need human blood to survive, are generally alluring, and turn their victims into vampires themselves. However, I had not looked deeper into the monster and its meaning until now. It didn’t cross my mind that these creatures represented selfishness or exploitation, like Thomas C. Foster, author of “How to Read Literature Like a Professor,” mentioned. In the figurative sense, any normal person can be a vampire. One does not have to be a pale man wearing a black cape and having pointy teeth- it can simply be a 40 year old man refusing to stop and help people who just got in a car accident at the intersection he was just at because his wife is in labor and has better things to worry about. It may seem a little bit extreme to label him as a blood-sucking brute, but he does have a selfish agenda and is putting his needs of arriving at the hospital five minutes sooner above another person’s needs.

Vampires surround us. Back in our history, you could consider the white slave masters to be vampires because they exploited their slaves for their own economic benefit, just like the archetypal monsters often exploited women for their blood. An example from literature is “The Hunger Games.” The book, which deals with placing twenty four teenagers in an arena to, quite literally, fight to the death due to the fact that there can only be one victor, contains tons of “vampires.” In order to survive, the tributes are left with no choice but to be ruthless and kill as many people possible; they are placing their own needs and desires above other peoples, just like a vampire chooses curbing his appetite over a girl’s life.

The same idea translates to ghosts as well. It’s rare that these figures are just ghosts… There is always more to the story. In the once popular TV show, “One Tree Hill,” after one character named Dan murders his brother Keith, he is haunted by the child version of Keith. If you want to stop at the fact that “oh, that’s a ghost!” then you’re cutting yourself short. That ghost represents so much more: guilt, fear, anger, etc.

Back to the vampires, many other sources agree that they are not how many of us perceive them to be. Dr. Lawrence Wilson, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, published an article about how they are all around us and coined a term “energetic vampirism” to describe how people manipulate others for their own personal gain. To read more about his opinion, look here: http://drlwilson.com/articles/vampirism.htm.

Once a person learns to read (or watch) between the lines, everything will start to make so much more sense. Whether someone believes that monsters exist or not is up to them, but the ideas that they represent are a very real thing. Next time you decide to be selfish or use someone for their lake house, just remember that you are being a vampire…