Harry Potter

I really wanted to put a lot of time into this week's reading (more than usual) because this was my first time reading any of Harry Potter (please don't judge me...my boyfriend was mortified to find out I never read the books).  I've heard so much about the series that I couldn't come into it unbiased. The first few chapters of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone match up really well with this week's prompt; Harry is a young adult who is having obvious difficulty navigating life with his monstrous adopted family. His aunt, uncle, and cousin all partake in abuse that would be sufficient to have Harry taken away by CPS if it were ever reported and Harry has no choice but to cowtow to their evil. He is depicted as a kind martyr, always taking the high road despite incessant attacks on his person.  Honestly, it was frustrating to read; I wanted him to stand up for himself!

Eventually Harry has a symbolic 'magic puberty' when he is pushed to his limit at the zoo. All at once his entire life is turned on its head when he casts his first spell.  Only he can communicate with the snake- and for the first time (though however "small" it may seem) he strikes back at his aunt, uncle, and cousin.  There's a lot less negative repercussion for doing so than the goody-two-shoes image he was built up to have would indicate, though. Soon it becomes clear that this is the turning point for Harry and his life is about to include a lot more magic when he is taken away by a friendly giant on a flying motorcycle.

I didn't get much farther than his midnight escape from the clutches of the Dursleys but I know from the movies and from Harry Potter obsessed friends that he goes on to grow up and battle evil at magic school. I'm sure it gets more complex and deals with every part of growing up through a fantasy lens but at least here at the beginning it all seems very straightforward: Harry is a powerless orphan who learns to suffer in silence until he comes of age and learns to stand up for himself and call out the evils of those who torment him.


(For once, I didn't talk about anime.  I am proud of myself.)

Rich Fantasy

I've always been a huge fan of fantasy RPG games...I'm also a Game Art and Design major so you can understand why I'm in this major.  One of the latest, most successful fantasy RPG games that I've played is Skyrim.  You can be humans, elves, lizard-like people, cat-like people, turn into a vampire or a werewolf depending on which guild you joined, etc...you could be a lot of different things in this world, but no matter what race you picked, you were a dragon-borne...YOU CAN SLAY DRAGONS..I was too scared to slay dragons to be honest though.  Dragons are huge!  How am I supposed to take on something so huge? I CAN'T FLY OR BREATH FIRE!  But I am dragon-borne, and so I FUS and ROH and DAH them out of the sky...I miss playing that game...anyways, time to relate it to the text!

My brother and mother watched the entire Lord of The Ring series when I was little, and I had absolutely no idea what was going on in those movies.  Seeing the hobbit part 1 last year and the hobbit part 2 this year (as a "young adult") was really exciting though!  I felt the world and story were very compelling (and the environments were beautiful from a GADs perspective).  I had completely forgotten about the LotR series, and I really loved the stories.  I want to go back and watch all the Lord of The Ring movies so that The Hobbit makes even more sense to me though!

I think one of the most important parts to mention about Tolkien's writing and why it's so successful is because of the characters and storylines he makes.  Readers are able to escape to a fantasy world full of mythical creatures and become a strong warrior who just journeys.  It's a life we shall never live nor experience.  Not only that, but I think he also uses his characters to teach moral lessons- lessons of never giving up, never running away just because something is new or different, and to accept what life throws at you.  His stories aren't sugarplums and candy canes- people die.  But I think people gravitate to these stories more partially because of that- humans naturally seek thrill.  So, if you are seeking thrill, Tolkien's books will certainly grant you that.  On an end note, I think that's why video games are so great and why I went into this major.  Video games let players escape to a fantasy world where they can empower themselves and experience another life they normally would never get to live!

...man, I wish I had my PS3 at school so I could play some Skyrim!

Witches

 
Incoming list of a handul of animes that I've watched that feature magical girls/witches: Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Card Captor Sakura, Soul Eater, Strike Witches, Witch Craft Works....actually let's stop there.  Witch Craft Works in a new anime this season and I really love it for a multitude of reasons...but the greatest reason being that they play off of historical facts.  The ending theme features the "bad" witches in different types of torture scenarios that witches were killed in during the old times.  I feel like these witches, as well as the ones from other animes (and american moves like Buffy the Teenage Witch) are stereotypes of witches.  They are all young, cute, and have the typical "witch" garb. 

 I felt Aunt Mariah was more of an archetype than a stereotype (especially upon comparing them to the witches in the anime I watch).  The witches just seemed more "traditional"- they varied in special skills even; some witches could time-shift and some could transform.  I find these witches to be much more believable as "witches".  I think the present day witches found in media are more of just magical girls than anything else...which is a lot less cool sounding. 

The New Weird

When Cabin in the Woods came out, I recall being unable to see it- everyone raved about it on facebook and I just rolled my eyes and said " just focus on your work, Allie".  I bought the movie over the weekend and finally got to see it.  I don't know if I felt the same way as everyone else honestly...the movie made me feel...weird.  It kept to a lot of the same story elements that most horror movies cover (ex: The jock/promiscuous girl die first/the people having sex die first).  Later in the story they begin to almost mock the horror stereotypes (ex: zombies...redneck zombies).  By the end I felt they were completely making fun of it upon showing all the glass cases with different types of monsters and ghouls.  Wasn't there even a unicorn?  Any who, sometimes I was scared and sometimes I laughed.  The movie definitely played with my emotions to say the least. 

As for the ending, I don't know how I felt about it.  I was overjoyed that a character finally "solved" the mystery- but then I was upset that they died (and that the rest of the world was going to die from the giant god guy).