BUGS! Because..... um..... Because I Can!

You know those days when you just feel completely random? Well, today I'm going to write a long blog post completely lacking any sort of organization or thesis all about the role of insects in stories that don't star insects (in other words, I won't be talking about A Bug's Life). Why?

Well, actually, I do sort of have a reason for it. Today, in one of my classes at school, we were talking about standing armies, which, my brain being the jumbled mess of fantasies and poorly wired synapses that it is, reminded me of the ending of a book I read once. The book stars two men who, at first, are the best of friends. Then, through a complicated series of rumors and bad ideas and epic misunderstandings which I don't remember (I didn't like the book very much) one comes to suspect the other of plotting against him. Considering how close they once were, they decide to meet and talk things through. However, they're still not sure about each other, so they both bring their huge armies to the meeting. They then sit facing each other with their armies behind them. Both armies are too far away to hear the conversation of the two men.

In the meeting, everything becomes clear and the two men happily declare themselves friends again. Then, just as they're getting ready to ride off into the sunset together, a soldier on the front lines of one of the armies spots an insect (I think it was a wasp or something equally unsavory). Said soldier, being a complete idiot, decides that the best course of action is to swing his sword at the insect. Alas, the other army doesn't see the wasp (or whatever it was); they see only the glint of a swinging sword, so they charge. A daylong battle ensues. As the battle nears its conclusion, the two friends-turned-sort-of-enemies-turned-friends-again meet up again. Delirious with exhaustion and the negative effects of the wounds they've sustained, the men end up killing each other. Then we get an epilogue so cryptic it might as well not have been included, and the book's over.

Remembering this irritating little story got me thinking about bugs, and I went, "Hey! I should write a really lame blog post all about bugs in stories!" It took me a surprisingly long time to think up any other examples. Then I remembered LoTR.

If there are any insects mentioned in the Lord of the Rings books, they're utterly insignificant. This makes that weird flying thing that looks like some sort of upsettingly oversized moth that serves as a messenger between Gandalf and the eagles all the more fascinating. Especially since they keep showing it. It (or another insect like it) even makes an appearance in the new Hobbit movie. I guess it's (they're?) supposed to be some sort of eagle communication bug? Maybe it has (they have?) a symbiotic relationship with the eagles? I don't know. I still like it (as long as it stays onscreen; I'll readily admit that I have a bit of an issue with large insects).

Then I felt really mad at myself for not thinking of Thumbelina earlier. This movie, like Anastasia, was made by Don Bluth. My parents hate it for some reason, but I greatly enjoy it. It's goofy and maybe a tad bit disjointed, but hey, it's a kids' movie, and I've seen far worse films that fall under that category. Anyway, anybody who knows the basic story of Thumbelina knows that she's the size of someone's thumb, so I guess people thought it would make sense to put bugs in a movie about her (what everyone apparently failed to consider is that this means the beetles and the bumblebee in the movie are bigger than human thumbs, but like I said before, if it stays onscreen, I can handle it). The most prominently featured bugs in Thumbelina are a sleazy beetle named..... um..... The Beetle, and a bee named Buzz that the handsome fairy prince rides around (naming pets isn't his strong point).

Thumbelina also has a bunch of rather odd characters called the Jitterbugs who wear clothes and go fishing and read newspapers. I totally want to meet the guy that came up with them. Can't you just see the conversation? "I have a great new idea for the Thumbelina movie!" "Cool, what is it?" "A race of bugs who wear clothes, go fishing, and read newspapers and stuff!" (This is where the other guy just stares blankly at the writer.)

So..... BUGS! Yeah, I told you there wasn't going to be any kind of thesis. If I really wanted there to be a point to my rambling or a method to my madness, I guess I could say that there's a positive and a negative side to everything, even enormous insects. Oh, and if you see a wasp and want to kill it, use something besides a sword.

Farewell!

-Pearl Clayton

Princesses Continued: So Which One's My Favorite?

Alright, fear not, readers, not all of my posts are going to princess-related. They just seem like an easy place to start a fiction-based blog, considering the fact that oftentimes princess movies are the first movies young children, especially those of the female variety, are exposed to. Anyway, my post of a few days ago got me thinking: maybe readers will want to know which princess is my favorite (actually, chances are you don't care, but I'm going to tell you anyway).

Now, if you were to ask me who my favorite Disney princess is, I wouldn't have a definite answer. Generally I say Snow White, although I don't have a specific reason for it. I guess I like her because she was the first, the original, the definitive princess. I also like Mulan and Merida, who are technically Disney princesses, but I don't like to say either one's my favorite Disney princess, because Merida isn't really Disney and Mulan isn't really a princess.

However, while I don't have a favorite Disney princess, I do have a favorite animated, kids' movie princess: Anastasia.

 

Anastasia is different from a lot of other animated princesses in a number of ways; for one thing, her movie is based on a true story rather than a fairy tale, but more on that later. She's clever, she has her sarcastic moments, she doesn't let anyone push her around, etc. I also really like the rest of the movie. I think it has great music and characters and visuals and..... well, you probably get the point. Suffice to say that it's my favorite of the Don Bluth movies I've seen.

 

Now for the one thing that absolutely fascinates me about this movie. I don't know if it's the fault of the public school system or America's overblown pride in itself or if it's nobody's fault, but I know basically nothing about Russian government before the Communist Revolution. (Or after. Sheesh, why do we never learn about Russia in school?) I'm totally ignorant of the nature of Czar Nicholas's rule, his laws, his customs, everything. I've only gleaned from various sources the vague idea that most people seem to see him as a cruel dictator; or really, that people see the entire Romanov line as a bunch of nasty rulers. Maybe I'm wrong. My point still stands.

 

My point being, Czar Nicholas isn't portrayed as an evil horrible dictator who deserves to be killed by Bolsheviks in this movie. He's only seen a few times, and always as a doting father and a beloved son who is sorely missed. Have no fear, I don't consider this movie to be anything like an accurate historic account (fun as it would be to believe that the Bolshevik Revolution was jumpstarted by a bunch of rabble-rousing green glowing demons who came out of a glass relic possessed by a soulless former priest) but still.

 

I tend to think of America as being strongly anti-monarchical. Sure, we make princess movies and watch royal weddings on TV, but most Americans strongly believe that rule by the people is the only fair, freeing approach to government. The kings and queens we idolize are all either perfectly good, like in Disney movies, or ruling over another country. That's why I find it so interesting and appealing that a supposedly tyrannical dictator is portrayed as a good man and his daughter a princess for little girls to look up to like any other.

 

Also, I like that the ending to this story is happier than the real one. Sometimes it's fun to escape from history.

 

Oh, and did I mention she's redheaded? Fun fact: my hair is red (well, red enough) (the picture on my profile isn't actually a picture of me, in case anybody was wondering) and it is my opinion gingers don't have enough positive representation in the media. It's always nice to see a fantastic character with red hair.

 

Anastasia.

 

Thank you.

 

-Pearl Clayton     

Let's Open With Princesses

Hello there. Welcome to my web log. Now, to begin with, I have a smallish confession to make: I have no idea what I'm doing. Oh, sure, I have a thousand enthusiastic and/or embittered rants to turn into posts and no shortage of willingness to turn an Internet webpage into a public diary. I'm really only intimidated by the rather complex layout of the website and rather in doubt about my ability to make my posts look presentable. Not that I'm expecting a ton of people to be reading this.....

But you're not here to read about my myriad insecurities and technological shortcomings. You're here to read about stuff. And trust me, this blog should have no shortage of stuff. And, as should have been suggested by the title of this post, the stuff to be discussed in this post is: princesses!

Have you ever noticed the strange nature of our society's fascination with princesses? Little girls (and some older ones) (like me) love watching Disney's princess movies. Plenty of emotional women and very..... um..... special men have obsessions with England's past and present princesses. Kate. Diana. Victoria. Both Elizabeths. We love them, which I find to be a rather funny trait in Americans, since we totally lost our princess-watching privileges when we told Britain to shove off back in the 1770s. Luckily Britain's pretty forgiving (possibly because we've developed a new reputation for allying with them during pesky worldwide wars).

Meanwhile, there's a whole other, ever-widening pool of people, most of them feminists, mothers, or feminist mothers, who say that princesses set bad examples for young girls, telling them that if they're thin and beautiful and dress a certain way they'll find their handsome princes and live happily ever after.

I, for one, still really like princess movies and see absolutely nothing wrong with them. Little girls are a lot smarter than we give them credit for; or at least, the ones I know are. Disney princess movies are fun to watch because they're musical and colorful and have fabulous villains (note: if you start following this blog, you'll probably see a post or two just about villains; yes, I'm one of those girls). True, I tend to dislike the princesses themselves, but oftentimes the movies are great. I even find myself torn on my opinion of The Little Mermaid, which features my least favorite Disney "heroine" (chances are you'll be hearing more about her), yet still contains Disney's renowned quality in songs, visuals, and side characters. And historical princess movies (like the ones about Victoria and the Elizabeths and Diana and an upcoming one about Grace Kelly) (eep!) tend to be entertaining as well as informative.

That about does it. Thanks for reading. I'm guessing and hoping that the writing and direction of my posts will improve overtime (meaning I think this one's rather rambly and pointless) (yeah, I know, again with the insecurities). I thrive on feedback, by the way.

Sincerely,
Pearl Clayton