I Was So Alone And I Owe You So Much

These are the three stories that changed my life:

Harry Potter

The Harry Potter book series has not changed my life. It has shaped my life. I first read the Harry Potter books when I was about 10 years old, simply because my older brother was reading them. I never knew how influential they would be in my life. I labeled myself as a Ravenclaw early on, and that identifier is a very important part of who I consider myself to be. When I became active in online fan communities in middle school, the Harry Potter fandom was the first I went to. Even though me and all my online friends had different tastes, Harry Potter was our common denominator. The fan community has been a constant in my life since then, and I know if I feel like crap, all I have to do is log back on to Mugglenet or browse the Harry Potter tag on Tumblr to make me feel better. My copy of Deathly Hallows (which I will hopefully one day get signed) was one of the few books of my extensive collection to come with me to college, and it has always been there to guide me home to Hogwarts if need be.

I cannot write about the impact of Harry Potter on me without writing about Hermione Granger. Early on, she became my favorite character, simply by being the main female character. But I grew to identify so much with her and idolize her: being a Ravenclaw, I was very bookish and smart. Hermione was my role model; she never apologized for her intelligence, even when it was made fun of, and she remained brave in the toughest situations, making her a true Gryffindor.  She had strength that I never had, and I loved her so much because of it. The best part was, she didn't even need Ron (or Krum or McLaggen) to be herself. She never relied on anyone else, she was always who she wanted to be without reservation. And that is who I strive to be, every single day.

Fringe

I can pinpoint the television show Fringe as the reason that I am a film major today. Yes, I hear you saying, "Oh Fringe isn't a film, it's a television show wahhh". Deal with it. I am probably the worst film major ever because I barely watch movies. The reason I am a film major is because I want to write, and Temple's film screenwriting track is fabulous. Boom. Anyways, I fell in love with Fringe when it began airing my freshman year of high school. My older brother was currently watching Lost (I promise this is where the trend ends) and watched the pilot of Fringe, since they shared a creator (JJ Abrams, aka a god). I just so happened to be sitting in the room when he was watching it, and inadvertently fell in love with it. The next time I sat down to watch it, my dad decided he liked the show and wanted to watch it with me. So, for the next five years every Tuesday/Thursday/Friday (depending on the season) me and my father would have our "Fringe time". When the fifth and final season was airing, I had just moved to college and could no longer watch it with my dad. But everything came full circle when the series finale aired on the last Friday of my winter break. I was able to close out an incredibly emotional experience exactly how it started: with my father by my side.

I say that Fringe is the reason I want to work in film/TV for a few reasons. First, Fringe was the first show that I was really invested in. The characters and the storyline pulled me into their world more than any show had ever done, and it took me completely by surprise. Like I said, I fell in love with this show and each episode left me begging for more. It gave me a passion for storytelling that is key for working in the industry.  Second, I was in awe of the writing on Fringe. Some scenes were so captivating I watched them over and over on YouTube the next day. This led me to be interested in television writers, and to my third reason. Third, I discovered J.J. Abrams. In some Wikipedia surfing, I came across his article and all the things he had written and all the things he was about to write.  Reading about the lives of Abrams and other Fringe writers made me crave that life: not the Hollywood celebrity, but the hours spent in a writing room hammering out plot details. I became convinced that this was the life for me, and I knew the way to get there was to be a film major. And here I am, one step closer to that life.

The Lizzie Bennet Diaries

This web series adaptation of the classic Jane Austen novel Pride and Prejudice is incredible. Seriously, if you haven't seen in by now, go and come back in 100 episodes. The series depicts Elizabeth "Lizzie" Bennet as a current day grad student with a mountain of student debts embarking on a year of making twice-weekly video blogs, with lots of fantastically done modern-day updates.

I watched The Lizzie Bennet Diaries from the very beginning, when creator Hank Green announced it on his own YouTube channel (youtube.com/vlogbrothers). I had tried to read P&P, but never got past the first few chapters because the language was hard to get used to. After a few months of watching The Lizzie Bennet Diaries (and loving it!) I decided to give P&P another try. This time, I pictured all of the actors from the series when reading, and I tore through the book in about 2 weeks. The Lizzie Bennet Diaries itself had a profound impact on my artistic life, as I was just starting my freshman year of college as a film major when the first episode went live (which I am just about to finish!). Through the course of the last nine months, I have thought a lot about where I want to go artistically and online content is a new avenue which I am interested in exploring. The Lizzie Bennet Diaries changed my view of a medium of which I was already a fan, but was never interested in creatively. I had always pictured myself working in television, being in the writers room of some network sci-fi drama coming up with plot twists to confuse the audience. But now, I can see myself doing the same thing, but with web series. There are so many more creative opportunities in web video, and I am excited to explore the possibilities. But that doesn't mean that I am giving up on television. Who says you can't have more than one dream?

Thoughts on Doctor Who: Steven Moffat

NOTE: These are my personal opinions. I am in no way discrediting other people's opinions, in fact, if you do have a different viewpoint, I'd be interested to hear it!

I began watching Doctor Who right before series 6 premiered, marathoning the first 5 seasons on Netflix. Series 6 was the first one that I watched as it aired, so the experience already felt different. I quickly realized it wasn't the way I was watching the show, but the story itself that bothered me. 

The current showrunner of Doctor Who is Steven Moffat. He was a writer on the show under Russell T. Davies, the showrunner who began the reboot. Moffat took over in season 5 and has been running the show ever since. Moffat is an excellent episodic writer. His episodes from the RTD era are some of my favorite Doctor Who episodes ever (I'm pretty sure "Blink" is in most fan's top 5). He can write monsters really well: the Weeping Angels, the Vashta Nerada, and the Silence (as weird as the storyline was, they are freaking creepy) are all some of the scariest monsters the show has ever seen. The problem I have with his writing is that he cannot seem to write a believable season-long storyline that viewers can connect with. RTD had Bad Wolf, Torchwood, Vote Saxon, and the stolen Earth storylines: they were hinted at throughout the season, and then came to fruition in the season finale. Moffat seems to want twists and turns in every episode of a season, which confuses the audience too much (I don't mean to suggest the DW audience is dumb, because even a genius would have a bit of trouble understanding exactly what is happening). For example, take River Song's storyline. When she was introduced in season 4 (in a Moffat-written episode), she had so much potential. A time traveler like the Doctor was bound to meet someone who he didn't know, but knew him. But what Moffat did to her - she can regenerate, she is in jail for killing someone, she's Amy and Rory's daughter, she and the Doctor are married (?!) - was half unbelievable, half incredibly predictable. The moment the Doctor was killed in the season 6 premiere and we were reminded River was in jail for murder, it was extremely obvious who killed the Doctor, the only question left was why. 

And then you have the companions. Don't get me wrong, I love the Ponds more than anything and I am looking forward to seeing Clara interact more with the Doctor. But I don't feel I can relate to them. Now, I haven't seen any Classic Who (although I am planning on starting it over the summer), but purely based off of the RTD era, companions are supposed to be normal people who are made extraordinary by their travels with the Doctor. Amy and Clara do not follow that formula (you could make an argument for Rory, so I'll leave him out for now). At first, it seemed that Amy was just an ordinary girl, but we eventually found out Prisoner Zero being in her house was not a coincidence. She was clearly special before the Doctor ever met her. Clara is a plot point, pure and simple. She exists only as a problem the Doctor wants to figure out. I'm not sure if he would even want her as a companion if she wasn't special. The reason that I have a problem with this is the fact that the companion is supposed to be our entry into the Doctor's world; that is why his companion is almost always a human. Starting as human and becoming something more by traveling with the Doctor is something about which we can fantasize. Amy and Clara began as extraordinary, making them that much less relatable. 

I still love Doctor Who, don't get me wrong. It is one of my favorite shows currently on the air, and I am anticipating the 50th anniversary special with baited breath. From a writing perspective, there are a few things that I would change, but nothing can be perfect, right?

Narrative Conventions in Castle 5x15 "Target"

I had to write this short essay about narrative conventions for a media class that I am taking, and since I chose Castle, I figured it would be a good thing to post on my blog! I am writing this as if the reader had never seen/heard of Castle, so keep that in mind. Enjoy!

"Target", season 5, episode 15 of Castle, was produced in January 2013 at  Raleigh Studios, Los Angeles. The episode was written by Andrew W. Marlowe and was directed by Bill Roe. This episode of Castle deals with the protagonist (Richard Castle) realizing that his daughter Alexis has been kidnapped. These are two characters that the audience has become attached to, so there is an extreme emotional attachment to this story.           

One often-debated narrative convention within television shows is closure. Many television episodes tell a complete story: beginning, middle, and end. For the most part, each episode is a stand-alone story. This convention comes from the creators of the show balancing "trying to address both experienced and new viewers" (Branston and Stafford 58). This particular episode of Castle, however, challenges this idea of a complete story. The goal of the episode is established early: to rescue Alexis from a mysterious kidnapping. However, this episode violates the convention of the stand-alone story. It is the first of a two-part story arc, so the conclusion will not come until the next episode. "Target" goes further into challenging this convention with its use of suspense. Close to the end of the episode, the viewer is lead to believe that Alexis is about to be found, but a last-minute cliffhanger reveals (both to the audience and the protagonist) that she is not even on the same continent as Castle. For those in the audience expecting the story to be concluded within this episode, the "To Be Continued" title card is even more frustrating.

This convention of closure exists very differently within the plot and the story. In this single episode, the plot is incomplete. It requires a second episode to fulfill the resolution of the conflict that has arisen. The way that television is structured, the viewer is required to wait a week until the airing of the next episode in order to see the conclusion. In the story, the break between episodes has no bearing whatsoever on the characters or their emotional development. The characters do not need to wait a week to discover how this conflict will be solved. The story will have a beginning, middle, and end, it will just take more than one plot to tell the story.

The story of a father trying to rescue his daughter from a kidnapping is not a new idea, as it is most prominently seen in the popular film Taken, starring Liam Neeson. In "Target", there is a scene in which Castle is given a chance to talk to an accomplice in the kidnapping. The viewer is not privy to this conversation, but we do hear off-screen yells of pain from what we assume to be the accomplice. This scene, even to viewers who may not have seen Taken but know its cultural pervasiveness, is an echo of Taken. In both stories, the father will do anything to get his daughter back, even resorting to violence.

Castle is usually a model of narrative conventions in cop shows, but the episode "Target" breaks from this model. It utilizes a cliffhanger in order to emphasize the lack of complete conclusion, and echoes images of the popular movie Taken to heighten emotional involvement. Although "Target" does not present a complete story, the plot is affected by the unanticipated ending. 

Divergent and Insurgent: Not Anything Like Mockingjay (Thank God)

WARNING: This blog post contains moderate spoilers for both Divergent and Insurgent. Read at your own risk!

The YA literary world has spend months raving about Divergent and Insurgent, the first two books in a trilogy by Veronica Roth, but (as usual) it has taken me a while to catch up. I have always been a fan of the dystopian genre (yes, entertainment blogs, dystopian novels did exist before The Hunger Games), so naturally I was attracted to the story that Divergent presented; a future in which a city has split its members into five factions, each valuing a different quality. Like many others, I fell in love with the beautifully flawed character of Tris, and was drawn into her adventure. I purchased both books on my new Kindle (don't worry, I will NEVER give up on physical books) and both were finished within three days of starting them. I've really missed devouring a book like that, and I quite forgot how awesome it felt. I think that I've become a bit jaded, however, when it comes to YA series. I fell in love with The Hunger Games and Catching Fire, but like many other fans, Mockingjay disappointed me. I thought that the reason I disliked it was all of the action, as I am more interested in character and emotion than action. It is for this reason that I delayed reading Insurgent for a while after I finished Divergent, even though I loved it. The parts of Divergent that made me love the book were the scenes of Tris being initiated into Dauntless. I liked the middle of the book much more than the end, although it was very exciting and a good release of the tension that had been building (writing-wise, I am not advocating mind control or anything). I was scared that Insurgent would become like Mockingjay, character development and emotional attachment left behind for more action. I am so happy that this was not the case in Insurgent. Oddly, reading it helped me realize why Mockingjay fell flat for me: the pacing was very, very wrong. The first half of the book takes place in District 13 and is slow and does focus on character, but the second half of the book is action packed and doesn't stop for breath once. Insurgent, however, paces itself perfectly. The action sequences are interspersed throughout the book, with slow, almost rhythmic character-driven scenes in-between. It feels more like a natural story; not everything happens at once.

Tris Prior has got to be one of my favorite literary characters to date, right up there with Hermione Granger and Elizabeth Bennet. What can I say? I love strong females. But Tris is more than that (as are those other ladies, but this blog post is about Divergent. Sorry girls! Maybe next time!). I love Tris because she is flawed, because she is real. In a world where everyone is boiled down into one basic personality trait, Tris has three. She says herself that she has always felt torn, like she belongs in Abnegation, but she doesn't. She feels the same way about Dauntless when she is an initiate, and she can even see Erudite traits in herself. This is attributed to the fact that she is Divergent, that she is not made to fit into the holes that her society created, but her character goes beyond that. Tris makes several mistakes throughout the books, some of which weigh on her conscious greatly. She is not an extremely likable character at the beginning, especially when she betrays her family to transfer to a new faction, which ignites the reader's sense of loyalty. In our society, we expect people to be loyal to their family, so we expect the same of Tris. But in her society, it is "faction before blood", a phrase that is repeated over and over again. Even Tris has a hard time getting that through her brain, especially with the betrayal of Caleb in Insurgent. But time and time again, we see familial loyalties crossing faction lines (Will and Cara, Christina and Cara after Will's death), and even loyalties to former factions (Tris's mom, Eric). Clearly, the Divergent aren't the only ones who feel torn.

To me, the factions are the most interesting part of the books. Look at the two most opposite factions, Dauntless and Abnegation, and compare their traits. Bravery and selflessness. Often linked, no? But these factions take their defining quality to the extreme, making the almost the complete opposite. Truth and knowledge often go hand-in-hand as well, but Candor and Erudite are probably more similar than they would like to believe. And then there's Amity, always off to the side, never wanting to get involved. Insurgent did an excellent job of getting us into the minds (and, if you are being literal, headquarters) of each of the five factions. It made us understand the driving forces behind this society, just before it brought the entire ideology crumbling down. I am in a love-hate relationship with cliffhangers. As a reader, they infuriate me, but as a writer, I love the opportunity they bring. This particular cliffhanger was an interesting one. It didn't exactly leave our heroes in peril, but it changed their entire worldview and their entire world. I am really interested to see where Veronica Roth takes this, but in the meantime, I will count down the days until October 22, 2013. And maybe do a few re-reads... just for good measure.