So I few years ago I did a post on a tea party that we had at my church. Of course, you know how I love books…I just had to tie them in together!
To read the whole post, click here. So every year at my church we do a Christmas Tea Party, and the past three years my friend and I had a table that I’ve been in charge of decorating. And if you think I just had to feature a book each year, than you are right! I love books!
In 2016, the theme was “Our Journey”, and shoes were the center as it was about “the paths we take”. Of course shoes made me think of one thing:
As Dorothy and all her friends go on a journey, along with having a magical pair of shoes, it was PERFECT! We did a:
Yellow Brick Road Runner: Canvas that we painted with three different shades of yellow
Poppy Magnets as our favors: I used this one from Hometalk and did button centers and glued magnets on the back.
Mason jar water glasses with gingham ribbons and red mugs for coffee or tea.
And I sewed a sock monkey king of the flying monkeys, out of black and white socks (just like the ones the Wicked Witch of the East wears). Yes, I sewed it-help from Madsen Creations and my mom.
We made our own Dorothy’s magic red shoes, but they weren’t ready when I took the picture, so I put my own red shoes in there.
And of course, a copy of the book.
The next year the theme was “Friendship”
So my friend and I choose to do:
We used this lovely pink overlay that had glitter and sparkles in it.
Our favors were mugs with the either the quote, “I am a princess. All girls are” or “All women are princesses, it is our right”.
The other favors we had were pink princess crowns (we had four kids sitting at our table). I got a great deal from Amazon 12 for $7.82
I used two teacups for sugar and cream.
Gold striped napkins tied around the cutlery with a pink sparkly ribbon.
Last Christmas the theme was Holy Ghost…hmmm ghosts. Which book? 🙂
We used a holly and cranberry patterned runner on the table.
Sheets of music as place mats, with red chargers over them.
The centerpiece was a Christmas Tree, as those became popular in the Victorian era with Prince Albert, that I strung with popcorn.
I also placed a basket with the Christmas gifts/favors as that was how Victorian tables were set up. Each package was a different copy of A Christmas Carol. I got them all by swapping on PaperBackSwap.comI wrapped them up in brown paper and red yarn.
We had chestnuts on the table and each place setting got on orange, as they were very popular gifts, but I didn’t put cloves in it as you can’t eat them when you do that.
We had Earl Grey Tea, Hot Chocolate, and candy canes.
Each person received a homemade Christmas Card (made by me), and each had a little token in it, my version of the Christmas pudding.
This year the theme is gifts and I have to admit, I’m a bit at a loss. Any ideas of a book that gifts plays a role?
So this film is supposed to be a modern day retelling of Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice.
Strangely enough it stars two people who had been in films based on Jane Austen’s work. Hugh Grant plays Daniel Cleaver, our George Wickham, when he was in the 1995 Sense and Sensibility as Edward Ferras.
And then we have Colin Firth as Mark Darcy, having played Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice (1995).
Now I understand why Colin Firth decided to be in the film, I read online that he thought it would distance him from the 1995 miniseries, along with killing the wet shirt.
But oh Colin Firth, you were so wrong.
That will never die
So let’s look at the film:
So prior to this viewing, I had seen the part where the mom has left the dad for another guy, the “vicars and tarts party”, and the very end in the snow.
Why?
From what I had seen I wasn’t really interested as I didn’t think it looked that good at all.
However, lots of people love it. Everyone says they are funny and it was just given a third installment.
Truth be told I don’t
My friend is one of those who loves this film and she convinced me to watch it with her.
I did and I really didn’t like it.
I just don’t get the love for this film!
It mean doesn’t really follow Pride & Prejudice, the characters aren’t that likable, the situations silly ands not really making sense.
I think this movie is horrible, and I’ll tell you why.
Mark & Bridget Falling in Love
Mark (Mr. Darcy) and Bridget (Elizabeth) barely have any screen time together, so they don’t really have the opportunity to grow in a relationship. This is a problem with modern adaptations as in the original tale (and in history), when people visited they didn’t stay a few days, they stayed weeks or months. Darcy spent a long time with Bingley, encountering Elizabeth when she came to assist in her sister’s recuperating. And then again when Elizabeth stayed with Charlotte, but here they meet up at a family party her parents are throwing, a dinner party, accidentally while she is on vacation with Daniel (Wickham), and they fall for each other?
It doesn’t really work. They should have had them spend more time together. I mean he decides to forgo a new career in New York, throws himself at her feet, etc. We should see why he would.
Bridget is an Empowering Character. Or is She?
Bridget is constantly being sexually harassed but does nothing about it.
What?!
I know! Look at the little tagline there, it says
“For anyone who’s ever been set up, stood up, or felt up”
And it acts like it is going to be real empowering or something. And is it? No!
Bridget never stands up for herself or does anything about; choosing to just suffer through it. We have her creepy uncle who every time he sees her grabs her butt. Does she tell him off or her parents so they stop inviting him? No. Instead she just lets him continue.
And then when Daniel gropes her in the elevator and says inappropriate comments, does she do anything? No She just lets him do whatever.
And then there is the way that her new job treats her, as breasts and a butt.
What kind of message is that saying, especially since it is “based” on a character who is renowned for the beauty of her wit?
I mean I’m not asking her to go all out like this:
I’m just asking for her to stand up for herself.
Where Oh Where is the Witticism?
Where is the wit? Elizabeth was a great character who always put her two cents in.
In this Bridget is made to be more of not a bimbo, but one who never thinks but just spouts off the first thing that pops in her head.
If only people followed this advice.
She is nothing like who she is based on at all.
Why Does Bridget Continue to Believe Daniel?
Why does Bridget go on believing Daniel after she finds out that he is a big fat liar?
Daniel tells Bridget this story about how Mark Darcy slept with his fiancé, being the nail in the coffin of hate. But then we find out that Daniel is a a liar and was not only cheating on Bridget, but she is the other woman.
What jerks
Yes, he was in a relationship the whole time and leading Bridget on with no intention of ever having it be more. Then when Bridget quits, we discover that Daniel had been keeping Bridget from moving ahead as he wanted to keep her to dabble in.
Why does she think anything he said is the truth? When I found out my ex cheated in me I was really angry:
But it also made me question everything he did and said. Why wasn’t it the same for her? I mean in the book Elizabeth doesn’t find out that Wickham is a liar until Darcy reveals what he did. And as soon as she sees him again, she lets him know that his drivel isn’t welcome here.
Why Did They Have Her Parents Separate?
I really don’t understand why the film has the mother and father split up. It doesn’t really enhance the plot or create growth for the characters. I mean the only thing it “adds” is that with the mom out of the way the truth about Daniel’s lie isn’t given until the end. I don’t know why they did but I sure didn’t like that she comes home on Christmas and everything is okay, they are back together. There isn’t even an emotional payoff in that.
Why Would Darcy Read Bridget’s Diary?
So Bridget leaves Mark downstairs while she changes out of her embarrassing underwear. She tells him to make himself comfortable and read some magazines and he reads her diary.
Really? I do not see Mark ever doing something like that when he has other options. He’s just not that type of guy at all.
And her running after him in the snow with no pants or coat. Yeah right, she would freeze before she met up with him.
Bridget’s Friends are Atrocious
See Hook agrees with me.
Bridget’s friends are awful.
All they do is give horrible advice or make the situation worse.
Where is level-headed and realistic Charlotte?
Where is the kind, caring, always seeing the good Jane?
We have Tom who makes the situation worse, bringing the fight into the restaurant and the wait staff out; Shazzer who just complains and places all kinds of doubts in Bridget’s mind; and the other friend who just cries all the time.
No thank you.
So I haven’t read the book, (maybe I will like that better), but as for this film, except for a few good moments, I see it as a dud.
So a while back we had a tea party at our church for an event.
Different people were given a table, in which we could make our theme whatever we wanted. I was given a table and my theme was books! After all:
Anyways, I just realized I forgot to post the pics from it. So I thought I would now.
My centerpiece was a collection of nice hardcover classics stacked on top of each other, with a hollowed book on top that a tree branch came out of. Clipped to the tree was tea bags for each person to choose from.
I then chose six of my favorite classic books in which the characters have tea time or talk about tea. With each table setting I tried to embody the book.
Setting 1: Mansfield Park by Jane Austen, 1814
So for the first setting I made sure to pair it with a very simple cup, as Fanny is not only a poorer relation, but she is a girl who likes simple things over the grandiose and showy. I laid out a copy of the book cover in front of the table setting, and then had this quote on the table.
Then the cutlery:
I put a white bow because Fanny would be the type to have a simple adornment like that, instead of extensive work on her dress.
I also added the gold cross as that is a huge part of the scheming by Maria Crawford to get Henry and Fanny matched up. When Fanny asks to borrow a chain for the gold cross her brother gave her, Maria sneakily gives her one that Henry gave her; so when Henry sees it he thinks that Fanny has decided to embrace his attentions, (i.e. gave him the green light).
The second setting I choose Emma. For this I had a gold and cream cup and saucer; the fanciest one I could find as Emma was rich and from an old family. She would have the finer things.
I laid out the book cover and this quote from the novel:
For Emma’s cutlery I wanted something a bit showier and fancier. I made a hair clip out of a red flower and gold fan charm. I thought this would encompass the character of Emma.
Setting 3: The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins, 1859
This was the table setting I choose for myself as I figured I would probably be the only one at the tea party who has read this book. And I was right. I don’t know why people don’t read Wilkie Collins anymore. This one of my favorite mysteries, as our main character comes upon a woman in white who holds a warning, leading him down a very twisted path. As the story continues, different characters become the voice of the book, until we reach the conclusion and discover who this woman in white is and what she is trying to stop.
I set up a copy of the book cover, and in front of it had my absolute favorite tea quote:
Seriously, if you aren’t here I am starting without you.
Anyways, the silverware:
This was the first one I put together going with a magnifying glass as this was a mystery, and adding a cameo afterwards. I thought it would be a great symbol of the time, along with the white silhouette of a women being reminiscent of the woman in white.
Setting 4: Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, 1865
The fourth setting was an Alice in Wonderland theme. The cup I choose for this was one designed to be a rose, while the saucer a leaf. This was to symbolize the Garden that Alice has a not so fun time in.
I set up a copy of the book cover, and in front of it had this quote:
Then I designed the napkins thusly:
The watch of course for the White Rabbit who is always running late, and the creamer for the Mad Hatter and March Hare’s obsession with tea and their endless tea party.
For more on Alice in Wonderland, go to Disney Lesson
Second to last we had Peter Pan. The cup I choose for this one had strawberries on it, and I choose it because I thought it was something that Wendy would have liked.
I laid out the book cover and this quote:
For the setting I went with something a little more basic, a red feather. This feather was supposed to be the feather Peter wears in his hat.
Setting 6: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis, 1950
For the last setting I went a little more modern than the others. This one’s tea cup had a winter scene as the world of Narnia is stuck in a cycle of :
“Always winter but never Christmas”
I laid the book cover and this quote:
This quote is from Mrs. Beaver, but for cutlery design I went with Mr. Tumnus and Lucy’s tea time. I had two tiny tea cups tied to symbolize their tea for two.
For more on The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, go to Simply Fantastic
So I’m sure some of you might be thinking that I will be writing about Jane Austen’s life as a baby.
She was probably a cute baby.
Well no, I’m not. Instead I am talking about Jane Austen novels for babies!
I know, how cool is that? There is a company called BabyLit that takes classic novels and turns them into baby primer board books; that is learning books for babies.
Now they can also read classic novels!
So far they have Dracula on counting: Alice in Wonderland on colors; A Christmas Carol on colors; Wuthering Heights on the weather; Moby Dick on the ocean, Jane Eyre on counting; Romeo & Juliet on counting; The Jungle Book on animals; Sherlock Holmes and the Hounds of Baskerville on sounds; Anna Karenina on fashion; Jabberwocky on nonsense; Frankenstein on anatomy; The Wonderful Wizard of Oz on colors, and Huckleberry Finn on camping.
And of course they have covered Jane Austen with Emma, Pride & Prejudice, and Sense & Sensibility.
And of course me being a major fan, I just had to buy them and check them out.
But as I have no children and didn’t have any extra book space to hold onto them for if that ever happened (my books are already in every spare spot I have) I bought them for my friend’s baby. So far I have only purchased two (Emma and Pride & Prejudice), one for Christmas and the other for her first birthday. When I buy Sense & Sensibility for this Christmas I’ll review it.
Emma: A BabyLit Emotions Primer by Jennifer Adams
So we know the story of Emma right? The bare bones of it is a bored girl tries her hand at matchmaking:
But in the ends her schemes don’t go anything like she planned.
However, that is too advanced for a baby; so this one is all about emotions with cute illustrations. Emma is excited! Mrs. Bates is scared! Mr. Knightley is Loved.
You got that right!
Pride & Prejudice: A BabyLit Counting Primer by Jennifer Adams
So Pride & Prejudice, the most famous of the Jane Austen novels. In it a mother is trying to marry off her offspring, but her meddling can cause some issues.
Plus some manipulations, misunderstanding, and perseverance see that four couples find their happy match (once again bare bones).
So once again too much for a baby, so this one is all about counting: nine fashionable dresses, five sisters, two gentlemen, etc.
Sense & Sensibility: A BabyLit Opposites Primer by Jennifer Adams
So this is the story of two sisters who go from being wealthy, to having nothing.
They get caught up in others manipulations, in their own striving for happiness, and discovering that being all sense or all sensibility isn’t the right way to be; their should be a balance of both. Plus sisters will always be there for the other.
There are also manipulations, secret affairs, meddling matchmakers and more. But of course, that isn’t something babies can grasp so instead we have opposites: big, small, happy, sad, etc.
So What Did I Think Of It?
So while it doesn’t tell the whole story of these novels (which I didn’t expect it to) I thought these were a wonderful idea and I want to purchase them all.
In a world where less and less people are reading, especially the classics: it is important to bring these memorable works back into the mainstream. I mean there is a reason why they were chosen as classics and they need to be read by everyone.
And while this book focus on it’s theme (colors, counting, feelings) more than the plot of the novel; two very imoprtant things come out of here.
First, the child is being given a classic novel and grows up hearing that name and the characters; making them much more open to reading the real book when they are old enough.
And second, you reading to your child teaches them the importance of family time and the importance of reading. Thus making them book fans too.
So I highly recommend buying these and adding them to your child’s bookshelf. After all:
Yes the fangirl posts are back with another installment of some of my favorite things. Hope you all enjoy!
The Brady Bunch
Ah, The Brady Bunch. I grew up watching this show all the time. It was cute, silly, cheesy, and all around good family fun.
The story is of a Mike Brady, an architect and widower, who has three sons; Greg, Peter, and Bobby. He meets Carol, a widow, who has three daughters around the ages of his sons; Marcia, Jan, and Cindy. The two get married, uniting the family, and the show follows them as the kids grow up, getting involved in the usual teenager story lines.
My favorite characters were Greg and Peter. They were just adorable.
I know that today a lot of people make fun of the kitsch in the show, along with the fact that they all get along waaay too fast. But it was really cute and fun.
Daredevil
I was first introduced to Daredevil through the ’90s Spider-man TV show I used to watch. In one of the episodes Peter Parker is working for Wilson Fisk, who unbeknownst to him is the crime lord the Kingpin. He is framed for the crime of selling government secrets, and finds himself being helped out by Matt Murdock, lawyer by day, the vigilante Daredevil by night. Eventually Spider-man and Daredevil work together to take down the Kingpin. From this episode I became interested in Daredevil and I wanted to see the Daredevil filmand read the comics.
Now what makes Daredevil so exciting and different? He’s blind. Matthew Murdock was a young Irishman growing up in Hell’s Kitchen, New York City. He chose to save a blind man crossing the street from being hit by a car, and in turn was hit by radioactive substances (they fell off a moving truck) losing his sight. The radioactive materials gifted him with super powers.
“My hearing is so acute, that I can tell if someone is in a room with me just by hearing the heartbeat! And I never forget an odor once I smell it…Even my fingers have become incredibly sensitive! I can tell how many bullets are in a gun just by the weight of the barrel. While my sense of taste has become so developed that I can tell exactly how many grains of salt are on a piece of of pretzel…But my most important new ability is in the form of a built-in radar that I seem to have developed! It enables me to walk anywhere safely, without bumping into anything!” [Daredevil #1, April 1964, pg. 11-12]
After he graduates from high school, he goes to college to study law. There he meets Franklin “Foggy” Nelson, who becomes his best friend. At this point his dad, a boxer, is murdered for choosing to not fix a fight. Matt deals with his grief, and he and Foggy start their own practice, Foggy’s father bankrolling them. They hire a young, beautiful, blonde, Karen Page, to be their secretary. Now I enjoyed Foggy as he was funny. But Karen
She was always pitying Matt, and that became super annoying. “Oh he’s so handsome if only he wasn’t blind.” “He’s so smart, but oh too bad he’s blind Matt. Ugh.
Karen stop talking
Anyways, when the law doesn’t do enough, especially in the case with his father, he dons a bright yellow suit and goes by the name Daredevil, The Man Without Fear. He also has some cool weaponry. He has a cane that can break down into two pieces, sort of like nunchucks or bobby sticks.
Now they later updated his story, changing him to losing his father when he was a boy, and being trained by a blind man with similar abilities called “Stick.” He also gets a better, dark red costume, and cooler tools. His main villain also become the crime lord, the Kingpin, a villain shared by Spider-man, after all they both are in New York. Daredevil also became a darker superhero. Matt Murdock is the white knight, helper, and the one that stands up for justice. Daredevil is a creature of the night, giving those their sentence. Unlike other superheroes he goes the closest to crossing over the moral line. In order to balance the two, Daredevil relies heavily on his faith, as the morals taught by it are the only things that keep him truly from going over to the dark side.
Now in the 2003 Daredevil the film came out and I must admit that though I absolutely love Ben Affleck, the Daredevil film was not as good as it could have been.
BUT, it was not as horrible as people make it out to be either. I thought Ben Affleck was amazing as Matt Murdock, his costume was perfect, and I thought his cane with the hidden pieces was just amazing. However, Colin Farrell’s Bullseye sucked, the Kingpin just was missing something, and come on; Electra starting a fight with a blind man? Seriously? Come, on. This was also in the early 2000s, and studios hadn’t quite figured out how to make an awesome superhero film.
Now I heard things about the Daredevil TV show, but I don’t have Netflix so I was kind of I guess I’ll see it when it gets downloaded onto Youtube or something. However, last month I went to visit my friend, and she was like “hey you should totally watch Daredevil.”
So we started watching, then we had to see the next episode, and the next and…
We watched Daredevil half of it that night, and the rest the next day; throwing all other plans we had made out the window. And let me say it is one of the best shows ever! Everything is absolutely perfect. Starting with the opening credits:
AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Then there was Charlie Cox (hot guy from Stardust) being the perfect blend of white knight for justice and the hanging judge. He captured every essence of Daredevil, from his pursuit of justice, vengeenance, self-doubt, constant questioning, etc. Just perfect!
Foggy Nelson’s character was changed from the original comics so that he too grew up in Hell’s Kitchen, the son of a butcher. He too was perfect as he was hilarious, sweet, adorable, and just all around a great friend. (BTW he is played by the best friend in She’s All That. Yeah I noticed you right away.) Out of all the characters he’s the one that doesn’t treat Matt as if he’s handicapped, but as a regular person; but at the same time does as much as he can to help him with anything.
And Karen was very much improved. Here she is sensible, sweet, not annoying, and stopped pitying Matt all the time. She still had her moments, but they were very few.
But most of all Wilson Fisk was perfect. At first I was like I don’t know…he doesn’t seem commanding enough, but in each episode you peel back another layer and the white suited, Wilson Fisk, Kingpin, Crime Lord is revealed. I can’t wait until he actually starts wearing one!!!! While in the original comics, Vanessa doesn’t know anything about Fisk’s crime lord status and when she and their son figure it out, it causes a LOT of issues. At one point, his son tries to destroy him and take over. But I actually like how Vanessa knows everything, it’s very romantic.
This show is just all around perfect. And if Netflix comes out with season 2, I might just have to buy a membership.
I love music and I love the ’80s. One of my favorite bands from this time period that I totally fangirled over for a long time.
It’s an American/English band (as half the members are English while the other half is American). They have the most amazing beats and amazing songs. The guitar solos in this are just dreamy!
I used to listen to these songs over and over again, 🙂
Some of my absolute favorite songs are Cold As Ice,Double Vision, Feels Like the First Time, Hot Blooded, I Want to Know What Love is, Juke Box Hero, and Waiting for a Girl Like You. Great hits!
My friend came to visit me a few months back and she was all “you have to check out this show North & South. It is AMAZING!” I asked her if it was the one about the Civil War, but she told me no. It was about England, and starred the very hunky Richard Armitage.
I was like why not, and then we watched the show.
It was so awesome I couldn’t stop watching it.
At least this was a miniseries so the obsession wasn’t too much. And yes, obsession.
So the show takes place during the English Industrial revolution, the late 18th century. Reverend Richard Hale has decided to leave the church of England, as they were asking him to commit to things he didn’t want to follow. After he leaves the church, he is forced to leave his parish in the country South, and go somewhere else. With help of an old Oxford friend, Mr. Bell, gets him a place in Milton, located in the industrial North. He brings with him his wife, and daughter Margaret.
The Margaret and her mother don’t like the move, but put up with it as they have no other choice. Her father becomes a private tutor, with only one client, Mr. Thornton.
Mr. Thornton was born poor and worked his way up, now owning his own cotton mill and becoming one of the richest men in the area. He however, still has some insecurity around himself, and therefore not only wishes to support Mr. Hale, but increase his education. Mr. Thornton is undeniably sexy and broody. You know, just as I like them.
He and Margaret get off on the wrong foot, as the first time she sees him, she finds him pummeling a man for smoking.
You see Mr. Thornton cares very much for his factory and his workers. He has the newest inventions, including a wheel to ensure that the cotton fluff that floats about doesn’t get in the workers and give them “cotton lung”, an incredibly deadly disease. This particular worker has been warned multiple times to stop smoking, as the slightest spark could ignite the place in flames.
So you can see how he would be very angry.
Now Margaret doesn’t like the North and doesn’t understand it. This is a point of contention between her and Mr. Thornton, Mr. Thornton’s mother, and his sister Fanny. They think she thinks she’s better than everyone, but in reality she just was raised differently. In fact she is constantly going out among the workers and doing charity work. The type of things she would do in the South as a vicar’s daughter. She ends up befriending Bess, a worker in Mr. Thornton’s mill, and suffering from cotton lung that she got at a different mill.
Unfortunately, just as Margaret and her family have come to the area, there is a lot of unrest. The workers want more money and are threatening to unionize. The thing I love about this show is that it had the views of both sides. You have the workers who need more money to get by and support their large families, but at the same time; you see that Mr. Thornton doesn’t have more money to give them. He may be wealthy, but his money is wrapped up in cotton prices and completely dependent on how well it does, and lack of storms in shipping. Plus he bought new, pricey, technology to help the workers and doesn’t have enough profits to pay everyone what they wish. It’s a complicated issue.
So as all this is happening, Mr. Thornton finds himself drawn to Margaret. She is intelligent, compassionate, thoughtful, beautiful, and doesn’t care about class systems. Margaret also finds herself falling for him, but hasn’t realized it yet.
Things with the workers grow to a head, where they start striking in front of the mill. Margaret, unaware of what is happening, heads over to the Thorntons to ask for a water bed for her sick mother, and gets caught in the mill during the strike. As Mr. Thornton approaches the mob to talk to them, they grow ugly and Margaret runs out to protect him. She ends up getting hit in the head with a rock. Mr. Thornton carries her to safety and decides that her actions are proof that she loves him too.
How romantic
After Margaret is well, Mr. Thornton asks her to marry him. She refuses as 1) she hasn’t realized she is in love with him, and 2) thinks he thinks he is better than her.
When she said no, ah it broke my heart.
Mr. Thornton is amazing!!! How could you refuse him?
Now I know there has been a big controversy over who is better, Mr. Darcy or Mr. Thornton. Well, I have to say Mr. Thornton.
Wait, hear me out. The reason why Mr. Thornton is more appealing than Mr. Darcy is that he has a fuller character. Pride & Prejudice is told by Elizabeth Bennet, so we only see what she sees. Mr. Darcy at first appears to be a jerk, as you can read more about in my post First Impressions, and then later as she gets to know him better, she falls for his strong moral character. But even though we see development of his character, we never see how he was as a child, we never see how he views that first meeting with Elizabeth, we never see his side of things as much as we do with Elizabeth. We do see it from time to time, but on a whole the story is told by Elizabeth. Now in North & South, the mini-series, as I have yet to read the book, he story is split equally between Margaret Hale and Mr. Thornton. We get a deeper understanding of who he is, his backstory, his impressions, etc. Therefore he feels more real. Besides that he has realistic flaws that make you love him more. He doesn’t always think things through which can cause him to get into trouble, he misunderstands things, he has his own opinions and thoughts and expresses them whether others like it or not, he has insecurities about himself, he has issues with his father and sister, etc. While Darcy seems so perfect, Mr Thornton is perfectly imperfect, and therefore extremely appealing.
So Elizabeth’s mother is getting sicker and sicker, so she writes to her brother in Spain to visit. Her brother was in the Navy and refused a horrible order on moral reasons. Their lawyer is trying to help him, but he had to leave the empire or else he would be imprisoned. Meanwhile, Elizabeth’s friend Bess dies from her cotton lung, and Mr. Thornton stops seeing Mr. Hale for lessons. Elizabeth escapes the unhappiness by going to The Great Exhibition with her London relatives and friends. There she runs into Mr. Thornton, who is giving a talk on the new cotton mill technology. There they talk, and mend feelings a bit.
When Elizabeth returns home, her mother is doing extremely poorly. Her brother arrives in time to see her, but the whole house is under lockdown so no one finds out. Mr. Thornton comes to visit, but is refused entrance. He misunderstands what is going on and thinks that it is because of Elizabeth’s refusal of marriage.
Margaret’s brother has to leave soon, and she goes to the train station with him. Mr. Thornton sees them together and thinks that it is her lover.
Mr. Thornton starts concentrating more on his business as Margaret is a lost cause.
The strike deeply hurt him and he needs to do something to bring up improvements. Mr. Higgins, Bess’ father and the union movement leader, is given employment by Mr. Thornton. The two come up with an idea for a worker’s cafeteria where they can serve nutritious and cheap soup. But unfortunately, Mr. Thornton has to close up his shop.
Noooooooooo!!!!!!!
Meanwhile, Mr. Hale dies and Elizabeth is going to go to London to stay with relatives. Mr. Thornton doesn’t want her to go, and in this scene we have the most poignant one ever. He would totally ask Margaret to marry him again but just needs a sign, any sign. He watches her walk away and keeps hoping that she will look back, showing that she doesn’t want to leave him, but loves him.
But she doesn’t look back until she is too far away.
After she has left, Mr. Higgins reveals that the man Margaret was with was actually her brother, giving Mr. Thornton the whole story. He decides to go after her, and first runs off to her place of birth to better understand who she is.
Meanwhile, Margaret is very unhappy having visited the South and knows she no longer belongs there, and finds herself unhappy in London as well. She misses the North, more than she cares to admit. Mr. Bell, her godfather, comes to visit and tells her is sick and dying. He decides to go to Argentina for the climate, and leaves her all his money.
Margaret returns to Milton, searching for Mr. Thornton as she plans to loan him all her money to start the mill up again. Mr. Thornton has just arrived from the South, and stares lovingly into Margaret. She tries to explain her ideas, but gets so flustered as Mr. Thornton once again tells her he loves her.
I love it.
The Nostalgia Critic
Nostalgia Critic has his own video series on Youtube. My friend Wade was the one to introduce me to him years ago, but I wasn’t interested. Last year however, I watched one episode and then burned through every single one.
So the Nostalgia Critic reviews movies and items from his childhood, ’80-’90s, although when he came back he started to review everything he likes from last week to childhood. He is perfectly creative and a ton of fun. I highly recommend checking him out.
I am so tired of hearing over and over again that Frozen is the first Disney movie to teach girls that you don’t need a man to save you. It is not. Now I’m not denouncing Frozen but there are plenty of films that came before that taught the very same lesson.
1) Alice in Wonderland (1951)
Alice in Wonderland is the film based on the books Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll. Alice has to undergo many challenges: shrinking, growing, getting stuck in a house, crazy men, and an even crazier Red Queen. The Red Queen tries to kill Alice and who saves her? Does a man save her? NO! Alice saves herself. SHE SAVES HERSELF!!!! Alice is truly hardcore.
So Pocahontas is a story based onnot the exactlife of Pocahontas. Now Pocahontas is a revolutionary figure, trying to learn more about people who come from other walks of life, along with trying to bring together those of different backgrounds. Does a man save her? NO! Pocahontas saves her people, John Smith and her home. Strong, independent woman who doesn’t need a man. In fact her man is the damsel in distress. And she shows women they don’t need a man long before Frozen as she ends up with no one. She rejects Kocoum first, as that isn’t the life she wants, but doesn’t end up with John Smith either.
Mulan tells the story of a young girl who pretends to be a boy so that she can save her father from joining the army and try and achieve greatness. She clearly doesn’t need a man to save her as she saves EVERYONE! THE Chinese Army, Shang (her bf), the Emperor, and ALL OF FREAKING CHINA!!!!!!!!! SHE SAVES FREAKING CHINA!!!!! CHINA! Did they do that in Frozen? NO. They saved Norway (which should have been Denmark as that is where the story originated. I mean Hans Christian Anderson is are most famous Dane, the one my people can be proud of and what does Disney do? Freakin’ betrays us by placing it in Norway). China is way, way bigger and more populated than Norway.
Now this is a horrible film based on the adorable cartoon, about a man so full of gadgets trying to save the world. Now let’s all be honest here, the film and tv show is named after Gadget but the true hero is Penny. We all know that he would have been dead if Penny hadn’t saved the day. She always, always, always has to save him.
5) Mototcrossed (2001)
A Disney Original Movie (DCOM), this modern telling of Twelfth Night. When Andrew is injured and can’t compete in the motorcross competition and the family is in trouble, Andrea cuts her hair and pretends to be Andrew to save the day. What was that I said? Who saves the day? Andrew? NO! Andrea. She saves her family’ s business, her brother, and becomes the first female motorcross star. No guy saves her. She does it all on her own
Andrea pre-haircut and post-haircut.
6) The Lizzie McGuire Movie (2003)
In The Lizzie McGuire Movie, Lizzie and her friends travel to Italy in a school trip and she is mistaken for an Italian superstar. She pretends to be her, having a huge adventure. Now just like Frozen Lizzie has a love that is not true. She falls for Paolo, but he’s really a jerk (That makes this the first Disney film to prove that first loves are not true. And who saves Lizzie from this jerk? A man? NO! ITALIAN LIZZIE. It’s pretty horrible accent, but yeah she saves the day.
In this Disney Original Movie (DCOM), Kim Possible is saving the day again, but this time traveling through time. Now how can people forget this? Really now? Kim saves EVERYONE. 24/7 no one ever saves her. One of the toughest Disney girls.
8) Howl’s Moving Castle (2004)
In Howl’s Moving Castle, a young girl named Sophie gets transformed into an old woman and caught up in a huge adventure with the wizard, Howl. In the film Sophie saves Howl. Without Sophie’s help he’d be dead and still a coward. Sophie is awesome and saves the day.
9) Avalon High (2010)
Avalon High, A Disney Original Movie (DCOM), is about a high school contains reincarnations of characters from the Arthurian legend. Even though this film totally sucked and wasn’t remotely like the book, the main character, Allie, saves everyone because she is the descendent of Arthur.
10) Brave (2012)
In Brave, Mérida saves the kingdom and her mom. Without her the whole mess wouldn’t have started, but then again it wouldn’t have been resolved.
So you see, Disney has been trying to instill that lesson for a far longer time. It’s just that most of can’t see it because we aren’t looking for it, instead we are looking for ways to hate on Disney.
