Mr. Weston is shown in the Emma films, but kind of passed over to be only a minor character. We see him as the one who takes Miss Taylor away, as she becomes Mrs. Weston, an act that encourages Emma to believe she can control others lives and make them fall in love.
We see him again as the father of Frank, encouraging him to visit and (pair up with Emma), but that’s really all.
Not Important
However, Jane Austen never goes halfway on a project and devoted much more time and a whole chapter on his sad back story. Mr. Weston is an incredibly dear man, who’s story is actually pretty heartbreaking. So grab your tissues and get ready for it.
So Mr Weston was born into a pretty well off family, that with every generation rose higher in respectability and gentility. He received a good education, and instead of pursuing business like his brothers, he decided to join the military.
As Captain Weston he was invited into many homes, meeting a wealthy, beautiful woman, Miss Churchill.
It was love at first sight. Everyone approved except Mrs. Churchill (mother) and Mr. Churchill (brother). You see the Churchills were of a higher stock and thought that marrying into military was so far below them.
It didn’t matter to Miss Churchill and she refused to listen to her relatives, only having eyes for Mr. Weston. She married Mr. Weston anyways, and because she disobeyed her family (and wasn’t in total control of her wealth) her relatives disowned her and refused to give her a single penny.
Even though Mr. Weston was an incredibly kind and sweet man, the marriage was unhappy. Now as Mrs. Weston, she found herself unhappy as they couldn’t afford the lifestyle she was used to. They lived beyond there income and nothing was as great as when she was Miss Churchill.
Three years after they were married, Mrs. Weston died leaving Mr. Weston in great debt and with a baby to take care of.
So this is the extreme low point for Mr. Weston. He has done everything in his power to take care of his wife and make her happy, but nothing is good enough. Then she becomes sick and dies and now he has incredible debt, horrible grief, and a baby to take care of.
He is completely unsure of what to do, when Mr. and Mrs. Churchill come snaking in and ask for the child. Poor Mr. Weston, how he must have felt being asked to give up his child. But he does as he knows it is the best thing for him. The Churchills (his late wife’s brother’s family) have no children of their own and are quite wealthy. They could give his son Frank everything, stability, two parents, education, toys, horses, etc. So he does it. It makes sense, but it still breaks his heart.
This always reminds me of Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackery, when widowed Amelia holds onto her son as long as she can, but when she realizes that she won’t be able to truly care for his needs she gives him to his rich relatives to rear instead. It is such a heartbreaking scene.
Mr. Weston decides to start over, moving to Highbury and working with his brothers. He begans to build everything up again, but he doesn’t send for his child as he knows the other family is more stable and he wants Frank to grow up with every advantage.
Meanwhile as Frank is reared by his uncle and is set to inherit everything, he wants to be adopted by him and go by Churchill instead of Weston. How much that must of hurt to not only lost your son’s childhood, but adulthood as well to another person.
Mr. Weston does see his son every year, and the two have a relationship. But poor Mr. Weston, to lose the role of father, and instead be more of an uncle.
But even with all these hardships, Mr. Weston has such a positive outlook on life and believes that he will build his life up, and marry again one day.
And so his tale does have a happy ending, as this poor, broken, lonely man is able to find true love once again; in Miss Taylor. A woman who doesn’t need fancy trappings or riches, but just a home and Mr. Weston.
Yep, here we go with another one of my fangirl lists. Read it and enjoy! 🙂 After all one of a fangirls favorite thing to do is share their loves with others.
Beach Party Series
I grew up watching these Beach Party films when I was a kid. My sister and I used to try and copy the dances and learn how to move just like them! These films were silly and loads of fun, the perfect films to watch for a good time. It starred Frankie Avalon as “Frankie” surfer and singer staying at the beach for a good time. His girlfriend Dolores aka Dee Dee, was played by Annette Funicello, came along with all the friends. They would hang out and have fun, getting into a fight and breaking up, but always reuniting at the end. There was also Bonehead (called Deadhead in the first film) who was kinda dumb and never understanding that the ladies wanted him. The group also always ran into a motorcycle gang called “The Ratz” or “The Rat Pack” that were lead by Eric Von Zipper. These were also musicals and had amazing songs + dancing.
In Beach Party, Frankie, Annette, and the gang are hanging out at the beach. Anthropologist, Dr. Robert Orville Sutwell, played by Robert Cummings, is studying the sex lives of Southern California surfing teens. He saves Dolores from Eric Von Zipper, paralyzing him with an “African” Vulcan touch, and Dolores develops a crush on him. This makes Frankie jealous, who starts flirting with a Hungarian waitress. Dr. Sutwell’s assistant Marianne has been in love with him for a long time and tries hard to win him over. The whole crew sing, dance, and have a groovy time. Also keep your eyes peeled for a cameo by Vincent Price.
In Muscle Beach Party, the sequel, the gang is back only to discover their beach is getting taken over by body builders? Will they be able to get rid of them and get their spot back? Also, an Italian contessa is after Frankie, and he seems to be enjoying it. Is this the end for Frankie & Dee Dee?
In Bikini Beach, the teens are back on the beach only to face a new threat! Millionaire Harvey Huntington Honeywagon III is going to try to turn it into senior citizens. He also thinks that the teens are no better than animals. Frankie and Dee Dee also face a threat to their relationship, when British rocker “The Potato Bug”, Peter Royce Bailey (played by Frankie Avalon and a parody of the British rockers coming to America) is interested in Dee Dee and she seems to like him back.
Pajama Party was a bit different from the other films in the series. Frankie Avalon wanted more money and the studio replaced him with Tommy Kirk. In this Annette plays “Connie”, once girlfriend to Big Lunk {Deadhead in the other films} but realizes that his lack of brains and romance means it is time to move on. She meets Gogo, Tommy Kirk, who unbeknowest to her is actually a teenage martian preparing an invasion to Earth. Aunt Wendy (Elsa Lancaster) is an eccentric and rich woman, aunt to Big Lunk and always opening her house to teens. Her neighbor, J. Sinister Hulk; and his minions, Chief Rotten Eagle and Swedish Helga, are trying to con her out of her cash.
In Beach Blanket Bingo, Frankie and Dee Dee are back. In this they are at the beach and run into the singer Sugar Kane skydiving. Frankie saves her life when she falls into the ocean and starts falling for her charm. In reality this isn’t Sugar Kane, but her stunt double Bonnie. Bonnie is upset that her boyfriend Steve isn’t more interested and uses Frankie to up his jealousy. The Ratz are back and Eric Von Zipper falls for Sugar wanting her as his own. Also Deadhead falls for a mermaid. Another zany summer at the beach!
So when Teen Beach Movie came out by Disney, I had to watch it. I loved it as it was the perfect homage to the series I grew up with.
What a group of good-looking men. I was such huge fans of them all, following their careers very closely. I had a super huge crush on all three of them growing up. My love of Lawrence Brothers first started with their TV show, Brotherly Love
Brotherly Love took place in Philidelphia, “the city of brotherly love”, and follows the trials of a blended family. This series starred the Lawrence brothers, but only lasted two seasons, I’m unsure as to why. I remember it being awesome!
Anyways, Joe Roman (Joey Lawrence) parents are divorced and he moves away with his mom. His dad remarries a woman, Claire, and they have two children; Matt (Matthew Lawrence) and Andy (Andrew Lawrence). Their dad is a race car driver and owns a garage. When he dies in an accident while racing, Joe returns home to take over the garage. A now 20-year old Joe tries to work with the family, being a father figure for Matt and Andy. He is cocky and arrogant, but an all around good person.
Matt is 15, and a bit of a nerd. He is a germophobe and a neat freak and has trouble with girls. Andy is mischeveuos and a cute little kid.
The series is rounded out by Lloyd, ex-coast guard and fellow mechanic, and Louise, female mechanic and ultimately the love of Joey.
This series was adorable and fun. I miss it. 😦
The Office
Remember when this TV show came out? At first I didn’t watch it as I didn’t understand what it was about. A bunch of people working in an office that produces paper? Sounds boring to me. BUT, I had a friend who absolutely loved it. He wouldn’t stop talking about it so I decided to check it out, and loved it too. It is absolutely hilarious.
Michael Scott is the head of that division, and played by Steve Carroll. He is so silly. I just love how much he hates Toby, this guy that works with him.
Then there was Dwight, the brownnoser who was always sucking up to Michael and trying to control everyone else. He was so strange and hilarious.
And the handsome, prankster, Jim played by the handsome John Krasinski
One great show.
Once Upon a Time
Now I know how obssesed everyone is about this show, but I only loved the first season. The second season opening moved really slow and I had a difficult time finding a way to watch it online (as I don’t have cable or netflix). Oh, well. The first season was amazing, and I had to watch every single episode asap.
So the plot of Once Upon a Time, is that all the fairytales by the Brothers Grimm are all connected and exist in a parallel universe. Snow White (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Prince Charming have sent their child Emma, to our world in order to save her from the Evil Queen. Emma was raised as Emma Swan in foster care.
On her 28th birthday, Emma arrives home to find a little boy named Henry. He tells her that he is the son she gave up ten years ago, and according to his book of fairy tales, Emma is the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming and the only one who could save the people of his hometown in Storybrooke, Maine.
She returns him to Stoneybrooke and stays in the town becoming sheriff. Her appearance causes the town clock to strike, which it had never done before, fulfilling a prophesy that on Emma’s 28th birthday she will begin the final battle, and return the fairy tale characters memories. These memories had been wiped by the Evil Queen, known as Regina Mills in the “real world”, the mayor and adoptive mother of Henry. Yeah things get complicated really fast!
I loved the story as it was written extremely well. Ginnifer Goodwin is perfect as Snow White as she is just so adorable.
Rumplestilskin was absolutely perfect and one of my favorite characters as well. I espechially loved the Belle and Beast storyline, with Rumplestilskin being the beast.
And let’s not forget Sebastian Stan as the Mad Hatter. Oh, that storyline was just heartbreaking.
Whether the rest are as good, I can’t say, but that first season was an absolute winner!
I love this book so much that words fail to express how I feel.
It all started one day at the library. I was about six years old and complaining to my mother that I couldn’t find any books to read. Nothing just felt right. You know what I mean, when a book synopsis just connects to you, and you know you need to take it home to read?
So my mother eager to get home, pulls a book off the shelf and suggests that I read it. Instead of paying attention to whatever novel she had in her hand, I saw the one behind it. It was The Phantom of the Opera; a slender, abriged, children’s version.
It became my new favorite book and I would check it out all the time, completely annoying my mother.
Later on I read the original, whole version; which I also love. It is written so well, if you haven’t read it yet I highly recommend it.
So the story is written as a history/biography of the “ghost of the opera house.” It recounts the story of poor Erik. Born deformed, sent to live with gypsies, becoming an architect; but never finding love or support. He finds a young girl who he trains to be a singer, only to find her love false, therefore evoking in some very bad decisions. But he’s not evil, just misunderstood.
At least that’s my take on it.
I just connected with this poor man. He was bullied and betrayed because he was disfigured. No one paid attention to his genius in building and composing. He was living a life alone in isolation. I wanted to go underground with him.
I would have gone off with him and loved him unlike Christine Daaé, she’s a total jerk and loser.
I also really, really love the 1925 film.
The film was not only horrtastic, but simply, and honestly amazing! It also stayed very close to the book, making only a few changes, and doing a much better job than some other versions (the 1943 one, so bad 😦 ). In fact this year marks it’s 90th anniversary!
Not to mention the amazing make up job that Lon Chaney did that just creeped you out. Absolutely amazing!
And the fabulous masquerade scene that is one of the first color shots in the history of film.
Erik: [at the Bal Masque as “The Red Death”] Beneath your dancing feet are the tombs of tortured men! Thus does The Red Death rebuke your merriment!
Now I have mixed feelings about the 2004 film starring Gerard Butler. I won’t go too into it as I plan to review it for Horrorfest IV. I did love Gerard Butler and his singing.
But I didn’t like the way they tried to make it that Christine saw him as a father figure. My biggest issue however was the way he looked. Only half his face was disfigured! Why couldn’t Christine just sit on one side of him? I mean otherwise the Phantom was a really attractive guy.
Anyways, however he is shown I love Erik, the Phantom. I defintely would have picked him over stinky Raoul.
I’m writing a series of posts on the book that will be coming in the future. If you love anything Phantom, follow me and keep your eyes peeled.
![Erik: [at the Bal Masque as "The Red Death"] Beneath your dancing feet are the tombs of tortured men! Thus does The Red Death rebuke your merriment!](https://janeaustenrunsmylife.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/unknown-15.jpeg)
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