Marinara and the Almonds

We had a really awesome lesson in class this Wednesday about the power music has. It's really amazing how quickly music can change our moods and make us feel things, right? 

One song that has recently been a favorite of mine is "I Am Not a Robot" by Marina and the Diamonds. I often find myself feeling insignificant and down. I feel like I'm trying to live up to these false expectations and am missing them by a long shot. And sometimes when I have those kinds of feelings, I feel like I'm not worth caring about and that I'm being way too vulnerable. I really feel like this song encompasses all of the feelings that I have, and it reassures me that it's okay to be weak and vulnerable sometimes. 

"You're vulnerable, you're vulnerable: you are not a robot. You're lovable, so lovable - but you're just troubled."

My best friend and I went and saw Marina a couple of months ago in Salt Lake. And it was so fun. 

The Mindy Project

It was a really good call on my part to get Hulu right as the new semester was starting, right? Anyway, thanks to my complete lack of self control, I was able to zoom through the 4 seasons of The Mindy Project in a couple of weeks.

Overall? It was alright. Mindy Kaling didn't disappoint in the slightest. In our Media class (on the first day, I believe) we talked about how successful shows are able to create characters that you feel a connection to and feel like you'd be friends with in real life. This is really seen in the success of FRIENDS, where everyone feels like Chandler, Monica, Rachel, Ross, and Phoebe are their friends in real life (hey, I know I do!)

I feel like Dr. Mindy Lahiri is definitely someone that I'd be all for hanging out with. She's an incredibly hard-working and successful OBGYN with a love of pop culture and romantic comedies. She oozes body positivity and feminism, and I'm completely on-board. She lives in a gorgeous apartment in NYC and isn't afraid to be herself and live her life in a way that makes her happy. One thing that I love about Mindy is that while she is absolutely full of quirks, she doesn't at all fill the manic pixie dream girl trope. She's real. She's confident. She's hot. She knows it.

Throughout all of her success, Mindy has always felt like something was missing - love. In the first two seasons, she's basically with a new guy every other episode and I love it. I loved trying to predict which guy would be the one, and I found it so relatable to the real life dating world.

(honestly this isn't even half of them... I couldn't find a picture of ALL of them....)

Enter: the devil. Aka the character that honestly ruined the entire show for me: freaking Dr. Danny Castellano - Mindy's belittling, misogynistic, overall rude, mama's boy, Catholic coworker turned lover. Okay, it was pretty obvious from about halfway into Season 1 that they were trying to get the two together, but there was just such a lack of chemistry (probably on account that Danny Castellano is the WORST) that I was hoping that maybe the show would steer a different direction. But alas.

(....get this out of my face...)

SPOILERS from here on out, alright?

He hates marriage and doesn't want to take any part in it. He proposes to Mindy after she basically has to beg him. When they move in and get pregnant, he treats her like she's the biggest sinner in the world, and does nothing but bring her down. He mocks her Hinduism and makes her pretend to be Catholic because he's embarrassed for her to meet his peers. He complains about her constantly with his mother. He is distant and non-communicative. He's always angry about something. He puts down Mindy for her desire to have a cesarean birth instead of a natural one - and he ends up winning (wait a minute...shouldn't that kind of be Mindy's final decision?) He forces her to quit her job and stay home with the baby, even though work is the most fulfilling thing in her life, and the fertility clinic that she had risen from the ground was just starting up. He won't let her leave the house once she has the baby, and even hides a hidden camera to make sure that she doesn't leave. He gets rid of all of the electronics in the home and the only thing he leaves Mindy with to entertain herself and the baby is the bible. He calls her work a "hobby," and say it's something that she can do on the weekends. He secretly tracks her ovulation cycle to try to get her pregnant again, even through they'd just had a child. He puts her down sexually. He criticizes her eating habits. He sabotages her chance to get a prestigious Stanford fellowship because he assumed it was solely to get a proposal out of him. He's a controlling, emotionally abusive maniac. 

Basically, Danny Castellano is a horrible boyfriend and a terrible person in general. It scares me that the media created this character, and there there are articles out there like "23 Reasons You Want Danny Castellano to Be Your Boyfriend." It scares me that some people might believe that this is an appropriate way to be treated in a relationship. Mindy can do so much better - and other watchers must have felt the same way I felt, considering the series ended with a strong implication that Mindy was taking her son and moving back into her old apartment. 

Go, Mindy, go!!! Run for your life!!!!! 

Female Representation in Zelda: Twilight Princess

Welcome to my first blog post! Over Christmas break I discovered a gem at my Dad's house - a copy of he Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. Score! The next two weeks were filled with wolf-morphing and twilight wonder. 

Unfortunately I wasn't able to finish the game (bummer) in the two weeks I was home. Maybe I could have, but that would pretty much defeat the purpose of being in close proximity with my friends and family. Anyway, upon returning to school, one of my close friends mentioned that he had the game. So this weekend, with the concept of female representation on my mind, I began my journey over again into the Twilight realm. 

One of the very first, and very prominent, female characters that you meet in the game is the elvish twilight figure:

Midna

Sarcastic, witty, and passionate, Midna is a refreshing character in the world of video games. Because of her elvish state, it also makes it more difficult for her to be sexualized. She calls upon Link to help her save the Twilight Realm and eventually the kingdom of Hyrule. Her sharp-tongued manner and compassion towards her people and those effected by the evil around them creates a very complex character. On top of being a strong voice and having an important job, she is also incredibly powerful and the only one that can transport link through the different realms and help him defeat important enemies. If only more games contained the strong female representation as reflected through the sharp-tongued Midna. 

Appearing only a couple of times throughout the game, but still having an important part, is:

Princess Zelda

Having a more mysterious air about her in this game than in others, Princess Zelda is still an important figure holding important authority. She gives power to Midna and eventually helps Link defeat Ganondorf with light arrows. While she doesn't she show up very often throughout the game, she still holds a position as a powerful ruler, instead of simply standing by or being a pretty face. 

Other characters show up throughout the game: a pregnant villager in Ordon Village, a busty bartender named Telma, a young girl friend of Links.... 

It is east to point out problematic issues in anything, but I would conclude that overall, the female representation and lack of sexualization present in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is admirable, as it shows female character with great power and important tasks.