Daily Dose of Culture - Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

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[SPOILER ALERT]

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a beautiful picture of love. It is difficult and messy, but amazingly beautiful. The title comes from the poem Eloisa to Abelard by Alexander Pope. 

The story starts out with Joel and Clementine meeting on a train. She is crazy and impulsive, and has bright orange hair that she changes with her mood. He is quiet and introverted and expresses himself through art and writing.
As the story progresses, we learn that Joel has gone to a clinic to have all of his memories about Clementine erased, because she rashly decided to do the same after their recent break up. He can't handle the hurt of the breakup and her rejection of ever knowing him, and he wants to get back at her by forgetting her completely.
As they start to erase his memory, though, Joel changes his mind. We watch as he relives every memory they erase, and he realizes how much he loves her. We see the good and the bad of their relationships - how they fell in love and why they broke up. Joel is reminded of everything he hated about Clementine - she was rash and insecure and moody. She was flighty. But through all of these reminders he is fighting to get her back.

In the end, after they have erased each other from their memory and met again, they find out that they were in a relationship before. They find out about each other's crap - they hear the worst of it - but they choose to make it work anyway.
They know they dated before.
They know they broke up and why.
And they decided they would work through it, because they love each other.

This movie is not the same kind of mushy love usually found in chick flicks. It's not about their flirting and dating. It's about their fighting - against and for each other.

I guess what I love most about this movie is that it gives me hope. A lot of times I feel broken in the same ways that Clementine is. I am insecure. I feel worthless a lot. I run away from my problems, or ignore them.
It is a beautiful thing to me to see a movie that says I don't have to be perfect. I just have to love. I don't have to have long hair, I don't have to be strong and independent, I don't have to sing beautifully, I don't have to always be flirty, look sexy, or have everything together.
I just have to give love and work hard.
I can do those things.

Love,

Scout

Daily Dose of Culture - Frankenstein

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is not just the science fiction tale it is recognized as. It is a tale of humanity; a tale of brokenness and failed attempts at love.

Frankenstein is a scientist who tries to play God by creating a being. However, when the being comes to life, Frankenstein is repulsed and flees from his creation. 

His creature lives in hiding, searching for meaning and a place to belong. He watches civilization from afar and teaches himself to speak and read. He longs for community and love, but everyone is repulsed by his grotesque appearance. 

As he gains knowledge of life and humanity, the creature gets angrier and angrier with Frankenstein. How could his creator abandon him? How could the creature be expected to love if he has never known it? In an effort to get back at Frankenstein for his horrible treatment, the creature becomes a menace to others. He intends to do this for as long as it takes for Frankenstein to stop hurting him, but his plan backfires. Instead of getting the love that he desires, he remains alone and begins to loathe himself for his crimes.  

Shelley's book is a brilliant tale of how we desperately try to love, but our brokenness keeps us from succeeding. Like Frankenstein's creature, we cannot learn to love on our own. We need to be taught. 

(Image from Google Images)

- Scout 

Daily Dose of Culture - Nancy Drew

I read every original Nancy Drew book when I was younger. I loved them. I thought the stories were great because they were scary, exciting, and they taught you something - there was always a theme and you learned something cool about whatever it was.

I always wanted to be just like Nancy - she was so clever and brave. She was beautiful, had great friends, a boyfriend, and great clothes. I definitely still love her clothes - fifties fashion is pretty awesome. :) She was the perfect role model. I loved that she was strong and independent, but still remained feminine and relational. She wasn't the abrasive feminist that's popular today, but what I imagined to be a true feminist.

However, as I came to the end of the series, I realized something: Nancy was a jerk! She was so obsessive about her mysteries that she put them ahead of her loved ones.
Poor Ned Nickerson. He just wanted to take his girl out on a date. But if there was a choice between him and a mystery, Nancy would choose the mystery every time. She constantly canceled her plans with Ned so she could work on a case - she didn't even take him with her so they could pretend like it was a date! If Ned was there, it was generally because Nancy got herself kidnapped and Ned had to come save her.

Even so, I still love these books, and I think every young girl should read at least one. Nancy Drew is a good role model, but maybe not quite the image of perfection I thought she was when I was little.

- Scout