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Friday, August 13, 2010

Eat Pray Love: Whine, Jumpcut!, Elephant

Well, I can now confirm it: Contrary to popular belief, I am not a hippie.

My family-- while very understanding and supportive of my internet life/artistic ventures/unconventional career path-- tends to joke about my "free-form chaos." My siblings refer to my guest room, which is often filled with traveling youtubers, as The Gypsy Hostel. I sometimes overhear my mom on the phone catching up with an old friend, saying, "It's called Five Awesome Girls, and they make these videos...." And I'm pretty much expected to always be dressed up as a mummy, or saving whales, or painting my face with glue. My one sister is the go-getter, my brother is the funny one, my other sister is the caretaker, and I'm this guy.

However, if Eat Pray Love is any example of how hippies are supposed to behave, then give me a freaking business suit and call me a fundamentalist, because that movie just left a seriously bad taste in my mouth.

I wouldn't ordinarily write a review like this on the opening day of a movie, for fear of spoiling the surprises and spurring on preconceived notions. But the thing is... there's really nothing to spoil. Astoundingly, the movie hardly managed to do or say anything in two and a half hours. By the time it was over, I couldn't remember anything about the world established in the first half. I was still totally and completely aware of the fact that I was watching Julia Roberts pretend to be a normal person. I paid nine dollars to see, in order: a whole lot of exposition with little purpose, James Franco looking kind of hot (purposelessly), some spaghetti, a bunch of people I didn't have enough of a chance to care about, an honest-to-God SHOPPING MONTAGE, more disorienting jump cuts than a wheezywaiter video, the lifeless drone of a main character pretending to have a soul but failing, some more characters whose names I can't remember and whose stories went by too quickly for me to be interested in, about twenty seconds of an elephant*, a terribly cheesy and terribly-executed flashback/dream sequence, and perhaps the worst and most unrealistic "romance" I've ever witnessed, which is saying something, because I saw The Last Song. I don't mean to give it all away, but the couple literally rides off into the sunset. I could have vomited.

Oh, and the message was the worst part of all. This movie preaches as much self-centeredness as an episode of Laguna Beach, multiplied by, like, Jordan Baker. The only thought we're left with? "Life is all about me. I should do whatever I want at all times, regardless of how it affects other people. Money is no object! The emotions of others are even less of an object! Maybe I'll get a divorce! Maybe I'll be with this guy! Maybe I won't! Maybe I'll be this religion! I'll do what feels good at this very second, and then move on to the next thing that momentarily satisfies me! Let's eat and gain sooo much weight that we're... we're still Julia Roberts." Give me a break.

Aaaand exhale. I'm sorry for that explosion, and I'm more than open to hearing your reviews, whether or not you agree with me. Maybe I'm overreacting, and maybe I just missed the point, but Eat Pray Love made me feel less like a vivacious foodie feminist and more like a moody semi-conservative in a theater full of menopausal women... and I was having hot flashes for a different reason. Sigh.

Today, I saw: a bad movie.
Today, I heard: a lot of people express surprise over the difference in my hair color. Still not used to it.
Today, I smelled: about forty different kinds of wine. I went with my mom and sisters to this cute little vineyard for dinner.
Today, I touched: a watermelon the size of my torso.
Today, I tasted: some kind of... fried pizza dough, dipped in... maybe marshmallow fluff? Whatever; I'm not too concerned. Probably not the best idea, but screw it, I'm a size four now.

Chipotle burritos this year: 23
Subscribers: 32,741
Nail color: "Through the Grapevine," Wet 'n' Wild

*I'm serious. With no previous warning, and with no follow-up whatsoever, there was an elephant. Doing nothing to advance any sort of plot. Just chilling, being an elephant, for the sake of being an elephant. It was as if they'd finished the film, and the director was like, "Oh my gosh. You guys. We're in India. LET'S GET AN ELEPHANT. Put that in there! I don't care where! Just insert an elephant clip! White folks go craaazy for that shit!"

P.S. High-fives and make-outs for those of you who caught my Elizabethtown quote in yesterday's post. Obscure!

43 comments:

Sarah Badger said...

That's EXACTLY the problem I have with the book. Self-serving, hedonistic, makes me want to barf. But also kind of makes me want to eat pasta.
Thanks goodness I'm not alone. I mean about the first part. I'm totally fine with eating pasta alone.

Leah said...

I laughed so fucking hard at this. Oh, babe, I've MISSED you.

Also: have you read the book for Eat Pray Love? I mean. I haven't. But part of the disconnect you experienced could have been the inherent lack-of-soul that a lot of Movies Made From Books have.

Also: your hair isn't THAT different. And as you know, I've been pro-brunette!you for ages. I think it looks great. But not, like, shocking. Isn't it just your... actual, natural color now?

Dana said...

Ugh, I had to read "Eat, Pray, Love" for Book Club last year. Just about all of the girls raved about it and I found it painfully self absorbed. It was just so excessive and just...not at all fun to read. I'm so sorry you had to sit through it. Anyway.

Today, I saw: Carrot Top on Cash Cab. Quite a frightening sight.
Today, I heard: out band director shout out to "remember your Jesus boxes!" while playing Amazing Grace.
Today, I tasted: five dollar Little Caesars pizza. Kuh-laaassy.
Today, I smelled:various substances (mustard, shaving cream, ketchup) that had been dumped on my teacher's and drum majors' heads.
Today, I touched: bits of water balloons that had just been thrown at me on the last day of band camp.

Sammie said...

Haha....I just saw Eat Pray Love with my mom and sister...and after the elephant scene I was constantly thinking about what the point of that elephant was....haha. I thought the movie was okay...but it jumped all over the place, and didn't flow very nice....bummed me out.

Britta said...

This is my first comment ever on blogspot :)

Today, I saw: A nervous goat who's hair stuck up along her back and made it look like she had a mohawk.

Today, I heard: A meowing sound coming from a neighbors back yard which told me that someone nearby has at least one peacock... I live in the middle of a city.

Today, I tasted: Ramen, baked beans, scrambled eggs, and broccoli all mixed together. As you can imagine, it was not too tasty, but I ate it anyway.

Today, I touched: The sharp ends of chicken wire as I bent it into a homemade compost container. I have little pricks all over my fingers now, the things I do for the environment...

Anonymous said...

I originally wasn't going to see the film because it was a chick flick. Now, knowing it's a bad chick flick, I'm going to avoid it like it's contagious with some sort of rare alien plague. Thanks for saving me the trouble of having nightmares related to random elephant placement!

Today I saw: something I didn't expect - a character on Eureka being played by one from Stargate: Atlantis
Today I heard: the Beverly Hills Cop theme... classic
Today I tasted: cookies I baked myself (a couple of them tasted weird which bothered me)
Today I smelled: french bread pizza being baked (which was made after the cookies)
Today I touched: my dog who is oh-so-soft (I touch her every day, but today I hung out with her especially)

tranquilily said...

I saw that movie today too! I thought it was supposed to be about her finding herself but it seemed like she kept going from guy to guy and my friend who read the book said it was less like that. But the pizza scene inspired my friends and I to attempt to make an Italian dinner, so that was fun! Too bad that part was in the first half and we were all hungry the second half...

Today I saw: a box of baking soda fall into the pot of boiling water as I tried to get the crisco out of the cupboard

heard: a creepy old guy keep calling Julia Roberts "Groceries"

smelled: cheese stuffed shell pasta

tasted: strawberry strudle bar-things

touched: my watch as I fiddled with the clasp

Glo said...

I have yet to see the movie, but I've read the book Eat Pray Love. I honestly really enjoyed the book. It is a bit disjointed because of the way the book is written. Gilbert tells the story of each country in 36 chapters, thus the year of her life is told in 108 chapters. That's not a lot and I can imagine anyone who wrote a year of their life in such a way would sound disjointed.

Anyone who takes time out of their lives to discover who they truly are is not selfish. I know I've had to do that and I'm pretty sure I will again. I like to think other people do too. Sure Gilbert did it in an unconventional way that cost a lot of money, but she also got a book advance so she could write about it. If I had the money to travel abroad for one year, I would do it in a heartbeat. And aren't we all just a little bit self absorbed?

What I'm saying is, basically, cut the woman a break. Read the book with an open mind and think about a time when you felt so lost, scared, and alone that you were frozen in place for fear of moving forward in the wrong direction.

Today I saw: the Cubs lose.
Today I heard: some odd singing coming from a TV in another room.
Today I tasted: delicious Pad Thai
Today I smelled: a puppy
Today I touched: my mosquito bites

thisisasecret said...

I haven't seen Eat Pray Love, and i'm kind of weary

I admit I Loved the book at the time i read it.. eh a year or two ago. Though i didn't agree with all her life choices her views on religion made me think, more outside the box.

Maybe if you read the book you'd have more respect for the story?
Or maybe the whole things is aweful! I haven't read it in a while so i'm not sure.


Today, I saw:
The a 15 year old Dan Radcliffe while watching GoF

Today, I heard:
My Little brother screaming in fear at a pink coosh ball

Today, I tasted:
Delicious Ben & Jerry's mint icecream!

Today, I smelled:
Cooked broccoli! gross, but it tasted delish with cheese!

Today, I touched:
The red spots on my skin, which have been driving me crazy for the past 5 days. (Misquitos!)

Sarah said...

Thank you Hayley, now when my sister asks me to go with her because this is one book she's actually read I will say no and not waste my money. It sounded pretty dumb to me and dang if the relationship is worse than The Last Song that's saying something! Though I am very curious about the elephant, I sort of wish they used that clip as promo on different talk shows to explain and make the movie seem appealing, that would have been hilarious. This is one reason why I'll never be in charge of creating/deciding what becomes the promo clips for any movies; I'd pick the absolute stupidest part just to make myself laugh an watch the actors try to explain it's significance as if it has any. xD

And today I felt: this strange mold stuff I bought to cast my dog's paw print...
Tasted: yummy onion rings
Saw: the special features on the fifth season of Buffy, causing me to fall more in love with this show and Joss Whedon
Smelled: The previously mentioned onion rings
Heard: Lauren's song about Kaylee from her first album! I've been waiting until I actually watched Firefly to listen to it but since I only have 2 episodes left I figured I could listen now. [/fangirling]

Mel said...

My comment is completely irrelevant to your post, and feel free to disregard it, but I'm unnecessarily excited about something. I am currently sitting on the floor of my friends' room, using his laptop, while he sits on his bed and plays Mario on his old N64. This is the only time I've actually ever done something like this, despite the fact that it seems to be a normality for most YouTubers. It's really, really exciting to finally get to simultaneously watch Tyler Oakely videos and hear my friend shouting things at the TV. He just groaned, "UGH NO! I didn't realize I was still alive! SHIT!" as I typed this. Anyway, I just feel this is a step toward a nerdiness I've never experienced before.
Today, I saw: a cop pretend to punch a kid, which I freaked out about until I realized he knew the kid.
Today, I heard: the same song twice in a row, once on my iPod and once on the radio.
Today, I smelled: delicious pasta that my friend made. This is the same friend that I had to teach how to use a dishwasher... I don't know where he learned to make legit food.
Today, I touched: extremely soft grass.
Today, I tasted: the pasta mentioned above.

Anonymous said...

Oh bummer! I love Elizabeth Gilbert. I recently heard that a friend of mine's mother found the book very self-centered too and it boggled my mind. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that a lot of women probably won't relate. I don't see who she hurt though, except her ex husband which, I mean, who is going to stay in a relationship when they are absolutely miserable you know? I don't know, I was reminded of Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Plath, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and Kate Chopin. Especially Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour". These women seemed to want to scream, I'm not happy with the life I am expected to live and I'll beat myself up with guilt because of it. Women should be there to support everybody else etc. Some women just don't and I'm surprised we don't hear from more of them.

Anonymous said...

Also, the reason the book is so appealing is because Gilbert is so... human. The riding on an elephant thing? Ridiculous. Gotta love Hollywood! lol

Victoria said...

I have decided that for the first time in six months (that's the amount of time I have been reading your blog) to write a comment! I haven't read the book, nor have I watched the movie, but I did watch "The Other Guys" today and I had finished writing my review on my blog, then I stopped by your blog to read today's post and lookie lookie you also have been a critic today! I thought that was funny enough to tell you.

Today I saw: a bad movie (again different from your bad movie, but a bad movie none of the less)
Today I heard: my dog barking for what felt like an hour at my cat
Today I tasted: movie popcorn and peanut m&ms together (great combo)
Today I smelled: my dad's home-made pizza, the crust was soo delectable.

Craft Teach Repeat said...

Today I saw my friend's boyfriend for the first time.
Today I touched the stroller my sister wants to get for my nephew who is going to be born in November.
Today I tasted nacho dip.
Today I heard a Sugarland song.
Today I smelled alcohol.

Craft Teach Repeat said...

Anything unrelated to elephants is irrelephant!

Tom said...

You have to keep in mind that it was based on a book. I started reading it (because my mom was all about it and told me I should), and I got through the first third of it, and then never got around to finishing it. I actually quite enjoyed it; it just wasn't exactly my style. She's a really engaging writer, though. Parts of the book were so, so funny, and she's always really eloquent without using too many big-ass words that only really smart people know. (Kinda like how YOU write!)

But even having only read part of the book, when I heard that they were making a movie I knew it was going to suck. The humor, for one thing, just could not translate, as it was all in the language. And, also, everything else would not translate either. There would have been no way to make any of it into a compelling film.

(Though I must say, I did quite enjoy the trailer, because I saw Javier Bardem and realized he must be playing the foreign guy character, whose real life counterpart my mom met hahahaha.)

Re: the selfishness thing: I'd read that the same criticism has been leveled at the book, and I can understand it when people say, "rich white girl does whatever she wants for a year=not endearing." But I feel like that's kind of based on the premise that rich people should not complain/be unhappy when they're so well off, which is obviously bullshit, because nobody thinks that money equals happiness. And in the book she has a whole chapter about her struggle with depression (again, I'm sure this would not translate well to an angsty look/voice-over scene). And the whole point of the whole thing was that she was so depressed that she decided to say, "fuck it," and just go do something else for a while, which I'm sure a lot of people can identify with, regardless of how well off they are.

Also, in the book she wasn't like, "Maybe I'll get a divorce!" because she didn't care about the feelings of others. (Maybe the movie made it seem like this, I don't know.) But in the book it was like, I'm so fucking depressed and I have to get out of this dead-end relationship with this man with whom I'm no longer in love before we grow old together. And Elizabeth Gilbert never detailed their relationship in the book because she didn't want to put her former husband in the spotlight and make him into the evil villian in the story when they both had issues, so that was cool of her.

It's funny that I'm defending her to the death when I never finished the damned book haha. But I've seen her interviewed a couple times and quite like her. I would really, seriously recommend her TED talk on creativity (it's on youtube, obvi.) I'd recommend it to any creative-types. I'm also defending her/her book when you were talking about how sucky the movie was, which I totally believe.

Andddd that comment is ridiculously long, my b. It took more words than I thought it would to disjointedly expess all these thoughts. Whee bye.

Melody said...

BAHAHAHA. The elephant rant made me DIE, I was laughing so hard. Probably because it's exactly the kind of thing my friends and I would get angry and rant about.

Kat said...

Eh, I think your review might lean more towards the you-are-a-feminist side? Seeing as many feminists see goals of gender-based equality dependent on equality with regards to race, class, etc. Also the feminist in me prefers female characters with substance.

And now let's have some sensing! Today I...

saw: an excellent movie -- The Kids Are All Right (omg see it see it see it)
heard: The Smiths on the radio, because sometimes the world loves me
smelled: overpriced coffee products
touched: a minivan steering wheel as I drove away with my brother's wallet in the door. Whoops...
tasted: cookie dough

It was a pretty good day, even if I payed almost three bucks for what was essentially a cup full of ice.

Jenni said...

Today, I saw: the pages of Hunger Games turn! I couldn't put it down!
Today, I heard: some of my friends arguing D:
Today, I smelled: delicious food cooking.
Today, I touched: my keyboard frantically as I tried to explain a situation over MSN.
Today, I tasted: the last Mars bar :(

Emily said...

The title for this post made me laugh. A lot.
Also, I just want to say, I WISH I HAD MORE TIME TO COMMENT ON YOUR BLOG! Because I really want to. Every post. But I hardly have time to READ them, and that makes me sad. But here I am. Commenting. Yay!

Anyways.
Today, I saw: Inception. For the third time. Because it's pretty much my favorite movie in the world and I would probably kind of make out with it if it were embodied in a person. Which may be too much information, but still.

Today, I heard: This Bitter Earth/On The Nature of Daylight by Dinah Washington/Max Richter about 20 times because it's beautiful and heartbreaking and gorgeous and I can't stop listening to it. As is evidenced by the fact I am still listening to it right now. Seriously. If you haven't heard it, youtube that shit, it's unendingly breathtaking.

Today, I smelled: Starbucks. Mmm.

Today, I touched: a poster that told me that a theater company near me is performing Hamlet this weekend. I was sort of creepily stroking it. But come on. HAMLET.

Today, I tasted: a little too much sugar, which is why this comment is slightly more hyper than usual. :] Also eggs benedict. I love eggs benedict.

Pevensie said...

Hi-5!

I'll take a rain check on the make-out though. Ta :D

Ida Ruda said...

This post is almost as negative as a review of (Un)arranged Marriage I had to write for school a couple of years ago, which I got a lower grade on because I was too negative. Isn't that fantastic.

I think the way you felt about Eat Pray Love is the way I feel about PS, I Love You. That was just... awful.

Saw: a documentary about Karen Carpenter which made me cry. A lot.
Heard: a horrible cover of Mama Mia.
Smelled: new books.
Touched: fifteen pairs of socks. I bought them, it wasn't some weird fetish.
Tasted: a sammich with chicken and mango dressing. O.M.G. I think I might have become religious.

leahcar said...

Normally I don't make comments on blogs; I just read them. But I have to ask if you've read the book or not, because the book is actually really good and Elizabeth Gilbert is a good writer.

And you say it's kind of whiney, but I think you have to look at the story with more of an open mind. Maybe the movie didn't make some of the details clear, but she was just so depressed that she needed to pause and figure out who she really is. Personally, I've never struggled with depression so I can't completely relate but one of my friends has been depressed to that point and I was there for her a lot of the time so I can sympathize with Gilbert.

I think you should read the book, if you haven't (again, I don't know if you have or not), because it's much more detailed and personal than the movie is. I feel like a book like Eat Pray Love is hard to make into a movie anyway. Though I do love Julia Roberts.

I wish my argument was a little more eloquent, but oh well. Some other people have stated a lot of the things already that I'm trying to say.

Anonymous said...

Ugh that was my problem with the book. It was just so self-centered. I didn't have an issue with the fact that she left her husband, but the whole book just felt like I was listening to the ranting of a fifteen year old. It was like the author never grew up and learned to deal with life.

Anonymous said...

I haven't read the book or seen the movie but I saw the author on Oprah and I completely agree with you. Did you know the author of Eat Pray Love got a book deal before she went on this grand excursion. How genuine and life-altering of an experience can you have if you're being paid to have it? And I love (read: hate) how she acts like abandoning everything to go on a trip to find herself isn't the most selfish thing ever.

Cat (: said...

Should have seen Scott Pilgrim. That movie was AWESOME. So cool. It was like watching a crossover movie/videogame/comic book. Plus it was really funny. And if you try to pull the whole "waaahhh, Michael Cera is the exact same in every movie!" (which is totally true), I will say that he plays the same character, but much MUCH more badass.

oomboo2 said...

That's basically why I hate memoirs. They're all either "look at me, my life sucked so much" or "look at me, I did such great stuff" or "look at me, I 'found myself' and don't care about anyone else".

I refused to read that book, despite my mother's constant assertions that it's so "powerful".

Anonymous said...

Hey Hayley,

This is my first time commenting on your blog, but I've been a creeper from the very beginning...like from that video on your personal channel where you're straightening your hair while talking like an HP fangirl (which has mysteriously disappeared =[ ).

ANYWAYS, this entry got me thinking...have you ever read Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead (it irks me that this can't be italicized)? It's basically my Bible. Highly recommended if you're up for a challenge!

Niki said...

Oh goodness Hayley. A few days I ago, I went to local festival and got free tickets to an advanced screening of Scott Pilgrim vs The World (which was amazing and hilarious but was a total Michael Cera movie if you know what I mean), and there was an advanced screening of Eat, Pray, Love too, in the theater next to ours. Needless to say, the line was out of theater and all the way down the cinema's sidewalk, while my nerd friends and I casually walked into SPvsTW. Did I mention it was amazing?

Today, I saw: a picture of my best friend standing next to a giant Optimus Prime in NYC. I'm so proud of him. :')

Today, I heard: that my brother made it to Georgia safely (from western NY)!

Today, I tasted: Bill Grays french fries. Ulllgggrrgggghh. That's my impression of a Homer Simpson drool.

Today, I smelled: My fish tank. I will never skip cleaning it. Ever.

Today, I touched: My cat's soft fur. It's really soft.

Claire said...

Please, please read the book. I adored it and I would go and say it is my favourite book of all time. I have not seen the film yet, but I already know that Julia Roberts is completely wrong for the part... but to be honest I think it would be incredibly difficult for the book to translate well on to screen. Give the book a chance, I would be very interested in hearing what you think after that.

Today, I saw: an incredibly tall (i mean 6 ft 10 EASILY) man wearing way too much fake tan and with way too much bleach in his hair.

Today, I heard: from my friend that a bomb went off in a town near where I live! Grr.

Today, I tasted: yummy chicken!

Today, I smelled: lots of gorgeous mens cologne on all my male colleagues!!

Today, I touched: lots and lots of fruit and veg.

Elisquared said...

I have read the book and found it to be the opposite of what they protrayed in the movie (which often happens). Yes the book at times can be self-centered. Perhaps that is because it is about ONE person's life. Elizabeth Gilbert wrote about an experience in her life which helped her survive an agonizing divorce. She was fortunate enough to get a book advance to take this journey and write about it. So realistically many of us aren't able to take grand trips such as this one, and if writing about it, and enjoying the trip makes her self-centered then so be it, because I would be the same.

I think that movies NEVER do books justice because you cannot hear a character/person's thoughts which many times illuminates situations to the reader.

So to wrap this up, I think you should try and read the book, and really examine what she went through as told in her own words and not Hollywood's money-making machine.

Anonymous said...

You know, something tells me I'm not going to see Eat Pray Love. My eyes have suffered enough lately. I'm trying to go easy on them before I have to go back to school.

(And this objective was not helped by the fact that today I finally summoned the courage to watch a video of Vanessa Hudgens doing Light My Candle in the Hollywood Bowl version of Rent. I hate to sound so stereotypically Disney-prejudiced, but she was TERRIBLE. Her voice is like a diseased lumberjack trying to sing and chop down a tree at the same time and I will never understand why they cast her as Mimi. Asifvqdsuyfv...this parenthetical is becoming a lot longer than I intended it to be. Sorry. Bye.)

Caitlin said...

I JUST got back from the movie.
Honestly they left a lot of the cultural explanation out for obvious movie reasons. I found the book to be a lot more in depth than the movie dared to be. I suggest wiping this memory from your mind and try the book on for size. Also...it might just be that she's in a place in her life that you can't identify with yet. try reading it anyway if you haven't.

maddy said...

I read the book, and I felt exactly the same way. I only got about half-way through before I had to give up. All of my mother's friends have been /raving/ about the book and the movie, and they were all shocked to hear that I didn't like it.

Alex Dahlberry said...

Well, I guess that movie is not on my must-see list. Not that it was. Although James Franco is a babe.

I just said babe.

I really need to exercise. Random thought.
K,bye.

Carlotta Jones said...

I love to read your blog! You always make mundane things so interesting. This review was pretty funny and original. Perhaps you should do more "bad" film reviews, their quite entertaining :).

N said...

I didn't get the Elizabethtown reference the first time around. In fact, I don't even know what Elizabethtown is, but I went back to that post to see if I could guess it, and I did! "We are intrepid. We carry on." In retrospect, it sounds like something from somewhere else. :^P

High five = earned. Make-out = reluctantly turned down. You're not the only one with a Situation. teehee

N said...

PS: If that's what being a hippie is, then I'm not one either, in spite of my friends' insistence to the contrary. (Forgive the contorted phrasing. It makes sense in my head.)

SayAnything said...

I haven't read the book, nor seen the movie, but seeing the preview was enough for me to know I did not want to see it. For every reason you just explained, and for the fact I got all that from the trailer, I am not going to see it. Sorry, if anyone liked/likes it, I'm just genuinely uninterested.

Kaitlin228 said...

I thought "perhaps I will come out of this movie with a new take on life, and learn to Eat, Pray and Love appropriately." I laughed at the end because I wasted a lot of my life then. I agree with you completely, especially how the elephant made no sense whatsoever.

MJ said...

You seem to be very attached to labels.

Your family calls you a hippie because you have friends over your parents' house.

So that means you're a hippie...?

Huh?

Then you watch a movie based on a memoir and label this woman a hippie/feminist...because you watched the movie and have never read the book?

So now you think, well I didn't like that (not very well made) portrayal of a "hippie", so now I feel I am conservative and kind of angry?

Why do you think she is a hippie? Because she follows Buddhist teachings? Because she meditates?

For the record. I read the book before I watched the movie and I didn't think the movie was very good either. They changed the story quite a bit. I didn't think it was the best book ever written either. But I don't think it is selfish of a person to want to make themselves happy.

Also, I think it is amusing that you think she is self-centered. This movie was based on a memoir. That is a book that someone writes about themselves.

I think it's ironic you calling her self-centered when you have a youtube channel, a blog, a twitter account, and probably idolize self-absorbed people on a daily basis.

But then again, I don't really know you. So I probably am missing a whole lot.

Maybe you should let go of the labels you hold onto so closely and open your mind to the realization that even if a person is the exact definition of your stereotype, which they probably aren't, they are most likely a lot more complex than you think.

Anonymous said...

So this comment is maybe coming a little late, but the previous comment pointed out something that I really, really can't ignore, on principle...

So you think that the movie was an accurate portrayal of a hippie?

Here's the scoop on hippies:
a) Hippies lived in communes. Everyone lived together, sharing food and being one big happy family.
b) They preached peace and love and wanted more than everything to end the Vietnam war that was going on at the time the very first hippis were around.
c) In general, they are good people. They really are. Hippies were protesters; they wanted to be heard and they wanted a voice that what was happening in Vietnam was not okay. Many of them were beaten and taken off to jail for advocating for peace and love.
d) One fun fact that might make you look at hippies a little differently: a group of hippies travelled to Bangledesh in a bus after a big disaster, bringing people food and medicine.

Girl, you are not a hippie. Neither is Julia Roberts. I don't blame you- misconception of what hippies are is rampant these days, especially where there aren't many hippies.

Please don't take out your anger on the hippies.