Blogging Around

I responded to Hannah's blog 'Change of Mind: Real Love.' Hannah wrote about her changing opinion concerning love, after comparing the film Once, and other films she’s grown up watching like The Notebook and Dear John.

Dear Hanz,

I also have had a shift in my opinion of ‘love’ recently, similar to yours after watching Once. To be totally honest, I love love love love Nicholas Sparks movies. In case you didn’t realized, ABC family played The Notebook, The Time Traveler’s Wife, A Walk to Remember, and Leap Year all back to back Saturday and Sunday. I was devastated to realize I wouldn’t be able to sit on my couch having a movie marathon, due to studying for AP test and other homework. While I did manage to catch the end of The Time Traveler’s Wife, I watched it with a different perspective than when I have first seen it, as a hopeless romantic in 8^th grade. I’d still call myself a hopeless romantic, but what I find romantic is far different.

In the two years that had passed between that original viewing and now, I’ve been exposed to more ‘real’ love. Entering high school, it’s hard not to have your views changed when there are teenagers hooking up left and right. Is that love? It’s surely a physical expression of it, but which is more important? The physical or the emotional side?  

What all of the crazy love story movies have in contact is a lot of physical contact. After all, most of them are just a bunch of bad acting, which ruins the emotional aspect of the story, with a lot of special effects, kissing/sex, and staring into each other’s eyes to distract us from what love should actually be. Let’s face it: the couple that’s gushy all the time is downright annoying. I’ve seen many relationships that are far more stable than Ally and Noah’s, or Henry and Clare’s. Those are the couples that spend hours talking, can adapt from hanging out with friends to a date night, and make each other laugh. And they’re often normal teenagers, who get stressed and have bad hair days and lots and lots of flaws.

I think there’s a saying somewhere that falling in love means loving another person flaws.  Characters in movies rarely have flaws, or at least not ‘real’ ones. They’re perfect, but I know that when I fall in love I will be nowhere close to perfection. I hope that there’s someone out there willing to accept that, and help me get a little closer.

Did I still record a bunch of those sappy movies to watch next weekend? Of course. But more of the fact that I love watching them with my friends and I wish I had Rachel McAdams’s hair versus wishing for a love story like the one on screen. So, movie night after the AP? I still think the academy guys would benefit greatly from watching The Notebook.

Much love,

Charlie 

I also thoroughly enjoyed Derek’s blog ‘It Matters: Groupthink and the GOP’. He wrote about the zigzagging GOP campaign and the rationale behind it: we all follow the crowd.

Dear Derek,

We’re in high school, another perfect example of the concept you describe in the above blog post. In my two years of high school, we’ve already seen crazy fashion trends come and go, no matter how bad they actually look when everyone starts wearing it, most of us teenagers feel the need to conform as well. In the movie Mean Girls, a prank is played on queen bee Regina George, to have two holes cut into her shirt. Instead of being ridiculed for having holes in her shirt, all of the other girls cut holes in their shirt and it becomes the latest fashion trend.

Whether it be fashion trends or presidential candidates, if something is getting attention we hold it in higher esteem regardless of its face value. In fact, I’ve seen your theory about endorsements in action. On Election Day a few years ago, I remember asking my mother who she was voting for. She was informed about the major elections like for President, Vice President, etc. but for lower level positions, like new judges for Cook Country; she said she was simply voting for whoever the Chicago Tribune was backing.  

Now while I was far less informed than her about voting, safe with the knowledge that it wouldn’t be my responsibility as a citizen for a couple more years, I was still curious if that was an accurate way to vote. My mom is still far more politically active than the majority of the population, she often writes to politicians with her opinions, which leads me to think: what about everyone else? When the rest of Illinois and the U.S. votes, do they know what exactly they’re voting for, or are they just voting for whoever is flashiest?

           I don’t think that’s an accurate way to govern a country, but perhaps like Mitt Romney, it was inevitable. Informed citizens can only hope that the top-level media is getting the facts right concerning candidates’ platforms and accurately informing the voting population instead of being influence by donations and super PACs.

            Derek, your prediction was accurate. There were still some highs and lows, but three months later Romney is the GOP candidate still standing. Best of luck to him and current President Barak Obama on the long road to November.

Inevitably,

Charlie