Hooray for the Hype: Perks of Being A Wallflower

Hoodwinked or Hooray
Perks of Being a Wallflower

Dear Friend,
I am going to disclaim this by saying I have learned to never believe the hype. 70% of the time when a movie or album is ultra hyped, it turns out to be crap.  Whenever the words “stunning” “heartfelt” or “groundbreaking” are in a review, it sets off the hype-meter in my head. And not in a good way.

And when it comes to books, I have been hoodwinked by the hype one too many times. I’m talking to you, girlie with that reptile tattoo.  

Thus, when the hype started around the MovieBook “Perks of Being a Wallflower,” I was skeptical.
 
1. It was hyped.

2. It was written by a man and men cannot write relationships. (take that "Women aren't funny" spouters!)

I will concede that men can write complex introspective thought pieces that center on one character; they can write adventures, mysteries, horrors and nice autobiographies. But men are shit at writing about relationships, family and, in general, the things that make the world go round. All things I LIKE to read about.

(but I digress)

3. It was a book written by a man about teens and for teens.  
I have to be honest; most of the time adults just don’t get it...
 
Thus, it was with a healthy dose of skepticism that I picked up this slim novel at Target. Yes, Target! Thank you, America, for not reading thus causing all of my local bookstores to go belly up. 

After the first sentence I was hooked. 

That first sentence (heck the whole book) captures the feeling of adolescence perfectly.   It sums up what every teen is looking for in a friend:  someone who will listen and understand and has some integrity.

Chbosky continues to write the entire novel with that sense of honesty, naivete and openness that is adolescence at its best. As I was reading, I was taken back to my high school years. I remember all of the emotions Charlie was feeling.  

Chbosky describes and captures perfectly those little momentous moments. How the things that are most memorable are not the “rager house” parties, but the talking all night about NOTHING at Bob's Big Boy (or for us, Denny’s).  Or going  out with someone just because  they asked and it was polite but not because you liked them. There is a genuine confusion to Charlie's questions that I truly remember experiencing. There are things that happen as teen that you don’t understand and have questions about but there is no one to give you answers. You find out that eventually life gives you the answers.


I would recommend this book for every teen to read. I know, based on some of the hype, that there was controversy about this book and it was banned from some schools because they felt the material was too adult for kids. But the thing is, this is what kids are dealing with today (and everyday). I know when I was in high school, there were drugs, alcohol, pregnancy and suicide and I challenge you find anyone from ANY generation that did not deal with the same things in high school.
Let these kids read this book and know they are not alone in these issues.

What is great is that Charlie is NOT a cool kid, but he is himself, or the version of himself that he is becoming but he still not quite sure of. That is the whole paradox of adolescence: you are constantly becoming yourself in an attempt to be yourself when you have no idea who you are.

Love Always,
Squirt

P.S. Hooray for the Hype: for bringing this gem to my attention.

The Multiple Ways that Yvonne Strahovski Owned "Do the Wrong Thing"

Let's just get some basics out of the way:

1. Yvonne Strahovski is an actress.  A damn good one.
2. Dexter is show on premium cable.  Premium cable.  You were warned.

Yvonne Strahovski owned this episode.

From start to finish, this was her time to shine; to show multiple aspects of Hannah McKay; to show the world that she was not a one-note actress.  And boy, did she ever!

Do you even remember any of the other plot lines?

No, you don't.  Don't even pretend that you do.

So the Hannah & Dexter scenes/moments that I thought were awesome:

1. The delicate dance between Hannah and Dexter is simply mesmerizing.  It's easy to understand why Dexter is obsessed with Hannah.  We're obsessed with her, too!  We want to know more about her almost as much as Dexter!  (Personally, I don't think that she is guilty of any of the things that Dexter does, but I am willing to let it play out however the writers see fit.)
2. The stubborn strength that Hannah shows in keeping it all together.  She knows her weaknesses, but she is not a victim.  She's not an aggressor either.  She's something else all together.  And Yvonne is playing that balance with a grace and poise that looks simple, but is really rather difficult.
3. The "a plant" line.  Nailed it.  Pure comedy.  (Didn't expect anything less, but still.  Two words, so much subtext.)
4. The look on Hannah's face as they drove up to Santa's Holiday Adventure amusement park.  She looked like a kid at Christmas (no pun intended).  I actually was happy for her; that she finally got to see the snow, check something off of her list of desires.
5. The hand-holding as they were walking through the amusement park.   I actually giggled a bit.  It was just so sweet, so cute. 
6. The defiance in "Do what you gotta do."  Ugh!  Just so.....!

For those of you who are still upset about THAT scene, I just have one last thing to say:

- Sis

Bring. It. On!

I grew up on musicals.  Some of my earliest memories are of watching tapes of Annie, Brigadoon, Mary Poppins, Sound of Music and Pirates of Penzance.  Over and over and over again. 

I blew out my father's speakers on his new stereo by playing Christine's aria from Phantom of the Opera.  And then the speakers on my own boombox met the same fate due to unending repeat plays of the soundtrack from Newsies.  I wore out my first recording of RENT (a 2 tape set).  The Tonys are a National Holiday in my house and I record the Thanksgiving Day parade every year so that I can watch the musical numbers again.

Don't judge:  you have your entertainment; I have mine.

But even with my credentials, I had never seen a show on THE ACTUAL Broadway.  (Yes, the caps are necessary.) But when the opportunity presented itself for me to be in New York with enough time to see a show, I grabbed at it and held on with both hands.

First, I had to pick a show. 

Because I'm such a Broadway/musical theatre geek, I am a terrible audience member.  (The first step to dealing with a problem is admitting that you have a problem, right?)  I literally cannot stop myself from singing along if I know the music.  So that removed Wicked, Phantom of the Opera, Annie, Chicago, Jersey Boys, Mamma Mia and Avenue Q from being my first shows on Broadway.  Just for the record, if they were showing, RENT, You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown, Cats, Hairspray, Into the Woods, Les Miz, Putting It Together and Urinetown would have been out as well.  But I digress.

Ultimately, I picked a show that I had never seen and didn't know much about.  I went up to New York and was on of the hundred people who got off of the train (Company).  And in my hot little hands were tickets to the 2 pm show of "Bring It On: The Musical".

The remainder of this post is a gushing love fest about the show.  You have been warned.

WORTH IT! 

Everything that anyone is saying about the show is all true.  It is the same lightning in the bottle that was caught by High School Musical, Pitch Perfect, RENT, Save The Last Dance and the first Bring It On movie.  Just so very good!

For those of you who need more than my from-the-rooftops praise, here's what the show is:  Imagine if you took the first 3 Bring It On movies (I've seen all 5, thank you very much), added some Save The Last Dance and a splash of Pitch Perfect; that would give you a low-rent approximation of the show.  For those who have seen any of those movies, you will recognize some of the themes in the show, but, much like all great art, it is so much more than the sum of its parts. 

Yes, it is still about cheerleaders.  Yes, it is still about going outside of your comfort zone, being true to yourself and making mature decisions at an immature age.  But I will caution  those who think they know this show:  you haven't seen this story told yet.

And the cast album.  Don't even get me started on the cast album.  All I can say is that it is a good thing that we were dealing with Sandy and power concerns or else I would have already worn out the CD.  As it is, I have already listened to it, from start to finish, at least 20 times; twice this morning.  (I've only had the thing for about a week; just to put it in perspective.)


Here is the cast album recording one of songs that has been playing on repeat on my iPod for the past week.

And, as the sprinkles atop the awesome cupcake of "Bring It On: The Musical", most of the cast and creative team is on Twitter!  You can follow all of them (and you should because they are awesome) from the show's Twitter account:  @BringItOn.  This is the new crop of Broadway stars.  I am expecting great things from this group and I know that I'm not going to be disappointed.

-Sis