The 2018 Robin Hood Movie

It's been a while since I've posted about any Robin Hood media on here and I think I should fix that. The 2018 movie, directed by Otto Bathurst and starring Taron Egerton, was supposed to form a franchise to rival Marvel movies and all that. Unfortunately, it falls super flat. And I'm a Robin Hood obsessive nut.

The plot is very standard, Robin goes to the Crusades, is sent home for sympathizing with the natives, and finds the Sheriff abusing his people. He is convinced by a man who followed him home from the war (he goes by "John" as in John, Little) to take up arms against the Sheriff and undermine his authority after hearing that Marian is now with a certain Will Scarlet. Hi-jinks ensue, and it ends with Robin getting Marian back, evacuating the people of Nottingham, and Will being made the new Sheriff after the old one gets killed.

Honestly my biggest problem with it is that it tries to say too much about the current political climate. Clearly there are parallels between the Crusades and the modern Middle East, but the scenes with Robin fighting in the Holy Land don't look medieval at all. Arrows apparently go off automatically, and explode everything around them like guns. And then he returns and doesn't seem to care too much about politics, until John forces him to. Which triggers a couple of dramatic speeches that seem out of character.

Then there's the characters. Robin, to his credit, hits a nice note of always enjoying stealing from the rich. What I'm confused about is why John followed this mess all the way back to England to just take revenge on one town that he didn't have much to do with. The switcheroo involving Will becoming the Sheriff just because his girlfriend broke up with him also confuses me as he was for the people right up until that moment. My biggest problem though is with this training montage where John teaches Robin how to fight once he's in England which makes zero sense as he just spent a couple of years fighting in the Crusades which I'm sure trained him to fight.

So it isn't a great movie. I still found it fun, but that's just me. I'm consistently amazed at how modern Robin Hood movies try to set up a series only to fall flat when all I want is a franchise I can enjoy. Maybe someday it'll come.

This Is Beautiful: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

Up next in the series of me watching gay children's cartoons, "She-Ra" is a show on Netflix that started last winter. A friend of mine introduced me to it (she knew that I really liked "Steven Universe") and I've been hooked. It just came out with the third season, and I would bet that it's going to continue after this.

The show tells the story of Adora, a soldier in the Horde who is tasked with fighting the Princesses of Power. Eventually Adora ends up outside of the Horde's lands and sees the destruction that they are wreaking, learns that she is a mystical warrior known as She-Ra, and decides to switch sides. Along with new friends Bow and Glimmer, she starts uniting the Princesses against the Horde. However, she left her best friend Catra with the Horde and now Catra hates Adora and wants to make her life miserable.

It's very well-written for a children's show, definitely not as sophisticated as "Steven Universe," but it takes a great look at friendships. Particularly female ones. The main reason why it's been labeled "gay" my the mainstream media is Adora's relationship to Catra. I'm a little baffled by this since they have clearly a toxic relationship where Adora cares about Catra very much and Catra just wants revenge. Honestly I found it cathartic in the last season when Adora stands up to her and punches her in the face.

If you're looking for something to binge, I would highly recommend! Can't wait for more episodes.

“Wanderlust: A History of Walking” by Rebecca Solnit

I read A Field Guide to Getting Lost ages ago, which was also written by Solnit. You can clearly see how the two books came from the same brain, both are about walking/wandering and its place within history and culture.

Solnit looks at how walking has been portrayed throughout history and literature and dissects the underlying meanings within it. She starts with how we evolved to become walkers, and the various theories behind why this happened, and from there goes through the Victorian era, to the twentieth century, and to the present. One of my favorite passages was when she pulls apart different character’s walking habits in Pride and Prejudice and illuminates how this demonstrates their social class and views.

And of course with marches and protests it all spills over into politics, as well as how cities have changed over time to affect our walking habits. There is a really surprisingly diverse range of topics covered in this book, it sounds boring to read a book about walking but she makes it fascinating. Each chapter is accompanied by short snippets of Solnit’s own experiences walking and traveling, as she is an avid walker herself. These bring a personal nature to each of the chapters, and spice up the history.

At first I found this annoying, but what ended up being one of my favorite aspects of the book was how at the bottom of each page there are quotes about walking and famous walkers. The quotes correspond to the subject of the chapters as well, so quotes from literature about walking around cities can be found on the pages where city walking is discussed. And often the works cited in the quotes are not mentioned at all in the chapter, indicating just how much research and effort Solnit put into this. I thought it was a cool way to incorporate other views and insights, especially since so much of the book is about the portrayal of walking in writings of the time.

To no one’s surprise, I would highly recommend any of Solnit’s works, and particularly this one. It is a very thorough overview of all of her research, and very insightful as well. A Field Guide to Getting Lost is shorter and might be more accessible to those who aren’t sure if they are interested in the subject matter, but this book is an excellent deep dive into the subject of walking through the ages.

This Is Beautiful: American Gods season 2

Yo I just got back home and have been relaxing and binge watching the TV that I missed. Let me tell you, the second season of "American Gods" is really good! I've posted about the book and possibly the first season before, and I was kinda concerned about how the second season would do with all the delays and everything. But it's just as gorgeous as the first season was, the cinematography is GORGEOUS I love it.

There have definitely been additions to talk about race, particularly with Shadow cast as a black man. I really like it, it means that they can go into Anansi as a god and into race within America (the show is called "American Gods" so it should be in there). Personally I am into it.

Can't wait to finish this season! And I sure hope that they manage to get season 3 out in a more timely manner haha.

“The Book of Joy” by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and Douglas Abrams

Final book that my counselor recommended! This book was a wonderful project involving the Dalai Lama and the Archbishop getting together to discuss joy and how to cultivate it in our lives. Abrams as a writer joined them to compile the book. Together, they create a wonderful book that highlights both the Dalai Lama as well as the Archbishop’s philosophies, as well as their friendship.

Joy here does not mean happiness or forcing yourself to be happy all the time, it is more in line with an attitude cultivating a healthy approach to life, accepting the sadness and finding ways to still see the joy in the midst of it. This book tries to not be religious, despite the fact that it’s a collaboration between two holy men. The Dalai Lama says somewhere in it that this is a practice for everyone, and they want to make it accessible to non-religious folks as well.

Chapters are organized by topic, highlighting different aspects of joy and questions about them. At the end of the book, numerous meditation examples are outlined, to help with cultivating joy in the reader’s life.

I found this book to be a ton of fun to read, it’s wonderful getting to know all of the authors while at the same time learning from them. I hope to someday be able to approach life like them, but we’ll see what happens haha. Reading this book seems to be a good place to start though.

Taking July Off

In the spirit of enjoying my last summer before grad school, I am going to be traveling around Europe for the month of July! So you won't hear from me again until August, so I fully intend to be back in business once I am back in the country with some posts about the new cities that I've visited. Have a nice summer!

This Is Beautiful: Not Working

Honestly taking a break from my job before going to grad school was one of the best things that I've done. I could sleep in, go do tourist-y things that I never had time for, and hang out with the people I wanted to say goodbye to. It was some well-deserved rest and relaxation.

I think stay-cations are awesome to be honest. Vacations have just been co-opted into the working mentality with the idea that you HAVE to take time off and HAVE to go somewhere else and HAVE to do all of these other things. But what if you didn't and just had a low-stress, stay-where-you-are-and-chill kind of vacation? Honestly I would highly recommend.

Summer is now here officially, so consider just taking it easy and taking some time off to just relax at home! Travel is a hassle, just stay put and appreciate what's around you.