IT Chapters 1 & 2 Review

 

    The IT Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 movies of 2017 and 2019 are an adaptation of Stephen King's successful novel of the same name. The novel was published in 1985 and it tells the story of a group of kids coming of age who must face a creature who takes the shape of their greatest fear to terrorize them. To beat the creature, IT as they name it, the kids must work together. After beating IT, they make a pact that if the creature ever returns, they will reconvene in Derry, their hometown, to destroy it. To their surprise, the creature does return to Derry 27 years later. 

Bill Skarsgard as IT

    The novel is considered one of King's greatest achievements and it already had a successful adaptation for television with Tim Curry playing the terrifying IT which gained him a lot of praise from critics and King fans. Maybe this was the main reason why the announcement of these remakes initially received a lukewarm response from fans of the original adaptation, because let's be honest, who could replace Tim Curry? That impossible task came to reside on the newcomer actor Bill Skarsgard who decided on the right path on giving the character its own new take. The movie producers and director also decided to set the two time periods in the movies in the 1980s and in the current decade as opposed to the 1950s and the late 1970s-80s as in the novel.    

    Discussing the mass appeal or marketability of the adaptation of IT is like beating a dead horse. Stephen King is one of the most famous authors worldwide with over 450 million copies of books sold and only one of his novels being out of print, by his own choice. The novel IT happens to be his #7 best seller and these movie adaptations took place at a moment when King adaptations are in high demand. We also have to consider that Stephen King fans are extremely loyal and devour all his material as soon as it hit the market whether it is a novel, novella, short story, movie, etc. As Michael Garret, King's first editor and publisher once commented in a now infamous interview drawing Stephen's ire and therefore creating his alter ego Richard Bachman; "Stephen King could sell his grocery list." The phrase means that King's name had become greater than his actual writing, but it was misunderstood, and the rest is history. 

   I also consider that the movie adaptations of IT work better to tell the story than the novel. My reason for saying this is that when it comes to King's prowess as a storyteller there are various lines of thought and one of them is that his best stories are those that are centered around children or younger characters. I tend to agree with that theory. The fact that IT is a novel where the story keeps bouncing back and forth between the kids and their twenty-year-older version of themselves made the pace of the plot awkward for me. I would have preferred to read the novel in a two-part format, kind of how the movies are set. But let me go a step further, by the time I had to watch these two movies for these reviews I have to admit that I already had a copy of the first Chapter. I sat down and watched that chapter for what must have been the twentieth time. Chapter 2 was a little more difficult to watch. I had to get a copy since I had only watched it once in theaters, and yes, it was as horrible as I remembered it. But I have the same feedback from the second part on the first adaptation and I feel the same about the adult story in the novel. 

Loser's Club vs It at Neibolt House

    IT is a two-part story that works and succeeds extremely well in the first act when the focus is on the kids. The kids are relatable with their struggles and coming-of-age stories. IT, the creature, feels like a real threat around the kids, we care for them, we want them to come through, we want them to win and overcome all of the challenges they are facing. But then, in the second act, they return as adults twenty-seven years later, and I have to be honest, I really don't care about them that second time around. Not only have the characters grown up, but somehow King managed to make them not relatable and boring. He found a way to kill the souls of those characters in that novel as they grew up, and in my opinion, in both adaptations, the grown-up characters have not been able to escape those awful character arcs. The one scene that I enjoyed in the second chapter that made the movie worth it for me is when Bill Denbrough walks into the Second-Hand store to buy the bicycle and King is playing the store owner. Bill then offers to sign a copy of his book that King is reading but King declines to state that "I didn't like the ending." A meta statement for many fans of King that consider his book endings one of his major weaknesses.   

     As much as Stephen King fans drool and can't stop talking about the creatures and horrors that he creates in his novels, The Losers club in IT captivates our hearts. That's the name of the group of kids who end up banding together to face up against IT. They are not your typical group heroes, they are actually the outcasts, the misfits, the geeks, the underdogs, but when they work together they become stronger and their love for each other makes them a threat to IT since it allows them to overcome their fear of him. And if there is one thing I have always admired in King's work is the two themes that flourish out of The Lover's club which make readers love each of these characters so much. First, the detailed backstory in each of these characters makes them relatable for each of the readers and real. Second, the well-paced storytelling with the right amount of detail pulls the reader into the story not only of the characters but where King builds the setting and even his creatures into strong characters too.   

IT Original Book cover,          1990 TV Series Promo,           2017 Promo Poster 

FIRST BLOOD BOOK REVIEW

 

First Blood Movie Poster

    I still remember watching the movie First Blood for the first time when I was a kid. It was sometime during the Alpha Male era that dominated the 80's movie theaters. Although there was a plethora of steroids juiced up heroes to pick from, I have to admit that as a child, I always had a soft spot for John J Rambo. The scenes of the Sheriff trying to kick him out of the town, his visions during the jail scenes, and the ending scene when he is claiming to Colonel Trautman that he used to be someone in Vietnam but that now he couldn't even hold a job as a parking attendant dig deep into my subconscious. 

    At that age, I didn't understand the concept of war. But if there was one thing that I could easily find at the time in my scarce family, family of friends, neighbors, etc It was veterans of the Vietnam war. Sadly, I can say that many of the things I saw and heard Rambo complain about during the movie, I had witnessed myself. Veterans falling prey of drug abuse. Being kicked out of their homes by their families due to their frustration on knowing how to deal with their traumas. So many of them getting sick of what eventually would be cancer and practically wasting away. To summarize, this was a movie and a main character that hit home for me. 

But this is a review of the First Blood book, not the movie. David Morell's book was published ten years earlier before the Stallone's infamous movie came out, 1972. This was basically a full three years before the end of the Vietnam war, the war Rambo is a Veteran of. Just like in the movie, the book opens up with Rambo about to cross the town of Madison, Kentucky, when he is intercepted by the town's Sheriff who ends up dropping him off on the other side of town. Teasle, the Sheriff, tells him he doesn't want the likes of him in the town since it can become an open invitation for other vagrants. This results in Rambo turning around to go back to town and the Sheriff arresting him for vagrancy. 

    Basically, this is where the similarities between the book and the movie find a pitch fork in the road. In the book, we are provided with a more in depth look at the Sheriff's state of mind when he decides to challenge and to a certain state even harass Rambo. He is preparing to what seems to be an eventual divorce, witnesses the death of his men under his watch, and even his foster parent. At the same time, we also get to witness a Rambo that when pushed to the edge, did not hesitate to hold back. The book version of Rambo makes Stallone's version look like a tepid Teddy Bear. While in the movie we see a Rambo who apologized and tried to surrender when he accidentally killed the deputy that was shooting at him from the chopper, in the book we see a Rambo that shows no remorse after each kill, doesn't know when to give up, just like the Sheriff, and has become a danger to himself and others. 

    As a fan of the movie, I have to admit that I had a copy of the book on my bookshelf for years but didn't read it until this class. After reading it, I have to wonder what was the marketability for this book back in 1972. If I had to answer that question based on my knowledge of the movie I would say that the movie is a cautionary tale that we have to take care of our Veterans. That we have to invest in their health care and benefits just like they invested in defending our country. But when I try to explain the marketability for the book, I'm not sure if that applies. I dreaded the Rambo version we got in the book. Not because is darker, but because in my opinion is one that shows that there was never hope for Rambo. No hope, no future, society entirely failed him, the institutions that were supposed to support him abandoned him, and in the end, those same institutions are the ones that eliminated him. And the clear representation of that is by being Trautman himself the one who pulls the trigger in the end. 

Every institution that eventually failed Rambo

    Unfortunately, maybe that is the most accurate representation that our Vietnam Veterans had of the support they received from their government and country when they were returning from Vietnam back in the 70's. If that is the case, I just hope we have learn our lesson, and things have changed for the best. I liked David Morrell's original book and story...I'm just happy I found the movie version first and that it was that Rambo the one I grew up with.   

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Review

                    

    Sometime during the fall of 2001, I was sitting at a movie theater when the preview for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings started playing. That preview was my introduction to a trilogy of movies that I fervently awaited for their release in the upcoming three years and were part of a universe that until that day, I had no idea existed, JRR Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. 

    During the three years that it took to release the trilogy of movies in The Lord of the Rings saga, I was able to get acquainted with the mythology and the background universe that surrounded the entire story Tolkien had built around the rings but especially around the hobbits and the characters that originated from the shire. As the trilogy of movies ended, a lot of interest picked up in Hollywood with making up a series of prequels that would tell the stories of Bilbo Baggins, a precursor story to actually set the events in Fellowship of the Rings. These movies were also to be inspired by some of Tolkien's work in his novel The Hobbit.

    The marketability of this new trilogy was very appealing to the masses. Not only were they already adapting the fantasy work of one of the top writers in the genre, but the adaptation of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, and the entire trilogy was being handled by the same director who successfully handled the adaptation of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Peter Jackson. Fans waited for the movie and packed movie theaters for a chance to return to Middle Earth.  

    Personally, I think this movie had mass appeal because the characters are well-liked, and the fans saw this story as an opportunity to learn more about their characters. Now as much as I did enjoy the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, I did not watch the Hobbit movies when they came out in theaters. As a fan, there is something about prequels that don't really pique my interest. I believe that if the author was really interested in telling me a prequel story, he would have told me before the actual story. When he is doing it in this format, I feel he is just avoiding calling it a gimmick. 

    I also have to admit that I don't tend to be a fan of long movies. They really have to be very good for me to enjoy them if they are long movies. Now, I will admit that I did enjoy the three Lord of the Rings movies, but I will also admit that I have only watched each of them once in its totality and if you are wondering, yes, it was that one time in the movie theater. So for me to consider watching the Hobbit movies was a long proposal in the making. One, that I will admit, finally happened as part of this course. I actually sat one afternoon to watch the first one and shut it off when everyone started singing in Bilbo's kitchen. Eventually, two weeks later I gave the movie a second chance and I was able to watch it through. I also watched the two sequels since I knew that it was then, or never again. I will say that the movies were not terrible, but were not as great as the Ring trilogy either. At least for my taste. 

 

The Hate You Give Review

     

Starr Carter - Movie Adaptation

    There are times that after reading a book, its characters and their struggles will stay with you for a long time. The Hate You Give is one of those books for me since it opened my eyes to a reality that was plainly in front of me, but clearly, I was too distracted to notice it. As I started reading this book I couldn't help but remember how back in 1992 I spent numerous hours in front of a television watching the events that the world came to know as the Los Angeles Race Riots. Since then, I have always claimed to be familiar with the trigger of the terrible events that took over Los Angeles. My explanation was always very simple. A group of policemen beats up Rodney King, and they were acquitted, and the public took over the streets in protest of the injustice that had taken place. Well, it took me thirty years and finding my way to this book to understand how naïve and incorrect I was back then, and in my assessment of every similar protest that has taken place since then. 

Cop checking Khalil scene

    The Hate U Give tells the story of a sixteen-year-old, Starr Carter, who one day after leaving a party, witnesses the killing of her friend Khalil at the hands of a cop. Unfortunately, this is a story we have heard way too many times in the news. Two Afro-American kids, get pulled over by a cop, and things escalate without reason, and the end result is that the cop pulls the gun and kills the kid. What makes this story different and extremely compelling is that the author grabs the reader by the hand, and invites us into the neighborhood where Starr and Khalil grew up. Instead of shielding the reader from the crude and brutal world that our protagonist has to deal with every day, Angie Thomas takes the path of showing us that although these kids have grown up in that environment, they were not tainted by it and that they certainly didn't deserve the faith they encounter at the hands of that cop on that night. 

    We don't only experience Starr and Khalil's struggles, but we also get to see their parent's dedication and persistence to try to provide a better life for them. In some cases, they succeeded, like Maverick and Lisa (Starr's parents), but in others, they succumbed to the same evils that condemned the neighborhood, like Khalil's mother. The author also shows us how even after all the frustration our characters feel with the government agencies that have let them down multiple times, they still care for their neighborhood and are willing to fight for it and defend it. We see this at multiple levels during the story like when Mr. Lewis condemns King's actions on the live news, or when it is discovered that Khalil refused to join King's gang. 

    In 2013 a group of women formed the Black Lives Matter Movement after the acquittal of George Zimmerman for Trayvon. The movement gained momentum in 2014 after the death of Michael Brown and Eric Garner. With additional cases of police abuse, public unrest was growing. The Hate U Give was published on February 28, 2017. Followers of the movement as well as the public that was unrest with the continuous incidents of police abuse found that the book and its characters gave a voice to their frustrations. 

    The one thing I really enjoyed about this book that I would like to be able to mimic in my work is how Thomas was able to make the neighborhood into a character in the story. The neighborhood ends up playing a very important part in the story since for the reader to understand the struggle the main characters are going through, they need to understand how is the neighborhood they grew up in. How different is that neighborhood from the one that her uncle Carlos lives in, and most importantly, how different is that neighborhood from the one our readers live in? That contrast with the reader's neighborhood is critical because it does challenge them to trade places with the characters and try to feel their experiences. 

    The only thing I didn't feel comfortable about the work was how the whole situation between Khalil and the cop transpired. I'm not blaming Khalil, but I can't help going back to Maverick's own teachings to his kids on how to deal with cops when they pull you over. Khalil challenged the cop from the start, and although that doesn't justify him getting killed, I wonder if it could have helped the situation. On top of it all, why didn't Starr mention Khalil's attitude in any of her testimonies? Not a justification for Khali getting killed, but it did feel as if Starr was trying to hide it. 

    As per the marketability of the book, as a YA selection, it touches on very modern topics with a lot of interest to the younger generations. Also, the relationships and teen struggles are very well represented within the novel in a way that teenagers and even older generations can relate to.             

Legally Blond - Movie Review

 

Movie Poster

    With this review, I slowly continue to crawl out my way from under the pile of rocks I apparently have been living in. I have been aware of the existence of this movie for years but never paid attention to it because...it looked too much of a Rom-Com for my taste. Well, I finally was forced to sit down and watch it and I have to admit, I enjoyed the movie. If you read my review for The Bromance Book Club already, you will notice this seems to be a common theme in my reviews, and I have to admit that the reading and watching of these Blockbuster books and movies have become a personal learning experience for me. But for now, let's just focus on the Legally Blonde review.

    This movie is simply an underdog story, and who doesn't like a good tale of someone who fights against the odds to come out on top?  But Legally Blonde takes a different approach to this common Hollywood cliché. Instead of having the main character fighting to overcome society's prejudice toward class welfare, race, or physique, this movie deals front and center with the theme of women having to deal with extra barriers because they are not considered as smart or capable as men. The movie, which is based on the book by the same name by Amanda Brown, takes on this chauvinistic preconception by selecting the most targeted victim of all "dumb people's" jokes, a blond teenager.   

Prof. Callahan shows his true intentions

    The fact that our main character, Elle Woods, is represented as rich, young, and beautiful is critical since the movie wants us to focus on one main thing, Elle's wit and her desire to show the world she has what it takes to become a Harvard Graduate. Now, her ambition to become a lawyer starts as a way to show her idiot boyfriend, Warner, that she can also be the Future Senator Trophy Wife material, but eventually, Elle realizes that her boyfriend is just an idiot. Unfortunately for Elle, Warner is not even close to the greatest chauvinist she will have to face, that honor comes to the wolf in sheep's clothing in the movie, Professor Callahan. 

Elle watching the football game

    Comedies like Legally Blonde, which I would compare to the movie Clueless in multiple ways, usually have good reception with young audiences. But when combined with a good underdog story, a vibrant and rising up cast, and a relatable plot (How many people went through the stress of being accepted by the college of their choosing? Even then, wondering if they are good enough to stay? etc), this movie had a good recipe for mass appeal. I wonder if the fact that the source material was based on the author's real-life story also contributed to its success, I imagine it did.

The Trial

    The one thing I learned about this work is to not be afraid of working on a topic or theme that is considered a cliché.  Almost every these in this movie has already been done multiple times before, but the author and director gave each of these themes their own spice and turns and therefore making them entertaining and putting them in a whole new light. All of them except for one cliché, Professor Callahan being an opportunist pig. Although it is a real issue in our society and one that we constantly still see in the news, I feel at one point in the movie it started to become predictable that Callahan would do something to undermine Elle as a rising star. I think they could have tried other angles that didn't have to involve sexual harassment, and I'm not saying that doesn't happen today, I'm actually saying it happens too much but other issues could have been tackled as easily. Professional jealousy for instance, where Callahan could have noticed that Elle was taking away the spotlight from him and he wasn't going to allow that. And believe me, this is way more common in Corporate America these days. 

    As per the marketability of the movie, it came out on the wave of a book that was successful at the time. The prevailing themes are critical to every generation, the underdog story, am I good enough, will I prevail, will I make it to college, will I graduate college, etc. This certainly was a movie that the whole family could enjoy and that they did since it spun a successful sequel, fans are still clamoring for another sequel, and it has been a musical on Broadway for years.        

Promotion for Legally Blonde, The Musical

Jurassic Park - Movie Review

 

Land That Time Forgot - The T-Rexes

    I was about three or four years old when my sister sat me in front of the television so she could work on her homework. A movie called "The Land that Time Forgot" was playing on the TV, and that was the first time I was introduced to dinosaurs. I remember that at that age, I was hooked. I couldn't stop babbling about those ugly giant lizards, and boy were they weird looking. Just look at the T-Rex in the picture still on the left. That same weekend, my sister got me a T-Rex dinosaur toy that I immediately named Bruno, and he was my companion for a couple years. Yes, I was absolutely amazed by dinosaurs the moment I set eyes on them in that movie. 

  Fast forward until the summer of 1993. That summer, Steven Spielberg breaks the box office records one more time with the movie Jurassic Park. But people were extremely hyped about this movie before it even got to theaters. An amazing and very proactive advertising campaign preceded the release of the movie in theaters. Prior to the preview release, the studio had required that theaters met certain sound specification upgrades in their sound systems. Basically, the studios wanted to make sure that the dinosaur roars in the previews were as "realistic" as possible. Giant promotional displays were set in movie theaters months in advance of the release. Promotional movie tie-ins were set with major brands and retailers such as McDonald's, Mercedes Benz, Jello, Hasbro, etc. In summary, the studio made sure the movie was a promotional success before it was released. We also should factor in that the decision to make a movie out of the novel was made before the novel was even published. His author, Michael Crichton was friends with Spielberg and having discussed the plot of the novel, Spielberg had already expressed an interest to Crichton and Universal Studios in acquiring the right and directing the movie. 

    All that certainly contributed to the tremendous appeal the movie had to fans, but that wasn't all. Crichton developed a story that technology and scientifically wise, gave a lot of credence to how the company Ingen and its owner John Hammond were able to use DNA to bring back dinosaurs to life. Even at the start of the movie, while the main characters take a ride through the park, they are treated to a presentation that movie viewers also watch which explains DNA technology in basic layman's terms, and from that point on, the whole science behind the movie is made plausible for the audience. But all that would have failed if ultimately the dinosaurs in the movie didn't seem realistic, and this is where Jurassic Park captivated audiences during the summer of 1993. Just like that infamous scene where Dr. Alan Grant has to bend over to catch his breath while he observes the dinosaurs in their habitat, movie audiences around the world watch as Spielberg brought back to life dinosaurs on the big screen.  

    Just like Dr. Grant, I remember that I also had to catch my breath while I took in that view. The dinosaurs I had read so much about since I was a kid and seen so many bad movies, were actually right there in front of me, on the screen. And at that moment, I had no idea what was ahead, the infamous T-Rex scenes, the velociraptor scenes, this simply was a delightful movie. And yes, there were other messages and topics in the movie that we might not want to forget. Most of these messages come from Dr. Ian Malcom such as "Life will find a way." and "...your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should." The latter one is referenced by many as a warning and criticism of the creation of nuclear weapons. 

    I feel we have discussed plenty about the marketability of this movie. And what I can learn about this movie is also something I really liked about it. The fact that they were able to take a topic that was so complicated to explain back in 1993, and found a way to break it down into layman's terms so the audience could understand it and from that point on get immersed in the plot, I think it was brilliantly done. As writers, we should invest the time and effort to explain the concepts that drive our story as simple to the reader as possible. Doing so will not only help us in providing a better experience for the reader but also in expanding the audience that we can reach with our material. 

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Book Review

 

    A question that will linger in my mind from this day forward is, "Why did I never read this book earlier in my life?" Most of my friends had read the series, and many of my co-workers too. I heard their jokes multiple times, and therefore I was already aware that "42" was the answer to the ultimate question in the universe. And still, for some reason, I was never compelled to grab a copy of the novel and read through it. All of that changed this past summer when this classic became required reading for this course. As with some of the other required books for this course, I was dreading the time to start reading it, and that was a feeling that dissipated immediately within the first couple of chapters. 

    The story starts with Arthur Dent, a man that wakes up at his home to discover that the local government is about to demolish his home due to a bureaucratic mishap. In his calamity, he is convinced by his neighbor, Ford Prefect, to go on a walk to a local bar to have a beer where he reveals to Arthur that he is an alien and that planet Earth is about to be destroyed. Interestingly enough, and when the reader thinks things can't get any weirder, we learned that Earth is about to be destroyed by the alien race the Vogons due to an intergalactic government bureaucratic mishap. 

    Right before the Earth is destroyed, Arthur and Ford are rescued and from that moment on, our main characters travel through the galaxy from one incident to the next, and each one is more hilarious than the last. From Vogon's poetry as their preferred method of torture, to their miraculous rescue by Zaphod in his stolen vessel, and Arthur encounter with Zaphod and Trillian when he remembers their previous encounter, each stop they make is full of surprises and fun anecdotes.  

BBC Radio Show of HGTG

    After the success of Star Wars in 1977, we were flooded with Sci-Fi movies like Star Trek, Alien, Battlestar Galactica, Buck Rogers, etc. And a little series called The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was enjoying success and gaining a fanbase on BBC Radio.  The radio series was so successful, that when it was adapted to novels, it sold 250,000 copies by its second week of publication. Its cult following has allowed its continued success where sales have reached up to 15 million copies as of today of the first novel in the series alone.  

    What I learned from this book is to not be afraid to break away from breaking away from the established molds. At various times within the novel, the author breaks away from the main story to share these random tales that seem to go nowhere. A clear example is the entire story of the mice that build the most powerful computer Deep Thought so they could ask the answer to the most difficult question in the universe. After waiting 7.5 billion years for the answer they get their response, "42". and they realize that they never asked what was the question. These stories aside from being hilarious, do end up adding to the uniqueness of the novel and its appeal. 

    What I didn't like about the novel is that it ended on a cliffhanger. Personally, I'm not a big fan of series that end and leave the reader guessing. I like to see a completed novel and characters with an ending. There can be sequels but finish the story. I feel cliffhangers are a cheap way to cheat your readers. 

    As per the marketability of the work, this one really stands out since before it was adapted to a novel, It already was a successful radio series. Aside from it being successful on radio, it had been repeated multiple times, and famous personalities had volunteered to read it like Stephen Hawkins who was a huge fan. By the time the idea of converting the series to a novel started to come to fruition, the radio series had been reproduced in multiple countries, a TV series was already in production, and there were already discussions for movie production. So with such a large cult following and fan base, a novelization was a sure winner. 

         

The Bromance Book Club Review

 

    If anyone would have told me four months ago that I was going to read a romance novel during the summer my unequivocal response would have been, "Not a chance in hell." And if anyone would have added that I was even going to enjoy reading that book, I would have simply laughed out loud. You have to understand that I'm a Latin male, and as stereotypes go, we don't do the reading Romance novel thing.

    Well, the joke is clearly on me because reading the novel I did, and saying that I enjoyed it would be a major understatement. This novel made me laugh, care for the main characters, question my reading selections, and I will have to admit that I even got teary-eyed during that scene near the end where Gavin decides to walk off the plane to go after his wife and his friends go with him because is a special mission.   

    Let me be very clear, I highly recommend this book. To say the novel is a love story between the main characters Thea and Gavin would be accurate, but it is so much more. At the center of the plot is a story about friendship and how far will go for those who you care for. That is reflected in the actual Book Club which doesn't get its name till the very end, at the steps of the church during Gavin's and Thea's impromptu wedding. The story also deals with the complex topic of family issues, and how they impact the younger ones.  

    As a person that had never read a romance novel, and this one was my first, I can say that the appeal for me was that I immediately identified with the main character and his club. I could picture myself having a similar reaction to Gavin's when his friends suggested that he read romance novels to improve his relationship with his wife and to better understand women. Then the author added the secrecy to which the club operated, from something as silly as buying their pumpkin spice lattes to hiding their novels, all to maintain that macho image and to avoid judgment. It made the story funny, but it also made light of a long-debated issue in our society where supposedly men are not supposed to show emotions. As we saw through the book, not only did their marriage and relationship improve as Gavin became more open with his feelings, but he also felt better about himself.  

    I learned two main lessons while reading this novel. The first one is to not be afraid to tackle and expose my view on social issues or dilemmas that have been debated for a long time. In the case of The Bromance Book Club, the author dealt with the long-debated issue of men openly sharing their feelings. She did it in a refreshing way where our main character learned from making a connection to the main character in an old romance novel. By identifying with the main character, Gavin learns to deal away with his masculine toxicity, and focus more on his wife and kids. 

    The second lesson I learned while reading this book is that I will never again disregard a book due to its genre. This book happens to be the second one on the list of required readings for this course that I was completely surprised. The other book I had also avoided due to some preconceptions I had before reading. I may also add to the list the movie Legally Blond which I recently watched and which I had avoided for years, being one of my wife's favorites. I had simply denied myself hours of entertainment due to my made-up preconceptions. Never again!

    One of the things I enjoyed the most about reading this novel was the voice used by the author for the characters. Each character seemed very realistic and even well grounded on real-life examples. It is clear that she did her research on the background of each character to make sure they came across the page with as many flaws as possible, and that also included their voice, their mannerism, and the way they interacted with others. I especially enjoyed the scenes where she had the club members interact with each other.      

    This is a book that should appeal to such a broad audience. To start with, most romance genre fans would be pleased with this book. Interestingly enough, this is the one book they can also turn around and tell they're significant other, who has always refused to read a romance, oh but you will love this one. And if that significant other is a baseball fan, they can even sell it as: "Is about a baseball player with family issues," and they will read it. The appeal and marketability of this novel should be off the charts, which is why I wasn't surprised when I read that Netflix is producing a movie version that will come out in Summer 2023.  

The Hunger Games Review

 

     In the Science Fiction genre, the theme of the dystopian future has always been a favorite medium to convey its message. Movies like Omega Man, Soylent Green, 1984, Blade Runner, and The Matrix present to the viewers with a dark future where authority is

Capitol Propaganda

oppressive and freedom is simply a mere illusion. The Hunger Games follows a similar formula as each of these classics of cinema. At the very start of the movie, the viewer learns that for the last seventy-four years, the nation of Panem has been celebrating a tournament called The Hunger Games. The tournament is in remembrance of the Capitol's victory over twelve districts during their rebellion. The rules of the tournament are quite simple. Two tributes are selected from each of the twelve districts, a boy and a girl, between the ages of 12 to 18. Once in the tournament, they each get to fight or survive till only one remain. Our heroine is Katniss Everdeen, a tribute from district twelve who volunteers to save her sister who was selected to participate in the tournament through the lottery. Our antagonist is President Snow, the ruler of Panem. 

    Although there are many subplots covered in the movie, like the flourishing love between our protagonist Katniss and Peeta, we have to recognize that the main topic driving the plot is the conflict of authority between Katniss and Snow. Why? Because the main driver for The Hunger Games plot is the rebellion against authority. Within this movie, this theme worked well since different from the classics I previously mentioned, the protagonists are teenagers. With this demographic, the movie is already targeting an audience that through every generation commonly feels the constant pressure of having to respond to authority figures such as parents, teachers, etc (Kendall, 2021). 

District Tributes welcome at The Capitol

    The appeal of the movie to the younger audience, and mature ones, is rooted in how they see themselves reflected in the characters being able to perform acts of rebellion against the abusive authority. That abusive authority is clearly represented in the Capitol and its ruler, President Snow. But as we mentioned already, there are other social topics that are leveraged efficiently throughout the movie. One of those is the difference in social classes. From the start of the movie, we can notice that the residents of district twelve are scarce in food, medicine, and other basic necessities. But as soon as Katniss and Peeta walk onto the train that will take them to the Capitol, we are immediately made aware of the abundance and excesses the residents of the Capitol benefit from. The author of the book, and the director of the movie, merged the classic themes of the dystopian future novels and movies with some of the current social issues in our society to keep the plot engaging and appealing to current generations.    

    

    Although I did enjoy the movie, I personally have an issue with the plot. The movie presents to us that the Capitol came up with the tournament as a way to honor their victory over the twelve districts.  This means that the districts rebelled against the Capitol at least once before. Therefore, I question the plausibility of a tournament being held for seventy-four years where the districts observe how twenty-four of their kids are killed every year for the entertainment, pleasure, and enjoyment of the  Capitol. Let's also remember that the Capitol kids do not participate in the tournament. So if you are keeping count, by the seventy-fourth tournament the districts have already lost 1,679 kids to the Hunger Games. Again, I find it hard to believe the districts didn't strike another rebellion sooner.     

Katniss replacing Primrose as District 12 tribute

    When it comes to the marketability of the movie, I recall that I watched this movie in theaters without knowing what it was about or that it was based on a series of books. There were a couple of television spots that caught my attention. The entire idea of fighting in the tournament for your survival. The shots of the bow and arrow. The whistling of the Mockingjay, yes, I was even curious about that from the previous. Above all, ever since I saw Charlton Heston throw himself in the sand of that beach and yell "You blew it up! Ah, damn you! God damn you all to hell!" at the end of 'Planet of the Apes' I would be lying if I didn't admit that I'm just a sucker for dystopian future movies.

Planet of the Apes Final Scene

Quote 1: Kendall, Jennifer. "The Appeal of Dystopian Novels for Teens." ThoughtCo, Feb. 16, 2021, thoughtco.com/dystopian-novels-and-teens-626666.