How I've Changed This Year

You guys probably didn't know this (actually, my only followers are from school, so you probably did know this), but I've been writing this blog for a grade in my English class. Yeah, I know, that's so dorky and nerdy, but hey, isn't that the point of this blog? This may be my last post, depending on whether or not I get motivation to write this summer or if I somehow spontaneously get readers who would die if I never published again, but that's not gonna happen, so you're gonna have to depend on me getting motivation. Whatever.

I haven't had a prompt for any of my other posts, but for this one I'm supposed to write about how I've changed this year. At first this was pretty hard for me to figure out, and it still kind of is because I know how I’ve changed recently but I cant quite remember how much of that was actually this year. I do know, however, that this year I’ve tried to become more motivated to make myself change for the better and to help the world change for the better. This is more difficult than it sounds, since I’m smart but also incredibly lazy. I want to get things done but lots of times I simply can’t bring myself to do them. I still haven’t quite found a thing that motivates me completely, but I’m looking for something, and in the meantime I’m forcing myself to do the things I want to do. 

My teeth are straighter than at the beginning of this year! I’ve now had braces on for almost two years and I’ll hopefully be getting them off this summer. 

me with two ensemble girls from the Once tour
this is the most recent picture I could find where I showed my teeth, it was about a month ago

This is weird, but I somehow feel like I’ve become more confident in some ways and less confident in other ways. I’m better at talking to people I don’t know, I’m better at public speaking, and I can now order food on my own at a restaurant without having a panic attack (It hasn’t happened for at least 6 months now!). But I think I’m less confident in that I’m more self-conscious about the way I look and worried about what other people think of me. Last year, I was able to wear clothes that reflected my personality more, but now when I put on more bold and daring outfits that feel like me, I suddenly get scared that other people will judge me. That’s definitely something that I’m going to work on overcoming this summer. 

Something that’s been a gradual process for me over the past year and a half or so has been reclaiming my femininity and trying to stop judging other girls for what they like. I used to think it was shameful to do “feminine” things like liking makeup and taking selfies with filters and liking romance movies. I used to judge other girls for these things, and I still sometimes catch myself doing that. I also used to believe in the trope of the “fake geek girl” who pretended to like “geeky” things just so she could get boys to like her. I’ve now realized that girls can like whatever they want to like and they shouldn’t be questioned about it. 

If anyone’s out there, thank you so much for joining me on this journey. It’s been really great, and I’m still trying to better myself, but that’s what life is. Maybe I’ll talk to you soon and maybe I’ll continue this blog even after my class is over! Even if I don’t continue, and you find this page sometime in the future after I’ve been inactive for years, you’ll probably always be able to find me on my tumblr: moritz-is-bae. See ya!

My Opinion on Avengers: Age of Ultron

I'd give it a 6/10. Maaaaybe a 6.5. It wasn’t as good as I’ve been hoping for since the summer of 2012, but it was okay. Here’s why that 6.5 isn’t a 10:

Age of Ultron was written by Joss Whedon, whom I used to really like (most notably for Dr. Horrible, Firefly, and The Avengers), but I recently found out that he was being a whiny man-baby and left Marvel studios after getting bitter about pieces in the MCU that other people wrote and criticisms that people have given him (please correct me if I’m wrong; I may not know the whole story). Anyway, I’d read up a few things on Tumblr about it before I went to see it today, so I was expecting to be a little disappointed. What I wouldn’t have known if I hadn’t read anything on Tumblr was that the characters of the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver are supposed to be Romani Jews but were whitewashed by Joss Whedon and written to be affiliated with HYDRA, which is a Nazi organization. Now that doesn’t make very much sense to me. Minus 2 points right there.

wanda and pietro in the comic books
image courtesy newsarama

i don't see a resemblance
image courtesy kdramastars

   

Now I watched the movie, and I was thoroughly entertained by it. There was action (of course) and some really great character development for Hawkeye. This made me really happy because I often feel like he’s an under-appreciated avenger and that he didn’t get enough screen time in the last movie. I was also really happy with the addition of Wanda, Sam, and Rhodey into the Avengers team at the end of the movie. It made me super excited for the next movie to come out. These are the components that made me give it those 6-6.5 points. 

The main thing that caused me to take away those 1.5-2 points is the way that Joss Whedon handled the characters of Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff. Steve wasn’t written very well in the first Avengers movie, so I wasn’t really surprised, but Joss Whedon’s writing really diminished since then if you’re looking at the way he wrote Nat. Neither of these characters got nearly enough screen time in AOU, and in both of the movies, it seems like Steve has only been used as joke material. Many of the jokes that he made in The Avengers were out of character, and in Age of Ultron, it seems that he was only used as the running “language!” joke throughout the film.

Natasha Romanoff is one of my favorite characters ever, and I’m really sad about how she was portrayed in this film. She didn’t have much screen time, either, and the time that she did get was either engaging in a really stupid and forced relationship between her and Bruce, or fighting in a way that was probably just there so the straight males in the audience could see how sexy her body is. The small bit of character development we did get regarding Natasha was in her backstory in the Red Room, and I guess that was pretty cool, but I feel like most of that was shown just so she could connect more with Bruce, and it still seemed pretty forced. 

Overall, I’d say that Age of Ultron was entertaining but disappointing. And frankly, I’m kind of glad that Joss Whedon left Marvel. 

So I Saw Newsies This Weekend....

And it was pretty much the best weekend of my life. Holy crap. I live near Salt Lake City, and I saw it in Dallas. Why, you may ask? Well, when Newsies first announced the tour, none of the cities that it had listed were anywhere near where I live, and I HAD to make sure that I was going to get the chance to go, right? The second phase of the tour, which it's coming to Salt Lake City on, wasn't announced until a few weeks ago, when the 2016 Broadway season was announced. Also, my step-niece (?) was at my house in January and we started talking about how much we both love Newsies, and we decided that we needed to go together. She lives in New Jersey, and it was in Dallas near her birthday, so we met in the middle to see an awesome show together.

Now that I've bored you with my ramblings, it's time to get into the meat of what went down on that trip. After going to that museum by where JFK was shot (which was pretty cool too), we headed over to the AT&T Performing Arts Center and it might have been the most beautiful theater I've ever been to, even considering the theaters I've been to on Broadway. It had like 5 floors and our seats were so close I could even see the newsies' faces.

I cannot even begin to describe the feeling in my stomach when the curtain came up and I saw Dan DeLuca and Zachary Sayle on that stage. Newsies has always had a special place in my heart because of all the symbolism of hope involved in it, and finally seeing these characters on a stage in front of me I suddenly felt like something in my world was right. It sounds totally stupid that my main source of inspiration is cheesy musicals about newsboys, but the way that the characters stand up for what they believe in and never give up makes me really hopeful that everything will always be okay (especially since Melissa Steadman Hart played a girlsie in the closing number !!! Thanks for giving me hope, Melissa).

Of course, the music was wonderful, the boys were cute, but what really amazed me was how phenomenal the dancing was. Ben Tyler Cook, who played Race, is only 16 and was, in my opinion, the best dancer up there. He’s already in the touring cast of a major musical and that totally makes me feel bad about what I’ve done so far with my life (I’m just kidding, I love you Ben Tyler Cook <3). Another great dancer was Julian DeGuzman, but that makes more sense since he’s like 25 and has a BFA in dance. 

After the show, we went to the stage door, obviously. I had to meet my baes. They all signed my playbill and I was able to get pictures with some of them: 

Josh Burrage <3

Ben Tyler Cook <33 

Jordan Samuels <3

Jeff Heimbrock <33

Vincent Crocilla (he was wearing an Adventure Time shirt !!)

DeMarius R Copes <33

Zachary Sayle <33

  

I’ve since returned from Dallas, but last night I saw Garett Hawe, who was in the original cast of Newsies, perform in a local production of The Music Man! I still don’t know what he’s doing here, but I got a picture with him, too: 

he was soooo sweet, I can't believe I had the chance to meet him!!

Over the Garden Wall: The Best Cartoon I've Ever Seen

Adventure Time and Gravity Falls follow closely behind (and no, I've never seen Steven Universe so I can't say that's my favorite). Anyway, after my friend Brynn pestered me for an entire dance class to watch it, I gave in and downloaded all the episodes of Over the Garden Wall onto my phone. I watched them all in one night. That being said, there are only 10 episodes, and each is only 10 minutes long, but it may be the best 100 minutes of animation that have ever been on television.

Over the Garden Wall was a miniseries that aired on Cartoon Network last year created by the same artists and writers as Adventure Time. It centers around a pair of brothers named Greg and Wirt who get lost in an unfamiliar forest and have to find their way back out, being challenged along the way by what the forest;s inhabitants refer to as “the beast.” Adventure Time's great, but what I love about OTGW is how much amazingness is packed into such a short time. By the time Jason Funderburker (the frog) had played the seventh note of the opening theme on that spinning piano, I knew I was going to get completely sucked into this beautiful world of "The Unknown."

image courtesy imperial general

The music in this show is just so. Freaking. Good. I didn’t know that cartoons hired amazing composers like that (The Blasting Company), but apparently OTGW could. I legit want the music to be the soundtrack for my life. I don’t even know how to describe it, but the feeling that you get when you listen to it is absolutely magical and it suits the show perfectly. Since I’m bad at explaining things, go listen to the opening theme yourself. It will not disappoint. 

OTGW gives off the same creepy/humor-y vibe and has the same amount of deeper meaning that Gravity Falls does, but in less than two hours of content. You can go back and watch it as many times as you want; you’ll always find something new that you missed the last time. It’s fast-paced, witty, and could appeal to many different groups of viewers of all ages. 

Did I mention that the art is beautiful? It’s cartoony, don’t get me wrong, but you can tell that a lot of time was put into making it meticulous. Just like the music, it matches the theme of the story and enhances the point that the writers are trying to get across. It’s very detailed and the backgrounds look like the kind of watercolor paintings that you’d find in a museum. Since there weren’t as many episodes, the artists could probably put more time into it than they usually do when working on Adventure Time. 

image courtesy adam wilcox

Since watching the show, I’ve developed an intense desire to cosplay Greg and Wirt with a friend. It’ll be easy and I’ll have plenty of opportunities. Anyway, go watch Over the Garden Wall. It’ll only take two hours, and it’ll consume your thoughts for weeks. You’re welcome. 

Jonathan Larson's "Rent" May Quite Possibly Be the Best Musical of All Time

My obsessions usually fade to casual liking within a few months, but not with Rent. I first watched the movie version over a year ago and I still listen to the soundtrack nonstop when I need to get pumped up, which is pretty much every day. "La Vie Boheme" always makes me smile, "I'll Cover You - Reprise" always makes me cry, and I don't even know what "Over the Moon" makes me feel, but I know it's a wonderful roller coaster of emotions.

Every single song in it is my favorite, except maybe "You'll See," but whatever. The music gives off a pretty '80s/'90s vibe (which makes sense since it begins December 24th, 1989) but also seems pretty Broadway at the same time. The lyrics have some real substance to them, and you'll probably notice something new every time you watch it. You'll be inspired by the story and think about the meaning for weeks after you first watch it. But the sad part is that the writer/creator, Jonathan Larson, died the day of the official opening production.

Not only are the book, music, and lyrics extremely well-written, but it also features the most diverse cast of characters that I've ever seen in any mainstream media (does Rent qualify as mainstream???). With seven main protagonists and an antagonist, they accurately represent the people under the poverty level in New York City and debunk the idea that media with a diverse cast doesn't get popular. Rent was one of the longest-running musicals on Broadway, closing under 12 years of productions. Who says diverse can't be amazing??

Roger Davis is a recovering drug addict and musician/songwriter, who can't seem to be able to write one last song. He lives with Mark Cohen, a Jewish filmmaker who wants to show the world what it's actually like to be homeless in New York. Their friend Tom Collins is a gay black man who teaches philosophy at MIT. He meets and falls in love with Angel Dumott-Schunard, a street drummer whose gender we are never told explicitly. We know that she goes by she/her pronouns, but we are left to are own interpretation of her gender. She could be a trans girl or genderfluid, but either way she's important representation for the transgender community. Angel is friends with Mimi Marquez, a lighthearted Latina stripper whom Roger tries to help get off drugs. Maureen Johnson is a bisexual activist who dumped Mark offscreen, but is now dating Joanne Jefferson. Joanne is a black lesbian lawyer who, in my opinion, doesn't get enough credit. She's soooo cute and always KILLS that first solo in "Seasons of Love." The antagonist is Benny. He used to be cool, but then he married a rich lady and now wants to evict the homeless from the area.

EVERYONE IS MY BAE!!! except benny. he sucks
image courtesy crafthubs

Four of the characters have AIDS, and the musical depicts their struggles and how they get through them. I just wish that everything was as awesome as Rent is. That would make life a whole lot better. The movie version is on Netflix and you can watch the pro-shot 2008 cast recording on YouTube. Go! Tell your friends! Make the world a better place by watching Rent!

Life Lessons from Sondheim's Into the Woods

(Major Into the Woods spoiler alert for this post.) The second time I saw the Into the Woods movie I was with my friend Courtney and we went to her house after but her sister was there. After finding out what movie we'd seen, she replied by saying to us, "Oh, that movie was so stupid. There wasn't even any morals." I am here to PROVE HER WRONG!! There are too many life lessons to count from that musical. Here are just a few:

1. Be careful what you wish for. 
This musical is so well-written and it has so much symbolism. Stephen Sondheim is absolutely brilliant for the connections he makes between multiple parts of his musicals. At the end of Act I it seems like everyone's gotten their wish and that there's gonna be a happy ending, but then everything falls to pieces. Jack's mother got the riches that she wished for from the giants, but she ended up getting killed because of the giants going after who stole from them.

2. What you wish isn't always what you want.
Cinderella realized this after going to the festival. Her wish was to dance with the prince, but all she could say afterwards was that it "made a nice change." She wasn't sure if she'd enjoyed the time being there and she ended up having a bad relationship with the prince. She wished to go to the festival, but she didn't want the outcome that came with it.

the movie adaptation had a few flaws, but I have to say it was put together very beautifully
image courtesy Music Theatre International

3. "Nice is different than good."
Here's another lesson that Cinderella had to learn from getting to know the prince. He was a "very nice prince," but he was really just one of those "nice guys" who thinks that just because he was nice to a girl she's automatically obligated to go out with him. He was sensitive, clever, well-mannered, considerate, passionate, charming, kind and handsome, but he wasn't good. The character who actually says these words is Red after the wolf eats her. He too, was nice and polite to Red, but his intentions were never good.

4. Sometimes you have to get a new perspective in order to have new experiences. 
It's only when Jack sees his world from the perspective of a giant that he realizes how wonderful it already was. After gaining a new perspective, he was "back again, only different than before." This also applies to Red, because even though the wolf wasn't trying to do any good, he showed her things, "many beautiful things, that [she] hadn't thought to explore." By leading her away from it, the wolf showed Red things that she never would have experienced if she hadn't strayed off the path.

5. Children will listen.
The witch starts out by singing, "Children should listen," then progresses to, "Children won't listen," and finally, "Children will listen." At first she wants Rapunzel to do what she wants her to, then gets frustrated because Rapunzel never does what she wants her to do, then realizes that everything she's ever said and done has stuck in Rapunzel's mind and influenced her. This teaches us that we need to be careful about what we say around little kids because they will take note of everything we do.

6. There is hardly ever a compromise for big decisions.  
During "Moments in the Woods" after the baker's wife kisses the prince, she sings, "Is it always 'or,' is it never 'and?'" She wishes she could have both a life with the prince and a life with the baker, but she can't. This applies not only to her, but also to Cinderella and Jack. Cinderella attempted to not choose whether she stays and gets captured by the prince or if she runs away again. She let the prince choose for her, and we all know how that turned out. Jack also sings that he wished he could live in between a life with the giants and a life at home. When the two worlds collided, everything was chaos and his mother got killed.

I'm sure there are many more, but that's all I can think of right now. If you think of some, feel free to discuss in the comments!

Sexism in SuperWhoLock-- Sherlock

Time for the final part of my Sexism in SuperWhoLock series!! Who else is dying for Sherlock season 4 to start filming?? I know I am, but today we're gonna take a look at the female characters in the show and how they're treated. Molly, Mrs. Hudson, Sally, and Irene are all the four main ones so far (there's also Mary, but I didn't get to talking about her because her main issue is the way the fans treat her). That's about the same amount as the male characters, but for some reason the only episode that passes the Bechdel test is A Scandal in Belgravia (at least I think), and that episode has issues of its own, but I'll get to that later. Probably because of Steven Moffat's attitude towards women.

Molly is so cute. I love her so much I can't even stand it. But she's constantly treated horribly by Sherlock and the writing in general. She is portrayed as weak just because she has feelings for Sherlock, but she continues to have a crush on him and do things for him and be submissive, even though he's pretty gross to her. Look, a harmful stereotype. A sweet, innocent, "weak" woman whose sole purpose in life is serve the man WHO IS ABUSIVE TO HER!! Sigh. The only time we were ever told of any part of her life outside of Sherlock was when she dated Jim, and we can only imagine how that went.

look at this beautiful loser <33
image courtesy Spylight

The best-treated female character on the show is probably Mrs. Hudson, but the problem with her is that her character isn't very well-developed. Yeah, we know she used to run a drug cartel with her husband and work as an exotic dancer, but her part is pretty small and most of what she does is just to enhance Sherlock's character development. The boys are pretty disrespectful of her, too, and she doesn't seem to enforce the fact that she doesn't like that. We almost got a little depth from her when she was keeping the information hidden from the guys who beat her up, but that ended up just being a scene to show that Sherlock actually can have empathy and a soft spot for a mother figure.

a small flicker of character development
image courtesy of Modify Lifestyle

Why does the entire Sherlock fanbase hate Sally Donovan? The world may never know. She honestly didn't do anything wrong, besides not liking Sherlock, which, in my opinion, is completely understandable. He's a jerk and he slut-shamed her within the first 20 minutes of the first episode. She also happens to be the only recurring character who's a person of color. Pretty much the only other one ever who wasn't written in a super racist way was Bainbridge in the Sign of Three (played by my bABY ALFIE ENOCH).

the one true queen
image courtesy Sherlock Wikia

Oh, Irene. How you fit perfectly with the male gaze. I'm sorry, but the Irene in Elementary is so much better, not to mention the fact that she's played by goddess Natalie Dormer. There are so many problems with Sherlock's rendition, the first being that she was canonically a LESBIAN until they HAD to throw in her falling in love with Sherlock, because, you know, every gay woman is just waiting for the right man to come along and straighten her out, right? Wrong. That's gross. She's also dressed in skimpy outfits the whole time probably just to appeal to the straight male viewers of the show. Thanks a lot for only thinking of your own kind, Moffat.

this is one of the few pictures I could find where she was actually wearing clothes
image courtesy KristinKoga

And that concludes the series!! I hope you enjoyed it. If you'd like me to do anything else like this, tell me in the comments and I'll get right on it.