Hollywood Recycles

When I'm stressed or tired, I find comfort in watching an easy movie, as I just did with Mean Girls 2. As expected, they recycled the plot--and, seemingly, the actresses too, but maybe that's just me. Once I have seen an actor/actress, I tend to compare all the (vaguely) similar looking actors/actresses that I see later on to my original model of that "type". Such was the case for this movie.

Meaghan Martin (left) as the main character: tomboy Jo. Loved her character! Throughout the movie, I thought she looked and talked like Natalie Portman (right) but teenager version. Unfortunately, when I looked her up on IMDB, she was all made up and looked nothing like Natalie Portman, but to get what I'm talking about you'd have to see the movie yourself. Yes, that means sitting through ~106 mins of high school girl drama.
Note: the resemblance is a little clearer in this photo from the actual movie.

Jennifer Stone (left) as the protagonist's side-kick (i.e. bestie) kinda looks like Emma Stone (right). Mostly because of the red hair and freckles I guess. And when I saw that they shared the same last name, I had to double-check they weren't related. What a coincidence!

Anyway, although neither pair is truly THAT similar, I just thought this was a recent, and thus, relevant example of my "recognition bias" (if you will) that I have while watching movies.

A Double Standard of Morals

I am a Justin Bieber hater hater. Yes, two hates. First of all, why do we have to hate him? Has he done anything evil? Certainly, criticism and subconscious jealousy always cause us to judge celebrities on the harsher side. But the Justin Bieber hate seems to be particularly strong even before he hit puberty (i.e. he was still young enough to be considered a "kid"). If people only stopped to view him objectively, they would realize he actually has some talent. He may not be the best singer in the world, but are ANY of the other celebrities really ALL that they're worked up to be?

Another thing, people make fun of his adherence to cheesiness and "trying too hard". I don't understand why we point and laugh at this because the things that celebrities resort to are a direct result of what we, as an audience, support. Those stupid, trendy things he does are simply a show of him catering to what WE have made popular. And yes, most of our "trends" ARE completely stupid; is it fair to blame all of it on this one kid? He's not only the scapegoat. He's a blatant sign of what ridiculous fads we endorse today and we refuse to acknowledge it.

And all those quips about his "girly", pre-pubertal voice are hateful and rude. In case we've forgotten, decades ago, young boys used to undergo the horrible castration process to preserve such a pure, clear vocal range. Similarly, those individuals were often mocked and seen as unmanly. Clearly our race hasn't evolved or matured very much at all.

What also bothers me is how strongly people are advocating LGBT rights (hopefully that's the right order...)--and some of these very same people are also hating on Justin Bieber. I'm all for equality and eliminating the hate, but clearly we're not sincerely into our own messages if we're hating on a kid who happened to get a lucky break into the celeb world. Like charity, eliminating the hate starts at home (i.e. from our basic, underlying principles). In fact, the underlying causes of hate come from not being able to understand or appreciate another individual's position, which is exactly what is going on here. From what I see on Youtube, on Facebook, the general Internet, there is so much hate and judgement on Justin Bieber (but not just limited to him, of course)...I doubt openness and equality will be achieved anytime soon. Of course, it's not a perfect analogy because he hasn't faced nearly the same level and duration of persecution as members of the LGBT community, but do we really need to let something get that far before we finally realize we've done something wrong?

We're a pathetic species with a superficial double standard of morals. I am disgusted and ashamed.

Old at Heart

There are many reasons why I feel extremely old at heart.

1. I lack a sense of humour. Maybe I was born in the wrong time period or I'm just a cranky old woman. Either way I don't find most of today's catchy lines, popular movies, or TV shows all that entertaining. Honestly, I've given it a try--several actually. I have sat through many episodes of Wong Fu, Ray William Johnson, Jenna Marbles, [insert chinese name of loser who thinks (s)he's funny but makes me resent my Asian roots every time I see him/her trying too hard with his/her stupid video edits], How I Met Your Mother, Arrested Development, The Office, etc. without cracking even the slightest of smiles.

To add onto this, I actually hate sarcasm. It's just a way to say something horrible to someone else but get away with it by calling it a joke. You know the male strategy about asking girls out on April Fool's so they can call it a joke if they get utterly rejected? I liken sarcasm to that. Hypocritical of me, you say? Why yes, that's my favoured humour of choice. Why do I hate? Simple, I'm not really capable of any other kind of humour, since I don't really understand it. Also, I'll be honest with you. It hides the resentment and hurt I am feeling. Most of the time, I employ sarcasm in response to quips by others that offend me. I'm actually pretty sensitive inside, but I've become used to people being pretty harsh and evil that I guess I've evolved indifference and sarcasm as some sort of defense mechanism.

2. I don't understand why most trends today are trends. I have also endured all 8 Harry Potter movies and all of the most recent "UNRATED" comedy movies that have been deemed worthy of a good laugh by the general public and to no avail. I came out strongly resenting the opportunity cost of my $11 movie ticket. I refuse to purchase Uggs, Coach, DG, and other brand name products. I don't even know the names of half of the latest "hot" brands. JAYESSLEE...what to say what to say...It's like we've never seen a pretty girl. Or a singer. Or someone with a foreign accent. Going to pitch the triple threat thing? Go see real talent. Go see a musical.

3. I feel alone. Sometimes it makes me sad, but every time I reconvene with other homo sapiens, I re-appreciate how good it feels to be alone. No one can make you feel anything other than what you want to feel. That's why I don't need anyone else. The only one I've always been able to rely on has always been right here.

4. Other than the bare societal necessities (i.e. bank card, SIN card, passport, etc.), I don't care too much about my possessions. They're not going to last forever, nor are they responsible for my happiness; no need to pamper them with needless attention. Instead, I place value in the small things that have sentimental value. This often makes me careless; I guess it's something I should work on until I do reach my spinster years.

5. I feel like the best days of my life have already passed. This causes me to reminisce and regret the way I acted and the things I did.