Havanaland

From Danielle LaPorte on Positively Positive:

You have permission to

: not finish reading books that you’re not really enjoying. Don’t force it, close it.

: walk out of movies that suck (and hey, if you leave in the first twenty minutes, you can get your money back.)

: let it go to voicemail (especially during dinner, or snuggling, or watching So You Think You Can Dance?)

: give birthday gifts anytime of the year (which means you can be late or early and you can give yourself time to find just the right gift.)

: cut the obligations cords that are driven by guilt.

: pursue your own agenda.

: own next to nothing, live on a mattress, read and write and make love all day with no other responsibilities

: return crappy products to their crappy manufacturers (because you can vote with your dollars.)

: leave your current business model so you can go do something bigger than you.

: tell your kids when you think that something an authority figure told them is crap (you need to be in solidarity with your child, not the so-called grown ups.)

: quit your job, even if you just started two weeks ago, or just got a raise, or are seemingly indispensable.

: get yourself off, even if you have a partner.

: have some secrets.

: cut out the elements of your business that you don’t totally LOVE. The parts that 90% of the time make you say, “WHY am I doing this? I don’t WANT to do this.”

: give away / recycle / get rid of stuff, stuff, stuff—sentimental stuff that special people gave you (your home is for you, not them); stuff that doesn’t make you feel good, even if you spent a lot of money on it; stuff that has intense memories attached to it; stuff!

: say no to “free” stuff, like swag bags at fancy events and novelty erasers and pom-pom pens from the bank. (Because the only thing in life that’s free is love.)

You have permission to

: fail, and fail again.

: succeed. Wildly. More than your neighbours, more than your folks, more than you thought was possible.

: be rich and “spiritual”

: be broke and generous

: leave work early, get some ice cream, and sit in the hot tub at the gym.

: charge what you’re worth.

: focus more on creating your soul job and less on finding a ho’ job.

: sleep! sleep in, nap, sleep.

: earn a living knitting for charity.

: relax. To let go of the growing to-do list in your head; to release the need to get it “just right.”

: to dance.

: go bra-less and/or underwear-free.

: give it all to charity.

: check your email whenever the hell you want.

: start now, without the degree, without the funding, without knowing exactly where you’re going.

: sell your house to afford a big trip to India (a friend of mine did just that, no regrets.)

: walk away.

: fall in love.

: eat dessert first.

you have permission to: not ever feel the need for permission.

There are some things I don’t freely admit to in the company of others and one of them was being one of the rare adults who hadn’t seen the classic Star Wars trilogy.

Ack! -ducks thrown objects- Hey, hey, hey, give me a sec!

The reason why I never bothered was because I made the mistake of entering the series with Episode 1. After all, it seemed “logical” to start with the first. Old special effects tend to distract me in movies so I thought, “Oh boy! A modern installment of the movie!” 

But wow, I was completely underwhelmed and worse—bored. The characters didn’t grab me, the plot was slow as molasses, the action scenes were exhausting … I just didn’t “get” Star Wars, I guess. 

Last night, I finally watched it. There are a lot of reviews for Star Wars out there and they definitely go into more depth than I could probably ever attempt to do. For what it’s worth, this is a reaction from a Gen Y’er who didn’t grow up anticipating the release of Episodes 4, 5, or 6, a person who grew up with a working knowledge solely based on parodies and references (I watched Spaceballs and Family Guy’s rendition before I watched Episode 4. -ducks- Hey, stop throwing things!), someone who has been utterly spoiled by the incredible special effects today, and someone whose impression of Star Wars was stained by the new trilogy. 

I loved it. I could not believe I had gone for so long not watching Episode. In fact, despite knowing the basic storyline and being “spoiled” by today’s special effects, I was at times anxious in anticipation and quite impressed by the FX! There was a point there I literally gasped when Darth Vader slayed Obi-Wan. “Hurry up!” I yelled as stormtroopers swarmed in on Luke and Leia on the ledge.  

The characters were just so fun to watch. Even though they were archetypes I had seen before, I just fell in love with each one. Compared to the dry, horrendously boring character interaction and camera shots of Episode 1, Episode 4 was dynamic. It was an adventure flick set in space. 

This led me to two realizations:

Throughout my life, I had always wondered why I didn’t like as many sci-fis as I should’ve. I mean, I tend to like the premises of various sci-fis. I like space. I like science. Why the heck don’t I like sci-fi as much as other genres? 

And it’s all about the characters. Maybe it’s from the modest sample I’ve seen but most of the time, I feel like people in sci-fis act very robotic. Star Wars really captured my attention because each of the main characters were so animated and reminded me of an adventure flick more than anything else. I enjoyed the latest Star Trek movie, after all, and that was a sci-fi with dynamic, active characters and interactions. 

Upon contemplation over character, I also realized that a movie can be good regardless of weak character development as long as other components are strong. I don’t know if the three main characters were new or innovative at the time of its release but from my perspective, they were cookie-cutter archetypes yet I loved to watch them. The acting, mannerisms, behavior, and overall execution of these “archetypes” were the factors that made them so interesting to watch. Then I thought about other movies I loved despite “weak” character development. Slumdog Millionaire is one of my favorite movies— to me, it is almost perfect. However, the main character doesn’t make huge internal changes by the end of the movie and he and the love interest are pretty one-dimensional … but man, you are clinging to the character’s narrative throughout the whole movie because the the “real” danger and tribulations he goes through just to find his love. The setting is beautiful, ugly, gritty, exotic, and terrifying and this, plus the plot and character interactions, is what made the movie so enthralling to me. 

Star Wars had great action, amazing character acting, and engaging character interaction. It’s hard to judge the quality of the plot since I couldn’t really be “surprised” by anything but I was pleasantly impressed that I felt suspense and excitement nonetheless. 

I’ll be watching Episode 5 tonight with my brother. I’m quite excited to see this one, since I hear it’s the best. 

And if you haven’t, watch Red Letter Media’s reviews of Episodes 1-3! You. Will. Learn. So. Much. 

P.S. I was also pleasantly surprised by how progressive Leia’s character was! She was a strong female without being cold and without stepping into Mary Sue territory. I never got the appeal behind Leia because I had always found her rather plain … but damn, it’s quite apparent to me now!