Tidings

Dear Whoever You Might Be,

      Did you feel it? The Christmas magic? Did you wake up early or stay snuggled under the covers for an extra hour, knowing that it was OK to wait? Did you wear matching pajamas with anyone else in the house? You know the kind: flannel, fleece, footies, it does not matter as long as they matched. Did you sit at the top of the stairs with your knees jamming into chest, heart racing in anticipation of the words allowing you to descend towards the tree? Or did you go down whenever your sleepy eyes adjusted and your nose pricked at the aroma of coffee and pancakes?

      Did you even celebrate Christmas? Maybe instead of the traditional tree-huddling you took a vacation, a cruise, a trip. Maybe you are more of a Hanukkah or Kwanza celebrant. Did you do anything to celebrate the "Holiday Season"? Did you build a snowman? Did you sing carols? Bake cookies? Watch Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer one too many times? Drink hot chocolate or eggnog? Wrap any sort of presents, regardless of the reason?

      Did you feel sad at the end of the night? When the darkness began to creep across the sky and lighted houses began to ignite? Did you feel a shift in the air as the wrapping paper was thrown away and the initial WOW factor began to waver? Did you experience a sort of emptiness as the number of family members started to thin out and goodbyes were hugged away? At the end of the night, did you sit in front of the tree and think "It is over now. The presents have been unwrapped. Jesus has come. The family will be traveling back to Timbucktoo soon. The tree will come down in a few days and there will be a void."?

      I must say, at the end of almost every single Christmas Day, I am overwhelmed by some sort of sad emotion. Maybe it is because after so much build up and excitement for the best day of the year, it is over in a blink of an eye. Maybe because my body is just coming down from the adrenaline rush of JESUS, CHURCH, PRESENTS, EAT, FAMILY, EAT, MORE FAMILY! Maybe it is because once Christmas is over, the rest of my break from college will be over too quickly.

      I know this is not the most thrilling, cheerful or even literary post I've given. But as I pondered over my thoughts on Christmas, I realized that there always exist a sort of bitter-sweet sentiment attached to the day...at least for me. Now don't get me wrong, I love Christmas. Everything about it. And it's not the presents or the ornaments or ABC Family's 25 Days of Christmas. It is about the warmth and joy and giving. I love celebrating the birth of Jesus, even though many people don't. I love Rudolph and Frosty too. Maybe that is why I get sentimental. Because I just love it all so much and then the rest of the world puts it away. Stockings get taken down. Mangers get carefully wrapped and boxed up until next Advent. Peppermint hot chocolate becomes hard to track.

      Regardless of my feelings, Christmas is magical, in every way possible. And reader, I hope that no matter how you celebrated, and even if you didn't celebrate, you felt some sort of magic in the air. I hope you stepped outside and breathed in a deep breath of goodwill, peace, and maybe even a little snow.

                                                                      Sincerely,
                                                                              Me

If It's NOT like the Movies...

***Potential Spoiler Alert***

 



Dear Whoever You Might Be,

      Anna Arkadyevna Karenina. More casually known as Anna Karenina, heroine of Leo Tolstoy's novel published in 1877. A novel which I love. A novel which I read in highschool. A novel which I devoured, word for word, day and night. A novel which was recently released in theaters near you.

      When I first saw the trailer for this movie I gasped at a decibel unacceptable for a quiet movie theater. I gripped the arm of my dear friend sitting next to me and almost shouted, "OH MY GOD IS THIS ANNA KARENINA?!?!?!" Behold readers, it was. I gazed at the 2 minute and 31 second trailer with my eyes as wide as a deer in headlights. I was transfixed by the idea of one of my two favorite books becoming a movie (OK, there have been previous film adaptations but this one was coming out in color!). And then it hit me....My. Favorite. Book. Becoming. A. Movie. With. Modern. Hollywood. Ideas......Oh. Freaking. No.

      That was extraordinarily obnoxious of me to type but that is how the mental process occurred.

      But as any true lover of books AND movies would testify, I refused to let the dismal prospects of this film adaptation get me down. I would go in open minded, knowing that no movie is EVER, EVER as good as the book. I really don't know why people always expect them to be and become critical monsters when they walk out of theaters. I mean, come on people, how many times do you need to be told that the book-to-movie greatness scale will never be balanced, so move on already!

      Now that the ranting is over, I shall move forward.

      Reader, I saw the movie. I had heard mixed reviews about it but stayed strong in my open mindedness. I read that lovers of the book will not like the movie, but movie lovers will love it for the theatrical aesthetics. My opinion is contary to both, and I will try to be brief.

      I saw the movie three nights ago and have been sifting through my thoughts and opinions since then. To be honest, I am still not sure of my feelings. I liked the movie, I think. The plot stayed pretty true to the novel, although of course there was a million and one details left out. But since a Part 2 and 3 of Anna Karenina would just be a pain in the rear, I commend their efforts to put as much in as thought necessary. And let's face it, so much of Tolstoy's 754 page novel (Barnes&Noble Classics edition, 2003, Paperback) deals with the politics, religion, and mind of late nineteenth century Russia, and these themes do not translate well on the big screen.

       I was more impressed with the plot accuracy than the film itself. It is not a difficult story line to follow: boy meets girl, girl is married, boy and girl fall in love, girl cheats on husband, enter side plot with another couple and some Russian snow, girl goes crazy, girl jumps in front of train, end scene. They hit that sparknotes version on the head, so congratulations Focus Features, you did it.

      The disappointment did slightly sink in when Konstantin Dmitrievich Levin and Princess Ekaterina Alexandrovna Shcherbatskaya (Kitty) got left behind in development. Why? Because the novel ends with them. Their story is interwoven in Anna's, and hers IS the title of the work in question, but Tolstoy ended with Levin and Kitty for a reason. And that reason is to show that his life, his motives and concerns are the more worthy. Levin's is the redeeming variable in the novel, not Anna's despairing jealousy-turned-dramtic suicide. Sure, Levin was not cast as cute as Vronsky, but they are Russian. The mustaches and long hair are a staple.

     But my oh my. We can't forget to mention the staging of the film. Literally, the STAGE-ing haha, get it? If you've seen the movie, you should get the joke because the creators of the film made it hard to miss. Almost the entire action of the movie took place in a theater, set for various scenes and locations. It was weird, and I cannot think of a more appropriate word than plain old weird. The characters moved from one side of the stage to the other and BAM, they were in a completely different house or room, just like that. Like magic. Except it wasn't all that magical and all the spinning made me a little dizzy.

      I have to give *props* (I love my jokes!) to the director for such an innovative vision of Anna. He recognized that her character is always "on stage." She is the actress in her own life, moving and making choices around an omnipresent audience. Her spotlight never fades. She is the hero of her own one-woman show. Tom Stoppard and Joe Wright wanted to convey this huge undercurrent of the novel into the film which made it interesting to watch. Personally though, I believe it took away from the film. I found myself more focused on the movement and fluidity of the set than on the plot and characters. If I hadn't read the book, I fear I would have left the theater knowing nothing about the story.

       The movie was beautifully done. The costumes were magnificent. The language was inspiring (although we can thank Leo for that one later). The British accents were...well...not Russian. But still, I think I liked the movie, but I'm still not too sure.

      Maybe I'll just have to go back and see it again...

                                                                       Sincerely,
                                                                                Me

P.S. As Anna Karenina is one of my favorites, I could have spent much, much more time talking about it, so be glad I didn't, or else you would get bored of me. But I probably will at some point, because "I have the power to put into it."-----> Now go look it up.