Month: March 2020

Tallgirl (2019)

A few months ago when this movie came out I heard all about it and it seemed as though everyone on the internet was watching it.  I watched the trailer and I was not super impressed. While at home, I wanted something to do so I caved and decided to start watching and I can say that still, I was not super impressed.

My biggest complaint about the movie was how they tried as hard as they could to make Jodie seem like a giant and how her being tall is burdening her in every aspect of her life.  While 6’1 is fairly tall, the main point of the movie is how Jodie struggled to find a guy that was taller than her. I found this pretty interesting because I would say most of the guys that I know are around that height.  Even if they are a bit shorter, only by an inch or two. Every person in this movie must have been like 5’2 because every scene this girl seems to be towering over everyone but in reality, I know girls who are 6’0 and I never even noticed.  The movie really made an effort to hire short actors because Sabrina Carpenter, who plays her sister is 5’0. Angela Kinsey plays Jodie’s mother, and she is 5’1. One of the recurring jokes revolving around Angela’s character on The Office was that she was so tiny.  I just found it irritating how they were making her seem even more out of place than she actually is. While 6’1 is fairly tall for a girl, I also don’t think it’s unheard of and would contribute to that much of someone’s life as it did for Jodie. 

Overall I would rate a 4/10.  The movie was entertaining and I wasn’t ever bored but I also didn’t find it exciting or revolutionary.

 

Easy A (2010)

Image result for easy a

My third Emma Stone movie on this list that I have crossed off. I believe this is the final one. Cheesy high school movies are for sure my guilty pleasure. There is something so easy about watching a high school movie and nothing is hard to interpret, everything is pretty mindless. Easy A had been on my list for a while.  Clips from the movie always used to come up in my explore page on Instagram and since I have been intrigued.  

High school student Olive tells a lie to her best friend about sleeping with a college guy over the weekend.  Another student overheard and by the end of the week, the hallways were flying with rumors. Despite it being a lie, the students start to see Olive as a slut and the original rumor gets pulled apart and transformed.  Olive gets approached by a friend who is in the closet. In an attempt to not come out, he asks Olive if he can lie and say that they had sex together. Olive agrees and this trend only continues. Rumors get worse and worse and her reputation gets tarnished.  Conveniently, Olive’s English class is reading Shakesphere’s The Scarlet Letter. As a statement, Olive stitches the letter “A” to lingerie tops and wears them to school.  

Image result for easy a

I thought this movie was cute.  I really don’t have many thoughts. I really did like the incorporation of A Scarlet Letter,  I thought that it was clever.  One thing I didn’t like is how nobody believes her the entire time.  I understand that kept the plot going but I became increasingly upset when she would talk to people and nobody would believe her or understand what was happening.  That is actually how the story started altogether when she told her best friend that nothing happened but her friend didn’t believe her. I grew upset when even the teachers that she talked to did not get what was happening.  They would send her off before anything was actually dealt with. Although I really enjoyed the incorporation of A Scarlet Letter, I didn’t feel satisfied with it because I felt like none of the other characters understood it except for Olive.  Again I feel like that is kind of the point but there was something not satisfying about it.

I would give Easy A a 5/10. I think the plot was cute but some parts felt forced and rushed.  I felt that anything with meaning to the story was kind of brushed to the side.  I think it was cute and in certain situations, I would recommend it. I think this would be a good movie to watch with friends but nothing super special. 

Images used:

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fnzfilmfreak.wordpress.com%2F2013%2F02%2F18%2Feasy-a%2F&psig=AOvVaw3glmYcTh078NO8wCXR65sP&ust=1584635664330000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAIQjRxqFwoTCNilp4e6pOgCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAN

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.chicagonow.com%2Fbooth-reviews%2F2010%2F11%2Fmovie-review-easy-a-with-emma-stone%2F&psig=AOvVaw3glmYcTh078NO8wCXR65sP&ust=1584635664330000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAIQjRxqFwoTCNilp4e6pOgCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAT

 

Does Recycling really make a difference?

At home, we always had three piles for our waste.  There were the regular trash bins, a box for paper/cardboard and a bin of plastics.  I had always grown up separating my trash so it could be recycled. I would go about every week to drop off our recycling and help my mother throw our plastic into larger bins where others did the same.  In my household, my mother was very serious about recycling so I grew up with it being normal to separate my waste. Even if I was in public and I had a plastic bottle, I would often carry it back home to avoid throwing it into a generic waste bin.  

I’ve noticed in the past five years especially that recycling has become more and more common in public spaces.  When I’m in the city there are usually two bins, one for plastics and one for trash. Even here at Penn State, we have so many different bins for paper, plastic, trash and even compost.  I grew up thinking that recycling was what we should do. 

I didn’t realize it though until the end of middle school that everyone’s home was the same as mine.  I assumed that every family recycled. I remember going to people’s houses and them just throwing away their water bottles with the rest of their trash. Most people just honestly didn’t care enough to recycle but then I heard a different perspective.  

It had been revealed that maybe our recycling efforts had been made for nothing.  Many American municipalities ship their recyclables to China to process but recently it came out that as part of an anti-pollution campaign, that they are no longer accepting “foreign garbage”.  Now that China is out of the picture, many companies don’t know where to send their recycling and they are sending their recycling to landfills. About one-third of the recycling made by Americans is exported, with most of it being sent to China. 

Now, what does that mean for us? What do we do now? 

As of right now, it means that in order to recycle it may come with a price.  Unfortunately, this will probably lead to a decline in Americans recycling. While it is a price to pay it may be a small price to pay to keep our planet looking clean.  What if we want to avoid this price increase? Search for waste-free options. Small changes can be made in day to day life that decrease the amount of waste we produce. Avoid using one-use utensils and dishes.  Reusable Tupperware are great for carrying food on the go and many are dishwasher safe. Of course, a nice water bottle can stop your contribution to plastic water bottle waste. These are a few suggestions but overall being aware of how much waste is being produced is the first step.

I read this New York Times article for reference! If you would like to check it out here is the link!