Genres (Reflection 6)

Over the years, I have wanted to shy away from the science fiction genre and focus more on the romantic or fantasy world. I just think that as I grew up, science fiction has too much of a futuristic feel and there is no point in reading about the future when you live in the present. Time travels and robots just don’t catch my eye anymore. I would much rather curl up on the couch and read a book about to individuals who fall in love! They are a lot more realistic and easier to relate to. I prefer to read books that I can relate to and science fiction is not something you can have that connection with. I wouldn’t say labeling each book into a genre is necessary, but it is definitely helpful!  If you read one story about magic realism and really enjoyed it, you could easily type in that magic realism genre and find a million other books you would most likely delight in. In contrast, a genre labels the book and if you didn’t enjoy a novel, you could exclude all other books in that genre just because you didn’t like one.

The Pretties Cover (Review 2, 1-153)

I think the cover the publishers chose for this book fits it well. The novel is centered on a girl as the main character and the majority of her face is the front cover. Her face is flawless and there is a sparkle in her right eye which really brings out the whole “I have chosen to become a pretty and no one can take that away from me” attitude built up from the first book in the series. Tally, the main female character, continues to grow in her new pretty world which fits the cover perfectly. The publishers gave her a serious face because most of the time Tally has a serious, daring tone she takes on throughout the novel. But I think they should have changed her stern mouth into more of a smirk because she has cheated the system in so many ways. I wouldn’t say Tally is all that honest and the face she currently has on the cover gives off the vibe of I have nothing to hide. For example, Tally has begun taking these illegal pills for a friend to kill the lesions off of her brain the surgery has caused. By killing the lesions, she will still have the appearance of a ‘pretty’ but she will think like her normal self. That is one of the many examples of how she has cheated the system in the Pretties.  The way the publishers took a large poster image and wrapped it around to the back cover is very different which makes this cover very unique. I haven’t seen many books with that type of image on the front. The image is very realistic and that is something I like about books covers.

Realistic Book Covers (Reflection 5)

I tend to be the one who judges a book by its cover. If the cover is not appealing to the eye or does not have anything catchy on it, I am more likely to not even give the novel a chance. I don’t really love nonrepresentational book covers either, meaning that the picture is not realistic or something you could physically take on your own. But a lot of times, like the video we watched said, the cover goes hand in hand with what the book is about. So to me, if the cover is solid black, the story line is going to be plain and not a very interesting book to read. For example, the cover to Love Does by Bob Goff is one of my favorite book covers. This book is kind of like a memoir of Bob Goff’s life. He tells his story and relates it back to him being a Christian. Love Does has a book cover that is sky blue with some balloons scattered around. To me, it is a very catchy cover. I like simple, straight to the point pictures relating to the book’s main idea. The cover of the novel is simple, just like his thought process in life by simply depending on God.

That's A Wrap! (Review 4)

The first specific scene that is essential to keep in the film would be recapping Tally’s past. With this being the second book in the series, it is important that they would wrap up what has previously happened to Tally. The scene they would utilize for this is where Tally’s “stalker” hides clues about her past life in the Smokes that she doesn’t exactly remember because of the surgery she underwent to become a pretty. The second scene that is essential to keep is when she begins taking the pills to cure the brain lesions. Tally begins consuming the pills with Zane, the leader of the Crims clique, which she has wanted to be a part of. The pills have a huge effect on Zane, causing him to seek medical attention. It is an important scene because in the end, the pills are what cause them to be busted and transformed into specials. The last scene that is essential is when they steal the hot air balloon to escape to the new Smokes. This is how they get away from the pretty world and initially get them out of being transformed into specials. In the end, the arrival of Tally and Zane causes the new Smoke to flee because they both had tracking devices on them. I would definitely cut out the character Fausto. He plays such a minor role that they could name him boy #1 and nobody would know the difference. He is only in the book here and there which kind of makes me always question, “Oh! Wait! Who is Fausto?” which kind of tears away from the enjoyment of the book. He is just kind of irrelevant and the story would not change if he was not a part of it. I would also cut out the scene of Tally and Shay trying to find a costume to wear to the party. I understand they are trying to stress the fact of how important the party is to them, but it just gets dragged out way too much! It goes on and on, explaining all of the outfits that they tried, but didn’t like and just statements that could be cut out without taking away from who their characters are. Personally, if I had to choose a third part to be cut out, I would definitely alter the film to not have so much self harm in it. At one point, they have a clique of “Cutters” who in a glimpse cut themselves. I just don’t think that is truly necessary to have that a part of the movie young adults and teenagers would most likely watch.

Books Are Usually Better (Reflection 4)

Top Three Best Adaptations

Twilight by Stephanie Meyer (YA fantasy): I have only read one book out of the five in the series but they are all pretty much about vampire romance. I would say the book was a lot easier to follow and has a lot more detail when compared to the movie. The movie was really good though and I thought it was one of the best adaptations. Book Review

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (YA Science Fiction): Again, I have only read one of the novels in the series but they are all about the tributes chosen for to represent their district that kill one another because their can only be one survivor. I think the movie did a really good job as having the same plot line and a lot of the details the book had. The only big thing missing that stood out to me would be how Katniss and Peeta only kiss once in the movie, probably to build suspense, where in the book they kiss a lot! Book Review

Dear John by Nicholas Sparks (Romance): It is all about John who is deployed overseas and the girl, Savannah, who he fell in love with before he left. Throughout the entire book, they plan their future together. The storyline was very similar between the book and movie which makes it a good adaptation. The only big difference was the endings, which I can understand because people who only saw the movie were more pleased with the ending they gave vs. what happened in the book. Book Review

Worst Two Adaptations

The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks (Drama/Romance): The book was so much better! It is a love story of a U.S. Marine who finds this picture of this woman and he sets out on a journey to find her. The movie was nothing like what happened in the book. The only thing that was really the same was the ending and the character’s names! That’s it! Maybe if I didn’t read the book, I would have enjoyed the movie more. Movie Review

The Blind Side by Michael Lewis (Sports/Biography/Drama): The book was nothing like how they portrayed it in the movie. They are both all about the life of Michael Oher. The book was more about Michael in the NFL, stating a lot of facts. In the movie, Michael was the center of everything and it followed more of his life/family. Personally, I liked the movie a lot better! It was a lot more interesting. Movie Review

How shallow is appearance? (Book One Project)

How shallow is appearance? I believe appearance has always been on the minds of humans.  Early in society when there were Indians and tribes, they decked themselves out in jewelry, makeup, paint, etc.. Humans have always done something to alter their original appearance. We can make the argument now that the level we are willing to go to in order to achieve this perfect image is a lot higher than it used to be. People just wake up and say “Ohh, I’m too fat!”, “My eyes are drooping too much!”, or “Wow, I’m soo ugly!” And instead of being confident in the body God has blessed them with, they complain and complain critiquing themselves until they decide to get surgery. I am not saying every person has these thoughts to this extreme, but a whopping 11.7 million cosmetic surgeries were preformed in the United States with the most common surgery being liposuction. Botox injections didn’t fall too far behind though! But earlier civilizations went to just as extreme levels by piercing their bodies and scarring themselves for the rest of life. Chinese people would bind their feet so they wouldn’t grow, causing many health issues and deformities. Kuyan people placed rings around their neck to lengthen them, all going for this certain look of “pretty” in their mind.  Just like in the novel The Uglies, they require you to have a surgery to change how you look from an “ugly” to a pretty. Do we want to be altered into something society believes is beautiful? Tally struggles to decide whether or not she should have the surgery done. It is all she has wanted her entire life, but now that she is sixteen and has met some incredible “uglies” in the Smokes, she is rethinking her decision. “One day she might wake up and realize that she couldn’t stand to live her entire life as an ugly, no matter who it would hurt or what it would cost.” (231) But are they truly ugly to begin with? Someone out there see’s the beauty in every flaw. Luckily for Tally, she has met her match who loves her for her big nose and scars on her hands. But if you really sit down and think about it, society is the one telling us she isn’t pretty. We are surrounded by perfect people everywhere we look. Every magazine has pictures of celebrities who are flawless. You click on the television and this glowing goddess pops up for a commercial, she is perfect. The lists go on and on of perfect people everywhere. No one is forcing us to be perfect, but society puts this image in your head of the ideal look, which many individuals then chase after. Tally opens a magazine while she is in the Smokes, of famous people. But these aren’t your typical faces you would see if someone was famous. These are the many faces of the uglies who have made something of themselves. “Instead of being ashamed of their deformities, the people were laughing and kissing and posing.” (198) Tally finally realizes she can be beautiful; it just took a little push from society. Now if we could get every person to have this confident attitude with the body they have been blessed with, appearance wouldn’t be so shallow.

This is a link to an article about Cindy Jackson who currently holds the Guinness Record for the most plastic surgery with 55 surgeries to this day! Cindy Jackson: The Women Who Refuses to Age Without a Fight

A Book is a Gift (Reflection #3)

A book is a gift. People cherish them, honor them and take them pretty much everywhere they go. Some may argue it is the best gift you could possibly receive! Gifts are something people want, not necessarily need just like how books are something a lot of people want to have. They like to be able to pick up a good novel and use their imagination to escape from reality for a few hours. But it is no longer a necessity in life to have a non-fiction book that we can learn from. Everything we could ever think of is somewhere on the internet and only a click away. Joe Meno said, “Television, film, even the stage play, have already been imagined for us, but the book, in whatever form we choose to interact with it, focuses us to complete it.” I strongly agree with this quote because I know as I read, I imagine the book as if it was a movie in my head and make a million connections with it. I am the filmmaker, it is whatever I want it to be unlike me watching a movie. I can’t change the ending of a movie; it has already been decided and produced for all to see.