TRUE GRIT

The values of the book and movie from 2010 are very similar. It focus on this idea of strength and what it takes to survive this idea of the Wild West. The American mythology about the Wild West is that it is so untameable and unpredictable. You either get killed by men or the wilderness. This world of the Wild West only real has one type of person, there is no room for weakness (only in women). He is American Adam who is smart, strong, and brave. It’s very bad when man don’t do manly things, that make them brave and tough. They can’t be embarrassed or seen as a joke; which makes everything a pissing contest to show all the other men that you’re American Adam too. A good example of this the scene when LaBeouf gets mad a Rooster for making him look stupid in front of Mattie, which then turns into a shooting contest with cornbread. But this book is also about revenge. If you piss off the wrong people, revenge is inevitable because the West is about justice in the eye of the beholder. But If you're the opposite of the American Adam you’re an Eve or someone that deserve to be taken advantage of. I think the mainstream population of a Western culture is about perception of toughness and heroics. Which gives some of the characters like LaBeouf a fakeness which rubs people the wrong way, he tries to be the American Adam. I think both Mattie and Rooster cut through that idea of mainstream. Mattie is shown as mentally strong and smart busnesswomen at only 14. She is not the typical female role of a western. She's not put in a box of a gender role which goes against the mainstream. She's just has characteristics not specific to a gender. She is a child savior but also the American hero. She’s the one with the grit she seeks for her revenge for her father's murder.

PRIDE & PREJUDICE

I’ve always admired the strength of Elizabeth in Pride & Prejudice. She is her own person who is honest,witty, and intelligence. She goes against the grain in a society and time when woman who had these qualities were considered wild. But to be true to one's characteristics and still hope for love is something to be noted even in today's society.        

There's a lack of authenticity in people today and the time period of the novel. In relationships today people act a certain way that forms them into this ideal person for someone they are interested in. It’s the idea of fake it till you make it, once the chase is over and the prize of love or sex or a relationship is achieved a person's true personality shows through for better or worse. In Pride & Prejudice this lack of authenticity is seen in a sometimes painful over politeness of characters, in the careful choice of words, and the gossiping behind people's backs abouts a person's character. But there is the same lack of authenticity in both Wickham and Collins characters. Collins spends a great deal of time giving compliments that seem practiced and excessive, that makes you think they aren’t genuine and said just to make him seem agreeable. Wickham on the other hand seems very agreeable and genuine upon first impression. But then his true personality is realized when the correct story of what happened between Wickham and Darcy is revealed, and when he and Lydia eloped almost ruining Lydia and her family’s reputation. And the only way he’ll marry her is if he receives an income from Mr. Bennet.

I think the idea of marriage in that time period was about status and money and was rarely about love. Today those ideas have flipped; marriage is now about love and less about status and money. This time period also used dancing in a courtship as a means of affection and physical contact before marriage. This idea of affection has changed a great deal in modern relationships. Many couples or people just dating have physical contact without a slightest  inclination of marriage in the future. Sex is now used as a test to see if two people are compatible and not so much as a confirmation of two people's love and union in marriage.  

The idea of wanting someone you can’t have, is still very prevalent in modern time as it was back then. It’s all about the thrill of the chase; there's something desirable about being challenged and putting in work to win someone's heart. And I think that idea is still popular today. A lot of people now would still see it as being romantic, the act of winning a girl’s heart because it shows that you care a great deal about them. In the novel we see both Collins and Darcy proceed in this chase. When Mr. Collins ask for Elizabeth's hand she says no and he goes on to say “it is usual with young ladies to reject the addresses of the man whom they secretly mean to accept”, so he asks again and gets rejected a second time. Darcy also pines for Elizabeth and struggles with an internal and external battle with his feelings for Elizabeth. He is also rejected by Elizabeth, but his love for her and the obsession to be with her despite the opinions of everyone else including her. Pushes him to right some of the wrongs he’s done in the hopes of winning Elizabeth’s heart.  

PROLOGUE

A list of Hannah’s characteristics (The Human Oxymoron)

Short tempered

Can get emotional easily

Independent

Goofy

Outgoing

Passionate

Hard to open up

Quite

Loud

Hard working

Afficationate

Easy going

Creative

Strange

Imaginative

Critical thinking

Confident  

Problem Solver

20 years ago a second baby girl was born to the Lelie family who lived in a small town right on the Delaware River that separated Pennsylvania and New Jersey. They named the baby girl Hannah after a great great someone in the Lelie family.

Family is important to the Lelies, so their were and still remains close to their relatives across the river in New Jersey. Hannah and her elder sister Kaelyn by two years grew up with their cousins. Before the girls were in school they went to there aunt’s house during the day to play with their cousins. And on the weekends enjoyed dinners at their Grammy and Pop-Pop's house. And during the summer spend weekends at the shore with her Oma and Opa.  

When school started it was clear something was wrong. Hannah struggled with reading and writing, and was diagnosed with Dyslexia. She endured and pushed through the tears and frustrations, and worked twice as hard to prove to herself and everyone else she wasn’t stupid.  

As the two girls grew-up their family went through both tough financial and emotional stress, that nearly tore the family apart. But the storm claimed and love showed through the darkness. But that darkness left scars on both daughters, a bitterness for people and a want for love but also a distrust in the idea of happiness. That did not deter her to search for love lead to heartache. It made her harden her heart a little bit more, but she secretly still had hope for happiness.

So she found peace in her independents, and watched movies and television and listened to music so she could control a part of her world. All she had to do was turn it off and on when everything else became too much. She had the outlet of dance to express herself but it also brought a discipline to her life. Which helped calm her mind.  

Her upbrings and life experiences and learnings from different artistic medias shaped the woman she is today. But she still changes as new experiences and problems come into her life. New scars are made, and old ones mend.