Angelique's Literature & Media Blog

In S.J Sindu’s book, Marriage of a Thousand Lies, we follow Lucky, a queer Iranian woman struggling with the constraints of her culture’s expectations and rules. While talking to S.J Sindu in class, I was struck by her comments on movement. As a past gymnast myself listening to her book, I felt the authenticity in her words when Lucky, a past dancer, first meets the rugby team. She spoke of how much she missed moving, of controlling her body. I really felt this moment, whether because I could relate to it, or because the author did, or both. Regardless, I thought it was a powerful aspect of the story, giving depth to Lucky and strengthening relatability. S.J also talked about her personal struggle with adding emotion to characters through a show-not-tell mentality, which I thought was interesting. It is something I also struggle with in my work, where I focus on movement over emotion, leaving too little time to feel with my characters. In a way, it’s nice to know tha

This week we reviewed the work Cosmopolis , both the book by Don DeLillo and the film directed by David Cronenberg. These works addressed the trek of billionaire Eric Packer traveling in a limo across New York City over the course of a day. When I first heard about the book, I was excited. The constrained course of time, limited space of a limo, and theorized journey to growth of a young billionaire was intriguing. However, the character was not meant to be liked, which would be a difficult read.   Eric Packer was stone faced, cold, and unfeeling. He seemingly saw women only as methods of sex, and little else. I felt that in the film, Packer’s brief focus on work was vague and flashy, more to give the impression of work that doing work itself. It was as if we were kept from connecting to him even in his talk of work. It was interesting to read the New York Times review of the piece here , where they quoted Mr. Patterson, who played Packer in the film. Mr. Patterson said

I read from a classmate and friend, Negin, who had the great idea of separating a Wonder Woman theme park into two sides. One, themed as an Amazonian island, and the other as a WW2 “Man’s World”. You can see her original post here . Not only does this increase interest in the different ‘worlds’ of the park, it can also increase ticket prices similar to Disney World with Epcot and Hollywood Studios, or Universal Studio’s The Wizarding World of Harry Potter with Hogwarts and Hogsmeade. For the “Man’s World”, I would place it in the author’s world, shortly after the Wonder Woman comics took hold. I think this would lend opportunity for strong costuming of the 1940’s. This could show the excitement of the time, post WW2.  There would be photo booths, where both boys and girls could come and be transformed into a superhero. There would be interactive shows where boys and girls could learn to fight from Wonder Woman, and fight off villains such as Baroness von Gunther or C

I love a good western. I love the archetype of the get-her-done, loner-for-the-greater good, justice-will-be-served hero. Growing up, we watched John Wayne cross country sides on horseback, fend off rascals and fight outlaws. We’d look outside to our Pacific Northwest home and imagine the action taking place in our woods. As kids, we’d go out and play cops and robbers, until both sides were sought after in play. But what does it mean to be a western film in our culture? Take the story True Grit , the epitome of western melodrama. It has determination and sacrifice, betrayal, perseverance, and good old Western shootouts crossing rugged landscapes. And, of course, horse-back riding. It was interesting to note that although Mattie was a female narrator through the work, she was fairly masculine in tone, at least in comparison to modern female characters of the time. She was smart, tough, and willing to barter relentlessly for what she wanted. She refused to be left out of the hun

I’ve always wanted to start a blog. Well, for a few years at least, since I realized blogs were a thing. I loved the anonymity of writing to someone, of communicating ideas or life in an interesting way with time to think before writing. I would research what made up a strong blog, what others wrote about, and questioned what I’d write about. Eventually, I came to wait, choosing that my voice would not add much value to any conversation yet. I’ve come to learn from my father that one of the most important aspects of writing is to have something to say. So, today’s the day. I take a step out to try. The first story that I’ll tell is my own. I’ve grown up in a small family of four in the Pacific Northwest, with an older sister of three years and two supportive parents. I was taught from an early age the importance of family, and the importance of loving learning. My sister and I are very close, bonding through ten years in the sport of competitive gymnastics together, and severa