They Always Die

SPOILER ALERTS!!!!!

Don't read if you don't want to know about deaths in Mysterious Island, Firefly/Serenity, Rorouni Kenshin, Harry Potter, V for Vendetta,or Pretty Little Liars.

I've done my best not to give to much away, but there still might be something given away.

Consider yourself warned!

For some reason, in my favorite shows and movies, my favorite character dies. It's almost always the case. There must be something about the type of character's I like that makes authors and writers want to kill them off. Seriously it never fails.

In the made for TV miniseries, Mysterious Island, the one main character that dies is the one that was my favorite.

In Firefly (or rather the movie Serenity) the one main character that dies is my favorite character.

In Rorouni Kenshin the one main character that dies is my favorite. (Later's it turns out she's not actually dead, but still.)

In Harry Potter two of my favorite characters were picked off in the last book. (I know I'm not alone in this one. Mostly because a lot of people die.)

In V for Vendetta everyone loves the main character that dies, so everyone is sad when he dies.

And now today while watching the season finally of Pretty Little Liars, the one of the two characters they kill off (Allison doesn't count) happened to be my favorite character.

Seriously what the heck? Why does my favorite character always die? If in a book, movie, or television series they are going to kill off a character, it's likely going to be one of the ones that I consider my favorite.

The Pirates Incident

My family has a complete inability to go see a movie together. Whenever we try to, we end up fighting.

There are many instances in which we attempted to attend a movie as a family, but turned around and went home before we even got close to the theater (most of these happened to be when we were going to see Harry Potter movies). Then after more yelling we turned back around and went to see the movie. (It's a complicated process.

The last attempte was we made was when we went to go see Pirates of the Carribean 4 (No one keeps track after what that one's called). It actually started out really nicely. We got down to the theater (on time) without any yelling or arguments. It wasn't until we were done with the movie and in the car heading home that things went crazy.

My dad started going on about how you could make a really good historically accurate movie about a pirate that actually existed and blah blah blah. While he was going on about this my younger sister said something to me. I don't remember what it was. It was nothing significant. We start having our own conversation, then my dad truns around and starts yelling at us for being rude.

I wasn't aware that we were part of the conversation (really a lecture, but try and tell him that). We thought that he was talking to our mom. So he's starts yelling at us for interrupting him. My sister yelled that she was sorry and stuck her elbow on the open window trying to ignor the yelling man in the front seat. My mom then decided to roll up the window in order to make the car quieter.

So there we were on the highway. My dad's yelling at us for being rude. My sister is yelling because her arms rolled up in the window. My mom's trying to figure out how to roll the window down while she's trying driving.

My mom rolled down the window freeing my sister's arm, pulled over and got out of the car to see if she was okay. My dad is now yelling at me. He yells, "This is why i don't like to go anywhere with you!" I yell back that exact same sentence and the car goes silent.

It is determined that my sister will survive, my dad turns back around and my mom gets back behind the wheel. We pull back onto the highway. The car is silent for a couple minutes then my mom says, "So what were you saying?" My dad being offended started whining about how no one's listening anyways. My mom replies, "I was listening."

It took my dad all of two seconds to continue babbling.

Brainwashed Part II

The values of the world around us change constantly. While the moral, “Be a good person,” stays the same, what it means to be a good person changes over time. The only other moral that remains a constant throughout all the changes in society is that of true love. In most every children’s movie the good guy wins and love prevails (with the exception of the 1980’s The Last Unicorn). No one is willing to teach children that the good guys don’t always win and love doesn’t always work out. By watching television and movies a child can learn all sorts of things about what is acceptable. How does a person learn to be a good person? They learn it from what they are told as well as the world around them.

The 1950’s was an era of being perfect. The children were supposed to be helpful, families didn’t fight, and women were perfect. Even though TV was just getting started back in the nineteen fifties a lot of values can be found in the shows of that period. The children of the fifties grew up with shows like Lassie, Flash Gordon, or The Lone Ranger. They went to go see movies such as Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, and Lady and the Tramp (movies still commonly watched today). From these movies and shows kids learned all sorts of things. Kids who grew up watching Lassie learned that they should work hard and help out (maybe even warn someone if Jimmy falls down a well). From Lady and the Tramp despite learning that Siamese cats are evil, children learn that even the people on the fringes of society aren’t necessarily that bad, and that a person can change. From Sleeping Beauty and Snow White the girls learned that their prince will come to their rescue, while at the same time boys learned that they should go to their princess’s rescue.

The teenagers of today grew up with slightly less innocent shows. On television they watched Hey Arnold, Pokémon (the original), and Rugrats. In the theater and on VHS they watched The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and Aladdin. From Hey Arnold they learned that the girl who hates them probably has a hidden shrine of them in her closet. By watching Rugrats we learned the spirit of adventure and that it doesn’t have to be far from home. From almost any Disney film they watched they learned about love. They learned that you shouldn’t judge someone based on their looks from Beauty and the Beast, while at the very same time learning that all young women are beautiful (even if they just got attacked by a pack of wolves). It’s also learned that girls shouldn’t like someone just because all the other perfectly attractive girls in the town (all with blond hair) are going crazy over his biceps. With Aladdin they learned that even a “street rat” can find love, as well as learning from Jasmine that girls shouldn’t just marry the first guy that comes along and asks. From The Little Mermaid they learned that they should always follow their hearts and even when things take a turn for the worst it will all work out. And at the same time it is unintentionally taught that it’s okay to defy their parents in situations of love.

The tiny children of today have very little black and white in their media. They watch films such as Tangled and Megamind. By watching Tangled, children learn that the good guys always win, anyone can find love, and the looks don’t determine the person. The scene in the Snuggly Duckling shows that even the most terrifying looking people can overall be good. This generation of Disney movies is one where the villains don’t always look creepy. With the witch, children see that with a little help a main villain can looks just like any other person. In Megamind the “villain” turns out to be the hero and the “hero” he created turned out to be the villain. That creepy guy holding an axe might just be cutting wood. Same goes for the guy with the chainsaw. That sweet old lady that gives you money for mowing her lawn might actually be plotting to take over the world. The children’s movies of today are all about not judging and realizing that not everything is as it seems.

The older the children’s movie is the less shades of gray there are. In an old film such as the Wizard of Oz the bad guy is clearly defined with the characteristics of hideous green skin, a terrifying laugh and a black robe; while the good guys are defined with light clothing, beauty, and even a magic bubble. As you get closer to the present, the shades of grey increase, in the opening scene of Aladdin, the main character is being chased by the palace guards, but the villain still has a creepy look about him and even a laugh that shows his villainous nature. Get even closer to the present and films such as Despicable Me, where the main character is a villain out to steal the moon. The witch in Tangled only looks creepy when she’s old and even then she doesn’t look and creepier than an average old person. All of sudden villains don’t look like something that crawled out of swamp. They look like normal people or even if they have blue skin (Megamind) they turn out to be a good guy, while the actual hero decided that he wasn’t going to be one anymore because it got boring. No more are the villains required to be creepy looking and the heroes gorgeous.

The overall idea of a moral stays the same, but what makes that moral might change. The ideas true love and being a good person will always be there, but what it means to be a good person and what true love is change constantly. Without a doubt half the ideas a person has about love and morals come from the shows they watched as a small child.

Brainwashed

No matter who you are or what you do at some point in your life you were brainwashed.You are taught how to properly act and react to almost any given situation. You aren't born with a full knowledge of what is socially acceptable. You learn that from the shows you watch as a small child. Either that or by getting yelled at when you do something your not supposed to.

Let's start with cartoons. Everything you watch is imposed with some sort of hidden meaning. (And no I'm not talking about the hidden messages people see in Disney.) By watching cartoons and their reality bending power you learn all sorts of things. Let's start with a movie most everyone has seen at one point or another, Disney's Beauty and the Beast. By watching this one simple movie we learn all sort of things.

1. If there is a short chubby guy that isn't all that bright he will follow around the main villain.

2. The most hansom guy in the town (in fact the only one) will only be interested in the one girl he can't have.

3. Once a woman gets married she becomes plump (or maybe it's just if you're over twenty-five)

4. The dark creepy looking path obviously leads to something bad.

5. You shouldn't like someone just because all the other girls do.

6. The most beautiful guy is conceited.

7. The most beautiful girl is humble.

8. The guy every chick likes has biceps bigger than his head.

9. Inventors have mustaches. (You can blame Einstein for this one)

10. Men are angry and irrational.

11. The flirty guy and the maid will have french accents (no one else will even if you're in France)

12. Beer will make a fire flare up even though it's mostly water.

13. A person who runs an insane asylum will look creepy.

14. Don't judge based on how people look (but always look your best).

15. Don't just say yes to the first guy that asks you to marry him just because everyone else says you should.

A lot of things that pop into your head at first when someone says something are something related to the shows you watched as a kid. If you grew up in my generation, you learned that the girl who always picks on a certain guy probably likes him by watching Hey Arnold. There's also a good chance that if you've ever seen Lady and the Tramp you thought all Siamese cats were evil. Thank God that the more modern Disney movies have the princess go out and find her prince unlike the old ones like Sleeping Beauty and Snow White where he just sort of shows up and saves the day with a kiss. Trust me I love my Disney movies and can sing along with more than one of them, but when you look closely at them you can see a lot of ridiculous piled up in them.

Next time someone mentions something and you automatically have picture in your head just look back to why you picture that specific thing. Chances are it has something that has do with your childhood.