It's Okay to Believe

This post really should have come at least a week ago, if not earlier. But, at least we're ending 2014 with a bang!

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, etc. I love this time of year and to be honest, yes, many of my reasons are rather selfish. I love being with my family more than anything and in my family, we're all obligated to make it home for Christmas. I love creating or coming up with gift ideas for loved ones and then watching their faces as they open it. I love watching people all around me serve others that they may not even know. And I love having a time of year where I can specifically focus on the gift of my Savior and how his coming saved me.

However, I realize Christmas was sooo last week and due to crazy radio stations and advertising companies, most of you are probably over it. I hope this post can relate to the spirit of Christmas without actually talking about Christmas and making you want to pull your hair out.


My next meme victim is one pertaining to The Princess and the Frog. The original one stated:

Disney Taught Me - Bestiality

This would be funnier if it was slightly more original. People have been saying this of Beauty and the Beast for years (but that's a rant for another time).

Here's something you may not have realized: this is a CHILDREN'S show in the sense that it's main target audience is between the ages of 4 and 10 years old. 

Grow. Up. 

Bestiality is not something that children even understand enough to have it be the take away point of this movie. Not to mention that she obviously doesn't WANT to kiss the frog so, in my opinion, anyone that has a pet dog or cat that sleeps on the bed with them is just as guilty (if not more) of bestiality as Tiana is.

But even without taking all of that into account, this still focuses on a ridiculous part of the movie, completely missing the big picture!

Tiana is this hardworking, amazing woman! She does everything she can to reach her goals and she doesn't give up easily. That's the first take away point. Second take away point is right before the aforementioned "bestiality" scene. 

She's spent. Her dreams that she has spent the last decade of her life working toward have just slipped through her fingers. She doesn't see anything else to do except..

Wish on a star.

Silly, right? Who does that?

Hopefully, YOU.

My take away from The Princess and the Frog is, yes, work hard, you can achieve anything you set your mind to, etc. etc. But it has to be more than that. It has to come from the heart too. And in a world that's increasingly adamant about keeping faith out of everyday life, I'm glad that Disney gave me a scene that taught me it's okay to believe.

It's alright to let yourself pray and hope and wish on a star. Even if you've gotten to a point where that's all you can do. Where you don't even have a reason to think it will do any good. The Hunger Games really did have it right - the soul lives off of hope. Take that away and what are we?

It's okay to believe in yourself after you've tried and tried and you just haven't made it yet. It's okay to believe in someone else that has given you many a reason to give up on them. And it's okay to believe in something bigger than yourself. That isn't weakness, that isn't being naive and it isn't lying to yourself. I guarantee you that if you're the kind of person that allows yourself to just believe every once in a while in the midst of all the hard work and anguish, you will be 5x happier than most of the people around you and you will be capable of achieving so much more than those that can't believe.

Here's to a New Year worth believing in.

Welcome to the Friend Zone!

If you guys think I'm bad at keeping this up on a consistent basis, you should see my journal right now. (Just kidding. Please don't look at my journal...)

Alright, the newly improved Disney meme of the day is.... (*drum roll*).....

The Hunchback of Notre Dame!!!

Here's the original meme: 

Disney taught me - a heart of gold won't get the girl

I don't know about anyone else, but I've been hearing a lot of sass recently about this show and what it says about, essentially, the friend zone. So here's my retaliating sass:

Let's really look at this show, shall we?

The story is basically the journey of a man escaping the hands of his evil "care taker" and making his way out of the bell tower that he's been isolated in for so long. He ends up going from a monster in everyone's eyes to the hero. 

Did you notice it?  Did you catch it?

The main story line has nothing to do with his and Esmeralda's (lack of) romance.

NOTHING.

Is it in the story? Sure. Disney seems to always need at least one romance in every movie. But it's a secondary story plot. I mean, if nothing else, that should teach us that we are strong and beautiful individuals regardless of our relationship status.

I'm not saying being friend zoned doesn't hurt sometimes. We've all been there. We've all had those hopes and dreams and then had them crushed. It sucks. It hurts. If you feel the need to lament for a day or so about it, go for it. The problem is when we start to look at the position we are in as somehow inferior to what we think could have been.

A few things:

1.   You will have to go through the ups and downs that make up this thing we call life. But you get to have people in your life that stick around and help you face those challenges/enjoy the good times. Maybe they're a family member. Maybe they're a romantic partner. Maybe they're a friend. The thing YOU should focus on, is that they're there. Out of everywhere they could go and everything they could do, they choose to have YOU in their life, in some way or another. That's pretty cool. And that says a lot about you, so... *pat on the back*

2.   We really need to stop using the phrase "just friends." Because there is no "just" about friendship. That makes it sound like the friendship is never fully developed/meaningful simply because there is no romantic attachment involved. How petty is that? Relationships are not a conquest. Friendship is not just the stepping stone to get to "the good stuff." Friendship is a beautiful thing all on its own.

3.   Being the good guy or the heroine does not entitle you to anything, but especially not someone else's heart. Don't be the good guy for selfish reasons. You know what happens when you start doing that? You stop being the good guy.

4.   You know what? A heart of gold may not get you the girl (or boy). Sometimes, that's just life. Maybe the timing's off. Maybe they just aren't interested. Maybe a heart of gold isn't their type (be weary of those ones). There are a number of things that could be contributing to it. But you know what else? YOU HAVE A HEART OF FREAKIN' GOLD! Does that not mean anything all on its own??? Because it should. You being a good person is worth way more than which relationship status you can put on Facebook.

To me, The Hunchback of Notre Dame is another Disney movie that shows that you have to go farther than skin deep to get to know a person. And it shows that love doesn't have to be romantic to be important or real or meaningful. It shows what love really is. *cue Foreigner soundtrack*

And guess what! EVERYBODY is in SOMEBODY'S friend zone. Welcome to how the human race operates! Embrace it. It's a great place to be. Here, shenanigans abound that could not happen anywhere else. Your life just got that much cooler. Congrats!

There's So Much More to Me

On Monday, August 11th, 2014, social media blew up with the news of Robin Williams' passing away. It came as a shock to the world and he will be sorely missed as an actor, philanthropist and most importantly, a fantastic human being. This post is dedicated to him.

I actually wasn't planning on taking on the Aladdin meme next as part of my "Defend Disney" series, but in light of Robin Williams' death last week, I felt it was only fitting. After all, he provided the voice of the most beloved character in the entire story.

The original meme stated: "Show Her the World, Then Show Her the D." This is one of the memes that bothered me the most.

First of all, that's one of the great things about Disney films: the characters' relationship isn't supposed to be focused on sex. It's focused on love; even if it is young love a majority of the time. But Disney's able to make good movies without focusing on that (really, no one should have to make sex the focus in order to make a good movie, but, here we are in 2014). Making that the take away point from Aladdin is quite pathetic, to be honest.

And furthermore - who said Aladdin is the type of boy that pays attention to a girl just so he can get in her pants by the end of the night? I mean, come on. Seriously.

Is he physically attracted to her? We assume so, considering he acts twitter-patted the moment he sees her. But, guess what! You can be physically attracted to someone without trying to sleep with that person! I know - mind boggling, isn't it?!

Tell your friends, tell your family, cause it's kind of a big deal.

For those out there that truly believe that's all there is to love, I feel for you and I hope one day you have a much different experience than what you have obviously experienced in life so far.

Now for my take away point:

I think this point is more of a reflection of some things that have been on my mind lately than something that I actually understood as a kid, but I still thinks it's important.

Aladdin showcases a journey of freeing yourself from the cages that society tends to put people in. 

Take all three main characters for example: Aladdin feels trapped because everyone looks down on him for being a street urchin, Jasmine feels trapped because she isn't free to make her own choices, and Genie literally is a slave to anyone that happens to rub his lamp. They all have to go on quite the journey before they find themselves free of their metaphorical chains at the end of the movie.

What we don't understand as children, at least what I didn't understand, is that it's cool that Aladdin and Jasmine end up together; but it's REALLY cool that Jasmine gets to end up with someone of HER CHOICE.

Aladdin didn't just save the day and get a girl. He finds someone that's willing to look closer and see that there's more to him than just a poor boy. And, even more importantly, HE discovers what he's made of and who he can be and he knows by the end of the movie that he's more than a street rat.

And let's take a good look at Genie. The essence of Genie's very existence is to be used and abused by other people. (If that's not a cage, I don't know what is.) And yet, even he is able to find someone that sees him as more than that. In fact, Genie uses one of the wishes to save his "master's" life. Why? Because Aladdin becomes more than that. Genie ends up with a friend instead of a master at the end of the movie.

Aladdin should be one of the easiest movies to identify with because everyone struggles with feeling like they're stuck or trapped at least one time in their life. Everyone knows what it's like for society to not see and appreciate the real you. And everyone's felt used before.

But have hope. It works out in the end. Through the very trials we go through, we may find ourselves empowered with the ability to free ourselves from whatever cage we feel we're living in.

Shakespeare meets Tim Rice and Elton John

What do you get when you mix a Shakespeare classic with Tim Rice and Elton John?

One of the top Disney movies of all time! (complete with Broadway musical)

In case you were unaware: June, 2014 marks the 20th anniversary for The Lion King! If you are not a fan of this movie, I just don't know how you live with yourself.

Seriously.

Okay, not seriously.

But still.

Dang.

I decided to redo The Lion King meme from the previous collection that I discussed in my last post as my... anniversary? birthday? I don't know - as my gift to Lion King for reaching this wonderful mile stone.

The original meme stated that The Lion King taught children to run away from their problems.

Which I, of course, completely disagree with. If you only watch the first half of the movie, that may indeed be the impression that you get. But the whole plot leads up to Simba realizing that running from your problems doesn't do any good. For crying out loud - HIS DEAD FATHER COMES TO HIM IN A CLOUD AND TELLS HIM TO GET HIS ACT TOGETHER AND GO BACK.

Admit it: you still get chills when you hear James Earl Jones tell Matthew Broderick to "remember who you are..."

I don't know... I feel like Disney really hit home with this one. It's not that hakuna matata is bad. I think we all need to remember to not get wound up too tightly in life. In fact, I plan on taking the next couple days to practice this hakuna matata philosophy myself.

But the whole point of the movie is showing that TOO MUCH of that can be detrimental to our well being, as well as those we care about. Simba goes back. Why? Because he got some sense knocked into him, thanks to his childhood best friend, a crazy monkey and his deceased father.

The Lion King taught me there is more to me than what I see when I look at my reflection.

"You see? He lives in you."

You can take this to mean whatever you want. As a member of the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I'm going to take it to mean that we all have a more divine identity than what we usually settle for. We've been given this life as an opportunity. How many of us really take advantage of that and do something worthwhile with it?

Disney didn't teach me to run away from my problems. It taught me that running away doesn't do anything. If something in the past is unresolved, rest assured that it will eventually catch up to you. So don't give it the upper hand. Learn from it. Go back. Take care of your responsibilities. Remember, you are more than what you have become.

We all have someone we are meant to be. And, the truth is, even with all the crap in the world, the person that is most likely to keep you from that, is you.

And... My Mama Bear Side Comes Out...

HI!!

So, I realize that it's been, like, over a year since I've really updated this at all... Basically, now you guys know what reading my journal used to be like. In fact, I think it's going to be hilarious when years from now my great-great-granddaughter finds one of my earlier journals and thinks "Yay! This will be so interesting!" And then finds out that up until college I really only used my journal as a check-point.

October 3rd, 2003

I guess I should write in here since it's been over a year... 

Still alive. Now in 6th grade. Yep... Ok, till next time!

February 15, 2006

Oh look at that! How the time flies... Note to future prosperity: 

Junior High Valentine's Day dances are about the most

 awkward thing ever. Do not attend.

May 20, 2010

Oh by the way, I'm graduating in like 2 weeks!

Anyway, you guys get the drift. Sorry for turning this blog into just another diary sitting in my room collecting dust. Today, however, the dust is brushed aside and the book is opened once again! Not necessarily because I have so much more time to devote to it now than in the past year (although that is most definitely true), but more so because I came across something the other week (Disney-related, obviously) that I haven't been able to shake, so I figured I might as well use this as my ranting ground.

I came across a collection of life lessons learned from Disney movies in the form of memes. I won't say they were all bad; some I thought were rather clever. But, as a whole, I felt that the collection was uncouth and base (I've placed it here -  just for you; cause I know you're curious now).

 I realize this is coming from me and anyone that knows me knows that I'm probably overly defensive of certain things at times. But there are just certain things you don't mess with!! And Disney is one of them!!! I realize that not everyone sees Disney as cute and childlike as I do. But I really do associate Disney with childhood (my childhood, to be more precise) and innocence and so when I saw these memes, I was kind of disgusted, to be completely honest. I'm not saying there are not innuendos throughout (probably) every Disney movie. What I'm saying is that those are NOT the life lessons. And I feel bad for the person whose comprehension can only go that deep.

I realize the memes were made to be a joke;  to be someone's attempt at generating more likes and views on the internet. And, to their credit, I'm sure they did exactly that. But it's been almost 3 weeks and I still can't stop thinking about how ridiculous those memes are. So, I'm using them as my motivation to get back into updating this. I plan on taking each one and making my own life lesson meme from it. You may think I'm thinking WAY too much into this (which, is probably true - thank you for your concern), in which case, feel free to ignore the next dozen or so posts throughout the coming months.

But, this is for every hardcore Disney fan out there that has trouble looking at Disney movies through such a distorted, tinted window.

Stay tuned for the alternate ending to Walt Taught Me: Life Lessons from Disney Movies in Memes...