Some fiction and some non-fictional thoughts thereupon

[alias_sqbr]

Saving Face (movie)

Wil, a Chinese American lesbian woman, has her widowed mother unexpectedly fall pregnant, be disowned, and move in, and the two of them try to juggle love, expectation, and family.

I have a soft spot for romantic comedy but hate the way most of it is mindless pap. This is exactly the sort I like: the characters are engaging and interesting (including the side characters), and it has a big good-natured, slightly implausible happy ending :)

Persopolis (movie)

This is a very good adaptation of the book, the first half of which I reviewed in Persepolis: The story of a childhood (must get around to the second) As you'd expect a lot of the depth and detail was missing but it was still very effective. The second half deals with Marjane Satrapi's life after she moved to Vienna to study and was not as intense but I still really liked it. I like how this isn't The Story Of Iran, it's just the story of one very interesting and unique person who is Iranian.

It was great visually, you can see the hand of the artist as director putting her static images into motion.

10 Things I hate About Me by Randa Abdel-Fattah (book)

This is YA with a message, and I did feel a bit hit over the head with "Being a Lebanese Muslim Australian is Hard but Overall Awesome" and "It's Important To Be Yourself". But other than that the characters are pretty engaging and I was unexpectedly taken with the romance subplot (Yes, ok, I really am in a mood for romance stories lately) Also it's not like those are bad messages, and when the author managed to show rather than tell they were pretty effective.

Also I read this at 3am with insomnia and a headache, and it was easy and engaging with nice big text :)

Comments

[sanguinity]

A lot of YA is like that. I mostly just try to read past it. Sometimes I'm more successful at that than others.

Sounds like the movie is based on both Persepolis books -- the second one is about her studying in Europe. I liked it, but as you say, it's a very different story than the first one.

[alias_sqbr]

Yes, the second half of the film is about the second book. Which the library system didn't seem to have last I checked :(

The tautology police

[piajurin.livejournal.com]

As opposed to a Chinese American lesbian man? *8-P

Better a tautology than an oxymoron!

[alias_sqbr]

No, as opposed to a "Chinese American lesbian person" which while less tautological just sounds awkward :) (which is to say: I got to the end of the sentence, realised it didn't flow very well, and decided I couldn't be bothered fixing it)

[edible-hat.livejournal.com]

I like Korean romantic comedies. Plots like these are too crazy for the average Western audience:

-chick in an institution because she thinks she's a cyborg falls in love with a fellow inmate who convinces her he installed a food-powered generator.
-fat chick gets extensive cosmetic surgery and a new identity and becomes so beautiful that every man she meets falls in love with her... except the one she wants, who is pining for her old, pre-surgery self.

[alias_sqbr]

Sounds awesome what's the title? :)

[edible-hat.livejournal.com]

The first one is I'm A Cyborg, But That's OK, the second is 2000 Pounds Beauty.

[alias_sqbr]

I'm disappointed, I was hoping they were the same movie :D