Chasing Amy

There are two lists that our entertaining the hell out of me and my offline. One is "pretentious books young people read" which is finally reminding me of what I read as a teen. (I will have to post it here so you can add to it.) The other is "movies that define a generation" which led to me finally seeing Chasing Amy.

I have no idea how I went almost 10 years without seeing this film. (Especially as I generally like Kevin Smith.) I was moved by its honesty. It dove tails with something else I've been thinking about ever since I saw that Pocahontas movie. The words aren't very clear, because it's more of an inarticulate thought or feeling, but it has to do with love and possession.

Some people don't know how to love without possessing. Which, believe it or not, has much less to do with monogamy than some might believe. It has a lot to do with not insisting a person match your ideas of them. Of allowing them to be something that is seperate from one's ideas or preferences.

When Silent Bob finally speaks up and says, "I wasn't disgusted with her, I was afraid," it explained a lot of things that have happened to me.

And I have to admit, when Alyssa leaves Holden saying, "I will always love you, but I am not your whore," I cheered.

The movie has some enormous flaws, including a number of long, overly sincere, dialogues, but its emotional honesty is really touching. I'm also guessing it won't make any sense to other generations, though I'd like to think of someone older or younger watching it and thinking, "Oh, now I get it!"

Anyway, there's a lot more I can't say about this movie without getting more personal than I like to post online. Suffice to say I had a moment.

Books this weekend...

I finished Guy Gavriel Kay's The Lions of Al-Rassan which was left for me by a well-meaning friend this Xmas. Aside from being just slightly too long, it had all the elements of things I like in adventure/fantasy books, including murder, intrigue, and decent amount of bawdy humor.

What I'm most embarrassed about is how this friend guessed I might like it.

"Are you calling me vulgar?" I asked one night.

"Well, you are, in a good way," he answered.

I can never decide whether I like that this part of me shows or not.

Next in line is another Fay Weldon title. Every so often a girl needs a little snark.

Today I taught my second creative writing class at the public library, this time on character. Only 3 people showed up, 1 of which was a repeat from my first class, which had 20 people. The old me would have had a fit about the turnout worried that no one had liked me (despite rave reviews) and filled with fear that I'd never be asked back again. But other than being a little flustered (because my lesson plan was geared towards a larger, younger class), I actually think I preferred the smaller group.

Afterwards the program coordinator thanked me and apologized for the turnout. "It's always like this," she said. "People start so enthusiastic, but don't want to commit to anything."

"Well, commitments hard to come by in this world," I said. "Besides, these kids are busy, and most of them are dependant upon parents to get them here."

I have a third session before I'm finished, at which point I don't think I'll be doing any more unless it's an entirely different horse.

Pretentious Authors Young People Read

In the ongoing discussion on the subject of "What the hell did we actually read when we were young adults?" I started this list of pretentious authors that appeal to young people. It has been a source of great amusement to me over the past few weeks. I hope you enjoy it! Feel free to add to the list.

Ayn Rand - I did love Fountainhead in my day, now it just pisses off the pragmatist in me. Trivia: I had a boyfriend who called me "Dominique Dreamweaver," after the character in this book. He also called me the roar in his paper tiger.

JD Salinger - I have never read anything by this author.

Richard Bach - I once broke up with a guy after I could no longer stand the fact that he could not fight without quoting Jonathan Livingstone Seagull or without saying, "You didn't like Forrest Gump!" as though this made me a bad person incapable of winning an argument, or at least having a good point every now and then.

Robert Pirsig - motorcycles seemed much less cool after reading his book. I will also never think of the word 'Chautaqua' in the same way again.

Milan Kundera - he is writing about communism you pretentious bastard, and don't you dare use Tomas as an excuse for your behavior again, or compare me to Sabine!

Chuck Palahniuk - I always remember the passage from his guide to Portland where he tells of throwing some surgically removed something out the window as a blood sacrifice to become an author. I've always wondered if his appendix (or whatever it was) somehow accounts for the KIND of author he became.

Douglas Coupland - I actually like both Coupland (the Vancouver version of Palahniuk) and Palahniuk, but that doesn't prevent me from putting him on this list

Kafka - was once given to me by a guy for a Xmas present. What kind of person gives Kafka as a Xmas present? (The kind who cheats on his wife, apparently.)

Thomas Hardy - those who can see past the Victorian prose will be delighted with the cruel things he does to characters. Tess upset me for weeks, but I finally put him on my "books zalena is not allowed to read" list after the following phrase in Jude the Obscure "... because we were not wanted..." Life is hard enough without Hardy.

Nathanial Hawthorne - again for a very particular kind of youth. I was all over The Scarlet Letter and read everything he'd ever written. Most of it was crap. I related to the idea of Hawthorne, more than his actual work, which qualifies him for the list.

Washington Irving - see above comment about Hawthorne.

Charles Bukowski - this man is too over published to ever be great

The Rest of the Beats - a veterans movement often mistaken for great literature. I see the Beats going down the same road as another veterans movement called Dada.

Any additions?

P.S. Margaret Atwood