Fresh Thoughts: 100% Organic

One part of this section that I really loved was Birdie/Jesse’s relationship with Nicholas. I was rooting for them to be together, and I loved that he treated her with care on that crazy night that they both got high. Then when they met up again at the party, I was thrilled!

Someone else to complain about: Jim. Oh man, I wish Sandy/Sheila had never met him. He made me want to punch him in the face, both with his horrible attempts to befriend Birdie and the fact that he completely stole Sandy away from her daughter. I was glad when that kid punched him in the face, I wished he would have gotten punched a few more times.

I also wondered about the mare’s name – Mr. Pleasure? That is just about the strangest name for a female horse that I have ever heard. I loved that Mr. Pleasure was Birdie’s favorite horse, and that it had a strange name, like Birdie.

Another character that was introduced in this section was Mona. I loved Mona, and her horrible makeup and bad attitude. I could just picture her with her horrible 80’s hair and her horrible 80’s blue eye shadow. I loved that Birdie found a group to fit in with so easily at her new school, but I hated that everyone there was so racist.

I couldn’t believe the way that they treated Samantha, the only black girl. I thought the scene where Birdie and Samantha meet to pee in the woods at the party was really interesting. If Samantha knew that Cole was Black, it is mind boggling to think that she didn’t make any attempt to show it. I thought maybe Samantha was just really put off by Birdie’s group of obviously racist friends.

I loved Birdie’s random encounter with Rap music outside the museum steps in New York City. I could just picture Birdie hearing the rap for the first time and running over without shame to dance with the other Black kids.

The end of this section of the novel really has me concerned! I hope that Birdie doesn’t end up just running away and getting lost. I hope that she can at least decide to stay in New Hampshire, or else find some of her long lost family!

Since we were talking so much about passing in class this week, I decided to do a little close reading experiment and highlight in my book whenever the word “passing” was used, and a any instances where I thought the fact that passing was being eluded to was so obvious that the reader was practically hit over the head. I came up with a few interesting scenarios.

“I remembered those years mostly in fragments, a montage of unconnected images which I would begin to make sense of only later: a drunk Navy kid trying to break into our motel room one night, and my mother scaring him away with a karate kick to his groin; speculums soaking in a sink at Aurora; a huddle of thunder-thighed women sharing a group hug; and always, the blurring world beyond our windshield, glimpsed only in passing” (136).

“When we were alone she also liked to remind me that I wasn’t really passing because Jews weren’t really white, more like an off-white” (140).

“I swallowed hard and closed my eyes. There was nothing I could say to make my mother feel better, nobody I could become” (152).

I felt the first passage, from page 136, may have been making a reference to how confused Birdie truly is. She has a new name, a new identity, and has been stripped of the “Black Pride” culture she loved. Because of her passing, the world is becoming too blurry for her. Too much for her to handle.

The excerpt from page 140 really intrigued me as well. It is almost as if Senna is reinforcing Rodriguez’s argument from the article we read in class, because Sandy is trying to make it seem as though Birdie is “not really passing.” This use of language, or the way it is phrased, makes passing seem like something to be ashamed of. Sandy is making excuses for her daughter, so Birdie does not have to feel like she is passing. So maybe Sandy is attempting to lessen the burden of the cultural rejection Birdie feels that goes along with passing.

The passage from page 152 really struck me as well. It seems that Birdie has changed her identity so many times that she has almost become fluid. She is like a shape-shifter, able to portray thousands of identities. However, the thought of her being upset because there is no one she can shift into that will ease her mother’s pain just seems so sad. Imagine never being able to truly be yourself, and be forced to take on only the needs and wants of those around you, and at such a young age? It’s just sad really.

But those were some scenes about passing that I noticed in this section. I can’t help but wonder if they are going to become more or less frequent as Birdie/Jesse continues on in her struggle! =)

So can I just say that this section of the novel nearly made me cry in the laundromat? I mean, seriously, I was that upset. The things that these poor sisters are being put through are appalling.

The first thing that upset me was the fact that Sandy was obviously falling into some kind of mental breakdown, and had no one else to turn to but poor Birdie, who is confused enough as it is. I mean, she is acting very schizophrenic, thinking that everyone is after her because of her involvement with the ever mysterious “visitors.”

Something else that seemed horrible in the novel: the grandmother. I noticed that in the novel she is described in relation to two animals – a snake and jellyfish. I thought this was very interesting, since both can be poisonous and potentially lethal. The way that she ignored Cole and fussed over Birdie was just obnoxious, as was her gift of Golliwog, which oddly enough, became quite a treasured doll. Some of the things the grandmother said just took my breath away, such as her comments about Sandy’s weight, and her statement that sending the girls to Nkrumah was “child abuse.” I still wonder why Sandy needed to ask her mother for money, and how much she told her mother about why she was in such dire straits.

Another character that I love and hate: Carmen! I mean, I love that she gives Cole the attention and guidance that she needs as a Black pre-teen with a white mother, but I hate that she has a problem with Birdie’s whiteness. I just wanted to slap her every time she made rude comments. Ugh, how terrible can you get?

And that thing with Redbone in the schoolyard? How he said “I’m going to miss you” and then took her picture? I don’t even want to know what he’s up to!

And my final rant: JAMAICA??? Are you SERIOUS!!?? I am absolutely shocked that Cole and Birdie are separated! Who cares how different they look, that is terrible! And I am also really mad at Deck for allowing that crazy woman Sandy to take his daughter and run away and do God knows what! He should have stood up to Carmen and told her that both daughters were coming, no matter what they looked like. I mean, Jesse Goldman? Sheila? So horrible. It was hard to stop reading at page 131, I really wanted to continue on with this section…

So this week we watched The Incredibles and began reading Caucasia. Very interesting combination there… and maybe just about as opposite as you can get as far as family is concerned.

I love “The Incredibles” and I really thought that the points we discussed in class about the contradictions presented in the film, such as being yourself, but not living up to your potential. They are very interesting contradictions! And the Underminer at the end. In addition to being hilarious, it definitely brings up an interesting point. What was Pixar’s goal in making this movie? Very interesting indeed.

I also looked up the lyrics to the song “Brown Sugar” by the Rolling Stones that we discussed, and I was literally shocked by what the lyrics say:

Brown Sugar lyrics

Gold coast slave ship bound for cotton fields
Sold in a market down in New Orleans
Scarred old slaver knows he's doing alright
Hear him whip the women, just around midnight

Ah, brown sugar how come you taste so good?
Ah, brown sugar just like a young girl should

Drums beating cold English blood runs hot
Lady of the house wonderin' where it's gonna stop
House boy knows that he's doing alright
You should a heard him just around midnight

Ah, brown sugar how come you taste so good?
Ah, brown sugar just like a young girl should
Ah, brown sugar how come you taste so good?
Ah, brown sugar just like a young girl should

I bet your mama was a tent show queen
And all her girlfriends were sweet sixteen
I'm no school boy but I know what I like
You should have heard me just around midnight

Ah, brown sugar how come you taste so good?
Ah, brown sugar just like a young girl should

I said yeah, yeah, yeah, whew
How come you... how come you taste so good?
I said yeah, yeah, yeah, whew
Just like a black girl should

I literally could not believe some of the things… “whip the women?” “Why do you taste so good?” This song is the most inappropriate thing a young black girl could ever  want to impersonate. I am so shocked that this song was as much of a hit as it was, I think in current times it would be absolutely rejected by pop culture, and seen as vile and hateful. But hey, it was 1971, and apparently this was completely fine back then, since it was a number one hit in the U.S. and the lead song for the Rolling Stones Sticky FIngers album. Another interesting fact about the song brought to you by wikipedia:

The song was later used in a 1998 Pepsi commercial with a fly singing a cover version of “Brown Sugar” after sipping on some spilled Pepsi. The commercial was used as part of Pepsi’s aggressive ad campaign of switching to a blue background on its cans & bottles after decades of using a white background.

Now I think using this song for a fly singing about Pepsi is the most appropriate interpretation we may ever get.

All of this is very intersting… Hmm. =)

“The Incredibles” has always been one of my favorite movies. I just thought it was so entertaining, and I love Jack-Jack and Edna Mode (or whatever her name is..?).

In regards to the family aspect of the film, I thought it was a pretty creative play on the typical representation of family. The mother was the typical homemaker. The father was the breadwinner that worked in an office job. There were the boy and the girl children, and the young baby. The girl, Violet, was shy, and just wanted to fit in. The boy, Dash, was very competitive and was always pestering his sister. And then Jack-Jack was just kind of cute and mysterious.

I also loved that the Dad was just trying to relive his glory days, and then the Mom thought that he was cheating on her, which are also huge stereotypes in the typical American family.

Although the “theme” of the film was probably supposed to be something cheesy about always living up to your full potential, I kind of got a different idea. To me, it seemed that viewed through the lens of family-focus, it kind of had a theme regarding telling lies. The family all lied to each other and the world at large. And then when they revealed their secrets, all was well.

I think this is interesting, because it seems to me that as families, we are always telling each other some kind of lies. Telling your Mom that you were studying Friday night, not playing beer pong, or telling your little brother that you always listened to your Dad when you were 13. However, I am not of the opinion that complete honesty with family is the best policy. I know that my mother would probably have a heart attack if she knew all the inner workings and small details of my life. Heck, she would probably pass out if she even knew my belly button is pierced!

So, in conclusion, watching the movie with the focus of family in my head made for a different experience, and lead to me to think about a movie I have always loved in a different way. Very interesting…

So I missed the discussion in class, so here are my thoughts that I didn’t get to share.

So about the dogs and Byron..

They were both pretty baffling to me. But I think the dogs kind of represented the way that Lurie wished he could have been. In touch with his emotions, not at all logical, able to act off of impulse and receive little or no punishment. Although he seemed to not care about the dogs, except to honor their lives, I think that might have been one of his lies to himself. I think he was secretly “one of those people” that loves dogs.

And Byron… I have no idea. Maybe that was a distraction he needed? Maybe he really has some deep-rooted psychological problems that are manifesting themselves in this play? Or maybe he is just schizophrenic, which I mentioned on one of my blog posts. I have no idea.

The end of Disgrace was really odd to me. I was expecting there to be a lot more resolution to the problems that David and Lucy encountered than there was. I was so shocked that Lucy was pregnant and also that she wanted to keep the child. I could only imagine what Lucy must have gone through, living right next door to one of the men who raped her, and who could also potentially be the father of her child.

Another thing that really bothered me was the reaction that Petrus had to the entire situation. The fact that he offered to marry Lucy in order to protect her? But really he just wanted her land? I can only assume that is the culture in South Africa, and that I am just seeing this all from an American perspective, but I am so shocked that Petrus changed drastically from a friend to a greedy business man. When we first met Petrus, I wouldn’t have thought that he would be so cruel to Lucy, even if it meant he could rise to a higher class standing.

Another part that I thought was really strange was David’s opera. What on earth was up with that? His obsession was just so strange and then he never even got it together. Some parts even seemed like David was schizophrenic or something. The whole thing just seemed strange.