The Biggest Loser

I finally hopped on the Biggest Loser train. Watched my first full episode this week and I just kept going.

I can't really decide if I love this show or hate it. On one hand, it purports to promote a healthy lifestyle and it sort of does and let's be honest, it's nice or at least refreshing, to see non-plastic surgeried people on the screen. This is how much of America looks. On the other hand, it's called "the Biggest Loser" and I really can't stand shows that exploit more than they help. I'll admit that I get a sort of sick fascination from watching "Hoarders," and I'm on the fence about whether it does anyone any good but this is an elimination show that pits morbidly obese contestants against each other. They'll say things like "If I get sent home this week I'm dead. I'm just going to eat myself to the grave." while the opposing team cheers for their failure. It's disturbing, right? It's a show and it's obviously about the viewers, the bottom line. Product placement is rammed down your throat - wait a second, just need to sign up for 24 hour fitness real quick - and it's clear that this method of losing weight, working out 5 hours a day and restricting calories, is not healthy. Also, in the first season (I know it's different now) you win by winning the MOST WEIGHT. This obviously doesn't make sense because a 300 pound person has more weight to lose than a 200 pound person. So, it's highly flawed but no one makes much of a fuss about it because Americans don't understand mathematics.

I googled some of the past contestants and apparently the winner of season 1 said that the contestants would do really unhealthy things like fast and dehydrate themselves before the weigh-in. He said that he would regularly urinate blood. Ugh. It's hard to watch a show when the fourth wall has been decimated in that way, but I kept watching anyway. Because I have faith. I want to believe.

Another refreshing aspect of the show is the way the female participants have bonded. There's no preening, no fighting over male attention (everyone's married, anyway) and they are sisters in the FIGHT. The men are actually the ones picking at each other and breaking each other down. I think this is a more accurate portrayal of female friendships as I know them. If you were to believe other reality shows, women exist only to side eye each other and hide each other's yogurts. That's not how is! The women I know are constantly lifting each other up and rooting for each other.

Something that does make me scream at my laptop screen (watching on Hulu) is the way that NO ONE understands nutrition. They're all really confused about what to eat because I guess they've only ever cooked with velveeta and a ton of mayonnaise? I don't get it. There are ways to make healthy, delicious food. Spices, vinegars, tons of greens and whole grains. It's a simple equation. But the women keep restricting their calories and picking at carb-y things. If the food is featured in a commercial you probably shouldn't be eating it. Eat more good stuff. Eat less bad stuff. Liberal west coast rant ends now.

But the single greatest mystery of Season 1 is Dave. Dave, who is fat, who has no hair, who has no discernible sense of humor. I dunno, maybe he's really rich?

Sorry for the text. This is a screen shot. So that's Dave. That's not an unflattering shot of him, that's just how he looks.


This is Dave's wife. More blurry photography to follow.

Yes. She is hot. She is a hot Asian woman. She is married to Dave. I know you guys are probably thinking that I am cruel, that true love is blind. Or maybe you're thinking she married him for money or he used to be handsome in another life. I ran through all of those options. I also thought she might have married him for a green card? She said about 3 words in this scene but her English did sound pretty good. And she looks American! She looks Asian-American. Not Asian. There's a huge difference and I know because I'm Asian-American and I swear to God I'm so good at this it hurts. I was at a Sees candy with my friend the other day and there were three Asian women in front of us in line. I whispered to her: "Those Asian girls are not from here." She was confused because we live in a very densely Asian populated area and seeing three Asian women is commonplace. But something was off. They were, I dunno, too classy? Definitely not SoCal girls, definitely not from our area, their bags were too expensive and their hair was too un-dyed. She didn't believe me but then they started a friendly chat with the cashier and said that they "weren't from here" and wouldn't be needing the frequent customer card. They were "getting on a plane tomorrow." Oh God. That was the happiest and most vindicated I've felt in days. Months. Maybe years. It's moments like those that make life worth living. But back to Dave's wife. Who is she? Is she an actress that Dave hired to play his wife? Is she his beard?

There are such deep enigmas that surround us. Consciousness -- the brain attempting to understand itself. The Big Bang theory. How a cat could travel 200 miles to find its owners in a different state. And    most mysteriously, the asymmetry of attractiveness of Dave and Dave's wife. This was only about 30 seconds in the show but I wished the show would continue to film Dave and his wife. I would watch a spin-off show about them.

I'm sorry that this post was hi-jacked by Dave and his wife. I can't take responsibility for that. There are just moments that compel you to write, you know?

But yeah, back to the Biggest Loser -- it's deeply flawed. It's everything that's wrong with America. Let's take a bunch of morbidly obese people and have them do degrading things to win prizes! Let's film it! Let's finance it with heavy handed product placement! But after I finish this I will watch a few more hours till my bedtime.

Cheap Chic

Can you tell people you have a movie blog when you haven't written in it in about a year and the last time you did write you wrote about music and this time you're gonna write about fashion? That's just a rhetorical question...


This post will be a bit like a college English paper - lots of block quotes and some plagiarism. (Am I outing myself?) Apologies!

I bought Cheap Chic a few years ago. It was the most expensive book I ever purchased, pretty funny for a book called Cheap Chic. But it was worth it because it's out of print and it dishes out some of the best fashion advice I've ever read. Mind you, this is all from 1975 (or earlier, at time of writing)

"The basic concept of Cheap Chic for both men and women is to have a few clothes that make you feel good rather than a closetful of mismatched fashions....We've become spoiled in America. Surrounded by mass manufacturing and mass marketing, we stuff our closets with masses of mistakes...Find the clothes that suit you best, that make you feel comfortable, confident, sexy, good looking and happy...and then hang onto them like old friends."

God this is so good. And there's this:

"The most basic element of Cheap Chic is the body you hang your clothes on...Take a look at your body -- front, side and back. Are you content with what you see? Is your skin clear and healthy?... It isn't important if you breasts, hips, or legs aren't those you would see in a fashion magazine...What matters is that you get acquainted with them as they are and treat them with care and respect."

Most days I just avoid the mirror. And when I do look in it, I say something along the lines of "this is as good as it's gonna get, S!" But maybe 2013 will be different...

Here's how some of the Table of Contents reads:
First Layers, Classics (Interviews with Diana Vreeland and Yves St. Laurent)
Second String Classics (Interview with Fran Leibowitz, among others)
Antiques: Shopping the Thrift Store

There's also an interview with Betsy Johnson and a score of other civilians and fashion insiders.  Some of the advice is dated, but the spirit, the spirit is spot on.

Caption reads: Cher, wearing a pair of jeans that fit the way jeans should fit.

She looks so modern. So beach ready.

Studio 54 what up

 This outfit is perfect. From the square toe boots, to the OJ gloves. I love it all.

Fran says: "It comes down to the idea that I don't like my clothes to make me stand out. "
 I love anonymous dressing. The idea of a uniform.

In case you can't see; "Ching dresses down his black cashmere sweater with suspendered jeans while Sibao looks traditionally discreet." Um, Sibao does not look traditionally discreet at all. Sibao looks like a BABE!

This picture is in the "office wear" section. "Uniform chic -- the black T shirt and pants with classic pearls and a Guatemalan bag."

 My favorite quote from this interview with Yves St. Laurent : "A woman can feel very sexy in a chemise, as she can feel very sexy in jeans. It depends on the person. If she thinks she isn't sexy she will not be sexy."

Sorry for picture quality. Had to use the iPhone.

I love this book. It came at a really pivotal time for me, when I was contemplating quality, quantity, uniformity, and craving a uniform. 5/5 Stars. A+. Whatever rating system we're using these days. I love it, like an old friend.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

I was resistant to go see The Perks of Being a Wallflower because I had heard that this was a “teen” movie that was closer to John Hughes’s films than, say, a movie tht would have starred Freddie Prinze, Jr.  And, because of that analogy, I was afraid that Perks would not live up to my expectations of what is a John Hughes movie.  The best teen—with a capital T—movie is Sixteen Candles because the characters are so uncomfortable and shallow—yet, sensitive—that I not only believe they are real, but I relate to them.  Flawed.  Sensitive.  Whole, even when broken.  

So, what was I afraid of with this comparison?  I thought that the grittiness of high school would be stripped away.  I thought that Perks would glorify being an outsider too much.  It’s interesting to be different, but it’s still really, really hard.  

I’ll take myself as an example for a reference.  Was it interesting that I wore long skirts with clunky boots, could sing (and did!) the entire soundtrack to Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat, and had a fat friend that a cheerleader would not talk to if her life depended on it?  Yes, I guess, but it’s not so easy to be a teenager and have interest in activities or music that is unique to every other teenager in your school.  And, it is also a lie that an “outsider” finds a clique of friends that completely understands him or her and also loves Donny Osmond.  So, I was afraid that in Perks, the misfit protagonist would somehow be embraced by friends and all would be right with his world.  As an outsider myself, I did not want that type of story to be told.  Moreover, I did not want people to think that is what a John Hughes movie is.  Yes, mostly in his movies, girl gets boy, but there are nuances in the plots that feel real. So, I always forgive myself for rooting for the ending kiss because even if in real life, a first date with your crush rarely happens at all—let alone a kiss—is nice to see that it could happen.  

Perks has the same kind of Hughes-ian quality.  No one is perfect in the movie, but it is fair to say that everyone is perfectly flawed.  There is a bit of Getting The Girl in the movie, but it feels earned and nothing is sealed with a kiss.  The actions all have consequences, and none of the characters are immune to them.  

Perks is a story about Charlie just as he begins his freshman year of high school.  He’s lonely.  He meets some friends that seem to like him for who he is.  The good part is that he never seems to be not lonely.  The friends do not fix his life; they do change it, though.  The only problem I had was with a right turn the movie takes about 15 minutes from the end.  I did not read the book, so I do not know if this ending comes out of the clear blue sky as it did in the movie.  I don’t want to give anything away, but I will say that the story felt better to me when Charlie was sad and depressed just because he was—and not due to some outside reason that blindsided me and attempted to tie up the ends of the story that did not need to be tied at all.  Not everything looks better wrapped in a bow. 

Searching for Sugar Man

Think of your favorite band or singer when you were 15.  Think of how you would play a certain track in your bedroom, lying on the floor.  When you're a teenager, life seems big because your life is the universe--at that time in your life, you were the sun. And the moon.  And the earth.  And the sky.  All in one. 

Now, let's just assume you grew up as you aged.  Imagine that your idol--your beautiful musician that rocked your world and enhanced it as a teenager--has stepped back into your life.  When you were younger, you only knew what you needed to know about this musician.  The importance you gave him made him important.  That was your value system.  It worked while you were a teenager.  But, now, you are grown, and your idol is back.  But, this time, you get to learn the truth--the truth about him (instead of your angst-ridden teenage soul's imagining of the musician).

Searching for Sugar Man is a documentary about a Detroit musician named Rodriguez.  In the 1970s, for millions of South Africans during Apartheid, Rodriguez served as their collective teenage idol.  The movie goes on a sort of journey, from millions of fans adoring Rodriguez at a time when they needed a voice for the Anti-Apartheid Movement, to confronting the singer (or, the singer's story) on his own terms.  The fans whom Rodriguez inspired are ready to understand Rodriguez not only as a voice of a movement, but as his own person. 

Rodriguez did lend himself to this movement.  However, that inspiration turned out to be a by-product of the inner workings of a humble poet.  If there were ever an argument to encourage art and humanities as catalysts for changing a society or for comforting the human spirit, the story of Rodriguez would be one.  The poet/artist/musician breathes and writes and plays and sings all while the world gets the benefit of that human's vibrations. 

Attention must be paid

Just listen to this. Please. Listen to all of it. On repeat like I do. Dave Rawlings and Gillian Welch Tiny Desk Concert

It's not an image but it's definitely moving me. I "discovered" Gillian Welch in 2007 or 2008. I remember buying a used copy of "Revival" and walking around campus, amazed at the beauty and simplicity of the arrangements. Rawlings has always played second fiddle to Welch. His guitar. Her voice. Nothing was better to me. But this -- an inversion. Welch as backup and Rawlings' voice front and center. He said it himself -- Welch's voice is big, pure and takes up a lot of space. The arrangements can be skeletal. But his voice is smaller, no less beautiful, but definitely needs the help of fuller accompaniment. This concert is perfection. Their harmonies are breaking my heart.

I have long periods of time when I'm not listening to their music but I always go back. And when I'm back I think: why did I ever leave?? Their melodies are haunting, not infectious. Their lyrics are restrained, not over-determined. They are musicians, trained at Berklee, perfected on the road. They sing about orchards, farms, sadness, love. Their are moments in my life, perfectly etched in my memory, that have Gillian Welch singing in the background. And now they are both here in the foreground; I couldn't be happier.

Melancholia

Melancholia is getting all kinds of accolades and being heralded as the best film of 2011. This makes me feel justified for liking this movie. It also makes me feel like a pretentious art follower for finding self-justification of my own likes from the opinions of others. In any case, I urge you to trust the trusted movie critics and go ahead and see this movie.

I don't know if it's classified as the plot or the theme, but the magnet or pull of the movie is that a planet is headed toward earth. Our lives are in jeopardy because slowly but surely, the planet will barrel into the side of the earth, causing a destruction the dinosaurs would have envied. So, that is what will happen, but that is not what is happening in the movie. Or in life. We are all headed for destruction, one way or another. However, if we focus on the demise, life becomes not worth living. Or, for some unlikely optimists, the inevitable destruction seems to make life sweeter and worth living.

Much like The Tree of Life juxtaposes mundane life moments with catastrophic events (such as the Big Bang), Melancholia puts a festive new beginning, a wedding, against the backdrop of the impending end of the world. The movie splits itself into two parts--the wedding weekend reception and the aftermath. I knew that the planet was gaining speed on the earth's destruction, but while the reception was happening, I was involved in that production. I guess that's what makes Melancholia such a brave film for me. I got the message--loud and clear--that the celebration of a new beginning and even the emotional effects of life count for something even when we know they will not last.

And what a wedding reception it was! Kirsten Dunst (Justine) is the bride. She looked ethereal, as a newlywed is supposed to look. And, we learn that the earth's imminent demise is mirrored by Justine's crippling depression. She treads through the charade of the reception--her own celebration--much like a soldier hoofing through mud fields. I've been to a few weddings in my day, and one of the most disappointing aspects of them is that the festivities seem to be rushed in order to hurry to transform the reception hall into a club with disc jockeys spinning the top 40 hits from the radio. Bridal party enters: check! Toasts completed: check! Cake cut: check! First dance: check! Then, the dance floor turns into a discotheque and the ambiance is lost. I forget that it's a wedding at all. In this movie, the reception is drawn out and savored. It lasts for hours, well into the night, when more champagne expectantly flows and more food is offered to the guests. Toasts come in stages and dancing fits into the creases for the festivities. It was beautifully lit. And, more beautiful, still, was how Justine attempted to fit into this mold of bride and woman and normal. It's not always easy to do that.

The reception trudges on and then we are introduced to the more immediate realizations regarding the end of the world. You can hide in a corner and shield yourself from the destruction or you can witness the death. The end of the world sure emits pretty fireworks. You would be a fool to shut your eyes.

Just Go With It

I turned on Just Go With It after a long day. I didn't really know what it was about, and I decided to just follow the title's direction. I know that, by admitting this, I have no taste and no credibility, but, I liked this movie. (You know what they say; the faster you lose any semblance of a reputation, the faster you can relax.) It stars Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler. I don't generally like Sandler. Like, I would never gravitate toward his movies. Jennifer, on the other hand, is different.

I admit to liking a certain something something that Jennifer seems to have in movies. I had a suspicion that she wasn't as lame as she comes across in interviews. Then, I saw her on that show, Inside the Actors Studio. I found out that she's actually kind of hip. She had a painting in the Met when she was a kid; she used to dye her hair nonhuman colors; she cites her dog as being the only loyal man in existence. How could I not be into this woman?

Just Go With It is about a man who pretends he's married to get women or something like that. The point is clearly not the plot. The point is that Jennifer and Adam have some chemistry. They come together for a plan to foil Adam's new girlfriend. The thing I like about the plan and the plot is that it's not too intense. They go to a beach. They make up character names. The stakes are not so high for any of the hi jinx that my blood pressure soared. The pacing is predictable and if you can't figure out the ending within the first 15 minutes of the movie, then you may actually love this movie. Except, you won't. With this type of movie, the key is predictability because that is safe and warm and all that is good. I wish I could wrap myself up in a big down comforter that is this movie.

I laughed out loud. Loudly. A lot. Let yourself just go with it. There are also some unexpected cameos. Well, they're more than just cameos. They're full-blown roles. I won't tell you, who, though. I mean, this movie has got to have some mystery--besides the fact that it's so simple and tart that it's actually good.