Yesterday I was thinking about acting. I like to act, I've been in a few productions. Nothing too big, but big enough to show me that acting is a passion along with writing. I was thinking about characters. How it is easy to love or hate characters, because they are written or played for a certain emotion to be evoked.
Take Draco Malfoy, a character that evokes a lot of hatred, because he is written in a way that makes the reader or watcher look down upon him, scoff at his antagonistic ways. He is shown through the eyes of the protagonist, making us naturally dislike him. Gandalf the grey, on the other hand, is written in a way that makes you admire him. Revel in his wise stability in the mayhem of the plot line, enjoy his capability of doing the right thing. This is a character that you like. I haven't heard any lord of the rings fan say that Gandalf is the character that they detest.
I realized that a good actor is one that can evoke emotion through a character that isn't written for a certain like or dislike. Take Lea Michele for example, who plays Rachel Berry on Glee. Rachel is a character that you constantly go back and forth with.I love her I hate her I love her I hate her. Lea plays this poignant character with a realistic twang to Rachel's crazy antics, creating a controversial character, that makes you laugh, cry, annoyed, in disbelief and everything in between.
Friday, December 9, 2011
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Trellis
Trellis was a sticky town. It was humid and hot, sounding of a symphony of cicadas. The people moved slow, the air moved slow, time moved slow. There were 3 streets in Trellis. Aberdeen road, 41st street, and Clay drive. the population was around 105 people, which mostly consisted of 1 family. The Walt's were born and bred in Trellis, you could call them country bumpkins, rednecks, cowboys, or you could call them the owners of Adam and Eve's corner mart. (The only place you could buy anything from towels to cheese wizz to fake birth certificates on Clay drive). The walt's had an interesting history, yet the Walt's didn't know it. They were simple people, thinking nothing more of everyday life in Trellis. Trellis was like that, it was infectious with a time warp melancholy way. It was like the people there lived in a bubble. One that no one would ever think to pop.
Until Sierra Walt was born, everything in Trellis seemed to coexist quite nicely. But once the dark haired dark eyed child was conceived, Trellis was turned into a whirlwind of gossip and horror. And in a town of 105 people even the smallest of problems was turned hurricane Katrina, because as you can imagine, not much happened on a daily basis. The reason for the terror: Sierra had brown hair.
You see, all of the Walts 11 kids had strawberry blond hair, and blue eyes. And in Trellis, if anything happened in an abnormal way, it was a very big deal. You could ask any of the citizens in Trellis if they ever remember a time when Anna Walt was not pregnant. But they would all get a faraway look in their eyes and remark "no, I guess not". Because it was true. Anna walt had spent many years of her life in Trellis carrying around her 12 kids in her uterus. She had become very accustomed to the scenario. What she was not accustomed to, was having a brown haired child in her sea of redheads. And suddenly, she was worried that Sierra was going to be the oddball. Which was fairly easy in a town of 105 people
Until Sierra Walt was born, everything in Trellis seemed to coexist quite nicely. But once the dark haired dark eyed child was conceived, Trellis was turned into a whirlwind of gossip and horror. And in a town of 105 people even the smallest of problems was turned hurricane Katrina, because as you can imagine, not much happened on a daily basis. The reason for the terror: Sierra had brown hair.
You see, all of the Walts 11 kids had strawberry blond hair, and blue eyes. And in Trellis, if anything happened in an abnormal way, it was a very big deal. You could ask any of the citizens in Trellis if they ever remember a time when Anna Walt was not pregnant. But they would all get a faraway look in their eyes and remark "no, I guess not". Because it was true. Anna walt had spent many years of her life in Trellis carrying around her 12 kids in her uterus. She had become very accustomed to the scenario. What she was not accustomed to, was having a brown haired child in her sea of redheads. And suddenly, she was worried that Sierra was going to be the oddball. Which was fairly easy in a town of 105 people
Friday, December 2, 2011
Tinkerbell was my first best friend.
My first best friend was named L. We were glued at the hip for kindergarten and part of first grade, until she moved unexpectedly to a different school.
L was an interesting girl. She loved fairy's and anything make believe and I remember our extravagant adventures through her backyard. She always played with a sense of assurance, that she knew exactly how this or that would act and how the story played out. I admired her, and always wanted to be like her. Mystical, Imaginative, creative, L was a real life tinkerbell.
I remember vividly her house, on old victorian style place teetering on a hill.
The stairs in the front were deteriorating, so you had to be careful about where you stepped. The house loomed above the sidewalks, resting lazily in the tops of the trees. I was so young then it always seemed like a mansion. But as I got older it became less and less of a mysterious house of secrets and wonder, and more of a musty old house, sinking deep into it's foundation. I remember the peeling paint and overgrown ferns, high windows and majestic front entryway.
L's mother was just as amazing as she was. J was tall, lively and full of ideas, every st. patricks day she would put little green footprints around the house. On the walls,ceiling,floors and at the time, L and I were convinced they were leprechauns. We were ecstatic. I remember before she moved out of the house, J let us paint the walls. We drew fairies and quotes and doodles, spent hours on our hands and knees. I remember we wrote on a wall in the living room "To future residents! There are fairies living in the tree in the backyard. Please don't cut it down!!!"
I savor that moment a lot. Longing to spend just one day back in that wonderful cut off little world. But for the meantime, I think we all need to embrace our inner L and J more often. I feel that everyone would be better off.
Because tinkerbell is a pretty cool first best friend.
L was an interesting girl. She loved fairy's and anything make believe and I remember our extravagant adventures through her backyard. She always played with a sense of assurance, that she knew exactly how this or that would act and how the story played out. I admired her, and always wanted to be like her. Mystical, Imaginative, creative, L was a real life tinkerbell.
I remember vividly her house, on old victorian style place teetering on a hill.
The stairs in the front were deteriorating, so you had to be careful about where you stepped. The house loomed above the sidewalks, resting lazily in the tops of the trees. I was so young then it always seemed like a mansion. But as I got older it became less and less of a mysterious house of secrets and wonder, and more of a musty old house, sinking deep into it's foundation. I remember the peeling paint and overgrown ferns, high windows and majestic front entryway.
L's mother was just as amazing as she was. J was tall, lively and full of ideas, every st. patricks day she would put little green footprints around the house. On the walls,ceiling,floors and at the time, L and I were convinced they were leprechauns. We were ecstatic. I remember before she moved out of the house, J let us paint the walls. We drew fairies and quotes and doodles, spent hours on our hands and knees. I remember we wrote on a wall in the living room "To future residents! There are fairies living in the tree in the backyard. Please don't cut it down!!!"
I savor that moment a lot. Longing to spend just one day back in that wonderful cut off little world. But for the meantime, I think we all need to embrace our inner L and J more often. I feel that everyone would be better off.
Because tinkerbell is a pretty cool first best friend.
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