Review XP Oh My Ghost!

Yes. This is so the perfect Korean drama if you are into that kind of thing, which I am.

You never know what you are getting when you watch foreign TV shows. I've seen my share of drawn-out drama and fucked-up endings, trust me. But this one was just perfect and well worth the time I spent watching all 15 hour-long episodes. And the ending I could almost compare to a Brandon Sanderson series (but that would be blasphemy!) because each character and subplot was wrapped up perfectly like a happy little gift.

So the gist is this: Bong-sun is an aspiring chef who works in a restaurant with the famous Chef Kang and four other hilarious men. She is shy, unsure of herself and apologizes constantly. Also, she can see ghosts. Soon-ae is a vengeful ghost who remains on Earth to resolve her grudge of being a virgin at her death. So she possesses women and attempts to seduce men, but is unsuccessful up until she meets Bong-sun. It really had everything: offbeat humor, believable romance, supernatural plot twists, heart-wrenching moments, and a villain you can root for.

Spoiler alert!

I gasped when Soon-ae pushed Bong-sun away from Chef.

I cheered when Soon-ae's brother punched Chef.

I cried my eyes out when she turned her dad back from the light at the end of the tunnel.

And it made me so very happy when it turned out that Officer Choi lost his memory.

[Insert snarky closing comment here.] Or not. Peace!

J. L. Dodd


Quotes from "Oh My Ghost!"

"Even if I'm a ghost, how can I just stand and watch?" - Shin Soon Ae

"You'll protect me? You're the most dangerous person." - Kang Sun Woo

"You looked like you were in danger, like you were standing on the edge of a cliff. It didn't feel like it was happening to a stranger. I've had several moments like that in my own life." - Officer Choi

"Don't go and get hurt on your own ... like an idiot." - Seo Joon

Links:

http://www.koreandrama.org/oh-my-ghost/

https://www.wattpad.com/206099260-korean-dramas-quotes-oh-my-ghost-2015

RANDOM AF! Good Morning Call ... Netflix Binge ... Sychronicity

I finished watching "Good Morning Call" yesterday. Although the ending was satisfactory, this show really irked me. I am so tired of the trope common in YA but more so in manga where the female protagonist falls for the unattainable jerk and ignores all the great love interests around her. As Natsume says in the show (though this "quote" is a paraphrase), and I totally agree, "It's fine to love someone, but wouldn't you be better off with someone who loves you?"

I suppose this follows with the popular tsundere character in Japanese culture, which makes sense and I'm okay with when there aren't alternatives available. Which is why they do it: to drive us viewers bonkers with frustration and keep us watching. But this kind of shit represents to me an elementary school concept of romance. Grow up already. If a woman falls for someone who treats her like shit, (and I'm not saying it doesn't happen) then there is some kind of fundamental, psychological problem there. In short, daddy issues shouldn't be the crux of an ideal love story. Not only is it insulting to watch and endure as a woman, but it's just plain stupid and unrealistic. I swear I will never succumb to this trope in my writing, as uncomfortable as it may be at times for my readers.

Apologies. I seem to be revisiting topics that are related but only just. Bear with me here as I follow this train of thought.

My recent Netflix binges (and the fact that "Netflix binge" is a common, well-known term in this day and age) leads me back to a topic I've written about before as I struggle to explain my own actions (to myself).

See my blog from 2017 YA Fairy Tales

Why do we read? Why do we binge on Netflix? What is the appeal? Yes, we do it to escape from reality to experience something we may or may not ever be able to experience in life. But in addition, the stories we immerse ourselves in usually provide an undercurrent of reliability. We have expectations, especially within a given genre. The script is carefully controlled. Although there may be plot twists and turns, generally, we know or can guess the ending. However, my question is, if we break with tropes, tradition, and a reader/viewer's expectations, can we be successful? Or will the end result be terrible? I may need to test this theory to find out.

So synchronicity.

I randomly selected a show to watch on Netflix called "Myths and Monsters." The creepy English dude narrating from his library nearly turned me off, but when he brought up a book called A Hero with a Thousand Faces, I became interested. I had purchased the book last year after becoming interested in the history of the hero in fiction. I started to read it, but haven't finished (as is my custom with non-fiction), but I learned more from the show about Campbell's theories than I had so far in the book.

The very next day, I came across a quote in Watership Down from that very same book:

"On his dreadful journey, after the shaman had wandered through dark forests and over great ranges of mountains ... he reaches an opening in the ground. The most difficult stage of his adventure now begins. The depths of the underworld now open before him. - Uno Harva, quoted by James Campbell"

Hmmm. Am I quoting a quote within a quote within a quote? I think I am.

Wait. What is Uno Harva? Is that an ancient text or something?

A quick search reveals he is a who, not a what, and was a Finnish theologian. More rabbit holes.

A strange coincidence, at the very least. Is this the collective unconscious? I know Campbell was influenced by Jung, so he may say so. Is this Frith, pointing me in the right direction? Either way, I'm going to dive into that damn non-fiction and see what I can dig up.

J. L. Dodd

Links:

https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uno_Harva

Review XP Watership Down

This book was published BJ, meaning Before Jessie, in 1972.

I picked it up because it was within reach (on the bookcase) and because it's one of my sister's favorite books. I clearly remember her carrying around an old, battered copy when we still lived at home together, and then later, when she was well into her 20's, if memory serves. She's one of those strange bibliophiles who likes to read books over and over. (BTW Sister, I don't get it. If you know the plot, the conflict and resolution, just what is the point? Especially when there are so many books in the world?) In fairness, I don't know if she still does this. I'll have to ask her.

I ... don't know what I expected. I didn't know what to expect, and that was part of the draw. The book details the secret lives of rabbits, in particular, two brothers named Hazel and Fiver, and their decision to leave the warren they've known all their lives based on Fiver's sixth sense. After coming upon a sign that men put up near their home, Fiver becomes convinced the rabbits are in danger and must leave. But leaving home is no small thing for a rabbit. They are in constant danger without a burrow to hide in, and at risk of exhaustion and tharn, a state in which they are frozen with fear. Along the way, they encounter various incarnations of The Thousand (for rabbits are said to have 1,000 predators), a group of alien rabbits who don't silfay (nibble grass) and who sing and recite poetry, and a warren of militaristic rabbits who run their group like a concentration camp.

Though slow at times, the book was entertaining, and I grew engrossed with the conflict during the last 100 pages or so. I also fancied the idea of rabbit religion, myths, and proverbs. The stories within the stories gave the books depth that I found authentic. I think I expected much more death, which was both a relief and a disappointment, perhaps because although I prefer a happy ending, the fact that all the main characters survived seemed unrealistic. The only thing that grew especially tiresome was the author's descriptions of the foliage, which, since I am no rabbit nor botanist, I was not especially interested in.

The best part is that I found myself picking up the rabbit's language, even though I had no idea how to pronounce some of it. For instance, yesterday I told my husband, "Why are there so many hrududu (vehicles) on the road today?" (Then I spent half an hour practicing pronouncing the word. Try it; it's fun.) And then I yelled at the dogs, "Get in here you damned elil (enemies)!" I'll use hrair, which means more than four (because rabbits can only count to four). And Frith is the sun, personified as God. Now I can say Frithdamnit and not offend my mother.

I marked two quotes in this book:

"'There's great evil in this world.' 'It comes from men,' said Holly. 'All other elil do what they have to do and Frith moves them as he moves us. They live on the earth and they need food. Men will never rest till they've spoiled the earth and destroyed the animals.'" - Pg. 163

"Strawberry tried all he could to help me. He spoke very well about the decency and comradeship natural to animals. 'Animals don't behave like men,' he said. 'If they have to fight, they fight. If they have to kill, they kill. But they don't sit down and set their wits to work to devise ways of spoiling other creatures' lives and hurting them. They have dignity and animality." Pg. 249

I think the author would rather be a rabbit himself. He doesn't think much of men, and I have to agree. Why can't we behave with dignity and animality?

J. L. Dodd

P.S. I had a moment of synchronicity while I was reading this book. I'll need to discuss that later on. I'm not sure if it's done with me.

Goodbye 2017

What do I want to say about the passage of 2017?

It wasn't an easy year. Most of my struggles were internal. Most but not all of my discord self-actualized. Some external. A few events stand out. Some good. Some bad. Why should I complain? I feel like my life is infinitely better than some. Then again, how can I know that? I can't literally walk in someone else's shoes. I can't get in another person's head. I don't believe all the imagination in the world can't give you an iota of another person's reality because we lack that person's perspective, which colors every experience. And that perspective can work both ways.

For instance, according to a Netflix documentary I watched, a resident of Myanmar is happy if they go to bed with a full belly. If I'm being real, and I am, it takes a hell of a lot more than that to make me happy. There is no basis for comparison. No way to judge or measure happiness. But if I had to guess, I'd say the people on the streets of Myanmar are happier than I on any given day, provided that one simple need is met.

And although I believe each person has infinite potential, I've also seen that what we can grow accustomed to is surprising, and horrible. Our capacity for degradation, for depression and self-pity, for filth and cruelty also has infinite potential. Think Trail of Tears. Think Holocaust. More recently, think Las Vegas. Everything is relative, each perspective unique, and when something becomes normal, it just is.

I did come to realize one thing I found significant this year. That each and every person has a sugoi story to tell if we only will listen (I've been watching too many Japanese sitcoms, apologies.). But seriously, just listen. Give another person that attention, whether it's your significant other, your child, your coworker, or a complete stranger.

I ran across this pin a few days ago.

I would expand that to explain what most of us do, which is make it neither better nor worse. I realized that sometimes at work I don't even look clients in the eye when I help them. Most of the time, in fact. Which indicates that, as a whole, my interactions on any given day are largely meaningless. No more. After all, in some ways, we are all the same, aren't we? We all want to belong, to succeed, to love. We all struggle to find enlightenment and meaning in a cruel world. We've all experienced disappointment, failure, and loss. Finding a common thread with another person is not a difficult thing.

These days, I see much irony in being self-aware, in being the most advanced species on the planet. What I would give some days to be a dog, or a cat, or a bird (or a bunny named Hazel-rah). To not have to think about anything but survival.

I won't say good riddance to 2017, because all time is precious. All existence precious. But 2017, I won't remember you fondly either.

J. L. Dodd