Just finished watching Beautiful Creatures, the movie all the kids should have (IMHO) been obsessing over instead of getting hung up on the Twilight saga. Surprisingly sweet, touching and decently written underndeath the melodrama, with plenty of magic and nifty visuals to go around. I was genuinely surprised to see that it only garnered an average score of 6.2 on IMDb. Emma Thompson and Jeremy Irons are in top form, and the kids do a great job of portraying believable teenagers wrestling with a tricky supernatural conundrum. All the richness of the South that True Blood drew on, without the graphic sex and gory violence. Kind of a True Blood meets Witches of Eastwick that kids under eighteen can actually go to see. And yes, there were some over-the-top moments, but it was all in keeping with the genre and the mood being set. Think I might have to track down the book the movie was based on and give it a read.
Category Archives: Articles & Opinions
Beautiful Creatures
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Early Risers vs. Night Owls: A False Dichotomy
Seriously, folks, this is a debate that needs to die and stay dead. The idea that early risers are somehow morally superior, or more valid members of society is ridiculous. The reality, much as I hate the phrase, is that we live in a 24/7 society. All the white collar cubicle workers might be snug in their beds at 4 a.m., but all around the world there are still hospital emergency rooms, factories, 24-hour drug stores, and countless other round-the-clock facilities that need to be staffed by hard-working, dedicated people, who are no less virtuous, or productive, than the farmer who’s up before the crack of dawn, or the coffee-swigging commuter preparing to plunge into early morning rush hour traffic.
If the number of productive hours you put in during one 24-hour period is the same as the next person’s, it doesn’t matter what time you start working and what time you stop. It’s still equally valid, and just as beneficial to society at large. And as with anything else, there are doubtless people who straddle the divide and can function equally well at either end of the spectrum, or who fall somewhere in between the two accepted ‘types’.
On top of all that, as the video below points out (taken, as with all interweb finds, with as big a grain of salt as you prefer), it’s possible that it’s all mostly genetically pre-determined anyhow. Something to think about the next time you want to feel smugly superior over your neighbour, who’s likely working just as hard as you, and going through all the same day-to-day life crap as you are. So please, let’s stop trying to one-up each other with this endless who gets up earlier than whom competition, and get on with living our own lives as best as we can, while appreciating that just because someone next to us does things differently, doesn’t mean it’s better or worse – it’s just different.
/end rant
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