going off on tangents is my forte :)
Oct. 7th, 2010 11:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
floatingleafSo, I did that free mp3 exercise lesson from Anat Baniel's website. It was... incredible. It consists mostly of lying flat on your back and moving your legs, arms & head in strange, unexpected ways, LOL - but the effects are astounding. Your whole body FEELS different afterwards. Younger, sort of. It is almost funny as the recording asks various questions about the way you're feeling ("Does your chest feel wider?", "Are your shoulders more relaxed?", "Is your breathing fuller?" etc.), and you just blink and go "hell YES". Could be autosuggestion too, since I'm very susceptible to such things - but I definitely feel less stiff & achy than I used to, even after that one lesson and just a few of those simple "desk trainer" routines I've been doing over the past week or so. I don't actually need to use the heating pad for my neck every day to ease the discomfort anymore. It's still nice to do every once in a while, but more as a way to pamper myself than as necessary tension relief. I am well on my way to making my upper body completely pain-free, nice and bendy, like a brand-new rubber doll.:P Can you tell I'm happy about this? :D
Also, I wore one of my new dresses to work today, and everyone kept saying how nice I looked. Some people were speculating amongst themselves as to whether I had a job interview or a date... LOL. I said neither, but they didn't look convinced.:P
Oh, and the bonus features on the Good DVD aren't really as exciting as they promised to be. There's a bit of raw behind-the-scenes footage (with no commentary added) and a series of short, chopped-up interviews with the principal cast & crew. But the film itself had a very strong effect on me - possibly even stronger than the first time (without the distraction of seeing the real, "live" Viggo at the premiere... LOL). It is so heartbreaking to watch John & Maurice's friendship fall apart, just because of some arbitrarily enforced political divide. This is the main focus of the movie, at least in my perception - this very personal story of two close friends torn apart by someone else's close-mindedness and prejudice. An interesting point, brought up during the interview with Jason Isaacs, is how Maurice is really the stronger and more dominant side in this friendship - John looks up to him, admires him, envies him even - and then a "power shift" occurs when John becomes a member of the elite, while Maurice suddenly finds himself a second-class citizen... "less than a full human being". They both have trouble dealing with this, obviously, but for different reasons; and while Maurice's reasons don't really require an explanation, it is interesting to note how John's acute discomfort with the entire situation pushes him further & further into flat-out denial. He just won't acknowledge the fact that his friend's life is in danger - until it's too late. If their roles had been reversed, Maurice would probably save John - or severely endanger himself as well. He wouldn't just stand by pretending that everything's going to be fine. And whatever happened, he wouldn't have to live with the guilt. To quote Jason Isaacs again, he found it interesting to play "a Jewish character who is not a victim". And, in a way, Viggo played a Nazi character who IS a victim. I can totally imagine John spending the rest of his life tortured by his guilty conscience and/or completely escaping into his fantasy world and losing any touch with reality whatsoever. And it's all the more chilling because of how easily I could identify with him at every turn. Starting with all the little OCD gestures that Viggo had so perfected for this role. John is exactly the kind of person who lets other people drag him around and intimidate him just to avoid "trouble" or conflict - and I can understand that all too well. Yes, those other people are often wrong, but who am I to tell anyone that I know better? I can't handle all those tough decisions, leave me alone. Paradoxically, it is often the people with higher moral sensitivities who are more susceptible to manipulation, because they so WANT to believe that they are doing the right thing. Just like people who abhor violence and agression are often helpless to prevent evil, because the only way to stop it might involve just that: aggression and violence. Not everyone has the guts to be a hero. If everyone did, such phenomena as the rise of Nazism would never have happened, because it's not like the majority of German population suddenly turned to evil monsters, or suddenly let themselves be convinced that Jews weren't human. Sometimes it takes just a few jerks with plenty of guts and no conscience, and a whole lot of people who just don't want any trouble. There is this moment in the movie when John says dismissively: "Hitler is a joke" - and it makes me think of quite a few political figures in the US today that could legitimately be called a "joke" as well; and yet, if any of them ever came to power, it wouldn't be funny in the slightest. Not that I'm directly comparing anyone to Hitler (even though THEY have no qualms about doing that), but yeah... you see what I mean. This movie is not just a piece of "period drama" to me - not at all.
Heh. This was meant to be a short little post, because it's late and I work tomorrow, obviously. But it looks like I can't do short. Fortunately, tomorrow is the last day of work before my little vacation (yay!!!), so I think I'll recover. Good night, everyone (don't mind me - I just like to pretend there are actually people still reading at this point ;).
Also, I wore one of my new dresses to work today, and everyone kept saying how nice I looked. Some people were speculating amongst themselves as to whether I had a job interview or a date... LOL. I said neither, but they didn't look convinced.:P
Oh, and the bonus features on the Good DVD aren't really as exciting as they promised to be. There's a bit of raw behind-the-scenes footage (with no commentary added) and a series of short, chopped-up interviews with the principal cast & crew. But the film itself had a very strong effect on me - possibly even stronger than the first time (without the distraction of seeing the real, "live" Viggo at the premiere... LOL). It is so heartbreaking to watch John & Maurice's friendship fall apart, just because of some arbitrarily enforced political divide. This is the main focus of the movie, at least in my perception - this very personal story of two close friends torn apart by someone else's close-mindedness and prejudice. An interesting point, brought up during the interview with Jason Isaacs, is how Maurice is really the stronger and more dominant side in this friendship - John looks up to him, admires him, envies him even - and then a "power shift" occurs when John becomes a member of the elite, while Maurice suddenly finds himself a second-class citizen... "less than a full human being". They both have trouble dealing with this, obviously, but for different reasons; and while Maurice's reasons don't really require an explanation, it is interesting to note how John's acute discomfort with the entire situation pushes him further & further into flat-out denial. He just won't acknowledge the fact that his friend's life is in danger - until it's too late. If their roles had been reversed, Maurice would probably save John - or severely endanger himself as well. He wouldn't just stand by pretending that everything's going to be fine. And whatever happened, he wouldn't have to live with the guilt. To quote Jason Isaacs again, he found it interesting to play "a Jewish character who is not a victim". And, in a way, Viggo played a Nazi character who IS a victim. I can totally imagine John spending the rest of his life tortured by his guilty conscience and/or completely escaping into his fantasy world and losing any touch with reality whatsoever. And it's all the more chilling because of how easily I could identify with him at every turn. Starting with all the little OCD gestures that Viggo had so perfected for this role. John is exactly the kind of person who lets other people drag him around and intimidate him just to avoid "trouble" or conflict - and I can understand that all too well. Yes, those other people are often wrong, but who am I to tell anyone that I know better? I can't handle all those tough decisions, leave me alone. Paradoxically, it is often the people with higher moral sensitivities who are more susceptible to manipulation, because they so WANT to believe that they are doing the right thing. Just like people who abhor violence and agression are often helpless to prevent evil, because the only way to stop it might involve just that: aggression and violence. Not everyone has the guts to be a hero. If everyone did, such phenomena as the rise of Nazism would never have happened, because it's not like the majority of German population suddenly turned to evil monsters, or suddenly let themselves be convinced that Jews weren't human. Sometimes it takes just a few jerks with plenty of guts and no conscience, and a whole lot of people who just don't want any trouble. There is this moment in the movie when John says dismissively: "Hitler is a joke" - and it makes me think of quite a few political figures in the US today that could legitimately be called a "joke" as well; and yet, if any of them ever came to power, it wouldn't be funny in the slightest. Not that I'm directly comparing anyone to Hitler (even though THEY have no qualms about doing that), but yeah... you see what I mean. This movie is not just a piece of "period drama" to me - not at all.
Heh. This was meant to be a short little post, because it's late and I work tomorrow, obviously. But it looks like I can't do short. Fortunately, tomorrow is the last day of work before my little vacation (yay!!!), so I think I'll recover. Good night, everyone (don't mind me - I just like to pretend there are actually people still reading at this point ;).
