Thursday, December 21, 2017


Finals have just recently finished for us college folk, so I figured it was a good idea to take my newfound freedom and drag my mother to Coco with me. I'd meant to watch it back in November when it came out, but month-long programming final projects don't do themselves, you know. My mom was straight up bored until the last quarter of the film, but I believe I feel more positively about it.

Truth be told, I do feel that the beginning of the movie is pretty boring - or at least it sets you up to believe that it will be boring. Things pick up once we get to the Land of the Dead, though. Basically, the further you get into the movie, the better it gets. It's certainly better than going in the opposite direction.

I loved the music and the songs, I loved the characters, I loved the warmth of the film and the importance of family, and I loved the plot. Coco is a feel good movie that reminds you to follow your dreams, and that's always a nice concept to emphasize. My favorite part of the film is either the adorable doggo or honestly, Miguel's entire family. Yes, they could be overbearing at times, but it stemmed from a place of love, and I adored getting to see them actually listening to each other. And even in the beginning, it was clear that Miguel's parents were never so mad as to forget his feelings; it's such a sweet thing to see.

The entire story revolves around the importance of putting up pictures of family members during The Day of the Dead, except of course it's Disney-fied and adorable. The theater was almost empty since it's been several weeks since the movie came out, but there were a pair of kids a couple rows below us, and they were laughing out loud at scenes that I only smiled at: a sad reminder that I'm getting old.

I know rating movies with either a thumbs up or thumbs down is an awful way to go about things, but Netflix does it, and sometimes being horrible is fun. I give Coco a thumbs up.  It's a light, fun, meaningful film, although I wouldn't go in expecting something fast paced. I'm doubtful as to whether I'd finish the movie if I watched it at home, but having seen the entire film, I really do like it a lot. The only thing I'd change is the speed of things happening - I'm that impatient person who prefers newer films to older films, and prefers cut after cut after cut to long takes.


I hate to call out comments twice in a row, but while I haven't been reading much lately, apparently I've been making up for it by scrolling through goodreads. Not a pastime I would recommend, by the way. Anyways, Sandhya Menon does this amazing thing where she gives out early copies of her book to South Asian bloggers, and her latest book - coming out summer 2018 - is called From Twinkle, with Love. I've been a huge fan of the author since her debut, When Dimple Met Rishi, because desi lit reads are far and between, and I rarely get the chance to connect so much with book characters. I thought I'd check out some goodreads comments just because, and boy was that a mistake.

Several of the comments dealt with the "obscure", "funny", "hippy-dippy" names of the main characters in Menon's books, i.e. Dimple and Twinkle. They complained about the names and asked if the author was starting a new trend. That's about when my bull horns came out and steam started emitting from my nostrils. Believe it or not, people, Dimple and Twinkle are actually both very common names in India. Menon herself has discussed this on twitter at least once. I personally had no idea that these were common names, and I am Indian, but you don't see me complaining and making a big deal out of it. And even if you are going to make something out of it, then please do your research and find out whether or not they're actual names or not. Literally all you have to do is type either Dimple or Twinkle and "name" into google and voilà, research.

There was one comment where a reader was ecstatic over the fact that the main character would have the same name as her, and oh, my heart. This is why we need diversity in books, people.

Second - and this was also mentioned by Menon over on twitter - is the sheer amount of people whining about how her books are terrible because the author doesn't bother to take the time to explain Indian culture in her books. Why are kids named the way they are, huh? Am I supposed to educate myself now? Yes, white people, yes you are. The very idea that diverse books are a vehicle through which white people can learn about other cultures is preposterous, and seriously so offensive. This mindset is not okay in the least. How entitled must one be to believe that the author is obligated to explain their culture to them?

The person who commented the thing above and made some racist comments also discussed how Dimple pushing/throwing coffee on Rishi because he was a complete stranger who called her his wife in the last book is violence and abuse. Similarly, she went on to say that the relationship "starting on a foundation of lies" in this book is problematic because Menon is empowering things that shouldn't be empowered. Umm...what? Did you have the same problem with How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, also built on a foundation of lies? Have you never heard of a meet-cute? Are we supposed to cuddle with strangers who declare their intent to marry us, now?

The final comment I'm about to mention probably isn't even offensive, but I can't even differentiate okay from not okay after the things I read before it. I quote: "Sahil is this weird guy in my class. This is gonna be fun." (The capital letters and punctation are my additions.) First of all, this is a very mean thing to say about anyone, so there's one point off. This same person also started her review with "STOP WITH THESE HORRENDOUS NAMES", so that's like another three points off. 

People have so many irrelevant complaints, and they haven't even read the book yet. Remind me not to go through any more reviews after Twinkle comes out.


A Scot in the Dark by Sarah MacLean is the first book I've finished in a while, and it's one of the better historical romances I've read lately. So there I was, basking in the fact that I'd finished a book for the first time since, say, summer break, when I decided to check out some reviews on goodreads. Clearly, that was an awful decision, as I went to bed quite angry, and yes, ranting.

I won't name names - partly because I can't remember the reviewer's name - but she wrote that she hated the novel because she absolutely couldn't stand the main character, Lily. She said that she lost all respect for Lily when she was "stupid enough" to pose nude for a guy, and also she hated how "whiny" the main character was. Lily was sad about being lonely, she was beautiful and yet had no self confidence, and she was preoccupied with the idea that she could never be loved; oh, how unrealistic - I may be paraphrasing a bit, but I am so offended on behalf of Lily.

First of all, I fail to understand how you can hate a girl because she chose to pose in the nude for an artist that she was in love with and fully expected to marry? And not only that, but the reviewer is basically judging her the same way English society would and does in the book, and in fact, I don't believe that the reviewer said anything at all about the scum of an artist. I shudder at the double standards. So yes, sexism was one hundred percent a part of why the first part of that review riled me up. The second part of the review, however, is just as unconceivable to me, and I'm still shocked that there wasn't a single comment that disagreed with the review: just lots of thumbs ups and "wow, you said that so solidly, I totally agree"'s.

My problem with the other part of the review is, again, a lack of empathy, except not just with the main character, but mankind. This might just be me, but personally, I feel like it's quite normal for a person to feel like he or she doesn't belong. In fact, a lot of people probably feel this almost every day. Furthermore, you can't possibly tell me that the majority of people in this world haven't at least once worried about not being lovable or being desired and keep a straight face - it doesn't even have to be in a romantic context. Not everyone is fully confident in the fact that they'll find someone they want to marry some day in the future, and that that person will feel the same way. I believe this worry about the future is a perfectly plausible thing. And it's not like Lily was actually complaining about it - no, she was content to live alone and unloved, no matter how lonely it would be.

The essential part of all this is that I'm not exaggerating when I say that Lily is unloved. Her relatives are all dead, literally nobody loves her or acknowledges her until the annoyed and also mostly unloved Scot comes into town, and now this new scandal will most certainly further her isolation. So the fact that this reviewer and all the people who commented on the review are in agreement that Lily is unrealistic or weak or boring, it just frustrates me.

Follow @itsmepreethi on Instagram