- We've Got to Dream Past It
- taken from this prompt. ngl, my writing & website feel to unprofessional 'submit' my response.
- Inhale. Exhale. The sky is white. Inhale. There is no sky. Exhale. It's a storm. Just another storm. Inhale, exhale; a run-of-the-mill snowstorm. Nothing you haven't seen before.
- You put on your glasses and roll up the blinds. The streetlights are invisible, and the snow is backlit by a strange red hue. Is it sunrise? Your phone says it's 3AM; sunrise won't come for four more hours. There's something moving outside. There's nothing moving outside. The wind forces the snow to take on strange shapes; snow people moving their snow legs to march towards your door. Inhale. They're pounding on your front door. It isn't locked. Exhale. It's just the wind. And maybe your front door is locked. The other tenants might not have unlocked it again. Oh, who are you kidding?
- You slip a shirt on. Should you check the front door? The doors to your unit are locked, after all. But the downstairs lock is weak. You doubt someone would struggle to break in. And what if that's not just the wind howling, but someone trying to come in? It could be the downstairs neighbor trying to get into your unit again. Well, a friend that's knocking at his door, or he doesn't know which door, or there's never been someone pounding on your door and it's all in your head.
- The wind shrieks, and you stare out the window. This weather is violent. What'd a lightning strike look like? Can lightning occur during a snowstorm? Your phone says yes. Wikipedia brings you to an article about thundersnow, which is rare, but not unheard of in areas you haven't lived in. Youtube brings you to a clip from a weather channel; the clip was uploaded 5hr ago, and the location is an hour south of you. "We're going to show you what thundersnow looks like," and the sky lights up a brilliant shade of purple, or is it blue, perhaps lavender is correct. Your window shows no thundersnow, just violent snow creating violent snow people who will---
- You grab your keys, which are attached to a canister of mace. Can mace hurt snow people? Inhale, exhale; reign in your imagination. Nobody is trying to hurt you. Open and close your bedroom door, observe the pale glow of lights from a roommate's bedroom, and walk down the stairs. Quiet. Fumble with the lock of your front door and enter the hallway. The EXIT sign lights up the space; the dim red glow feels appropriate. Still, the door is closed. You shudder as you walk toward it, hearing pounding, and rolling, and crashing. Your fear subsides. The door is unlocked. Inhale, exhale, and you peak outside. There's nothing there. Everything is white. You stick your hand out, allowing the wind to drag you out of the house and into the street.
- There's a roar, a pounding, a yellow light. Which way did you come from? The house, you were in the house, you were filled with fear, you needed to lock the door. The door! You wave your arms around like a madman, needing to escape the light that's approaching you. There's a thwack and a pain in your arm---yes, a car, a car parked in front of your house, and there's the railing of the porch. You pull yourself up and you're inside the house, the yellow light growing brighter, you locking the door and the pounding---is that you, fleeing, or the snow people? You lock the second door and head for your room, lock the door. Inhale, exhale, take off your glasses and crawl under your blankets. There's still something pounding at the doors. The snow people will break in. As the snow that's on you melts, you pull the blankets closer. Snow people can't reform from this melted snow, can they? Or is their essence inside it? There's no way out, then. Sleep overtakes you, and the snow people will come. Perhaps, you hope, you can dream past it.
analyzing legally blonde
on vivian.
legally blonde was released in 2001, and was followed by a musical adaptation in 2007. in short, the film follows elle, a sorority girl, who gets into harvard law school to try to win back the affections of her ex-boyfriend, warner, who wanted a girlfriend who was "less of a marilyn, more of a jackie." when elle reaches harvard, she discovers warner has reunited with vivian, a previous girlfriend. vivian appears to be a bitch, and the movie and musical explore this aspect in different ways. vivian is a stronger character in the musical than in the movie; this is obvious by her appearance, her relationship with warner, and her reaction to seeing professor callahan hit on elle.
unfortunately, appearances matter. in the movie, vivian has a short, mousey haircut; she dresses in button down shirts with sweater vests. respectfully, she looks like a teenager who is playing at being an adult. her character's fashion sense makes her look gawky. her posture exacerbates this---the way her shoulders tend to cave inwards make her look young, shy, and timid. elle's appearance makes a statement, while vivian's doesn't. however, in the musical, vivian has a confidence which matches elle's. her clothes fit her; she isn't afraid to wear a v-neck. her heels make her seem bold and confident. in the musical, she isn't afraid to stand out in a room. in the musical, her confidence makes her seem like a threat to elle's goals; this is part of why she is a stronger character in the musical than in the movie.
movie!vivian's childishness doesn't stop with her appearance. when vivian and warner are first seen together, vivian possessively puts her arm on warner's shoulder, flaunting the ring (link). "you're famous at our club," vivian says, sarcastically, implying elle is famous for negative reasons. she continues to flaunt the ring to elle throughout the movie, even in class (link). "you've got the ring, sweetie," says a friend to vivian when elle says she looks like a frigid, constipated bitch (link). indeed, movie!vivian obsession with being married to warner matches elle's obsession. however, because vivian is warner's fiancee, elle doesn't seem to be a threat to their relationship. warner has already made his choice. elle appears to be hopelessly vying for his affections; why chase after a near-married man?
in the musical, vivian is introduced as her own character before she's introduced as warner's girlfriend. when she meets elle she remarks: "all that pink you're wearing---is that even legal" (link). she's vicious, confident, and sarcastic from the start. she's not afraid to insult elle. they have two conversations before warner says vivian is his girlfriend, a stark contrast from the movie, where their first interaction is vivian saying elle should be kicked out of class for being unprepared. the other key difference is vivian is warner's girlfriend, not fiancee. warner hasn't 'chosen' vivian yet---he hasn't proposed to her. elle still has a chance to get the ring. because of this, elle is more of a threat to vivian and warner's relationship in the musical than in the movie. to remind you of the point, vivian is a stronger character in the musical than in the movie because she is introduced as her own character first, and warner's girlfriend (not fiancee) second.
in the second half of the movie/musical, elle is granted a coveted internship spot with a prestigious professor. this internship with professor callahan's law firm guarantees a career, the students are told. for elle, this is a major confidence booster. her hard work has paid off. she belongs at law school, and she's an intelligent part of her cohort...or so it seems. however, there is a scene where professor callahan hits on her, implying she only got the internship so he could sleep with her. this scene, and its consequences, differ in the musical and movie.
in the movie, professor callahan puts a hand on elle's thigh while they're having a private discussion (link). vivian sees this and thinks elle has been sleeping with the professor; she even says as much to her face, and seems to believe this is the reason why elle got the internship. she doesn't learn the truth until emmett tells vivian she didn't see the whole picture. while vivian does realize she effed up, we don't see her apologize to elle. movie!vivian's reaction is significantly weaker than musical!vivian's reaction because it's treated as an afterthought with little consequence on the plot.
in the musical, professor callahan grabs elle and kisses her while they're having a private discussion (link). vivian and warner sees this. warner is quick to accuse her of sleeping with the professor, while vivian, who sees the entire scene, is dumbfounded and tells warner to shut up. this establishes warner as more of an asshole than before, and gives vivian a chance to rethink her opinion of elle. her re-thoughts are proclaimed at the salon: "maybe warner saw a blonde who was sleeping her way to the top, but all i see was a woman who doesn't have to" (link). the oncoming song, legally blonde (reprise), begins with vivian talking about how she used to pray for elle to leave, how she's realized she's wrong about elle, and how she's gained respect for elle. musical!vivian's reaction to professor callahan hitting on elle has more impact on the plot than movie!vivian's does, showing how vivian is a stronger character in the musical than the movie.
legally blonde, the musical, improves upon the movie, and one way it does so was by making vivian a stronger character. vivian turns from a mousy, timid character into a bold, confident one. instead of seeing a blonde who is sleeping her way to the top, she sees a woman who doesn't have to---and a professor who hits on interns. she is able to confidently admit her impression of elle is wrong, and she becomes part of the reason why elle doesn't leave harvard. all of this shows how musical!vivian is a stronger character than movie!vivian.