A Little Bit Louder, A Little Bit Worse

Lately I've been revisiting my childhood, and I finally realized something: My childhood was GREAT!! So, if any of you were in suspense about why I am the way I am, here are a few references that, combined, are the essence of all that is Green Gremlin.

#1: Curse of Monkey Island:
No. 3 in the Monkey Island saga, it's by far the best in animation (till no. 5 came out on the Wii), Storyline, casting, depiction of Elaine, and humor. Brief synopsis:
Guybrush Threepwood one day washed ashore Malay Island, where he fell in love with its Governor, The beautiful red head Elaine Marley. She was also the Apple of the eye of the evil Zombie Pirate, LeChuck. For a recap, you can just watch the beginning of CMI:











#2: Peter Pan
There will be no web clip of this, seeing as I've never found a depiction of Peter, or any of the characters, that I'm satisfied with (Though, I'd have to say that Disney's was the best).
When I was little, and even when I wasn't so little, me and my sister would climb into our older sister's bed, where she'd read us a chapter out of Peter Pan, the ORIGINAL novel by J.M. Barrie, every night. So far no one has ever captured Peter the way I see him; one of the reasons for that being is that no movie has ever even tried to depict Neverland as the Island of Children's imagination, where all their games take place. They never mention that everyone has their own different island. They show the ties between Mr. Darling and Captain Hook (Both are seeming antagonistic characters, traditionally played by the same man) Captain Hook wants to destroy Peter, the symbol of all things "gay and innocent and heartless," that ties over to Mr. Darling and his roughness towards Nanna and the children's gaiety. Proving my point:
Captain J.A.S. Hook: "Smee, no child loves me!"
Mr. Darling: "Oh, sure, cuddle Nanna. No one ever cuddles me!"
But worst of all: most movies of Peter Pan depict two very, VERY wrong things:
1) Peter is too old. my point from the book:
Wendy was "every inch a woman, though there weren't very many inches" (she's short)
And peter is her same size, meaning he can't be very tall either. They are both YOUNG. Peter Pan is supposed to still have all his baby teeth.
2) The Peter-Wendy Romance. Ugh. They are only eight-years-old. Tops! Maybe there are crushes, but never to the extreme that people try to pin them down with and hardly at all in the book.
Peter Pan represents all that is Gay and Innocent and Heartless. "When a child dies, a little piece of [Peter] goes with them so they will not be afraid.
Peter Pan is that magical place under bed covers and behind bedroom doors where you went as a child, that place "Second star to the right and straight on till morning." You remember. Every child has one.

#3: Harry Potter, Heartbeat, Ella Enchanted, Phantom Toll Booth, and all Diana Wynne Jones

Books are things very dear to my heart. There are many, and I can't name them all, that really shaped my as a child--I can honestly say I wouldn't be the same without them. So be careful, all you young-adult writers out there. You are shaping children in small, secret ways that they themselves do not at first notice.

#4: Clouds, trees, birds, and those little squirmy things in water
I believe it is important for every child to have adventures. Times when the house is just out of sight and parents long gone, when you are on Safari, and discoveries for the benefit of the little world that is your mind are found. When I was still living in California (3-7 years old), I used to imagine running away and living like Robin Hood--specifically like Robin Hood. Not because I was angry at my parents and that I did something wrong and didn't want to face the consequences; I just wanted to be on my own, just because I thought I could. I never did run away, of course. I knew I'd get lost, starve, be kidnapped, but that never deterred me from dreaming about it.

#5: Disney/Pixar
This is one I don't feel I have to explain, since this is part of everyone's life, but I wanted to pay homage to it all the same. I can't help but feel that if it weren't for Disney, all the classic Fairy tales would be lost in our culture forever. Disney, I think, was necessary for us when we were children. Kids need to believe in Right and Wrong, and that Right always comes out on top. They need to believe in doing the right thing because it's right. They need to believe that things turn out all right in the end, no matter how bad things get. Also, I think the world needs places like Disneyland/world/etc. Clean, safe, happy places where we can revisit our childhoods shamelessly.

#6: Cats, the musical
It's very easy to believe that I watched this show at least three times a day. And I did. It's also easy to believe that after watching it, I would turn it off and roam the house, pretending to be a cat. Even as a child, Memory made me cry. That show spurred my imagination and I fantasized nonstop about not only cats, but mystical places of mystery and stealth.

I had a great childhood!

13 Personality Types

1. The proclaimed Optimist: "The glass is half full."

2. The Real Optimist: "I think it's actually more than half way, and I'm sure I can fill up the rest."

3. The Proclaimed Pessimist: "The glass is half empty."

4. The Real Pessimist: "It's less than half full, and eventually it'll evaporate totally away and we'll all die of thirst."

5. The Proclaimed 'Realist': "It's both half full, and half empty."

6. The Real Realist: "It's not 'full' until I fill it, and it's not 'empty' until it's totally gone. It could go both ways."

7. The Scientist: "Fifty percent of the volume (LxWxH) of that cylinder is H2O, and the other fifty is 70% Nitrogen, about 20% oxygen, and 10% other various gases."

8. The Psychiatrist: "It's half empty because I never got a full glass as a child."

9. The Philosopher: "What is half full to some is half empty to others, but is that what really matters?"

10. The Dyslexic: "The empty is half glass."

11. The Paranoid: "Why do YOU care about how full/empty my glass is?"

12. The Stalker: "Her glass is half empty. Believe me, I know."

13. The Fence Sitter: "Um... isn't there a third option?"