Spartan Beauty

I've been thinking a lot about being poor, which sounds strange when I say it.

What started it was reading Holly's  Black's Modern Faerie Tale series and listening to an interview with her saying how she wanted to keep the gritty realism of life in her books. The characters in her books are mostly poor. The only one I can think of who isn't is Val, but she doesn't count. She and her mother are probably middle class, but Val runs away and lives on the streets. Dave, Lolli, and Luis all live on the streets, too. Kaye and her mother move from apartment to apartment, frequently living with her mother's friends and boyfriends. Kaye works to help support them until she decides to stay with her grandmother. Corny lives in a trailer park and works at a gas station. Roiben lives under a hill of dirt, and he starts out as a slave to the fairy queen.

Part of what I love about these books is that the characters sort of "rise above" their circumstances. Not that they become noble, self-sacrificing martyrs; they're real, honest human beings who do their best and don't let where they came from determine who they become.

The other thing that got me thinking about this was reading about Hayao Miyazaki. I've become obsessed with his movies lately, and I read that his films pay hommage to the working class. Most of his characters have a honest determination about them that comes from having to work to earn their keep. In my favorite film of his, Spirited Away, Chihiro has to learn to work hard as a coming-of-age process.

There's something vulnerable, a wild beauty, about being a part of the poor working class. Maybe it's because life is simpler, less clouded with high-and-mighty morals. Maybe it's because there's a humility there that lets us all be real.

Otaku Wench?

I've always been a fantasy/sci-fi fan; anime was just too weird, and I never looked too far in to it. But one night while my sister was cruising the netflix instant plays, Howl's Moving Castle appeared. I don't know why she picked it. She thinks anime is even weirder than I do. When I told her she had to try watching Avatar: The Last Airbender, she was suspicious of it because it was an animated tv show, and she thought it would be anime. Why would she willingly choose to watch a movie that I told her was anime? I don't know.

But she did. And I watched it with her, and I loved it.

My god. What is this black sorcery?! Why is this so addictive?! I've now watched Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle, and My Neighbor Totoro. I loved all of them, except the first one, which I merely liked. Next I'm thinking of watching Princess Mononoke.

Oh my gawd. Have I secretly been a closet anime fan my whole life and never known about it? Has this urge to watch anime continuously been lurking in the dungeons of my heart all this time? What's going on with me?! I'm not supposed to like this stuff! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah....

It's always weird when you discover that you like something that you've never tried before, and it changes your perception of yourself. I mean, I'd just gotten used to being an Avatar fan. I feel like my tough girl persona is slipping away from me. No, don't go, tough girl! I need you! Without you, I'll start feeling those goddamn emotions. :/