Comparing and Contrasting LA Story and A Midsummer Night's Dream

There are a few similarities between LA Story and A Midsummer Night's Dream, but there are a lot more differences.  If one did not know that LA Story was based on A Midsummer Night's Dream, it would not even enter into the mind.  That being said, when further evaluating the two works, some similar conclusions can be made.

A Midsummer Night's Dream written by Shakespeare is a story of love with some help from fairies.  The story goes through many turn of events to reach this final verdict, but by the end the right people love the right people and all is well.  This story is a classic piece that is known for being very theatrical and "whimsical".

LA Story, written by and starring Steve Martin, is a movie about a man unsatisfied with where he is at in life, who falls for a girl who is slightly unavailable.  Things start changing when his car breaks down by an expressway sign and it mysteriously starts communicating with him.  As things turn out, they are finally able to be together with the help of a little magic.

A Midsummer Night's Dream and LA Story both loosely have the same premise of confused lovers with some magic thrown into the mix, but there are few more resemblances from these pieces.  One slight detail that they both incorporate is the use of comedy, even though LA Story goes over and beyond making it a staple in the movie.  The two pieces incorporate mystical intervention, but A Midsummer Night's Dream uses fairies whereas LA Story uses an expressway sign.   One of the biggest differences separating the two is the setting.  A Midsummer Night's Dream takes place centuries apart from LA Story, making both pieces clash.  The entire feel of A Midsummer Night's Dream stands out as being slightly dramatic and theatrical, which heavily contrasts with the casual everyday modern life that LA Story portrays.

It is interesting how Steve Martin chose to portray A Midsummer Night's Dream in such an abstract and unexpected way.  It is hard to believe that LA story was based on such a story, considering the vast differences from the two pieces. After spending a little bit of time comparing the two head to head, small similarities can be detected that reveal the inspiration taken from A Midsummer Night's Dream.

   

Something Funny that shouldn't have been

After receiving the news of what my blog should represent, I tried the best I could to remember a scenario that would be perfect to write about.  While time was ticking by and no genius stories from the past rising, the perfect thing took place that would be the subject for my blog.

Yesterday evening, my parents were baby siting my niece and nephew while my brother and sister-in-law were eating out.  The night went on as usual with very little excitement taking place, that is, until my mom started brainstorming... My niece, Naomi, is six months old, the awkward age when babies are cute but have the unfortunate phase of hair lose.  Naomi is no exception to this phase and has tufts of long dark hair sporatically placed on her furry head.  After a few minutes of quiet thinking coming from my mom, she said she had a brilliant idea.  Mom then proceeded to take Naomi upstairs, leaving my other brother, dad, and myself to wonder what she was going to do.  A little time had based when we began to hear my mom laughing hysterically as she came down the stairs.  The rest of us instantly started laughing also when we saw Naomi's moose-filled hair.

After a couple of us said she looked like she was electrocuted, the evil plot began to expand.  My mom sat Naomi down next to an outlet and we gave her an extension cord for her to fling around and to chew on.  This is the point of the night that all of us were laughing to the point of tears.  I knew that this had to be documented, so I quickly got my iPhone and took some photos.  I then proceeded to send an image to my sister-in-law, who immediately replied saying that she was going to call child protective services (she was joking of course).

The most amusing part was how oblivious little Naomi was.  She continued to laugh and smile as usual, even while she was being set up for lifelong embarrassment.  I think this image below will never be forgotten and will prove to provide us with many laughs in the future, although maybe not to Naomi when she is old enough to understand... poor child.

DISCLAIMER:  No children were harmed in the production of the photo below.    

 

Something That Annoys Me --- Snow

Most people seem to have the incredible idea that snow is wonderful and signifies such a beautiful time of year.  This idea that snow is "wonderful" is hard for me to grasp.   Yes, snow might look pretty from inside a warm home next to a wood burning stove, but it has its flaws.  Snow is annoying not only because it is a nightmare to drive in but because it also indicates the kind of weather that makes one shiver just thinking about it.

Driving can already be stressful and annoying enough, dealing with inattentive drivers and unfamiliar surroundings, but when snow is involved everything escalades.  When driving in snow there are so many more things that you have to consider and take the necessary precautions for.  Is that dark patch on the road ice?  Am I going to get stuck in a ditch somewhere?  Another reason why snow is annoying when you have to drive is how much extra time it takes to get anywhere.  When it snows, you can almost always count on never getting to your destination on time because of thick frost, frozen motors, and being unable to even get out of the driveway.  

The second and most obvious point for why snow is annoying is because if there's snow, that means it is inevitably cold.  The kind of cold that makes one never want to leave their bed in the morning.  Lack of warmth defiantly has that effect on people; it has the power to paralize to the point of an inability of doing anything except for trying to keep semi warm.      

No matter how much we wish for warmer seasons, winter, which is always accompanied by snow, can rarely be escaped.  Yes, snow can be pretty, and sometimes a nice change if there is nothing to do but stay inside with a cup of hot cocoa in hand, but that is the only positive to this white and cold stuff that people call snow.           

The Raven

"The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe is a famous piece of poetry that portrays a scene of a man's life who is mourning his lost one, Lenore.  It is a story that delves deep into his emotions and how those emotions cannot rest.  Not only does Poe demonstrate the affects of losing a loved one, but the way he acknowledges it is powerful.

The story takes place on a December night in an old study from the perspective of a depressed and maddened man.  As he is falling asleep, he hears a tapping at his chamber door... but there was no one there.  He then hears another tapping from his window lattice, and as he opened it, a raven came into his chamber and rested on his chamber door.  As the raven rested there, the man wondered what this grim bird was doing in his chamber.  Suddenly, the raven spoke, saying, "Nevermore".  Was that the name of the bird?  Did his master teach the bird this one word and nothing else?

The man was confused by the raven and threw a chair cushion toward him, but failed in the quest of making the bird move.  The thought of why the raven kept saying "nevermore"whirled around in his head with no conclusion rising.  Then he suddenly realizes that the raven was speaking of his lost Lenore.  As his heart ached for his lost Lenore, he cried out to God for deliverance from the memories of his beloved.  Was the raven from God or the devil?  The man begs for answers but only receives one, "nevermore".  Finally, the man doesn't care to get answers, he just wants for the raven to leave and let him wallow in peace.  He then notices the shadows on the floor, one of the raven, and the other... of his soul.  His soul that was to be lifted "nevermore".

I feel that this poem can be interpreted many different ways.  This man obviously was depressed about losing his Lenore and I think made himself go crazy, which questions if this whole scene was real or an illusion.  The fact that there consists of a raven that randomly flies into a chamber, doesn't move, and repeats "nevermore" without the command of a master, makes me feel that it was a scene that all took place in this man's head as he thought about his lost Lenore and his lonely soul.

I think the biggest thing that I have taken away from examining this poem is how a story can be told so vividly and express raw emotion so powerfully through poetry.  Poetry has never been "my cup of tea", but I can't help but appreciate the beauty of this poem, from the wonderful rhym-scheming to the depth of character that Poe gives the man.          

What Book (or other writing) Has Had The Largest Impact On Your Life? Why?

Over this past Christmas I made it one of my goals to read a book. I had had Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen resting on my shelf for far too long and decided that it was the perfect time to dust it off and let it reveal something new and exciting to me.  Only after a couple of pages I became enthralled in the story and message that it held.  Sense and Sensibility greatly impacted my life by giving a better understanding of how my actions affect every aspect of my life.

Sense and Sensibility portrays two sisters; one being very thoughtful, patient, and humble while the other is flamboyant, immature, insensible, and vulnerable.  As the story progressed, I was able to follow these two sisters and view how the way their actions consequently impacted their lives.  Sense and Sensibility made me stop and evaluate my own life and contrast my actions with my outcomes.  I realized the importance of how my actions affect my life and those around me.  Not only did the story hold a wonderful message, but it also kept my attention and was thoroughly entertaining.

It is not often that a book impacts me as Sense and Sensibility impacted me.  It holds a message that we all need.  In today's society, we often don't think before we say or do something; resulting in many situations that we could have avoided or handled differently.  There is much to learn from the lives of others, fictional or not.