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Tuesday, 26 August 2008

Review on Vicky Cristina Barcelona



    While on my summer vacation I happened to catch the movie Vicky Cristina Barcelona. I was in the mood to see an artsy movie and I knew that anything that is directed by Woody Allen would definitely feed my artistic appetite. Now once I sat down in the dark theater with my Starbuck Passion Iced Tea drink in hand, I thought I was fully prepared to embark in the romantic adventure depicted in the trailer. Ayyy was I muy muy wrong!
    Instead of the movie being a pleasant little romantic European movie, it left me feeling completely hopeless and empty inside! Now I know this is an arthouse kind of film and it is directed by Woody Allen. I know that there was going to be quirks involved in the movie but I didn't expect it to leave me so speechless. Although it seems that I am bashing the entire movie one couldn't be further from the truth. The movie was beautifully made and the acting was flawless! How can you go wrong with a cast like Scarlett Johanssen and the new spanish heartthrob Javier Bardem? The message of fear and not letting it hold us back was universal to us all. But I was troubled of the views of love that were communicated in the movie.
    Basically to give you the cliff notes of the movie for those who haven't seen it, the movie begins with two women who venture off to Barcelona for the summer. Vicky (Rebecca Hall) plays a level-headed girl who is in Spain to work on her masters. Cristina (Johanssen) is just there to enjoy Spain and find love. One day they were eating dinner and the character of Juan Antonio (Bardem) prepositions them to spend time with him and that consisted of drinking wine and making love. Eventually these women find themselves in these complicated love entanglements that get even worse when Penelope Cruz who plays Bardem's ex steps in. Vicky who is married and is usually the sensible one, falls in love with Juan Antonio and doesn't know how to get over him. And Cristina finds herself living with Juan Antonio and later his ex. The eventually all have a threesome relationship together that quickly goes awry.
    Sadly this movie is glamourizing any form of love acceptable, no matter how unhealthy they are to the characters in the movie. The characters take chances and they make mistakes when it comes to love which is perfectly fine. I mean how else do we learn about life? But what bothered me was that the movie was giving out the message that because they didn't choose to stay in this crazy relationship with this man that they were going to regret it for the rest of their lives! Now if I were in their situation with a psycho ex-girlfriend who insisted on having a threesome relationship, someone who hurls out a "pistola" (gun) trying to kill her ex and others then I would have been perfectly happy getting out of that situation wouldn't you?
    So as you can summarize none of the characters were happy at the end of the movie and sadly there was no resolution. The movie was signifying that these characters didn't overcome their fears and it made me angry because THEY DID. They got themselves into the screwy relationship and they got out before it got WORSE. If they continued the relationship the same cycle would of just repeated it itself. I know it is hard to put a definition to love and there are so many different forms of it. But what is love if it never grows?

Thursday, 21 August 2008

Que Pasa USA Vlog!!!:-)

Saturday, 16 August 2008

First YouTube Video of Me (Drunk!)

Friday, 08 August 2008

Permanent or Temporary Guajiro?

       Ok so I am seeing some changes with "el novio." See in order to understand where my bf (Who I nickname Muneco which means doll face in eng.) comes from begins with his familia. The past month that I have spent living here in Miami has given me a closer view of his familia and their living habits. He lives right in the outskirts of Carol City now known as the new and moderately improved "Miami Gardens." Mi Muneco's casa has his mom, dad, and older brother. His mom is Puerto Rican and his dad is Cuban. Great combo huh? To sum up his familia in one word would be "Guajiros."
     Some of you may not be familiar with the term "guajiros." Well my term of "guajiro" is a Cuban who has a simplistic and no fuss point of view about life. They live within their means and do with what they have. (If you want a more direct definition of the term guajiro you can go on www.urbandictionary.com.) And that is where my boyfriend's parents come into play.
     Some prime examples of the guajirism that surrounds my bf's existence is his house. Por ejemplo, instead of my bf's mom throwing dirty clothes in a hamper, she stores them in the bathroom cabinets. And she covers the windows in the house with bed sheets. The family dog gets fed pork instead of kibbles n' bits or Pedigree. Overall the house has a classic Latino touch to it. His house is full of porcelain elephants, Catholic reference decorations, and an old school mariachi doll.
Now that you have some more background knowledge of the term guajiro, I am beginning to see that it is beginning to have an influence on my bf again now that he has been out of Orlando in over a month. When I slept over his house last night I saw him put a shower curtain to cover his closet since there is no door to close it! I know...
     Now no offense to guajiros! I have nothing against this way of living. They are the backbone to the Cuban culture and they really exemplify what it means to be Cuban. They have amazing pride in themselves and where they come from and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that! But I am a little princesa who definitely enjoys the finer things in life. And although I cannot resist those guayaba pastelitos I also cannot live without my ipod, unlimited texting, and The Hills. So yea...you could say I am very Americanized and as much as my bf's family loves me, at the same time I am seen as an alien when I am pretty much a normal 20 something year old chick in Miami!