Strangely Socialised

It’s an absolute crime that I didn’t go see this movie when it was first released. (And it was, in fact, widely released in theatres in Canada, thank you very much.) No matter what personal horrors were going on in my life at the time, I should’ve scraped together the pennies and found the time and gone. I’d heard it was good, and it was better than I’d heard.

Ginger and Brigitte Fitzgerald are the social outcasts of the school, and largely by choice, rejecting everything superficial that their parents and their school seem to stand for. But promises and pacts made to each other as children are hard to hold up at the onset of adulthood.

The film relies on a parallel between lycanthropy and the onset of menstruation, and a very solid one at that, keeping it’s focus on change — on the ways that the body and personality and social interactions change. Ginger, one year older than her sister Brigitte, is bitten by a beast that has been terrorizing her suburb and begins these changes all at once. Her body blossoms, her period starts, she develops a taste for tearing things apart and starts to grow a tail. Brigitte is left behind.

The parallels that are drawn are overt, but except on a few occasions don’t feel particularly heavy-handed. The film is a feminist film and does not make any effort to hide that fact, but it is also a genre horror film and succeeds on that level too. One scene that works particularly well in both arenas is when a boy who Ginger has slept with suddenly starts peeing blood — an unsettling sight, and certainly something that boys never see where girls have to deal with it for a good portion of their lives. He is, unsurprisingly, completely freaked out by this.

One of the strongest parts of the movie, beyond its basic construction, is the performance of the two leads, Emily Perkins and Katherine Isabelle, as Brigitte and Ginger respectively. They raise the film far above the standard teen horror fare that is so prevalent these days.

Also strong are Mimi Rogers and John Bourgeois as the girls’ out-of-touch parents, and Kris Lemche as the drug dealer/botanist/accomplice to Brigitte in helping to find a cure for Ginger’s disease. (I spent much of the film trying to remember where I’d seen him before, then had a truly duh moment when I looked it up and realized he plays Cute God on Joan of Arcadia.)

The ending, which has been derided by many people who otherwise enjoyed the movie, was to me one of the most powerful moments in it. Ginger has already killed at least four people, and is advancing on her sister who in one hand holds a knife and in the other holds a syringe with the cure. Ginger pounces, and it’s the knife that ends up in her side, not the syringe.

The film opened, in part, with a montage of the girls playing out death scenes for a class assignment, and ends in much the same way. There was no way to a happy ending here, no way to undo the trauma of everything that had happened. I didn’t see the ending coming, but I was very satisfied with it in a way that I’m not with the usual American-style happy ending.

Highly, highly recommended.

When my computer started acting up after lunch today I took it as a sign and went out skating again. And this time I remembered to bring my camera with me. (Though, well, I should’ve checked the batteries first. Luckily a flash wasn’t required.)

So, since I actually went and took the pictures, you are now subjected to a picto-journal of my afternoon. Note: every one of these pictures was taken on the river.

Because we clearly like to state the obvious.

New this year, a skate maze at the Forks. Which was peopled entirely with small children who had no awareness of anyone skating but themselves. And was therefore not as fun as it sounds.

You could almost forget you’re in the middle of a city, once in a while.

And what would a Canadian winter be without hockey, anyway? There are currently two hockey rinks and five sheets of curling ice cleared and painted.

For when you’ve worked up an appetite after the hockey game. In the white tent (which is actually much larger than it appears in the picture) there was a band playing Johnny B. Goode as I skated by. I mostly like this picture for the sign above the chip truck.

At first glance this may seem somewhat unwise, but eh. =) They have two or three firepit stops along the trail, to warm up at. It was a gorgeous day today, though. No warming up necessary.

And finally, this guy. Who was actually the third bike rider on the river I passed, but the first I got a clear shot of. He was obviously wondering why the psycho with the camera was taking a picture of him.

Class last night was lovely, even lovelier than normal, I think. Though it drives me nuts that I spend the twenty minutes before class setting up every computer in the room (not just the max seventeen that we need, but every computer) only to have people come in and sit down and immediately reboot the machine. Thus undoing everything I’d done to set it up.

Anab was using Word again, just typing whatever came into her head as always, starting with her name and the date. And then she wrote “I am came to Canada January 2002 Friday 1/45 30″

I came to Canada on Friday, January 30, 2002, at 1:45.

She knows exactly what time she arrived in this country. It really kind of hit me, and not for the first time, the kinds of situations some of these people left when they came to this country. Anab came here from Somalia.

Later on two of the students from Iraq (Khawla and Khalef, plus Khawla’s children), in the break between halves of the class, called up the news on Saddam on the Internet and were talking to each other in rapid Arabic. I would have loved to understand just what they were saying.

It’s the Christmas party today so even though it’s not my usual day to volunteer, I’m going to head over there after work. I wanted to bring something yesterday, candy canes or something, but I didn’t know if it would be appropriate for a class where I’m not sure a single one of the students celebrates Christmas. Turns out it’s fine, though, and they’re learning about Christmas in class, so I’ll bring some with me today. Even though I don’t celebrate Christmas really either, I do have fun with the trappings. And candy canes = good. (And an orange for Anab since she can’t have the candy.)

A truly Canadian Apology to the USA…

Courtesy of Rick Mercer from This Hour Has 22 Minutes CBC Television
On behalf of Canadians everywhere I’d like to offer an apology to the United States of America.
We haven’t been getting along very well recently and for that, I am truly sorry.
I’m sorry we called George Bush a moron.
He is a moron but, it wasn’t nice of us to point it out.
If it’s any consolation, the fact that he’s a moron shouldn’t reflect poorly on the people of America.
After all it’s not like you actually elected him.
I’m sorry about our softwood lumber.
Just because we have more trees than you doesn’t give us the right to sell you lumber that’s cheaper
and better than your own.
I’m sorry we beat you in Olympic hockey.
In our defense I guess our excuse would be that our team was much, much, much, much better than yours.
I’m sorry we burnt down your white house during the war of 1812.
I notice you’ve rebuilt it! It’s Very Nice.
I’m sorry about your beer.
I know we had nothing to do with your beer but, we Feel your Pain.
I’m sorry about our waffling on Iraq.
I mean, when you’re going up against a crazed dictator, you wanna have your friends by your side.
I realize it took more than two years before you guys pitched in against Hitler, but that was different.
Everyone knew he had weapons.
And finally on behalf of all Canadians, I’m sorry that we’re constantly apologizing for things in a passive-aggressive way which is really a thinly veiled criticism.
I sincerely hope that you’re not upset over this.
We’ve seen what you do to countries you get upset with.