Next story

TITLE: Bracelets
FANDOM: Harry Potter
CHARACTERS: Lavender Brown, Parvati Patil, mentions of others
RATING: PG
WARNINGS: Mild swearing, violence, mentions of sexuality
SUMMARY: Lavender Brown: gossip, fashion queen, boy crazy. But she also weaves bracelets from thread. Bracelets that let her forget gossip, that make her fashionable, and that save her from the pain of boys... and everything else.
AUTHOR COMMENTARY: This was written in July, 2011, when I rediscovered the joy of making friendship bracelets. I was thinking about Lavender Brown for some reason and wrote this. Some people pointed out that I got some facts wrong, like the suggestion that Lavender was Muggle-born, but my answer is that I don't take what JKR says in interview or website as cannon since it's almost impossible to keep track of. And if it doesn't make sense... MST3K mantra.

( Embroidery Thread )

Matilda

So last night, I saw the movie Matilda for the very first time. I am twenty years old.

Before all of you wonder how I missed this movie as a kid, let me explain. I read the book when I was about eleven and was on a big Roald Dahl kick, and I loved it. It's not just one of my favorite children's books-- it's one of my favorite books ever. I knew there was a movie, but I was hesitant to see it since I know Hollywood tends to fuck up adaptations like nobody's business. Seeing the Nostalgia Chick's review didn't make me any more confident.

But then last night, I was browsing through Netflix bored out of my skull due to having finished my work for the week, and I saw that it was on instant and thought, why not? After all, Mara Wilson herself seemed to have pretty good memories of the film, and while the Chick's review wasn't positive, it wasn't really negative, either.

And... I really like the movie. I know it's not a great film from a technical standpoint, and having Danny DiVito be both the father and the narrator was probably a bad choice, but as an adaptation, especially of a Roald Dahl book, it worked really well. The few changes made did add to the story, except the subplot about the FBI-- funny as it was, I just don't think Matilda would go out of her way to save her father from being arrested since it's made pretty clear that she doesn't like him and punishes him herself on a regular basis. But it does show that Matilda is a good, loving girl, so I let it slide.

The scene that really got to me was the bit where Matilda and Miss Honey break into the Trunchbull's house to recover Miss Honey's doll. While the scene was not in the book and didn't do too much to further the story, it was probably the most intense scene in the entire film (yeah, where were your psychic powers on that one, Matilda? Fear of death wasn't enough to unlock the door?), and it didn't raise the stakes a bit.

I liked that the Trunchbull was not toned down in the film adaptation. That happens a lot, especially in kids' films because parents are afraid of scaring their children. Then again, this was made back in the '90s when people weren't so anal about that kind of thing. Kids can handle more than we give them credit for.

But the thing I liked most about the movie was the scale. The Trunchbull is made to look larger, the shots of the children set up to make them seem tiny, and even the proportions of the children to each other are done well. I liked that Hortensia is made to look so much bigger than Matilda and Lavender, and then is herself dwarfed by the Trunchbull. Miss Honey is larger than the children, of course, but she shrinks when around other adults, not just physically, but in her personality as well.

The only change I really hated was that Matilda got to keep her psychic powers at the end. In the book, when Matilda is promoted to the top class and is being challenged, her brain is occupied enough that she doesn't have space for her powers anymore, and doesn't need them to be special. Letting her keep them undermines the concept that she's really being challenged mentally.

So those are my thoughts on Matilda. Next time I watch a beloved children's film, I'll let you know.