Contrasting- What should be first: book or film?

Hollywood seems to have no more ideas, or at least original ones. That’s why – I think- it has been trendy to produce films based on books. For instance, The Hunger Games, The Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit, Twilight and…-ugh- Fifty Shades of Grey. The point is that when they release a film, a major part of the audience starts wondering what to do first: read the book or watch de film? Thus, I have made this comparative post to give an opinion about that.

Generally speaking, people read first the book so they can compare it to the film. That option is great because surely you imagined the characters, the landscapes and all that stuff in a very different way than the director did. But for this same reason, it can also be disappointing. In this way, plenty of book fans are scared when they hear their favourite books it’s going to have a film. Namely, if you really love a book, a cinema adaptation can be awesome or awful.

On the contrary, if you watch first the film and then read the book, you are less likely to be disappointed. In fact, if you liked the film, it’s quite possible that you like the book even more. But watching the movie first removes your ability to imagine things. In other words, you already have a face claim for the characters, and you attach them to the cast in the film. It may be good for some people, but I hate it. I like to have my own vision of the characters and places; it is one of the best things of reading. Another point would be that you already know how the book ends. Some would say that if you read the book first you also know the end… but it is not the same, I believe. You spend more than a couple of hours reading a book, and in my case, I get more involved with the plot, so a spoiled end is worse in a book than in a film.

On balance, reading the book first can be more painful as long as your possibilities of hating the movie increase, but I think it’s the best option. And you are not completely able to judge a film if you haven’t read what it is based on. By contrast, if you are not totally sure about reading the book or not, watching its movie can be a good idea since it allows you to know what it is about and, as I said before, if you like the movie, have for sure that you will love the book. 

Think about it <3

The Borgias: The Original Crime Family

All started a boring evening four years ago, or so I think. I was 14 and I was zapping on TV. Suddenly, I found out that a new series was being emitted on Cuatro. It was called “The Borgias”. “Nice” I thought “I love period dramas.” And that’s how I started watching one of the best series I’ve ever seen. I am writing that because I finished the last season this summer and I still can’t get over it. It was just so epic, so memorable, so beautiful… I need more! But it’s finished, no more Borgias for me.

However, I must confess I started following it because of Cesare Borgia’s hotness. My God. I still remember going excited to high school every Wednesday (the first season was emitted on Tuesdays) and commenting the last episode with a friend of mine like it was a gossip magazine “Gosh, how could she become a nun having such a man?”.The thing is that when the second series came out, I started watching it again from a more mature point of view and I got marveled. And the past summer I found out the third season (sadly the last, due to the fact that The Borgias got cancelled by Showtime for being too expensive) and I watched it with my mum. She became really interested, and we enjoyed together the fabulous scenarios, actings, clothing and music. But then it was over. We were so in love with the series that she invited a friend of hers and re-watched it again. By contrast, I looked on the internet for some season 4 hope, and I found that Neil Jordan, the creator, published the script of a never filmed two hours film for the fans to know how it should have ended. With no doubt, I read it – in English- and it was awesome.

Now I’ve told you my story with The Borgias, I’m giving you a few reasons to watch it:

1.       The clothing: OH. MY. GOD. It’s all I need to say. I want a closet like that. The beauty of the costumes and hairstyles is very significant. I guess that charged a lot the budget and that’s why it got cancelled.

It also follows the evolution of the characters. For example, Lucrezia. At the beginning she’s a lovely teenager, and she wears her hair down and light colours. As the series draws on, her style becomes more opulent and magnificent. In fact, the series has won several awards for the clothing and hairstyling.

Up: Young Lucrezia and more mature Lucrezia
Down: Giulia Farnese and Alexander VI

2.       It shows a more human side of the Borgia family: demonized everywhere, history has been very unfair with this Spanish family. In the series, they’re not precisely saints, but you can empathize with them and understand why they did what they did (or they were said to have done). There are emotions, passion, there is angst and anger. Really moving.

3.       The evolution of the characters/the acting: as I said, it is very easy to get charmed by them. It is very notable the evolution of the characters through the seasons, with all that political conspiracy. The games of power are crystal clear, and the characters get involved. Even the supporting characters are amazing. About the acting… GOD, Pope Alexander VI is played by Jeremy Irons, isn’t that quality? François Arnaud as Cesare Borgia and Holliday Grainger as Lucrezia are also remarkable, and Gina McKee as Cateriza Sforza is one of my favourites although she’s in a supporting role

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4.       Accuracy: it was been criticized because of its historic accuracy-inaccuracy, but I think it is pretty good. I mean, everything is not exactly as it happened, of course they changed things, but in general terms, things are really well done. And the aesthetic accuracy is incredible. As I was watching some episodes I recognized some shots like this one…

I mean... look at the details, even the dress is the fucking same!
P.S. The character is Giulia Farnese

So, if you like period dramas, this is a must for you! 

Fifty Shades of Shit

A bestseller is not always a good book, and there are plenty of examples of that. For instance, one of the most recent ones, the trilogy “Fifty Shades of Grey” whose success has generated a lot of controversy. Some people love it, but I do believe it is trash for crazy unexperienced teenagers and desperate housewives.

The success of the saga lies in the fact that it has approached erotic literature to those who weren’t used to it, and that’s why I think they liked it, because those readers have no criteria since they cannot compare FSoG to other similar books. Their most popular opinion is that the relationship between Anastasia and Mr. Grey is different or original, and they find Christian Grey perfect and desirable. For them, it might have been their first contact to BDSM (Bondage, Domination, Sadism and Masochism)  and they find it exciting and new. But I am not of that opinion.

In contrast, FSoG seems disgusting to me. First of all, the plot is nothing original, but very cliché. Young, beautiful, innocent girl meets rich, successful and handsome businessman with a dark side blah blah blah blah. Really? It sounds like a bad porn movie plot. In addition, the story is not even original; it certainly was born as a fanfic of “Twilight” (which also sucks.) What is more, the relationship between the leading characters is sickly toxic, and I am no puritan, but it is. It is impossible to me to find “romantic” a book where the man controls the entire life of his lover. Moreover, the author (I don’t even remember her name) is not a good writer, and this is evident due to her lack of vocabulary, constant repetition of words and expressions and poor descriptions. Furthermore, by telling the story that way, she is actually embellishing a toxic model of relationship that plenty of readers could take as an example. It’s easy to hear girls saying they want a Christian Grey in her life (or bed). I mean, seriously? You want a misogynist boyfriend controlling all your decisions? You’re sick then, my friend.

To sum up, the only explanation I can imagine to Fifty Shades of Grey’s success is that its readers have not read a lot, so they might think it is well-written and new, while it is not. So, if you like it, I am afraid you haven’t read enough. I’m sorry, you haven’t. 

Think about it.

Goodnight.

Thesis Statement + Outline

I.    Thesis Statement:  Living with my grandparents could sound comfortable, but it sucks. Love is not about finding someone flawless, but finding someone whose flaws you can stand.

II.  Pros (because there are some, it’s not that bad)

1.       My room is much bigger and more comfortable that it would be in a student flat.

2.       I don’t have to care about cooking or doing the laundry.

3.       It’s cheaper! (almost free)

III. Cons

1.       I am not as free as I would be if I lived on my own.

2.       Their house is not in Murcia city, so I need to catch the bus to go everywhere.

3.       My grandmother has a serious obsession with cleaning and it’s driving me mad.

4.       I can’t invite friends home as long as I do not own the house and they (my grandparents) like to be quiet and calmed.

5.       I have to deal with continuous family visits (aunts, uncles, cousins) that I don’t give a damn (at least while I’m studying)

IV. Why did I choose to live with them? (regarding to pros and cons above)

1.       Basically, I can’t pay a flat this year.

2.       My grandmother was looking forward to have me living with her.

V. Conclusion.

My Christmas trip to the City of the Thousand and One Dreams!

Happy New Year, folks!              

I hope you had year full of joy. As I said in my last post, I've been to Granada in order to celebrate New Year’s Eve with my boyfriend, and it was fantastic. I had been planning the trip for months, so we had a lot of things to do there.

We arrived to the bus station on 29^th December at 15 pm, and we were starving since we didn’t have lunch yet. We took a taxi to the hotel and ate something near it. The hotel was very comfortable and charming. Then, we spent the rest of the afternoon/evening walking around the city and we went to bed early, because the next day was going to be quite intense.

In our second day, 30^th December, we went visiting the Alhambra Palace. The visit to the Nasrid Palaces was programmed to start at 9 am, so we had to get up at 7, when it was still dark. It was -1 ºC In the city centre and almost every café was closed! We were freezing, but we found a nice café where we could have breakfast. Although after having breakfast we didn’t feel so cold, up in the Alhambra it was about 5ºC, it was such a cold day! But the visit was really enjoyable. We had lunch near Charles V’s palace – a ham and cheese sandwich- and walked the way down to the hotel to sleep a much needed siesta.

During the afternoon we visited the Cathedral and the Royal Chapel. I loved the Queen Isabella’s collection of Flemish art, it was amazing. It’s a pity that photos were not allowed to be taken inside the buildings.

On 31^st December morning we walked to the Parque de las Ciencias. Our first plan was taking a bus, but we couldn’t find our bus’ stop, so we had to go by walking. It was a bit tiresome, but in the end we arrived to the museum. It was really big, so we only visited the mummy’s exposition, the butterfly park and the planetarium. All was interesting, but I most fancied the planetarium, where we attended a night sky seeing simulation and learned to identify the most important constellations.

After lunch, we sleep a long siesta, and just after it we started getting ready for our New Year’s Eve dinner, and my God, what a dinner! The place, an Italian restaurant called Il Gondoliere, was amazing. There were plenty of people, a fantastic atmosphere, and the food… simply perfect. We had garlic bread, a piadina full of salad, vegetable cream, monkfish stuffed with vegetables and crayfish, beef sirloin steak accompanied with parmesan sauce (delicious, the beef almost melted in the mouth) and to finish, the desert was a chocolate brownie covered by hot white chocolate and cream. Then we had a glass of cava and the traditional grapes. It was the best New Year’s Eve of my life.

Next day we took a bus to Algeciras, where my parental family lives, and now I am writing this from my father’s sofa. I’m staying here until Monday, Epiphany Day (in his house, not precisely in his sofa), when I’m taking a bus back to Murcia.

Have a very nice Holidays!