Tris & Tiana

So I have already compared Tris from Divergent to Mulan. Now she, or rather her story, is striking me as being quite similar to Tiana from The Princess and the Frog. It's that theme that is similar also to Chocolat (more to the book than the movie), where it's specifically asceticism versus hedonism. With Tris that theme is Abnegation versus Dauntless, and with Tiana it's hard work versus taking a break.

There is a fine line between finding power within yourself and also not letting yourself become absorbed in that sense of power.

Tris grew up in Abnegation, where the philosophy was to be selfless and live only to help others. Then she joined Dauntless, where the idea was to be bold and always strive to be the best and to let everyone know that you're the best. So she had to find that line of realizing her own abilities while also wanting to use those abilities not just for self-centered reasons. Tiana grew up with the idea of working hard for your dreams, so she worked dusk to dawn every day, giving up any and every opportunity to go be with friends or to take a night off. From Naveen she learned that enjoying moments is also important; you can work hard but you can also enjoy life because otherwise the working hard isn't worth it. You see the Chocolat thing here, right? Do you hold yourself to a strict lifestyle, or do you give yourself up to pleasures? Ideally, neither one.

Reading Tris's story was so inspiring to me because she is a small person, a person who moved from the background into the foreground. Her journey of discovering how to balance these two life philosophies fascinates me. And Tiana. The Princess and the Frog came out while I was in college, and I wanted to be like Tiana. She was so hardworking; I felt like I needed to be that. But then time passed and I realized that I can sometimes be more like Tiana than I think: I sometimes need to learn the lesson that she needed to learn, too. That lesson is, of course, about taking those moments. And that's an important thing: finding that balance makes such a difference.

And yet there remains that fine line. You find that power. You find that ability in yourself, that capacity to be Dauntless or to go wild out in the bayou, and you still need to hold on to some of the things you learned in Abnegation or from all those years working 5AM to 11PM. You have no power if you do think you're powerful. The power doesn't come from yourself. That's why hedonism doesn't work. And that's why you also can't fade into the background; it isn't your right to do that, either.

Am I making any sense? This post made sense in my head, but I fear I'm not being very clear. Asceticism versus hedonism; you get that, right? All I'm saying is that a balanced, fulfilled life lies in between the two, not at either end. And Tris and Tiana, their stories teach us that.

Life and Death Through Chocolate's Eyes

I read one comment, online, stating that Chocolat is one of the few cases where the movie is better than the book. Maybe that's part of the reason why it took me so long to finally read the book.

But the truth is, I don't always think Chocolat is the best movie. I like it because it's about chocolate, but it's more about a moment in time than a changing plot. I do like it--I just wouldn't put it in my top five list or anything. So does that mean that the book is absolutely terrible, or that I just have differing opinions from the person who made the comment above?

Call it the latter. Chocolat by Joanne Harris does have a slow start and a medium pace throughout; you sit quietly with it while sipping chocolate and set the book down once your drink is done. Although it's just a 300 page paperback, it took me at least three weeks to finish. We already know the basic plot, so carefully taking in each sentence overrules any suspense/curiosity.

Because one of its subjects is chocolate, there are some lush passages describing the sweet and bitter treats Vianne creates in her shop. Unlike the movie, there is less about cacao and more about confections--which seems more realistic to me. I always wondered how Vianne could actually make all her chocolates out of cacao beans in that little shop, as the movie implied. The whole plot line about Vianne's mother is also entirely different, as is a certain something in Vianne's character. She's more complex in the book.

Most of these pages deal with the theme of warring opposites, the Dionysian and Apollinian, if you will. Or asceticism versus pleasure-seeking. Sometimes it is in characters, Vianne versus Reynaud--chocolate versus the church. But sometimes it is within one thing or person. And rather than the book pointing out the wondrousness of gorging on chocolate instead of sitting and listening to Reynaud's strict sermons, it seems, through its questions and fears of mortality, to point out the positives and negatives that exist on both sides. Vianne ponders all of life's questions through her chocolate shop.

Talk about literary chocolate. Don't try and speed read through it (unless you can't help it), ponder it, and you'll find it a good book that illuminates the imagery we saw in the movie.

Chocolat: Hillywood Style

I've been watching The Hillywood Show's latest video, President Gaga, quite frequently since it came out. And I also recently (within the last month or two) finally purchased Chocolat--which I have felt the need to own simply due to the fact that I am self-professed chocolate-obsessed (if you don't believe me, visit Chocablog). So in my usual fashion, why not put the two together?

The obvious connection between the two is that the original Hillywood Show episodes were in fact largely made up of Johnny Depp movies; while he doesn't show up in Chocolat until the halfway point, I think his presence in the movie tends to get marketed/talked about quite a bit more. So the question is, if Hillywood parodied Chocolat, would Hilly return to playing Johnny Depp or would they cast someone else and would she play Vianne? If Hilly played Roux, Hannah could be Vianne.

Sets might be difficult: where in the U.S. do you get a location that looks like a little old French town? The best place I can think of is Cambria, CA--and that isn't quite the right look, is it? Of course, if they needed a chocolate expert on hand, I could help out (wink, smile, wink), explaining where you can buy cocoa beans/nibs and historic drinking chocolate.

But you know, a parody would probably focus more on the character of the Comte de Reynaud (played by Alfred Molina), particularly because of what they could make of his ending scene where he gorges himself on chocolate after disparaging it during the whole movie. Now that would be a nice scene to see Hillywoodized.