Hey kids!
I have a confession to make.
But first –
WHAT THE CRAP IS THIS:
Argh!
Foot-less tights!? WHY?
I mean, it’s totally my fault that I purchased them without realizing that they are, in fact, footless.
But at the same time, I just assumed that anytime I bought something marketing themselves as “tights” that they would, you know, cover my feet.
HENCE THEM BEING TIGHTS.
And why in the ever-loving heck would I buy fleece-lined tights, if not for the sweet, sweet heat they would bring to my frozen tootsies throughout the long, and frigid Canadian winters?
Certainly not for the slimming factor!
These things bring a bulk to my calves previously known only to competitive stair runners and long-distance cyclists.
But I digress.
I will suffer through this fashion injustice.
If only for potential blog hits.
NEXT!
Back to the original purpose of this entry – my confession.
This past Saturday, Marc and I woke up late and decided to go see Ender’s Game. It is one of his favourite books of all time, and for many moons I have been extolling the virtues of Mr. Scott Card’s literary genius to all those who asked if I too had read the book.
Only, I had, you know, never actually cracked it open.
I AM A GIANT FRAUD!
I’m not exactly sure why I pretended that I had in fact read the book. I think a lot of it has to do with protecting my nerd cred – I have read and loved so much science fiction, that I figured by admitting that I had omitted such an important novel, people might take me less seriously.
(Even though the more I think about it, people would probably be more likely to forgive this literary transgression, than you know, LYING TO THEIR FACES LIKE A BALD-FACED SCOUNDRAL.)
Even Marc had assumed that I had read it – and was shocked to hear on our exit from the theatre that I had no knowledge of the written words in which to compare the film.
(SPOILER: I thought that movie was pretty grim, and Marc just downright hated it.)
In preparation of watching the film, I read a really fabulous article on Grantland this past Friday by Rany Jazayerli.
It looks at the controversy that’s surrounded Card and his career for the past decade – his rabid homophobia, and xenophobia to be precise – and how these views stand in such sharp contrast to the messages of love and tolerance that permeate so much of his writing (and in particular Endger’s Game and its sequels.)
It made me think of how it is we are able to separate an artist from their art – and who we are willing to make exceptions for, and why?
For instance, I have never understood Hollywood’s enduring love affair with Roman Polanski. To me, the man is nothing more than a rapist who refused to face the consequences of his actions, and I couldn’t give two cares about his movies or his talent for storytelling.
I also don’t care if John Galliano ever designs another dress, and I certainly don’t care if [insert name of professional athlete convicted of doping/sexual assault/animal abuse] ever plays another game for the rest of their lives.
And yet, despite this hard-held views, I will always, always give the latest Woody Allen film a try.
I definitely don’t feel good about this choice, but it’s something that I do, and that I accept.
My love for Annie Hall is just so strong that it propels me to seek out what this man – this quirky, strange, totally perverse man – might next deliver to the big screen.
It’s an off-putting balancing act: while I definitely do not support his life-choices (in fact, I find them downright disturbing), I do really like many of his films.
And I like that I am at least conscious enough to identify this push-pull binary that lives inside of me, despite the fact that it’s an on-going struggle to figure out where this leaves me standing – especially if we’re talking moral, and not literal ground.
But alas, such is life. I’ll just have to keep working on it.
And in the meantime, I’m going to crack open Ender’s Game and finally see what all the fuss is about.
Because if I know one thing that’s going to help both my morality and nerd cred, it will be to finally stop lying about having read the book, and to just read it.
Finally.
Rant and Roll 