Saturday, September 21

Movie Review: Nou Otoko (Brain Man)

Plot
 In a small town in Japan, a series of seemingly random explosion cases occur. Ichiro Suzuki (Toma Ikuta) known as "Brain Man" is fingered as an accomplice. Midorikawa (Fumi Nikaido) works on the explosion case.
The mysterious man known as "Brain Man" has outstanding memory, high intelligence and a perfect body, but doesn't seem to have human emotions. Neurosurgeon Mariko Washiya (Yasuko Matsuyuki), who has her own personal trauma, believes that human nature is fundamentally good and tries to save criminals. She then becomes interested in Brain Man and works to uncover the truth. Meanwhile, Detective Chaya (Yosuke Eguchi) tracks down Brain Man.(cr: Asian Wiki)

Review
Ok, so i got bored while waiting for the next episode of fluffy adorable rom-com TWdrama Just You to watch this. I've only watched one other Japanese thing before, and that was One Liter of Tears.
This left me so mentally and emotionally exhausted, even though I was watching it using Chinese subtitles. I was screaming and covering my eyes and staring at the computer screen intensely and basically just freaking out.
The story was kind of confusing and at first I had no clue whatsoever what was going on. But then I got into it and wow. The plot is so complex with so many things happening but all fitting together. And it's pretty amazing how Ikuta Toma can play someone that doesn't have any feelings/emotions but still have such intense emotions. And I love how whenever he has an idea or decides to kill someone, he tilts his head.
And all these different disorders.....the only reason I could finish this movie so quickly is because I kept telling myself that this has stuff to do with psychology and therefore I'm doing my psych homework.

[SPOILER] Now let's talk about the ending. Mariko's patient kidnapped another kid even after "succeeding" in the therapy. So is it trying to say that criminals can't actually change? But the mother of that guy indirectly thanked Ichiro Suzuki for killing her son. So if the person killed is evil, then the murder is justified? And he smiled at the end. He actually smiled! So people are inherently good and the good just has be to discovered?
I don't know. But whatever. Awesome movie!!

Friday, September 6

Declaring Independence from my Awkwardness

*Note: this was a school assignment 

When something becomes too overwhelming and consuming, it is only natural for that person to declare independence from that very thing, whether it is a person, object, or feeling.

It is self-evident that all people are allowed to be confident, that they should be able to have faith in themselves, that these are what all people are entitled to and are among the unalienable rights. Whenever any kind of feeling or characteristic becomes destructive and an obstacle to becoming successful, it is the right of the person to abolish it. Social awkwardness and a low self esteem may make up who the person is, but it is my duty to remove a constraint that has done the following hurtful things.

It has stopped me from achieving my goals and dreams by making me doubt myself.

It has made me indecisive and miss many rare chances.

It has been the reason of my unwillingness to do things in public, directly leading to many long and unbearable lectures and ending with a parent severely and utterly disappointed.

It has refused to allow me to seem like I know what I'm doing, going as far as leading the dance teacher to assume that I am incapable of performing the most simple routines.

It is responsible for making me unconfident in something I've practiced for five years.

It is responsible for making people think I am dependent on others.

It has caused stuttering, sweaty palms and horribly humiliating situations.

It has forced me to make many random and embarrassing noises because of the absence of words to fill silences.

It has stopped me from asserting my opinions.

It has caused people to think I am weak and don't have any opinions.

It has caused many lifelong misunderstandings because I am too scared to defend and speak up for myself.

It has caused people to think I'm dumb because of my incapability of forming coherent sentences after being called on in class by the teacher.

It has caused anxiety at the thought of calling someone on the phone.

It has been in the way of socializing and interfered with the process of making friends, making it unreasonably difficult to start conversations with strangers, acquaintances and even old friends.

It is the reason why I can only find solace in the company of books, music, and my laptop.

It is the reason why I have trouble talking to people, even on the internet.

It is the reason behind my lack of a social life.

It has been a huge hindrance and obstacle in accomplishing many things that would have been beneficial to everyone.

After all of these setbacks and troubles, I have attempted to reach mutual agreements, but all of them were refused. I have attempted to live with it, and make it a part of me, but something so rude and so cruel is unfit to be part of someone's personality. None of my attempts have worked, and all of my attempts have been ignored, and therefore, I must denounce this relationship.

I, Fefe, do, for the good of my happiness and for my development as a productive and functional person, solemnly declare, that I have every right to be, and will be, free of social awkwardness, that I will have nothing more to do with it, that I will never again have a lack of confidence and to do all things which independent persons have the right to do.