I've Been Thinking... - Things For This Week.

Hi!!!

Here's a collection of things for this week - things to watch, do, read and listen to - which will make your week go from good to great (or at least, better). Enjoy.

WATCH: Derry Girls on Channel 4 (on Thursdays at 10pm) and All 4.

Derry Girls is an utterly hilarious portrayal of youth, set against the backdrop of 1990s Derry in Northern Ireland. Full of very real characters, genuinely funny jokes and the effort and energy of a great cast and crew, you'll be doing yourself a favour if you watch it. It's easily one of the best shows I have seen in ages and I am the biggest fangirl of it. You can see the first two episodes HERE.

LISTEN: Swimming Tapes on SoundCloud.

I recommended some bands that I have been enjoying on SoundCloud recently in THIS post and Swimming Tapes were one of them. They are the band to go to for soft, dreamy guitar tracks which are the perfect way to inject bright and fun feelings into your life this week. Find their SoundCloud page HERE.

READ: Star Wars, The Debate Wars: Jedi vs Sith on Chronicles of the Red Herring.

Even though we have both been blogging for ages, my best friend and I have never collaborated on a blog post (at least not on our current blogs), until now. It took us ages to find a topic we disagree on but eventually we found one - I'm on the side of the Jedi, she prefers the Sith. In the post we discuss everything from weapons to memes - and I took the memes very seriously. I'm really pleased with how it turned out, it was great to work on something together, and if you're a Star Wars fan, I think you'll like reading our Light Side vs Dark Side debate. It might be going up here soon, too, but just in case or if you'd just like to get on with it and read the thing I've been rambling about, we'd both really appreciate if you went over HERE and read it - and as always feel free to share your opinions in the comments - especially if you want to talk about memes.

DO: Sign petitions to help protect the homeless.

This will take all of five minutes to do but it is so worthwhile. The council for Windsor want the police to remove all homeless people and rough sleepers from the area by May (aka the month of the Royal Wedding). THIS petition asks for a long-term solution to help Windsor's homeless population rather than the dehumanising proposed short-term measure. THIS petition asks for the repeal of the 1824 Vagrancy Act which makes it an offence to rough-sleep or beg in England and Wales. This law, despite being two-hundred years old, has been used as recently as 2014 to arrest and charge people. Poverty is not a crime or an inevitability - rage against it.

Thanks for reading - I hope I've helped you find some ways to fill your time this week.
What are your recomendations for this week? Do you have any other comments or suggestions for future posts? Feel free to leave a comment below if you do.
I hope you have a great week - you got this.

GingerSnaps xxx

I've Been Thinking... - My Thoughts On The New Ghostbusters Film and The Public Response.

Hi!!!

If you've a movie fan, you've probably heard about the new 'Ghostbusters' film, a reboot of the classic from the 80s. The trailer for this film is one of the most disliked videos in all of YouTube's history. Its cast is lead by four women. Here are my views.



I am a huge fan of the original 'Ghostbusters' film, just for your information. I enjoy it, it's staple viewing at Halloween and it always makes me laugh.

 

I love the new 'Ghostbusters' movie.
It's funny, it's spooky, it features some great characters and it has a very strong plot. My favourite characters are Patty Tolan (Leslie Jones) and Jillian Holtzmann (Kate McKinnon). They're interesting, unique, funny and smart. I mean, the other lead characters are, too, but Patty and Holtzmann are far more up my street.
 All the actresses are great with comedy and work as a group really well. The film kept me engaged throughout - sometimes at the cinema, I do have a sneaky look at my watch... - and it made me jump at times, too.
It shows the strength of female friendships like the original showed the strength of male friendships, which is so good to see.
I loved that the costumes for the film are like clothes that actual women wear - not everything is on show, not everything is ridiculously glamorous and they don't fight ghosts while wearing high heeled shoes.
 I think the character Kevin (Chris Hemsworth) could be improved, especially given the all-female group of Ghostbusters. I think its a shame that, in a film that makes a lot of progress in terms of casting and characterisation of female characters, Kevin is 'the stupid cute guy' who is 'hired because he's cute'.
Other than that, I personally think the film is great and would recommend it to you.

I'm sure at least some of you know about the criticism this movie faced before it was even released. The trailer is one of the most disliked videos on YouTube.
I appreciate that some people are not keen on the idea of the new film because they love the old one so much and don't want to see a film of less quality become part of its legacy. That, to me, is fine - I understand your worry (but I don't think you don't need to feel that way because it isn't a scene by scene remake and it is good).
However, there are some people who are totally against the film because of the all female cast, although these people often try to suggest that it is more to do with their love for the original. I think it's disgraceful.
  Let's get a few things straight, shall we? Women can be amazing actresses. Women can be hilarious. Women can inspire other women. Women deserve the opportunity to showcase their abilities and encourage others to do the same. Women have worth. Women deserve respect.

Another awfully shocking response to the film has been the racism Leslie Jones has had to face. Black actresses can be amazing and hilarious. They deserve the chance to show off their abilities and inspire people. Black people have worth. Black people deserve respect.

One thing I can say, is that the four women in this film have handled all of this so well, even though they should never have had to. I respect them all so much.
I don't mind at all if you don't like the film because you think it has a weak plot or poor characterisation or lacks development of key themes. I don't share those views but that's alright because you are entitled to an informed opinion. But for people to dislike a film, simply because the cast are mostly female and feature more than one ethnicity is absurd to me. That's just unfair to everyone involved.
Everyone has rights and talents, and I look forward to the day that everyone recognises this.

Thank you so much for reading.

Have you seen the new Ghostbusters film? What did you think? What are your thoughts on the public response? Do you have any other comments or suggestions for future posts? Be sure to tell me in the comments.

I hope you have a great weekend. I'll be celebrating my birthday on Sunday, so I'll speak to you after that.

Have a totally marvellous day!

GingerSnaps xxx