Chloe Price and the Realism of Arcadia Bay: A Tribute to Life is Strange

 

Chloe's Backstory

Just finished watching the gameplay of Life is Strange Before the Storm which was made by Deck Nine, and in my opinion, it did a very good job of showing more of what happened with Chloe before the events of the first game Life is Strange that was produced by DontNod. I will acknowledge right now, that no game is perfect, it has its flaws, but for me, the writers did a very good job adding more layers to the story, and the people who live in Arcadia Bay, making the town feel even more real, more lived in. 

The game Life is Strange: Before the Storm showed Chloe's pain, her grieving with her father who passed away, the fact that her mom moved on, having her stepdad David move in, and on top of that, her friend Max, moving away shortly after her father William passed away. Throughout the game, it shows Chloe's journal, writing letters to Max, at one point it also shows a few text messages between Chloe and Mx, it shows Max drifting apart from Chloe adding to the feeling of Chloe being abandoned. The three episodes of the game, show Chloe having flashback-like visions of her father, them talking briefly before it shows him getting killed in the car accident, symbolizing her grieving, and her not being able to let go of her father's death. 

A Chance Encounter: The Night Chloe Found Rachel

One of the main events in the game Life is Strange: Before the Storm is Chloe meeting Rachel Amber, the night she went to the Firewalk concert, basically like a chance encounter, showing how they became very close within a few days of knowing each other. The day after the concert, Chloe bumps into Rachel again, after Rachel changes out of her theater costume, she asks Chloe to join her in ditching school, they leave school together, and head for the park after hitching a ride on a train. After they get to the park, they look through the binoculars, looking around the park, soon they see Rachel's dad with an unknown woman, starting a catalyst event for Rachel.

The next day after Chloe ditches school with Rachel, it shows them getting in trouble with the Principal, Chloe taking the fall for what happened, and as a result, the Principal expels Chloe from the school, afterwards, it shows Chloe's stepdad moving in permanently, Chloe decides to run off to the junkyard, while thinking and walking around she finds an old truck that she decides to fix, showing another thing that Chloe is good at and enjoys doing.

By the end of the 3rd episode, it shows how much Rachel affected Chloe, and how fast they bonded with each other, bringing to light why in Life is Strange when Rachel disappeared, why it affected Chloe so much, and why she went to such lengths to find Rachel again. It also shows the pain Rachel was going through with her own father, that she felt like he wasn't listening to her, or even being her father, plus not knowing who her birth mother was, added onto the pain that Rachel was feeling. When we see Rachel's bedroom, it shows her personality, her hopes and dreams, and what she's interested in, the fact that she wanted to travel, liked the stars, astrology, and was a high achiever with her grades, and liked acting in theater.

Going back to when Chloe got expelled, it shows how the Principal already doesn't see Chloe in a very good light, with rumors of drug use, her record of being tardy to class, and also Chloe's mother Joyce and her stepdad having a hard time trusting Chloe, with her smoking weed, and staying out late and not coming home a lot of the time. This shows how shortly after Chloe's father passed away, things just got worse and worse for Chloe, obviously her falling into depression and still grieving her father passing away, and with comments of people saying to her, "You have so much potential but.. you're wasting it", along with Max moving away and not staying in contact with Chloe, and grieving her father's death, it shows how she stopped even trying in Chemistry class, that used to be one of her favorite subjects. By the time she gets expelled, Chloe pretty much gives up on even caring about school altogether, leaving the only place Chloe can escape to is the junkyard, the junkyard that Chloe and Rachel found together, the day that they skipped school and went to the park. Before the Storm, did a very good job showing Chloe's backstory, and more of what shaped her into the person you meet in Life is Strange, which takes place after the events of Life is Strange: Before the Storm.

Realism of Life is Strange

One of the main things that stuck with me, was Chloe's bedroom, in the first
game Life is Strange, in Before the Storm, and even in the flashback episode, Farewell, showing the last time Max and Chloe played together as children, not only her room but the house itself, it looks like it's been lived in like it holds real memories people would have from living in it throughout the years. I've played games and watched plenty of gameplays but very few games have affected me like Life is Strange has, regardless if you play it or watch the gameplay, especially if you keep coming back to it through the years, it feels more real each time you visit Arcadia Bay, Blackwell Academy, the junkyard, Chloe's house, and even the dorms that the students live in, slowly you start to feel more and more attached to the town and all the characters in it, soon it feels as though your walking through the halls of Blackwell  Academy yourself, alongside Max and Chloe. That itself shows you that, Dontnod Entertainment created something very unique and special, that even after all these years later, people still love Life is Strange. 

For me personally, the town of Arcadia Bay, Blackwell Academy, Two Whales Diner, and all the characters feel real, because I've watched the gameplay of the game a good few times, and the game originally came out around 2015, only a few years after I graduated high school, so it stuck with me and felt very personal to me. Who would have thought, that a nostalgic-themed game, would eventually become nostalgic itself. 

In the Wake of Regret: Echoes of Hope Unveiled in 'The Whale

 The Whale 

I just finished watching "The Whale" starring Brendan Fraser. It tells the heartbreaking story of a man who struggles with obesity and other health complications, you soon realize he has a strained relationship with his daughter, along with his ex-wife, it also shows that his only friend is a nurse who comes by his house to check up on him. Soon a guy stops by from a church to his house repeatedly, saying he wants to help Charlie the main character. 

At first, you wonder why Charlie refuses to go to the hospital to get help, but about halfway through the film, you realize that Charlie knows that he's dying, it's only a matter of time. He tries to reconnect with his daughter, Ellie, which at first she resists because he left her and her mom when she was 8 years old for a man he fell in love with. He finally gets around to asking his daughter how her mom is doing (his ex-wife), Ellie finally tells him that her mom drinks a lot. Later, he checks on Ellie's Facebook, and he soon realizes that she has no friends and that she's very lonely.  You basically realize that both his daughter and his ex-wife are hurting and suffering from him leaving him all those years ago. 

It also shows Charlie teaching an online class for writing, that he doesn't show his face to his students, and that he cares deeply for his students and helps them with writing and encourages them to be honest with their work. At one point, his daughter Ellie comes by, telling him how she's failing her classes, and her teacher tells her that if she does very well in one of her classes, she might be able to pass the class. He then offers to help her with her homework and leave her all of the money that he has, in her writing class, essentially he ends up writing her papers for her, in return he asks her to write something for him in a notebook he gives her. Later he checks on the notebook he gave Ellie to write in, and he sees that she only wrote three sentences in the notebook. He tells her later to try to write more in the notebook for him, which she scoffs and ignores his request, she then keeps pestering and asking him to finish her papers, and by the end of the film though, when he gives her, her papers back, she is very disappointed. 

As for the friend who's a nurse, named Liz, towards the middle of the film, you see how she feels conflicted for trying to take care of Charlie, and how she keeps feeding him unhealthy food, despite knowing how bad his health is. Basically, Charlie's health is so bad, that both Liz and Charlie know that he's probably going to pass away within the week. At one point, Charlie's ex-wife comes over to visit, and confronts Charlie in front of his daughter, saying that she knows that plans to leave Ellie all of his money. Liz gets mad and storms out, realizing that Charlie wasn't leaving anything to her, his ex-wife then screams at their daughter, pushing her out of the house. His ex-wife Mary, tells him how their daughter is "evil", he doesn't believe her, she then opens his laptop, and shows him what Ellie posted about him, instead of him being hurt, he is amused of how honest she was, about how she felt about her father. It shows that Charlie values honesty from people, of how he wasn't offended by what his daughter said about him.

At one point Charlie and Liz were talking, and he basically says that he believes that there's good in everyone and that he has hope for people, while Liz thinks that no one can save anyone, showing how Liz view's on life are more cynical, while Charlie view's life with more hope. With his ex-wife Mary you realize that she doesn't mean no harm, but that she's tried her best with raising her daughter Ellie, and that in some way she and Charlie still care for each other even though they aren't together anymore. It also shows how Mary feels just as hurt as Ellie for Charlie leaving all those years ago, and that his decision left a huge impact on both their lives, yet when you look at it from Charlie's point of view, he left Mary and Ellie because he fell in love with a man, and he just wanted to be happy with him. Yet towards the end of the film, he acknowledges that his decision hurt both Mary and Ellie and that what he did was wrong, he tells Ellie at the end of the film, that he's sorry for what he did, and that he wishes he could have been a part of her life, and that she's the best thing he ever did. He then asks Ellie to read an essay she wrote called, "The Whale" by the time she's done reading it, it's implied by then, that Charlie has passed away. 

In conclusion, "The Whale" leaves viewers with a strong reminder of the power of empathy and the enduring resilience of the human spirit. Through Charlie's journey, we are reminded that even in the face of immeasurable odds, redemption and healing are always within reach.

Despite how heartbreaking this film is, this was one of the best films that I have ever seen, I wouldn't highly recommend it to anyone. I give the film a 10/10! 

Unraveling Miller's Girl: A Disappointing Dive into Teen Infatuation

 

Yesterday I finally watched the movie, Miller's Girl. I heard about the movie a few months ago, saw people leaving reviews on Youtube, basically saying how bad the movie was, I figured, "ok it can't be that bad." Oh boy was I wrong, it was MUCH worse than I anticipated.

To start off, the monologues, jesus christ, it literally felt like they just had the monologues where just there to fill up empty space, and it didn't feel like a teen girl talking at all, it felt like someone that would have been in college taking complex literacy classes, not some girl that's just about to graduate high school. So the fact that the monologues and how she spoke in general didn't fit her age, threw me off right away.

The premise starts off with the main character Cario Sweet meeting her literary teacher Janathan Miller, basically showing right away her infatuation for him, telling him that she's read all his books. It shows within the first ten minutes that Janathan Miller used to be an author, or a failed author, with no novels of his picking up at all, so the fact that Cario Sweet read all his work, and already shows admiration for him, obviously rubs his ego. 

Things basically quickly escalate when Janathan Miller starts giving Cario Sweet specail treatment, inviting her to a poetry reading, then gradually spends more and more time together outside of class, eventually Janathan Miller offers Cario Sweet a midterm assignment based on her favorite author, she chooses him, and writes a provocative peice based on him, a few days pass, and Janathan Miller refuses her peice, saying that it's inappropriate, and to redo the assignment and to pick a different author. She accuses him of leading her on, making her think there was something between them, he tells her he's sorry, and that she misunderstood the whole situation. 

After Mr. Miller rejects Cario's advances, she soon reports him to the principal, the principal then talks to both of them separately, the principal then tells Mr. Miller that it doesn't look good for him, and he is then suspended from his job, Cario then plans to take him on, in front of the school board. 

At the ending of the film, it's basically implied that things have fallen apart completley with Mr. Miller and his wife, and he has possipossibly lost his job, and the ending is left up to interpretation. In my opinion though, the ending felt flat, and the movie was supposed to be an erotic thriller, besides one scene, of Cario's peice that she wrote, there wasn't anything sexual about the movie, and apparently the movie was also supposed to be a comedy, I didn't really find anything funny about the film at all. Yes the film had two other characters, Coach Fillmore, and Cario's friend Winnie Black, but they weren't in the movie that much, and when they were it just felt like filler, like Cario's monologues, I understand they needed some more characters, but they didn't serve anything to the plot of the movie. Mr. Miller's wife Beatrice June Harper felt to have more weight to the movie then the other two side characters. 

I honestly wouldn't recommend this movie at all, it was the longest 90 minutes of my life that I spent watching it, the movie Posin Ivy starry Drew Berrymore is a much better erotic thriller then Miller's Girl. Those are my thoughts on the movie, Miller's Girl.

Reconnect and Rejoice: Rediscovering Childhood Joys Through Nostalgic Video Games and Anime thanks to the wonders of the Internet

Been thinking back on video games that I grew up with, stuff like Tony Hawk, Xenosaga, Jet Set Radio Future, Dead or Alive, hell even anime shows I grew up watching, Wolf's Rain, Cowboy Bepop, Death Note, .hack//SIGN, Naruto, Hell Girl, Witch Hunter Robin, Ghost in the Shell, and so many more. Made me realize how much time actually passed, but when I actually stop to look back on the games and anime I grew up with, it literally feels like yesterday, as cheesy as that sounds, I'm being 100% honest.

I know it sounds childish, but so many of those games and anime shows, not only did I grow up with them, but in some ways it felt like they were raising me, becoming the mentors, friends, and siblings I never had, and yes some I had crushes on briefly. Most of the characters I held onto dearly, literally helped me keep going or gave me motivation during times of my life when I needed it.

Looking back on everything, in some ways, it feels like yesterday, even though it's been years, and in other ways over 20 years ago... When I first realized how much time actually has gone by, it hurt like hell, but I realized that thanks to technology, I can rewatch the shows, replay the games, and watch gameplays on games as well, so it's not like I can never see the characters I grew up with again, but in another sense, it's painfully clear that the childlike wonder I had, it's gone, I'll never be able to enjoy the shows and games the way I did when I first experienced them growing up. I'm sure it's possible to get the childlike wonder back, but it takes a lot of willpower to hold onto it. 

Now thanks to technology and the internet you can rewatch gameplay of the games you grew up with, and replay the games yourself, including rewatching all the old shows you grew up with too, so in a way, you can always revisit your childhood, or create a brand new one. It's all up to you, whether you keep the child inside of you alive and reconnect with your childhood. 

Age and Parenthood: Why Waiting Might Not Be Worth It

 

Photo by Mikhail Nilov: https://www.pexels.com/photo/a-little-girl-coloring-with-her-grandparents-8307604/

I never thought that I would write an article on this topic but here it goes. I understand that it's perfectly normal to want kids, some might even keep trying to have a kid, or more kids later on in life, when there 50, 70 years old. But at a certain point, you have to put your foot down and tell yourself that enough is enough. Don't worry, I'll explain why.

I can't speak for everyone else, but from my own experience growing up, looking back, I can tell you it wasn't all perfect growing up, with elderly parents, or in my case, mainly one parent. You see, my birth mom died when I was a baby, and I never knew my birth dad. Afterward, my mom's sister, my aunt took me in with her husband, then around the time I was 7, my aunt's husband passed away from cancer. 

It honestly was not fun growing up, watching people in your family pass away left and right, all because your mom had you later in life, well more so, that my aunt took me in when she was in her 60s, and her husband was around 75 at the time. Yes, I'm very grateful that they took me in, but it was very lonely in many ways growing up. 

To start off with, I was an only child, with no siblings, I didn't realize this till I started looking back on my life, after my aunt passed away, who to me was my mom because she raised me, but because of the fact that she was in her 60's when she took me in, and then by the time she passed away, she was 83, by the time I was in my teens, and going into my 20's, her patience was either very little or non at all, when it came to a lot of problems I had growing up. So the only people I had to lean on for emotional support were friends I had in high school, or people I met in my 20s at my jobs, or people who I talked to online, or people I dated, but I basically got the message in my 20's, that I couldn't go to her and cry about things I was feeling or going through at the time. Of course, I got the whole speech, of I should be grateful, because I had a house, car, and a fair amount of money, looking back, in my opinion, people who say that, are basically saying, that they don't care, and don't want to hear it. All of the materialistic stuff doesn't compensate for the emotional support I didn't get from my mom growing up.

What's my point to all of this? If you're going to try to have kids when your 50, 60, or even 70, in my honest opinion, don't. You had plenty of time when you were younger, and if you couldn't have kids of your own biology, you could have adopted, or just accepted it, and found something else to give your life purpose. To me, trying to have kids, when your are that old, is honestly selfish as hell, especially when your 60, 70 years old, that kid will have to grow up, knowing full well, that you may not be there on the day they graduate high school, or even on their wedding day. Yes, my mom, (aunt), was there when I graduated high school, but when I finally got married, by then she passed away. My point? Do you really want to put your child through that? Growing up, and basically watching you die? But because you gave them stuff, they should be grateful? Your basically invalidating their pain. 

On top of the fact, that my entire 20's practically, it was spent taking care of my mom, because of her getting older, having health problems, taking her to the doctor. If I had a child, I wouldn't want to put them through that, them having to take care of me, and basically waste their youth away, their prime years taking care of me. In my opinion, it's selfish, to expect your child to take care of you. 

So please, reconsider having kids later, or putting it off till very late in life, for the child sake. 

Forever Young: Nurturing Your Inner Child for a Life of Joy

 When I was growing up, I used to think, that when you become an adult, that's it, it's all over, that you magically know everything, and it all ends, I mean everyone says, by the time you are an adult, your childhood is officially over. But I'm starting to think I was wrong.  What if your childhood doesn't have to end, what if the little child inside all of us, is still there, just waiting for us to remember the wanderlust we had for life. What if, it all doesn't have to end, what if we actually do have a choice, as to whether or not we grow up, what if, the little child inside all of us, never went away, we simply forgot it was there all along. 

Maybe in the grand scheme of things, it's up to us to embrace the inner child that we have hidden deep inside, to remember all the things that we once loved from our childhood, instead of choosing to forget them, all for the sake of growing up. Perhaps the phrase, " be a kid at heart", had more truth to it, then we let ourselves believe, because now I'm starting to think it holds a lot of truth to it. In my opinion, letting our inner child go, what be a great disgrace to ourselves, not truly embracing the inner child we have, the childlike wonder for life, wanting to learn, discover, experience as many new things as possible. Being complacent can kill childlike wonder, maybe not all at once, but slowly over time it sure can. 

Complacency naturally happens over time the older we all get, from going to college, studies long hours, taking exams, to working long hours and coming home and just wanting to be left alone, to being busy cooking and cleaning and taking care of the kids at home. But in my opinion, letting yourself fall into complacency, is unknowingly setting yourself up for failure in the long run. So my advice, is to try to reignite the spark inside of you, remember your inner child, the childlike wonder you had for life, that pushed yo to try new things, learn more, experience new things everyday.

There's a difference between living and existing. The choice is yours. 

Disney, What happened? Where did the magic go?

 

DISNEY: What Happened?

Since around 2011-2013, things basically started to slowly change with the movies Disney produced, and not for the better, around that time, 3D animation was becoming very popular, and 2D hand-drawn animation was slowly becoming a thing of the past. On top of the fact, that around 2019-2022, Disney started bumping out live-action remakes left and right. People could tell after a while, that they were only making all these live-action remakes, for a quick cash grab, and no longer for the audience as a whole. 

Now, with the new film coming out, "WISH", already on TikTok, people already are complaining, saying that it doesn't even look that good. It's ironic, since it's Disney's 100th anniversary, but I'm sorry to say this, the spirit, the "Disney magic" that was in the old films, it's not in the new films that they are making now. Before, growing up, it felt like they actually cared about the people who watched their films, now it just feels like they no longer care about the audience who is watching the films that they are producing, now they're just making anything to get money into their pockets. Ironic, because by no longer caring about what they're producing, or the audience, the people who watch their films, they will be losing money in the long run. 

In my opinion, unless Disney makes some major changes, things will only continue to get worse, instead of better, and I don't think I'm the only one who feels this way. If I had to choose between 2D animation and 3D animation, I'd pick the old school, 2D hand-drawn animation style that Disney used to do, what they were known for. With the hand-drawn style, you could feel the Disney magic, when you watch the films, now it all just feels like a cash grab, with no Disney magic in it anymore.