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. 

Fatal Frame: Unraveling the Haunting Legacy - Analyzing the Evolution of Fear and Why the Fourth and Fifth Installments Miss the Mark

 

FATAL FRAME 1,2,& 3

The Fatal Frame series is one of my favorite videogame horror series ever made. My personal favorites are the first three, I honestly feel like, after the third one, they could have just ended the series there, not making two more games years later. On top of the fact, that the other two games were on completely different consoles when the first three where on the XBOX and the PlayStation, then when the fourth one came out, it was made exclusively for the WII, on top of the fact, that at the time, the internet speeds where not as fast, so people couldn't just binge watch gameplay of games they couldn't afford to buy. I remember people were complaining about how the fourth one was on a completely different console, when I finally got to watch the gameplay of the fourth one, I was very disappointed, it didn't feel like the Fatal Frame series that I grew up with at all. It felt like, a completely different game, and they just slapped on the title, "Fatal Frame" just for a quick cash grab. Then the fifth one came out, and I was just done with it, why they made a fifth one, I still don't know. 

To me, the series was fine, the way it was, with just the first three games, there was no need to make two more games, yes the graphics were just crystal clear, and realistic, but the stories were great, and the characters were interesting, and the voice acting wasn't horrible. Add onto the fact, that they were actually scary, without forcing it in your face, it felt organic, with the fourth one, I could already tell it was all just forced, for a quick buck in someone's wallet.

Out of the first three, my personal favorites, are the second and third game. But altogether, I love all three. In my opinion what they managed to do with Fatal Frame when it first came out, is something rare, it had interesting stories, good characters, scary, thought-provoking, and the game mechanics, made you feel like you were a part of the game itself, living the stories, alongside of the characters. Instead of you feeling like you're seeing it all from the sidelines, with Fatal Frame, you were right there, with the camera, fighting off the ghosts. As much as I love, the game Haunting Ground, I rarely felt that immersed within the game, I felt like I was just watching the whole thing from the sidelines. I think what they managed to create with Fatal Frame, was something special and unique, but putting out two more, was completely unnecessary.

Shattered Bonds: Friendship and Tragedy in Jennifer's Body

 

I remember when I first saw the movie, Jennifer's Body, the first impression I got from it after the credits rolled, was about a girl who came back and got revenge, killing boys. Basically "girl empowerment", and the advertisements for the movie didn't help, it basically gave the impression that it was eye candy for boys and men, with sexual tones. Sure I've rewatched it a few times, but I finally rewatched it a month ago, after a decade later, and now my feelings on it have completely changed but for the better. 

Now when I think of the movie, it's not just about a girl getting revenge, it's deeper then that, it's a story about two girls, who were best friends, over time start drifting apart from each other. By the time the movie starts, it shows, Needy starting to drift away from Jennifer, and getting closer to her boyfriend, all while showing Jennifer unhappy with Needy drifting apart from her, and tries throughout the movie to reconnect with her. Asking Needy to go with her to the bar to see the band that it's town, then later on, tries to reconnect with Needy by kissing her like they used to do, trying to rekindle their friendship.

Not only does it show the two girls drifting apart from each other, it also shows them as victims as well. With Jennifer,  it shows her being a victim right from the very beginning, with boys and men using and abusing her, to where the only friend and person she could trust was Needy. So from Jennifer's perspective, it makes sense as to why she didn't want to lose Needy as a friend.

As for Needy, she didn't become a victim till the end of the film, when she lost both, her boyfriend and her best friend Jennifer. Jennifer and Needy where both victims of life, just in different ways. I don't think people realize how deep the movie actually is, till they rewatch it a few good times, and think deep about the movie as a whole. It's an excellent film, one that I think is as important now, as it was when it first came out. 

It's more than a horror movie, mixed with comedy or sexual undertones, it's about two friends that ended up drifting apart, and also being victims of life itself.