13 Reasons Why Review

I just finished watching Netflix's new hit, 13 Reasons Why. I knew getting through it would difficult, I knew there were some tough scenes and serious content, but that's why this show is so important and relevant. Life, especially high school, is full of so many problems and I have so much respect for people who address those issues directly instead of ignoring them. 

So here are 13 reasons why I liked this show. 

Hannah is incredibly relatable and fearless. She starts off fearlessly pursuing her crush, not worrying about what other people think of her. Her best friend just moved and she just wants to get through high school unscathed. But that doesn't happen, not after her harmless crush takes a picture of her accidentally flashing her underwear and starts a viscous rumor. 

The problems are realistic. Nothing is overdramatized or sugarcoated. This show deals with real issues and repercussions. Kids make mistakes and do stupid things and start cruel rumors. They are actual teenagers, not adults parading as teenagers. They have a bad sense of fashion, hygiene, and vocabulary. They're real kids. 

The ending isn't forced. Hannah reaches the absolute bottom of her ability to get through life. There is no last minute save the day. She doesn't suddenly realize her love for her parents or Clay or anyone will give her a reason to live. It's not fake and it's not easy, it's just true. 

Nothing is glamorized. Parties aren't disguised with pretty lights and glitter in order to hide the gross games and idiotic antics of teenagers. Sex, drugs, rape, suicide, it's all real and gruesome. 

Hannah isn't portrayed as a martyr. Just because she's dead doesn't mean she's perfect. She made mistakes, she was on the receiving end of other peoples' mistakes. She lashed out at people who cared about her, but she also asked for help. 

Just like Hannah, the rest of the characters are flawed. We watch the show, essentially, from Clay and Hannah's point of view. And Clay is a nice guy who cares about Hannah, but even he messes up and says stupid things. Everyone contributes to the problem in some way or another. 

There's a nice balance between past and present. As Clay listens to Hannah tell her story, we also see how he and the rest of the "reasons" deal with her death. The transition between the two is really well done, and keeps the plot/subplot format that we are used to seeing. 

There are a lot of characters, but everyone feels real and complicated. Every character has motivation, a reason to feel guilty and embarrassed. Every character deals with Hannah's suicide in their own way. There are not stereotypes, they are just people. 

No one is perfectly good or evil. You can feel sorry for Hannah, but you can also feel sorry for everyone she left behind. You can see the things her classmates did wrong, but also how they are trying to cope with it and do better. 

The show is suspenseful. We already know the ending, right from the first moment of the first episode. Yet Hannah reveals some truly shocking things about her high school career. She gets into some of her classmate's secrets that really show you can't know anyone just by looking at them. 

The three main characters: Hannah, Clay, and Tony, are incredible. I loved Clay's awkwardness and Tony's macho mothering and especially Hannah's humor. Clay and Hannah are so cute. Clay and Tony are also pretty adorable, not going to lie.

We aren't given all the answers. The ending was an ending, everything was wrapped up, but it wasn't spoon fed and wrapped with a bow. That's not how life works. 

The final and 13th reason why I loved this show was Hannah Baker. Hannah, you broke my heart. You showed me how a pretty girl who seems fine and confident and smart can actually be falling apart. The moment when she imagined how her life could be with Clay, carefree and happy in love, if so many terrible things hadn't happened to her... that was devastating. No one person could have helped her, it had to have been multiple people like say 13 people. 

La La Land, an Ode to the City of Dreams

It took me forever, but I finally saw La La Land. Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling are a wonderful pair, and they portray the struggle of being an artist in Los Angeles with musical numbers and sass.

This musical is so modern. I think of musicals like Singing in the Rain and Hello Dolly, which are classics that I will always love, but there's something wonderful about watching a musical that takes place in my lifetime. Los Angeles is a melting pot of all ethnicities, genres, and artistry. There is such diversity and that is shown in this show, especially the opening number.

Mia and Sebastian show the long process of living in Hollywood, working every day for a career with few openings.

Mia is working at a coffee shop on the Warner Brothers lot, auditioning in between shifts and networking with her friends at flashy pool parties on the weekend. Her montage of auditions is both funny and sad. It's crazy what actors are put through and Mia is no exception.

Sebastian is bouncing from job to job, playing show tunes in restaurants and suppressing his dramatic jazz songs. When Sebastian forgives an old friend and joins a modern jazz band, he finds fame and fortune. But while he has at last found a steady job, he has given up his dream of opening a jazz club.

Seeing someone so passionate give up everything he's fought for changes the way Mia sees him, their relationship, and their dreams.

The truth of the matter is, it's difficult to follow your dreams. It takes years of blood, sweat, and tears. It takes heartache and compromise.

I would like to believe you can just scrape up some courage to get through the doubt and come out the other side with an amazing success story, but that's not always the case.

As Mia explains to Sebastian, some people just aren't the lucky ones. Some people have to be realistic and find a different dream.

But thankfully, Mia's dream makes it through. She helped Sebastian reach success and after she goes home to recover from her one woman play, he drags her back for an audition and returns the favor. Mia's audition is beautiful and vulnerable and her last attempt to salvage her acting career.

While we don't see the beginning of Mia and Sebastian's journey, we do get to see the middle and a bit of the end. We see them struggle and compromise and work for their dreams, then the results of that hard work a few years down the road.

As perfect as Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling are together, Mia and Sebastian do not have the perfect love story. They get their happy ending, but separate from each other. Sometimes people can help you reach your dreams, but they don't stay in your life. That doesn't make the dream any less important.

And in the end, when Mia reimagines how her life could have gone if Sebastian had stayed in it, she knows there is more than one outcome that could make her happy.

This story shows two people doing everything they can to achieve their dreams, and maybe they don't end up together but that's the beautiful thing about life. Sometimes amazing people come into our lives just when we need them and show us how to be amazing too.

Moana Review

Moana is the heroine we've been waiting for. She's a girl who dreams, a girl who loves her family and her island. But most of all, her heart lies with the sea. As an islander, she is surrounded by the ocean her whole life yet she is forbidden to explore it. 

Her fascination shows even as a baby, when the ocean gives her the heart of Te Fiti. She is chosen to save her island, and many other islands, by finding Maui and helping him return the heart of Te Fiti to its rightful owner. However, her parents urge her to follow their example. She is to stay on her island, safe and dry, and become the next chief. 

But her awesome grandma knows Moana better than anyone and ultimately, gives her the push she needs to start her adventure. 

Moana finds Maui, dives into the monster realm, and gets a crash course in sailing. She pushes and pulls and drags that demi god across the ocean. She knows it's the task of the century, she knows she's inexperienced, but she also knows how her people will suffer if she fails. She loves her family and her home, and while she's her truest self at sea, everything she does is for the sake of her family and stopping the sickness spreading. 

Moana is amazing. Yes, she has doubts. She tries her parents way, she wants so badly to be who they want her to be. But she knows she's not that person. She takes a risk and takes a boat out to an ocean despite not knowing how to sail. She trusts the ocean to help her and it does. She's humble enough to know she may not have the most knowledge, but she trusts her heart and that's what saves her. 

Also, her agile rope swinging skills. 

Moana has a lot of courage and a lot of heart. She saves Te Fiti, her people, and her island. She restores her people's purpose, voyaging, and restores Maui's honor. All while singing beautifully and showing off the gloriousness of Polynesian hair. 

Auli'i, you sing like a true Disney princess.