Angels and Demons

Warning: spoilers ahead!

Angels and Demons was always going to be a controversial plot. Murder within the Vatican by the Camerlengo is certainly sure to ruffle a few feathers but the film seems to have upset fewer people than expected. Unlike the Da Vinci Code, the Vatican has announced no boycott against the film - in actual fact, the Vatican newspaper gave Dan Brown's film a positive review.

I must admit that I found it to be exceedingly entertaining. However, this is most possibly due to the low expectations I had when going to see the movie which has been panned by critics.

Whilst the plot line certainly does burl about at quite a speed, I found myself able to follow it along at a reasonable pace and understood the majority of what was happening. It probably helps that I read the book a few years back (although I had completely forgotten the plot and fell hook, line and sinker for Ewan McGregor's Camerlengo and his rather cliched self-sacrifice in the face of annihilation of the forces of good. Of course, good writers never leave things so straightforward. Where would the fun be if the reader/viewer could predict everything that happened?

The plot of Angels and Demons centres around an ancient sect, the Illuminati, or Perfectibilists as they preferred to be called in reality. Whilst Dan Brown's Illuminati have little tangible similarities with the genuine organisation (whose members supposedly have included notable characters like Churchill and Rockefeller) the idea of a secret organisation infiltrating world organisations and controlling universal politics is undoubtedly fascinating, if not a little unbelievable and, dare I say it, unoriginal.

The Illuminati follow the same stereotypical history or repression and bitter struggle against the Church as the Knights Templar depicted in The Da Vinci Code. However, what makes them markedly different is their methods of offensive action in contrast with the Templar's meticulous concealment.

Modernity conflicting with traditional values is the centre pillar holding Brown's plot line up. For thrills he relies on the excitement of revealing glimpses at a world so guarded and secretive that only a select handful of people have any comprehension of it. For me, glimpses at what the Vatican Library may look like and the Cardinal's conclave is what makes Angels and Demons such a success. Secret societies are all very well and good but when we know that things exist just beyond our reach, almost close enough to sense, that is when interest is caught. On a more personal note, I greatly enjoyed the scenes of the Cardinals due to my growing up around Cardinal Keith Patrick O'Brien. Whilst I never took to him myself and renounced my faith at an early age, as any child would be, I was enamoured by the pomp and prestige of a man so powerful and so important to the beliefs of so many. Politicians can never have as much importance as religious and spiritual leaders. Brown plays on this fact and not only attacks the Church in Angels and Demons but murders the Pope, absolute leader of one of the world's strongest religions.

The Cardinal Keith Patrick O'Brien

Further demonstrating his understanding of the human psyche, Brown's plot also plays on the 'Doomsday Complex', inherent in all human beings. Such is our fear of the apocalypse that Brown displays it in three separate ways in his book: the gradual disintegration of civilised society and our abandonment of human dignities, the family and political order; the attempted act of terrorism masterminded by the Camerlengo against Vatican City and the fear that such an attack would (and has done elsewhere) cause; and the potential for the literal end of the world, as presented by the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva.

What I don't understand is why the Church seems to be so against such acts of scientific advancement. I can concede that their condemnation of the God Complex is justifiable but when the Church has received such criticism and derision in the past due to its ridiculous anti-scientific views (the world is of course flat...) I can see little reason to halt their support of such experiments. Their argument surely can't be that the Large Hadron Collider could end life on Earth - after all, we're all going to heaven or hell for all eternity, aren't we?

Whilst I can never quite support the aging Tom Hanks in the role of hero, I can't exactly criticise it either. His voice is as magnificent as ever and the conviction he has for his lines shows. Again, I wasn't thrilled by Ayelet Zurer's Vittoria Vetra. The Catholic officials were more successfully portrayed and I adored the sweet sincerity of Thure Lindhardt, whom I have been a fan of since Into the Wild.

Angels and Demons certainly isn't cinematographic perfection - far from it but I think that is an unfair expectation. It is what it is, just like the book it is based on, a fun, fast-paced confrontational drama. I defy anybody not to enjoy it.

Stephen Wiltshire

Nolite te bastardes carobrundorum = don't let the bastards keep you down.

And autistic savant Stephen Wiltshire certainly hasn't. He has overcome autism, a disability known for its crippling effects and become one of the best - if not the best - cityscape artist of our time. More than that, he can smile and chat to his admirers. His work is incredible; mind-boggling; flawless; accurate.

Some have dubbed Wiltshire a 'human camera' for his ability to recollect buildings and recreate them perfectly on paper. He has drawn panoramas of London, Rome, Hong Kong and Frankfurt on massive canvases in short periods of time after viewing the cities for only a few minutes from helicopter.

His cityscapes have, for me at least, redefined urban landscapes as beautiful, interesting, fascinating places. Through Wiltshire's eyes I can see cities as a place of comfort, safety and never-changing security. Experts believe that Wiltshire's obvious love for city scenes has been a product of his autism: he feels security in never-altering buildings and I can see why.
Wiltshire struggled with speech as a child, as do many autistics. It wasn't until he discovered art that his vocabulary began to grow and Stephen became liberated. His talent as a child was astonishing and led to fame, unimaginable for most mentally disabled people. It also led to his being declared a 'savant', similar to the Rain Man Kim Peek. When Wiltshire drew this drawing of the Kremlin (on a visit to Russia), he was only a child:

His drawings are startlingly accurate and his talent reminds me of a young Picasso.
Such prodigious talent at such a young age and with such difficulties? Stephen Wiltshire can only improve from here.

My lovely shiny new template...

My most sincere thanks go out to Jecca for not only helping (and greatly impressing me) with her knowledge of code formatting, but for showing cynical old me that there are people (sorry, jedis) out there who are willing to help out virtual strangers for nothing more than being called a Grand Master, the biggest ((((((((((Internet hugs)))))))))) ever and warm fuzzies from knowing that they are awesome!

Thank you, thank you, thank you :-)

My Sister's Keeper

I just lent my friend Fiona a copy of Jodi Picoult's My Sister's Keeper. Part of me feels like a lending library: a source of enlightenment, passing out my knowledge to my friends. The other part is just a teeny tiny bit ashamed. As much as I would like to be able to claim that I was a cultured and artistic person, I am forced to admit that I love nonsense chick-lits and have a strange obsession with Australian soap opera; Home and Away is sheer genius.

Its been awhile since I've read any Picoult (although my I have several of her books) but what always strikes me about each novel is just how well-researched they are. I often get the impression that some writers are 'winging-it'; making it up as they go along. But Jodi, despite being a book-writing conveyor belt, has a way of realising each of her plots in magnificent detail.

And I haven't even mentioned her innate ability for plot-twists. No Jodi Picoult book has a generic ending and the last few scenes are almost always a revelation. That takes quite a knack as a writer - to be able to hold your reader captive until right at the very end of the book? I wouldn't mind that kinda skill myself!

I guess that is why her novels are now being adapted for the silver screen. My Sister's Keeper hits on so many topics relevant to today's society (as do many of Picoult's other novels - Nineteen Minutes focuses on the culture of bullying in today's high schools and the deep impact it can have; Keeping Faith focuses on our rejection of religion and press obsession with the unusual; The Tenth Circle looks at date-rape and the truth; Mercy discussed the controversial idea of euthanasia). In one novel we examine the family dynamic, the right of a child to control his or her own body, genetic engineering, problem children, teenage rebellion...

Warning: spoilers ahead!

As a two-year-old Kate Fitzgerald is diagnosed with leukemia, every parent's worst nightmare, as I experienced first-hand when my one-year-old neighbour was diagnosed with the same cancer.

However, the diagnosis is far from the hardest part of the Fitzgerald family's journey, for they take the controversial step of conceiving a genetically engineered child, Anna, to save their first daughter Kate.

This decision, is an easy one to criticise (or an easy one to praise?) but no person can claim to know how they would act in the same situation. A doctor offers you a chance to save your beloved daughter and welcome another child to your family? The appeal is obvious. The negatives only come after further examination. As a young child Anna is subjected to medical procedures and surgeries. As a healthy child with a disabled elder sister, I can't imagine submitting a child to such treatment. Would my parents have ever made the decision to use me as a medical convenience store? A little bone marrow here, a kidney there...I'd certainly like to hope that they wouldn't have, much in the same way that, as a seventeen-year-old adult, I would like to believe that I would make the decision myself to help Sarah in any way I could.

Picoult's ability to make us question our own reactions and her genuine relatability, lend her novels something rather more touching than your standard modern novel. Picoult understands that shaving your head for somebody you love can be the most loving gesture you can make - but how many of us could make it? I'm not entirely sure I could.

But Picoult's true genius has to lie in her ability to reveal astonishing twists at the very last minute. My favourite Picoult ending has to be in Keeping Faith. I read the book several years ago and still find myself wondering from time to time whether or not Faith was telling the truth about seeing God. She had stigmata, she quoted the Bible, she spoke in tongues for goodness sake...but all the same...To be able to leave such a long-lasting impression in a reader is an incredible talent. And to be able to repeat the feat time and time again?

So no, no I should not feel a teeny weeny bit ashamed at liking Jodi Picoult because she is quite frankly one of the most complex and inspiring writers of our time. I completely adore her.

An Introduction

There's an inordinate amount of pressure associated with the first post you make to your blog. It sets the tone, pace and direction of all your future posts after all.

Do I want to be witty or serious? Dry or silly? Am I going to review for the general public or am I keeping an online diary? Well, nothing in life is ever easy. Choices are the most scary things but once they're made the fuss and panic caused by them almost always seems ridiculous. Well, that's how it works for me. I worry over the silliest little problem (should I wear my hair up or down tonight?!) in order to avoid the nasty 'big picture'. Shudder...

That's where this blog got it's name: Every Little Thing. I don't want to have to choose between reviewing and recording. Why can't I mix a little of everything? So, here goes: my mad attempt to blog about every little thing that I can ever conceive to type about. I warn you now, my mind works in bizarre and speedy ways!

Anyway, to anybody who this matters to - happy reading! I would be inordinately delighted to receive comment. That is one comment, not thousands! Oh, and views wouldn't be disastrous...after all blogging is no better than talking to myself if nobody reads my posts. No way I want to look more insane...

So I should probably start with a little about myself. I'm seventeen and I live in my head. I'm addicted to the therapeutic affects of yoga, I make the best sandwiches you'll ever try, I have an obsession with African elephants, I consider myself a totally socially-functioning geek and I am madly good at air-guitar.