Monday, December 18, 2017

WWTGD? p3

 
Situation: Things have been going pretty crappy for me lately, and I'm having some trust issues because of it.

Ghoul Asked for Advice: Buffy, Willow, Anya

Movie Used: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (season 4 episode 4, series episode 60  "Fear Itself")

plot: It's the gang's first Hallowe'en in college, and they decide to go to a party on campus. But instead of a nice relaxing night, they find themselves having to face a real haunted house and the demon of fear.

Quotes: "She didn't even touch her pumpkin. It's a freak with no face." -Willow to Oz and Xander

"This is an encouragement talk? I thought it was a share my pain." - Buffy to Willow

"I forgot to be hungry." -Buffy to Willow when seeing her recent ex-boyfriend

"Does stretching count?" - Buffy in reply to why she hasn't been joining in class.

"12 years old and I couldn't go trick or treating by myself. No, he wanted the candy, I was just the beard." -Buffy to her mom while remembering past Hallowe'ens with her dad.

"I dont' know, starting to see a pattern here. Open your heart to someone and he bails on you. Starting to think it's better to not let anyone in." - Buffy expressing her fear of being alone

"Certainly didn't help that my last boyfriend turned out to be a homicidal robot." -Buffy's mom on her own heartbreak.

"If Parker shows up, we'll just axe murder him. That's Halloweeny." -Willow on phone to Buffy

"Terrifying. If I were Abbott and Costello, this would be fairly traumatic." -Buffy on seeing the decorations at the haunted house party.

"That was not sanitary." -Willow after seeing a live spider

"Let's get to the party part of the party." -Buffy after arriving at the haunted house party.

"We need help, we need the only person who can make sense of this." -Buffy to Oz, Xander and Willow after they realize the party is hexed.

"I can handle the dark forces as good as anyone else." -Willow complaining to Oz

"There is no problem that can't be solved by chocolate." -Buffy to the whole group while eating candy.

"I was just thinking about the life of a pumpkin. Grow up in the sun, happily entwined with others then someone comes along cuts you open and rips your guts out."- Buffy pouting over her jack-o-lantern.

Favourite Scene: Near the end of the episode where Giles kicks down the door saving everyone with a chainsaw.

Quotes Using: "There is no problem that can't be solved by chocolate."   and  "I can handle the dark forces as good as anyone else."

My Interpretation: Things may seem bigger than they really are. When we find ourselves faced with something that at that moment, feels like the floor is caving in on us, panic can set in. We have to remind ourselves that if we just take a breath and relax a bit, we'll be able to work through it. Even when the answer isn't the one we were hoping for, we can face our worst insecurities.

In this episode, everyone is starting to feel the pull of their lives shifting around them. Xander being the only one not in college, is feeling left out and forgotten. Oz's fear is not being able to control his werewolf nature, and begins pulling away isolating himself on purpose in order to keep everyone safe. Willow, is feeling mocked and semi-powerless as she dives into her magick; unsure her friends will ever be fully willing to support her choices. Buffy has just come out of a bad relationship/one night stand, with her heart broken and romantic reality shattered. Anya is also finding herself feeling things she has ignored for too long, now that she's dating Xander.
Everyone's insecurity is manifested and magnified once they enter the haunted house party, after learning the demon of fear has been summons. Each under the illusion that they are separate and alone unable to connect with the rest of the group. When in reality, they are trapped in their own minds until they find themselves; literally back in the same room facing each other. It's only as a group that they have the courage to face their fears, and defeat the demon.
The inside joke being, the demon of fear is only a few centimeters high; giving notion to the term "nothing to fear but fear itself."

This episode also lays the ground work for much of the season, as each character has to find their own footing in what becomes a transitional stage in their lives.  Relationships for all the characters start, stop, sputter, break, begin again, and challenge them.
There is a scene midway in the episode where the group are walking to the party in their costumes, when they come across a group of military guys with masks. They just at that point, assume they are students in costume; when later in the season they learn something bigger is going on. It opens a floodgate of trust issues for everyone involved.

Alrighty, that's what I'm talking about (I feel better)

Come back next Monday, and see what kind of situation I've gotten myself into and whom I've asked for advice.

Monday, December 11, 2017

WWTGD? p2


Situation:  When shopping for someone you just met, what's the best gift idea?

Ghoul Asked for Advice: Morticia, Wednesday and Gramma Ma Addams and Debbie Jilinsky

Movie Used:  Addams Family Values (1993)

plot: Gomez and Morticia just had a baby, and decide to hire a nanny, Debbie. When she arrives, she sets her sights on Fester, tricking him into marrying her. Because Wednesday doesn't trust her, Debbie manages to convince Morticia and Gomez to send both Wednesday and Pugsley to camp. While there, Wednesday begins a romance with one of the follow campers. All the while, Debbie is back home plotting ways to kill Fester and steal his fortune.

Quotes:  "Father what is it?" - Wednesday in hospital waiting room

"Oh Gomez, it's dark, it's depressing, its desolate" -Morticia  to Gomez when he shows her the nursery.

"Very good, but which one will bounce?"  -Wednesday to Pugsley,about to throw the baby

"One house, three children, so many windows." -Morticia to Gomez when they hear the kids playing

"Oh I'll be fine. I'm just like any modern woman trying to have it all. Loving husband, a family. Just I wish I had more time to seek out the dark forces and join their hellish crusade."  -Morticia to Gomez

"It has to be damp." - Morticia to Debbie when she asks about the men in the family

"All important numbers, police, fire department, morgue." -Morticia to Debbie as she leaves the house with Gomez

"Wednesday's at that very special age when a girl has only one thing on her mind." -Morticia

"These are beautiful things. They're from catalogs."- Debbie

"Oh no, he lives." -Morticia reading to the baby from Cat in the Hat

"Well, you have a black dress." -Gramma Ma Addams to Morticia

"Sometimes people don't listen. I have to use persuasion. And slides." -Debbie

"An axe. That takes me back." -Gramma Ma Addams

"Don't I yearn and ache and shop?" -Debbie

Favourite Scene: Near the end when the character of Debbie is holding everyone captive and starts telling them her back story.

Using the Quotes: "These are beautiful things. They're from catalogs."   and  "Don't I yearn and ache and shop?"

My Interpretation: Go with the gift cards. Yep. When in doubt, just slap a little bow on a gift card and hand it over.

How well do we really know anyone anymore?  This movie takes it to the comic extreme, having Fester completely blind to the fact the women he's known for 48 hours is a serial killer called the "Black Widow".  The person he trusts most, Wednesday; tries to warn him something is not on the up and up with Debbie, but he refuses to listen. Instead, Fester allows the kids to be sent away, while he ends up in what becomes; for all tents and purposes, a really abusive relationship. Again, done to the comic extreme, but a serious undertone none the less. Debbie manipulates Fester into isolation from his family, while physically and emotionally hurting him every step of the way. Leaving Fester nothing of his former self. She even has him change his physical appearance to match her own.
This also gives to the idea that what we think we want, might not always be the right thing for us.

Alrighty, that's what I'm talking about. (I feel better)

Come back next Monday to see what kind of a situation I've gotten myself into and whom I turned to for advice.

Monday, December 4, 2017

What Would The Ghouls Do?

Divination. There are countless ways to go about using it to answer the questions we find ourselves facing. From tarots, to runes, to astrology etc. Bibliomancy is one of my favourites. That's where you take a book and randomly flip to a page, and interpret the first line/sentence you see.  Whether you've done this or not, I'm sure you've had moments when you have found yourself with a question/situation and suddenly a song will play that seems to fit, or you turn the television on, and there is a show that seems to. Sometimes you find the answer as if by magick, other times, you end up looking at the problem from a different point of view, finding the solution.

Let's call that Moviemancy. And that's what this is. WWTGD? is all about looking at a situation from a new point of view, using movies/tv shows.

Obviously, I'm taking a slightly more of a "nice light snack" approach to this new segment. Most of the questions will be more on the silly side.
That's one of the reasons I wanted to do this; I feel I've let myself become too serious in the last few years. You do absorb the personalities of those around you, and everyone in my life currently, are very serious people.


Situation: I'm at a crossroads, feeling lost and confused. What should I do?

Ghoul Asked for Advice: Lily and Marilyn Munster

Movie Used: The Munsters (season 2 episode 68)  "Herman the Tire Kicker" (aired March 31st 1966)

plot: Lily and Herman decide to buy Marilyn a car. Herman goes to a used car lot, and gets conned into buying a bad car. When they try to take it back, the salesman is gone, and they learn the car was stolen. Herman gets lost driving home, and then arrested for having the stolen vehicle. Lily has to bail him out of jail, while there, they see the car salesman who confesses that he stole it.

Episode quotes: "You have a knack for going to a place just when there is a lull in business" -Lily to Herman

"I don't think even you would buy a car without a motor in it." -Lily to Herman

"It's this waiting around that's so terrible"- Lily to Grandpa and Marilyn

"Grandpa, you know Herman is a kind trusting soul, with a great faith in his fellow human being" -Lily to Grandpa

"Stuck you! Herman, you've been shish-kabobbed!" -Lily to Herman

"Well, it runs"  -Marilyn to Herman

"Don't feel bad, you tried" -Marilyn to Herman

Favourite Scene: When they are sitting around the kitchen table and Lily comments about making the family pancakes and having saved money while buying towels and sheets at the January Black Sales.

Using the quote: "It's this waiting around that's so terrible"     and   "Don't feel bad, you tried"

My interpretation: A crossroads happens for a reason. Either you've come to the end of a cycle, and need to choose to continue, or move on to the next phase. Crossroads are all about decisions, choices and being ready to take that next step. That feeling of being lost, usually comes attached to knowing what the right choice is but not wanting to commit to it out of fear. But you've got to take that leap of faith. Worst that can happen is you make a mistake and try again.
If you find yourself literally lost, stop and take stock of the few things that led you to that position. Guarantee; you will find it happened for a reason. Usually, to get you to notice something in a new way as we all get a little tunnel vision sometimes. Tunnel vision, or not seeing the forest for the trees, is what keeps us moving in circles feeling frustrated and well; lost.

In this episode, Herman literally gets himself lost driving home, and when the police arrest him, not only does he learn about the car being stolen, he's no longer physically lost as they guide him where he's suppose to be. In this case, jail. While there, he meets up with the con man and has an effect on the guy, which changes the life of the conman.  Herman getting lost puts him on the right path to being where he's suppose to be at the right time.


Alrighty, that's what I'm talking about. (I feel better)

Come back next Monday, and see what kind of a situation I've gotten myself into, and whom I turned to for advice.  As this is part of my 365 Days of Hallowe'en, I'll be doing (attempting) this every week till Hallowe'en 2018. You can follow the rest of the Hallowe'en fun on my facebook page (uh here-ish)