From The Mind of Merc

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From The Mind of Merc

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From The Mind of Merc - About Time

Sometimes I find my mind wandering over various eclectic topics and occasionally I am inspired to write some of them down. Today I was thinking about 'About Time'.

While I was writing last month’s Mind of Merc post, it reminded me of another Richard Curtis film with slightly problematic messaging – About Time. 

I really wanted to like this film – I’m a Whovian so I like time travel, I like (most of) Richard Curtis’s work, I like love stories – it seemed like a win-win.

The film has a good cast, promising premise, and I loved the bit about the actor forgetting his lines and Tim’s improvisation to fix it.

However, the issue I had – which I cannot get past – is after Tim and Mary have had a baby girl and his sister gets into a car crash. Tim goes back in time to prevent this but this means his baby girl becomes a baby boy. Tim apparently can’t cope with his child being different to how he remembers so he goes back again and allows his sister’s crash to happen so that he gets his first baby back. Now that, for me, is seriously twisted. It says he would rather his sister get hurt than his child look different. To take it further, it could be said he would rather his sister be seriously injured and potentially die just so his child doesn’t change gender. See the problem?

The rest of the film has some lovely messaging about appreciating your family/those around you and learning to accept you can’t hold on forever but where was that when he chose his sister ending up in hospital just so he wouldn’t have to look at a different face in the morning at the breakfast table?

(It could also be said that the whole premise is to manipulate women but let’s go with the less creepy interpretation of second chances and correcting mistakes.)

Popular - !!!NEW!!!

Today's parody song is inspired by something I just can't understand about the current political climate. (Apologies to any Wicked fans for my choice of song).

Popular not from Wicked
With our poor mistreated country in such a dire state
Well, he sees this and claims that he can make Britain great.
When his real plan is a scam for greed
And as our lives aren’t wrapped in clover,
He thinks it’s time to take over
He says that he’s exactly what we need

Even though every time
Elections come he’s last in every line
He won’t stop, he’s determined to succeed
He just won’t leave
He won’t take heed
And yet he’s

Popular
Why’s Farage so popular
He spews all the racist slurs
With which he concurs
Because it’s how he feels, yes!
He wants to remove our rights,
‘Cause it suits his plight
He is nothing but a heel
Yet he’s

Popular
He shouldn’t be popular
He hangs with paedophiles,
With their private isles,
We should treat him as our foe
Because trust me his world
is something we don’t want to know 

Don't be fooled by his fake show of humility
That man is so completely devoid of all pity
He should not be given power at all
If we want to avoid woe, we should just tell him no
And not let him be

Popular
It sucks that he’s popular
He loves that the NHS is in such distress
So he can sell it off – the cur/bastar…
Too far?
That’s why we should all stop him from becoming populer... —lar!

La-la, la-la
Please do not make him popular

Think the world’s depressing right now
He’ll still make it worse – boy, and how
Yes - his success we cannot afford
There is just nothing that can be below him.
Trust him as far as you can throw him.
Think that he wants to help us?
Check his record
Yet he’s

[Elphaba:]
Popular

[Galinda:]
Right!

Stop him being popular
He has zero aptitude, and with him we’re screwed
So let us be shrewd not dim       
He should not be popular, not him

We cannot ignore
And we should deplore
All that he is, you see
We cannot grin and bear it,
His sudden popularit-y

Woo!
La-la, la-la
La-la, la-la
La-la, nooo
Why’s he popular
Shouldn’t be popular - not him

Oh Yes, Oh Yes - !!!NEW!!!

Well, if you've got one, you've got to have the other.

New York, New York Oh Yes, Oh Yes not by Frank Sinatra
Start drinking today
It’s February
I got through the whole part of it
Oh yes, oh yes

Though it caused dismay        
I wanted to flee
Made it right through the whole of it
Oh yes, oh yes 

Wanted to wake up
With a head that didn’t pound
And feel I wouldn’t be sick
Sure of the ground

I didn’t give way
Though it caused no glee
Now I can be so free of it
Oh yes, oh yes

Now I have made it through
I'll have this
Drink on you
So here’s to Feb
Oh yes, oh yes

Oh yes, oh yes
Wanted to wake up
With a head that didn’t pound
And feel I was AOK
Sure I won’t fall
And won’t be sick
So AOK 

I didn’t give way
Though it caused no glee
Now I can be so free of it
Oh yes, oh yes

Now I have made it through
I'll have this
Drink on you
So here’s to Feb
Oh yes, oh yes

Oh yes!

From The Mind of Merc - Love Actually

Sometimes I find my mind wandering over various eclectic topics and occasionally I am inspired to write some of them down. Today I was thinking about Love Actually.

Love Actually is one of the most popular Christmas films ever. And personally, I can’t stand it. I like it when it first came out (who doesn’t want a bit of romance at Christmas) but, the more you think about it, the more problematic all of the relationships reveal themselves to be.
As I heard it described, it “treats infatuation as love… most of the characters want sex and romance …rush into those with the hope of filling in the relationship afterwards”.
Although some problems are more obvious than others, I’ve listed them below to highlight just how wrong (or perhaps Disneyfied) their associated messaging is. 

Billy Mack & Joe
Story: Famous singer treats his devoted manager terribly but then realises he’s in love with him and surprises him with a spontaneous declaration
Message:  You always get who you want regardless of how you treat someone
Better journey: The singer is respectful towards his colleague so any relationship between them has a healthier basis (Unlike the majority of the other relationships in the film, they have known each other for years)

Juliet, Peter & Mark
Story: Man reveals his secret crush on his best friend’s wife which she seems to reciprocate
Message: Be creepy – it works – even if the object of your affections is married
Better journey: Juliet shuts the door on Mark and tells Peter everything
Additional note: Keira Knightley thought this was creepy and had to be repeatedly told by the director not to reflect that in her face

Jamie & Aurelia
Story: Man and woman fall in love despite not speaking each other’s language and, although he leaves, he then goes back to propose to her
Message: Abandon your family for a crush because love transcends the language barrier
Better journey: They teach each other some of their own language (or ask for help to communicate) while they’re together and build a relationship from there rather than going back several months later (& hoping they’re both still available) and basing your whole future prospects on that

Harry, Karen & Mia
Story: Woman discovers her husband has (at best) been flirting with his secretary – she keeps this secret and stays with him
Message: Adultery is acceptable although it might hurt your spouse
Better journey: She leaves him (or better he reveals he didn’t succumb to the secretary’s flirting)
Additional note: Emma Thompson based her emotions in THAT scene on how she felt upon discovering her 1^st husband, Kenneth Branagh, cheated on her. Spoiler Alert: SHE LEFT HIM!

David & Natalie
Story: Man and woman develop mutual feelings but when she is approached by another he blames her. Then we he realises he was wrong, goes and tracks her down (rather than call???)
Message: If you see your girlfriend with someone else, assume she’s cheating and punish her. Oh, and fat shaming is ok
Better journey: He asks her what happened so there’s no big declaration needed or track down required and they can decide whether or not to pursue a relationship (if so, they can’t work together)

Sam & Joanna
Story: Young boy decides to impress his crush and when that fails chases her to the airport
Message: Pursue your crush and eventually they’ll notice you
Better journey: Talk to her – that’s what he ended up doing anyway and it revealed a shared attraction

Daniel & Carol
Story: Widower meets the doppelganger of his celebrity crush
Message: You get rewarded for being a good step-dad with a major hottie
Better journey: The widower could just be a good step-dad (it’s just a year after his wife passed away)
Additional note: Liam Neeson’s wife, Natasha Richardson, sadly passed away in 2009 when they were 57 and 45 respectively and he hasn’t found someone else – it is not mandatory

Sarah & Karl
Story: Woman gets a chance at a rendezvous with her crush – which is prevented by her brother
Message: Relatives with mental health issues are cockblockers
Better journey: They actually try to get to know each other so she can either realise he’s not the man she thinks he is or he can decide to support her family situation

Colin & the girls
Story: Sex-starved man goes to America and hooks up with multiple girls at once
Message: Objectifying is rewarded (and trafficking is acceptable)
Better journey: Learn his excuses for a lack of relationship in the UK are baseless and become a better, more respectful person as a result

John & Judy
Story: Extras on an adult film develop a romantic relationship
Message: Love can found where you might least expect it
Better journey: Hard to better this without being puritanical because this relationship is based on communication rather than sex

Headmistress & Geraldine (Deleted Scene)
Story: A school headmistress is in a relationship with a terminally ill cancer patient
Message: Love comes in many forms and can last for many years and through many tests
Better journey: Include it in the film – it’s one of the least problematic relationships and it was the one that got cut!