To Freddie, with love

It's been days since I watched 'Bohemian Rhapsody' on its opening day and I can't shake it off.

For several reasons, it messed up with me. Good movies or books or songs are supposed to do that, don't they? And why do I need to speak up about it? I've been mulling about this for these days, why would I blog about how Fred Mercury influenced my teenage years. And, after all, here I am.

Growing up in a small town in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, in pre-internet era, it was very hard to keep up to date with the world. We had a few glimpses of what was happening in the cosmos through TV and radio, and - in my case - my English course teachers. Two guys who lived in Rio and worked in my small town during the week. Really cool guys over their 35's, they had lived abroad at some point, gays (I know now), and guess what? Both looked liked this:

Really, I swear. 

Tight jeans, tight t-shirt, black belt, moustache.

We're in the middle of a political maelstorm (I suspect our left politicians here are envying Trump resistance, only they are far- faaaaar- from Obama. Let me not start here talking about the biggest embezzlement in our history.) with the election of a new president and the discussion of several changes. One is 'politics free school'. Left-right inclinations aside, a teacher DOES HAVE a lot of power over students. He/she can influence likes and dislikes, how one aprehend the view of a different reality. 

That's what they did to me. Like Sidney Poitier played in 'To sir with love' and Robin Williams in 'Dead Poets Society'.

I liked them, a lot. Respected, looked after their knowledge of the English language. So, the way they looked - very, very different from the other guys in my small city - was... ok. It was just the way they were. So what? Big Deal.
The music they liked, the books they recommended, the movies... We were prone to like as well. They were cool guys.

That's where Fred Mercury comes in. 

There was no effort to love Queen, the songs are awesome to this day. 'Don't stop me now', 'I want to be free', 'Hammer to fall'. 
Nowaday, my 9 yo son likes some of them, can sing 'We will rock you'.

But only by watching the movie, soooo many years later, I realized how much Fred Mercury and my teachers shaped me. I had the wrangler jeans, loved them. Guess I even still have a wrangler denim jacket... The sneakers, I use them because I really think they're cool - even if my plantar fasciitis scream when I spent time in flats. 

So, in a cool, twistedly aged and weirdly up-to-date way, Fred Mercury impersonated my teachers in the 80's and I'm sorry I was so young when he was around. Didn't get to attend a concert live, didn't know about his cats, never learned his B sides, science was slow for him, but I also didn't care about his affairs.
But he is in several of my books. The Magical Tour - the very last - is in '45 days in Europe with Mr. Darcy', the teacher's influence is in 'The Prince of Pemberley'.

Now, I do what I can - and have been doing since I watched the movie: watch again the Live aid concert.

BTW, that opening sequence on 'Bohemian Rhapsody' ... OMG!!!

disclaimer: all images came from google search 'bohemian rhapsody' 'to sir with love' and 'fred mercury'

Many reasons to avoid fretting

Hey,

So, we've finished binge-watching '13 reasons why', the much talked about Netflix production. 

I'm not sure if it's Google's algorithm spy or the tv show is really the hype of the season, but it seems to be all over the place (aka my Twitter and Facebook timelines). Always with alarmist reviews and harsh criticism, the news build an expectancy that the show doesn't deliver. Unfortunately.

The Mary Sue

Well, it didn't Clay... 

And this speach... Oh please...

For me, it was like Mad men: something I had to watch so I'd hate with a reason. For my hubs it was like 90210: something to despise. (Let me take a moment here to say that I was a Brandon fan way back when I watched the original 90210.)

13 reasons have so many plot holes that I gave up paying close attention around episode 9, snoozed on 10, dragged myself till 13. 

Oh, what a relief it was over!

Let me explain: the dead girl starts pretty lively, the only 'problem' she has is a one friend that moves away. I thought: well, that happened to me... Mmmm... 

And then, the boy she fancies is a jerk. Ok, everyone has had a fuck boy in some degree. Not good, of course, she breaks again and rebuilds just like characters in Lego movie. I thought: well, she broke and rebuilt, probably there's a missing piece that they're not showing the audience yet. 12 (very long) episodes to go, we've seen a character go from sunny in a movie- mere 120 minutes.
But she broke and rebuilt perfectly well over and over, just like animated Lego. Shouldn't she be depressed - her mom said she didn't notice her daughter was depressed - or is suicide an easy enough decision one takes after a bad day?
And let´s not talk about the bad guy being rich and a good athlete...
And the boyfriend who sells his girl NOT being called a rapist...
And the skinny weird boy being said boyfriend - THE hot guy is school...
And why didn't the dead girl (alive at the time) use her phone to call for help as she witnessed her former friend being raped for those long moments?
And the actually depressed and troubled boy not being identified as such? I mean, tough cop dad obviously bullying the kid - do we need more?
And please someone reading this take time to explain to me why the girl after seeing her friend being raped willingly enters the rapist's house, undress to her underwear and awckwardly lounges in a hot tub with two couples when the only other single guy was the rapist himself? How does that make sense in any universe?
Does the book make sense?
Should I waste my time in it?
The only good logical sane issue on 13 reasons why that I found is on 'The Mary Sue' that I'm now following on Twitter.

I hate when something that rose so many expectations turns out to be a huge frustration... Hate it, hate it.