Tag Archives: nerd musings

Who Run the World?

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Happy International Women’s Day!

On a day like today, I think it’s important to stop and honor the many smart, brave, and wonderful women who are helping to make the world a brighter, better place for our gender. I know that I’m personally inspired every day by the strength of the women I’m surrounded by. From the real women whose examples I aim to follow with every step to the fictional women I am proud to call inspirations, there are no shortages of powerful female role models in my life.

To those women who have made me a better woman just by being themselves, I give you my undying gratitude. And to those women who—like all of us at some point or another—are fighting to define themselves in a world that still sees the feminine as “weak” and the worth of men as greater than women, I give you a hand to hold and the promise that you’re not alone.

Women are strong and smart and funny. We’re powerful and ambitious and determined. We’re warm and generous and encouraging. We can be doctors, lawyers, and writers; teachers, CEOs, and stay-at-home moms. We can be anything. We can be everything.

Never let someone tell you that you can’t be or do something just because you’re a woman. You have just as much a right to your dreams as a man.

So here’s to the girls who know that being told you do something “like a girl” shouldn’t be an insult—it’s an honor.

Take a second today to thank the women in your life who’ve helped you see your own beauty, strength, and potential. Because you have all of those things and more. Never forget that.

Today and every day, I’m proud to be a nerdy girl. And I wish for life to give you people and experiences that make you proud to be whatever kind of girl you want to be.

Nerdy Girl Predicts: The 2013 Oscars

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kristen bell so excited

It’s finally here! After months of going to see movie after movie (my credit card will thank me when award season is finally over), analyzing critical reactions, and watching every award show possible leading up to tonight, it’s finally time for the culmination of the 2013 movie awards season: The Oscars.

I’ve been watching the Oscars since I was a little kid. I remember Ben Affleck and Matt Damon winning and thinking they were my new Hollywood crushes (some things don’t change). I remember Halle Berry’s very emotional (and very long) acceptance speech for Best Actress. I remember that fantastic feeling you get when the first time a movie you actually saw in theaters wins Best Picture.

I’m a movie fanatic—always have been, always will be. Movies hold a special spot in my heart; there’s nothing quite like sitting in a theater with a bunch of strangers, experiencing the same emotional highs and lows but knowing that this one film can touch each person in this theater in a unique way. I know more about film history than I do about American history; I can probably name more Best Picture winners than I can name presidents. And I can’t wait to watch history be made again tonight.

Enough waxing poetic about my lifelong love affair with the silver screen. Here are my picks for who’s going to be taking home an Oscar tonight:

Picture: Argo
After the way it’s swept the rest of the major awards so far, I can’t see anything beating this film—and that’s more than okay with me. Although I thought Silver Linings Playbook was a better film overall, I wouldn’t be disappointed in this slightest to see Ben Affleck and the rest of the team behind this filmmaking tour de force win for this inspiring adrenaline rush of a film.

Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln)
No one else stands a chance, as sad as that makes me as a fan of both Hugh Jackman and Bradley Cooper’s great performances. This has been Day-Lewis’s Oscar since the day Lincoln opened in theaters.

Actress: Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook)
I just saw this film for the third time yesterday, and every time I see it I walk away even more impressed with the level of maturity, depth, and detail Lawrence put into her performance. She is this movie’s igniting force, the spark that intensifies the performances of everyone around her.

Supporting Actor: Robert De Niro (Silver Linings Playbook)
De Niro delivered his best work in years in this film, and I think he’s going to get recognized for that. His performance in this film is nuanced, surprisingly subtle, and grounded in a warmth that infuses the film with the sense of deep, familial love that makes it so beautiful.

Supporting Actress: Anne Hathaway (Les Misérables)
Like Day-Lewis, this has been Hathaway’s Oscar from the start, with the first trailer that was released for this film. And she more than earned it with her incredible physical dedication to the role and her gut-wrenching performance.

Director: David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook)
In what should have been Ben Affleck’s category to lose, I’m picking the man who I felt got the most out of his actors and crafted the most heartfelt, quietly powerful movie of the year. In order for Silver Linings Playbook to resonate so strongly with audiences, it needed a director who could bring truly great performances out of all of his cast, and Russell certainly accomplished that—with four acting nominations for his cast to testify to that fact.

And here’s what the rest of my ballot looks like:

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“I Love You and I Like You”: The Best of Ben and Leslie

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Source: eonline.com

Source: eonline.com

Today’s the day, fellow Ben/Leslie lovers! At 8:30 p.m. EST tonight on NBC, one of my favorite relationships on TV is reaching its biggest milestone yet with the wedding episode I’ve been waiting for since sometime during the third season of Parks and Recreation.

I love Ben and Leslie because they have the kind of romance that is beautiful to watch but also believable to hope for in your own life. They both have their own stories to tell in the world, but they also have a story to tell together. And it’s a story of two people who give each other balance, mutual respect, and endless support. They love each other for all of their quirks, flaws, and craziness. And they help each other pursue their dreams—from running political campaigns to meeting Joe Biden.

I say this all the time, and it’s never been more true than it is on the day we get to see their wedding: I’m just a Leslie looking for her Ben.

In honor of this most auspicious occasion, I want to take a moment to look back on my Top 5 moments in Ben and Leslie’s relationship (so far).

5. “This is how I feel…How do you feel?” (from “Smallest Park”):

I think this clip speaks for itself. The genuine emotion, passion, and vulnerability still take my breath away as much as they did the first time I watched this. I love that Leslie actively worked to avoid “steamrolling” Ben because she wanted to prove how much she cared about him and respected him. And I love that Ben threw caution to the wind and gave in to his feelings—Leslie has shown him time and again that risks are worth it when you love someone and you know they’ll be there to hold your hand as you leap into the great unknown. This is my favorite Ben/Leslie kiss because of Ben’s intensity; you can feel how much he’s missed her just by looking at Adam Scott’s face as he goes in for the kiss.

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Favorite First Kisses

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Love is in the air around these parts today (or maybe that’s just the smell of all of the chocolate I’m devouring). It’s Valentine’s Day, and here at NGN our philosophy is that this is a holiday meant to celebrate love in all its forms, including love of media, television characters, and fictional relationships.

So today we’re going to get into the Valentine’s spirit with a countdown featuring one of the most romantic of all moments—the first kiss. So grab some chocolate and a glass of wine, click these links, and get ready to relive some of the sweetest, most romantic, and downright steamiest television moments in recent memory.

NGN’s Top 10 TV First Kisses

10. Chuck and Blair (Gossip Girl)
If you ever need a reminder of the way Gossip Girl earned the “pleasure” part of its “guilty pleasure” reputation, watch this kiss again. This first kiss and so much more is an example of the best this show could be—a decadent ride through New York City with sex appeal to burn right through the screen.

9. Castle and Beckett (Castle)
The “undercover kiss” is a common TV trope, but this is so much more. What started out as a ruse turned into something so much more when Beckett leaned in for that second kiss. Was it part of the act or was it a real expression of feelings? I think that second kiss answers that question plainly enough. After two and a half seasons of waiting, this kiss was like an explosion of sexual tension. But what really makes it one of the best of all time is Castle’s awestruck reaction.

8. Alex and Izzie (Grey’s Anatomy)
A bar might not be a common setting for a fairytale kiss, but that’s certainly the best way to describe this moment between Alex and Izzie. It’s “Old Hollywood romance” at its finest, a kind of kiss that left even viewers watching from their couches breathless and smiling (or was that just me?). And, like Castle, it’s Izzie’s barely-contained glee that makes this moment exceptionally memorable, a true standout among the many, MANY first kisses Grey’s has had over the years.

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A Galentine’s Day Celebration

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Happy Galentine’s Day, my beautiful tropical fish! In honor of my favorite fictional holiday (which really should be a national holiday), I want to take some time to celebrate the women of TV in a way that would make Leslie Knope proud. It’s going to be all about the love for the next few days here at NGN, and today I want to shine a spotlight on the love that can only exist between best friends.

I wanted to make this list longer than a Top 3, but sadly I don’t watch a lot of shows with healthy examples of female friendship right now. Let me know in the comments which shows I should pick up someday to rectify that situation.

Without further ado, I present NGN’s Top 3 Female Friendships on TV Right Now.

3. Snow White and Red Riding Hood (Once Upon a Time)

once-upon-a-time-season2-episode7-child-of-the-moon-red-and-snow

“I didn’t lose my family today – I protected it… My mother wanted me to choose between being a wolf and being a human. Granny did, too. You are the only person who ever thought it was okay for me to be both.”

Theirs is a fairytale friendship unlike anything else on television, built on a message of supporting the people you love and accepting them for who they really are—both the light and the dark. Snow and Red are two incredibly strong women whose friendship only makes both of them stronger. They bonded through a shared sense of being outcasts, and they formed their own little family that both would do anything to protect. Love is the driving force behind Once Upon a Time, and it’s the love between these two friends that gives both of these characters more depth than your average fairytale women. It’s no coincidence that Snow’s happy ending after the curse was broken involved finding her husband and then running into the arms of her best friend. This show tells us time and again that there’s more than one kind of true love, and Snow and Red’s friendship is one of the truest loves on Once Upon a Time.

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Let’s Make a Resolution (I’ll Drink to That)

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A year ago, this was all nothing more than a New Year’s resolution.

Some people want to get in better shape. Some want to quit smoking. I wanted to start a blog about the media.

A year ago, Nerdy Girl Notes was an idea without a name, without a real plan or any kind of focus. It was just a desire in my heart to get back to writing about the things I really love—books, movies, TV shows, and the way they are often so much more than mere entertainment. It was a hope to create a place where my thoughts and (sometimes overwhelming) feelings might be shared with other people, because sometimes you just have to talk about why Katniss Everdeen is so awesome or why that latest episode of Once Upon a Time made you cry embarrassingly hard.

One year later, I’m still making resolutions. This time, I want to continue to make Nerdy Girl Notes the best it can be. I want it to continue to grow, to become a place where smart, passionate women (and men—don’t think you’re excluded here, guys) can come together and be our smart, passionate, overly-analytical selves. I have big dreams for NGN, and I’m going to do my part to see them through to the best of my ability.

The first step in continuing to carve out a niche for NGN in the big, scary world of the Internet was getting it its own domain, which I did last night. That’s right—no more “.wordpress.com” for us; just head straight to nerdygirlnotes.com from now on.

I also created a Nerdy Girl Notes Facebook page and a Twitter account, which you can always find on the home page sidebar. I’m going to try to update both at least once per day, and I’m planning on using the Twitter account to live-tweet all of the shows that I recap on here already (as well as others, like New Girl and Suits) in addition to offering my quick takes on entertainment news.

In other words, I’m ready to get down to business in 2013. I’m so happy with how this grew from a New Year’s resolution I feared would never get started into a site that is producing content I’m genuinely proud of on a regular basis. And that wouldn’t have happened without the support I get from everyone who reads and comments on here as well as the amazing women who contribute to NGN with their own fantastic writing. I’m so happy to call you friends as well as fellow Nerdy Girls.

I think 2013 has the potential to be a great year around here. There’s a lot of fun stuff already in the works: the return of our weekly TV recaps, predictions and reactions for all of the major movie award shows, and even more reviews and essays. If you want to join in the fun and write something, don’t be shy! Send an email, a tweet, or a Facebook post—the more the merrier!

TV Time: Castle 5.06

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Title The Final Frontier

Two-Sentence Summary After a fangirl is murdered at a sci-fi convention, Beckett’s own nerdy past is revealed through her love for the short-lived TV series Nebula 9. As fans and the cast of the show alike appear connected to the murder, Beckett and Castle explore a world of D-list actors, alien costumes, and real laser blasters.

Favorite Lines “You’re right, okay? It was a stupid show. It was cheesy and melodramatic. I mean, a handful of academy cadets on a training mission and suddenly the earth is destroyed and they’re all that’s left of humanity? I completely understand why you hated it, but, Castle, I also understand why people loved it. It was about leaving home for the first time, about searching for your identity and making a difference. I loved dressing up like Lieutenant Chloe. She didn’t care what anybody thought about her, and I kinda did at that time. I mean, she was a scientist and a warrior, and that was all in spite of the way that she looked. It was like I could be anything, and I didn’t have to choose. So don’t make fun, okay?” (Beckett)

My Thoughts I run a blog called Nerdy Girl Notes. One of my latest posts was essentially a love letter to a science-fiction character. My Facebook photo albums are filled with pictures of me dressed up as fictional characters, waiting in line for midnight releases of movies or unleashing my fangirl tendencies on Halloween. This was a Castle episode about fandom in all of its convention-going, costume-wearing, life-changing glory.

Did I like it?

What do you think?

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A Distressing Damsel: An Open Letter to Princess Leia

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“I was not a damsel in distress. I was a distressing damsel.” – Carrie Fisher, on playing Princess Leia

Dear Princess Leia,

For as long as I can remember, you’ve been a part of my life. I was introduced to you when I was around five or six years old (definitely before I was seven because I have memories of watching A New Hope in the first house I lived in), and it was love at first sight. You had brown hair like I did, you were small like I was, and—most importantly—you were a girl like me. When I played Star Wars with my cousins on the playground near our grandparents’ house, I didn’t have to just watch while they played heroes like Luke and Han. Thanks to you, I got to play a hero, too, every time I pretended to be you (which was often).

You were the first female hero I met through the media, the first in a long line that took me past Sydney Bristow and Hermione Granger on the way to Zoe Washburne, Katniss Everdeen, and Kate Beckett. I may have had many fictional role models along the way as I grew up, but you never forget your first.

I was born at a time when Disney princesses were experiencing a renaissance, when Ariel, Belle, and Jasmine started showing some smarts and spark that were missing from their earlier counterparts. I loved and still love Belle with the fervor of a three-year-old watching her sing about the “great, wide somewhere” for the first time, but pretending to be Belle was never as much fun as pretending to be you.

When I pretended to be you, I got to run and climb and boss people around. I got to play a game with higher stakes than just finding a prince; I got to fight Darth Vader for the freedom of an entire galaxy.

I learned so much from you without even realizing it until much later. I learned about passion, courage, and fighting for what you believe in. I learned that women can be political leaders and military strategists. I learned that smart women are the ones who get to do all of the cool stuff, like leading attacks on the Death Star (and capturing the heart of Han Solo). I learned that there are times when even strong women need rescuing, but then there are times when they get to do the rescuing, too.

I’ve always been a tiny girl with a big mouth, and with the memory of you etched in my brain from early childhood, I’ve always felt like those things are a pretty great combination. You spoke your mind, so I grew up believing it was okay to do the same. You never let the men around you keep you from voicing your opinions; being a woman never meant you had to be silent. You were just as good a leader and a shot as the men around you, so I grew up believing I could do anything boys could do. That’s a belief that fades for a lot of girls as they grow up, but I’m so thankful that I had a fictional role model like you (in addition to the great role models I’ve had in my everyday life) to show me that women are in no way “the weaker sex.”

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Perfectly Imperfect

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Unrealistic expectations are a fact of life. From the fairytales we were told as kids to the TV shows (and commercials) we watch as adults, we are more than familiar with media-perpetuated standards that don’t quite exist in the real world.

I can’t speak to the experiences of the male half of the population, but I know that, as a woman in today’s media-saturated society, I’m constantly bombarded with images of what a “perfect woman” is supposed to be. From Victoria’s Secret ads featuring models with bodies I’ll never have to movies featuring action heroines with courage I’ll never possess, it’s enough to make a girl feel like she should just throw in the towel in terms of finding relatable images in the media.

In a (well-intentioned) effort to give young women positive media role models, there has been an influx of “strong” female characters in the last few decades: women who can beat up bad guys (while wearing heels!), outsmart the craftiest villains, and play the lead role in their own stories—all without showing a shred of weakness. These characters don’t make mistakes; they don’t have anxieties or insecurities or character flaws. They are—for all intents and purposes—perfect.

I don’t know about anyone else, but I find perfect characters a little depressing. How are we as women supposed to learn to love and accept ourselves as we are if we are constantly reminded of the things we should be but can never be, simply because we’re beautifully fallible human beings? And how are we supposed to gain respect for ourselves through all of our messy growing, living, and learning when it seems like the media likes to depict women as one of two things:

1.) Emotionally unstable, overly dramatic weaklings who need a good man in their lives to complete them
2.) Flawless automatons with beauty, brains, and none of those pesky emotions that are often signs of “weakness”

I like to think that I exist closer to some kind of middle ground between these two extremes, and in my experience I think most women exist there as well. We’re all a little flawed; we’re all a little messed-up, but that’s what makes us human. And that’s what I want my heroes and heroines to be—human.

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TV’s Top Musical Moments

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I love television, and I love music. When those two things are put together in the right way, they create magic and have the potential to elicit incredibly strong emotions. The right song choice has the ability to enhance a scene in a way that even the best writing or the most talented actors can’t accomplish.

Today at NGN, I want to take a look at five of the television shows I’ve watched over the years that I feel best use music to advance the story and enhance the emotional resonance of a scene. For each series, I’ve picked three musical moments that best represent why the show made my list. You never know—maybe you’ll find some new music to add to your iPod thanks to these shows (I know I have!).

The O.C.:
“California” (Phantom Planet) – 1.01 (“Pilot”): This song will always remind me of The O.C. It was the show’s theme song, but it was also used brilliantly in the pilot episode, with the intensity of the song growing as Ryan leaves Chino and enters the world of Orange County. That moment perfectly set the tone for the show, and the use of this song plays a huge part in that.

“Maybe I’m Amazed” (Jem) – 1.27 (“The Ties That Bind”): There is something hauntingly sad about this stripped-down version of such a classic love song. This makes it the perfect accompaniment to a scene of love and loss for Marissa and Ryan. The song is simple, and this moment is simple—free of the over-the-top drama this show was famous for but still heartbreaking in its own quiet way.

“Hallelujah” (Jeff Buckley) – 1.27 (“The Ties That Bind”): This episode of The O.C. clearly had some phenomenal music choices. This is one of those moments where all that an episode needs is the right song to reduce audiences to a weeping mess. The pure longing in this song (which is one of my all-time favorites) perfectly encapsulates the mood of each character in the closing minutes of the finale. No dialogue is needed, just the voice of Jeff Buckley reminding us all that “love is not a victory march.”

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