Late Night Thoughts

[lls_mutant]

You know, I should know better than this. We've been watching Band of Brothers recently. Very well done, but very intense. Well, tonight we watched the Holocaust episode. Guess who can't sleep?



So yeah. We all know the Holocaust is one of Spielberg's big issues, and when he's making a WWII miniseries, it would be impossible to not put it in. Especially since I'd fully believe Easy Company did happen across one of the concentration camps. (I haven't read the book Band of Brothers, but from what I understand much attention was given to actually making sure the events in the series happened in real life.) Actually, I was very impressed at Spielberg's restraint, precisely because I know the Holocaust is one of Spielberg's big issues. I think he could have been tempted to overdo it- and yes, it would be possible. But the flashes of images that he shows makes you feel like you're one of the soldiers- not one of the prisoners. And that's really what I mean by restraint. I know that Spielberg is keen to tell the stories of the prisoners- and honestly, who can blame him? They're stories that should be told and never, ever forgotten. But he kept himself confined to the soldier's viewpoint, and that's important too. Very important, because more of us will stand in the soldiers' shoes witnessing horrors than will stand in the shoes of the prisoners. At least, more of us who are watching a DVD.

But something bothered me at the end. I've always known that Jews were not the only victims of the Holocaust. I never realized just what the statistics were, though. I knew that 6 million Jews were murdered in a three year period, but I didn't realize that 5 million non-Jews were murdered as well. I mean, it's close to half. And yet, every time you see a movie about the Holocaust, the focus is on the Jews. That bothers me.

Don't get me wrong- I'm not saying that we should not pay attention to the horrors that were done to the Jewish people. I am saying it would be nice if Hollywood would acknowledge that those same horrors were visited on other people. I can only think of two movies that I've seen that have acknowledged that. One didn't really- that was Life is Beautiful, and I remember his wife was not Jewish but made the choice to follow her husband and son. The other is Swing Kids. Can anyone bring any others to my attention?

It also bothers me because Americans ran their own concentration camps, and those are never talked about in movies, either. I guess that's because we ran the nice concentration camps, that served four-course meals and gave each inmate a teddy bear at night. Or so history would have us believe. I'm honestly ignorant enough that I'm not sure what the conditions were like, but I imagine they were like the German camps, but possibly without the ovens and gas chambers. I should research that or something.

We also never talk about the conditions in other parts of the world, now. Of course, it's not like I'm this great humanitarian or anything. But still. We raise one terrible period in the world's history up for examination, but yet so many other periods are ignored. But then, perhaps as people discuss the Holocaust and grow more comfortable with it being in the open, they can open their eyes to other horrors that are committed today.

Can you see why I can't sleep tonight?


Other news. My paper finally got final acceptance, which is good. At the same time, it sort of feels like an end of an era. I'm done with the work for the USDA, unless I ever go back. I know they want me to, but I'm not ready.


Since I'm up and talking... I'm just kind of trying to wear my body into submission, honestly. GO TO SLEEP!

Anyway. Life is good, although today was rough. For one, today would have been my father's 58th birthday. What really got me thinking is that he died 16 years ago, and I turned 32 in November. He's been gone half my life. It's odd to think that. But thinking about his birthday... I didn't really expect it to be hard. I mean, he has been gone 16 years. Last year I don't really remember, because my grandmother was in the hospital with her broken hip and my thoughts were with her. This year, I was sitting and letting Toby 'color', and thinking that if my dad was still alive Toby would be making him a card right now. Cue water works :P So, of course, I tried not to think about it which made me very bitchy and I got into a fight with my husband which of course helped my mood greatly :P How he puts up with me is beyond me some days. Seriously, I married a good one.

I'm still trying to lose weight, and still maintaining. I know perfectly well why- I eat more than I should to lose weight. I'm a fan of Weight Watchers. I lost 70 pounds on it once before. I'd like to lose about 30 now. Thing is, we're talking about trying for another child in a few months. While I know I should lose weight for that, there's a part of my brain that's saying "eh, just wait until after." Must shut that part of my brain up, because it would be much healthier if I lost some weight now. Even just 10 pounds.




My thoughts on the release date alternate between YAY! and Already? It seems quick, and I hope the quality didn't suffer. On the other hand, this is the book she's been planning forever. She knows how a lot of this one goes, because it's the ending. So I'd imagine it's easier to write. I just want to get AIL done, because she'll blow me out of the water. I hope we still won't get canon denial of R/S (leave it as is and I'm happy), but I also hope we'll get much more info about James and Lily, and odds of her stuff matching my stuff are slim to none.

So, I have faith. I think that middles can be harder to write than beginnings or ends- middles are where you get bogged down. So let's see if JKR blows us all out of the water one more time.

Anyway. Ten things I want to see in HPTHD:

1.) Less emphasis on shipping. We needed a hormones book, because the kids are teenagers. The hormones are over. Harry loves Ginny, Hermione loves Ron, and Remus and Tonks are together, as well as Bill and Fleur. Aside from the B/F wedding and the reunion of H/G, let's leave romance out of it. (Remus/Tonks fans on my list, I suspect you all agree with me that the last thing any of us want to see is a double wedding with Bill and Fleur and Remus and Tonks, because that is SO corny. I still think R/T are a total elopement-type couple.)

2.) A dead Regulus. I think I'll get this one. Regulus was a hell of a lot cooler than I gave him credit for. However, if he chose to hide and live instead of give his own life for his cause, it detracts from his coolness. Please note an Inferi Regulus does not count as a live one.

3.) A dead Sirius. Okay, first? I'm okay with Sirius being dead. I really am, and have been all along. There's a certain tragedy to that tale that fills me with a Martin-ish glee. And second? I want to actually see people acknowledge that he's dead, thanks. Mourn a little, Harry!

4.) A dead Remus. I have a theory that reading George R.R. Martin makes one bloodthirsty. I am so for the MWPP generation dying out, and this has nothing to do with shipping and everything to do with me being a bitch. However, I suspect Remus was the one who got the reprieve (either that or JKR murdered both him and Tonks after they were supposed to live), simply because his story works either way.

5.) A kick-ass Lily. Things I wish I'd thought of: magnetic_pole's idea that it was Lily and Alice who were powerful enough to initially draw Voldie's attention and wrath, not James and Frank.

6.) A live Ron. I rarely fic Ron, and when I do, it's almost always with Sirius because Ron and Sirius make for great buddy fics and I've decided there need to be more. But the truth is that Ron is my All Time Favorite Character. I just ignore him in fanfic because I want the JKR version. And yes, I hate Steve Kloves for what he's done to Ron.

7.) A resolution to the Percy storyline. This one is my personal pet interest, thanks to my brother. I just want some sort of resolution here, and honestly? I want it to be happy. But all Percy's choice.

8.) Validation of my theory that Peter Pettigrew's silver hand can't Transfigure, therefore locking him into human form. You knew I couldn't make a list without that.

9.) A werewolf Alphard :) Seriously, though. I would love it if, by coincidence, I got some aspect of canon right, be it Sirius as an Auror or Peter's father being dead or James wanting to play professional Quidditch or whatever. It would just be cool.

10.) A banana.



What does everyone else want to see?

Comments

[medicinal-mirth.livejournal.com]

The Holocaust -- my paternal grandfather was in a concentration camp as a "political prisoner". He was not Jewish. He had the tattooed numbers on his arm and everything. He didn't talk much about it, but what little he did say... well, his words didn't say much, but his eyes were sad.

And kinda interesting is that while he was enduring that, my maternal grandfather was serving on a German submarine.

Congrats on your paper! That's awesome news. :D

If you're planning on another baby soon, yeah -- I'd advise you lose some weight first, only because once the second one is born it'll be even harder to shed the pounds. Trust me on this. *g* But good luck with both endeavors.

10.) A banana.

That would make my day. :D

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Wow- that's really interesting. My family's been in America for a long time, apparently, so three of the four were all American vets (my grandmother was a nurse). I find family war stories fascinating. But it's funny you say that, because in Band of Brothers they always show interviews with the surviving members of Easy Company. One of the guys this episode was talking about how being a soldier was a job, and it was chilling to think that, had the situation been different, he might have been good friends with some of the guys he was fighting.

And yeah, that's one of the reasons I want to lose now. It would be easier. I have lost the baby weight, but I was heavier than I wanted to be before I was pregnant with Toby. But once we have two... Yeah. ::Sigh::

[gehayi.livejournal.com]

Can anyone bring any others to my attention?

Sophie's Choice (the heroine is a Polish gentile who was sentenced to a concentration camp with her two children)
The Hiding Place (focused on Dutch gentiles who were imprisoned for hiding Jews)
Paper Clips (focuses on building a monument to ALL victims of the Holocaust)

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I've never watched Sophie's Choice (I've heard that one's very brutal because I know what the choice is), and I've never even heard of the other two. I appreciate it!

[magic-at-mungos.livejournal.com]

The book - The Hiding Place is quite good. I managed to find a copy when I was doing volunteer woork near Ravensbruck - the women's camp where Carrie Ten Boom was taken. The only other places I've seen them have been Christain websites or Amazon.

[krisomniac.livejournal.com]

um, call me simple-minded, but I kinda want to see voldemort lose. :D

I'd like to see some kind of redemption for Petunia.

i'd like to see more magic and zombies.

is that so much for a girl to ask?

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

I don't think so. :) And yeah, Voldie will lose. I will be happy. Because for all that I enjoy ranting, I love Harry, Hermione, and Ron, and so want them to win.

And I'm sure we'll get the third one!

[cristix.livejournal.com]

Well, here is the problem with you! You love certain characters, but you still want them dead and unhappy. No wonder that you were pretty cruel with them in AIL and that my "pleadings" for mercy had no results whatsoever! :)

I do not understand this at all, because I am the exact opposite.

I am almost sure that your wish regarding Remus will not come true. He will live and he will be the last marauder, because Peter will die. I mean it would be too much to find him a girl and then kill him. he will live.

what I want to see in book 7:

1. Harry, Tonks and Remus casting a patronus together and Remus' patronus being a big dog and Moony, Padfoot and Prongs running together one more time in patronus form scaring Peter to death;

2. confirmation that Snape is really bad. I don't think this one will happen, though;

3. Harry alive. Come on, he must live, although I m not sure about this one either. You seem to have at least a thing in common with JK when it comes to how you treat your characters;

4. Skillful and marauder Remus. I m very tired of fics depicting Remus as bookish, boring and less lligent than Sirius/James. I get it, S/J were the best, but I just want confirmation that remus was and still is really, really good. I want him confronting someone and this being really cool. Either Fenrir or Bella or somebody else. Not Peter, though. And I want to see his michievous side again. No more about the bookish part. I want more of Remus, damn it! He has barely been present. This book should be his moment to shine;

5. More about the marauders and how cool they were and how Snape deserves part of what he received from them;

6. Peter dieing helping Harry in some way;

7. Harry and Ginny together; I don't think this will hapen, either. I have this theory that Ginny will sacrifice herself for Harry just like Lily did and thus saving Harry's life. Either this, or Harry will die, noooooo!

I am very doubtful about this book. I think it will be exactly what I don't want it to be: hero Snape, dead Harry, little Remus etc

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

6. Peter dieing helping Harry in some way;

See? you're bloodthirsty, too :)

I'm with you on most of your points, especially numbers 1, 3 (I do want Harry to live happily ever after), 4, 5, and 7. (Most especially 4. I am so. tired. of bookish Remus.) I don't really care about Snape- he bores me, to be honest :) (That's why he's never showing up in my stuff.) But I do agree he deserved a lot of what he got.

I do think you're right that Remus will live, though, because apparently True Love Saves All :P

[magic-at-mungos.livejournal.com]

Sophie Scholl is a lovely film. It's in German but has subtitles and it's about a young anti war activist in Germany.

Bent focuses on a gay man being sent to the camps. There's a couple of others but I can't think of them off the top of my head

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Thanks muchly! They're hard to find.

[a-t-rain.livejournal.com]

Remus/Tonks fans on my list, I suspect you all agree with me that the last thing any of us want to see is a double wedding with Bill and Fleur and Remus and Tonks, because that is SO corny.

Agreed. Quite apart from the fact that only an insane person would agree to share a double wedding with Fleur, They've. Been. Dating. One. Week. (For some reason, nobody else in the R/T camp seems to want to acknowledge this.)

What I want to see:

-- Harry, Ron, and Hermione going back to Hogwarts as students, because I've been saying they would all along and I want to be proven right about something for once.

-- Happy endings all around for the characters I like. (This would include, in addition to the four principle kids, Luna, Neville, Lupin, Tonks, McGonagall, Hagrid, and the rest of the Weasley clan. I think we are, in fact, going to lose some of the above, but I would frankly be shocked if Lupin were one of them, and would probably throw the book across the room.)

-- Peter, Snape, and Percy all doing Big Redemptive Things, or in Percy's case possibly a Small Redemptive Thing and an apology.

-- A few more dimensions to some of the younger generation of Slytherins (hopefully not Draco, but I'll take anything).

-- Some kind of explanation of why JKR thought it was a good idea to write that *&%# mirror into OotP.

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

They've. Been. Dating. One. Week. (For some reason, nobody else in the R/T camp seems to want to acknowledge this.)

Thank you. I'm actually quite willing to believe they might eventually marry. But I personally see this happening much later and with very little ceremony and announcement. Remus is a very private person who wouldn't want to be a spectacle. Tonks is not a girly-girl. And yeah- they've just come to terms with their relationship. Not the time to be talking marriage.

I would like to see some more 3-D Slytherins, and I totally agree about the mirror!!!!

[lovemoony4ever.livejournal.com]

I'll be happy as long as someone mention a banana:)

Generally Remus surviving, Harry to at least mention Sirius, Peter redeeming himself, and NO double-wedding. And a decent conversation between Harry and Remus of course:)

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

I'm relatively confident we'll avoid the double wedding. I think (pray!) it's a fangirl notion.

And yes- we need a good conversation between Harry and Remus!

[marauderthesn.livejournal.com]

Oh, you and your bananas. *giggles*

I still think R/T are a total elopement-type couple.

I still think R/T are a total STUPID-type couple. Sorry, I had to say it.

I really want a resolution with Percy too. I hope JKR's not going to kill him off before he does anything cool. He has so much potential.