You wish Mindy was your...

Reasons why you should wish Mindy was your person:

You wish Mindy was your roommate because because she'll laugh with you at 3am when you both walk into the bathroom at the same time in the dark and scare each other. 

       Because she can reach high places without getting a chair

       Because she plays the recorder outside your bedroom door.

       Because she sings you lullabies as you go to sleep but changes the words to make the song about you.

       Because she has killer dance moves. I mean those hips can really move.

       Because when she makes dinner and always shares.
        Because she would be your travel companion and play "My Heart Will Go On" on her recorder in a crowded public restroom in San Francisco. 

You wish Mindy was your sister-in-law 
     Because she will meet your wife's emotional needs that you cannot recognize or understand.
     Because she will sympathize and side with you when you're right. Sometimes. 
     Because she'll love and respect you, even if you are still human and flawed. 
     Because she'll labor and fret over gifts for you because she wants it to be awesome. 


You wish Mindy was your friend because she makes you laugh so hard that you literally pee all over the floor.

       Because she will break into a friend's phone and read texts you aren't supposed to.

       Because she always offers you the best advice and helps you see other people's perspectives.

       Because she can fit 6 in the lumina and will coast you all over town.

       Because she can always celebrate everyone's happiness and successes.

You wish Mindy was your daughter because she will make you laugh, like when she said "That sausage has been in a lot of places and it was hot in every country!" (as a child, when you were cooking sausage first by boiling, then in microwave, then frying pan). And because she is clever, wonderful, and artistic.

You wish Mindy was your aunt because she'd send you a video of her dancing to Taylor Swift with signs that say to have a happy first day of school.

You wish Mindy was your sister because she'd send you this picture because she was honest-to-goodness amazed at the recent bit of celebrity trivia you had dug up (Chris Sarandon, Humperdinck from Princess Bride, was married to Susan Sarandon when they were first starting out in Hollywood. She kept the last name after they split).

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY FAVORITE PERSON!

Love, 

Mel, Chris, Tari, Kate, and Marcia

Complex Character, How I love thee

A Meryl Streep movie: so much to analyze. This movie could be considered slow to some, considering it’s all dialogue and some scenes are drawn out in talk, talk, talk. However, it will keep you interested and watching if you let yourself get involved in the complexity of what’s going on (even though it seems like everything is quite simple).

The movie begins with Father Flynn giving a sermon on doubt, the doubt we all have in our faith and otherwise. We are all united in doubt and in the feeling of being alone, he says. Throughout the movie there are moments where each character doubts, and where we as the viewer doubt as well. This is an easily relatable subject, for I think I could say we all doubt daily about various matters. Is what I’m doing with my life really important? Is my faith really as rock-solid as I think it is? Is that person who was just given the death penalty really guilty? Am I ever going to sleep again?

I can’t get enough of movies where the right and wrong is not so easily spelled out. Where the characters are painted into a corner and there seems to be no solution. Where the lines of black and white are blurred, and you know what’s right, but there are multiple problems keeping the characters (and you the viewer) from carrying out the solution to the problem. This happens Doubt. A nun suspects a priest is abusing one of the altar boys. Too bad it’s not that simple. There are layers uncovered that make us doubt and wonder what is the best solution to all of this? When there’s no evidence, should we just let it go? Even though if it's true, it's clearly a devastating and horrible thing for the victims and their family? We can’t just act out of pure emotion and experience, can we? Following the characters in this movie is rewarding because of the superb acting. There is a complexity to them, even down to the altar boy, that gives this movie its layers and therefore the enjoyment to the viewer.

Spoiler alert: continue on only if you’ve seen the movie.

Questions:

1. Does Sister Alouicious love the children, or is she just on a power trip?

I think she does love them, and here’s the evidence pointing to it:

-After she has the conversation with the boy’s mom, she realizes how important it is that he stays at the school until graduation in June. This causes her to “leave him out of it” as much as she can, as his mom requests.

-Her treatment of the old, blind nun shows her loyalty and protector instincts.

2. Why doesn’t Sister James tell Sis. Alouicious about the undershirt in the locker?

This could be the most incriminating piece of evidence and Sis. James doesn’t share it. I’m not sure why, but I would guess because she really, really wants to believe that he didn’t do it and that’s the driving force behind it.

3. What does Sis. Alouicious have doubts about at the end when she started crying to Sis. James?

I don’t think she was doubting Father Flynn’s guilt at all here, in case you were confused by this. She was confessing her doubts about her faith. It was a full-circle movie moment, drawing back to the sermon at the beginning. The conversation leading up to this shows she was still convinced as ever about the Father’s guilt, because of the way he gave up and didn’t fight when she lied about phoning the nuns at his previous pastors. But because the montsenior promoted him even after she told him everything, that fueled her doubt in her faith. How could the men be so corrupt? Sis. Alouicious is sure this Father has molested many boys, and now he is the principal of an entire school? I don’t think she ever doubted his guilt, but I’m sure she has doubted in her faith (as most of us do) over the years of serving as a nun.