It's Glorious!

Everyone had been talking about this song foreveerrr and I kept seeing links to it on Facebook but I just never watched it. The other day my mom made me because she LOVES it and I loved it too! It brought the Spirit so quickly and easily. :) I love the power of music.

The other day my New Testament teacher shared that before the Savior's suffering in Gethsemane He only did a few things to prepare... one thing the scriptures mention is that He sang a song with His disciples. :) I had never noticed that before. Music is such a beautiful part of this life and I'm so grateful for it.

He also showed us this quote: “We get nearer to the Lord through music than perhaps through any other thing except prayer.” - J. Reuben Clark

So if you're like me and somehow still haven't seen this video yet, here you go:

Where's the line?

The other day I was discussing with some friends where the line is between what's appropriate and what's not. We were talking about a video we had seen and I felt included inappropriate sexual innuendos. I let people know that it offended me a lot, because of how sacred I feel that physical intimacy is. Everyone else felt like it was a funny reference and wasn't offended by it. It's interesting how everyone has a different line that they agree with.

Dear Marvel Studios,

I had some feedback about your recent release, Guardians of the Galaxy that I wanted to let you know about. First off, I loved your movie. I thought it was exciting, humorous, and uplifting. I loved almost everything about it. However, I had one big complaint for whoever made the movie trailers.

The movie does a great job of making Gamora seem like a likeable, believable character. She doesn’t let people walk all over her and is a strong moral force for good. She is well-rounded and unlike many other superhero female characters, has a brain and something worthwhile to say. I appreciated that the movie did not portray her in revealing or ultra-sexy clothing. I love that the characters could have real conversations with her instead of just comment on how her body looked. However, in one of your movie trailers for this film, you dropped the ball.

Here you had this great female lead with plenty of character and yet, when you put together a promo for the movie you just had to take off her clothes! There is one small but significant moment in a trailer that shows Gamora backless looking into the camera with a sultry look on her face. You stripped down everything that the writers had done to make Gamora a real character and reduced her to nothing but a body. The most ironic part about it is that this scene didn’t even make the cut into the movie. But they still had to throw it into the trailer – just in case the throngs of people who were going to this movie weren’t convinced by the storyline, the directing or the amazing lineup of actors, you had to convince them with SEX to come and see it. It is despicable that you would use a woman’s body to sell movie tickets.

I commend your ability to make a superhero movie without sexualizing or demeaning the main female lead but I challenge you to think about what you do in marketing to sell tickets.

Sincerely,

Diana Frehner

Mockingjay

The other day I watched Mockingjay and it was SO good! I loved every minute of it. Something that touched me very deeply was the bravery and courage of the people in the other districts who were rebelling against the capital. As I watched them stand up for what was right and attack the capital soldiers I couldn't help thinking about how the people in the front of the lines knew that they would be killed but they did it anyway. They were willing to sacrifice their own lives so that other people could carry on the fight and make a better life for future generations. I can't imagine the bravery and love that people like this possess! This scripture came to mind: "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." 

What struck me the most was that people are still doing things like this today. There are parts of the world that live under oppressive governments and there are people who are willing to sacrifice their lives for others. 

I love that this movie allows us to remember how blessed we are and to remember those who are still fighting for what is right.

Real Barbies for Sale

I just read an article about realistic Barbies for sale! I think everyone has read the articles and seen pictures showing how Barbies are unrealistic and what a realistic Barbie would look like. Well, one of the people who made a picture of how they would look got enough funding to make the Barbies and you can now buy them. :)

I know that every time I read in the comments section under these types of articles there are tons of people who think we are a bunch of crazies to criticize Barbie bodies. They say things like, "I played with Barbies for years and I never once thought, her body is better than mine, I wish I looked like that!" Or, "Instead of changing what Barbies look like why don't you just teach your kid to love her body it's not that hard!"

I think that for these people, they just don't understand all of the intricacies of the human mind and everything that goes into self-esteem. And it's not that Barbies single-handedly warp little girls' minds; it's the accumulation of image after image that we are bombarded with over our lives that does the damage. Kudos to the people who made this cute Barbie that we can relate to!

https://lammily.com/product/lammily-exclusive-first-edition/ 

Apps!

I was looking at apps in the apple store for a child life class I'm in. Our assignment was to find apps that would be helpful to children in a healthcare setting and I happened across so many cool apps! One was called My First Yoga and was for kids to do yoga and learn to relax. It had cute pictures and cool narration to go along with it. Look how cute!

It got me thinking about all the cool and creative apps that exist. You can literally make anything into an app and there are things that can help people so much! 

Some friends of mine told me about an app they use to help their sleeping patterns. It records how long you are in deep sleep and can tell you over time what days you got the best sleep. You can even set it on the bed next to you, and when it senses that you are in your lightest realm of sleep and it's within 30 minutes of your alarm time, it will automatically wake you up! This leads to you being less fatigued and keeps you from feeling groggy. I never would have imagined there could be an app like that! It just shows that technology has an amazing power to help people live better, healthier lives. I love it!

God's Not Dead

This movie was so good! I love how it used a story to inspire us. Also, at the end of the movie, it said to text your friends the message: God's not dead. And I did it! Media is powerful!