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!

Baby toys with iPad holders?

Okay, so I was on Amazon, looking at dumb toys for infants, and I came across this one, and my heart literally sank into my stomach. An activity table with an iPad holder smack dab in the middle!? Are you kidding me... babies/toddlers do not need to have iPads in front of their faces all hours of the day. These toys are only developmentally appropriate when they cater to infants' needs! Needs like fine motor skills and exploring sounds and learning to control their fingers and hands... 

This makes me so mad. It sucks that parents are so uninformed about the effects of media on infant brains, and that dumb toy makers make crap like this. 

Also, this description is my favorite: "The iDiscover App Activity Table encourages first words with playful phrases and sing-along songs. Downloadable activities teach letters, shapes and more to build vocabulary. The table rewards curiosity and encourages discovery with fun sound effects and lights."

TVs CAN'T TEACH INFANTS ANYTHING!!!

http://www.amazon.com/VTech-iDiscover-App-Activity-Table/dp/B00CMNX3Q6/ref=pd_sbs_t_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=0QQZAR4NEXGTB5CXVFX3 

36%!?

The other day my husband and I watched The Giver. We really, really liked it. It was super uplifting and beautiful and made you really appreciate life and all that we are blessed with here on earth. But we went home and saw that on Rotten Tomatoes the "critics" had given it a 36% ! I usually like looking at Rotten Tomatoes, and a lot of times, after I watch stuuupid movies, I see that I could have avoided wasting 2 hours of my life by checking it first. But sometimes, there are wonderful movies that don't get very good reviews from the so-called critics.

This got us thinking about how so often, the movies that win Best Picture and things like that are obscure, R rated films that are full of violence, sex and profanity. Sometimes I wonder if "the critics" just loved to be shocked, and love to see awful things put on screen because it's "artistic" or "innovative." Well, I disagree. I think that movies can lack the shock factor, lack nudity and profanity and still be great movies.

P.S. I have no idea why they put Taylor Swift in this movie - it's nothing but distracting. I also think it's probably just for the publicity. Which is ridiculous. Also, every time I see a poster for The Giver with Taylor's face on it it drives me crazy because she was literally in it for like 2 minutes!

Anyways, yay for beautiful movies that make you feel good about life!! (And for posters that actually show the main characters in a movie). 

TJ Maxx

The other day I saw a TJ Maxx commercial and I really liked it. It showed people living their lives - with family, friends, kids, romance and fun. It was just so positive and highlighted the simple, but beautiful moments in life.