Rashaka's Fanfiction Hall of OMG WTF-ers

The fandom:
Avatar: The Last Airbender

The source:
Fanfiction.net

The crime:
Summary: It is about Katara and Prince Zuko having a rough night and they didn't talk to each other at all. Then Draco Malfoy comes in and Katara falls in love with him right away.

In this case, the summary was enough to damage all that is good and right in the world. I didn't even bother looking at the fic.

review: Howl's Moving Castle

SO.MUCH.LOVE.

Okay, I've never read the book. And no, it's not quite as fantastic as Spirited Away. But it's just as fantastical, and it's just as beautiful and just as charming and this time it's a love story... and shucks if I'm not a sucker for a visually beautiful love story filled with magic and demons and spells.

( movie spoilers, thoughts, and a few things I didn't quite understand )

...Basically giant entire sections of the plot confused me, and I never really felt I understood what was going on. Which is why I say it's not as good as Spirited Away.

However, NONE OF THAT BOTHERED ME WHILE WATCHING. Honestly! I barely even thought about it until afterward.

So I didn't really understand the whole thing with his ex-teacher. Did I care? No. I cared about his relationship with Sophie and Calcifer and all the MAGIC SPARKLY SHINY THINGS. Truely, Hayao Miyazaki movies can always be counted on to bring the MAGIC SPARKLY SHINY to the table. Even when the plot isn't as tight as I'd like, Miyazaki is so skilled at blending MAGIC SPARKLY SHINY with lovable characters that I care about and want to be safe, so that I don't care if I didn't really catch all the layers. It's fun to watch all the same.

I think I'll have to add this to my Miyazaki collection. I still need to pick up the DVD of Castle of Cagliostro too...

So I have a poll. I want to hook my 7 year old cousin on Miyazaki. Get 'em young, I say! And I've made a poll of the three movies that I'd like to show her. But frankly Miyazaki movies, while often meant for children, tend to have scarier imagery than movies for American kids of similar age groups. Like the witch in Spirited Away, or the bombs and monster!Howl in this film.

At least I think. It's really hard for me to judge because I don't have kids so I don't know how scary is scary, you know?

The U.S. rating is PG. But what does that mean?

So those of you with children or around children or who imagine you have a good idea about what children should watch...

[Poll #618509]

I figure it'll probably be screened by her parents first, but I'd like to save everyone the trouble of my giving a gift she's too young to watch, you know?

I didn't ask about Princess Mononoke because I remember pretty clearly that's rated PG-13. And I remember when I saw it in the theater some dad brought 4 girls that looked about 8 years old and they started freaking out when the demon was attacking the village in the beginning. ::shakes head:: That's a parent who will learn to actually read the rating next time and not assume that because it's animated and has the word "princess" in it that it'll be meant for children.


I decided I'm going to read the book. Any of the questions I have above-- if they can be answered by reading the book, then don't tell me. :D


EDIT: When it comes to the "how young?" question my judgement is further compromised by the fact that at 7 I was reading books other kids were reading at 9 and 10. At 10 I was reading Michael Chricton, which rates a good R for violent monster-induced deaths and swearing. I remember I was always able to read books of a more mature level than movies I was allowed to watch (mostly because my parents didn't really supervise my reading at all), but I think there is a difference between reading the words and seeing the visual imagery as a child. I might let a kid read Jurassic Park before I let them watch Poltergeist, though both have monsters and a high body count. I know my cousin is reading at a higher level than her peers, but I'm not sure what that means in terms of film she can watch.