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The want of Sweet Magnolias

Introduction:

From the first 15 minutes of the television show Sweet Magnolias, I was hooked! This show is about a group of three best friends who are trying to navigate life in a small town. They have their ups and downs through marriage, divorce, raising children and small town gossip. Dana Sue is a separated mom of a teenager who runs her own restaurant, Helen is a successful lawyer in their town and Maddie is a mom of 3 children going through a divorce from her husband, who slept with his assistant and is pregnant. Living in a small and a very southern lifestyle type town, you can only imagine all the gossip that goes around when you have “drama” and how fast it spreads. Along with all the adult drama and romance, the children all have intertwined feelings and emotions causing a lot of problems. These friends are there for each other for every single high and low this show offers. They have their weekly “pour it out” margarita nights to help talk, discuss and get advice on all the things they are dealing with.

Emotional/Relatable

A tip from Pixxar says that to be a great story it needs to have emotion and is relatable to the watcher. The show only has 2 seasons so far and it has made me feel a ton of mixed emotions. I moved to a different country away from my family so watching this show has made me feel that desire for the type of friendship that these women have. They are not only friends, but family! No matter what they are doing, they will drop everything to be at the other one’s side. Those type of relationships are hard to find, especially when you move somewhere else, and you want nothing more while watching this.

I also relate to this story because of the small town living. I live in a very small village and the amount of gossip that goes through the village, whether it is by mouth or by digital platforms, is ridiculously crazy! The positive outcome of so much information spreading is that information gets out, but it is also not always about the bad stuff. Amazing things happen and the residents celebrate the victories and the acknowledge all the hard work that goes on around us.

Rooting for a character

Good stories give you a character to root for and this show has many. You have your “good guys” you are hoping that everything positive happens to them and that nothing goes wrong. You want nothing but the best for Dana Sue, Helen and Maddie, but also their children even with all the drama they go through.

Inspiring

Ashley Fell in her Ted talk, says that stories need to have the 4 I’s: Interest, Instruct, Involve and Inspire. Sweet Magnolias has all of these, but I find that this show inspires the most! These three friends go through some of the hardest things that an individual can go through or as a parent can go through. That alone is inspiring to me, especially as a parent, but they also have huge life changes going on as they try to figure out what is next in their lives. I know change is hard and I enjoy seeing others come out on top no matter what comes their way!!

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Nearly Wordless yet Unforgettable

Are you ready to hear about a great animated movie that has minimal dialog yet has all the emotional punch you would expect from a great story? No, I don’t mean the introductory story of Pixar’s Up, or the full-length movie Wall-E, although those are both fantastic, and each won an Academy Award for the Best Animated Feature Film in their respective release years.

Actually, the story I’m thinking of today is The Triplets of Belleville (Les triplets de Belleville) which is perhaps a lesser-known film that was the first from France to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature (it lost to Finding Nemo).

The story is simple:

  • Once upon a time, there was an elderly woman who lived alone with her grandson and their dog, Bruno. 
  • Every day grandma Souza helps Champion train diligently for the Tour de France.
  • But, one day during the race he and two others are kidnapped by mobsters. 
  • Because of that Madame Souza follows the clues with Bruno all the way across the ocean to the American city of Belleville, where she arrives penniless.
  • Because of that, she makes friends with other ladies her age who turn out to be the Triples of Belleville – sisters who were once famous for their vaudeville act and are now just as poor as Madame Souza and even more eccentric. 
  • Because of that, they are able to find a key clue and then distract the kidnappers…
  • Until finally, they rescue the racers in the most dramatic chase you have ever seen with a cycle-powered ‘vehicle’ versus Citroëns. 
  • And, ever since then the family has been reunited and able to return home.

You can see why the story was memorable – it has all the elements of a classic ‘Story Spine’. But there is a lot more you can’t tell from the bare-bones description.

Eye-grabbing

The Triplets of Belleville (2003) cover

If every good story needs to have colour, picture, and movement then you can bet that an animated film will explode with colour and movement every chance it gets. This movie definitely does that, but it also manages to surprise many people right away with its irreverent visual jokes in the opening scene when we see the Triplets in their singing heyday.

Then the pace slows down, and there is no background music for much of the movie. The bicycle, whistle, and dog each become important characters. I recently found a video with musical analysis about it The Triplets of Belleville: Music in Silence (Know the Score), and found it very interesting how the music comes in at key moments but the practical sound effects are given centre stage at other times.

Even long after the story is over, the audience can remember certain brief scenes vividly – Fred Astaire being turned on and eaten by his own shoes; the unique way that the older, destitute triplets source their dinner, and the musical way that they serve it; and a maitre d’ who literally bends over backward to his rich clientele. 

For just a taste, see this excerpt of Madame Souza performing together with the Triplets of Belleville on improvised instruments while her dog Bruno finds a critical clue to find Champion. 

A performance using some very unique upcycled instruments
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An Awesome Story

I have a confession: I read fanfic. Is that even a confession-worthy declaration anymore? Regardless, the story I’m going to share today is a fanfiction story. It’s not just any fanfiction story, though; it is a masterpiece of digital integration and meta-storytelling. It is called The Theory of Narrative Causality.

Firstly, this fanfic is over a decade old, which is forever in internet years. Secondly, I haven’t read it in about a decade and I don’t remember the specifics. Looking at the master post, there do seem to be some NC-17 bits, so access at your own risk.

The story is very meta. It’s a fanfiction using the characters from the 2010 BBC series Sherlock. However, it recasts them as “normal” people who are fans of the original Sherlock Holmes stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Then it plops them squarely in Livejournal-era fandom and has them all participate in a Big Bang event. Sherlock is an artist who is paired with John, an author, and the two of them create a story/art collaboration that winds up being a fanwork version of BBC Sherlock itself. The characters literally create the story from which they originated.

But that’s not even the best part. Thanks to some coding magic I will never understand, the story is formatted exactly like a series of online interactions. There are scenes that are recreated comment sections, for example, and you can actually interact with the comment page elements. It is absolutely delightful because you can tick the ticky boxes!

(Caveat: I haven’t gone through and checked if all those elements are still functional a decade later. I wish this had been posted to AO3, but that would be the world’s most insane work skin, so I don’t blame the author for not doing that.)

I’m not going to say this is my favourite story ever, since I don’t really have a favourite story, but I did immensely enjoy it back in the day, and given its digital elements, I thought it was quite fitting to share here.

As for why I like it, the digital elements aren’t the only thing. I like stories that are self-aware and comment on themselves. I like retellings because you can add an angle/reading to the original story, like “What does it say about and/or do to the central theme of this story if we change or enhance this one element?” Something along the lines of modern retellings of fairy tales, for example. 

This story has a lot of that. Since the characters are already known to the audience, their behaviour in this different setting is both predictable and not. When they repeat lines from the series, it’s a cute reference, but when they deviate from expected actions, the reader has to ask why, ask how the particulars of this version of the story affected them and made them different. 

Also, this whole story is basically a love letter to fandom, which is one of the great loves of my life, so that’s also a point in its favour.

I’ve written all of this and realized that I haven’t referenced the readings/teachings of this module at all, so let me add that now. This story is, at its heart, a love story. It is very universal and relatable, which was one of the rules of storytelling from Pixar, even though it didn’t make it into the actual article about Pixar writing rules, which makes citing it awkward. You root for the characters to get what they want while they struggle with it all. And it’s very satisfying when they succeed.

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Keeping Up with The Kardashian’s

I am a crazy reality TV fan and I have always LOVED the Kardashian’s. I have been keeping up for as long as I can remember. One of my favorite things about this famous family is everyone knows them one way or another. They may know them from dating an NBA Player, a famous rapper or maybe even Kim’s sex tape. You either love to love them or love to hate them, I love to love them!  

Besides all the crazy drama that comes along with this family, I love the fact that lots of their real life experiences that are captured on their show are now well known memes around the world. One of my favourite memes from the show is when they are on a family trip to Bora Bora.

On this trip they are staying in overwater villas and Bora Bora is well known for their crystal clear water. There is a scene where they are fooling around in the water and Kim’s fiancé (at the time) Kris Humphreys playfully throws Kim into the water. At first she is laughing because they are just messing around but she goes to feel her head because he threw her in landing on the side of her head, and that is when she realizes that her diamond earring is gone! She starts to freak out and cries out “oh my god I’m going to cry my diamond earring”. She later states that this earring costs a whopping $75K. Her sister Kylie later swam down to the bottom of the ocean and because the water is so clear she was actually able to retrieve the earring!

This moment from their show has become so well known and popular that it has been used as the brunt of jokes and memes all over the internet. At the time Kim was extremely upset as she had just bought these earrings herself and it was one of her first ever extravagant purchases she made on her own. Now she can look back at this moment and laugh at herself with the rest of us!

This story just really shows how the internet can bring so many people together without you even having to know each other. You could just say the words “oh my god my diamond earring” and some people would know exactly what you’re talking about. That is what I love about the internet and that is also what I love about reality TV. They give us all these great lines to work off of.

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Not Another Love Story

Growing up in the 1990s to 2000s, I was that little girl who sat criss-crossed on my green velvet family couch watching Disney princesses manifest their Prince Charmings through song, and later watching young boys woo their crushes with boombox serenades. It’s no wonder I consider myself a ‘hopeless romantic’.

During that time, I lived for the “meet-cutes” where boy meets girl under adorable, often serendipitous, but nevertheless fated circumstances. That was my idea of a true love story.

But my favourite story – the one that I’m going to share here – is not that love story.

Once Upon a Time, There was Jane

I first read Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte in Grade 9. If you’re unfamiliar with the book, let me break it down using a technique created by Kenn Adams called the Story Spine.

Once upon a time, there was a young orphan named Jane Eyre, who after surviving a childhood of loneliness and abuse, becomes a private tutor for a young girl, the ward of an elusive businessman.

Every day, she tutors her student but continues to wonder about the businessman who hired her, Mr. Rochester, and the mysteries of her new home, Thornfield Manor.

But one day, Mr. Rochester returns to the manor and meets with Jane.

Because of that, Jane forms a relationship with Mr. Rochester, and they fall in love.

Because of that, Jane and Mr. Rochester plan to marry but during the ceremony Jane learns of Bertha, Mr. Rochester’s mentally ill wife, who he has hidden in the attic of Thornfield Manor.

Because of that, Jane is humiliated and runs away from Thornfield Manor.

Until finally, Jane returns to Thornfield Manor, learns that Bertha died after setting fire to the manor, and reunites with Mr. Rochester.

And ever since then, Jane lived a life of love, marrying Rochester and raising their family together.

If my ideal love story was one where a hypothetical couple meets coincidentally while travelling through a quaint village in Europe, spending their days riding Vespas and nights drinking wine at sunset, what made me fall in love with the tragic story of Jane Eyre?

Emotional Thread Connection

The book begins with young orphan Jane living with her abusive aunt and cousins. Her story goes from her being sent to a religious boarding school and living under similarly harsh conditions to facing humiliation and heartbreak while at Thornfield Manor. Alison McAdam writes in Beyond the 5 W’s: What should you ask before starting a story? that to engage an audience you must ask if there is “an emotional or intellectual thread that can run throughout the story”. Jane overcoming adversities hooked me in as if the emotional thread was a physical thread wrapped around my finger forcing me to turn another page.

Admiration Despite Challenges

A good story is often one where the audience isn’t focused on a happy ending but instead on the journey they’ve taken with the protagonist. As Pixar storyboard artist, Emma Coats, shares in her 22 Rules of Storytelling, “#1: You admire a character for trying more than for their successes.” While finishing the book was bittersweet, it was was Jane’s resilience throughout that solidifies the book as one of the greatest stories of love I’ve ever read.

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“Here’s looking at you, kid.”

Describing one of my favourites, Casablanca (1942).

Why is Casablanca one of my favourite stories?

The classic Casablanca line

Aside from often quoted lines and wonderful music score, the location of Casablanca provides a visually engaging backdrop. The setting against the complicated geo-political backdrop of World War 2, adds struggle – a key story component according to O’Hara (2014) – to the compelling 3 act structure.

The Story in 3 Acts

The Story Spine method helps convey the key moments. However, Casablanca is highly complex, explores multiple character arcs and has numerous twists, which is why the film is so enduring!

Act 1 – Setting the scene

Once upon a time, as people flee German occupied Europe desperate to reach safe-havens, they pass through Vichy controlled Casablanca.

Every day, cynical Rick manages ‘Rick’s Cafe Americian’, a popular Casablanca casino, which is known for it’s music. This song is one of the reasons I love this film!

“Play it again Sam” is never said in Casablanca!

Act 2 – all about the girl?

But one day, Victor and his wife Ilsa walk into Rick’s Cafe seeking help.

“Of all the gin joints in all the towns in the world, she walks into mine.”

Rick Blaine (played by Humphrey Bogart)

Because of that, Rick is conflicted, as he sticks his “neck out for nobody“. Through flashbacks we explore his history… we start to understand Rick’s jaded attitude…

Because of that, despite Isla’s pleas Rick won’t hand over the papers he has acquired that the couple need to escape. Victor is subsequently arrested at an underground resistance meeting. Rick still loves her???

Because of that, Rick tells the local Vichy French police chief, Captain Louis Renault, that he wants to leave Casablanca with Ilsa. Rick suggests the police release Victor and create a trap. If the police can detain Victor attempting an escape, he will face harsher punishment and Renault can win favour with the local German Commander. A cunning plan…

Until finally, Rick double-crosses Renault, forcing him to phone his officers sending them away. Unbeknownst to Rick, Renault calls the German Commander, who tries to stop the plane, but is shot by Rick. Ilsa and Victor to escape on a plane bound for Lisbon. Which was Rick’s plan all along… Plot twist!

Character motives and pasts are explored in flashbacks and call backs throughout the film.

Act 3 – Spoiler! He doesn’t get the girl…

And ever since then, Renault doesn’t arrest Rick nor stop the plane, but suggests he and Rick escape Casablanca and join the French resistance! Rick’s jaded outlook fades as he returns back to his idealist ways.

“Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.” 

Rick Blaine (played by Humphrey Bogart)

Bonus – Unsolved mystery

Rick’s past is alluded to, but we never find out why he can’t go home to America… Leaving an unanswered question divides critics, some feel it leaves the consumer empty whilst others feel it’s important to be left wanting more. I quite like that we are left with the mystery….

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Feyre & Rhysand

When poised with the question, “What is your favourite story?” I find it so very hard to choose. One story does stand out recently as a favourite of mine though. The love story of Feyre and Rhysand; A Court of Thorns and Roses. It’s one of those “Teen Fantasy” that should actually be marketted to adults kind of stories. Your typical good girl ends up in a big mess, falls for the bad guy and they don’t realize it but they were destined to be together, kind of cheesy love stories. Just through in a lot of violence, bloodshed, wars, and fantasy storytelling, and you’ve got the perfect story for me!

Now this sounds kind of harsh, but I can’t do the plain love story. I get bored when good girl meets bad boy, falls in love and they live happily ever after. I want some characters to die off. I want the bad guy to win. Especially when he is described and visualized as well as Rhys is, if you know what I mean. “Meet your next book boyfriend” as I have seen him described.

https://fandomania.com/character-spotlight-rhysand/

Why this story?

What does this story have that made me fall so in love with it? Sarah J. Maas is a fantastic visual writer. I feel like I am in the story with the characters. My husband thought I was crazy as I cried with them and completely lost myself in the story as I was reading the book. It adheres to so many of the 22 Rules of Storytelling According to Pixar. The characters are thrown into situations that seem to have nothing to do with their strengths. Feyre is a mortal human who finds herself in the Fae realm where she is vulnerable to everything. Absolutely every kind of creature in the realm is dangerous to her, and most want to eat her.

Without spoiling the story for you, (because that is just the worst!) she ends up adapting and fitting right in. She escapes the toxic relationship she is initially in, and finds her heart mate, but it is not all fun and games and sweet nothings. He is the mortal enemy of most Fae in the realm; the bad guy. The characters which continued to develop over the series, and the twisting plot lines, sucked me right into the story.

#16: What are the stakes? Give us reason to root for the character. What happens if they don’t succeed? Stack the odds against.

This whole series is a story of the stakes being stacked against Feyre. They are stacked even further against her and Rhys making it as a couple. It takes so long for them to find each other and then build up their relationship and trust to a level that allows them to be together, that it seems the whole world starts falling apart around them.

From the beginning when Feyre is introduced as the oldest child of a family of 3 sisters, whose mother had died years ago, living in poverty, to her being brought to the Fae lands because she had killed a faerie without provocation (even though he appeared as a wolf to her), she is the underdog. She is then basically held captive by Tamelin, and nearly marries him, while knowing that something wasn’t right. This is one of the first times that Rhys swoops in to save her, while readers are still led to believe that he is the bad guy in the plot line.

Is there ever a happily ever after?

Even when we start to think that the wars and things are settling down, there is still turmoil for Feyre. Near the end of the series it is turmoil with her sisters, and I really enjoyed that the books switched gears and moved to Nesta being the main character instead of Feyre.

All in all, I highly recommend the Court of Thorns and Roses series to any avid fantasy-love story readers. Fastastic story to keep pulling you in over and over again. There is also such a following that there are playlists on Spotify that fans have created to go along with the moods/themes of the books and relationships within those books. Such a great series!

Feyre & Rhysand (Feysand) by Cantina
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Balloons, Wizardry, and a Villain Oh My!

Photo by Padli Pradana on Pexels.com

If you loved princesses, magic and balloons as a child of the 90’s then The Balloon Tree was likely on your bookshelf. The children’s storybook written and illustrated by Phoebe Gillman the author widely known for her popular children’s book Jillian Jiggs, also created a story that engaged children with a princess in peril, a villain and a wizard that comes to her rescue with a spell.

Rather than give a synopsis, the following outline of the book will be conveyed using the method of the story spine structure created in 1991 by Kenn Adams, detailing the main elements of the story. The story spine to The Balloon Tree is as follows:

Once upon a time there was a princess, Leona, who lived in a hilltop kingdom with her father the king.

Every day, the happy princess loved to sing, dance, and play with balloon which the castle was always full of.

But one day, an invitation arrived for the King summoning him and his knights to a Royal Tournament.

Because of that, the evil Archduke was put in charge of the kingdom.

Because of that, the Archduke ordered all the balloons in the kingdom to be destroyed and the princess be locked in her room.

Because of that, Leona escaped her room via a secret passageway and asked the wizard for help in creating more balloons to signal her father home.

Because of that, the wizard gave Leona a spell for the tree in the garden to produce more balloons.

Because of that, Leona searched the kingdom for a balloon to cast the spell, and was triumphant.

Because of that, balloons started sprouting from the tree filling the lands with balloons.

Until finally, the king saw a balloon at the edge of the forest and rushed home to rescue his daughter and townspeople from the Archduke.

And ever since then, the townspeople have been joyous and the Archduke has been in the dungeon blowing up balloons.

Much like a Disney movie the main character lived in a kingdom far, far away and was in distress. However, this story resonated with me not only due to my love of balloons as a child, but that the main character was a young girl. Unlike many movies and tales whose protagonist was an adult, Leona was a child who was very brave and able to be her own heroine. No knight or prince came to her rescue as often depicted in stories. A cleaver little boy did help her in time of need, and the wizard provided her a solution, but she was able to fulfill her mission of signaling her father by her own tenacity. “If the premise or character is relatable than the reader will be attached to the story due to the emotional tie” stated Social Media Strategist Linda Hoang in her lecture for Digital Storytelling and following Pixar artist Emma Coats rules 1 & 4 of storytelling. As a young child I was connected to the princesses character wanting to be savvy problem-solver, but also dependent on others for assistance. I was unaware of the term ‘girl power’ as I read this story for the first time in my grade two classroom, retrieving the book from a bin in the “read to self” corner of the room. However, I certainly retained the sense of empowerment and checked the book out of the library to continue reading it at home until my parents purchased me a copy which I have since gifted to my cousins children. This book has become an enduring favourite in their household as well. It entangles the concepts of courage, guidance and teamwork to achieve freedom. If you would like to add a copy to your children’s literary collection it can be purchased via Amazon or Chapters/Indigo.

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A Dreamy Story I’ll Never Forget

One of my favourite stories is the movie What Dreams May Come. It’s the story of Chris and Annie, a couple deeply in love. Annie is a talented and sensitive artist and  Chris is her biggest fan. They suffer a devastating loss of their two children which changes their lives forever, with Chris trying everything he can to make Annie happy again. Four years later, Chris seems to be breaking through to Annie when he also dies in a car accident one stormy night. He wakes up to his friend welcoming him to Heaven and showing him around. Heaven is magical, a place right out of Annie’s most beautiful paintings where he learns he can do anything. His dog jumps out, slipping across the wet paint of the colourful field he is in, and the sky swirls shades of blue and white. He can fly, walk on water and touch the delicate paint strokes of a flower. He seems happy.

Except one day, he learns Annie has taken her own life, and when suicide is involved, the people don’t end up at the same place as Chris has found himself. The movie follows him as he tries to find her and save her from the dark fate she is living. He never gives up, and is determined that because they are destined to be together, he will be able to save Annie.

I now realize this story has stuck with me for over 20 years because of the four reasons Linda Brown discusses in her Module 2 video. If you view the video, specifically at the time stamps below, you’ll see this story is a great example of how a good storyteller makes a story moving.

The Universal Message Of Love Conquers All. [Time stamp 1:49]

The writers set the story up so that I fell in love with their relationship. I felt comfortable and engrossed in her art and his love of it. I wanted it to last and for them to be happy. The story of love conquering all is timeless and some argue is the oldest story of all time. I just know I’m drawn to a well-written love story based on a supportive and committed relationship.

Clear Structure and Purpose. [Time stamp 2:26]

The writer developed the feelings of the characters long enough that I understood what they were going through. I felt their pain, and Chris’ perseverance left me with the message to never give up, no matter how hard the road ahead seems. Events happened at a pace and in a sequence that made sense to me. Although the message of love conquering all is woven through the entire story, the deeper message is that faith is what gives you strength to not give up when you see no other option.

Simplicity. [Time stamp 3:25]

The visuals of this move won both an Academy Award and a Satellite Award, but the simple story of love lost and the journey back to each other is what really keeps the viewer engaged.

A Character to Root For. [Time stamp 3:42]

Robin Williams played the character of Chris in this show, and portrayed him as sincere, passionate, honorable and committed. His reasons to keep fighting are powerful, and leave the viewer desperate for him to prove that love conquers all.

Overall, the story of What Dreams May Come captivates a viewer who is not afraid of deep and dark emotions and inspires her to feel those emotions and work her way through them. The visual effects tempt the viewer to explore the screen as if she were in a gallery. It draws her in to a world as beautiful as she can imagine, full of hope and perseverance.

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The Value of Having a YouTube Channel for Your Business

What is YouTube?

As a very avid YouTube watcher myself, I am very familiar with YouTube and the various features of this social sharing site. But for those of you are are not aware, YouTube is an online video sharing and social media platform owned by Google. It was launched in 2005. It is the second most visited website, right after Google itself.

YouTube provides a simple way for people to store videos online and share them with others. YouTube videos cover any topic anyone cares to upload a video about. These videos are easy to share via other forms of social media, email and websites and can also be embedded in other websites.

What are the benefits to having a YouTube channel?

Some of the benefits to having your own YouTube channel (especially as a business owner) are:

-Extra content will allow your audience to further connect with your brand and get to know your brand personality on a new level

-Video content is one of the most engaging forms of online content

-Having a YouTube channel is a good way to stand out against your competitors who do not have as much video content

Curious about how you can better integrate a YouTube channel into your content strategy?

Check out my most recent YouTube video about this!

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