RonVitale

Facing Adversity

I'm 48,000 words into the first draft of my next book and I'm at a low point. I'm not liking where the story is going, feel unmotivated and have a lot of change and challenges in my life right now. Many people ask me: "How do you get done all that you do?" The question I think they're really asking is: "How do you make time and pull off all that you do without giving up?"

I know many people who say they're going to do things or want to do things, but they simply don't. For me, I look at writing a novel (or running a marathon) and I see that it's a really difficult task that's impossible to wrap one's arm around. What has served me well in life is to look a problem and then:

• Talk with my friends or admit to myself that I have a problem and am feeling unable to overcome the issue.
• Let go of the problem and realize that I may not be able to solve it in one day. Adding in some fun here helps a lot.
• Look at the situation from a different angle and see if I can solve the issue a bit at a time.
• Stick to it and move on (repeating all the steps above as necessary).

When I get back to sitting down to continue work on my novel, I will have done some thinking about it and know that I have to go ahead and change some of what I've worked on. Once I finished the first draft, I'll need to go back and most likely throw out a lot of what I had written, but that's not for today. In order to achieve writing a novel, I look forward and celebrate the work I've done--even if I feel it's not my best work.

The only way I know how to overcome a challenge is to follow the steps above. So I'm off, but I wanted to share this to show that writing is not always peachy. It's a challenge that can be complicated to overcome. But it's not impossible.

Free Kindle Book: Dorothea's Song

Until the end of the day on Friday, May 4th my book, Dorothea's Song, will be free on Amazon for the Kindle. The origins of this book date back to when I was 16 years old. Then, back in the '90s, I rewrote the book from an adult perspective and it's become my first novel.

So what's the book about? Dorothea’s Song is the story of an ordinary boy named Peter who dreams up an extraordinary fantasy realm to flee the hardships of his own life. Inspired by classic high-fantasy themes, his tale has all the makings of a great adventure—a brave elvish warrior named Dorothea, a ruthless coven of witches, a renegade elf lord and a kingdom on the verge of collapse. But as the chaos intensifies in both the real world and his imagined one, Peter is forced to take a daring stand in each.

I had a lot of fun writing this book and have received some great reviews from readers who really enjoyed the story. Be sure to check it out and spread the word to others so that they can read it.

 

 

 

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00243GMEE/1n9867a-20

Why Real Men Like The Sound of Music

Nearly 20 years ago I saw The Sound of Music for the first time. It's so long ago that I can't remember all the details, but I believe it was a Saturday night and I was over my girlfriend's house. Her mother, she and I sat down and watched the film. Now before I go on, let me back up a bit. Before this time, I thought The Sound of Music was one of those goofy musicals in which people sing every other word. The possibilities of my ever seeing this film were slim to none.

When I mentioned this to my wife, she couldn't believe it as the film was a family favorite of hers. My family watched The Ten Commandments and The Wizard of Oz, but I never saw The Sound of Music. And over the years I had these preconceived notions of it, thinking that it was a kids' movie and wouldn't be to my liking.

But that night nearly 20 years ago, when I watched it for the first time, I was shocked at what the movie was actually about. I just never knew. I thought it was about a governess who helps raise 7 kids and there's a love story and that was that. How wrong I was. I knew nothing of the politics of the movie and its dealing with the oncoming of World War II and the choices and challenges that awaited the children and their father.

Tonight my wife and I sat down with our two children and started watching the movie. And I smiled and felt so happy to see my kids enjoying the film, while also learning a few lessons myself. Back near 20 years ago, I didn't have children (nor any idea of what being a parent truly meant) and took the film in more for its love story and political statement. But now, a father of an 8 and 4 year old, I felt more for Captain Georg von Trapp as he tried to keep his children in line, making them march around the house and act like soldiers. Watching those scenes were comical, but I could also see some of my own behavior on screen, realizing how I am often like the Captain, wanting my children to be disciplined and neat. Watching Maria teach the children music, the beauty of nature and the importance of playing, made me smile and realize that I might learn a lesson or two from her.

Little did I know when I first saw the film with my girlfriend and her mother what the film would mean to me now. To be disciplined and in order, all of the time, is an impossible thing for a child to do. And my expectation of that is unrealistic. Though the film has been out for 47 years, hearing the songs reminded me of my youth when I wondered who I would marry and what type of father I would be like. Now I am living in the present, looking back at the past and wondering about the future.

What would my life have been like if I didn't try new things? If I prejudged everything because of what I expected it to be? What amazing experiences and fun would I miss out on if I kept such a hard heart? As long as I could remember, I have been a romantic. I've been labeled a geek, dork, and many other things not worth writing about here. But here's a little secret: I don't care. I pray that I will continue to be the hopeless romantic who sees such great joy in life. The challenge is that often lose sight of this part of me when problems (bills, death, sickness, heartache) all come crashing down around me. But tonight, I smiled and the room became "dusty" so that I had to rub my eyes for the tears welling up in them. The me of the past always longed and hoped that one day I could have a family of my own who I could love and hold dear to my heart. And now, I have that, but will I allow the hardness of life to make me jaded, cold and cynical?

Tonight, I chose a different path and had a hell of a lot of fun. Call me what you will, but I really enjoy The Sound of Music and hope I can be a bit more like Maria and less like the Captain. If one has one's heart open, great things can happen. If I could only remember that lesson when times get tough.

The Sexual Objectification of Women in Recent Film

While away on a recent work trip, I surfed on over to HBOGO.com and saw that Sucker Punch was being highlighted until the end of the month. I had heard extremely bad reviews of the film and not being a fan of Zack Snyder's 300, I almost passed, but took a chance and watched the movie anyway.

If you watch the trailer, you might think that the movie is simply about women in loosely imagined revenge stylized situations parading around in tights and short skirts. Sucker Punch is a mix between Showgirls and 300. It's a flawed film, but one worth watching. What intrigued me the most is the film's sexual objectification of women and it's attempt to twist that around (or attempt to). If you look at American films over the last 15 or so years, there's a crop of films that portray women as sex objects who are killing machines: The Fifth Element, the Underworld series, the Resident Evil series and Kill Bill 1 & 2. These are the films that come to mind when I think of this genre. 

The premise is pretty simple: Attractive young girl wears tight clothes or sexy outfits, is put up against the bad guys and she kicks ass. Often the plot is a mix between survival or revenge. And sex sells or, should I say, the sexual objectification of women sells. If you just take the Underworld and Resident Evil series alone, that's a good many films that take the premise, shake it up a bit and pump out essentially the same thing each time.

Yet what Snyder attempts in Sucker Punch is to make a film for women, disguising it was one for men. I'm fascinated by that. The film was heavily marketed to show its violence and battle scenes but, at its core, Sucker Punch is about women having the power to set themselves free against the tyranny of men. I find that intriguing especially with the new crop of films coming out that take the heroine in distress plotline and are changing it somewhat (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo).

What I wonder is: What do women want to pay to see on film? It always appeared to me that the Underworld and Awakenings films were made by mostly men for men. Our culture nicknames "Chick Flicks" to those movies targeted to women: Something Borrowed, The Devil Wears Prada, and The Notebook--just to name a few. But Sucker Punch falls into an interesting category being almost a half-breed. The film's ending lines packs a punch: "...who holds the key to set us free? It's you. You have all the weapons you need. Now fight." One might say the ending is a sucker punch: We've just watched a film with women in pretty horrible situations, jumping in and out of stylized action scenes dreamed up in a young boy's wet dream and then the movie ends with a pretty interesting command: Now fight.

But fight what? The sexual objectification of women in our society? One could say that, but life imitates art and the lines aren't so clear. I recently came across a blog post that women fare better in the work place if they wear makeup. Are you disturbed by that? Does it surprise you? Sucker Punch might only be a movie, but there's much at stake here. The good news is that there is a counter-culture fighting back. You need not be a sexy clad ninja wielding a katana blade to be successful.

Ever hear of Lena Dunham? Go watch her recent film Tiny Furniture. Yes, it's bleak and pretty messed up, but if you wanted a better depiction of how lost millennium young women are, yet continue to struggle toward finding their way, look no further. Dunham must be doing something right, since HBO picked up the idea and her series Girls starts next week. If women are not the sexually objectified stylized fighting machines that Snyder portrays nor solely Dunham's lost and self-sabotaging heroine on film, then who are they? I suspect that historians in the future will have a field day looking back at the films of today. I only hope that they look not only to the films portraying women as sex kittens ready to break some bones, but to look at the wealth of content being produced by women online. That is the power of today's world: With little technology, a woman can create a blog, make funny shows or share her music with the world. 

In the end, will it matter or will women be defined and boxed according to how popular culture sees them? I don't know. But I will keep hoping that more women will tell their stories and make movies.

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Ron Vitale is the author of the fantasy novel Cinderella's Secret Diary who hopes that his daughter will grow up to find her own voice and not allow others to dictate who and what she can be.