If Barbie-Q were a short film

First of all, Barbie-Q could not be adapted into a film because it is very short and expanding the story would be meaningless. Instead, I have framed this scene as part of a short film which would be maybe 5 minutes long at the most. Read below.

If I were to adapt a scene from the story Barbie-Q, I would adapt the scene where the two girls are walking through the flea market. I think that it offers a lot of possibilities in terms of how to adapt it and I love that. First, let's address the characters in the scene. There would be vendors selling goods and some people roaming around the flea market. There would also be two girls around the age of maybe 5-7 who look like sisters and two parents accompanying them to the flea market. The two girls start out walking beside their parent and one runs off to be chased by the other, like a game of tag. The mother just looks at them but doesn't chase them as they are still in her line of sight. Then, one stumbles upon the two Mattel Barbie boxes on a vendor's table and they both beam their eyes despite the poor condition of the dolls. They start talking very excited about the clothes that are on the doll. Then, they beg their parents in a pleading voice (imagine a child saying "Please, Please, Please!!!") and after a little bit they give in a buy the two dolls. The two girls then smile and bounce around as they hold the burnt Barbie Dolls in their hands. 

Now, for the actual setting of the scene. First, the area would be a little rugged, not a dump, but worn down. It would be a relatively big flea market, judging from the amount of different dolls they see in the story. The vendors would be sprawled out on the outside of the street selling their distinctive items they sell. In the background, a cloud of smoke hovers in the air from the fire that occurred at the toy factory the other day. There would be small bots of trash scattered about, but not very much. 

That's how I would set the scene but there are probably some minor adjustments one could make to some of the aspects of the scene and it would still be a valid interpretation. 

Isolation

"This is What it Means to Say Phoenix Arizona" was one of my favorite stories we read this semester. After reading it, I didn't immediately see any connections with the current COVID-19 epidemic. However, after taking a closer look at the story I see a connection between the character Thomas Builds-the-Fire and how some people feel during quarantine. I saw that his character exhibited some of the characteristics people have during quarantine, namely isolation.

As a quick reminder, Thomas Builds-the-Fire is the one who travels with Victor, the main character, to go pick up Victor's dead dad. They aren't exactly friends, but they were at some point when they were both kids. The main thing that Thomas is known for is telling stories, however, he doesn't have a lot of friends in the reservation so he mostly spends time by himself, like in this quote, "Thomas would remain the crazy storyteller who talked to dogs and cars, who listened to the wind and the pine trees." He doesn't have a lot of people to share his stories with, so when he hears that Victor's dad died and he needed money, Thomas pitched in some cash and told him that we wanted to come with, for some company. 

I think that Thomas has some similarities to the current COVID-19 situation because his isolation sort of reflects our isolation during social distancing. For example, Thomas spends a lot of time by himself instead of with other, just like people are having to do now with social distancing. He has to get by by talking to himself as he wants to tell stories just like some people now are watching a lot of movies or playing video games. There is a small difference here though, as we do have means to virtually communicate with others which is something Thomas can't do, as people just ignore him. Another thing that Thomas shares with us is how he acts during the trip. For example, he talks for pretty much the entire plane ride with an Olympic gymnast because "people talk on planes." He loves this because he gets to tell his stories to someone who hasn't heard them before. This is similar to when people have opportunities to connect with other people during quarantine, they love the opportunity. 

Overall, the isolation Thomas faces is similar (not the same) as the kind we are facing now. 

Alternate title for Girl

The story Girl is about a girl who is being taught different life skills she will need as a housewife. For example, she is taught how to wash clothes, salt fish, sweep the house, and iron clothes. She is also taught proper etiquette and behavior, such as how to "walk like a lady" and "behave in the presence of men." Intermixed between these teachings, there is also talk of not becoming "the slut I have warned against you becoming." However, it is never directly stated who is speaking to the girl and telling her these things. A reasonable assumption for who this character is could be that its the girl's mother. For this reason, I think that an alternate title for the story Girl is Mother. 

It is a reasonable assumption to assume that the person speaking to the girl is her mother because of what specifically they talk about. The chores that this person teaches the girl how to do are all traditionally done by a housewife or a female member of the household. They also specifically talk about the father, such as in how to "iron father's khaki pants," but they never do that about the mother, which could be an indication she is the one talking. Another thing they talk about is how to act in front of boys. It wouldn't make a lot of sense for the girl's father to be telling her how to this as he is a male. The best person to do this would be her mother because she had to learn how to do that as well. Also, they talk about how to love a man which seems to be something a mother would know best how to do. Overall, there is a lot of evidence and subtext backing up the idea that the mother is the one speaking to the girl. 

The reason I feel that Mother is an appropriate, alternate title for the story Girl is that, with a shift of focus, one can frame the story so that it focuses on the mother's directions to her daughter instead of how her daughter hears her mother's instructions. It is very subtle, as it just changes the point of view a little bit. This is still an accurate reading of the story because the story solely consists of the mother's commands, which means you can read it from either perspective. This new title also shifts the story from how the daughter views the expectations of her mother to what the mother expects of her daughter, such as how the mother expects her daughter to be a married woman instead of a woman who only wants sex. I like both title's and both have an effect on who's point of view we see the story from. 

Does Every War Story Villainize The Enemy?

Many war stories seek to show the point of view of the main character and his struggles with war, such as battle, relationships, home-sickness, moral decisions, and physical hardships in war. They focus on these struggles and depict the enemy as a cruel adversary that the narrator has to overcome. However, not all war stories are about an immoral enemy and some show the other side in a more humane way, depicting them as human beings that are struggling with war as well. A story that takes this narrative and uses it well is "Guest of the Nation," a short story about the Irish War of Independence and a group of Irish soldiers who have taken two English soldiers as hostages. The narrative is able to depict the English soldiers as not only humans but friends as well even in the times of war, showing that the enemy isn't just a bunch of killers.

From the very first sentence in the story, it is established that the English hostages and Irish soldiers are on good terms and it reads, "At dusk, the big Englishmen Belcher would shift his long legs out of the ashes and ask, 'Well, chums, what about it?' and Noble or me would say 'As you please, chum.'" Here, the Englishmen Belcher and the Irishmen Noble and the narrator seem to be on good terms because they refer to each other as chum, which is a British word for friend. Usually, during the Irish War of Independence, it would be normal for the Irish soldiers to have a deep hatred against the English as that is who they are fighting against for independence. This establishes their friendship really early on in the narrative, giving it a lot of importance in the overall plot.

One of the defining traits of the Englishmen and Irish friendship is their mutual love of playing cards. In the previous quote, Belcher's question was actually referring to if they want to play cards or not. This is where the other Englishmen, 'Awkins, comes in. He is the more talkative one of the two Englishmen and also seems to be good friends with the two Irishmen, playing cards with them every night. The act of playing cards is a strong indicator that the two opposing groups of people are indeed friends. An important part of their card-playing nights is that 'Awkins and Noble liked to debate about topics that they disagree on, such as religion. However, even though it is an argument, it is mostly, as the British would say, banter between friends. It is very lighthearted, as can be seen from one of his lines of banter which reads, "Well, listen to me, chum. If you're entitled to 'old to a silly belief like that, I'm entitled to 'old to my own silly belief." Even though he is in a way insulting Noble, he doesn't actually intend to get into a fight or ruin a friendship because of it.

Another small instance of Belcher showing his humanity is his treatment of the old lady in the house. From the first day that he was at the house, he was helping her to do things around the house, like breaking sticks for her. As the narrator says, "any little thing she wanted Belcher would have it ready for her." The fact that out of the goodness of his heart he helped the crabby old lady shows that he is not a menace that many Irishmen think English soldiers were. This makes the end of the story all the more traumatizing to the reader when the commanding officer of the two Irish soldiers orders Belcher and 'Awkins death. At that point in the story, it had been clearly established that Belcher and 'Awkins were not bad people and it seemed like Noble and the narrator clearly didn't want to take part in the shooting as they thought of themselves as Belcher and 'Awkins friends. As the narrator said on his way to the execution site, "I didn't want them to be bumped off." This final, sad, conclusion to the story was meant to show the reader that we should not always villainize the enemy as is so common in war stories and other media. They are also humans with feelings and kindness in them but are forced to fight on the battlefield. Or they are also under the influence that their enemy is a menace to them. In either case, the author was trying to point out that even people on opposing sides of a war could be friends, a subject most war stories avoid entirely.

(Prompt 1)

Janine's Perspective in WorldMart (First Person Shooter)

*I have named the narrator Anthony for story convenience* 

While working my late-night shift at WorldMart, me and my somewhat-attractive co-worker, Anthony, are drawn to the sound of stuff crashing to the floor. Not a lot happens at this hour, so I was looking forward to actually doing something instead of watching the luminescent lights on the ceiling. "Sounds like Toiletries," he says, so we both rush toward aisle ninety-seven. I crouch down at Mascara and hear a shuffling noise with Antony following my lead. I start to crawl and he tries to grab my ankle (for whatever reason), but all he grabs is my shoe. I take a look back and catch him staring at my behind, but I don't think much of it. I see something stumbling toward the beef jerky station and, from what I saw, it looked nothing like any human I've ever seen. I shriek at the top of my lungs and run as fast as I can around the corner out of fear because I had no idea what that was. I was stopped short by the sight of some hideous creature staring back at me with dead eyes. It looks like a... zombie? It seems like something out of a movie, maybe this is the start of the zombie apocalypse. I run, run, run away from that creature as fast as I can, but Anthony didn't follow me, he just stood in front of... it.

After running for what seemed like a mile (this place is HUGE), I stop at the Greeting Cards and slump over. What... the.. hell. Was that actually a zombie? Why did I sign up for this stupid shift? What's Burt doing right now? So many questions race through my mind as I try to comprehend the situation. I have never been good under stress and this was pushing my limits as far as they could go. I take a deep breath and think about everything I saw. The zombie looked somewhat like a human but had many deformities over its grayish body. That was gross so I get that image out of my head as quickly as possible. 

I slow my mind down and think about what my next course of action should be. Stay here and risk being found and having my brains eaten? Try to escape the store where there might be even more zombies outside? Find Burt so I don't die alone? None of those seem any good, especially the Burt one knowing how much a douche-bag he is. I take a look up and see a sign which says "Guns sold here." This could be it, this is how I protect myself. I get up and walk my way over to the Firearms section and take a look around. 9 millimeter, pump-action, so many words with no meaning attached in my mind. I had never shot a gun before, I had no idea what I was doing. But, something is better than nothing, right? So, I reach into my pocket and grab the keys to the display. I try them in the lock. It doesn't work. Huh, I say and try another. It doesn't work. I only got one more key. It doesn't work. I start to panic. I've failed. I'm going to get my brains eaten. I bang on the glass with all my force, but it doesn't break. Of course, this was out of frustration, my skinny arms couldn't break it. I look around, trying to find anything I could use to break the glass but all I find is a comm speaker. In one last attempt, I try to slide the door open in my last hope for survival. There is some resistance to start, but it eventually slides all the way open. It was never unlocked the whole time. Typical WorldMart, workers leaving the displays unlocked all the time. 

I look at all the guns in the case. Shotguns, hand cannons, rifles, so many to choose from. I started to think about all the survival-zombie TV shows I've watched and what the best weapon to choose would be. I remember shotguns being good because they shoot out a lot of pellets, so I try to pick one up. I lift it enough to get it off the rack but it falls straight to the floor. I guess that's not an option. I see a hand cannon, which looked a lot lighter, so I pick it up. Success. It still feels heavy, but at least I can carry it. I grab the shells from behind the counter and try to load them, fumbling as I try to do so. Eventually, the revolving chamber pops out and I load it. As I get ready to go, I realize that I left Anthony with the zombie. I rush to the comm speaker and yell, "I'm in Firearms, stay low."

As I start to drift away to help him, I hear Anthony's voice over the speaker say, "She's not going to hurt us." She?? It has a gender and how has it not eaten out Anthony's brains by now? 

"What are you talking about. She's going to eat us. She's going to eat our brains." 

"No, I don't think so. That's not what she's doing here." 

"Then what is she doing here?" He says, "Umm, I think she's getting ready for a date... Huh?" 

"What?"

"Gotta go."

Hearing the sudden worry in his voice, I ask, "What's happening?"

"Our friend just discovered House of the Dead Two"

I hang up and rush over to Anthony hoping that he's OK. I have the upper hand now that I have a gun, I can shoot it right in the face. I get to the aisle and march up, holding my hand cannon with both hands. It's kind of wobbly, but I believe I won't miss. However, the zombie just looked me straight in the eyes, unblinking, no emotion. It looked like it wanted me to kill it. I hesitated, not knowing what to do. It obviously didn't want to eat my brains. Anthony puts his hand on the gun and forces me to lower it away from the zombie. I look at the video game demo that's playing, zombie heads exploding and violence everywhere. I took another look at the zombie, dressed in nice clothes, looking like she really was trying to go out on a date. "She," it looked like an actual woman now. It clicked. Maybe she isn't a mindless drone, and after seeing the demo where zombies heads are blown off he own self-worth is put into question. Maybe my fear was irrational, it was only based on appearance. I immediately thought of an over-used cliche that said, "Don't judge a book by its cover," which I obviously did. Maybe there was an actual "person" under the guise of a zombie and I just personally hurt its feelings by trying to shoot her with a gun. I neglected to truly see what she was, and she was the worse off for it. I totally ruined her night. 

I took a look at Anthony and, with a newfound resolve, finally "saw" him for what he was. He was caring, even for so-called zombies, and was always nice to me during our nights at WorldMart. It was worth a chance, maybe hanging out with him a little more. He was kinda-handsome too, potentially we could date. Then he asks me, "Would you like to go see a movie on Thursday?" You know what happens next.