Movie Review #18: Raise the Red Lantern

9/20 Raise the Red Lantern = Follows the inner politics of a household with four wives. Focuses on the 4th wife and her struggle to survive.

I'm still not sure if I've seen this movie before or not. While the movie was good, I still felt like they could have focused more on the women and what it was about them that made the Master marry them in the first place. I can't imagine what they did all day, cooped up in their little "houses", every night wondering if they're going to get the chance to maybe produce a son, which is the only way to better their position in the household and thus in their small world.

Would being a kept woman be super great? Or would you feel tied down to the guy and like a pampered slave? I would think the issue of being bored and useless could be easily solved by going out and getting involved in something of value. Reading to little kids at the library seems like it'd be fun. Or volunteering to help create stage sets for high schools or other theaters. There must be plenty of things that are worth doing without needing monetary compensation. I for one, love accomplishing tasks. I am extremely goal-oriented and, at least in games, will more than likely do plenty of grinding if I like what I'll get in the end. Having lots of little tasks with loose deadlines that I can accomplish easily would be my ideal volunteer work. I mean, my current job is pretty task oriented and I feel like I'm fairly happy in it. Now, if I did the exact same stuff in a cooler, more relaxed and fun-loving company that paid me at least $15k more, I'd be super content. I might even be happier doing it than I would be if I stayed home all day and tried to write. Writing is multitudes scarier and a foggy, undefined task. While I don't particularly want my tasks to be detailed out, I need at least a base level of detail to feel confident in my abilities to successfully accomplish it.

...this is kind of feeling like a boring post. No one is ever interested in hearing about work. I really need to meditate or do something that brings out the muse. Though, I guess this is what this is supposed to be for, practicing the writing so I can get inspired and be creative and re-find my "voice". Okay, now it's going to sound like I'm complaining, but I don't like my current "voice". It's too logical, not theoretical enough, not spontaneous enough. Hmmm. Maybe I should start an episodic short story. No plot, no themes, nothing to start off with. I'll try not to think about it at all and just spend fifteen minutes on each episode. I'm always up for experiments.