Arts

I had a powerful video forwarded to me yesterday by my cousin that I think would be prudent for all of us to see, especially during the holidays when so many of us will be traveling and enjoying time with our families.

This video was put together by TAC (Transport Accident Commission), which began airing videos like this one in 1989. Arguably, because of the videos, the number of accidents related to drinking and driving have been substantially reduced.

This video hits a note for me because a couple years ago I had a step sister killed by someone under the influence. She had been walking home from work one day when a drunk driver veered off the road and hit her. It was a horrible tragedy. It tore the family up for a long time.

I’m not trying to be depressing on Christmas Eve, but we all sometimes need to be reminded of the effects our actions have on others.

I know we all want to have fun and make memories, but if you are going to drink, stay where you are or have someone else drive you home. It’s not worth hurting/killing someone. The last thing we all want is something tragic to happen around the holidays.

So if you’ve found your way to this site, and haven’t seen the video, then watch it.

The new Jane Eyre directed by Cary Fukunaga is a fantastic rendition of a classic novel for a contemporary audience.

Normally when I watch movies that are traditional depictions of the 1800s or anywhere beyond that, I am lost in their sense and use of language. However, I did not encounter this when I watched Fukunaga’s Jane Eyre. Though it was decorous and accurate of its time, the language and conventions associated with the 1800s were quite easy to assimilate.

With a befitting dosage of taciturnity expressed through body language, music, and scene, Fukunaga transports us to a world we can hardly understand in our present time. A world where women are mere pieces of flesh for bartering and getting things done, and apparently were you can lock your wife in the attic for fifteen years and not get arrested. Romanticism is at its height. And Mia Wasikowska (Jane Eyre) negotiates the screen like a true veteran. Through her simplicity and restrained speech and emotion she carries the movie from its darkest to lightest hours, though of the latter there are not much.

But, don’t think that this is just some archaic tale of feminism. The movie has more to offer than that. Cary Fukunaga’s filming is magnificent and the tale of Jane Eyre and Mr. Rochester are no less than enduring.

As well, Fukunaga films the movie brilliantly. Rich colors and wide scenic shots fill the movie and add to its grand gesture of what the culture and history of our past used to look like.

Although the movie may not be able to hold to everything the book accomplishes, what movie can?

Do yourself a favor, rent this movie and watch a spectacular film about the fate of a young woman driven into servitude.