Paprika or WTF?

It’s been such an intense summer so far—I turned thirty last week, which felt really good—like officially becoming the age I’ve been for the last ten years. Being 20-29 is too much pressure when you’re a person like me (needs 9-10 hours of sleep every night, can’t stay up late, likes knitting and board games, avoids parties (or any social gathering really), strong fear of most people, love of cats). I sort of felt like I was doing the wrong things throughout my fancy-free 20’s, and it caused a lot of anxiety. But now I fit RIGHT IN! I’m interested in the things I’m “supposed” to be interested in. I can look warmly at those in their 20’s as “silly kids”. And, in honor of turning 30, I got married and am (in the process of) changing careers! There’s nothing quite like drastic life change to ring in a new decade! But, you probably know all about that. I’m a little weary of posting all of the amazing interactions and epiphanies I’m having about becoming a teacher because it’s all so fresh. I’ve finished 25% of my summer obligation along these lines, and have 3 weeks to go before then starting my new job as a “high school geology teacher”. I think it all needs a bit more time to sink in before I draw my sweeping generalizations about the state of public education in the US.

Due to my intense summer schedule, I’ve missed most new movies, which throws my inner psychological core off balance. I did, however, happen to catch a late night screening of Paprika, a very trippy new Japanese anime film. I had to use the bathroom roughly 20 minutes into it, but literally couldn’t, for fear that I might miss something and then not understand the “plot”. If you’ve seen this film, you understand how ridiculous that line of thinking is (“what did I miss?” “Oh nothing big, just a parade of dancing frogs playing the clarinet, a mound of creepy Chinese dolls whose faces morph into insidious characters and dancing household appliances. Oh yeah--Paprika flew into the body of the scientist and it was a crumbling hollow shell. Then she was chased by some tree roots and couldn’t wake up!”). The “plot” is loosely constructed around the idea of a stolen “dream-catcher” like device that lets psychologists view and then enter the dreams of their patients. Dream and reality are in danger of merging under the helm of an “evil-doer”. I’ve never done hallucinogenic drugs, but I imagine this movie must approximate the experience. It’s intense and confusing (but I’m sot sure that really matters) to say the least. It’s also completely captivating and has a soundtrack akin to the much beloved dance, dance revolution (DDR) machines. I kind of have the mild sensation of needing to see it again because it was so strange and yet brilliant. But I won’t, because I still haven’t seen Spiderman 3 or A Mighty Heart! (I can’t wait until next summer, when issues of time will not interfere with my consumption of media!).