Singing, Disliked Movies, Enjoying Tragic Stories, and the Myers Brigg Test

1. Started watching an episode of Home and Away.

2. Thought that Phoebe (Isabella Giovinazzo) reminds me of an American actress, but I can't think of who.

3. Enjoyed hearing Phoebe and Kyle (Nic Westaway) sing on the show.

4. Thought about singing.

Sometimes I feel I should try to do it more and put more effort into it.

I don't know if this is the case for all people who sing. But for me, I go through good singing moments and very mediocre singing moments. It's like there are these random times where my voice is quite awesome. I don't know why it happens. Is it my mood? Something I ate? Something I drank? Something in my soul?  I have no idea.

Then other times, my voice feels very strained. It's like a huge effort to sing. Well, I can make sounds come out, but they're not at all impressive.

There's a part of me that feels I should just not sing unless I'm in one of those states of mysterious-marvelous singing. Then another part of me feels I should learn to be able to sing well at all times.  

Although since I'm not planning to do it professionally, maybe I don't need to be able to sing good all the time.

The only thing that sucks is when we do family karaoke and my voice is very blah. Then again, everyone is singing, so they can't really hear me very well. Plus, Karaoke is more fun with bad singing.  

5. Figured maybe I should do a little bit of both ideas.

I should take advantage of the times my voice is good and sing as much as possible. 

I should also learn to make my bad-singing as good as possible at times when there's a singing activity and I want to participate.  

6. Started watching the rest of One Perfect Day.

This movie makes me feel unenthusiastic about singing and music.

It's about music, and it's just kind of depressing and blah.

7. Felt a lot of dislike for the movie.

8. Felt the movie is confusing.

9. Finished watching the movie. Thankfully.

That movie and I did not get along.

10. Saw that the majority of viewers do not agree with my negative opinion.

One Perfect Day received an 84% on Rotten Tomatoes.

11. Wanted to read some of the reviews.

I want to find why people liked the film, and I also want to find other people who disliked the film.

12. Looked at a positive review on a website called Urban Cinefile.

Louise Keller says,  Frenetic, rhythmic and rousing, the film is a kaleidoscope of intensity, as we enter deep into the bowels of the erratic rave scene.

I kind of agree with that, but like...not in a good way. I think it was a kaleidoscope of craziness.

13. Decided to describe one of the scenes.

Alysse (Leanna Walsman) is being attacked by some guy (don't know his name). He attacks her sexually and threatens her with a drug needle.

This scene is intercut with Tommy (Dan Spielman) relaxing somewhere.  Maybe on a couch?  The soundtrack from the attack scene plays as Tommy sits there. From what I can understand, Tommy is completely oblivious about his girlfriend being assaulted, but the way the scene plays, it sounds like he's in the next room calmly listening to the violence.

I think I understand what they were going for—the idea of something bad happening to someone we love, and we know nothing about it.  I like the idea in theory, maybe. But the execution of it just felt...wrong.

14. Started to read a negative review.

This one's in the Austin Chronicle and is written by Marc Savlov.  He says the movie is,
earnest, soulful, and jarringly melodramatic rave-culture love story, which plays like a greatest-hits package of a Down Under version of the old ABC Afterschool Specials...."

I definitely agree about the melodramatic part. And yeah, probably the afternoon special bit as well. The movie is very much a warning against drug culture.

15. Agreed with Savlov that the movie is a morning-after, feel-bad bummer.  

It's weird how some movies are about very tragic and depressing topics but don't make me feel so blah.

Two examples that come to mind—Titanic and Schindler's List.  They're both about very horrible events. They both involve the death of good and innocent people. Both movies are horribly sad.  Yet I still enjoyed them. They're sad, but in a cathartic way. Also, they manage to find some light within the darkness.

16. Concluded that there's a difference between a sad movie and a depressing movie.

17. Did think that One Perfect Day tried to not be completely depressing. I didn't quite understand the ending, but I think it was trying to conclude on a hopeful note. Maybe?  I'm not completely sure.

I think the movie was depressing to me, because it was about people who are totally not my type of people.  I'm not into the whole music and drug scene. Having to spend close to two hours with these people made me feel lonely.  It's like having to go to those awful social events where you don't really know anybody; there's no one there you want to know; and you can't wait to get home.

Maybe someone who is into drugs and/or rave music would feel the character in the movie are his peeps. He might watch the movie and be sad by the multiple tragedies but not depressed.

18. Felt wrong for saying I enjoyed Schindler's List.

But I must have. I think I saw it three times.

I know I'm not the only one.  If it was such a torture to watch, why would anyone go see it in the first place. Wouldn't people just avoid the whole thing—make excuses so they could skip it?

Why do we watch movies and read books about horrible things?

For example, I've been reading 12 Years a Slave. There are parts that make me so angry and sad, but I still enjoy reading it. Why?

I'm also enjoying a book about a woman who fakes insanity so she can be an asylum whistle-blower.

19. Thought about how I like stories in which a person is in a horrifying and very uncomfortable situation, but I know that, in the end, they're going to be comfortable again.

20. Thought about how it's much less awkward to say you like a story about bad things happening to someone when it's fictional.

I would feel weird saying I enjoyed reading the true story of infant who was orphaned by a murderer; then later when to boarding school where he was relentlessly pursued by the murderer of his parents.

21. Felt I'm contradicting myself, because recently I've talked about not liking too much conflict.

I like when soap operas have light and trivial storylines.

I think the thing is, I like a mixture of both. I like a story to have a mixture of high drama and trivial drama; and there needs to be comic relief.

Without any moments of humor, drama turns into melodrama. I don't like that.

22. Inspired, by a discussion with Jack, to retake the Myers Brigg test.  I ended up with INFP.

I did it on this website, which gives you celebrities who share your type. Some of the celebrities listed are Australian.

I'm with Heath Ledger and Mia Wasikowska.

Oh. There are only two Australians. I thought there were more, for some reason.

I feel like I'm in very good company, though—most importantly, Jack. He's with me.

Then there's also Rousseau, George Orwell, Tolkien, C.S Lewis, A.A Milne, Edgar Allen Poe, Shakespeare, Van Gogh, George RR Martin, John Lennon, Jim Morrison, Tim Burton, David Lynch, Jude Law, Andrew Garfield, Robert Pattison, Chris Martin, and others.

Johnny Depp is one of them. I should forgive him for his bad dog behavior, since he's in my club.

23. Decided to look for Aussies in the other group.

24. Saw no Aussies listed in the ENTP group. But Sacha Baron Cohen is there. He's not Australian, but he's married to one. That kind of counts.

25. Saw no Aussies listed in the ENTJ group.

26. Saw that Julian Assange is listed as an ENFP.  I guess he would be like me but an extroverted version.

27. Saw that Mel Gibson is listed as being ESFP.

28. Saw that Russell Crowe is listed as being INTJ.  He's in the same camp as James Cameron and...John Nash!  He played John Nash in a movie, so that's kind of fitting.

29. Saw that Cate Blanchett is listed as being INFJ.

30. Saw that Naomi Watts is an ISFJ, which is an awesome group because it includes Anthony Hopkins.

31. Saw that Jorn Utzon is listed as being ISFP. He wasn't Australian but was very important to Australia.

Nicole Kidman is in Utzon's club.

32. Started to look at the descriptions of some of the group.

INFP, the club that's for me, Heath Ledger, and Mia Wasikowska, is idiosyncratic dreamers with strong imaginations. That's DEFINITELY me.

We're strongly linked to the avoidant personality.  I think that's me too.

The description also says that our group might, Repress their Extroverted Thinking function, meaning they sometimes preserve their own opinion in the face of facts and evidence to the contrary

I don't THINK that's me, but I'm probably just in denial.

33. Looked at the ENFP's Julian Assange's group.  They're quirky and verbally fluid people persons.

Cool.

34.  Mel Gibson's group, the ESFP's are fun loving and free-spirited.

The website says they tend to Repress their Introverted Intuition function, meaning they sometimes experience paranoid thoughts which they are convinced are true.

I can imagine that being true of Mel Gibson.

35. Saw that Russell Crowe's group is strongly linked to narcissism. I can't say I'm surprised.

36. Saw that Cate Blanchett's group is holistic visionaries, oriented towards contemplation.

It sounds deep.

37. Saw that the group containing Kidman and the Opera House guy are Unassuming yet passionate aesthetes.

That sounds fitting, probably.

38. Found an article that gives basic labels to each group.

My group is the dreamer group.

I am most definitely a dreamer.

Julian Assange is in the advocate group.

Mel Gibson is in the entertainer group.

Russell Crowe is in the strategist group.

Cate Blanchett is in the confidant group.

Kidman and the Opera House guy are in the artist group.

39. Looked at this page of the Myers Brigg website which gives the frequency of the different types.

The most common is the IFFJ people, which are the defenders. They make up 13.8% of the population.

ESFJ's are quite common as well. They're the supporters.

The next most common group is the ISTJ's. They're the examiners.

Cate Blanchett is in the rarest group—the confidants.

40. Thought that it's nice that there's a variety of people in the world.

Even within the groups, there are a lot of differences.

I may be somewhat similar to people like Heath Ledger and Mia Wasikowska, but I'm also very different.

41. Wished Heath Ledger was still alive.

I miss him, even though I never knew him, and even though I really didn't give him much attention until after he was dead.

42. Went to Random.org to pick my next thing to watch.

It's Wicked Science.

I think that's another kid-teen show.

43. Predicted the experience will be similar to watching Scooter: Secret Agent.  I'll dislike it at first; and then it will end up growing one me.

Or it could be like The Saddle Club, and I'll never end up liking it very much.

I hope that's not the case.

44. Saw that Saskia Burmeister is one of the stars of Wicked Science.

I wonder if she plays a good or evil character in it.

In the last kid's show I saw her in, she was a evil pirate. Though, maybe she turned good in the end. I can't quite remember.

45. Saw that Jessica Tovey from Wonderland is in two episodes of Wicked Science. But her episodes are in the second season. For now, I'm only watching the first season.