Movies, Books, and Macbeth

Starting a book or a movie in a captivating way is, without a doubt, probably the most important thing you can do. There are so many books that I have picked up in the past that cause me to struggle through reading the first ten pages. Some movies have done the same thing as well. Sometimes I will be watching a movie, and it will only be about 30 minutes in, and the next thing I know is that I am asleep on the couch. This proves that having a strong opening, no matter if it’s a movie or a book is critical. Without even thinking about it, when someone asks me what my favorite movie is, I can immediately answer, She’s the Man. I have to say that there was not one part of that movie that I will not watch over and over again. The movie starts off with a teenage girl named Viola. She is the star of the girl’s soccer team, but the school is going to cut the team. When she plans on bringing all of the girls to try out for the boy’s team, her boyfriend plays it “cool” in front of his friends, but ends up doing the wrong thing. I will just say that their relationship was over that instant. That same day, she finds out that her brother, Sebastian, is going to sneak away to pursue a career in music for a few weeks instead of being in college. All that I will tell you from that point on, is that she “plays” the role of her brother in college for two weeks to prove herself good enough to play with the boys. The introduction to this movie could not have been any better because it made you want to continue to watch the whole movie. Without a strong opening, the person watching the movie or reading the book will lose all interest. It is the same as writing an essay; if you don’t have a strong hook/topic sentence, the reader feels no inclination to finish reading.

Well, I guess I should start talking about Macbeth now, so here it goes…So, we have just finished Act 1, Scene 5 in Macbeth, and it has been a shaky start for me, but it’s alright. To tell you the truth, Shakespeare is not my favorite thing to read, but I’m not going to make any strong judgments on the book until I get a little further into it. So far, I can tell, even just reading a few pages, that most of the book’s mood will be dark because of Lady Macbeth’s hopeful plan for her husband to take the throne and she will do ANYTHING to become queen. The only thing that I can tell you right now is that when she puts her plan into action, it will not be pretty.