Harold, Maude och Amelie

Film: Harold and Maude

"Harold and Maude" är en svart komedi som är inspelad och utspelar sig på 70- talet. 

Filmen handlar om den tyste och mystiske unge mannen Harold, som sysselsätter sig genom att iscensätta sin egen död och gå på begravningar. Han är mycket intresserad av allt som har med döden att göra, och verkar inte ha några vänner. 

Harold bor tillsammans med sin mamma som är väldigt mån om att Harold ska hitta någon att gifta sig med. Hon bryr sig över huvud taget inte om Harolds egna känslor och nonchalerar bara bort hans "försök" att ta livet av sig. 

En dag när Harold är på en främlings begravning träffar han den 79- åriga, pratglada damen Maude. Hon visar sig ha samma intressen som honom; att gå på begravningar och fantisera om döden. Men skillnaden mellan Harold och Maude är att Maude är mycket mer positiv, glad och spontan. Och det smittar snart av sig. Ju mer Harold och Maude umgås, desto mer förändras Harold. Han går från att vara tyst och blyg till att vara gladare, och slutar till och med att ta livet av sig på ett tag. :) De två vännerna planerar till och med att gifta sig, trots den stora åldersskillnaden och Harolds mammas försök att hindra det. 

Jag tycker att "Harold and Maude" är en speciell och annorlunda film, men med mycket humor. Att Harold hela tiden försöker iscensätta sin egen död blir på något sätt humoristiskt, trots det allvarliga i det. Harolds förändring av personligheten är tydlig, att han går från att vara en tyst och ensam person till att vara spontan och ha mer livsglädje. Filmen är bra, och ganska rolig, även om den inte är som andra filmer. 

Film: Amelie från Montmartre

Den franska filmen "Amelie från Montmartre" handlar om Amelie, en ganska ensam men påhittig kvinna med livlig fantasi. Hon växte upp med en pappa som trodde att hon hade hjärtfel, och hon fick därför inte gå i skolan och lära känna några vänner. Nu arbetar hon på ett café och bor ensam i sin lägenhet. 

Amelie vågar inte riktigt ta kontakt med andra människor eller öppna sig för dem. Under sin uppväxt fick hon bara närhet med sin pappa när han skulle undersöka hennes hjärta, och det kan vara en anledning till att hon är lite rädd för att komma nära folk. 

En kväll hittar Amelie en låda med saker innanför badrumsväggen, som visar sig tillhöra mannen som bodde i lägenheten förut. Hon beslutar att hitta mannen och ge tillbaka lådan. Genom det här och flera andra "gärningar" märker man att Amelie är bra på att hjälpa människor, hon tycker om att göra folk glada. Kanske så mycket att hon glömmer bort sig själv. 

Det finns en karaktär som Amelie upptäckt är lite som hon själv, och som hon vill lära känna, Nino. Nino är en drömmare precis som Amelie själv, men Amelie vågar inte tala med honom öga mot öga. Efter att ha hittat ett fotoalbum som tillhör honom med en massa foton från en automat, så börjar hon därför ge honom olika ledtrådar som ska leda honom till henne. Det leder till att Nino blir minst lika nyfiken, för att få reda på vem hans iakttagare är...

Amelie från Montmartre är precis som "Harold och Maude" en komedi, men av en annan typ. Den är på något sätt gladare och trevligare, även fast många scener och inslag i filmen är väldigt långsökta och udda. Många delar av själva storyn är relativt orealistiska, vilket jag tycker är lite förvirrande ibland. Därför är Amelie från Montmartre inte så bra som den skulle kunna bli, men det är definitivt en film som inte är som alla andra. 

To Kill A Mockingbird - Last Entry

In the beginning of the To kill a mockingbird, the language is rather difficult. Harper Lee is using words like "assuage" and "stinginess", that I really had not heard before. But as far you read the book, the easier is it to understand the story. It is not nessecary to have a huge knowledge of words, because you can understand the context anyway.

Despite the advanced word choices in the book, I think that Harper Lee is writing very good. The dialogs is simple and easy to read and she is good at writing exciting and funny at the same time. When it is a serious scene in the book, Harper knows exactly where to put the comic parts, and where to out the sad ones.
The fact that it is a lot of "Southern-slang" is not so disturbing, it just makes it more clear where the story takes place. (Example: "Dunno" instead of "I don't know", and "I works"instead of "I work")
I think it was very good that the book is written on the true language for where it is set, in Southern America.

The conflict in the book is of course Tom Robinson's fight against the justice. That he is accused for a crime he did not do and the long trial where Atticus did his best to help him, is probably the main climax in To kill a mockingbird. But at the same time you read about the story with Boo Radley, which has an important part through the whole novel. At first sight, the two different storylines has nothing to do with each other, at my opinion. But when I thought about it a little, they kind of told the same message. Both storylines tells about something that nobody is understanding or accepting. Tom Robinson is, together with all the black people, not accepted and is not as much worth as the white people in town. The same is it with Boo Radley, who has been a mystery for the town's population for ages and that nobody's really cared about. However, even if the two storylines is not related to each other, they tell about the same kind of problem: to discriminate and judge people before you even know them. In the end of the book, Scout learns about this. To not judge other before have walking in their shoes. That the prejudices are the things that make people alone, and not accepted. I think that Scout learned that both Tom was not as the society saw him, and that Boo was different than she thought at first.

According to Jem, there are four kinds of "folks" in Maycomb County. "There's the ordinary kind like us and the neighbours, there's the kind like the Cunninghams out in the woods, there's the kind like the Ewells down at the dump, and the Negroes. " (p.249)
What is said about these folks, is that they are very different, and that is splitting the town. They don't like each other and can not be with each other, mainly because they are different. I think it is at the same way in Sweden, and in many other countries. Just because you are different, you take distance from each other. Instead of using the good things. Of some kind of reason, the odd things and the differences between people is frightening, the things that are not like ourselves makes us scared.

Atticus is not like the others in the town, because he is so relieved from all the prejudices and bad things everybody says. And the reason why he can see good things in everybody is quite hard to figure out. But I think he may be like he is because he is a lawyer. As a lawyer you are not supposed to judge people before you know their story.


I think that Too kill a mockingbird has a clear message, it is even in the title. It is that you should not judge anyone before you know them, their story and what they have experienced. The title "To kill a mockingbird" tells also, as on p.99, that it is a sin to hurt someone who is so kind and un-evil, and who would never do something to hurt anyone itself. It is a sin to do something bad to anyone innocent, before you can prove the opposite.

To Kill A Mockingbird - Second Entry

After having read the second part of "To kill a mockingbird", I finally came across the part where the title of this book is mentioned. On page 99, Atticus had explained for his children that they should not shoot birds with their new air rifles. "I'd rather you shot at tin cans in the back yard, but I know you'll go after birds. Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird." Jem and Scout's neighbour, miss Maudie, makes the statement even more clear when she says with her Southern accent: "Mockingbirds don't do one thing but music for us to enjoy. They don't eat up people's gardens, don't nest in corncribs, they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird." (Page 100) I think all this means that of all horrible things a man can do, it is always worst to hurt somebody or something who never does something bad.

On page 102, a dog comes to the street where the Finch family lives. At that moment Scout and Jem find out something about their father that they never could have guessed before. When the inhabitants on the street decide that they have to shoot the dog, because it is dying, Atticus is the one who makes the deed. Scout and Jem are very surprised. How can Atticus, who according to himself never liked to shoot, hit the dog right in "bullseye", and in one single shot? But the surprised kids get the information that their father was an excellent shooter when he was young, he was even called "One-Shot Finch". The fact that Atticus has withheld this ability to his children is also a bit strange, and they are rather confused about this.

A quote that I have found interesting, except the explanation about mockingbird, is on page 111. Scout is admiring her father for being so brave because of his way to handle annoying old ladies, in this case a mrs Dubose. Atticus has got a wonderful ability to stay calm and polite when that old lady is treating everybody like trash. Smiling and swinging his hat to mrs Dubose, instead of ignoring her. Scout is thinking: "It was times like these when I thought my father, who hated guns and had never been to any wars, was the bravest man who ever lived." I think this is a cute evidence for the love between Scout, Jem and Atticus.

Another quote I thought was interesting and true, is on page 120. Scout is asking Atticus what it means to be a "niggerlover", because she has heard that people is saying that as a condescending expression. But Atticus says: "I certainly am. I do my best to love everybody... I'm hard put, sometimes - baby, it's never an insult to be called what somebody thinks is a bad name. It just shows you how poor that person is, it doesn't hurt you." This is also a interesting quote, it testifies how important it is to not be hostile to anybody.

When Calpurnia takes Jem and Scout to her church on page 131, you get to know how it could be in a typical black church in the 1930's. One thing that was similar in both white and black churches, is that if a person who had the opposite skin colour compared to the church's, it was weird. When Scout and Jem, who are white, came into the black church, everybody in the church got a bit surprised. Surprised by the fact of having guest who are not supposed to belong there.

Atticus 
My thoughts of Atticus being a responsable and understanding father is even more clear now, after having read the second part of the book. He is very smart and can manage to take good care of his children without a female figure (a mother) in the family. One example is when Dill comes back, after he had run away, on page 155. Scout is afraid that her father will call Dill's family and tell them to come and get him. But instead, he says that the most important thing is that Dill is okay, and to take care of the boy.

Jem
I think that Jem has changed a little through the book. You notice that he really is getting older all the time, he is not as wild and social anymore. He also seems a little more disagreeable now. Even Scout thinks that, as she thinks on page 152: "His maddening superiority was unbearable these days. He didn't want to do anything but read and go off by himself."

Scout
Scout is still the same curious tomboy as in the first part. But I think that she is that person who is not so well understood by others, who will confuse others by going her own way.

There is an evening where Atticus is about to be attacked by some men. It has to do with the case that Atticus is working with, a black man who's accused of raping a girl. But Scout is kind of saving everything by starting to talk about one of the men's son, and Atticus later walks away with the kids unhurt.


I am not very sure of what I think will happen later in the book. After the first part, I was sure that Boo Radley would have a big role in the rest of the story, but in this part his name almost did not figure at all. Instead, Atticus's case with Tom Robinson, who is accused for having raped a girl, is more actual. In the last chapters I have read about the trial, and it is actually getting rather exciting. Atticus is trying his best to prove that Tom Robinson is innocent, and I am rather curious about what is going to happen.

To Kill A Mockingbird - First Entry

The story "To kill a mockingbird", by Harper Lee, is set in the 1930's. It takes place in the southern state Alabama, America, and the protagonists live in Maycomb county. The main characters dialects and slang makes this very clear; almost everybody I have read about have accents that is typical for people in the south part of America.

The main characters in the book is Scout, Jem and Atticus. Scout, or Jean Louise Finch which is her real name, is sister to Jem, who's complete name is Jeremy Atticus Finch. They are both children to Atticus Finch, who is raising them alone without a mother. The truth is that Scout's and Jem's mother died when the were younger. The Finch's have a help in the house though, and her name is Calpurnia. 

Atticus has two siblings, Jack and Alexandra. Alexandra is taking care of her grandson, Francis, who is not very popular with Scout and Jem. 

I think that the story is rather realistic, although I cannot relate to the 30's, when it takes place. The characters seem true to life too. Except one man on the other hand, Boo Radley. Boo Radleyis a mysterious man who lives in a mysterious house on the street. He does not seem to be so true to life, even if the main characters are not really sure if he really exists. 

Atticus 

Atticus Finch is not only parent to Scout and Jem, he is also a lawyer in the town. But I think he is a good father, he takes care of his children and tries to rais them as good as possible. Atticus is very smart, he has very clever thoughts and points of views.
Jem
Jem, the brother to Scout, is the oldest child. You notice that, because I think he has an authority over his sister. Except that, Jem is very smart and brave. He always gets ideas of what he wants to play and things he, Scout and their friend Dill can do.
Scout
Scout is four years younger than her brother. She is a girl, but it took a while to get that, because she act more like a boy. Scout likes to play games outside with her brother and their friend Dill, instead of doing things that typical girls are supposed to do in the 30's. Scout is also the narrator of the book.

I think that, in the coming parts of the book, something will happen to Boo Radley. Boo Radley is a mysterious man in a mysterious house, and he has not been seen outside that place for a very long time. Scout and Jem were not even sure if he was alive. But in page 41, when Scout is rolling down the street inside a tyre, I think she changes her thoughts. By accident she rolls into the Radley's garden, and before she is running scared back to the street, she can hear that someone is laughing inside Radley's house. Nevertheless, I think it is obvious that Boo Radley will have a big part in the future parts of the book.

Another thing that I thought about, is on page 97- 98. Atticus and his brother Jack is talking about something serious that involved Atticus profession and a black man. "The only thing we've got is a black man's word against the Ewells'.
 As Atticus works as a lawyer, my idea is that he has got involved in a crime that has something to do with a black man's struggle to defend himself.

Bok: Niceville

Boken Niceville är skriven utav Kathryn Stockett.
Den utspelar sig i staden Jackson i Mississippi på 60- talet, och handlar om de färgades situation i Amerika i mitten utav 1900- talet.

Skeeter Phelan är en kvinna i 20- års åldern som kommer hem från college. Hennes största dröm är att bli författare eller journalist, till skillnad från hennes mamma som helst skulle se henne i bröllopsklänning. Samtidigt får man följa de två mörkhyade hembiträdena Aibileen och Minny, som båda två arbetar hos Skeeters närmaste vänner, och de blir inte behandlade särskilt bra.
Skeeter har förändrats under collegetiden. Hon bryr sig inte lika mycket om vad hennes vänner tycker längre, och får idén att skriva en bok om hur de svarta hemhjälparna i Jackson verkligen har det. Tillsammans med Aibileen och Minny skriver hon en intervjubok, och de är inblandade i något som skulle kunna kosta deras liv. Att skriva om eller ens umgås med färgade människor är inte acceptabelt om ens hudfärg är vit.

Jag tycker att Niceville är en väldigt bra bok. Den är rolig, sorglig och väldigt spännande på samma gång, och trovärdigt skriven. Det är roligt att läsa om Minny Jacksons alla irritationsmoment, samtidigt som man får höra om flera sorgliga berättelser berättade av hembiträdena. Jag tyckte att boken var väldigt realistisk, och jag kom och tänka på att de mörkhyade hembiträdena säkert kunde bli behandlade så här under 60- talet.