Docu or Mocu-mentary

W.D.O.A.R.'s inaugural viewing was of the documentary 'Exit Through the Gift Shop'
The following questions are to be answered by all W.D.O.A.R. participants:

1) Assuming it is a true documentary: what is your opinion on Mr. Brainwash's entrance to the art world?

2) Does an artist, musician, etc., have to pay their dues in order to be credible in their given field, or should their work be the sole factor?

3) Do you believe this was a true creative documentary or a fabricated piece of art created by Banksy? Why?

4) Should Street artist be punished by the law for vandalism? why?

W.D.O.A.R.

Just as Lavar Burton changed from his serious role as Kunta Kinte to the helmsman of the USS Enterprise Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge to the lovable reader on Reading Rainbow (after which this club was named) and now to an active Cameo appearer, so must this reading club evolve.

WE ARE NOW W.D.O.A.R. (Watching Documentaries On a Rainbow)

Let the viewing begin!

THE REVIEW:
The book title to me is the perfect description of the book. The book is much like a glass castle. At first you think of how amazing it would be to life in such an edifice and are utterly enthralled with the concept of living in a glass castle.


Then after a while, the reality of your outlandish daydream spits in your face like Pumpkin at New York. With spittle trickling down your face questions run through your mind like, 'How will I change my clothes?', what if I accidentally drop something, will the whole thing tumble to the ground?', 'do they make glass insulation?', 'Will I be like a GI Joe in the hot summer sun under magnifying glass?'

The book can be divided into 2 halves. The first half is very insightful into the resourceful life of 4 youngsters whose parents, with only minimal parenting defects, manage to not only survive but enjoy life. The second half of the book contains the fast slide of the parents from innocent negligence to blatantly damaging their children and as a reader it quickly becomes a chore to trudge through such pointless depression.

It was nice to see in the end the kids were not living as their parents had and that career wise have been somewhat successful (If you consider a gossip columnist success).

MEMOIRS AS A CLASS OF LITERATURE:
Now on to my greater issue... Why would someone write a memoir? I completely understand writing one for posterity's sake, but to publish it for the world to read, seems arrogant. If your life is so interesting, why isn't someone knocking at your door to write your biography? I'm not sure I consider this a legitimate class of literature. If you write a private memoir that somehow is published after your death by someone else, that is one thing, but to publish your life story is merely an attention seeking behavior. I'm sure the author having spent her life documenting the mundane lives of celebrities simply wanted a chance to be in the spotlight. I would rather see her act up like Miss Lohan or shave her head like Britney, than waste my time by writing a 300 page book to exploit her abused childhood.

WHAT I LEARNED FROM READING 'THE GLASS CASTLE':
1)FIRST, If I am going to read another memoir, I will first find out how and who published it. If it was self-published, I refuse to read it.
2)LASTLY, If I'm going to read about someone's life, I will first research how they have contributed to society.

Hmm... Glass Castle....

R.O.A.R. Book #1: Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
Andy's Word: unfascinating
Andy's Comparison: A few months ago i decided to try something known as the sensuous sandwich challenge. The idea behind this challenge is to eat a 24" sandwich in under 30 minutes. I am possibly sandwiches #1 fan if you didn't know that already. I love sandwiches, except for Reuben sandwiches. Reuben sandwiches are like LeBron James, you get all excited thinking that he will come through and then he falls short... and then a week later his chance comes again and you get all excited that he is gonna succeed and then he falls short again... and you keep forgetting that he just is not going to pull it off... and people rave about him. LeBron James is a Reuben sandwich to me.
Any way... so i did this sensuous sandwich challenge. The sandwich was delicious: a roast beef sandwich with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, etc. The first 15 bites absolutely rocked my mouth... then bite sixteen came. The sandwich became disgusting... i wasn't full so much as the taste of the sandwich just became unbearable. Each successive bite became more and more disgusting, my body screamed "NO MORE ROAST BEEF!"
This book was a lot like that. I really enjoyed the first 150 pages of the book. It was entertaining to read how this dysfunctional family got by. It was interesting to read about how these children embraced their dead beat parents. It was amusing to read about all these terrible situations through the eyes of a youngster.
Then it got old. The horse was beaten to death, and then buried, and then dug up, and then beaten some more, and then dropped into a vat of molten steel (like T100).
So, my advice on this book for anybody looking for a good read... read it... then abruptly stop somewhere in the middle.
In first grade i learned a poem that i have applied in my life thus far:
"if a task is once begun, never finish til it's done."
Sorry Mrs. Morse, im gonna have to disagree with your poem:
"If Glass Castle is once begun, better finish 'fore its done."


Bring on the LeBron arguments, i'm ready for it.

It begins.

Let the book bashing begin.