For a much-talked-about, increasingly controversial, yet highly anticipated Disney movie, I'd feel like I'm cheating on it if I didn't write a review. So here it is, the famous Beauty and the Beast, an enchanting tale remade into a beautiful modern-Disney-movie production. Here's what I have to say.

To start, I should mention that the original movie (animated version) of this story was what made my childhood. Belle had always been my favourite Disney princess. This gorgeous country girl who walks around reading her book, shows no interest for the village's Most Handsome Hero, has brown hair, and wears a lot of blue. Obviously, I adore her. And yes, I think Emma was brilliant.

However, when I saw the trailers, the news and all the hype prior to the release of this movie, I wasn't that excited. Even though this was my favourite, I was still doubtful about this remake. Perhaps I just knew that I would be expecting quite a lot from it, and usually when that happens, the standards aren't necessarily met. I love Emma, and the story, but the trailer just didn't sell to me. What if it's dull? We had that whole Cinderella phase last year. It's starting to get old, isn't it? But upon watching this movie, oh boy, honestly speaking, the expectations aren't only met, but also exceeded. (Trust me, I'm totally dying from how much love I have for this film. I'm just trying hard to sound more composed and put-together for this blog post. Inside, I'm still screeching.) So here's my review.

1. Before I gush over how obsessed I am with it now, I'll point out the few things I didn't quite approve of. And no, I'm not referring to LeFou's taste in men. It didn't concern me, in fact, it was kind of hilarious! There were some things in the movie which I found disappointing. They might be minor things but they mattered. Firstly, I simply don't understand their choice of giving Beast those massive horns. Yes, he had those in the original movie, but not as large. This has to be the single most disappointing thing about this movie for me. It's a shame because they're the first thing you see when looking at the Beast. And for what reason?? If only they'd made it shorter and less significant, it would've been perfect. But now, it just looks bizarre. Let's not mistake his ideal look for Maleficent's, eh?
2. Also, Belle's house is placed in a very, very strange setting. I vividly remember her home as being in the countryside, a little outside the village, with this small bridge in front of her garden. I wish they'd made it like that in this remake as well. Instead, her house has appeared much smaller, and apparently it's inside the village, but right in the middle??? Of a fork road??? And she's growing plants and has got a place for the horse and chickens but it's literally just in the middle of a village intersection, it seems??? On stone-cobbled streets??? I don't know, I hope I'm not the only one, but it was odd for me.
3. A couple other incidents I wasn't fond of was when Maurice was in that prison cell saying goodbye to Belle, and all that time he showed very little signs of struggle. Not even that much begging for his sake! And then he just starts saying his farewell to Belle as if he's fully accepted his defeat, without looking like he's in despair, which I think he kind of should be. The other thing is how they erased Chip's line ("it tickles!") when Belle drank from him. I just expected it to still be there.
4. Now, let the fangirl in me speak. Never have I ever sat in a modern-day Disney movie and experienced such a roller-coaster of emotions. All of which resulted in me a) feeling like I'm about to cry or b) actually crying. It's difficult to find movies that make me cry, but watching this was such an emotionally overwhelming experience for me. For most of the movie, I had goosebumps and was holding back tears. It was what I loved in my childhood, brought to life, in this visually astounding, unbelievably magical piece of work. I loved it all: The village, Belle, a perfect depiction of the real storyline (without some crazy twist or plot modification). I ended up crying multiple times throughout the movie. I knew all the words to "Be Our Guest", and mentally sung along to "Belle" as it was being played. That and seeing the characters brought to life, and how they match what I remembered of them so perfectly (like how similar Gaston is to the animation, and how he had the exact same voice), it shook me to the core.
   
   
   
   
   
5. Allow me to push all the haters aside and proclaim that Emma Watson is a perfect, perfect Belle and her singing was beautiful and she is beautiful and nothing, nothing hurts. Nothing. Sure, physically, her resemblance to Belle can be questioned, but I am not complaining one bit. She's an amazing actress who's already very much like Belle in her real life and work. She's smart and well-mannered and I'd just hate for the role of Belle to fall to any other actress.
6. I cannot emphasize enough on how majestic and brilliant the music is. Just extraordinary. Everything! Every single song, arrangement, all of them I'm so utterly in love with. I'm in awe of the vocals (the chorus singing was out of this world) and the instrumental art behind every single piece, they leave me speechless. Disney's done it again. But really, from a musical point of view, hands down, this movie wins.
7. The camerawork is great too, but obviously I didn't expect any less from Disney. I'll just mention that one shot of Philippe, alone, running through an open field. Extraordinary.
8. So finally, I'd just like to applaud the producers for creating this beautiful masterpiece. I couldn't have asked for a better remake of my most favourite story. Different from any other Disney movie, this one impacted me in a way I couldn't even begin to describe. Watching this, I was completely entranced. Still, to this minute, blown away by what this movie turned out to be. Which I must have made clear with this lengthy review. Well. Done.

Today was the second day of me going to school with something I hadn't thought I'd leave the house with ever; a face with no makeup on.

Before someone reads that sentence and goes all judgemental on me, I'd just like to give a few disclaimers before going into this post any further. 1) By no means am I trying to place myself in a level higher above anyone who does wear makeup, nor am I trying to "humble-brag" about choosing to go barefaced. This is just me speaking about something I tried doing, and ended up loving. 2) I still very much enjoy makeup, and don't plan on totally turning away from it obviously.

The story starts on Wednesday. I'm in my exam week, during which my school would start at 10 AM instead of 8. This gives me more time to amp up my studying with the few extra hours in the morning. Normally I'd have breakfast, study, shower, then study some more until about 15 minutes before I had to leave. Then, I'd use those 15 minutes to do my face. (Not that I normally go to school with a face full of makeup, but I do draw my brows in and still use concealer and powder most of the time.)

Yesterday I was sitting with my textbook and when my alarm came on, (signalling it was time to get up, do my makeup, and leave), I glanced at myself in the mirror and started to despise the fact that I had to do it.

Technically, I only had to be in school for the two-hour exam then go back home, so I simply thought a significant effort of properly retouching my face to look good that day wasn't worth it. I continued to examine my face and a thought hit me; something I didn't think I'd ever consider.


Maybe I should just leave it this way, and by "it" I meant my face.

Good Lord, did I just think that? Why would I do that? Walking towards the dressing table, then again looking at my face, this time closer, I suddenly realised that it wasn't such a bad idea. Why not do that? So that was it. Long story short, I moisturised, grabbed my backpack, and left the house. Naked face and all.

My exam-week-stress-induced acne was showing, my dark circles were legit, all my blemishes were on full display. I'd opted for contacts instead of glasses, my face looked a little more tired than usual, so basically I wasn't looking my best. And I loved every minute of it.

Surely enough, my friends did seem quite surprised, and some asked me why the sudden change in my look. That was a good question, though. Why the change?

1. It was, in fact, better for my skin. Many articles tell you that going barefaced can allow your skin to "breathe", and at first I thought they were exaggerating but now it makes a lot of sense. I was giving room for my skin to just glow and be ~*refreshed*~. Such an ~*awakeNing~*. ~Namaste~.
2. Going #NoMakeup this week was the most freeing decision I've ever made. It was that feeling of not worrying about what was on your face. Yeah, I didn't look great, but I was fine with it. No more making sure to not rub my eyes too hard, no more going to the bathroom to check if my concealer left any lines. I, literally, had nothing to hide.
3. It felt like a huge leap forward in terms of my self esteem, and confidence in how I look. I'd grown so accustomed to always leaving the house with some makeup on (a little "retouching" done) that I'd completely forgotten how to feel okay without it. I remember looking at myself in the face that morning, and starting to question why I ever felt like it was something I had to alter on a daily basis, just so I can feel better about myself. This was the first time I'd gone to school barefaced since the beginning of when I learned how to do my own makeup, and it resulted in this crazy thought process. As if my friends would alienate me if I looked a bit under-maintenance one day. That didn't happen, but I'm pretty sure they thought I looked ridiculous. I still don't care.

All in all, I'm glad I decided to go barefaced this week. In all seriousness, I managed to tackle the small fear I had of leaving the house looking like how I do with no makeup. Makeup was kind of this shield I'd applied daily in order to feel good about myself, so it felt extremely liberating to feel good without it. As women, in a society that's constantly trying to turn you into dolls, it's cool to kind of break that status quo that you've set for yourself and decide to be authentic instead. Give the concealer a day off, and yourself a little love. I totally encourage you to try this if you haven't already.

Partly, I'd also like to acknowledge the whole #NoMakeup movement in the internet, which I think have started escalating around the time Alicia Keys started doing it. Mind you, I may not have the stunning facial features of one Alicia Keys, but I do feel that this has taught me a lot to embrace whatever flaw I have, and to be genuinely comfortable in my own skin.

"This afternoon, I passed through a hospital on my way across town.

There was a car parked on the side of the road, and from the passenger seat, an old lady came out. Her driver already standing by with her crutches, I'd noticed her back was hunched over. Her whole body was bent severely, and I watched as she struggled to grip her walking aid. She slowly started walking to the front door of the clinic, with the driver still by her side, holding her arm as she tries with great difficulty to take each step forward.

It got me thinking about how devastating it is, that our world, and everyone else's world, seems to be doing "just fine". But look closer into other people's lives and you'll find so many who struggle everyday. Physically, mentally, financially, there are many battles many people are constantly going through. So many lives nowhere near as fortunate as some others are. Suddenly, our problems don't even look like problems. We say we feel sorry for them but we only half-heartedly put effort into appreciating the life we have now. Why is that?

I understand that that's just how it is. That humanity isn't immune to various forms of pain and suffering. But when I grow up, I guess what I'm trying to remind myself is:

I don't want to be selfish.

I don't want to be someone who keeps digging out of life like I'm entitled to it. I don't want to ever find myself sitting in a private jet, or owning a million-dollar house. I don't want a lavish car or piles of jewellery that spell my name in diamonds.

Sure, I'll take my blessings as they're given, and I'll stay grateful for the life I've been privileged enough to have. But I don't want to live a life I don't need. I don't want to keep taking. I don't want to suck every drop of what the world offers. Because I think if you shift your perspective and try to look into what the world needs, and what other people are currently facing, no amount of gold will give you true satisfaction. The "high life" no longer seems appealing.

So maybe we don't need to get caught up in any of it. Maybe we weren't made and put on this Earth to "have a nice life". Rather, maybe we were made to give life to others. And maybe, just maybe, it's up to us to make the world a little better for the ones out there.

What I say next won't make much sense, but I dream of a world with less fast cars, and more helping hands. Less "rich kids", and more compassion. Less vanity, and more humanity. A girl can dream."

Taken from my phone's notes app, written on January 31st 2017, 4:58 PM

Could I have chosen a better title? Perhaps, perhaps.

I'm starting to learn that as you grow up, it's not that you become better at winning. (Let's face it, in the world today, it doesn't seem like anybody's winning.) You're not always going to be harvesting luck or constantly succeeding. You don't "finally win", but rather, you simply become better at accepting defeat.

One and a half months into 2017, and it's felt like a couple of the most difficult months of my life. I'm not gonna go into an "I'm a mess and my whole life is feeling like a sinking disaster" type of rant but I will say that over the course of only several weeks, I've fallen far too many times without even having the time to properly get back up. And maybe this has happened to some of you too.

See, one failure is normal. It's hard, sure, but by now, everyone knows about the "sometimes you gotta fall first to get back up" speech. But there comes a season where you don't fall once, or twice. You fall perhaps, sixteen different times. In the span of three weeks. Or you find yourself in a chain of waist-deep, bad-luck, why-is-this-my-life situations from the moment you wake up to the minute you fall asleep.

There's no reason for these phases; they just happen. Even to the best of us.

When asked about what my New Year's resolution was a few months ago, my answer was simple:

"Survive."

And boy, was I correct.

The truth is, and it hurts a little to say this, my year so far has consisted of more failures than successes. More setbacks than leaps forward, more mental breakdowns than spiritual awakenings, and more heartbreaks than parties. A fitting metaphor for how my life feels like right now would be a beat-up truck driving through a muddy road of unpleasantries. It's not apocalyptic. Despite spending many afternoons in bed crying or being depressed over countless things, I know that this is just the "ashes" part of my life that I will rise from.

But how do you cope?

1. Allow yourself to feel. - Your emotions are valid in this process. A lot of people tend to say "Aw, don't be sad," when trying to console a friend and frankly, it's not a sentence I like to say anymore, both to myself or other people. It's better for me to just admit that yes, I'm feeling sad this afternoon, and that's that. I'm feeling angry or anxious or immensely tired, or maybe all of these things combined, and that's that. I don't suppress my feelings hoping to maintain composure throughout my life because in reality, life isn't linear. It's not a line that steadily goes upward. Sometimes it goes downward and sometimes the line turns into curves and even makes circles. One of the hard things I've also recently learned is that my friends aren't always going to be there for me, and that's just something I have to live with. So in times like so, the least I can do is be there for myself. And through all of this, I've learned that allowing myself to at least have feelings is just one of the signs of accepting, and honouring, myself. Let yourself breathe and give yourself room to be human.
2. You should laugh it off if you can. - It might suck if you constantly fail in biology or you broke your car one too many times or you find yourself having these setbacks in multiple aspects of your life but come on, guys, it's a little funny. As a person, I like to use dry humour to conceal my real feelings or emotions. Not in a cynical way, I'm just that type of person. But when life starts to suck, turning it into something to laugh about could be the ray of optimism your soul desperately needs. Honestly, "hahaha I can't believe how crazy/stressful my life is right now" sounds a lot better and healthier than "I want to kill myself because I hate everything that is happening." No problem is eternal. It's 2017, everyone has solutions to everything, and deep down, we all know that. So for the time being, if you can, just laugh and acknowledge the mess that is your life right now.
3. You move forward. - If your life also feels like a beat-up truck driving through a muddy road of unpleasantries, stopping the engine won't move the truck to a better location. What do you do to get out of the road? You keep going until the road ends and leads somewhere else. In such a difficult time, maybe you'll spend weeks crying about it, maybe you'll find a way to laugh about it, or maybe you'll just have to work your way through it. But whatever storm you're facing currently, someday you'll look back and see how it shaped you. This final step takes a little bit of forcing yourself, but hey, sometimes you need some tough love to be able to keep going. 

Because I haven't written in a while, I do hope my post today makes at least a little bit of sense to you. This isn't coming from any research or profound knowledge whatsoever, of course. I'm speaking purely from my experiences, and what my heart is telling me this afternoon.

So friends, my hopes for you is that you hang on. I also pray that you could come out from a season of trials a little braver, and a little tougher, because that's what the world needs right now. Brave and tough people, who don't give up easily. And lastly, I hope you look within your heart, and you finally hear that tiny voice, relentlessly whispering to remind you, "It's not the end of the world."