This past summer, I started a blog. I called it The Black Girl Diaries as a nod to Meg Cabot’s series of novels The Princess Diaries. At first, I planned to write about my experiences as a girl who never truly fit in anywhere growing up, but the blog has become more than just that.
I’ve written posts about the successes and failures of my love life, life-changing poetry collections and even the cult classic Hedwig and the Angry Inch. From this experience, I’ve realized that I love rambling on and on about media that has deeply impacted my life.
Be it a story about two people falling in love in 1800s England (Pride and Prejudice), or a woman’s poems about healing from past trauma and learning to love herself (Rupi Kaur’s Milk and Honey), one thing I’m going to do is write a <500-word long essay about it!
I cannot even begin to explain how good this movie is. It’s been weeks since i saw it and I can’t get it off my mind. While researching the film, I learned that the directors described this film as one big group hug between all the people who made this movie happen and the audience. During the movie, I felt that hug through and through.
It was a very warm and tearful hug. It was a hug that whispered in my ear: “It’s all going to be okay.” Its arms didn’t grab me until I stopped anticipating the eventual embrace, as it reflected the mysterious ways of life. Everything you’re expecting to happen happens when you least expect it to. The film was a safe space, a fuzzy blanket.
As I sat in the theater, it felt okay to feel these overwhelming emotions. The tears I cried surprised me as they flowed down my face, as if appearing out of thin air. I wiped at my face with salty hands from the popcorn. At first, the emotions were stuck in my throat as though I was afraid to set them free. I looked over at my sister and we shared a knowing glance. She was crying too.
I still feel the hug now, like it’s something I can always come back to if I ever need it. The film was a comforting rub on your back beckoning you to let it all out. I didn’t think I could feel this way about something until I saw Everything, Everywhere, All At Once. Watching the film was a self-transformation that is difficult to describe in words. As I read reviews about it, I discovered that this feeling is universally understood. This is a film that captures a generation and impacts the viewer for many years to come.