The movie Mid 90s was released October 19, 2018  directed by Jonah Hill and stars Sunny Sulic who plays the main character Stevie. Mid 90s is about a 13 year old boy Stevie who struggles with a neglectful mother played by Katherine Waterson and an abusive corrupt brother played by Lucas Hedge. Stevie feels that he does not fit in and is a type of lonely child who keeps to himself and his music.

One day he is walking the streets of Los Angeles when he sees an interesting store. He walks in to see the place is filled with skateboards and banned tees but what really grabs his attention is the group of boys sitting in the back of the store laughing and mocking each other. A sense of free spirit immediately radiates off of the boys and captures Stevie in a lure.

I believe this scene in the movie resembles how easy it is in society to be mesmerized by others to the point where you quickly forget who you are. Throughout this movie several reflections of society are captured and portrayed realistically through the characters. Jonah Hill is able to demonstrate the feeling of loneliness, innocence, corruption, and change just in a span of 85 minutes. 

By first glance you can tell these boys are much older than Stevie and have more of a wild side to them but that persona is what brings Stevie closer to them. As days go on Stevie continues to visit the store and starts to hang around the boys more and more until he becomes completely attached. 

As his relationship with the boys develops his behavior starts to change into something that puts him in danger. Danger of losing his youth, innocence, drive, and anything that does not revolve around ways to ignore his true life. He starts to experiment with substances and activities that usually only an older person would partake in and this leads him down a path of self destruction. Stevie thrives to fit in so much that he is blinded from the rights and wrongs of the world. 

He begins to lash out at people like his mother and brother to a point that his once abusive brother feels a stranger is sitting beside him and his mother can’t remember the feeling of a hug from her once unknowing son. This demonstrates how the corruption of others does not only affect a single person but everyone around them. 

This movie reflects the effects that peers and the world has on adolescents and the dangers that arise when the importance of escaping isolation becomes too much. The idea of friends and familiarity can easily occupy logical thinking especially among kids and teens and when there is no one to help it can become too much. 

While the end of this movie is a sort of cliff hanger I believe it leaves a sense of empty feeling in the viewers just as Stevie felt throughout the entire film. As the movie ends it demonstrates a bittersweet end to a secure yet dangerous influence that surrounds him.  The director chose to end the movie in the way he did in order to connect the audience with Stevie on a deeper level than just sympathy but empathy.

The movie Good Will Hunting was released December 5th, 1997 and was directed by Gus Van Sant and stars Matt Damon, Stellan Skasgard, and Robin WIlliams. This movie is about a young man in his twenties named Will who is played by Matt Damon. He works as a janitor at the famous M.I.T in Massachusetts and is extremely intelligent but has no desire to use his unthinkable brilliance in the real world. 

Will is quickly discovered by a professor at the school. Gerald Lambeau, played by Stellan Skasgard when he writes an extremely difficult equation on the board in the hallway and Will solves it when no one else at the school could. 

I find that this is the first metaphor in the movie representing the idea that you should never judge someone for what they look like or do for a living because they could have a pure intelligence that you may never have even heard of until you met that person and uncover their shell.

Will, even though very smart, still gets in trouble all of the time, especially with the law. Fighting and physical altercations are his first choice of lashing out in the dark world that surrounds him. When Will is caught in an act of violence he is ordered to parole with the exception that he must work alongside professor Lambeau in his studies while also seeing a therapist once a week.

After several weeks of going through cycles of therapists that could not handle Will's character, he finally meets Sean Maguire who is played by Robin Williams. Will’s and Sean's personalities collide in a strong, impactful way that is at first catastrophic to all that surrounds them. 

As Will continues to live his life in the safe close proximity of his own mind he meets a girl named Skylar at a bar who is played by Minnie Driver. Skylar pulls out every emotion of Will that he shields away from the outside world. A fear overwhelms him that when she truly gets to know him he will not seem as perfect as he appears to be. He sees her as nothing but perfect in his own clouded mind and fear drives him to push her away just like everyone else.

Will and Sean continue to meet and the only breakthrough the two seem to be facing is their shared sense of humor and amusement found in baseball. Will uses his sense of humor to conceal the darkness that fills his being and Sean uses his sense of humor to connect with Will on a shallow level. 

As Skylar tries to break through to him and discover his past like an archaeologist that is hunting for a fossil all she is met with is dust and emptiness that fogs his soul. Her love is a light that could brighten the darkest of places and yet he crushes her in the palm of his hand with the bitter words that flee from his mouth. 

Will uses harsh words to push the people who love him away in order to keep the security of his loneliness at an arm's length distance. The only person that seems to reach him is Sean who forces Will to fight face to face with his past trauma and regrets that leave him a shambled mess only to be picked up and remolded by Sean like clay to a sculpture. 

The Fault In Our Stars is a poignant, touching novel about life’s journey when two characters fall in love with each other amidst the hardships of cancer. This is a saddening story and shows how melancholy life can be. The main character is Hazel Grace Lancaster, a 16-year-old girl who struggles to survive daily. She has thyroid cancer that severely affects her breathing. As a result, her parents encouraged her to join a support group to meet people who share their testimonies and tell stories about similar experiences. One day, when she goes, she bumps into Augustus Waters. Augustus (or Gus), shares that he had bone cancer in the past and it affected his legs. During the meeting, he observes Hazel and is intrigued by her. They become good friends and start hanging out. 

Hazel tells him her favorite book when she goes to Gus’ house. He decides to read it and is amazed. After many conversations and disputes later, Gus decides to use his cancer wish to visit Amsterdam to meet the book's author. After the first night in Amsterdam, the readers of the book get to see the beginning of their fondness for one another. Following meeting the author, they experience all the wonders together that Amsterdam has to offer. The rest of the book shows the challenges, limitations, and breakthroughs that Hazel and Gus experience. “There is no shortage of fault to found amid our stars.” (Green, 112) A quote to show the true love and compassion Hazel and Gus have for one another and that even though they may be flawed on the outside, what matters (that is, the relationship) will never have a weakness or in this case, a fault. Hazel and Gus fall in love and enjoy life to the fullest with the sparse time they have left.

I enjoyed this book because it showed how hard life can be when it’s not flawless like one of those ‘picture perfect’, unrealistic movies. John Green, the author, expressed in this book what to model yourself as in the world and how to show these traits to other people. Gus exemplifies kindness, respect, compassion, and concern for others. The relationship between Gus and Hazel shows what real relationships should be like. I additionally found this book engaging since one of my favorite places in the world is Amsterdam. Amsterdam once appealed to me in a TV show and I’ve been interested in history like Anne Frank’s House and other stuff ever since. I think other people should read this book because they will get an insight into the labor of cancer, see the light in a tough time, and learn to live life to the fullest, not waste it. A favorite quote of mine was  “Some infinities are bigger than other infinities.” (Green, 260) This quote is talking about Hazel and Gus’ relationship on how their infinity will always be bigger even though the time was limited for her.

This book deals with love, suffering, fear, and friendship. In this book, Hazel and Gus are high school students proving that this is a YA book for young adults. High school portrays these themes, so they are not just fictional. Green highlights the significance of these themes through the exceptional occurrences of well-written, thought-provoking quotes spread throughout the book. The symbols in this book are vital to understanding, they show the readers the candid message behind it which is: How important life is,  how we need to embrace it when it is difficult, and to find joy in every situation.

Overall, this book was one of the best books I have ever read in my life so far. I give it a five out of five-star rating. It touches on so many topics that humans need to have and share with others. The book spreads a profound lesson for the readers. It will always remain an important keepsake in my head. A quote that relates to this statement from the book is  “Sometimes, you read a book and it fills you with this weird evangelical zeal, and you become convinced that the shattered world will never be put back together unless and until all living humans read the book.” (Green, 33) In the future, I look forward to reading books that give me the same excitement as reading this.