My Mom, The Ultimate Role Model

Okay, so based off the title of this blog, you probably know who I am basing this post off of. Just kidding, who wants to hear about someone rambling on about all the nice things their mother did for them. Of course, everyone in their own way views their parents or guardians as role models, in both negative and positive ways, but this post is going to be about a universal role model, Kim Kardashian and the rest of the Kardashian clan. Their claim to fame is their hit show on E! Keeping Up With the Kardashians, chronicling their lives into petty yet for some reason interesting and entertaining 44 minute blocks. She has two sisters, 25 year old Khloe, 31 year old Kourtney, two half sisters, 16 and 14 year old, respectively,  Kendall and Kylie, and a younger brother, 24 year old Robert. The matriarch of the family, Kris Jenner, acts as their support system and manager for all their careers, and Bruce Jenner, a former Olympic gold medalist, plays the conservative down to earth dad with everyone's well being in mind. Kim is known for her bodacious curves. She and her sisters have their own clothing line, perfume, nail polish, and Kim also dabbles in singing, acting, and does a great deal of modelling. However, it is widely known that really, she isn't good at anything and her career is just being rich. And because she's rich, she get richer, simple as that. She's a spoiled brat who doesn't appreciate what she has and the constant drama she encounters and provokes on the show clarifies the fact that money did not make her a better person. She was recently involved in a 72 day marriage to the Nets player Kris Humphries. On the outside, the marriage seemed shallow and not well thought out, and ended on an equally bad note. However, I do not consider Kim a role model because she is beautiful or rich or glamorous. No, I think she is an influence for the main reason that she represents the fact that money truly does not buy happiness. None of them look especially happy; Kourtney has constant relationship problems with longtime boyfriend Scott, Kim got divorced after 3 months. For the hottest woman in the world, it's still pretty hard for her to find love. Kendall and Kylie look exactly the same. Rob graduated from college and still has no idea what he wants to do with his life. Khloe is negative about everything in life. Kris Jenner is money hungry controlling mean lady, and Bruce, well Bruce is married to Kris. I watch the show every Sunday religiously, and never once does the thought ever cross my mind "Hey, I'd like to be one of them".

A.D.D., or what I learned from Tigger

So this is my first post. Everyday we are influenced by myriad role models, in both positive and negative ways. I decided my blog is going to incorporate television shows, movies, and real people, all as various role models. Today, I am going to review the Tigger Movie, an animated comedy drama film for all ages. My favorite character from the Hundred Acre Wood, in this movie Tigger is on the search for others like him, yet to be discovered family members. Even after 11 years, this movie still resonates with me, in a new way every time I see it (every 4 or 5 months haha). At the beginning of the movie, Tigger starts to feel pangs of loneliness and neglect. His friends become irritated with him due to his clumsiness and altogether youthful vibrancy, especially Rabbit and Gopher, who tend to be grumpy in general. Roo, Kanga's young son, considers Tigger an older brother figure and holds him very close in his heart, yet the bouncy tiger does not recognize this until much later on. Owl explains to them that in order to not be alone anymore, one must find their family tree. They take this literally and Tigger writes a letter to his family, but there is never a response. He gets more depressed as the days go on, so to cheer him up, Roo decides to make all the Hundred Acre Wood characters write a letter back from Tigger's "family" and dress up like other Tiggers. However, Tigger realizes what's going on eventually and runs off in the middle of a snowstorm in a bout of anger, feeling that his friends thought his whole struggle was one big joke. He leaves them with a TTFE, "Ta ta FOREVER". All his friends feel terrible and come looking for him, and in the midst of an avalanche, Tigger realizes how much they care about him, and everyone ends up safe through teamwork. Christopher Robin explains to Tigger and the rest of the group that his family based upon blood relations but friendship and who cares about him the most. Tigger realizes that his friends are his family, a very sentimental moment, and all's well that ends well.
Okay, yes, this can seem cheesy, but how many times have you had fights with your family? I know I have fights with mine all the time, much more than how much I fight with my best friends. I am closer with my best friend than my parents, and even though many people have very different relationships with their families, friends really do have the ability to make you who you are. This movie really did teach impressionable young me that friends are an important part of your life, and should never be taken for granted. It takes Tigger a near death experience with him and his friends to realize this. Luckily that's never happened between me and my own friends, but it does represent the fact that you have to go through tough times with your best friends to get closer with them. This movie had a great message for children and adults alike, that you're never alone, whether you have family or not, as long as you have people that care about. Yes, it's corny, but it's true. It also has a terrific soundtrack, including "The Tigger Song," but my main point of this blog post is that, besides the fact that Tigger is an OG with a hell of a lot of bounce, he represents the fact that you create your own reality. Yes, he does not know any of his blood relatives, or even if he has any, yet he chooses to live his life happily and not to dwell on what he doesn't have, but concentrate on what he does. I think life and living well is about thinking positively, and Tigger taught me as a kid just that. He also had fantastic stripes.