I think I need to apologise before I start this blog, for being an absolutely terrible person and seriously slacking on writing. Sorry - don't hate me! I am back, but am going to limit myself to about a post per week just so I can actually do my uni work...
Ok, so the other day I was talking with my housemates about who our childhood hero's were - you know what I am on about, right? Those people from your childhood who inspired you and who basically shaped you in to the person you are now. And all that shit. We had the weirdest spectrum of answers come up from footballers to the likes of fictional characters. It got to me and I think I had some sort of panic because there are two people who I literally owe my life to. It sort of dawned on me that there was no way in hell that I could pick between the two, so I got all shitty and stuck with two of them.
These two for me are JK Rowling and Walt Disney.
Now before you get all worked up and say that they are quite childish people to have, then listen up, folks. I'm going to tell you why.
First of all let me start with JK Rowling.
I have come to the conclusion that without the Harry Potter books I would never have gotten so in to reading which lead to me loving writing, which in turn created this blog. I mean can you imagine what sort of mess I would be without this space to spill everything in to? The Harry Potter series literally made me realise what I like to do - says the girl who is studying nothing like writing....
I think that the Harry Potter books sort of provided an escape from everything that was happening in the world, and let me delve in to my own little fantasy world that it just so happened I shared with millions of people around the world. Trying to explain this sort of thing to someone who doesn't enjoy reading is so frustrating as I literally cannot comprehend how someone can't get stuck in to a book if they find the right one.
My Grampy used to go to the midnight launch of the books and get me one of the first copies and trundle on over to my house to make sure I had it for the next day. If I hadn't finished it in about 30 hours then everyone would be shocked. Although they did think that they would be funny and grab me a copy of the last book but withhold it from me until we got on holiday. Let me stress that this was to Florida which is a 10 hour flight....I almost went insane knowing that it was on the plane but I couldn't quite get my hands on it. I then sat down by the pool and read the entire thing cover to cover in one sitting.
The thing about the series is that the books are so cleverly written that there are underlying plots weaving in and out of the main and obvious one. No matter how many times you read the books you can still pick out little details from them that you didn't quite see before. Sometimes I would pick the same things up but look at them in a completely different light. I have now read each book about 10 times each and yet I cannot find myself getting bored of them.
The books offer you something that the films do not - the depth and attachment of the characters. A fair amount of my friends don't enjoy reading and just went to watch the films at the cinema. This frustrates me sooooo much as the films miss out about 80% of the things that are written in the books - pretty sure I have done a post on that before...You can tell out of my friends who has read the books by how much they like Snape. People who have read them will know what I mean!
Long story short, these books gave me a place to escape to that was safe from everything else that I couldn't find anywhere else. I am so sure that I owe my life to JK Rowling for keeping me sane and alive throughout the last 10 or so years. Without these books I would probably not be sat here typing this.
Moving on now to Walt Disney.
For anyone who knows me, you will know how much I absolutely adore anything Disney. I mean absolutely love it. I have been to Walt Disney World in Florida and Disneyland Paris so many times that I couldn't count them if I had an extra set of hands. They really are the places where dreams come true. Now then, future person who might somehow want to marry me: propose in Disney or Harry Potter world and you are getting a guaranteed "yes"!
Similarly to the Harry Potter books, anything Disney related offers that sense of escapism into a fantasy world but in a slightly different manner to that of the Wizarding World. Disney sort of portrays this sense that no matter what happens there will be a Happily Ever After. I mean take it or leave it, but I still love it; no matter how false this sort of true love shit is, it's still there in fiction.
Also without Walt Disney, Disney World would not exist and I would be stuck on where to go for my holiday. I have an eternal love for Disney World. If you haven't been there then you are missing out. I actually went there for my 18th birthday 2 years ago (which was the 9th time I have visited there). I am now going back for 6 weeks in 2015 - 3 weeks with friends, and 3 weeks with my family. You can imagine how absolutely buzzing I am for this. Especially because none of my friends have been there, so I get to be all excited like them...we are buying Mouse Ears. It is happening.
I think the sense of magic plays a role in both Disney and Harry Potter in the sense that it is almost like anything is possible. Yes it seems childish, and yes I probably shouldn't fall in to the fiction trap, but I love it. Even just walking in to Magic Kingdom and seeing Cinderella's Castle in front of you...it is literally like you have been transported in to another world. The same applies for Harry Potter world in Islands of Adventure. I think I need to do a post about that....
I am actually finding it hard to put in to words what Disney means to me. Many people think that Disney is aimed more towards children, but I challenge you to go back and watch an older classic Disney film and see how your perspective alters to that of when you were a child. I mean there are some crazily dirty remarks throughout every single film, but also some really good advice. I do still prefer the classic films to those that have been released recently, but nothing will ever top Finding Nemo. I do have a post coming out at the weekend about the best moments in Disney history, so stay tuned for that.
I am not sure what the aim of this post was to be perfectly honest...just felt like I needed to share this with you.
I want to hear about who your childhood hero's were. Were they actual people like mine? Or were they a fictional character?
As always thank you for reading, and I will speak to you next time!
Toodle-oo!
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