Liking things I've never liked before...

Or, more accurately, liking things I previously professed to hating.

Exhibit A: Apocalypse Now. We watched it in "Fiction to Film" Monday, and I was astounded at how much I enjoyed it. Really? YES. I know. I viewed it the first (and only other) time for Freshman Preceptorial in college, and I remember hating it - as in, not even sitting through the whole thing. (Sorry, Stuart Allison.) I don't remember why I hated it (though any reasons I provided were probably just reconfigurations of my generalized freshman year surliness - sorry, everyone), but this time around, I dug it. Great use of sound, some beautifully framed shots. I didn't even mind the voiceovers! The ending, admittedly, dragged on; I also didn't really need the scenes of the cow butchery interspersed with the slaughter of Kurtz, but that's neither here nor there. This post is about my changed opinion, after all. (*)

Exhibit B: Modern Fiction. Some of you may recall a time in the not-so-distant past when I professed to only liking literature written in the last 30 years. OK, I never actually made such a ridiculous claim, but you'll grant that I read/discussed/emulated mostly contemporary fiction. No longer, friends. This Fiction to Film class has really changed my view. We're currently reading The Quiet American, and I love it. As in, I don't want to stop reading it. When has this ever happened? I mean, when (in the last few years) have I loved a modern novel this much? This, friends, is a pressing question.

I'm not sure what's going on here, all of my opinions undermining themselves, but if the trend continues, I might just end up liking other things I hate, like Hummers, Jessica Simpson, and seafood. !. Just kidding: I'll never like Jessica Simpson (or Hummers. Jury's still out on seafood). Whatever the reason for this change, I am glad.

(*) Just had a terrible thought: did we even watch Apocalypse Now for FP? All these years, I was convinced that we did & that I hated it, but I might be thinking of Blade Runner (which I actually do dislike, and which I know for certain that we viewed in Harbach). Nevertheless: continue.