Dinner and Divergent in Boston (definitely not in Salem)

Last night Derek and I wanted to keep it low key. I had to get up early today to bring Bosco to the vet so a dinner and movie night seemed like a good idea.

We had dinner at Rock Bottom where a woman asked me if she was in Salem. I told her that no, she was in Boston. I think she may have been a bit intoxicated. Salem and Boston are nowhere near each other.

Rock Bottom brews their own beer in-house and it's pretty good. I usually go for the White Ale which tastes similar to a Blue Moon.

 Derek had no idea I snapped this photo. I'm sneaky like that.

I loved the window decals. The W Hotel right across the street is a great place to grab a cocktail.

After dinner we still had time to kill before Divergent so we had a drink at Intermission Tavern.

photo from Intermission Tavern website.

Intermission is small but usually not too crowded. We had no problem finding a seat at the bar. We starting talking to two engineers who were in town from California for a convention. Derek and I somehow always end up talking to people visiting from out of town. I like to think that they tell people back home how friendly people in Boston are.

Intermission also has a leg lamp.

Divergent was good. The movie was very close to the book so I was happy about that. Derek said it started out as a good Sci-fi but the parts between Four and Tris were a little too much for him, which is understandable. It was a bit sappy. He hasn't read the book so I was interested to see what he thought.

Kate Winslet was great as Jeanine.

I'm lucky my boyfriend let's me drag him to YA movies.

Speaking of Derek, today is his birthday so we're heading to one of our favorite places for dinner and drinks tonight. I can't wait!

Unrealistic YA casting in movies and tv shows

My lovely blogger friend Nicole posted a link on facebook to this article asking if every YA action heroine must be petite. After participating in a little facebook discussion, it sent me on a little thinking tangent about how unrealistic most YA casting is.

My current casting pet peeve is Theo James as Four in Divergent.

heyguys.co.uk

I have nothing against Theo James. I loved him in Downton Abbey. My issue is that Theo is 29 playing an 18 year old. I'm sorry but there is no way he is passing for a teenager. Even Shailene Woodly is giving Theo the side eye about this.

Tv shows do it too. One Tree Hill, Dawson's Creek, Smallville (noticing a WB trend here...) all cast people that do not look like actual teenagers.

Here's the One Tree Hill cast.

zap2it.com

"We have so many "teenage" problems!"

Here's my senior year photo.

I would have fit right in One Tree right? Check out those braces.

I understand casting directors want to cast attractive people who have already gone through the awkward teenager phase but it's just glaringly unrealistic. This is why I love My So-Called Life so much.

huffingtonpost.com

An interesting tidbit is that Alicia Silverstone was up for the part of Angela but they gave it to Claire Danes because they thought Alicia was too pretty to have all of these teenage insecurities. I would have loved to look like either Alicia or Claire in high school by the way.

Let's take a look at some of the differences between One Tree Hill and My So-Called Life.

Things that happened on One Tree Hill:

Expensive weddings, going on tour, starting a fashion line, hanging out with Pete Wentz, living alone as a teenager in high school while your parents send you money.

Things that happened on My So-Called Life:

Friends growing apart in high school, crushing on the bad boy, crying over everything, rebelling against your parents, teenage alcoholism (done realistically) and general teenage social awkwardness.

Yes some of these things happened on One Tree Hill too but anything realistic was over shadowed by the over the top events that did happen and portrayed by actors who do not look like your typical teen.

I understand that One Tree Hill is a soap and reality is not the top priority here but the problem is there are too many shows like One Tree Hill and not enough like My So-Called Life.

Ok tangent/rant is done! It felt good to get that all out. Theo James I'm sorry you couldn't be on Downton Abbey longer.