The Joys of a Good Story

Recently, I started watching a cartoon that some friends of mine had shown to me a few years ago. It's called Stormhawks. It was awesome seeing it again. Its almost like I'm meeting with old friends again. Every time I turn on another episode, from the moment I hear, "My name's Aerrow, and I'm a Sky Knight." I start grinning like an idiot, and most of the time that grin stays for the entirety of the episode and for quite some time afterwards. Why? What is it about this show that always makes me so happy? Why exactly is it so awesome?

In Choir this week, none of us wanted to do anything so Mr. Bills let us watch Enchanted instead. There's plenty of people out there that think that movie's creepy, and that's okay. But for me, is just so . . . silly, I can't help but laugh every time I see it. Then, it is hard not to laugh every time Prince Edward comes on and yells, "Giselle!" and bites his knuckles and stuff. Something I've always liked about fairytales is the lighthearted, happy feel they always have. They always seem to have this easy feel to it that - well, to me - is kind of relaxing, some times refreshing. This movie did very well and capturing these aspects, sticking them in real life and making them somewhat plausible. It's a movie that reminds you that there is such a thing as happily ever after. How many movies do that nowadays?

This world in general has a very depressing view. Almost all the new movies and books are always dark and . . . well, depressing. There's always violence and evil and people making stupid mistakes. Sometimes, you'll come upon a story that's not half bad, but's still heavy. Here's my conclusion:

There's so many stresses, expectations and competition in this world. People all around are looking for happiness in all the wrong places, often resulting in the heavy stories. They try to laugh off anguish in crude jokes. This world is hard. Sometimes even scary. The surrounding media doesn't make it any easier. But every now and then, you come across a story that makes you laugh. That just has silly jokes like, "Huh, he's not in the radio. Imagine that." or "I've been been dreaming - Ah!" They're not crude, they're not uncomfortable, they're just funny. These stories always seem to be coupled with great characters who have a strong sense of unity; who work together for the greater good. Often they have a relationship that runs deep. It's not - as some people are annoying enough to try to make it seem - gross or anything, but a true, deep friendship. How often is that done right nowadays!

It's good to get away from the heavy feel of wordly stories into a happy, life-is-good feel. What makes a good story? It doesn't take violence, or extremely evil bad guys, or a big dramatic fight for good, or sex, vulgar language. All it takes is some happiness. Just a little light, you know? We don't have to be negative to make a good story. A good story is one with true friendship, something that will leave you feeling happy and bright, not dark. When you can find a story like that, it's amazing how happy that can make you. And since when was happiness a bad thing?