Pregnant = ?

Who knew I'd have to deal with people calling me fat while I was pregnant? Only one person, that is, but repeatedly. I've told her once in person and now once in an email to please stop, so hopefully that will do the trick. I know she's not doing it maliciously, that it's just a joke to her, but it hurts my feelings. I didn't gain any weight at all for about the first three months and now have started gaining some. I never thought I'd feel fat when I was pregnant, either, but I can see how it can happen. It really changes your body shape and how you move and everything. Just trying to roll over or get up I make these noises I didn't used to make. And the irony is you have to get up so much more often because you have to go to the bathroom every 30 minutes. Food becomes a much more central issue. I eat something and enjoy the heck out of it. Then after I'm done eating, a little while later, I think, "Hmmm, what can I eat next?" and get all happy thinking about the next thing. I've never eaten with such relish.

I went to a movie the other day by myself and ordered a popcorn, a hot dog, and a root beer. And had such a good time eating it and watching the movie. It was an excellent movie. Sharp, intelligent writing, really good acting, and great direction. I was so impressed with the screenplay I looked up the writer when I got home. It's his first big film! Eric Warren Singer. The director was Tom Tykwer, who did one of my favorties, Run, Lola, Run. The movie was The International. I was disappointed in Ebert's review, which I read afterward, which didn't seem to appreciate the movie as much as I did, although he did like it.

I didn't remember who the director was when I was watching the film, yet I noticed a difference in how Germany was portrayed in an early scene, and I think the reason why is because Tykwer is German. There's a scene of bureaucratic stalling by some German officials, yet there were no overtones of "evil Nazi," which is the stock in trade of movies with German bad guys. He was a bad guy because of motivations of his own or of his government, but not because they were Nazis. As there are probably more neo-Nazis in the U.S. these days than there have been in Germany for decades, I've thought the stock portrayal of Germans in cinema was quite unfair. If you're writing about Nazis, then write about that and pull no punches, but if you're writing about modern Germans, consider how they really are before pulling out the stereotypes. I remember my German professor's daughter, whom I used to babysit for, asking her mother (about movies), "Why are the Germans always bad guys?"

One of the refreshing things about The International is the pacing. It proceeds more like real life, with unexpected events happening at intervals but without the grinding pace of an action movie. Action is so much more exciting and tense when it's interspersed with thoughtful, more measured scenes, which don't feel like filler put in before the next action set piece.