"It's like a bad halloween costume...

...you can't get out of."  A great line from S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders.  Ponyboy and Johnny are talking about having to cut their hair while they're hiding out.  It makes me think of my own red hair.  Because I used to think of it that way.  It was always going to be red.  And when I got old enough to pay someone to dye my hair, I couldn't find a hairdresser who would do it.  'Do you know how much people PAY for hair your color???' They would ask, shaming me back into submission.  Assuring me that the wannabe's never got it right.  (Which I have to agree, I can spot a bottle redhead...well, you know.  From very far away.  But that's another post.)

Back to The Outsiders.  I would like to thank S.E. Hinton for writing a serious novel for teens.  I would further like to thank Francis Ford Coppola (yes, Sofia's dad and maker of wine, for the youngsters in the crowd) for making a truly good film based on the novel.  It's hard to quantify the effect a book can have on someone and who they become.  I remember this book as the first piece of fiction I picked up in the Children's Section of the Anaheim Public Library, that I thought took me, as a 12 year old, seriously.  A book that thought I had depth, compassion, and the ability to understand the complexities of our society.  Respect is important to a skinny kid that age and there's not much of it that goes around.  Of course I also loved Cherry, the smokin' hot redheaded girl in the book.  She gave me hope that someday I wouldn't be the gangly, skinny, freckled, redhead with gorgeous friends.

My 2 boys are watching the film right now.  It stands the test of time.  My oldest read the novel as part of his Literature unit, and actually didn't mind.  My youngest will be reading it in a couple of years.  A good piece of literature is like that.  So is a good film.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!

I hear they're casting a film version of The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger.  I really, really, really hope they do it justice.  Because I remember getting that, and several other banned-at-the-time, books for Christmas when I was in 7th grade.  It was amazing.  Sometimes my parents really rocked their hippie ideals.  For which I am grateful every day.  It's why I don't mind rocking the boat in my small corner of the world.  Sometimes it's just necessary.  Maturity, I've learned the hard way, is knowing when it's necessary.

~S