TV Review: Black Box

I haven’t done this in a while so forgive me if it’s not perfect. I wasn’t even going to do this, but I have to in a weird way. 

We assume the people that we see in our daily life is normal and doesn’t have any skeletons in their closets. We reassure ourselves that the professionals are perfectly healthy in their both their personal and professional lives, but we don’t live in a perfect world. We all have our problems, sometimes there are more people out there with worse conditions. In the life of ABC’s new show Black Box leading female character Dr. Catherine Black is a famous neurologist who has a good family, a loving boyfriend who wishes to marry her, and a great career of taking care of patients who are like her in a way. You see, Catherine also known as Kate is bipolar and the only people who know about it is her older brother and his family, plus her shrink she sees on a daily basis. The series is about the constant struggle between the two Catherine Black’s, the one who takes her medicine everyday and the woman who loves the incredible high of being free of everything, her emotions, thoughts, and the drugs that make her “normal.” In just the first ten minutes of the first episode you get a mini roller coaster ride of both sides to not only this troubled woman, but also the patients she treats as well.

I have been seeing the previews on my TV for a while, probably two or three months now. At first, it didn’t seem interesting but as I kept watching it them every time they came up during the commercials. I couldn’t fight it, I had to see what it was really about, the previews weren’t enough to really try to understand her. Kelly Reilly plays Dr. Catherine Black, and after finishing it a little bit ago, she really brought out the character in every shade that she could. Catherine can smart, brilliant, and loving to the ones she’s around but then when she’s off her meds she’s the total opposite. In the words of Dr. Black, “sometimes I do very bad things.” You feel some sympathy for her because you can see the lost in her eyes but the beast living inside grows stronger and stronger and she loses it. I think there’s two key importances within the her story. One is we assume too quickly. Not every disability is curable and easy to see through the naked eye. I’ve never really understood that statement until now. Can you imagine to how many doctors, nurses, politicians, musicians, actors, and others are living with a mental illness. Sometimes it may not be them, but they might have it in their families. Kelly’s character got the illness from her mother, who committed suicide when Catherine and her brother were young. Catherine has said in the first episode a lot, because of her mother and the disorder. She thinks if her mother couldn’t handle her children, she wouldn’t be either.

The second importance is you see a lot about Catherine’s good side when she’s around her niece and her patients. Two patients were introduced on the episode, one is very young and in college but he draws constantly on the walls and imagines things. Past doctors have concluded that he has schizophrenia, but Black sees something else within him and leads it into another diagnoses instead. The other patient is a lady, who was probably in her early or mid 60’s who have hullucinatios of dwarves. One you come to know as “Yojo” and she has dementia that’s slowly advancing. Dr. Black orders her to be on medicine to make her stop seeing her friends, but when Kate goes off her medicine again, she takes back her original orders. The ending is a somewhat happy ending for that character. I hate watching Catherine’s battle with her disease but it is a very interesting matter of how she’s able to keep it hidden from not only her patients but her peers as well. I can’t wait for the next few episodes to see what happens next of the life of Dr. Catherine Black and her patients she treats. I think this show will open Pandora’s Box of we see with our own eyes and let someone treat us. Watch “Black Box” starring Kelly Reilly and Vanessa Redgrave, on ABC at 9/10pm EST.

The Disney Tag

I saw this girl Amy, who originally did this, ask for people to be nominated to do her Disney tag and my first thought was, “awesome!” but I thought if I did it, I would be in the drawing for a giveaway and I can’t do those, so that was my REAL reason why I didn’t reply back to her. However, she did nominate me on Twitter after the fact! I’m listening to my Disney playlist as we speak because if you’re not listening to Disney songs when you’re doing these kinds of things, you’re not right in the head. Now onto the tag!

What is your favorite Disney film:

My favorite Disney movie, I’ve always loved the Princess themed movies the most, but I watched The Hunchback Of Notre Dame and I remembered my love of the darkness and hatred I still have for people like Frollio. Another favorite is The Lion King: Simba’s Pride. I was and STILL obsessed with this movie. It’s the only one I have on DVD. 

Who is your favorite Disney character?

Esmeralda is my favorite because she was such a strong character on her own. She had such a good heart and cared deeply for her friends and people.  She wasn’t the type of person that she wasn’t going to down without a fight and there needs to be more people like her in the world. Demi Moore was such a good actress to bring her to life.

Who is your favorite Disney Princess, and why?

I’ve always answered this question with Sleeping Beauty’s Aurora, but after watching Frozen my love of Elsa and Anna, have changed my way of thinking. I think the feeling of hopefully finding my “prince charming” one day and dreaming of him, has been replaced with finding love in the people you already have, like family.

Who would you rather be: Sleeping Beauty or Cinderella?

I like the both the same, but I’ve always been an “Aurora” fan for a long time.

Who would rather be: Hercules or Tarzan?

Hercules, but only for the unbelievable strength and being fearless!

Who would you rather be: Lizzie McGuire or Raven Baxter?

I’m already like both in ways, but I liked Raven’s style the most.

What is your favorite Disney song?

This is the tricky question  because you just have one song. I love the Tarzan soundtrack out of all the soundtracks, but favorite songs, well there’s “God Help The Outcasts,” “Once Upon A Dream,” “I Won’t Say (I’m In Love),” “A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes,” “Bells Of Notre Dame,” “When You Wish Upon A Star,” “Beauty And The Beast,” “Some Day My Prince Will Come,” and “Let It Go.”

Which Disney character would be your best friend?

Alice, because I like in wonderland almost everyday.

Which Disney character would be your pet?

Niko and Olaf. Those were my favorites. ♥

Have you ever been to Disneyland? If so, which one?

I went to Disney World in Florida in 2003 after being apart of the Make-A-Wish foundation. It hadn’t been a full year after I had my surgeries and we went there, and mom took us to Splash Mountain as a trick. After we got off of the ride, we were mad at her and then we got in trouble so we took the train as our last ride and left the park. That part sucked because we hadn’t gotten to meet any of the cool characters just Mickey and Goofy and that was it. 😦

Blogs That I Love

I’ve been finding more and more bloggers and their sites almost everyday! I love it too! Twitter has become my number one source of both an audience and inspiration as with the bloggers that I currently read on a daily basis. Sadly, before I started sharing my blog links everyday on Twitter and gaining links from others, I think I only read about five blogs and I follow a lot more than that. I feel bad saying that, but since I don’t use my email like I probably should at times.  I have quite a few that tend to comment on here that I do actually keep up with, but when I know I’ll read their posts and continue to do so, I put them on my “blogroll” on the right side. It’s been my little “To-Do” list in a way. There are a few blogs that I read constantly and I love their stuff. I would like for this to be a weekly thing and maybe I’ll keep up with it as with other blogs that I gain each day. So here are some five favorite blogs at the moment!

1. All That Glitters – Candice writes about her life in Los Angeles, CA such as food, travel, fashion, and etc. I have been really into her blog and I just met her like a couple of weeks ago. Things I like about her is that she’s a book-worm like myself and she’s very, very sweet!
2. Dainty Ghosts – I love Claire as a whole! She is such a little adorable and a total sweetheart! I love talking to her during blog chats and in general. She is a lifestyle blogger as well! She comes from Northern Ireland and she’s got a pastel red hair that I am in love with! Her blog is so inviting and colorful that her personality is just as bright!
3. Down2Date – This is a dating blog fill of good AND bad dating stories. Some of them are down right hilarious! I’ve literally caught myself laughing my ass off while reading about these crazy people. Dame Dessa and Searching Stella are so sweet and I love talking to them on Twitter, the things that they post on there is just as funny than what’s on their blog. Even though I have never went on a date before, I still love reading their posts and it reminds me that online dating just isn’t worth it sometimes!
4. Elsa Pataky – I am a big fan of Elsa, from seeing her on the movie “Fast Five” I was basically hooked. I probably should have her blog on my blogroll but it’s the only way I can keep up with it. If you didn’t know she’s blogging about her life and what she likes on Spain’s version of Glamour magazine, so that means she is writing it all in Spanish, which is her first language and she is from Spain too! Anyways, I must have Google translate the whole blog so I can read it, but it’s worth it. I love her blog and she does Q&A’s from people who have commented on her posts. She seems so nice and I love reading about her thoughts and her healthy lifestyle!
5. Jenni Hearted – I found Jenni probably a week ago. I found her during one of the many blog chats I get involved in during the week! I am in love with her very girly blog. She is a beauty, fashion, and lifestyle blogger! One of the things that kept going on her blog was her photos were absolutely breathtaking! She was my inspiration to start the “Roll With Me” posts. She does her own, calling them “Walk With Me” and she shares tons of pictures of what she sees on her walks and even shares a playlist at the end of each one. I do mine in a similar fashion but without the playlist. She is a sweetheart and I love talking to her and always look forward to her posts!