Balance between male and female

—After reading The Da Vinci Code

American writer Don Brown’s novel The Da Vinci Code is an enormous success on the list of bestsellers that catapulted Brown to celebrity overnight. It is a thriller which combines both the conflict between science and religion and the secret society.

Robert Langdon, the novel’s hero, focuses readers’ attention on the story. He sets a good example to a likable, capable and goodhearted man. Langdon is trustworthy and in the novel’s many moments of uncertainty, his presence consistently makes readers feel easy.

However, nobody is perfect and Langdon is no exception. Although he is seen as a masculine symbol in the academic field, Langdon is clumsy and not good at guns and weapons. Besides, he also lacks resolve when it comes to strategies and executing actions. I tend to believe that if he has another choice,  he would rather think about codes and symbols than figure out how to escape the Louvre under the eyes of policemen. Thus Sophie, a lady who transforms his intellectual abilities into practical skills that are applicable to reality, has to come on the stage to be a balance with him.

Sophie Neveu’s appearance in the novel embodies the idea that male and female are two complementary forces that work together in harmony. I know the fact from the novel that pagan religions and the Priory valued balance between male and female. So I think Sophie and Langdon form the male and female halves of a single protagonist, and their goals are always in the same way. In this way, they echo the idea about the partnership of Jesus and Mary Magdalene. In their opinion, the male and the female worked together toward a goal without the female being subordinate to the male in any aspect.

Both Sophie and Langdon like the Mona Lisa, exhibit male and female traits. For example, when Langdon loses head, Sophie is able to know how to deal with the real world. She is quick-witted, agile, and devious when she needs to be, and physically assertive, all these traits are seen when she helps to disable Silas in the chateau. But at the same time, she is caring and compassionate. She feels the loss of her family deeply and mourns the death of her grandfather. Both brilliant and sexually attractive, Sophie combines a masculine toughness with typically feminine qualities. In fact, the character of Sophie reminds me of another out-standing heroine in Hong Kong writer NiKuang’s “WeiSili” novel series—BaiSu. They are synonyms in my dictionary.

One of the major themes of the novel is that secrets lie all around us awaiting interpretation. At the beginning of the novel, when Suniere leaves a mass of secrets and puzzles around his body, explicit examples of puzzles and codes around. Some of the puzzles and codes are known to Langdon already, through his studies and some are still mysterious. And Sophie’s memories are essential to him. She is in the habit of suddenly remembering important information. At the end of the novel, she recalls that she saw her grandfather talking to her grandmother when she was younger and they were visiting Rosslyn Chapel. According to Brown, Sophie remembered this all along and just needed the right impetus to uncover it. Only in the cooperative way could they work out the meaning of symbols and codes and pursue the Grail.

The Da Vinci Code raises the question of whether history books necessarily tell the only truth. The novel is full of reinterpretations of commonly told stories, such as those of Jesus’ life, the pentacle, and the Da Vinci fresco The Last Supper. The author provides his own explanation of how the Bible was compiled and of the missing gospels. Langdon even interprets the Disney movie The Little Mermaid, recasting it as an attempt by Disney to show the divine femininity that has been lost. And throughout the novel, the intelligence of women is presented by Sophie, which is underestimated by men. But the fact is that Sophie saves Langdon from arrest countless times. What’s more, when she is finally allowed to see the clue in the rose box, she immediately understands how to interpret it.

Sexist men in The Da Vinci Code are used as a counterpoint to the religions that celebrates the divine feminine. In The Da Vinci Code, sexist characters are always suspected. Langdon respects Sophie and cooperate well with her, so he finally comprehends the poem, which leads him to the small pyramid built into the ground in the Louvre, where he is sure the Grail must be hidden.

The characters of Langdon and Sophie are made up of more brush strokes than those that can be nailed down to one set pattern of man and woman, like 007 and his women. Instead, they embody the balance of male and female.

MY ASSIGNMENT OF THIS SESSION

I couldn’t hold back my smile stretched from ear to ear when I saw Karen star in the movie GO LALA GO. There is no doubt that the movie belongs to Karen, at least this is true in my turn, who capture my whole heart as Rose, a powerful and sophisticated ranking official in a big company. Just as her name infers, Rose is a charming elite lady not only of fabulous figure, but also of astonishing professional competence! The character of Rose reminds me of Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep) in The Devil Wears PRADA.

As the fourth movie of Director XuJinglei, this is a simple and smart big-screen adaptation of LiKe’s best-seller, smoothing the characters’ boxy edges out of the popular white-collar novel to make a love story rather than teaching viewers lessons.

In the movie, DuLala, starred by Director Xu, is hired to work in DB, one of the world’s 500 top companies as an assistant administrator. It takes her six years to take off from a fledgling worker to a human resources directer (HRD) by the sweat of her brow. In the pursuit of promotion, she falls in love with her boss, David, who is Rose’s ex-lover as well. In spite of their complicated relations, they seem to be common colleagues in company where love affair is forbidden. But they still have to face up the dilemma of the balance of love and career.

The movie is obviously a big draw while cosmopolitan plot, well-dressed screen beauties, beautiful scenes of compolis and happy ending are involved. What’s more, it is also a floating fashion show as Patricia Field, who did great costume design in The Devil Wears PRADA, Sex and the City, took this part of GO LALA GO.

However, what annoys me slightly when I watched it is that loads of logos occur frequently from beginning to end, though most of them are arranged reasonably. It makes me feel like reading a chew-up and spit-out magazine full of ads while it is so-called win-win situation of movie-makers and sponsors.

When it comes to Rose again, I have to say I’m so enraptured by Karen’s performance that I have delicate pity for her. Any other actress would have turned Rose into a woman of strong character, but I believe that none of them can do such a wonderful job as Karen did. Karen’s attractive personality and brilliant acting timing make Rose a fascinating, unapologetic character. And she is absolutely a versatile star. Besides starring, she composed and sang the theme song Multiple Choice, which gives the movie an amazing sparkle together with ZhangYadong’s melody and Stanley Huang’s Go.

“The more you desire beautiful reverie, the more you embrace stubborn tenacity and you’ll have a fading memory of the charming face of love. It’s minute power…” The theme song sends the movie’s message: Make work your priority, and you’ll be rich and powerful and LONELY. There is a scene that Rose finally gets the position she looking forward to, but unexpectedly, she finds it’s nothing but an empty dream. Seriously, she wants to renew the love with David. However, he tells her the truth that he has been unavailable for more than a year. The embarrassment Rose could hardly hide really breaks my heart. At last, she quits for a real new start. Good wishes for her!

In reality, Karen leads a busy but happy life because she has been fulfilling her motto: Do what I love, love what I do. She is a lucky girl who knows her wants clearly and I wish I could have such luck too.

在生日前夕居然發生了這麼悲慘的事……

驀然發現錢包不見的那一刻滿是無法置信，醒悟過來這是事實也只是焦急，畢竟錢是小事，關鍵我的所有證件和卡都在裏面啊！！！

既然事情已經發生就只能想辦法解決，重辦所有證件再麻煩也得一件一件地辦……唉……

今天凌晨早早地就沒了睡意，依然賴在床上不願起來。週末，什麽證件都辦不了，沒有證件銀行卡也不能重辦，掛失不是不行，可是……學院馬上就要在上面打獎學金了啊……真是頭痛啊……有痊愈跡象的感冒這下子好像更嚴重了……

用戶口重辦飯卡之後，忽然之間覺得很想哭。淚水悄悄蔓延。我以為我足夠堅強，能夠面對因自己的疏忽造成的損失，卻在淚水決堤的一刻發現我原來不那麼勇敢，打從心底不願面對這一切……

媽媽還是一如既往的嚴厲，爸爸仍然不在乎地說掉了就算了，耳邊的喧囂都是隔靴撓癢，說到底，我依然獨自在外的一個人……

這，就是成長的痛吧！痛過之後，我會更加小心地在這個魚龍混雜的社會中生活，經歷奔波的疲憊之後，我將不再那麼愛哭……

不想長大，可是我必須長大，好好地保護自己。兜兜轉轉，到最後，只有自己才是終身不變的依靠。

今天是外婆的生日，也是理工开始迎新的日子。最近关于是否应该由家长送孩子去上大学的争论被媒体炒得沸沸扬扬，我一直对此颇不以为然。暑假期间和妈妈一起看新闻，她也说，许多家长并不是单纯的为了送孩子而去送，有的家长把送孩子上大学的荣耀时刻当成了举家旅游的机会，毕竟又不是人人都来自大城市，也不是人人平时都有很多机会去大学几日游什么的。

开学之后，某天在手机上我看到了一篇博客，印象很深。

http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_5dcb597f0100f5u0.html

郑教授的观点比较能折服我。

家长是否送孩子上学，本来是日常生活中的小事，却因为孩子是天之骄子的大学生而在社会上引起关注的涟漪，有必要吗？如今年年扩招，现在的大学生已经远非往昔傲视群芳、高住象牙塔的群体，但中国传统的“万般皆下品惟有读书高”的思想仍然隐隐作用于大众的言行。

思绪纷飞，这些争论勾起了我一些久远的回忆。心，微微的疼。

我是由外婆一手带大的，外婆对我的宠溺远远多于两位表姐。小时候上学，从幼儿园、学前班一直到小学二三年级，风雨无阻，上学的路上总有外婆为我背着大大小小的书包伴我去学校的情景，直至送我到教室，外婆还要把我的座位擦拭得干干净净才会叮咛再三地离开。而等到放学的时候，校门外一定会有外婆等待的身影。

现在回想起来，那时的我真的好幸福，可惜，身在福中，总是不懂得珍惜。

不管是应试教育还是素质教育，外婆把我当幼儿园的小孩一样的接送在小学的环境里不出意外地碍眼，老师和同学的议论让我觉得害羞，加上我也确实有些烦外婆千篇一律的唠叨，于是我开始拒绝外婆的陪伴，软硬兼施，又哭又闹，自幼被宠坏的任性和坏脾气发挥得淋漓尽致。当时年纪小，丝毫不顾虑外婆的感受，只顾着达到自己的目的而忽视了达到目的的方式方法，有意无意中伤害了爱我的外婆。当我终于如愿地摆脱了外婆的接送，和普通小学生一样与同学结伴去学校时，我一度感到非常新鲜和快乐。但随着时间的流逝，最初的新鲜感渐渐消失之后，丝丝缕缕的孤独开始在我的心中蔓延。原来，当幸福的金马车离我远去之后，我才拾起了地上的金色马毛，后知后觉地发现我曾经拥有过它——在初中的课本里初次读到毕淑敏的《提醒幸福》，顿时心酸不已。

在成长的过程中，总会遇到许多不如意。而在人前，我本能地习惯于带着乖巧的面具。而我“内心的黑暗”（崔卫平的博客中有论述），诸如乖张乖僻等等，只会在最亲近的人面前展现，比如妈妈，比如外婆。现在想来，青春期的我虽然没有表现出明显的叛逆，却经常任性地在情感上伤害最爱的人，不管是亲人、朋友还是其他某人。其中，我最无法原谅自己对外婆的伤害。那些时候她是气愤的，但很快就只记得我的好，记得我是她最疼爱的小外孙，而我却始终记得自己的忤逆和不乖，这也是我心里永远的隐痛。许多次想向外婆道歉，却无力的发现无从开口，一如鲁迅的《风筝》中的无奈。

以前一直和外婆朝夕相处，对于岁月的流逝在她身上留下的痕迹感觉得并不明显。现在外出读书，寒暑假回去，才蓦然惊觉外婆的衰老。想到我一天天长大，和外婆在一起的时间会越来越少，想到小时候的幸福时光，想到我粗暴地拒绝外婆的爱，心，一阵阵地绞痛……

外婆，我亲爱的外婆，我爱你。我不管别人怎么评价你，我不管你的人缘有多差，我始终爱你，一如你对我最深沉的爱。祝你生日快乐！

情深不寿
我们是否不该对你倾注太浓烈的眷顾和爱恋？
谢谢你带给我们许多快乐……
欢欢，希望你在天堂娇憨可爱依旧……
Would you know my name if I saw you in heaven?
Would it be the same if I saw you in heaven?
I must be strong and carry on
'Cause I know I don't belong here in heaven……
Would you hold my hand if I saw you in heaven?
Would you help me stand if I saw you in heaven?
I'll find my way through night and day
'Cause I know I just can't stay here in heaven……
Time can bring you down,time can bend your knees
Time can break your heart, have you begging please……
Beyond the door there's peace I'm sure
And I know there'll be no more
tears in heaven……