Height is an obsession of my flatmate's. She is nearly always exactly right when guessing a person's height just from a glance. Before meeting her, I kinda knew I was short but I've never felt that way. People often think I'm taller than I actually am because my limbs are quite long and I guess I have a big personality. However, older men often see the height, the baby-face and my gender and refuse to treat me like and adult or take me seriously. I used to let this annoy me but then I thought, “Hey, let this be motivation. If people are going to underestimate you, surprise them.” It's always amusing to shove some big hairy guy at a gig who's being a dick and getting in my personal space way more than is necessary and see the look of shock on his face when he realises just who it was that knocked him to the ground...and being small makes getaways all the easier. Aside from all this, there are many things that prove that bigger is not always better. Here are just ten of those things:
X. Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog: Joss Whedon is a god among men. Buffy is one of my all-time favourite shows. Heck, it is my all-time favourite show. One of my most beloved episodes is Once More With Feeling, the musical episode from Season Six. (The Mustard is perhaps my favourite song from said episode and, at under twenty seconds, is minute comedy gold that is also another example of short and sweet) Dr. Horrible, made as a miniseries of three parts in 2008, was made on a shoestring budget with two of Joss' brothers. The cast is amazing (Nathan Fillion, Neil Patrick Harris and Felicia Day), the songs are catchy and hilarious and the plot is wonderfully charming and unclichéd. Coming in at forty-three minutes long it proves that you don't need hours of film or a massive budget to tell a great story. I really can't recommend watching this highly enough and, as a bonus, you can watch the whole thing free online.
IX. Moon River: This song is the first of three in my countdown. It's one of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard; simple, almost minimalist, and so very sweet. It's a song that has been covered many, many times so you'll find lots of versions if you look but they're nearly all great. I personally prefer Audrey Hepburn's original version from Breakfast at Tiffany's and The Honey Trees' cover. At just under two minutes, it is one of those songs that is all the more beautiful because of its restraint. You wish it were a million verses longer but are, at the same time, glad that it is as short as it is. It remained perfect and leaves you wanting more, rather than becoming long or self-indulgent. Certain bands with songs that go on for half an hour at a time could learn a thing or two here.
VIII. Anime: This is a less specific example. While anime series are often quite long in of themselves, each episode is only around twenty minutes long. This does lead to serious binging as you can watch a whole season easily in a day but it is impressive that Japanese story tellers are able to continue to tell individual stories in each episode, while weaving in series archs and character development or background stories, in an era where many Western tv shows are now often an hour (or more) long. Nobody likes people with overly long-winded stories, Hollywood.
VII. "To Electra": One of my favourite poems ever written says so much in two verses; there's longing, patience, unrequited love, pure love, adoration and so much more. With love poetry, simple is often better. You can rant on for hours about your love for someone but to be able to say it in a few lines is so much more skillful. I also find overly long poems rather annoying; surely that defeats the purpose of writing a poem? Why not write a long, dusty novel instead? I particularly love the metre and rhyming scheme of Herrick's poem; it is also simple, fresh and, because it's lack of unnecessary ornamentation, all the clearer and more striking.
VI. Stardust: Stardust and the Sandman series are my favourite works by Gaiman. If you've seen the movie of the same name; forget everything you think you know about the story. The basic plot remains the same but the book is delightfully dark and adult in comparison. It's also refreshing to read a fantasy novel that isn't three million pages long. This is the main reason that the genre has left me so disillusioned. We get it, you're trying to create a world, a universe. That's great. Admirable. But really, we chose to read a book. Let us use our imaginations a bit. Don't be such needy sluts who are just giving it all up right away. I'm looking at you, George R. R. Martin. (I kid, I kid, I love the guy! Don't kill me, uber-nerds!)
V. Ramones' sets: You gotta love their energy. Being able to play an entire set/record in half an hour is impressive, especially when they played songs even faster than they had been written.
IV. A Clockwork Orange: I don't really know what it says about me that this is one of my favourite books. I love my edition; it's a colour I like to call "seventies orange" and is actually from the seventies. My boyfriend bought it for me and it's one of the things I treasure most in the world. I've read it more times than I can count and I'm still not quite sure why I love it so much. It's probably the prose. Burgess is never again so vivid or on-the-ball with his language for me. Aside from that, it's interesting and unexpected and just a really good read. The movie doesn't do its complexity justice.
III. Harsh Realm: Widowspeak is one of the best bands of the last couple years, in my humble opinion. They're just so loaded with atmosphere. So distinctive. So moody. So darkly beautiful. This song, is under three minutes long and, like Moon River, and the next entry, is one of those songs that you wish were longer. It requires being put on repeat for hours. Ah, it's like teen angst in a song. Wonderful.
II. Raining in Darling: Despite being only recently turned to Will Oldham (or Bonnie "Prince" Billy), I can safely say that this is now one of my favourite songs. It's one of the most achingly beautiful things I've ever heard; the sound and the content. That last line of uncertainty, of wavering and worry, "I know you do", like a man trying to convince himself, is so wonderfully human and touching.
I. Buffy the Vampire Slayer: I mean the character, not the show, here. While I love the show, you couldn't really call it either short or small; after seven seasons it continues in comic-book form and is in no way small with a massive cult following. Buffy is small, unassuming and pretty and yet will kick your ass and all the asses of your demon friends too. She'll be funny about it as well. She has been, and remains, my idol and a major crush since I was about ten years of age. Never change, Buffy, you're awesome. Thanks for teaching me about feminism and killing monsters and stuff.
There you have it; undeniable, certifiable, scientific proof that some of the best things come in small packages.
