Have you ever experienced a life-changing event? Anything that has encouraged or inspired you to change the way you live and think? Events like these are very common for those who embark on a psychological journey in search of their individuality and beliefs. Sometimes, for some people, this is a lifelong journey, while for others it only takes one trial to change everything. Isn't it possible? I only have the stories to demonstrate how one event can trigger events that can lead to a complete personality change. The Art of Getting Stared At, by Laura Langston, is a novel about a 17-year-old girl, Sloane Kendrick, who, in the midst of making a video worthy of a scholarship, discovers that she has alopecia areata, a autoimmune disease, non-fatal disease that will most likely cause you to lose all your hair. As someone who has always believed she is more than just her physical appearance, her beliefs are tested to the core as she races against time to get her video application in before the deadline. Looking for Alibrandi, by Kate Woods, is a film about a rebellious 18-year-old girl, struggling to deal with teenage problems, earn good grades to pursue a post-secondary education, deal with family stress, and deal with her estranged father. who returned after 18 years. This film follows her journey through all these conflicts and shows us the inside perspective of an 18 year old teenager. Langston's The Art of Getting Stared At and Woods' Looking for Alibrandi both contain elements of a typical "find yourself" type of story. Both Langston and Woods use their characters' journeys of self-discovery to highlight the importance of accepting who you are and how family and friends can help you cope with a conflicting ordeal. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay. Both The Art of Getting Stared At by Langston and Looking for Alibrand by Woods follow the conventions of a typical journey of self-discovery. Journeys of self-discovery occur when the protagonist goes through a series of events and attempts to discover himself and his beliefs on his own rather than following the opinion of others. For Sloane, alopecia was the event that triggered it all. Most journeys of self-discovery revolve around an insecure protagonist who, after her journey, gains more self-respect and confidence. One thing common to all these characters is that they think all bad things only happen to them when in reality everyone has their fair share of difficulties. In The Art of Getting Stared At, an example of this would be when Sloane was complaining about how unfair his life is and how he has always done good things but doesn't understand why in return the only results he gets are bad. “Do you think you will have an absolutely fair life? That you will never be challenged? ...A life without challenges does not exist.”. This is the quote that Sloane's mom tells her when she has a tantrum. At this point, Sloane is diagnosed with alopecia and this is like the icing on the cake of problems. Sloane has just gone through a tough separation, she has been occasionally bullied by a group of boys at school, she has been told that while her mother is going to Sudan for 8 weeks, she will have to stay with her father and stepmother who she despises , and now a dermatologist has told her she may lose all her body hair. This comes as a shock to her and now she has more things to consider and worry about than just focusing on making a grant-worthy video.This causes Sloane to lose confidence in herself and this clouds her creativity and imagination. She thinks that now that she is losing her hair she will look ugly and society will judge her for her appearance. Sloane faces many conflicts throughout the book, and each plays a significant role in shaping his lifestyle and how he lives and acts towards others. As in any typical self-discovery plot, In Search of Alibrandi also has characters who long for freedom or something better than what they have. “If I could be anything other than what I am, I want it tomorrow. If I could be what my father wants me to be, maybe I could stay for that too. If I could be what you want me to be, I would stay. But I am who I am and all I want is freedom. This quote is a note that a close friend of Josie's gave her before killing himself the next day. He was the son of the vice president and came from a long line of politicians. This pushed him to prove to his father that he was just as smart and cunning as he expected him to be. The pressure built up over the years and at the young age of 17, he succumbed to the pressure and ended up killing himself to free himself from the rigid rules, judging eyes and to simply achieve peace and freedom. This also affects Josie greatly as she loved him like family and had been friends since birth. This is a big turning point for her as she promises herself that she will not buckle under the pressure and that she will live life the way she wanted and how she believed she should. In every coming-of-age story, the main characters are often put under pressure by friends, family, culture, religion or society in general and the plot of this film is no different or less. Although both characters face conflicting issues and problems that make them question everything they've ever believed, they will manage to learn and grow from that and come out even stronger than before. In The Art of Getting Noticed, Sloane matures and learns to filter out everyone else's mean and hateful messages and focus only on herself. “She will go crazy. Kim will probably disapprove. Dad won't say much. Mom will say it's just hair. In the end, however, it's up to me to understand how to deal with the situation." This quote is from the end of the book, when Sloane realizes that what other people think doesn't matter after all. She shouldn't care what her parents say, what her sister thinks, or how her friends and classmates react, the only opinion that matters most should always be her own. Or as his father said, “The most important relationship we will ever have will be with ourselves.” After facing harsh judgments and tackling one problem after another, Sloane learns to filter the opinions of others and deal with trials at her own pace and in her own way, without the input of others. As a result, just as Sloane has learned to live with her condition, Josie gains a new perspective and learns to look at the world through different lenses. “I remembered when we talked about our emancipation. The horror is that he had to die to achieve his goal. The beauty is that I live to achieve my goals." This quote is from the end of the film where, after graduating high school, Josie looks back and reflects on the crazy year she's had. She thinks back to what she and John talked about before he committed suicide and notices that he helped her mature in a way. She realizes that she wasn't the only one having problems and that she has privileges that she should be truly grateful for. Josie also realizes the big difference between her and John; he had to die to achieve peace and freedom while she just has to live her life to achieve his. Throughout thebook, just as Slone faced his problems and learned to overcome them, Josie breaks out of her limits and begins to think for herself. Both Sloane and Josie mature and adapt a new mindset to begin focusing on the light in the world and not just the dark corners. The Art of Getting Stared at and Seeking Alibrandi both show how we don't have confidence in ourselves. , the smallest events can lead our mind to resort to negative thoughts, but these stories also demonstrate that the key to overcoming this problem can be found within ourselves. THE importance of self-acceptance and self-love is a theme well emphasized throughout Langston's novel. Initially, Sloane hated himself for who he was and always downgraded himself. She always thought she was inferior to everyone else or less worthy. When she was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease that causes complete hair loss, Sloane lost even more confidence in herself. She looked at her hair as if it were money and if she hadn't had it everyone would have laughed at her and despised her. She was constantly stressed about how to hide her bald spots and keep people from seeing, all the while researching various ways to somehow be a special case and regrow all her hair. “As I say these words, that hard pit of despair lodged in my chest softens…Resistance and denial only make things worse.” But as shown in the quote, he soon learns that resistance and denial only make things worse and that if he accepts his illness and focuses on overcoming it, he will achieve more positive results. As a result, just as Sloane struggled with her appearance at the beginning of the book, Josie struggled with her culture and heritage. “I began to understand that it didn't matter what other people thought about right and wrong. It only mattered how I felt...that's me. But I'm human. Not a stone. I can be influenced by different things.” This is a quote from the end of the book where Josie realizes, just like Sloane did, that no one's opinion but her own mattered. He realized that some people will always judge and that you can't always make everyone happy all the time. There will always be a group of people who disapprove of your actions and that's okay. In the movie, while Josie was trying to make everyone happy, she changed a lot. She tried to change and sculpt herself into the perfect person they wanted, and in the process, she lost sight of the values ​​and morals that mattered most to her. But, at the end of the film, Josie receives help from many people who show her that it's okay to be different and that everyone is unique but equally special. She returns to her original self and finally achieves the happiness and freedom that is. always wanted. In addition to being conscious of their appearance, both characters are also concerned with identity and fitting in. In The Art of Getting Stared At, Langston uses Sloane's story as a way to show us the mental conflicts that young people of this generation go through and how important our identity is. AND. The following quote shows us the conflicts in Sloane's mind: “Will I spend my time being who I am or pretending to be someone I'm not? But perhaps it is not such a scenario. Maybe I can do both. For Sloane it has always been a choice, a decision. She could be smart or pretty. Follow his mother or stepmother. Sloane's mom is a doctor while her stepmom is a makeup artist. Since birth, Sloane has been the kind of girl who never cared about her looks, she always believed that "I am more than my looks, I have more depth than that." But now that she's losing her hair, she's suddenly more careful about her appearance and that affects thehow she sees herself. It tampers with its stability; mentally, emotionally and physically. Inevitably, he will have to make a decision: who will he be? Ultimately, Sloane decides that it is not necessary to choose one specifically. She can still wear makeup but be just as smart and have the same personality as Sloane without anything. This has a huge impact on her and is what leads her to finally accept herself for who she is and how she appears. Likewise, Woods also uses his film as a tool to emphasize and demonstrate the importance of equality and that everyone belongs equally, as the following quote represents: "It makes me feel that I will never be part of their society and I I hate because" I'm as smart as them... I want to belong to his world. The world of elegant haircuts and upper-class privileges. People who knowfamous people and lead an educated life. A world where I can be accepted. Please, God, let me be accepted by someone.” At the beginning of the film, Josie hates her culture and background. She was born illegitimate and her mother is Spanish while her father was Australian. Throughout her life, due to a judgmental society, Josie has always believed she doesn't belong anywhere. She longs to be like the snobbish girls at school who have perfect families and get whatever they want, whenever they want. Josie comes from a normal family that is not rich, wealthy or famous and this ignites jealousy in her of any other family with those characteristics. She believes that if she came from a culture or if her family was rich, she would be accepted for who she is. This creates multiple conflicts throughout the film and is also one of the reasons why Josie is so insecure. Both characters struggle to accept who they are, how they look, and where they come from, but ultimately both also learn the importance of personal identity and how the only opinion that matters is their own. Ultimately, both of these stories demonstrate the importance of family and how, if we are willing to accept it and let it in, it can be the support we need to change ourselves and our situations. In The Art of Getting Stared at, Sloane and her stepmother have a rocky relationship but since her real mom is in Sudan, the only person she can turn to is her stepmother. “My relationship with Kim seems different now. After the gross revelation at the laughter flash mob when she stood by me and walked me out with my arm under hers, things are somehow easier between us... Kim felt like a real mom until that day, supportive and strong. This quote is from a scene after the flash mob. A laughter flash mob is something that Sloane decided to do and record so she could include it in her video that would be entered as a scholarship application. This takes place towards the end of the film and by this point, Sloane has lost all of her body hair and is now wearing a baseball cap with a fake wig attached to it so she can hide the fact that she is bald. But in the crowd, an athlete manages to knock Sloane's cap off by accident and, as a result, exposes his bald head to the entire crowd and all the kids at his school while someone takes a video and posts it online. Sloane stands still when this happens and looks at the cap, with the hair attached, on the ground in horror. He refuses to look at the faces of the crowd, most likely horrified. Finally, after a minute or two that seems like a lifetime, Sloane's stepmother steps forward, encourages her to move, takes Sloane by the arm and puts her in the car. Sloane's real mother was in Sudan at the time of this event and therefore Sloane believed that no one would help her. Kim, Slone's stepmother, stepped up and took over theguardian role in a quite serious and mature way. She acted like a true mother to Sloane and provided her with comfort and love when she needed it most. She was by her side in everything and always supported her. This unconditional love from someone unrelated by blood made Sloane realize that people can still be family, even if they aren't directly related. Kim's kind actions, words and care taught Sloane that when you go through a difficult time, family can act as a backbone for you and help you through everything, supporting you through thick and thin. While Langston focuses more on emphasizing how supportive family can be, in Finding Alibrandi, Woods demonstrates how family can also help one get out of difficult situations. The following quote represents this: 'I remembered the same time, last year, when Michael was not in my life. It was the scariest feeling in the world." This quote is a phrase Josie says to herself as she reflects on her year. When Josie's mother was pregnant with her, her father, Michael, left and never returned for 17 Throughout her life, Josie has felt anger and hatred towards her father for “not having the courage to take care of her and her mother.” They have struggled for so many years to move forward, and once they did they moved to Australia and finally settled down, Michael came back. Initially, Josie hated Michael and wanted nothing to do with him, but after an incident where she needed help and Michael was there, they started to build a special bond. Michael is a lawyer and helped Josie out of a situation after she hit a girl in the face with a textbook for insulting her mixed background. After that ordeal, they started to get closer and she started to turn to him whenever he needed some kind of assistance. He was there for her when she needed him and even though it took a while for them to finally come to terms with things and accept Michael, things worked out and by the end of the film they were all one happy family. Langston also demonstrates how behind every strong person is a series of strong people. This doesn't just apply to family or blood relationships, but also to friends and relatives, as shown in the following quote: “You can handle it, Sloane. I know you can. And you have good friends who will support you. Friends like Lexi, Harper and Chloe." This is a quote that Sloane's mother tells her on the phone since she is in Sudan and cannot physically help her. Sloane is afraid to tell her friends about her condition because she doesn't want them to pity or be disgusted by her. She believes that if she ever told them, they would sever all their ties with her and she would be left all alone. Because of this she keeps all her problems and anxiety to herself and this affects her emotionally and mentally. But, thanks to the conviction of Kim and her mother, Sloane finally decides to tell her closest friend, Lexi, about her illness and how it affects her. Lexi took everything in stride, promised not to tell anyone and also reassured Sloane that everything would be okay and that she would be there every step of the way. This takes a lot of weight off of Sloane's shoulders and her mental health begins to improve from this point on. In a way, this is an example of how family helps because if it weren't for Sloane's mother and stepmother, she would never have confided in her friends and would have kept everything under lock and key. While Sloane's mothers are portrayed as helpful and caring, Woods portrays Josie's grandmother as a source of wisdom and shows how important it can be to talk to others and ask for help with your own.