02.19.20

p.5

p.18

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EOTW: Noa Jett

'Parasite' at the Oscars

Manahatta Preview

What is lost from technological gains.

TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S

3 WORD ON THE STREET Self Love

5 EGO

EOTW: Noa Jett, Jeff Zucker

7 MUSIC

Thrice, Penn Masala

LOL

A

we were connected, and a thread of a phrase hung between our empty grins. Then her eyes slid out the window to the darkness and mine to the trodden trolley floor, and we were again separated.

There is a familiarity in circumstance; there is an intimacy in the unknown. In the monotony of a trolley ride, strangers are as omnipresent as flies and even less inconsequential. Public transport is a meat grinder of the mind—the world is narrower, more metallic, and less likely to encourage communication or imagination.

Your mind is muted until a woman with curly hair and a pineapple on her t–shirt offers you a stick of gum.

el g

an Li

woman offered me some gum on the trolley yesterday.

The encounter stayed with me for reasons I can't exactly elucidate. It wasn’t awkward; it panned out exactly the way it should have happened. Whether or not I took the gum was of no consequence, nor was how long she stayed on the trolley, nor was the shade of her lipstick.

I don’t believe I have ever spoken to anyone else on a SEPTA trolley before. Through rush hour, through days when there was only one other passenger besides myself, through rain or wind or intense heat, nobody else spoke to me—and I, therefore, did not speak to them.

Strangers aren’t strange. They are people as similar to us as we will ever encounter. They’re never overanalyzed or well–enough understood that we begin to nitpick differences out from personality or mannerism. At the moment when the woman offered me a stick of gum, we were practically the same being, shuffled between one space and another, crammed into two hard seats, and thinking about how to survive another trolley ride, and, for me at least, how to deflect attention. For a minute

b Isa

12 FEATURE

Automated Dining

Letter from the Editor

LOL 16 FILM & TV Birds of Prey, Parasite

20 ARTS

Manahatta, Comedy Festival

Tamsyn Brann, Editor–in–Chief Sam Mitchell, Campus Editor Beatrice Forman, Culture Editor Eliana Doft, Assignments Editor Karin Hananel, Special Issues Editor Chelsey Zhu, Features Editor Mehek Boparai & Hannah Yusuf, Word on the Street Editors Katie Farrell, Ego Editor Melannie Jay, Music Editor Alice Goulding, Style Editor Sam Kesler, Film & TV Editor Alice Heyeh, Arts Editor Ego Beats: Julia Davies, Julia Esposito, Fernanda Brizuela Music Beats: Keely Douglas, Ananya Muthukrishnan, Amy Xiang

LOL 23 OVERHEARDS

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34TH STREET MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 19, 2020

Features Staff: Denali Sagner, Jessica Bao, Sofia Heller, Jen Cullen

Style Beats: Diya Sethi, Tara O'Brien, Jordan Wachsman, Hannah Lonser Film & TV Beats: Anna Collins, Harshita Gupta Arts Beats: Amanpreet Singh, Rema Hort Design Editor: Ava Cruz Street Design Editor: Isabel Liang Street Audience Engagement Editor: Ryan McLaughlin Street Photo Editor: Sophia Dai Street Video Editor: Morgan Jones

Illustrators: Isabel Liang, Felicity Yick, Caroline Chin,Sammie Yoon, Alice Heyeh Staff Photographers: Sudeep Bhargava, Sally Chen Audience Engagment Associates: Maya Berardi, Rachel Markowitz, Kat Ulich, Stephanie Nam

Contacting 34th Street Magazine: If you have questions, comments, complaints or letters to the editor, email Tamsyn Brann, Editor–in–Chief, at brann@34st.com. You can also call us at (215) 422–4640. www.34st.com

Staff Writers: Sophie Burkholder, Avery Johnston, Layla Murphy, Peyton Toups, Samantha Sanders

©2019 34th Street Magazine, The Daily Pennsylvanian, Inc. No part may be reproduced in whole or in part without the express, written consent of the editors (but I bet we will give you the a–okay.)

All rights reserved. 34th Street Magazine is published by The Daily Pennsylvanian, Inc., 4015 Walnut St., Philadelphia, Pa., 19104, every Wednesday.

Cover by Sylvia Zhao, Ava Cruz, and Isabel Liang

"If you don't eat your meat, you can't have any pudding"

Copy Associates: Nadia Goldman, Kira Horowitz, Alice Goulding

WORD ON THE STREET

L

A

e v o L o t g earnin

Myself In The New

to change my perception rather than my ok action person o t I w ality.

Ho

s I begin not only a new decade—but also chapter of my life—I want to reflect on the past ten years that have shaped the person I am today. These past ten years have been the darkest, happiest, and toughest of my life thus far. However good or bad, all of the things that I’ve been through have been trials in God’s plan to make me strive to become a better person.

The first trial came in 2010 in an Old Navy. I was with my mom and sister; we were doing our routine Sunday afternoon shopping. I was excitedly weaving between the boys and teens sections of the store, plucking any piece of clothing that screamed “this looks so cool” in early teenage talk. I arrived at the fitting room with a stylish collection of t–shirts and jeans that towered over my head, to which the cashier gave an annoyed eye roll and led me to a stall fitted with bright lights and a monstrous mirror. I was ecstatic to try on the clothes and catwalk across the stall to the sound of cheesy retail music and land a Vogue–worthy pose in front of the mirror.

Only, it was the exact opposite. One after another, each piece of clothing was either too tight, too long, or too loose to fit the curvature of my pudgy body. As the pile of clothes quickly decayed to a mound of wrinkled and inside–out articles, I looked at myself in the mirror with exasperation and became angry with myself. In just my underwear, I saw someone who was fat. From the chubby cheeks to the belly rolls to the thick thighs, I became disgusted with the way I looked. I believed that because I couldn’t fit into these stylish clothes, I didn’t deserve to look stylish. In the end, I walked out of Old Navy with a hideous pair of husky jeans that were two inches too long and too baggy at my calves.

As I entered middle school, my resentment towards my body only grew. In middle school, children begin to acquire a sense of who they are and where they stand in the hierarchy of social life. To express themselves, they turn to fashion and clothing. All around me, my peers were beginning to wear snapbacks and I Heart Boobies bracelets, among other signature statements of the early 2010s. I hated those things with a passion. I thought

BRIAN VU

they were overrated and that I lacked the coolness factor to wear those, as they would only draw attention to a body that I took for fat and ugly.

I resorted to Caroline Chin the hand–me– downs from my cousins and cheap clothing from Kohl’s that would keep the attention away from me.

Another trial occurred in 2013 that added towards my self–hatred and led me to a dark time in eighth grade. I was in my U.S. history class talking to a friend when a classmate interrupted to shout, “Brian, are you gay?” I hadn’t yet explored the nature of my sexuality and was shocked— I didn’t know how to respond. Luckily, my teacher dismissed the 23 pairs of eyes staring at me and quickly returned to the lesson. For the rest of the class, I found myself reflecting on that one moment and interrogating myself on her motive.

Was it because of how I talked? How I walked? How I looked? That day was the day in which I gained a greater sense of social awareness. I learned that in order to keep yourself safe, you had to adhere to the most basic sense of normalcy that embodied the middle school atmosphere.

And that’s exactly what I did—without realizing the deteriorating effects it had on my personality and sense of self. The more I tried to assimilate, the more I hated myself. I hated myself because I couldn’t talk to anyone about how I felt, but I desperately wanted someone to listen. I threw away all of the light–colored chino pants I owned and reverted back to the hideous baggy jeans and black sweaters, this time complemented with a gray beanie. I isolated myself from my peers, turning to a green iPod Shuffle for comfort in Panic!

At The Disco and Fall Out Boy. I even began distancing myself from my family in fear of another attack. I remember dinner with my family consisted only of single–

word and empty replies.

My mom began to notice that something was off with me and started questioning me, which only led to arguments and even more resentment. I found myself wondering how much better my family and friends would be if I simply ran away, vanishing from their lives.

One of the most recent trials came in August 2018. My dad was pulling into the driveway with a large white van and my mom, sister, and I were finalizing the last of my belongings to be taken to Philadelphia. As we made our way to the Northeast, a sad reality was slowly creeping into my mind: in exactly a week, in a city that I had never imagined myself living in, I would be starting a completely new life with no friends or family to support me.

Should I be happy that I’m starting a new life in which I can be me? Should I be concerned that leaving my mom and sister to care for themselves is a selfish move on my part? All of these thoughts ran through my head as we neared the city.

In the first months of my time at Penn, I intentionally removed myself from the Asian American community and tried to blend in with the white majority. I only spoke Vietnamese during family FaceTime calls and hesitated to integrate myself within Asian American organizations for fear of association. My cravings for Vietnamese food slowly turned into yearnings for hamburgers and mac and cheese. My busy schedule prevented me from exploring Chinatown’s rich and authentic cuisine and culture as well.

In isolating myself from my Vietnamese heritage, I longed for something else to fill that emptiness inside of me. I wanted someone to share the pain with, someone to share the emotional burden that I

De c a

de

was quietly carrying with me. Suddenly, I found myself in a perpetual loop in which my longing for someone led me to whitewash myself even more, which fueled the fire that was destroying my drive to live.

As my first semester closed and I prepared to go home for winter break, I looked at myself in the long mirror hanging on the wall of my tiny dorm closet. For the first time since coming to Penn, I didn’t know who was looking back at me. All I saw was someone who was exhausted from his passion.

Someone who was too weak to face his fears. Someone who had lost his identity and replaced it with merely a mask.

I’ve always thought that however God made you, that was your fate. There was no changing who you fundamentally were— doing so would be a sin against His image.

However, I realize now that I only understood part of the story. Everything that has happened to you, and everything that will happen to you, is already set in stone.

I let my body image cloud my perception of myself. I let my insecurity land the upper hand in my social life. I let my identity become so fragile that it was shaped by the world I put myself in.

But I didn’t let these trials haunt me—I began to realize the power of change.

God can’t control the way you think; He can only control the things around you.

Changing your perspective is the first step in understanding the totality of God’s plan.

The more I looked at life in a positive light, the more I began to feel happy.

Instead of shaming myself for my body, I started becoming more active and eating healthier. Rather than dilute my personality, I learned to embrace my uniqueness. I chose not to mold myself to fit others’ expectations, but to allow my individuality to attract others who like me for who I genuinely am.

2019 was the year that I learned how to care for myself. I’m still recovering from the trauma of the past decade, but the friends and experiences that I have made along the way are quickly overshadowing the pain that I felt when I was alone.

Here’s to the new people and conversations waiting in the next chapter—the decade of self–love and self–fulfillment.

FEBRUARY 19, 2020 34TH STREET MAGAZINE

3

EGO

TableTalk Co-President shares her love for the club that brought her out of her shell.

Amy Xiang

G

rowing up extremely shy and quiet, Maura Fay (C ’20) decided that there was no better time than college to “step it up and actually get out there.” This was her thought process as she navigated her first semester and applied to TableTalk, a club with the motto: “Join the Conversation.” Now, as a second–semester senior, Maura serves as the club's co–president and has led the group through both challenging and rewarding stages.

Maura shares the history of TableTalk, a national organization with chapters at multiple universities.

“TableTalk first started at Emory and then a Penn student named Sophie Beren brought it to Penn in 2015 as the second chapter. Sophie was the founder and she was a senior when I was a freshman. It started growing from there, and I think Penn is now the biggest chapter.”

The chapters are made up of three branches: the structured TableTalks, impromptu CampusCouches, and creativity–driven TableTalk [X], all of which provide a unique approach to facilitating conversation.

She offers, what she jokingly calls, her “elevator pitch” for TableTalk, saying “TableTalk is a group at Penn that tries to create new ways for students at Penn to meet other students they wouldn't normally meet under regular daily conditions,” and then continues with describing the three specific branches: TableTalks, CampusCouches, and TableTalk [X], all of which provide a unique approach to facilitating conversation.

The TableTalks branch, which hosts “sit–down, structured events organized around a certain topic” about five times a semester, takes a very different approach from the unstructured CampusCouches, which sets up inflatable couches on College Green “whenever the weather is outside is nice.” The “creative branch,” TableTalk [X], is the hub for new events and initiatives, one of the most recent being a weekly podcast featuring Penn students.

For Maura, the most important thing about TableTalk is that it’s open for everyone, no matter their “background, major, or social scene.” She wants people to feel like there’s a place where “people want to meet them and are interested in what

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34TH STREET MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 19, 2020

Maura Fay Wants Everyone to Join The TableTalk Conversation they have to say.”

This philosophy of “openness” is the main reason why, as of spring 2020, TableTalks has dropped their application and interview process, opting instead for an open recruitment model where anyone who wants to join can.

“We actually just switched to an open recruitment model because we used to do applications and interviews, but started to feel like it wasn't really in line with the purpose of the club. We want it to be a very open club and we want people to feel welcome,” she explains.

Maura admits that they were a little nervous going into the new semester and didn’t quite know what to expect, but they have seen great results so far.

“We were kind of nervous about it. Like what if we get a hundred people? But, I think since it's the spring, it wasn't as much. And it has worked.

We got ten new people who are really into it. And we got a lot of really awesome people last semester too. So it's been a really good year," Maura says.

"We also do a lot of internal social things. So we have parties, we do social events just for members, we do coffee chats. We really try to foster a strong bond within our club as well, and that's been really good.”

When choosing the topics of discussion, Maura says they usually seek out potential clubs to collaborate with. One of the most popular TableTalks is an annual collaboration with the Student Committee on Undergraduate Education, where the two groups work together to facilitate a conversation about life at Penn and education policy.

Maura’s personal favorite is their collaboration with Penn Wellness and Penn Benjamins. She finds it inspiring how “people really do open up about mental health in ways that it usually isn’t talked about on campus.”

Another thing the committees look for is relevant topics that students would have strong opinions on. Therefore, many TableTalks have to do with current hot topics in politics, such as climate change, immigration, and gun control in an attempt to hear different sides of an issue.

Though Maura believes the best conversations

happen “when there’s multiple opinions being contributed,” rather than when everyone shares one general consensus, it has proved tough to consistently draw in a diverse set of political opinions here at Penn.

“We usually get a lot of people with slightly different opinions on the same side of the issue, and although that is really valuable, I wish we attracted more of a diverse group to our events. It’s sometimes hard, especially at Penn, to get a lot of people with conservative opinions to come talk about a political topic. This is definitely something we want to work on going forward,” she says.

Being involved in TableTalk has influenced Maura’s Penn experience in almost every way. It has helped her develop her public speaking skills, but more importantly, being a part of so many meaningful conversations has taught her how important it is to see and understand multiple points of view, both in and out of the classroom.

“What makes me really happy is that TableTalk is exactly what I’ve imagined myself doing ever since I first came to Penn. The first year can be really hard and it’s easy to feel so alone even though there’s tons of people around you. TableTalk constantly reminded me that everything’s going to be okay because there are people around me who care about me and what I have to say.”

ai ia D

h Sop

EGO

h o m e t ow n :

Gainesville, FL and Pittsburgh, PA

major:

Urban Studies

minor:

Art History and Modern Middle Eastern Studies

ac t i v i t i e s :

Director for Jazz and Grooves, Civic Scholar, member of Penn Against the Occupation, member of Friars Senior Society

meet the jazz and grooves director who enjoys photography and is passionate about helping her communit y . | julia esposito street:

Grooves?

What is Jazz and

Jazz and Grooves is a branch of the Social Planning and Events Committee (SPEC), one of the committees that brings emerging artists and musicians to campus. We pull from a variety of genres— it’s not just jazz.

We do everything from rap to electronic to rock and pop. street: What sorts of artists have you had on campus in the past?

NJ: Most recently, last week we brought 100 Gecs. Also, this year, we brought SiR and Mereba, Elujay, Dreamer Boy, Magdalena Bay, and Kate Bollinger. Last year we brought Tierra Whack, Omar Apollo, Injury Reserve, Choker, Orion Sun. Further back we brought Daniel Caesar, Kevin Abstract. We have a pretty impressive history. street: Do you ever get to talk with the performers?

NJ: We always try to do a meet and greet with the artist after the show. Everyone in the committee will get to meet the artist and talk to them for a little. But my job is a lot of the people-facing role. I am the one who’s communicating with the managers, usually before the shows. street: Are you really into music?

NJ: I kind of got involved with it freshman year. During the activities fair I heard noa jett:

someone say, “Do you want to meet famous people?”

And I said, “Yes.” I went to the general SPEC info session and I didn’t know what Jazz and Grooves was. I had known about the Spring Fling concerts committee and Connaissance, which brings the speakers. When they did the introduction to Jazz and Grooves, they put up their list of past artists and it was so many of my favorites that I was like, “Wait, I have to do this.” It became, from the beginning of my freshman year, such a cool community of people. I think I definitely struggled with the pre-professional pressures at the beginning of freshman year, and at Jazz and Grooves, it was really cool to see so many people doing so many creative things and caring about things that are not generally talked about in the mainstream Penn world. street: What exactly is Urban Studies?

NJ: People take it in a lot of different directions, which makes it so cool. There are people who are in it for real estate or for straight-up city planning type stuff, but I think that it’s just a way for me—like, I am really interested in policy, because policy affects people’s lives more directly on a daily basis. If you look at education, healthcare, and immigration

stuff. Those are all stuff that, on a city level, are what people are experiencing everyday; rather than bigger, macro, national, or international policies. And I love that it’s very hands-on. I’ve gotten to know Philadelphia as a city a lot better, because a lot of the classes will take you out into the city. street: I heard you did social work. What was that like?

NJ: I did an internship for— the other great part of Urban Studies is that you’re required to do a semester-long internship—and so I worked at a place called Youth Sentencing and Re-Entry Project, which deals with youth who have been charged in the Adult Criminal Justice System. It was founded directly after a Supreme Court decision which outlawed the punishment of sending away someone under the age of 18 to life without the possibility of parole. And Pennsylvania and Philadelphia in particular had, I think at one point, one fourth of the world’s juveniles facing life sentences. I forget what the exact statistic is. But, after that decision was struck down, it meant that, retroactively, all of these people in Pennsylvania were eligible for new trials. And so, this organization was founded after that to give legal support for those trials. It also provides re-entry

support. Some of these men and women have been away for literally decades of their life and have no real support system on the outside. How do you adjust when you have lived the majority of your life in prison? street: Where do you want to be in 20 years?

NJ: I think I want to be in a public interest law position.

I am studying for the LSAT right now, and that’s why my brain isn’t working, but I think that the most effective way to make change in people’s lives is to be in the law. I’m really inspired by Brian Stevenson, who was the commencement speaker last year, and the way that he talks about the power of a second chance. I think that that’s the most amazing gift that you could give another

human being. So, I think that’s the type of work that I would want to do. Or, I might just do something in music. I don’t know. We’ll see. I want to work for a few years before I go to law school, so I’m trying to figure out right now what that’s going to be. It could either be something paralegal like public interest, or I’m kind of trying to scheme something in the music industry. I don’t know. As someone who’s always had to plan out everything in my life, I’m kind of looking forward to the next few years to figure out what I really want to do. I think that the answer to that question super depends on what I end up doing next year and if I like it. But I think that if I had to predict it, probably public interest law.

l i g h t n i n g ro u n d street: Last song you listened to? nj: Dancing Queen by ABBA. street: Favorite movie? nj: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. street: Favorite Penn Class? nj: ARTH 580 “The Sexuality of Postmodern Art” with

Jonathan D. Katz.

street: What is something people wouldn’t guess about

you?

nj: I really like watching sports, and the thing that I’m

most excited about graduating is being able to spend the afternoon watching a sports game without feeling guilty about it. street: There are two types of people at Penn… nj: People who have an answer to this question off the

top of their heads, and people who have thought about it for years and can’t figure it out.

FEBRUARY 19, 2020 34TH STREET MAGAZINE

5

EGO

Meet Jeff Zucker, the Student Who is Training Student-Athletes to Save Lives

I

f you think being a pre– med student is hard in and of itself, meet the student–athlete who balances pre–med, athletics, mentoring, Student Activities Council, and starting a new CPR– training program. Jeff Zucker (C ‘21) came to Penn to play for the men’s tennis team, excited by the idea of playing for an Ivy League with great coaches and an amazing team environment.

With the influence of his mom, who was also a college tennis player, Jeff began to play tennis when he was around five years old. Since then, the sport has been a major part of his life. Even though he has had a little bit of a “bumpy road” in college after an injury freshman year, he continues to love the sport and appreciates the team aspect of playing in college.

“I think tennis is a really cool sport because you’re independent, like you have to go out there and problem solve on your own, and there’s really nobody else that you can fall back on,” Jeff says.

Jeff recalls the Easten College Athletic Conference tournament last year as an excellent example of the team’s unity. Even though he was still unable to play due to his injury, it was amazing to see the team in the matches that led to their ranking of 23 in the country, which has been Penn’s highest tennis ranking thus far.

“The camaraderie amongst my team, like, sitting there watching—because it came 6

down to a one final match split,” Jeff recalls, “that was the most amazing experience that I think I’ve had as a Quaker on the tennis team, it was just surreal.”

As much as he enjoys playing for the team, Jeff recognizes the difficulty in juggling athletics and academics. Involvement in sports not only involves constant travel, but also multiple hours of training each day. In addition to the difficulty of being a student–athlete, Jeff is currently on the pre–med track, pursuing a degree in neuroscience.

“I’ve always thought about being a doctor and I think it’s really cool to be able to do something every day that is good,” he says, “what your intent should be is to help people and that really coincides with what I like doing.”

He says that being a student–athlete, especially in a particularly challenging academic path, is something one learns to navigate through time and experience. Using the knowledge and experience he has gained, Jeff is involved in a mentorship program to help lead students to success.

The program is called Classroom Champions, which connects participating college athletes, paralympic athletes, olympic athletes, and some NFL teams to classrooms in different areas of the country to provide mentorship to students.

“We make challenges and videos that talk about the things that we think will help lead our students to success,

34TH STREET MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 19, 2020

things like leadership, and diversity, and community, and goal–setting, and all these different things that influence a lot of people,” he says.

Last year, Jeff had the opportunity to mentor around 100 children through video communication, and actually had the chance to visit their classrooms. Jeff mentions that visiting the classrooms is an extremely gratifying experience, in which the athletes are able to physically see the impact of their mentorship.

Each year, they also receive statistics for their assigned classrooms to see their impact through tangible numbers.

“We get the statistics each year, which is really cool, from our classrooms. So we get to see if, like, attendance has changed, or how different things have changed and it’s really cool to see an actual concrete impact that you or this program that I’m part of is having,” Jeff says.

In terms of creating impact, Jeff has also been involved in reforming the athletics department to ensure the safety of student-athletes through the development of a mandatory CPR training program.

Jeff learned the story of a student–athlete who collapsed on the field, and even though her teammates ran over to try and help, they didn’t know what to do. The experience could have been fatal for the student if it wasn’t for a bystander who was CPR certified. After hearing about this incident, Jeff asked himself “if I collapse on the court, would

| fernanda brizuela

Jeff tells us about his passion for helping people on and off the tennis court.

Sophia Dai

my teammates know what to do?” Knowing the answer would most likely be no, Jeff decided to go to Dr. Andrea Weiland, who is part of the athletics administration, with the idea to start a program.

“I wanted to get every single student–athlete CPR trained, this way nobody would ever not know what to do in a catastrophic situation and athletes are, as I sent out to the email I just sent to the freshmen, they’re at a shockingly higher risk than they might believe,” Jeff says.

He mentions that Dr. Weiland was an amazing source of support. Even though she had to play devil’s advocate at times, this only strengthened his passion for the project and developed his leadership skills.

When the idea came to be, a pilot program followed soon after. It was then time to figure out the logistics for funding, as there is no fee incurred on the athletes themselves, and training. The program is currently run by Jeff and the administration, but he wants to find a way to make it more

student-run to make sure it outlives his time at Penn.

Even though the program is currently receiving one-time funds from the athletics department, Jeff has to figure out additional ways for funding. He hopes that when people realize the greater implications the program has, it will be easier to receive funds from the school or other donors.

“I really wanted to start something that made people not only better leaders in like sports, but think about how many—there’s a thousand student athletes at Penn, so every time you’re at a party or you’re out in class, odds are you’re around a student–athlete and so, having our student–athletes know this skill was something that I felt would make Penn in and of itself a safer space too,” Jeff says.

In the future, Jeff hopes there is a way to involve more students in the process, so he can eventually step down and, instead, focus on sharing the program he has created with other schools to make CPR– trained student–athletes the norm.

MUSIC

Thrice's 'Vheissu' Anniversary Tour defines

Post-Hardcore Every band in the lineup put their own spin on an ill–defined, fantastic genre.

P

CONSTELLAR CORPORATION (215) 387-4137 | ConstellarCorporation.com

MELANNIE JAY

ost–hardcore defies definition—even in name. Hardcore suggests a connection to hardcore punk, but "post" implies an intangible X–factor. In practice, that means everything from the metal screams of Dance Gavin Dance's Jon Mess to the gothic elements of AFI and the progressive concept albums of Coheed and Cambria. Orange County–based Thrice had its roots in the Southern California melodic hardcore scene, but it was the 2005 release of their album Vheissu that elevated them from a simple rock band to a titan of post–hardcore. For the album's fifteenth anniversary, Thrice played Vheissu in its entirety on a nationwide tour that stopped through Franklin Music Hall on February 11.

Thrice brought along three opening acts to Franklin Music Hall, the first of which was Holy Fawn. Like many post–hardcore bands and affiliates, Holy Fawn defies simple genre categorization, but they failed to mesh with the other bands on the bill.

On a spectrum from "post" to "hardcore," Drug Church existed firmly on the opposite end of Holy Fawn. Frontman Patrick Kindlon screamed semi–coherently as the band thrashed its heavy, grungy music behind him. Kindlon famously doesn't write lyrics until the band begins recording in the studio, adding an additional layer of chaos to the performance.

In a different city, mewithoutYou may not have been so adored.

Aaron Weiss's spoken–word delivery and the band's free–ranging instrumentation fall closer to the weirder end of post–hardcore, a space inhabited by jazz–influenced acts like La Dispute. But the band, which announced last fall 2020 would be their farewell year, was in their hometown and in a venue steeped in sentimental value.

Still nothing could compare to Thrice. Album anniversary tours bring out the superfans, the ones who shouted every word of every song back at frontman Dustin Kensrue until their voices were raw. from Vheissu to the B–sides to set closer "Black Honey." It certainly helped that tracks like "Image of the Invisible" and "Hold Fast Hope" came pre–packaged with a shouted, gang vocals chorus.

To modern ears, there's nothing special, or fundamentally progressive, about Vheissu. After all, bands like Manchester Orchestra use pianos and synthesizers extensively. Now, gimmicks are easily woven into modern rock—Dance Gavin Dance opened "Young Robot" in 2016 with a flute solo worthy of Lizzo. Sometimes, these experimental elements border on clunky. But that's because Thrice, and the bands they influenced, took these elements and ran with them, perfecting them to develop a full–fledged music genre.

Post–hardcore is categorized by its evasion of categorization.

All four bands fell under the same genre, but arrived at that point from different directions. In the 15 years since Vheissu's debute, a scene of ill–defined rock bands making music on their terms rose, unconstrained by genre. And if this tour was any indication, post– hardcore has a bright future ahead.

Large houses available for 2020-2021 school year!

Less than $600/person!

Call today for listings!

FEBRUARY 19, 2020 34TH STREET MAGAZINE

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MUSIC Photo courtesy of Penn Masala

Penn Masala Discusses The Release of 'Musafir'

D

peyton toups

2015.

This cross-cultural ethos is reflected in songs such as "Controlla / Baarish–Bonus" and "Cake by the Ocean / Ghungroo / Stronger" from the new album, where bright American melodies brush shoulders with rousing Indian harmonies so smoothly that the listener sometimes doesn't notice that the lyrics have changed languages. Vasisht boasts that the group has been using "innovative techniques for over 24 years," "continuing to push both music and cultural boundaries."

The closeness of the group is palpable. Besides practicing for about three hours a day together, Exp.2/23/12 4/11/12 Exp. the a cappella group also helps each other succeed outside of For Fast Delivery Call 215-386-1941 music. Recalling his first-year trip to India with the group, Vasishit tells of the time one member was lost in Mumbai without a phone, 4004 chestnut street | (215) 386-1941 only to be discovered on the hotel's security cameras. In the early Exp.2/23/12 4/11/12 Exp. summer he will travel to India For Fast Delivery Call 215-386-1941 with Penn Masala again, hitting spots around "the entire country." At the mention of India, the mood of the group turns noticeably lighter as Ajay recounts how his experience there and all that it has to offer for other members who have yet to go.

Musafir's strength lies in its Exp.2/23/12 4/11/12 Exp. with your PennCard fluidity and cultural fluency, melding languages and melodies For Fast Delivery Call 215-386-1941 together into strikingly cosmopolitan compositions. When listened to from start to finish, order online @ newdehliweb.com | closed mondays

oes your a capella group have 14 albums?

Kushal Modi (C'21), Shrivats Kannan (C'22), Sachit Gali (C'23), and Ajay Vasisht (C'20) of Penn Masala to discussed their 14th album, Musafir, which was released on February 9th.

With their new album, the South Asian–Western fusion a cappella group sought "to use their platform to engage with issues [they] find important, such

as mental health and SouthAsian identity," Modi said.

Aptly, the record is titled Musafir, which means "traveler" in Hindi. With mashups of popular American songs and traditional South–Asian songs, Penn Masala once again bridges the gap between South Asian and American cultures to create a compellingly global body of work.

Penn Masala was founded in 1996 as Penn's first South Asian a

cappella group, becoming one of the most influential in the world of South Asian–Western fusion, Vasisht says. Having previously collaborated with renowned Indian composer A. R. Rahaman and singer Benny Dayal, as well as performing for people such as Anderson Cooper and President Barack Obama, Penn Masala has established itself at the forefront of a cappella both at home and a broad. They were even featured in the film Pitch Perfect 2 in

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the album blends into itself, quickening the passage of time as it hypnotically folds hooks and verses like fine linens, before unfurling them into magnificent flags.

Take, for example, "Ae Watan," an early highlight that shines for its relative simplicity in comparison to the songs that come directly before and after it—two mashups that deftly balance opposing American and South–Asian song structures. By the time "Koi Mil Gaya / Ruk Ja O Dil Deewane–Bonus" rolls around, you are so caught up in the chorus of voices that it doesn't matter if you don't understand the lyrics.

The clarity and grace of Penn Masala's voices is enough to carry the weight of translation across the oceans, creating a global narrative of cross–cultural harmony (both in the musical and actual sense). Indeed, Musafir has a "we are the world" energy about it, but in a good way—marked by sincerity, talent, and a belief that home can be at once two places and one. As the title of the stirring closer, "United By Music" suggests, divisions are only held in the mind.

Penn Masala eagerly awaits their tour, which hits colleges such as Duke, Georgetown, and Middlebury. They will also play here at the Irvine Auditorium on March 21st to perform Musafir: The Official Album Release Show.

MUSIC

sky high expectations

Photo provided by Astralwerks Records

EDEN's 'no future' Surpasses

A

fter releasing his debut 2018 record vertigo— which went to number one on the iTunes chart in 12 countries and accumulated a jaw–dropping 200 million streams—and selling out a world tour, EDEN lives up to his success on his sophomore album. With no future, the 24– year–old Irish musician and producer manages to maintain his dedication to the art while continuing to experiment with his sound.

Through this album, EDEN (stage name of Jonathon Ng) explores a variety of themes from anxiety and social media toxicity to the climate crisis.

Though it may seem that no single album can handle so many topics, Ng's skills as both a lyricist and musician make it work.

Perhaps even more important to the success of no future is that it's absolutely infused with optimism. This optimism, however, is not simply for the sake of optimism. It doesn't feel superficial or overdone. Instead, it's refreshing.

The twelfth track, “isohel,” exemplifies this world view.

As EDEN himself shared in a recent interview with Coup de Main Magazine, “Isohel’s are lines on a map that connect

The Irish experimental musician deftly avoids a sophomore slump. | keely douglas

all the areas that receive equal sunlight.” Reflecting on his own obsession with light and sunshine, EDEN explains the song is about “wishing the best for the people you’ve left behind but knowing that you’re probably better off where you are now.”

It’s a song about recognizing nostalgia yet having the confidence to trust the potential embedded into the future. There's no clinically–designed chorus telling listeners not to live in the past. Rather, there's only a combination of music, lyrics, and spirit that come together to generate hope. That feeling is what makes no future so special. Music that focuses on social issues isn't unique, but no future is exceptional because Ng is able discusses those issues without sacrificing his sound.

Like the other work Ng has released as EDEN, no future was fully written, recorded, and produced in his home studio in Dublin and combines emotional hip–hop with warm R&B, creating his own sort of pop melancholia. His roots in electronic music are evident with synth lines building the ambience of the entire album and are deftly interwoven into the indie flavor of each track.

As this genre of electronic in-

die hybrid is in the middle of its heyday, it would be easy for no future to sound generic or repetitive, and it's a testament to EDEN’s musical prowess that it's not.

Admittedly, previews of each track don't say much—they each carry virtually the same mood and time. However, a

thorough listen unveils those similar snippets as motifs working together to form a set of 19 unique tracks. The foggy distortions of the thirty–second long “in” are present in the five–minute long “rushing” yet create a completely different effect. Instead of a perplexing curiosity, it creates a sort of

nebulous longing that pulls the listener through the song.

There may be some moments when the 19 tracks drag and one wonders whether they are all necessary, but no future is a truly incredible example of an album able to take the trends of a popular genre and make them its own.

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Needles and relaxation: two words that you don't often see together. At South Philadelphia Community Acupuncture, however, needles are the key to unwinding.

Treatments at SPCA are customized to you.

Every appointment begins with a conversation with a member of the acupuncture staff about what you would like to get out of your session. As acupuncturist Dr. Susanna Satten notes, “That’s what’s so cool about acupuncture. It treats you as a human, not for one specific issue.” And for those of you wondering, the process is painless.

“The number one thing that people are afraid of is that it’s going to hurt–but it doesn’t,” Dr. Satten says.

Once the needles are placed in your body, expect to feel the sensation of energy moving under your skin. By redirecting the body’s flow of energy and stimulating the nervous system, acupuncture revitalizes your body’s natural healing abilities.

Kick back while the needles work their magic and let a deep feeling of calm wash over you. “A lot of people fall asleep,” Dr. Satten says, adding that afterwards, “Most people will say that they had a great little ‘acu–nap’ or that they’re ‘acu–high’ or ‘acu–stoned’ or that they feel really relaxed.”

My visit to The Reiki School + Clinic was relaxing from start to finish. After getting the rundown on what I should expect from my session from Reiki Practitioner and School Director Stephanie Palmer, I entered a private treatment room. A sense of calm washed over me as I walked in—the ambient lighting and the peaceful background music made the space a total relaxation destination.

Using gentle touch, Reiki practitioners move energy in the body to facility balance and wellness.

There were moments during my session where I could feel energy pulsating throughout my body. As a true testament to just how relaxing a Reiki session can be, Stephanie notes, “I would say that maybe half of the people that I treat fall asleep on the table.”

But Reiki’s benefits go beyond promoting relaxation and general well–being: Reiki is known to facilitate mental clarity, acting as a grounding force. As Stephanie says, “I think it just brings awareness to issues. You know, you have a Reiki session and maybe you start to notice that you’re really having bad heartburn all the time because you’re hyper focused and centered in yourself. We can literally ignore pain and ignore things that are happening in our bodies pretty easily. So I think it helps us be more aware.”

What are you waiting for? Schedule an appointment at the Reiki School + Clinic and experience the magic for yourself.

In need of a place to escape, relax, and reset? Look no further than Halcyon Floats. Start off your appointment with a shower in one of their private float suites to wash off the outside world before heading to the float room. There you will be immersed in a warm Epsom salt solution that creates a zero–gravity effect, allowing you to float like a cork on its surface.

Once you’ve settled in, you can turn off the lights and music in your float room and begin the sensory deprivation aspect of the session. As you lounge completely undisturbed, your heart rate will slow and your blood pressure will decrease. The benefits of a session continue even after your 90–minute float. Float sessions are also thought to clarify your thinking and boost your creativity and problem solving abilities.

Take it from Halcyon Float’s owner and founder Keri McGinn, “Floating allows your mind to unplug, your body to heal, and gives way to finding inner balance. Everyone can benefit from giving their brain and body a rest from physical and mental stress.” Book your appointment now and float away from it all—you deserve it.

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Can Hotbox Yoga Make HIIT Zen?

ST YLE

How apps like ClassPass are affecting the vibes of local yoga studios

I

HOUSE OF FAITH MINISTRIES PA, INC. (WORLD MISSIONS CHURCH)

EMMA JOHNSON

started doing yoga with my aunt when I was 12. Since then, I’ve gone when I had the chance, but definitely wasn’t a regular. Then, two years ago, I was gifted a class at Hotbox Yoga. It was my first time ever doing hot yoga, and I fell in love with the studio and the teachers.

Located on 36th and Lancaster, Hotbox Yoga is close to campus, but it feels as if it’s a world away from Penn. As you walk into the studio, you’re asked to remove your shoes and are immediately enveloped in the incense that is burned before every class as the room heats. Hotbox is a cozy but small studio, with just one room for practice.

The first–time member special costs $40 for 40 days of unlimited classes and was what drew me to Hotbox for the first time during my sophomore year. Consistent instructors like Marty kept me coming back.

Marty always manages to make the people in her classes laugh even during the most challenging poses and encourages people to take their practice where they want it to go.

Caroline Curran (C ‘20), a writer for Under the Button, has been attending Hotbox for over two years. She cites the huge windows, lack of mirrors, and the general “attitude” of the studio as reasons for being a loyal Hotbox patron.

After the glorious times of 40 days for $40 ended, I wasn’t going to yoga as much, because making the time and spending the money hadn’t been a priority—it became a treat every month or so. That was until ClassPass came along and offered me a free week, followed by another free month of classes.

Since I first tried hotbox yoga two years ago, the classes of-

fered expanded to include YOD —“Your Own Determination,” practice that includes a high– intensity interval training—or HIIT—portion of class.

I decided to try YOD. The instructor explained that it was originally developed to increase flexibility and work on other areas of strength for people who do CrossFit–type exercises, that might be offered through an app like ClassPass. It involves basic yoga flows, followed by an “integration” into high heart rate activity, and a twelve-minute HIIT circuit.

Emma Harris (C ‘21), a former Street writer, is not a fan of the newer direction yoga studios are taking. For Harris, there are elements of Hotbox that cheapen the spiritual experience and take away from the practice.

With additions of classes similar to those of more expensive, often exclusive classes that may cater to different patrons, does Hotbox lose its roots as a community studio?

Harris has found herself enjoying practicing more on her own or at Studio 34, located on 45th and Baltimore, which she says focuses less on the expensive workout clothes and more on the meditative components of yoga and building a community of reflection.

Despite this, Hotbox remains a favorite studio of mine: its instructors still make the clients feel part of a welcome community, its physical space offers peaceful and reflective setting, and it is a consistent source of a satisfying—and sweaty—workout. Curran and I agree that, as people skeptical of exercise classes, Hotbox offers an affordable option for local college yoga lovers and West Philly community members alike.

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F E AT U R E

F E AT U R E

what is lost from technological gains

“L

dining ex machina

BY JENNIFER CULLEN 1 2 34TH STREET MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 19, 2020

arge iced coffee, no ice for Miss Jennifer,” was a phrase I’d hear almost daily when I entered Mark’s Cafe.

Whether I was four hours deep into studying for an exam and desperately needing a caffeine fix or just grabbing a snack in between classes, Mark’s was reliable. I returned every time I worked in the library, and pretty soon the staff even knew my order. After I spent the fall semester abroad, I looked forward to going back to my place of familiarity and a staff that knew I thought ice was a rip–off. However, I walked into Mark’s this January and was met with something completely unexpected.

The Mark’s I knew was replaced by two walls of food and drinks, two self checkout counters, and zero employees.

I learned that Mark’s Cafe was replaced by a new concept called the “micro–market,” a self–service eatery. Alongside Mark’s in the switch was Frontera, which became a near carbon–copy of the Van Pelt location. The new locations boast extended hours and food options for students—a few of the reasons behind the change.

But the convenience of automated dining options comes with a cost for Penn Dining staff, whose jobs were threatened at these locations, according to the union representing them.

The increasing move towards self–checkout stations at Penn and the potential impact on workers raises greater questions on what—and who—is important when businesses move towards automation.

Director of Penn Business Services Pamela Lampitt says that the University was not satisfied with their previous offerings, leading to an exploration of new options that could meet more needs.

“One of the things that [Penn] wanted to do was to expand hours,” she says. “That was something that was really important to them because they have students in the library 24/7. And so to meet their needs and to provide everything that they wanted, the micro–markets sort of just fell into all of those categories.”

Lampitt also says that she had heard of students having negative experiences with dining workers, and that students with social anxiety may prefer not having to speak with someone to get their food.

After Penn Business Services decided to automate Mark’s, the same system was applied to Frontera, which is managed by Bon Appétit. However, Lampitt says the micro–market at Frontera is simply a placeholder until the University decides what should permanently occupy the space.

The automation happening at Penn’s retail locations is just one visible indicator of a trend that has been in progress for centuries. As technology develops, human workers are replaced with automated machines. Some of the first jobs to be automated were in manufacturing. The introduction of industrial robots in the 1960s and 70s allowed products to be made at a much faster rate and at much lower costs.

Automation didn’t stop with manufacturing, and it’s not likely to stop with any other sector, either. A McKinsey study

found that about 50 percent of current work activities are technically automatable using current technologies. By 2030, the firm predicts that up to 30 percent of current activities will be automated.

Matthew Bidwell, a professor of management at Wharton, sees automation as mostly a positive change that lowers costs and creates convenience for the consumer. However, he acknowledges that the future is unclear.

“The last few hundred years of economic growth we've had have really been about automation,” he says. “We no longer need millions and millions and millions of people growing crops because it's all done by huge machines. We no longer need millions and millions and millions of people making clothes because a lot of it is now done by machines.”

He emphasizes the lower costs associated with an automated system, which would require only a one–time set up cost rather than regular wages paid for employees. Ultimately, he sees little problem with the type of automation occurring in Penn Dining locations, saying, “Automating kind of low skilled, poorly rewarded jobs doesn't have huge negative implications.”

“If somebody is working a minimum wage fast food job and they get automated, it's not going to be too hard for them to go find another minimum wage job, particularly in this current labor market,” he says.

But finding a job can still be difficult after layoffs, especially one with the same wages and benefits as before. In fact, laid–off workers face an average 17–30 percent permanent reduction in wages. Furthermore, if they don’t re–enter the job market within two months, resume callbacks drop dramatically.

Bidwell acknowledges that few jobs are completely immune to automation, and it’s impossible to know who will be affected next. Even in his own profession, he says many faculty are worried they will be displaced by online courses.

These fears became much more tangible for Penn Dining workers when Mark’s Cafe and Frontera closed. But according to Lampitt, the decision to automate the two dining locations was made with the guarantee that no jobs would be affected by the change.

“It's a very important consideration for us. So, you know, it would have been unlike us to put something in that we'd have to let people go,” Lampitt stated.

Teamsters Local 929, the union that represents the Penn Dining staff, has a different view on Penn Dining’s automation.

John Preston, secretary treasurer of the union, says that the workers were not informed of the University’s decision to automate until a “Back to Work” meeting earlier this year. According to Preston, Lampitt spoke to the workers about the changes coming and suggested that jobs in all employment sectors may eventually be replaced by robots.

Additionally, Preston claims that the University was not as focused on keeping jobs as they say, disputing their claim that they never planned to lay off employees.

“Last year we represented up to 20 employees working at FEBRUARY 19, 2020 34TH STREET MAGAZINE 13

F E AT U R E

MICHAEL KRONE (C'19)

Frontera; they were laid off due to the new concept that is fully automated,” he says. “Thankfully they were represented by Teamsters Local 929, and the union was able to secure employment at the other retail food concepts on campus. The 20 or so jobs that were lost to automation are just the tip of the iceberg.”

When asked to respond to this claim, William Hess, resident district manager of Bon Appétit, said that “Bon Appétit proactively worked with union leadership to relocate all employees to other positions on campus.”

“Together, Local 929 and Bon Appétit ensured there were no workforce reductions on campus as a result of the closure,” he says. “By the time the decision was made to install a micro–market, all the former Frontera workers had already been placed in other positions.”

As problems associated with automation continue to mount, the next step is coming up with a solution. Last year’s Wharton Policy Case Competition asked participants to create a proposal focused on “ameliorating the effects of job displacement caused by advancements in technology.”

The winning project was a proposal by four Penn students, Michael Krone (C '19), Jenna Liu (C '20), Natasha Menon (C '20), and Kevin Myers (C '19). The team created a plan to shift administrative workers in the state of Pennsylvania to jobs at lower risk for automation by using state–provided development programs.

Krone, the 2019 president of the Undergraduate Assembly, says that one of the most surprising discoveries in his research was that women and people of color are disproportionately at risk for losing their jobs to automation. Krone considers the problem “ever pressing, especially when considering income and wealth gaps that already exist among those demographic groups.”

In addition to questioning the benefits of automation for workers, Krone also wonders if students will truly reap the benefits of a more automated system.

“It's a double–edged sword, especially de-

pending on how the institution will leverage the gains from automation,” Krone says. “How are they passing those benefits along, or are they just, you know, reinvesting them into further automation? Are they lowering the prices of their goods and services, whether that's higher education tuition or soup cans, whatever they're making? How are they passing off that benefit to consumers, if at all?”

According to Penn Business Services Director of Communications and External Relations Barbara Lea–Kruger, profits are slightly above what they used to be in the old Mark’s, but she says that this could be due to the expanded hours.

Lampitt says that she considers the change a success due to the quick adoption of the new system by students.

“Students gravitate to it,” she says. “Students are using it. Students feel that it provides them access. They can use their Dining Dollars. They can get it fast.”

But Preston doubts whether the supposed positive results of the change are true.

“Ms. Lampitt blamed the student body,” he says. “‘Students want faster food. Students don't want to wait for their meal. Students are stressed for time.’ I sure would like to see the research that proves her message.”

Now when I go to Mark’s I grab my iced coffee—without ice and without human interaction—and I try to see if the supposed benefits ring true. I still wait behind people in the self checkout line, and the price of my items hasn’t seemed to change.

As new technologies develop with the ability to make production easier and cheaper, everyone in the global economy—consumers, workers, and corporations—will have a stake. Those who think their jobs are safe may be the next to become replaceable.

While no Penn Dining staff lost their jobs due to this round of automation, they, along with workers in nearly every sector, face a deeply uncertain future.

PHOTOS BY SOPHIA DAI 14 34TH STREET MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 19, 2020

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FILM & TV

'Birds of Prey' Deserves Better DC's latest movie is apparently a box office flop, but it shouldn't be. | anna collins

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.

B

irds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn is a superhero movie in some sense of the genre. It's based on comics by DC, set in the famous city of Gotham, and cares about a character’s journey to beating some brooding, ominous villain who pulls political strings behind closed doors. It has fight scenes, character development, and big, flashy sequences where all our heroes come together.

However, it's not about a superhero—it centers around one of Gotham’s most famous morally grey villains, Harley Quinn, and doesn't seek to make her some pure–hearted hero by the end. In fact, what's so great about Harley is that, while she grows, she stays far from the morally unwavering Batman or the unendingly brutal Joker. She is simply herself, which is to be the point of Birds of Prey. Harley is a unique person—and an interesting one at that.

Birds of Prey begins with Harley Quinn (a fabulous Margot Robbie) after the events of the disaster that was Suicide Squad. She has broken up with the Joker (originally played by Jared Leto, though unseen in this movie) and is now on her own. She goes on a weeks–long bender before exploding the chemical facility where she and the Joker transformed to send a message: she and the Joker are over. Of course, this sends the wealthiest men of Gotham after her head, primarily Roman Sionis (a deliciously evil Ewan McGregor) since, as she claims, she’s pissed quite a few people off. Sionis is after a diamond Harley must retrieve in order to save her own head, which, logically, entangles her in various other plots throughout Gotham.

Titling itself as an ensemble movie was Birds of Prey’s biggest misstep. This film is about Harley Quinn, starring Margot Robbie, and her post–Suicide Squad story rather than anything else. Certainly, the other characters are important, but it's vital that Birds of Prey tells its story through Harley’s eyes.

Of course, the Birds of Prey for whom the film was originally named are still lovely, with a few being relatively notable names in the DC Universe.

16 34TH STREET MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 19, 2020

Dinah Lance (Jurnee Smollett–Bell), also known as the Black Canary, is a singer at Roman’s club whom he creepily refers to as his “little bird” who eventually breaks free from him. Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) is a deadpan crossbow–wielder who travels across the city enacting revenge for the murder of her family. Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez) is a cop who consistently talks like she’s from a bad ‘80s TV drama. Finally, Cassandra Cain (Ella Jay Basco) is a young pickpocket who accidentally ends up responsible for the major MacGuffin of the film, forcing her to be dragged along with Quinn’s insane shenanigans.

With these characters, Birds of Prey succeeds where Marvel movies often fail. It introduces personalities, makes them feel like actual people, and features a genuine coming together in the final act.

The independent plot lines of each main character collide seamlessly, and their big fight scenes together work so well because they have reasons for collaborating, unlike Avengers: Endgame’s senseless girls– only scene.

What's also important is that Birds of Prey, while explicitly presenting sexism, is one of the few movies to do so gracefully. There are many moments where female characters face hardships, but they don't feel heavy–handed or irritating. Montoya’s male colleague gets promoted ahead of her, and while she's obviously annoyed, she's resigned to it—this is, of course, a fact of her life. These are characters who are established as important in their own rights and then face difficulties, but they interesting only because of what they put up with.

The movie doesn't seek to teach people about sexism, or even solve it, and that's what makes it so genuine—there's no solution, and even the most powerful of the heroes cannot stop it. Birds of Prey's feminist tilt may be disagreeable to some audiences, but it handles the subject matter with such finesse these critiques seem entirely unwarranted. Birds of Prey is not attempting to be woke, overly performative, or man–hating in its handling of sexism. It only

seeks to portray reality.

In fact, the more salient error of calling the film "Birds of Prey" has been cited as one of the reasons for the film's box office fumble—a fault that has been amended, with the movie now titled "Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey." Opening at a mere $33 million domestically, many news sources have been quick to call the movie a flop. Relative to its budget of $94.5 million—compare it to The Avengers' $220 million budget—Birds of Prey's worldwide gross, at $81 million, has almost made back what it cost, but the numbers are still somewhat disappointing.

Some claim the movie's lack of success has something to do with its R–rating, its apparently unknown lead, or its comedic gore. A few of these reasons seem a little questionable—who hasn't heard of Harley Quinn, especially all those die–hard fans who care about the Joker? Additionally, this movie is effectively an all–female version of Suicide Squad—complete with its ensemble title, unknown characters besides Harley Quinn and the Joker, and focus on antiheroes. Yet why did Suicide Squad have a pretty fantastic box office despite its negative reviews? Perhaps, what might be turning people off is that it's about a female antihero at the helm and its liberal use of curse words more than anything else.

Sure, this movie is no gritty Joker or solemn Batman v. Superman, but it has something those two films gravely lack—a sense of excitement. Harley is funny, silly, often foolish, and a joy to watch. There’s a certain adrenaline burst that accompanies watching her strut through a police station armed with glitter bombs and a metal bat. (Editor's note: this should be mandatory to all action movies.) Its lackluster opening weekend is a tragedy of circumstances and likely a result of the film's female–focused cast making it seem unappealing to certain audiences. It's unfortunate that this film isn't performing well, because what makes Birds of Prey so good is an element many superhero movies have forgotten in the search for serious, poignant material—overall, the movie is supposed to be fun.

Felicity Yick

FILM & TV

The gentle comedy you never knew you needed

H

SAM KESL ER

ello, my name is Joe Pera." That's how every episode of Joe Pera Talks With You begins, followed by Pera's explanation of some acute topic in a clear, simple manner, delivered in the calm, steady tone of a Mister Rogers–incarnate. Each episode runs around 11 minutes long, airing on Adult Swim, and channels a child–like innocence with an edge of comedy that feels almost accidental, like when your teacher says "fuck."

The show grew out of Joe Pera's special, "Joe Pera Talks You to Sleep," where an animated Pera ponders ideas like fireworks and Stephen Hawking's infidelity, which itself spun out of his stand– up persona, an awkward and unhurried Midwesterner one critic once dubbed "the cozy sweater of comedy." On Joe Pera Talks To You, Joe Pera does just that, elaborating on topics such as iron, breakfast foods, and The Who's seminal hit "Baba O'Riley"—all pieces that come together to form the introspective and charming world in which he lives.

But that does little to capture the sheer joy the show emits, reveling in little wonders and deep connections to others. Joe's circle of friends includes his neighbors, his Nana, and the children to whom he teaches choir. Early in the series, Joe meets another teacher, Sarah Conner, played by Jo Firestone (Shrill, The Tonight Show w/ Jimmy Fallon) and begin a slow, awkward flirtation.

Although attracted to each other, the two begin to realize their

fundamentally distinct views of the world, Sarah being the glass– half–empty to Joe's glass–half– full. In the first season, Joe learns Sarah is a hardcore survivalist, and in the second season, Joe worries about his abilities to keep up with her anxiety and need for security. The couple's romance is beyond adorable, despite Sarah's constant fears of the future and Joe's navel–gazing nature.

As far as plot goes, little else actually happens. The show comprises primarily of trips to the grocery store and fall drives through the woods. Joe ruminates on trivial topics in these quiet moments. What makes the show compelling is how sparse it is, the kind of show designed for falling asleep to (at times literally). It's a breath of fresh air from programs like Bojack Horseman and The Good Place, which rely on mile–a–minute jokes.

Instead, when there are laughs, they're the kind that take a second to settle in, and while they may not always get you rolling on the floor, they stick with you well past an episode's end.

In that way, Joe Pera Talks With You is an anomaly in the world of television, seemingly trapped somewhere between the 1950s and now, less focused on pushing a narrative or cramming in every than it is focused on the experience. But Joe's heart is the driving force behind the show, and his view on the world offers a charming respite from reality.

Take 11 minutes to catch an episode—it's guaranteed you'll feel better after.

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'Parasite' at the Academy Awards is What the Film Warned Us About During awards season, the film faces its own inevitable irony. | SARA MERICAN

S

weeping awards in four categories and rewriting the history books at the 92nd Academy Awards, Bong Joon–ho’s Parasite gave us a lot to feel good about. On its way to becoming the first non–English language film to win Best Picture, Parasite also picked up wins for Best Original Screenplay, Best International Feature Film, and Best Director—and now has the distinct honor of being the first South Korean film to win anything at the Academy Awards.

Yet, the circus of luxury and upper–class opulence that has inevitably accompanied Parasite’s fairytale journey in awards season is a strange, ironic reminder of the

very horrors the film satirizes.

I am definitely not suggesting that we should mourn each award Parasite wins, melt all the statuettes and trophies, and sell the gold off to rescue poor father Kim Ki–taek who is still probably languishing in the mansion’s basement. Parasite is a great film, and it is deservingly receiving praise and accolades.

However, amid all the confetti and celebrations, the themes of class inequalities and segregation explored in Parasite seem to grow with greater irony. The film will soon have to reckon with itself.

A film partially set in dingy basement homes, Parasite is celebrated in grand, palatial

theaters—from Cannes to Los Angeles. While the story is a narrative of haves and have–nots, the film is showered with accolades at a ceremony like the Academy Awards—a night of red carpets and celebrities tottering around in expensive gowns and tuxedos.

This year, directing and acting nominees each received a gift bag from a non–Academy–affiliated market company with around 80 items inside—including a pass for a 12–day yacht cruise, a gold–plated vape pen, and “philanthropic” items like a “cleanser that supports showers for the homeless”—carrying a total value of $225,000.

Cinema is intimately entan-

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gled with the worlds of class and privilege. Parasite, for example, was produced by CJ ENM, a South Korean conglomerate and one of the country’s chaebols— large businesses that are owned and run by some of the nation’s wealthiest families. The wealth stays within families, passed down from generation to generation. Socioeconomic class is so fixed to family—an idea that resonates throughout the film.

A film like Parasite comes along, and begets the question— how has cinema acted in ways that are... parasitic?

Think about how so much of cinema is an audience sitting in the air–conditioned comfort of a theater, watching the flickering images of some of the world’s most oppressed, impoverished and displaced. Cinema has been powerful in highlighting these stories, shining a light on places and people languishing in the dark, and shaking institutions and others into action—but cinema has not been innocent either.

To his credit, Bong smartly wove a self-deprecating, self– conscious streak into the film, about art and the art world.

In Parasite, the sister, Kim Ki– jeong, picks up the language of “art therapy” off the internet, and then glibly ad–libs her way into a job as an art therapist for the little son, Da–song in the rich family’s household. In another scene, the mother of the Park family stands in front of Da–song’s painting and waxes lyrical about it. These self–reflexive moments spoof art—but also indict art as possessing a certain “artifice” that becomes particularly pronounced during awards season.

Sammie Yoon

FILM & TV

Darker still, the mirroring, long, rectangular windows found in both the lower–class Kims’ and upper–class Parks’ family homes are precisely framed head–on to the camera. The diegetic, onscreen rectangular windows are juxtaposed against the larger rectangle of our cinematic screen—and the inequalities enclosed in the former gesture towards the inequalities embedded in the latter. The viewer is implicated with a certain politics of seeing and of contemplating misery at a comfortable distance.

Yet, Parasite is cautious not to take sides. Bong, in his director’s statement, writes, “This film is: a comedy without clowns, a tragedy without villains…” Parasite is a film where there are neither clear protagonists nor antagonists, criminals nor saints. No one is guilty—or perhaps, all are guilty.

Parasite’s characters and situations are not merely relegated to the fringes of physical peripheries of a country, nor even confined to the bellows of South Korean society. The damning proclamation of Parasite is that its world is right here: at our local pizza chain, on our streets, in the floors above us, in the basement... in the people whom we pass by, and in the people who pass us by.

Parasite’s very damning proclamation is also its most hopeful proposition: if the inequalities of society take place at such proximity, in such a compression of space, then help cannot, and should not, feel so far. Without airbrushing over the complex mechanisms of class, capitalism and society—many of which produced the very horrors that Parasite conjured—I think that the film, at the very least, pushes us into a new awareness.

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ARTS

Alice Heyeh

T A Tale of Native American Resistance Amanpreet Singh

"we are still here"

he play began with a single idea and a call to action: the University of Pennsylvania was built and continues to stand on land stolen from the Lenape people.

All groups or activity on this campus should be aware of it and recognize that stewardship of this land must be returned to the Native Americans who existed and labored here long before it was occupied by this university.

“A lot of people think that Native Americans are essentially extinct,” says Connor Beard (C ’21), “I’ve been really struck by the invisibility of Natives on campus.”

Connor identifies as indigenous and is frustrated by this lack of representation of Native Americans. “A goal of mine has been to bring more Native stories to the mainstream,” he says.

And for Connor, who has been involved in the performing arts since his freshman year of high school, theater seemed to be the most natural way to do this.

He, along with the Front Row Theatre Company, decided to bring Manahatta to campus this spring. The play focuses on the story of Jane Snake, a woman from the Lenape Nation in Oklahoma who goes to work for an investment bank in Manhattan. She is the first Native American person to work on Wall Street.

Duval Courteau (C ’20) plays Jane, noting that “she is all about perception.

She’s really big on how she is perceived as a Lenape person, by the outside world especially.”

“Jane uses her desire to change the perception of the Lenape people as the

20 34TH STREET MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 19, 2020

Alice Heyeh

main motivator in her career, in her education, in all these things she’s doing,” Duval says, “But we see that Jane, especially in the last scene, has more understanding of what it means to be connected to her past, instead of being hyper–focused on her future.”

“I myself am part Native, so the content of the show just hit home for me right away. It’s so powerful and so universally important,” added Duval.

The show contrasts the 2008 financial crisis with the colonial violence perpetrated by settlers and the Dutch East India Company in the 1600s, weaving both narratives together in fluid and dynamic scenes that rapidly flip from one time period to the other. Characters take on two roles: one in the 2008 housing crisis and the other as their 1600s counterpart. Duval believes this fluidity highlights the “strong, strong parallels between the past and the present.”

For David Hernandez (C ’23), Manahatta is his first Penn show. “My whole life I’ve always been the ‘ethnic’ guy in a predominantly white environment. This show having that theme resonated with me personally, which is what compelled me to audition,” David says.

“Each actor plays two characters, one in the past, and one in the present.

My character is Luke in the present and Se–ket–tu–may–qua in the past.

They’re two very different characters, but they represent the same things.”

According to David, both characters are “torn between two worlds”—their Native American roots and the white

people with whom they interact frequently.

Luke’s story steeps in this duality.

Adopted by a white family and working in their family business, Luke eventually notices that his own people suffer from his actions. Meanwhile, Se–ket–tu–may–qua is a stoic leader who trades with white people at the market. When it comes down to it, both characters must make an important decision between their communities and the expanding, often white, world surrounding them.

Despite occurring over two time periods, the play remains grounded in a consistent theme: the constant violence and oppression faced by Native American communities, and the continuous barriers Native Americans face in white institutions. While the Lenape lose their land to traders, Bobbie, another character, loses her home to overzealous bank mortgages.

In addition, the show offers resilient portraits of Native American women, who are complex characters in their own right equipped with their own perceptions of Native American identity.

Bobbie is played by Mika Graviet (N ’21). “Bobbie is a very strong mother figure. In her tribe as well, the women make all of the decisions,” Mika says, “She’s used to guiding her people and making sure that everyone is kept safe.”

“In the modern world, all of a sudden, you have this super–spiritual, strong woman thrown into an environment she knows nothing about,” she adds. “She was used to being such

ARTS

a strong character, and all of a sudden she has no idea what’s going on with all the financial verbiage. She’s trying to figure out how to protect herself, her family, and her heritage, when she doesn’t even know how to navigate the world she’s living in now.”

Yet despite these obstacles, Mika says Bobbie “keeps up morale even when she’s losing her home, and what she’s been most familiar with.”

“I had no idea, even about the history of Manhattan, before we even talked about the show. And the fact that we’re on their [Lenape] land. We virtually stole it from them,” Mika says. “To realize all of that is very humbling, and it’s a somber thing.”

Manahatta was written by Mary Kathryn Nagle, who is an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. She currently practices law at Pipestem Law, which specializes in protecting the tribal sovereignty of Native peoples and nations.

Connor explains it was very difficult to find a story he wanted to bring to life as a director and points out that “there’s very little written by or about indigenous people.” In most media, Native Americans are depicted as one–dimensional stereotypes or only pictured in the past.

Connor appreciated that Manahatta showcases Native Americans in the present day.

He says, “It feels like that should be a low bar, but I don’t want to show them just in the past.

I want to show how indigenous people still exist. They are still around us.”

“In doing this play, there has been so much to unpack and talk about with my cast,” he says. To fully explain the history incorporated in the show, Connor spent hours on research, even meeting with the head of the North American exhibits at the Penn Museum to find sources.

And in just an hour and a half, Nagle manages to discuss a variety of issues faced by Native Americans, such as losing their language and fighting for meager government resources while trying to navigate a purposely complicated system.

While Nagle touches on issues that face most Native American nations, the play itself focuses on the Lenape tribe,

which is particularly important considering that Penn’s campus is situated on Lenape land.

So it goes: Penn was built and continues to stand on Indigenous area known as Lenapehoking, the traditional lands from the Lenape people.

In the 1680s, they negotiated with William Penn in the hope of peaceful co–existence. But, as with most stories steeped in the colonial era, relations grew contentious—Thomas Jefferson tricked the Lenape into giving away their land entirely, displacing them.

“Growing up as an indigenous person, this is such a socially relevant issue at all times, but of all tribes, [the play] focuses on the Lenape tribe, whose land we are currently on,” Connor says, “I know Lenape who go to school here.” He says, “This show could not be more relevant for a campus like this that exists on basically stolen ground from the Lenape.”

Despite the play’s contextual relevance and wide net, Connor still finds a personal touch embedded in the narrative. Half Lumbee, a tribe in North Carolina, he feels connected to Jane because he too feels the weight of “paving” the way for other Native American students while recognizing the sacrifices of his ancestors.

“I completely acknowledge that I am white–passing, but I’m still half–Native American and it’s such an important part of who I am. Something that is important in my tribe is education. When we were denied an education in the late 1800s, we actually founded our own university which is now one of the campuses of UNC.” Connor says. “It’s not lost on me that I am not supposed to be here at this university. It wasn’t meant for me. But despite that, I’m here.”

This echoes the last line of Manahatta: “We are still here.” Overall, the play proves a powerful reminder of Native American resilience in the face of centuries of oppression and destruction.

The show will run from Thursday, Feb. 20 to Saturday, Feb. 22, starting at 8 p.m. at the Heyer Sky Lounge in Harrison College House. Tickets are $5 for those with PennCards and $7 for the general public.

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ARTS

B L U E HEAVEN

This Fringearts Festival featured experimental and transgressive comedians from all backgrounds.

JORDAN WACHSMAN & SAM KESLER

a comedy festival unlike any other

CHECK OUT STREET'S HIGHLIGHTS BELOW: Photo

by Bo b

Sween ey

Megan Stalter & Sarah Squirm Entering with high energy to kick off the second block of night one, Megan Stalter and Sarah Squirm began by running about the audience in sparkly outfits while singing about each other's best traits. Stalter then left the stage for Squirm to give her stand–up set, which primarily discussed the horrors of the human body and Los Angeles. She ended with a video presentation about how to survive in LA, depicting the many lengths Squirm has gone to fit in, like popping pimples to rub the pus around the rest of her face and removing her organs to lose weight.

Stalter then took the stage, her set high on audience engagement. She performed a scene from her newly–written play and sang for everyone. Between the two of them, it's hard to say whose performance was more discomforting.

Patti Harrison Little stand–up could be found in Harrison's comedic music performance, which featured tributes to performers like Joanna Newsom and Dua Lipa in impossible registers and inflections. Her songs offered a vision into Harrison's warped mind, often touching on taboo topics that I won't even address in this article. Harrison's bizarre, psycho–sexual delivery is clearly the impetus behind her character Ruthie on Hulu's Shrill. Each punchline is as unexpected as the last, often leaving a bad taste in your mouth after laughing your ass off. And despite many claims that a cold affected her ability to perform, Harrison proved many of the songs actually could stand alone, even if they would never get radio time. With prime roles in television and in movies, on– and off–screen, Patti Harrison is surely a name to know in the comedy sphere.

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Patti Harrison returned to the stage for the second night to briefly open for Kim Booster, elaborating on the times they had previously met and worked together, some of which may or may not have involved physical attacks, Harrison joked. Kim Booster entered, stopping momentarily to faux–assault Harrison once again, and led with bouncy energy to warm up the late crowd. His set covered topics from the struggles faced by Asian–Americans who grew up with white parents to the plight of male gays who end up with a fleshlight of a woman's anus ("so, in conclusion... I'm bi!"). Early in the set, Kim Booster singled out a straight white male to give feedback throughout the performance, asking for the most relatable bits, which, like all feedback from a straight white male, proved irrelevant. Despite the set running into the next day, Kim Booster managed to bring a sunny mood that kept the audience rapt and lightened until the end of the festival.

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