September 4, 2019 | 34st.com
SEPTEMBER 4 , 2019 3 WORD ON THE STREET
Finding Faith on My Own Terms
4 EGO
EOTW: DJ Dorch, Glee Club Summer Tour
Annabelle Williams, Editor–in–Chief Dalton DeStefano, Managing Editor Daniel Bulpitt, Audience Engagement Director Lily Snider, Assignments Editor Ethan Wu, Media Director Sophie Burkholder, Special Issues Editor Allison Wu, Long–Term Features Editor Ryan McLaughlin, Word on the Street Editor Katie Bontje, Ego Editor Sam Kesler, Music Editor Srinidhi Ramakrishna, Developing Features Editor Bea Forman, Style Editor Shannon Zhang, Film & TV Editor Sophia DuRose, Arts Editor Sophia Dai & Eleanor Shemtov, Photo Editors Tahira Islam & Katie Steele, Copy Editors Dean Jones & Jackson Parli, Video Editors Alice Heyeh, Print Director
6 MUSIC
9 STYLE
Board Games, DIY Chinese Dumplings
LOL
10 FEATURE
When Gun Violence Hits Home
LOL 14 FILM & TV
BoJack Emmy, Spider-Man Primer
17 ARTS
PennDesign Bees
LOL 19 OVERHEARDS 2
Sethi, Adiel Izilov, Sally Chen, Mona Lee, Emma Boey
Style Beats: Caroline Emma Moore, Diya Sethi, Karin Hananel
Video Staff: Sam Lee, Megan Kyne Copy Deputies: Sarah Poss & Kira Horowitz
Film & TV Beats: Shriya Beesam, Samantha Sanders, Anna Collins
Copy Associates: Kate Poole, Serena Miniter, Erin Liebenberg, Lexie Shah, Carmina Hachenburg, Luisa Healey, Agatha Advincula
Arts Beats: Jessica Bao Design Editors: Gillian Diebold, Lucy Ferry, Jess Tan, Tamsyn Brann Design Associates: Isabel Liang, Ava Cruz, Joy Lee Staff Writers: Ana Hallman, Arjun Swaminathan, Tara OʼBrien, Hannah Yusuf, Sophia Schulz-Rusnacko, Jordan Waschman
Music Beats: Mehek Bopari, Melannie Jay, Teresa Xie
Illustrators: Anne Chen, Anne Marie Grudem, Brad Hong, Carly Ryan, Catherine Liang, Jake Lem, Reese Berman, Saranya Sampath, Jessi Olarsch, Christopher Kwok, Diane Lin, Jacqueline Lou, Sabrina Tian, Kathy Chang, Ben Joergens
Features Staff: Zoe Young, Hailey Noh, Katrina Janco,
Staff Photographers: Hoyt Gong, Sophia Zhu, Diya
Ego Beats: Amanpreet Singh, Sonali Deliwala, Katie Farrell
Dublin Music Scene, Whitney, Lover Review
Chelsey Zhu, Katie Bontje, Isabella Simonetti
Audience Engagment Associates: McKay Norton, Rachel Markowitz, Kat Ulich, Brittany Levy, Jessica Bachner
Contacting 34th Street Magazine: If you have questions, comments, complaints or letters to the editor, email Annabelle Williams, Editor–in–Chief, at williams@34st.com. You can also call us at (215) 422–4640. www.34st.com ©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.
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR T
his summer, my aunt and I went to Bradley Beach in New Jersey. On our way back from the steaming hot beach day, abbreviated by biting green flies and triple–digit heat index, we pulled into the parking lot of a Wawa. After a month and a half working and living in New York City, I wanted nothing more than to pull into the nondescript parking lot and order a grilled cheese on one of the grimy kiosks. I often feel that I have to understand my emotional responses via reverse–engineering. I have a reaction to something, understand that I’m experiencing an emotion, and then realize a few days later exactly what it was, often through some combination of writing, space, and reflection. What I realized in that Wawa is that I was homesick, so homesick it formed a pit my stomach. I loved New York, the hustle and the excitement and even the smell of garbage on the street. But I missed Philadelphia. Growing up in the suburbs, I took this city for granted. I don’t want to do that anymore. Ever since those few months away, the longest I'd been apart from the Philly area since I was a child, I started to feel defensive. When people insulted Philadelphia, I felt the same bile in my throat as I do when people insult my family, my friends, Street. I started to take Philly personally, maybe as a kind of pre–emptive nostalgia, knowing that I might leave at the end of this year. So I present an incomplete list of things I love about Philadelphia. 1. The snap–and–twist of opening a new bottle of milk at Wawa and the thrill of being the first one to pour it in your coffee 2. Abyssinia on 45th and Walnut (and the excellent speakeasy–esque bar above it)
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3. Walking to Center City on a Saturday afternoon and meandering until you find yourself in Trader Joe’s with no idea how you got there 4. Not caring about sports but running to City Hall when the Eagles won the Super Bowl anyway 5. Looking up at the ceiling in 30th Street Station while you’re waiting for your train (RIP to the flipboard) 6. The macabre oddities of the Mütter Museum—and the fact that you can host your wedding there, which I desperately want to do if I ever get married 7. The convoluted liquor laws that make it far too easy to host a BYO with 30 of your closest friends 8. Walking back to your apartment after a weekend away and feeling, finally, at home There’s much more to love about Philly, but these are just what comes to mind on this random Tuesday afternoon. As much as Street is a Penn publication, it’s also a Philly one. We’re lucky enough to spend four years here, and I hope you can find some things to love about Philadelphia too, whether you’re a freshman with the whole city stretched in front of you or a senior frantically crossing things off your bucket list. In some ways, I realize this ode to our city and other lighter pieces in the issue might seem counterintuitive to the coverage of gun violence in the pages to follow, but I hope the range of stories can provide glimpses of sunlight.
WORD ON THE STREET
Finding Faith on My Own Terms How my definition of spirituality has evolved throughout my life. Sophie Burkholder I remember the day I forgot the Nicene Creed. The space in my brain that once held the 32–line prayer had emptied at some point during my first semester of college. I was no longer used to reciting the statement of Christian beliefs every Sunday; a lack of practice begets a lack of memory. In the car ride home from church that day, I wondered: if I had forgotten the entirety of a prayer that listed the foundational truths of Catholicism, had I also forgotten how to pray? Truthfully, I used to hate church. Raised Catholic, I’d been attending mass with my father and sisters every Sunday at 7:45 a.m. without fail since I was four years old. I hated the sound of the organ. I hated the hard pews we had to sit on for an hour. And I hated the weird smell of the place, like old ladies’ perfumes mixed with mildew, dust, and a hint of incense. By my senior year of high school, I began subconsciously counting down the days until I no longer had to suffer these weekly burdens. With age, I also began to question the validity of the story behind Christianity. I wasn’t sure I really bought into Jesus’ resurrection, and had trouble visualizing unleavened bread and some bitter red wine as body and blood. I drifted from the Catholic church, but still felt grounded by certain experiences I’d had within it. I loved the warm candlelit silence of mass on Christmas Eve, with everyone pushed close together as we listened to a sermon that always spoke of joyous renewal. I loved being in the presence of religious
Ava Cruz | Illustrator artwork, especially from the Middle Ages, before representation became too realistic, and I always tried to identify the biblical figures with golden halos encircling their heads. But most of all, I loved the feeling I got after some mass or artwork truly affected me: a sense of restful peace, a faith that all could and would be okay. I lost that feeling for a while, probably around the same time I lost the Nicene Creed. Because I didn’t really believe in God or Jesus, I called myself an atheist, and I neglected faith in my life. Certainly by no coincidence, memories from that time are now tinged with a desperate darkness. Without faith, recognition of love or the divine in the everyday became impossible, and every trial I faced seemed to take place in oppressive isolation as I had let my interior support system crumble. But in this darkness were glimmers of hope, signs that my faith was still with me. I
stuffed my bookshelf with poetry books, reciting them aloud to myself in solitude as if they were prayers. I would light candles at night—not so much for the sweet aroma, but for the way they reflected invisible movements of air around them, a ubiquitous yet oft–unseen force. I savored the stories of authors like Patti Smith or James Baldwin, who spoke of complex relationships with religion, but full endorsements of faith. I began to take better care of my creative soul—the one that dreams and innovates, the one that is inherently tied to faith. I set aside time at the beginning and end of each day for reading poetry, making space for a ritual that I hoped would bring back the foundation I had lost. By a stroke of divine luck, a few months after fully adopting this new practice, a close friend asked me to attend her Baptism. When I entered the church that bright Sunday morning last spring, I finally felt the old
feeling of peace that I derived from these traditional places of worship and fellowship. I realized that even if I couldn’t align with some of the beliefs of Christianity, it came with a community that was paramount to finding my new idea of faith. I wanted to choose to lead a life in the spirit, whatever that may be, and surround myself with others who had their own versions of this same goal and inspired me to stay in steady pursuit of it. But this summer, the romance of reading poetry and lighting candles wasn’t enough to keep my faith from being tested. When the formula of my life lost its order, and a plan for renewal led to disintegration, I worried that another phase of harrowing darkness awaited me. And while perhaps one did, and several certainly still do, I realized that faith is a way of receiving suffering without unending doom, following the words of scripture
that tell us to “count it all joy—when we meet various trials.” No one said it would be easy, but despite the rockiness of some major life plans gone awry, I kept my footing. Though my journey of finding faith began several years ago, speaking about it is still difficult for me. Especially in academic environments, we often praise leaders who are rigid in their approach to life, and see displays of emotion or professions of faith as weaknesses. It's taboo to discuss spirituality and the love that feeds it, even though many of us consider love to be one of the primary motivations of our lives. I still struggle to communicate this way of thinking without sounding wishy–washy, but my faith is the idea that love is the one all–powerful, all–saving force in this world. My earliest exposure to spirituality was through Christianity, but, while biblical stories still resonate with me, my spirituality is no longer tied to an organized religion. I’ve learned a new kind of prayer that allows me to connect with the divinity of the world in poetry, art, music, and activity, so that I can always keep in touch with the needs of my spirit. Though prayer is a form of everyday ritual, practice is not always easy, and I know that there will be dark days when I doubt faith and scoff at every idea I’ve discussed here. But I almost look forward to those days, because when it comes to spiritual practice, the reward is in the effort. Only when we open our hearts to our own versions of spiritual awakening can we also open them to love.
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EGO
Ego of the Week: DJ Dorch Penn Mock Trial's President talks about her love of fake trials and all the places she calls home.
Photo Courtesy of DJ Dorch
Katie Farrell
34th Street: Why did you decide to come to Penn? DJ Dorch: I did a summer program at Penn going into sophomore year. It was a biomedical research program. My mom always sent me to nerd camps so that was the first one that she sent me to. I really enjoyed it and my lab instructor, who I think was a grad student at Penn, was teaching all of us high schoolers, but I knew absolutely nothing because all these people had taken AP Chem and AP Bio, and I had just done year one of chemistry. I connected really well with the lab instructor because I was behind and she would stay behind and catch me up. I then met some really good friends who, some of them go to Penn or just graduated. So after I did that camp I knew that this was the only place I wanted to go. My mom wouldn’t let me do Early Decision—she didn’t want me to zone in on one thing—but the second I got in all my friends knew that was exactly what I wanted to do. Street: Why did you decide to join Mock Trial? DD: A few reasons. One, my mom is a corporate lawyer, and we do criminal [on
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mock trial], so it is pretty different. So, I had already learned things about law from hearing her conference calls. Also, one of my friends from, again, one of these nerds camps, he was on the team and during the activities fair they called me over and said "You know, you should apply," so I decided to give it a shot. Street: Where do you feel most at home? DD: I would say Hershey, but I would say it’s more when I’m with my friends from Hershey or my parents. I am fairly at home also when my parents and I travel to places I used to live. It’s hard for me to answer that question because I’ve lived in five or six states and two countries. Wherever my friends are! Street: What was living all over like? DD: Looking back, it was a very good experience. I handled it pretty well, I wasn’t super sad every time that we moved. It was nice to see so many different perspectives and just learn a lot from different people. It was definitely hard at times, like, I used to live in Japan so when I moved back to America I was not a happy child be-
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cause I had gotten used to living in a completely different culture. All my memories were in that country not this country, so that felt like home and this felt like a new place. I think the one good thing is that I have lived in a lot of big cities, and now going into living on my own after college, I know where I would want and not want to live, so I think it was a good experience. Street: What is your favorite experience at Penn? DD: I’m honestly going to have to say Mock Trial. I don’t think I would know nearly as many people as I do now. Also, it taught me a lot. I was never a competitive person growing up, I wasn’t a sports person—I wasn’t great at sports—and the other clubs I did weren’t competitive like that. So it added that sort of nature to myself that I did not have. Also, it is definitely where I found my best friends. Street: What values drive you? How did you discover those values? DD: Loyalty drives a lot of what I do. When I am just with my friends, it’s important to be very loyal to the people who have always been there for you. It adds
Hometown: It’s hard to answer that question. I was born in Brooklyn, NY, but I also travelled a lot, and I went to high school in Hershey, PA. Grade: Senior Major: Environmental Studies Activities: President of Mock Trial, Kappa Alpha Theta
a lot to different relationships because it makes them a lot deeper and makes me and my friends a lot happier overall. I feel like whichever [values] I say will be cliché. I have to say trust, too—that is a big one and also a hard one. With regard to friendships and relationships that once you get to a certain point you can trust them no matter what. Street: What do you want to do post–grad? DD: [Laughs] That is a great question. There are a lot of different things, like Teach
for America. My mom says to go travel while I still have the time and won’t be tired, but to visit not a big city but somewhere interesting and cool. Even though I like to have things very planned and figured out, I feel like I need to sometimes stray away from having it all figured out, so I'm kind of trying to take it one day at a time. And, I am going to go to law school but that will be in two years. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
LIGHTNING ROUND Street: What is your favorite building on campus? DD: This is weird, but I would definitely say in the Towne Building in Engineering. It’s super cozy and there aren’t that many people there. Street: There are two types of people at Penn DD: The ones that follow the Penn track that they think they have to follow and those that don’t. It’s not a jab at anybody. Street: Who is your celebrity doppelgänger? CI: My friends have told me I kinda look like the R&B singer Aaliyah. I don’t really think so. Street: You just arrived at your five–year college graduation reunion. What would people be most surprised to hear about you? CI: I’m not going to tell you, because then it won’t be a surprise.
Inside Penn Glee Club’s World Tour
EGO
9 Performances. 6 Collaborations. 5 Cities. 1 International Tour.
Photos from Eli Eisenstein
By Lynn Ahrens
Every year, the Penn Glee Club embarks on a two–week summer tour, performing stand– and–sing sets (sets without dance numbers) with choirs across the globe. For their 2019 adventure, the Glee Club set out to East Asia on their “The Cities that Never Sleep Tour,” performing in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Macau, Taipei and Tokyo—staying true to their legacy of international excellence. Sam Orlin (C ’19), Glee Club Business Manager, planned everything from finding the locations, to making sure that each member on the May 2019 tour went through a cultural acclimation process. Sam started planning as early as June 2018. He looked at the budget and brainstormed itineraries. He said that his goal was to make the tour as accessible to members as possible. According to Sam, the tour would not have been possible without overseas support—primarily from Penn alumni and local university organizations. For many Glee Club members, the international tour was their first time traveling, and several expressed fear of being overwhelmed or experiencing culture shock. So, they took the necessary steps to prepare beforehand. First, each member went through a personalized travel consultation through Student Health Services, where nurse Liz Manai educated students about the health situation in each country and provided a medication and health consultation for each Glee Club member. Members also attended a Penn Global international travel orientation where they learned
safe travel protocol. Lastly, Glee hosted their own tour briefing presentation. The first concert was a collaboration with the Shanghai Conservatory of Music Women’s Choir on May 23. Despite the quick turnaround time and the inevitable jet lag, members agreed that the concert went well. Penn Glee Club’s goals were not only to form closer bonds among its members, but also to engage with its global alumni. The next concerts in Hong Kong were a collaboration with the Diocesan Boy’s School Choir and a band gig at the Fringe Underground Club—courtesy of a Penn alumnus with personal connections. However, the tour wasn’t all business. Glee Club members took advantage of their free time—they explored, ate street food, and went on boat tours. Some highlights included shopping at the Ladies’ Market, hiking to Victoria Peak, high tea, visiting the Hong Kong Museum of History, and swimming in the Shek O Beach. The next stop was the Glee Club’s first ever trip to Macau. They performed with the University of Macau Choir at their Student Activity Center Theater. Following their performance, several members over 21 let loose at the Venetian—the world’s largest casino. Then, the Glee Club jetted off to Taipei, where the male choir performed with the National Cheng Kung University Alumni Choir. This event marked a special occasion—celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Taiwan Relations Act that defined the
relationship between the US and Taiwan. In Taipei, Glee members made sure to visit Taipei 101, which held the world record for tallest building from 2004 to 2009. Then, they were hosted by the Penn Club of Taiwan for a fancy dinner and another performance. Their tour of Asia culminated with two performances in Tokyo—arranged with the help of Junichi Endo, President of the Wharton Club of Japan. On their first day in Tokyo, they performed three sets at the Nissan Global Headquarters.
Then, members joined singers in the International Christian University Glee Club at the ICU Chapel for the first time in history to perform an unforgettable repertoire in front of a packed audience. The last
performance of tour was with both the Waseda University Glee Club and Wagner Society Male Chorus. Tomoki Tashiro (C ’22), when asked of his experience, said he would “never forget the strong friendships he made with upperclassmen and his fellow [class members]” and would “forever cherish the opportunity to perform on a global stage in such unforgettable venues.”
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How the Dublin Music Scene Welcomed Me As a young American writer traveling alone, it was only through music that I began to feel Irish.
Sammie Yoon | Illustrator
Melannie Jay
It was a few weeks into my summer in Ireland that I first heard the sentence that would resonate through the rest of my journey: “I am going alone and friendless…into another country.” James Joyce said this to Lady Gregory shortly before he left Ireland for Paris, and I said something similar as I left my school and house in Philadelphia for Dublin, a country I had dreamed about for years, but that neither I nor any of my close relatives had seen. Ostensibly, I was there to write—there were a few academic papers brimming at the back of my mind, and I was scouring for sources of inspiration for my fiction. I found that inspiration, and a reprieve from my burgeoning loneliness, in live music. I decided early into the planning of my trip that I needed to see a concert while abroad, otherwise the visit somehow wouldn’t count. My mother and I agreed, a long time ago, that you haven’t truly been to a state unless you’ve eaten
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there, and I conclude now that you haven’t really been to a country unless you’ve been to a show there—or at least tried, as I was denied entry into Tiger Army in Toronto a few years ago for being 15 at a 19+ venue. The first concert I saw during in Dublin was Janelle Monáe as part of the Trinity Summer Concert Series. This year’s headliners, like Vampire Weekend and Foals, tend to have cult followings in their respective genres. Janelle was no different, packing the park full of queer and outspoken audience members in their late teens through early 30s. Next to me, a couple discussed which musicians had too much “chaotic bisexual energy” to be straight, like Mitski or Carly Rae Jepsen. Monáe reveled in the energy the crowds brought, a smile never leaving her face as she performed. She jumped right into the throes of the crowd during the encore, “Come Alive (War of the Roses).” Towards the end of the month, I saw another show
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on a whim. It was something I had seen advertised on posters all across the city: Rival Sons, a band I contemplated seeing in Philly but decided against when I got bogged down in a midterm cycle. The crowd that gathered at The Academy that night— packed into a small standing room area or hiding up in the balcony—was what I’ve come to expect from my concerts: men and women on the older side, with gray streaks in their hair and the smell of tobacco firmly affixed to their leather jackets. This was also where I had my first official concert beer. To boil down the music scene in Dublin to the Trinity Summer Series or to packed shows in venues is reductive. You can’t throw a stone in the shopping districts on Grafton or Henry Streets without hitting someone jamming on a keyboard or a floppy– haired youth strumming a guitar and crooning to a legion of teenybopper fans. Every pub, from
holes in the wall in Rialto to the biggest names in the Temple Bar neighborhood, features a man with a microphone and guitar singing a mixture of traditional ballads and a few self–written tracks he’s been working on. When one goes out alone, whether it’s to concerts, movies, restaurants, or pubs, there isn’t so much a sense of shame as there is discomfort. Someone, certainly, is staring at you and wondering what brings you there alone, and the temptation is to take out your phone and pretend a friend is on their way. At a concert, no one much cares who you’ve brought along as long as you keep all your limbs to yourself. Sitting at the bar at Molly Malone’s or Mulligan’s while listening to the performer on the stage and sipping from your pint of Guinness, makes one feel truly, unmistakably Irish. I’ve written at length about how the right concert at the right time can lift the spirits, and how, when I get too old to mosh with the
kids, I will not go gentle out of that good pit, and to see a city so full of music as Dublin made me feel instantly at ease. I, an introvert prone to periods of intense focus on my work, challenged myself to leave the house at least once a day and see the city, because I had no idea when I would be back. The easiest way to do that was to drag myself to a pub and listen to a few songs, or even to walk down the street and stop for a while to listen to one of the performers. Like anyone spending months in an unfamiliar city where they know no one, I was uncomfortable and, yes, lonely. However, I forgot about that when screaming my voice raw to Janelle Monae's “Tightrope,” or trying not to spill my drink as I danced to Rival Sons' “Sugar on the Bone,” or even mumbling to myself about how I was better at guitar than that kid in front of Levi’s. I wasn’t the American or the young writer—I was someone in Dublin listening to music, just like everyone else.
MUSIC
Whitney's 'Forever Turned Around' is Nostalgic and Bittersweet The indie group delivers a second album that further defines their sound. Three years after the release of their debut album, Light Upon the Lake, Chicago–based band Whitney came out with their second album, Forever Turned Around, on Aug. 30. Drummer Max Kakacek and guitarist Julien Ehrlich formed Whitney shortly after breaking off from their original band, Smith Westerns, in 2014. The success of Whitney’s Light Upon the Lake led to a two–year international tour that recently came to an end. Much like in Light Upon the Lake, Forever Turned Around celebrates bittersweet memories and hard truths. This is apparent just from looking at the track list, filled with songs like “Giving Up,” “Used To Be Lonely,” and “My Life Alone.” The first track, “Giving Up,” begins with an easygoing piano melody paired with soft drums. However, its lyrics reflect an unwillingness to let go of something that's slowly slipping away. Ehrlich sings, “Tears are falling one by one / I can feel you giving up.” This story carries into the next track, “Used To Be Lonely,” which showcases a more somber melody paired with lyrics like “I'm afraid you're letting go / 'Cause the only life I've ever known / Used to be lonely.” The overarching story told in Forever Turned Around is a much harder pill to swallow than that in Light Upon the Lake. Even the album cover, filled with muddled dark browns and greens, gives off a sense of melancholy. In Forever Turned Around, Whitney continues to expertly
incorporate trumpets, piano, and drums to create their distinctively mellow, indie sound. In a sense, Ehrlich’s high pitched falsetto voice feels like its own instrument. Although the brass sounds emphasize the melody on most tracks, they don't overpower any of the other instruments, and instead complement Kakacek’s drumming. The mellow musicality is interwoven with upbeat and hopeful elements, which contrasts with the theme of reluctance to grow out of the past. Whitney’s sophomore album is a gentle and smooth collection of pieces that feels like they’re meant to be played while sitting on a porch on a late summer night. Fleeting moments and nostalgia are perfectly curated on Forever Turned Around, especially in tracks like “Song for Ty,” with the youthful lyrics, “Anything could happen.” That said, the album doesn’t showcase any experimentation with the band's sound or style. At times, it feels like an extension of their debut album, but an older and more mature version. If Whitney wanted to solidify their distinctive indie sound with Forever Turned Around, then they definitely succeeded. Now the strength of their future projects will be determined by their willingness to experiment with new elements while still maintaining their bittersweet and soulful character. Whitney will be playing Union Transfer Sept. 27, with support by Hand Habits. More info and tickets can be found at their website.
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Taylor Swift's Latest Album is Her Most Intimate Yet On 'Lover,' Swift lets us into her private life without fearing for her image. Mehek Boparai
C
rooning country lyrics over guitar chords taught to her by her computer repairman, a young, blue–eyed Taylor Swift moved to Nashville hoping to land a music career. Sixteen years later, endless narratives written by and about her have been broadcast across the world, plastering her with an image she cannot escape from. The serial dater, the snake, the crazy ex, the white feminist—the list goes on. How does one work to rewrite these stories everyone takes to be fact? How does one establish a sense of self when their career seems to belong to everyone else? These are the questions Swift seeks to answer with Lover. An 18–track project, the artist’s seventh studio album establishes a “new Taylor.” The release of her previous album, Reputation, in 2017 addressed how her public image plummeted and how she had changed—as if giving herself a clean slate to work with. It left the audience asking what exactly her future would entail. Lover's first song, “I Forgot That You Existed,” shows Swift grappling with those who eagerly watched her reputation sink, and she comes to the passive aggressive solution that she doesn’t care for them. It is an odd opener; she seems to be talking through the verses, and doesn’t quite set the tone of the album successfully. Yet, it contains moments that are inherently Swift–like. Her sarcastic laughs between lines are reminiscent of those in “We Are Never Getting Back Together” from 2012. More moments like these shine throughout Lover, such as the ache in her voice when she sings “You’re not my baby,” in “Death By A Thousand Cuts.” Lover is Swift doing what she does best: telling stories. Instead of dealing with contrived images, she lets us into the actual life she has been living. In “Cornelia Street” she narrates the beginnings of her relationship with actor Joe Alwyn. The lyrics, detailing autumn air and being led on, are matched with a mirage–like melody. In “Paper Rings” she maintains the confec-
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tionary, lovesick image that the 2012 Swift harbored, while still singing about getting high and dirty dreams. There are signs of maturity stemming beyond love stories and breakups. And it seems to be working for her, as well. She has shed the jaded attitude that embodied "Reputation," no longer confessing that she had been in hiding before owning up to her tarnished name. "Lover" overall is much more enjoyable, as she sounds like she has been enjoying herself much more lately. One of the highlights on the album is “The Man,” a three–minute fantasy where Swift imagines the success she would reap if she didn’t have to contend with sexist double standards. “I’d be a fearless leader / I'd be an alpha type / When everyone believes ya / What's that like?” Its valuable message is met with a catchy, bossy chorus and exudes the frustration Swift holds against the industry. Vocalizing political issues is not unknown to Taylor. Her single before the album's release, "You Need To Calm Down," is centered around a campaign for the Equality Act to support LGBTQ+ rights. While this is a great stride against accusations of her being silent among the political turmoil encompassing modern America, there is a sense of theatrics and marketing that meet her loud campaigning. It does not seem to be a matter of who she is advocating for, but rather why she is speaking so publicly about it. And at times, it comes across as inauthentic, unlike her growling about secret love in "Cruel Summer." Lover is a long album, so some may find themselves skipping through some songs on first listen. This is a common theme in her career, as her 2012 "Red" stretched for sixteen tracks. Certain songs shine through, such as the high–register vocals in “I Think He Knows”; others fall under the blanket of simple writing, like “It’s Nice To Have A Friend.” It makes the overall project
Photo Courtesy of Kevin Mazur
at times awkward, as if she were stuffing tracks into wherever they seemed to fit best. The singles she put out earlier were unique enough to stand on their own—but when seen in the actual album, they feel out of place (specifically “ME!” featuring Brendon Urie). The final song she released before the album came out, however, is perhaps the focal point of the entire project. “Lover" is timeless, a simple ballad that one catches themselves swaying to as if in an empty ballroom. The lyrics are excellent, as Swift brings us into the intimate world she shares with her partner. It is sweet without being sticky, while the wedding–speech bridge is both personal and dreamlike. In this song, Swift doesn't worry about people's opinions of her love life or her reputation—she has found comfort in those she knows best, regardless of who is watching. It reminds us of the old Taylor Swift once again, and feels likes it could be placed anywhere in her career despite the maturity of the lyrics. How does Lover hold up as being the latest forefront of Taylor Swift's career? Does it deliver us new secrets of the wide–eyed girl who disappeared from the public eye and returned, political agenda and celebrity call–outs intact? Not really. Instead, it offers us the same content we looked for in Swift's music back in 2010: strong songwriting, fairly simple production, and lots of details straight from a novel. She has proven that she can alternate between genres while still being herself. With this project, Swift has recognized that she is wholeheartedly herself, and wants us to know the intimacy in what that entails. While it may not be her strongest album yet, it is definitely her most earnest, and one worth the listen.
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We Need Board Games Now, More than Ever
We’re The only bike shop on campus!
How the nostalgic colorful boards remain relevant in popular culture.
Mehek Boparai
AND we have the largest selection of bikes in Philadelphia!
There are fewer moments they’re antiquated—they’re more satisfying than emerging booming because of it. Less victorious after a long game of traditional adult games such as Monopoly. Gathered around Cards Against Humanity and the board with your colorful What Do You Meme? have risen property cards spread in front in popularity as millennials recall of you like prizes, it's no sur- the excitement accompanied by prise that a game about being competitive interaction amongst financially successful has been so friends over something other financially successful in popular than a screen. Sites like Kickculture. Other popular games starter enable game creators to such as Scrabble, the Game of trial their products and gauge an Life, and Catan often draw us audience, utilizing the Internet as back into fond memories of be- an assistant rather than a threat. ing crowded around cardboard This return to cardboard and for hours. Maybe finally clean- card games is consistent with ing your childhood bedroom other patterns at the forefront at home will inspire you to of popular culture, such as the host game nights with as many undeniably trendy instant film friends as your apartment liv- cameras and record players. ing room can hold. But, in a Where instantaneous entertaincrowded world, do we still value ment is available constantly, the board games for their inherent real fun factor seems to be rising entertainment—or is their only to the challenge itself, whether it value hidden in Anne Marie Grudem | Illustrator be taking hours our nostalgia to finish a Motowards them? nopoly game It's no seor capturing cret that today’s the perfect imworld offers age in one try. many other avBut that is not enues for enterto imply the sole tainment than value of board the era of board games once did. games today lies in its trendiWith teenagers flocking to video ness. They remain what they games such as Fortnite for hours were designed to be: unadulterafter school or laying in bed with ated, untainted fun. They offer their laptop and infinite You- a chance to tap into a world tube spirals to travel down, there where the only thing that matseems to be little room for more. ters is securing your next propEven multiplayer games such as erty, trying to trash–talk over Uno have been integrated into your best friend’s laughter, and iMessage versions, enabling prolonging bathroom breaks long–distance competition for as long as possible. They with friends and strangers alike. offer the chance to spend an Board games seem to be pushed entire summer in a coffee shop out of relevancy, in turn being re- with a chess board, an iced latte, placed with the virtual trends of and your favorite person in the Trivia Crack and Netflix binges. world. Above all else, they offer However, according to an ar- an escape, which is something ticle by the Seattle Times, board we all need from time to time— games aren’t dying because regardless of how old we are.
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F E AT U R E
WHEN GUN VIOLENCE HITS HOME
FOR STUDENTS FROM NEARBY CITIES, THE EFFECTS OF THE EL PASO AND DAYTON SHOOTINGS OUTLAST TODAYʼS NEWS CYCLE. BY Katie Bontje Ten days after the Dayton, Ohio shooting, Erin Ward (W ’22), a Dayton–area local, went shopping with her mom. “She just stopped and looked at me and said, ‘You know there could be a shooter here at any minute.’” Erin says this was a wake–up call for her. The reminder from her mother made it “a little more real,” she says. Erin realized that “it could happen anywhere. It could happen to you.” The new American reality is that 31 people can die from gun violence in a 16–hour period. Mass shootings, especially with racist motives, have become commonplace. On Aug. 3, 21– year–old Patrick Crusius arrived at a
RAFAEL FLORES
ERIN WARD Photo by Eleanor Shemtov 1 0 3 4 T H S T R E E T M A G A Z I N E S E P T E M B E R 4 , 2 01 9
Walmart in El Paso, Texas after a nearly ten–hour drive and killed 22 people. He was aiming for Hispanic people; this was made clear through the racist and xenophobic manifesto he posted online minutes before the attack, claiming there had been a “Hispanic invasion” of Texas. Less than 24 hours later, 24–year–old Connor Betts opened fire in Dayton, killing nine people in just over 30 seconds. Everyone who knew Connor said he had an obsession with violence—former classmates said he kept a list of people he planned on raping or murdering. These events are frightening, but they’re not at all uncommon. Beyond mass shootings, approximately 100 Americans are shot and injured due to gun violence every day. In 2017, 39,773 people died from gun–related injuries in the United States, and the violence is showing no signs of stopping. As with many issues, gun violence disproportionately affects low– income communities. For the younger generations, gun violence has become the new normal; but for those Penn students whose communities have been devastated, the reality of gun violence is a fact of life, intimately known. The recent attacks bring up many issues for Penn students from El Paso, Dayton, and beyond, ranging from not feeling safe to leave their homes to growing political polarization within their families. Luke Coleman (C ’22), a native of New Carlisle, Ohio, a small town outside of Dayton, says his first fear was for his family. “That was definitely my first thought when I woke up and heard about it in the morni n g , was, ‘ O h m y goodness, I know my dad was there last night, I hope that he’s okay,’” Luke says.
Once he realized his dad was safe, he began to worry about his own safety as well. “It almost makes you scared to do anything,” Luke says. “I didn’t want to even appear in public because two mass shootings had occurred within, like, 16 hours of each other, maybe even less than that.” These recent shootings have affected people and communities in different ways. When Latinx Coalition VP of External Affairs Cinthia Ibarra (C ’20) first heard of the shooting, she felt “pretty much numb to it.” “I remember hearing about it and just taking a step back and then once I started reading up on it, it brought me to a very vulnerable spot because I don’t recall a tragedy like this targeting just the Latino community,” Cinthia says. “Because I am Latina, I am a first–generation Mexicana, it was very close to my heart.” Erin said that even with the recent shooting in Dayton as well as a school shooting in the neighboring town of Liberty, Ohio in 2017, she doesn’t see her community in her conservative rural hometown of Milford Center changing their minds on the issue of gun control. If anything, Erin says she sees the climate growing more polarized. She notes that her perspective may come from spending a year away from her hometown at Penn. “Something that I hear a lot where I’m from is, ‘Guns don’t kill people; it’s the people who kill people.’ It’s not the gun’s fault, it’s the person’s fault, you know,” Erin says. The intersection between mental health advocacy and the gun control debate is a hot topic that Sebastian Gonzalez (C ’20), a Mexican–American El Paso native, thinks is not discussed enough. He says online speech platforms can be difficult tools to regulate and can ultimately be used for hate speech. The El Paso shooter’s manifesto was published on a site called 8chan, an online imageboard website often used as an outlet for extremist speech. “But I also think a large issue that we need to talk about is the kind of radicalization that people go through,” Sebastian says, in light of the targeted nature of the shooting in his hometown. “How do you regulate that? How do you keep people from being radicalized in this country?” Rafael Flores (C ’19), another El Paso native with Mexican heritage, says the El Paso shooter’s manifesto is a disturbing example of white supremacy that he says was really scary for him to read. He says given that the neighboring city of Ciudad Juárez, Mexico is just a short drive from El Paso, many Hispanic people from both sides of the border were in El Paso that day “simply going to shop and buy things and spend time with their families, not knowing the true danger that they [were] in.” “People are coming here for opportunity because this is the ‘land of opportunity,’” Rafael emphasizes. “But clearly there’s only so much opportunity when you could just be shot on a Saturday morning when you’re shopping for school supplies.” For one of Rafael’s closest friends, the El Paso shooting
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on Aug. 3 marked the loss of multiple family members. Rafael says that this friend spoke on national news about the tragedy. Since then, Rafael’s friend has been forced to delete and/or change his name on all forms of social media. Rafael’s friend was receiving comments on social media posts, accusing the friend of being a “crisis actor,” a term often used by conspiracy theorists to refer to people paid by special interest groups to dramatize their stories to the media.
"
on Christmas Eve. “When you’re in a gang, your whole family is basically associated with the gang. So there was some sort of gang retaliation on the part of a gang that was also in our town,” Abby explains. “On one Christmas Eve, it was maybe, like, two years ago they shot my other tío, the one who wasn’t in the gang, which was really hard on the family because not only was it the death of a family member, but now it’s like every Christmas Eve that’s what we think about.” As a Mexican–American, Abby says she also personally connects to the recent mass shootings, especially in El Paso. “If you look at the statistics, the people who are immigrants are less likely to be criminals than people who are from here … Mexicans kind of get this [reputation] for being gang–related, doing a lot of drugs and stuff, but my experience has really been the opposite of that,” Abby says. For Abby’s family, she says immediate threats related to gun violence have since dissipated because no other family member is associated with a gang. But she says the effects of their deaths still live on, especially for her father. “My dad has big issues with guns because both of his brothers died from gun violence,” Abby says. “Most kids when they’re younger are allowed to have little water guns and have water fights with their friends and stuff, but we weren’t a l -
BUT CLEARLY THEREʼS ONLY SO MUCH OPPORTUNITY WHEN YOU COULD JUST BE SHOT ON A SATURDAY MORNING WHEN YOUʼRE SHOPPING FOR SCHOOL SUPPLIES." -- RAFAEL FLORES
“It’s very dangerous to receive that kind of attention in a country with the current political climate,” Rafael says. ”It’s really, really scary that people will go so far to conspire over deaths that truly have happened. It’s really, really sad.” For Rafael, he feels the political polarization surrounding gun control and other issues. It’s even evident within his own family, after his hometown went through this attack. Rafael explains that he, his mother, and his sister all share very liberal views, while his father, who is divorced from his mother, voted for Trump and shares many of Trump’s anti–immigrant beliefs. Rafael says his father also believes that owning a gun is a fundamental right that should not be taken away. “My dad … is a conservative, [and] voted for Trump, which is very surprising for someone of Mexican descent. But he is a Trump supporter and he basically is very much against gun control and does not think that should ever happen because that is what makes this country so free,” Rafael explains. “Definitely it is a conflict whenever we are together, and, you know, politics come[s] up. … I just don’t think my dad sees the world the same way I do or my sister does.” Luke echoes that he experiences differences in opinion on gun control within his own family. “My dad is white and my mom is black … they almost always divide [on] a racial line,” Luke says. “I think you can see a lot of people on my mom’s side of the family push for gun control just because they experience gun violence in a different way than my dad’s side of the family would experience it.” Although narratives sometimes seem to follow major mass shootings, gun violence exists beyond that. For many people in this country, especially in lower–income communities, gun violence is something to be feared constantly. Abby* (N ‘20) talks about the devastating effects gun violence has had on her neighborhood and on her family. She has asked to have her real name omitted for personal safety reasons. Two of Abby’s uncles were shot when she was a child because of issues related to gang retaliation. One was shot and killed in her grandmother’s house
lowed to do that.” For Abby, and so many others, the effects of these mass shootings don't go away overnight. And for many, too, the prospect of another shooting around the corner has become terrifyingly real. When thinking about her uncles’ deaths, Abby says, “Now that I’m older, I need to step back and realize this isn’t a normal experience. Most people don’t need to go through that.” For Sebastian, too, the aftermath of the El Paso mass shooting reframed things—places that once seemed safe took on an undertone of anxiety. “At first I was in shock. It didn’t really hit me what was happening in my hometown,” Sebastian says. “It just didn’t seem like something that could happen because you always have that mentality: ‘Oh, it’s not going to happen to me.’” *Indicates name has been changed.
CINTHIA IBARRA
Photo by Sophia Dai
SEBASTIAN GONZALEZ
Photo by Sophia Dai
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Wrapping the dumplings: Here comes the fun part! This is your chance to be creative with the recipe, and it’s the best part to do with friends or a date. You can even make it a competition to see who can make them the prettiest. Even if you get last place, you can eat your own delicious (albeit ugly) dumplings as a consolation prize. Make sure to have a small bowl of water nearby. You’ll need this to Save a trip to Chinatown. 1. make sure your dumplings don’t fall apart when cooking. Make dumplings from your dorm. 2. Grab a dumpling wrapper and put a spoonful or so of the filling in the center of the skin. A common mistake is putting too much filling and having all the goodness fall out when folding, so be conservative. Chelsey Zhu 3. Wet the dumpling wrapper with water around its edges using your finger and then bring the two sides together, making sure to press down An indelible part of my Chinese upbringing was watching my parents fold dumptightly. lings at the kitchen table. As a kid, seeing my mother transform meat, veggies, and 4. Add symmetrical creases to the top of the dumplings for decoration. dough into hundreds of delicately wrapped pouches with her hands was magical. I was There are a lot of ways to crease the skin to make them beautiful, but lucky that I could eat them straight out of the pot whenever I wanted, and it wasn’t if you’re a beginner, don’t worry too much about getting them per until college that I realized fresh Chinese food was something I took for granted. fect. The most important thing is making sure the dumplings are tightly Whether you grew up with your family’s recipe, or loved eating them at restaurants, wrapped. For some simple designs, follow a video tutorial like this or this. you can now have authentic dumplings without leaving your dorm. (And no, you don’t have to use UberEats.) Making your own dumplings is a great way to hone your culinary skills, bond with friends over a group cooking activity, and impress guests— or maybe even a date—with a unique yet traditional dish. Don’t worry. Although the recipe can look hefty, it is definitely manageable for the average college student, even those who have never made Chinese food before. I made this recipe in English College House’s dorm–wide kitchen freshman year, back when the fanciest thing I could cook was a fried egg.
The Art of Making Authentic Chinese Dumplings
Homemade Pork and Napa Cabbage Dumplings Makes 80 dumplings Ingredients 1 whole napa cabbage 1 lb ground pork 3 green onions 1 ginger 1/3 tbsp salt 1 tbsp vegetable oil or olive oil 2 bags of dumpling wrappers ½-1 tablespoon soy sauce
You can find the pork, ginger, green onions, and seasonings at Fresh Grocer and the newly opened Heirloom Market near Drexel. The dumpling wrappers and napa cabbage might be trickier to find on campus, but you can make an easy stop at a Chinatown grocery like the Heng Fa Food Market and do some exploring on the way. As for kitchen utensils, you’ll only need a medium pot, a medium/large mixing bowl, cutting board, knife, and chopsticks (if you want to make the most of it).
Directions Making the filling: 1. If frozen, let pork thaw to room temperature. 2. Peel the cabbage into leaves. Fill a pot with water and let it come to a boil. Place the cabbage in the pot, making sure there’s enough water to cover all the leaves. No need to cover the pot. 3. Wait until the water comes to a boil again to remove the napa cabbage. Don’t wait too long, or else the cabbage could disintegrate. 4. Let the cabbage cool. Cut into small pieces with a knife and squeeze the excess water from the vegetable into the sink. Napa leaves hold a lot of moisture, so the boiling and squeezing are to make sure your dumplings are full of meat and veggies, not just water. Set aside. 5. Put the thawed ground pork into the mixing bowl. Add chopped green onions and part of the chopped ginger (a little more than 1 tbsp) to the bowl. 6. Add oil, salt, and soy sauce and mix until everything is evenly distributed. Add the napa cabbage and mix again until even. Disclaimer: Chinese moms don’t always meticulously measure dashes of salt, so some numbers are approximate. An easy way to see if the proportion of seasonings is correct is to take a small amount of the filling after mixing, cook it for 10 seconds in the microwave, and taste. It should be flavorful but not too salty, since you’ll be dipping it in sauce at the end.
Chelsey Zhu Final steps: 1. Fill the pot 2/3 of the way with water and bring to a boil. 2. Add 10-15 dumplings, making sure not to crowd the pot too much. Place a lid on top. 3. When the water begins to boil again, pour in a half glass of water and recover. Bring to a boil, pour in another half glass, and recover. After a third boil, the dumplings should be ready. A good sign is if the dumplings are floating near the top of the water. 4. Repeat until all of your dumplings have been cooked. They should be soft, steaming, and (hopefully) beautifully wrapped. Serve your dumplings immediately with the sauce of your choice. My family uses Zhenjiang vinegar mixed with chili oil sauce, both of which are available in Chinatown markets. You can also do soy sauce or go for something a little fancier. Even though they’re tasty fresh, arguably the best part about dumplings is how well they keep. You can store dozens in a plastic bag in the freezer for months at a time. This recipe can be a bit time–consuming, but now you have several homemade meals you can make in 10 minutes. Prepare an easy after–class dinner or satisfy late–night munchies by boiling the frozen dumplings in a pot, following the same process you did before. These steamed dumplings are also super easy to turn into pan-fried potstickers. Put 8–10 (frozen) dumplings onto a pan with oil on medium–high heat and let fry until the bottoms are medium brown (not black). Add ¼ cup of water into the pan and let steam with a cover on top for 2–4 minutes, or until all the water is gone. Repeat one or two times. Make sure to stir periodically so the potstickers don’t actually stick to the bottom of the pan. Now you have a crunchy, savory treat to serve either yourself or your guests. I’d pick the first option. S E P T E M B E R 4 , 2 01 9 3 4 T H S T R E E T M A G A Z I N E 1 3
FILM & TV
Give 'Bojack Horseman' the Emmy it Deserves After five seasons of critical acclaim, the Netflix show is overdue for TV’s top honor. Arjun Swaminathan
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Photo Courtesy of Netflix Over the last decade, Netflix has risen from a simple streaming service for studio films and syndicated shows to a bona fide entertainment powerhouse. From House of Cards to Stranger Things, the company has received accolades for works across genres. Bojack Horseman, its critically acclaimed adult animated comedy–drama, has recieved critical acclaim, but it has yet to be recognized by TV's most prestigious awards body—the Emmys. Featuring Will Arnett as the voice of the titular horse–man, Bojack Horseman is set in a world where anthropomorphic animals and humans coexist in a society similar to our own. Bojack, an aging former ‘90’s sitcom star living in Los Angeles, serves as the focal point while surrounded by characters such as roommate Todd Chavez (Aaron Paul), biographer Diane Nguyen (Alison Brie), agent Princess Carolyn (Amy Sedaris), and acting peer Mr. Peanutbutter (Paul F. Tompkins), each with their own fascinating personalities and plotlines. Five seasons in, Bojack has
been lauded for its humor and commentary on subjects such as mental illness, addiction, sexism, self–discovery, and life fulfillment. The Washington Post’s Bethonie Butler opened her Season 4 review by wondering how “a story about a depressed, alcoholic horse [became] one of the most human shows on TV.” Some have even deemed it one of the best shows on air: after Season 2, Vox reviewer Emily VanDerWerff wrote that it had “found its footing beautifully in season two, earning the title of not just the streaming service's best show, but of one of television's best shows,” while The A.V. Club writer Danette Chavez said that Season 3 exemplified that “Netflix has taken it upon itself to add Bojack to the line of TV’s famous antiheroes.” However, despite receiving approval ratings above 97% on Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic aggregate scores above 87 since its second season, the show had received just a single Emmy nomination, for "Outstanding Character Voice–Over See HORSEMAN pg 15
FILM & TV
HORSEMAN >> Page 14
Performance" by voice actor Kristen Schaal during its third season. That number doubled when it received a nod for "Best Animated Program" this year for the episode “Free Churro.” “Free Churro” is one in a long line of standout episodes from each season since the second, from “Escape from L.A.” to “Fish Out of Water” to “Time’s Arrow.” In "Escape from L.A.," Bojack runs from his movie set to a friend’s place in New Mexico, only to cause shocking trauma throughout her family and reinforce his personal misery of refusing to change for the better. “Fish Out of Water” is particularly unique as it's set underwater and almost entirely without dialogue, allowing the animators to create a visual masterpiece that captures emotions through body language alone. "Time's Arrow" takes a full dive into Bojack’s mother’s past trauma as she experiences a dementia–driven hallucination. It is beautifully poignant, giving insight into the environment that led to Bojack’s own personal issues. Similarly, “Free Churro” takes the viewer out of the hustle and bustle of the city and depicts Bojack’s eulogy next to his mother’s casket, giving heartbreaking insight into his tumultuous relationship with his parental figure. It’s well worth the accolades—Arnett has already received an Annie Award for his performance in the episode. It’s clear that Bojack is overdue for an Emmy—let alone additional nominations—and its creators believe that as well. A few weeks back, the show’s official Twitter page requested its followers to photoshop For Your Consideration billboards to support its candidacy for the award, a playful take on the meta self–awareness of the program. The critics, the fans, and the authors of the work are all clamoring for the premier honor in its television genre. The Emmys should listen.
Cashing In On Spider–Man: A Battle Between Marvel and Sony The fate of Spidey within Marvel's Cinematic Universe is uncertain. How have we gotten here?
Anna Collins
Photo by Jojo Whilden | ©2019 CTMG, Inc. All rights reserved. The story of Peter Parker has been told for decades. A young man living with his aunt and uncle is bitten by a radioactive spider; his uncle dies, he is catapulted to superhero–dom, and he has to balance being a teenage hero, a good boyfriend, and a high school student. For his simple yet moving story, Spider–Man has become a piece of American iconography and is particularly vital to how the general public views Marvel comics. However, the Spider–Man franchise has sparked a media firestorm recently after news that the character would be leav-
ing the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Fans are shocked after becoming attached to Tom Holland's portrayal of the character over the past couple of years—so what exactly has lead us to this point? Spider–Man was first seen on the screen in the 1970s in a 13–episode television series which ran between ‘77 and ‘79. The series was produced by Columbia Pictures Television and was the first full–length live–action television series based off of Marvel Comics. Columbia Pictures was bought by Sony in 1989, so at this point, Sony owns the
rights to Spider–Man on the small screen. However, the film rights for Spider– Man were initially owned by MGM. In 1999, Sony and MGM were facing off; Sony was planning to make a James Bond television series, undermining MGM’s hold on the 007 film franchise, and MGM intended to make a Spider–Man film. The two then traded rights, leaving Peter Parker entirely in Sony’s hands. The introduction of Spider–Man into the film universe was in 2002 with Sam Raimi’s trilogy starring Tobey Maguire, famous for the upside–down kiss
and the scene where the direction of the wind and the Mary Jane’s hair don’t seem to match. Overall, Spider–Man was a commercial success and the beginning of what would become a notable revival of the superhero film in the 2000s, moving away from campy works such as Batman & Robin (1998) and The Fantastic Four (1994). While the style of Raimi’s films is certainly comedic, it enjoyed critical acclaim and marked a brighter, more quippy style of superhero film that would See SPIDERMAN pg 15
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FILM & TV
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become iconic of the Marvel universe moving forward. Maguire's reign ended after a fourth film was dropped, but Spider–Man's character did not. In 2012, just as Marvel was in the middle of film trilogies such as Captain America and Iron Man, Andrew Garfield took over. This era saw an increase in film quality: there was real chemistry between co–stars Garfield and Emma Stone, and this new Spidey was seen as far cuter and more charismatic than his predecessor. However, after two films, Garfield’s version of the character was thrown away. Citing reasons of artistic differences, failing box offices, and hacked emails, Garfield was dropped from the role in 2014, cutting his time as Spider–Man short of a trilogy. Raimi’s Spider–Man films began in 2002 before the
Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures | CTMG, ©2019 CTMG, Inc. All rights reserved. MCU even released movies. Garfield's films, however, were released alongside Marvel hits such as Guardians of the Galaxy and Captain America: The Winter Soldier. While the original Spider– Man films had been the catalyst for the MCU, Garfield’s films were now competition. After 2014, however, Marvel and Sony came to an agreement. At this point, Sony had owned the rights to Peter Parker for 15 years, had created five separate
films in his name, and generated almost four billion dollars at the box office in total. However, Marvel Studios was growing tired of their cinematic universe lacking its most famous superhero, and their desire to acquire Spider–Man grew. In February 2015, a deal was struck between Disney and Sony: Spidey was allowed to appear in Marvel’s Cinematic Universe, but Marvel would only receive about 5% of the Spider–Man
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films' total box office revenue. Sony would still be the primary production company of the film, but Spider– Man’s solo films would be co–produced by Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige. The newest iteration of Peter Parker, portrayed by Tom Holland, was first shown in Captain America: Civil War, and has since become a staple of the MCU, particularly with his heartbreaking “death” in Avengers: Infinity War and his relationship with Iron Man/Tony Stark. Recently, Disney proposed that they should receive 50% of the revenue from the Spider–Man films, instead of the 5% they currently received. Sony refused. Unable to reach an agreement, Feige will no longer co–produce Spider–Man films and Spider–Man will no longer appear in the MCU. This situation is sticky because Holland’s version of the character is now inexorably tied to the greater Marvel universe. Much of his character development, too, has been based around Tony Stark and the aftermath of his death. Marvel has cleverly boxed Sony into a corner by building up Peter Parker around other Marvel characters and then proposing a deal where Marvel gets a much larger percentage of the revenue than they did previously:
Sony either refuses and is forced to overwrite all the previous development given to Peter and the events of the Avengers films, or they must agree to the new deal. The fallout of this argument has left fans of Spider– Man infuriated. People are trashing Sony for destroying their precious Peter and ruining Holland’s career. Sony has undoubtedly been painted as the villain, while Disney and Marvel Studios are the injured parties. However, what's important to remember is that Disney is a company seeking to maximize profits as much as possible—as is Sony. There is no moral code to these companies, and the issue at the base of it all is not Spider–Man's character or Tom Holland’s acting career—it's money. Disney is trying to get even more cash out of what they see as a profitable character while Sony seeks to hold onto the rights which it has held for so long. Those antagonizing Sony fail to realize that Disney is the one seeking a greater cut for their own personal gain. Ultimately, while we can mourn the uncertainty of a favorite character within the MCU, we must remember that the debate over Spider–Man is not truly about the character, but about two massive corporations seeking to grab as much cash as they can get.
ARTS
For PennDesign's Newest Exhibit, F o l l ow T h e B e e s
These artists want you to think about climate change. Karin Hananel Follow the bees. That's the first thing you should know if you decide to visit the brand new project put together by Penn’s School of Design in honor of the 50– year anniversary of landscape architect Ian McHarg’s 1969 ‘landmark book’ Design With Nature. The project is divided into three parts housed in close, yet different buildings on campus—some of which aren’t well–known to the average Penn student. Therefore, the entrance to each exhibit is covered with large, unmissable swarms of plastic bees, making it easy to find whichever one you’re looking for. Bees were specifically chosen as ornaments because they are symbolic in Rome— ornamental bees marked late Renaissance buildings owned by great patrons. The three exhibits—while unified in their theme of design to combat climate change—are in three separate buildings. “Design With Nature Now: A global survey of ecological design in the 21st century” is located in the Meyerson Galleries at its front entrance on Locust Walk while “Ian McHarg: The House We Live In” can be found at the Kroiz Gallery in the Architectural Archives and Laurel McSherry’s “A Book of Days” is in the Arthur Ross Gallery within the Fisher Fine Arts Library. All three exhibits are unique and engaging in their own ways; whether it’s the specific theme or the different mediums used to portray their messages. The largest
and perhaps most engaging exhibit is “Design With Nature Now,” which studies 25 projects around the world that help combat climate change with their design, more specifically, those pertaining to landscape architecture. The 25 projects are divided into five categories: Big Wilds, Urban Futures, Rising Tides, Fresh Waters, and Toxic Lands. The projects featured are as close as the U.S. and as far away as China and New Zealand, with all of them tackling a specific issue relating to their category through its architectural design. With television screens, 3D models, pictures, and books peppered throughout the brightly colored exhibit, it’s hard not to find something that will catch your attention. The visitor doesn’t need to keep up with every single detail of the exhibit to understand the underlying point: designing new structures mindfully is an essential part of modernizing and there is no need to compromise the integrity of our environment or aesthetics. While different projects all around the globe are featured, a personal highlight was GreenPlan Philadelphia (2006), which “focused on green infrastructure as a way to solve many of the city’s water, sustainability, and quality of life problems,” all of which was inspired by Penn grad Anne Whiston Spirn’s work with the West Philadelphia community in the 1980’s. It was nice seeing which elements of the
project were close to campus or to my family’s house, and it made me more mindful of the care taken to plan spaces that I and many other Philadelphians take for granted every day. The next exhibit was Lau-
rel McSherry’s “A Book of Days,” at the Arthur Ross Gallery, which she worked on using a Fulbright Scholarship during the first half of 2018. It stands in stark contrast with “Design With Nature Now” in terms of color pal-
ette (nearly all of the art featured in the gallery is black, white, or grey), but nonetheless manages to utilize different artistic mediums such as video, etchings, and sculpture to make for an engaging experience.
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ARTS
Karin Hananel Artist Laurel McSherry connected her project back to the inspiration for the entire series: landscape architect Ian McHarg and his home at the Clyde River Valley in Scotland. Considering his childhood experiences were integral to his book, Design With Nature, this exhibit does the important job of bringing them to life through art. “A Book of Days” was also inspired by McSherry’s mother, and her time in Glasgow from 1938 to 1942. McSherry found her mother’s diary entries from the time she spent in Glasgow when her mother died in 2014, and realized that she would be in the city at the exact same time as her mother. However, she also realized that all of the entries were on the same date, years apart, which got her thinking about the repetition of calendar dates and how that kind of repetition doesn’t exist with “lived days.” McSherry compiled her personal experiences and directly channeled them into
her art. Some works were inspired by people she met, others by her daily walks in Glasgow. In an interview with the director of the Arthur Ross Gallery, McSherry described her creative process, “I was curious about how my life in the city might change over time, and so each morning I made a drawing of where I walked the day before. I then redrew these maps digitally, which enabled me to regroup the walks in different ways and reflect on them.” In terms of how her art was connected to the inspiration for these projects—Ian McHarg– McSherry noted the specific rivers that were influential to McHarg’s work and her art: the Clyde in Scotland and the Delaware in the United States. She worked with maps of both of these rivers and developed a curiosity for places of significant change throughout each river. She drew, recorded, displayed, and superimposed all of the changes over time and was able to map the rivers
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on her own, much like how McHarg did in his work as a landscape architect. The room housing McSherry’s work is filled with circular etchings, a 20–foot jumble of lines that come together to be one of the most eye–catching elements of the exhibit, and even a television screen playing two different videos simultaneously. It’s
not easy to decipher if one is going in blind, but understanding where McSherry is coming from makes each etching, video, and drawing more profound and beautiful. The last element of the three–pronged PennDesign project is “Ian McHarg: The House We Live In,” at the Kroiz Gallery in the Architectural Archives. The exhibit chronicles the foundations of McHarg’s book, Design With Nature, as well as his teaching and environmental activism that played a part in his life and work. More importantly, it solidifies the overarching theme of all three exhibits: to spotlight nature and its gifts while we modernize and innovate. The room housing this exhibit is plastered with vintage maps, 3D models, posters, photographs, advertisements, books, making for an informative and visually stimulating experience. A highlight was an advertisement in the Philadelphia Inquirer for McHarg’s PBS special, “Multiply and Subdue the Earth,” which reads: “Americans are making an inferno of their once glorious country…including the Jersey shore. To-
night on Channel 12…Philadelphia ecologist Ian McHarg [leads] you on a hair-raising tour of the country and offers a hard look at what we’ve done to it.” It’s alarming to see how alarmed ecologists like McHarg were all the way in 1969 when it came to the havoc humans wreaked on the environment, which makes it clear that as pretty and informative as it is to look at models of cities and projects that design with nature, that McHarg and many modern landscape architects certainly weren’t and still aren’t just in it for the aesthetics. Design With Nature Now, A Book of Days, and The House We Live In surely are nice to look at, but it is essential that as the visitor digests the information, they are also thinking of ways to make a change and be more mindful of the fact that the beauty highlighted in these exhibits can't exist if the Earth isn’t thriving in the first place. All three exhibits are open and free to students and the public until September 15, 2019. Hours: Tuesday through Friday, 10:00am to 5:00pm; Saturday 12:00 to 5:00pm
OVERHEARDS
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