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‘Boy Erased’ Review

november 28 , 2018 3 WORD ON THE STREET Judaism After Pittsburgh

4 EGO

EOTW: Chrissy Walker, Gizem Saka, Thomas Hong

7 MUSIC

Penn Sargam & Penn Sangam, Yoni Gottleib

Nick Joyner, Editor–in–Chief Remi Lederman, Managing Editor Angela Huang, Audience Engagement Director Annabelle Williams, Assignments Editor Autumn Powell, Media Director Cat Dragoi, Word on the Street Editor Caroline Riise, Ego Editor Jamie Gobreski, Music Editor Colin Lodewick, Senior Features Editor Sabrina Qiao, Special Features Editor Andreas Pavlou, Long–Term Features Editor Naomi Elegant, Developing Features Editor Liz Kim, Style Editor Ana West, Film & TV Editor Sherry Tseng, Arts Editor Eliana Doft, Lastpage Editor Ethan Wu, Photo Editor Morgan Potts, Copy Director Christopher Muracca, Print Director Ego Beats: Sophie Xi, Amanpreet Singh, Michelle Shen, Misty Liao, Katie Bontje Music Beats: Arjun Swaminathan, Sammy Gordon, Sophie Burkholder, Melannie Jay, Aleksei Kuryla, Srinidhi Ramakrishna, Shriya Beesam Features Staff: Angie Lin, Julia Bell, Paige Fishman, Hailey Noh, Chris Schiller, Katrina Janco, Sireesh Ramesh, Allison Wu

9 STYLE

Ramen Roundup, The Bourse, Pocket Parks

LOL

12 FEATURE

Penn Students From Philly

LOL 14 FILM & TV

Outlaw King, Princess Switch, Boy Erased, Riverdale Social Media Sensation

20 ARTS

Truth & Image, Fine Arts Senior Thesis Preview, Alex Fisher

LOL 22 LASTPAGE

Overheards, How to ask someone to a formal 2

Style Beats: Beatrice Forman, Alice Goulding, Ryan McLaughlin, Teresa Xie, Allie Shapiro, Emma Moore, Jennifer Cullen Film & TV Beats: Zovinar Khrimian, Maryanne Koussa, Anna Collins, Sam Kesler, Kate Lindenburg, Shannon Zhang Arts Beats: Michelle Wan, Christina Lu, Josephine Cheng Design Editors: Lucy Ferry, Gillian Diebold, Ben Zhao, Christine Lam, Alana Shukovsky Associates: Ian Ong, Joy Lee, Alice Heyeh, Nancy Kang, Ava Cruz, Jess Tan, Christy Qiu, Tamara Wurman, Jackie Lou, Gebran Abdulhai Lastpage Beat: Sami Canaan, Abby Goldstein Staff Writers: Margaret Zhang, Riley Wagner, Calista Lopez, Calais Cronin, Sarah Fingerhood, Katie Hartzell, Anjalee Bhuyan, James Morrison, Christy Qiu, Jordan Wachsman, Emily Gelb, Karin Hananel, Bebe Hodges, Claire Ochroch, Shunmel Syau, Rania Zakaria, Amanda Xu, Riley Kennedy Illustrators: Anne Chen, Anne Marie Grudem, Brad Hong, Carly Ryan, Catherine Liang, Jake Lem, Reese Berman, Saranya Sampath, Jessi Olarsch, Diane Lin, Christopher Kwok, Cecelia Vieira, Jacqueline Lou Staff Photographers: Emma Boey, Kaitlin Rowan, Chloe

Schaefer, Eleanor Shemtov, Olivia Fielding, Riley Merkel, Sophia Dai, Sophia Zhu Video Staff: Jean Chapiro, Abdul Sohu Copy Associates: Kate Poole, Kira Horowitz, Sarah Poss, Serena Miniter, Erin Liebenberg, Lexie Shah, Carmina Hachenburg, Luisa Healey, Agatha Advincula Sofia Price, Analytics Editor Marketing Associates: Brittany Levy, Carly Shoulberg, Daniel Bulpitt, Ha Tran, Lauren Donato , McKay Norton, Merry Gu, Lauren Reiss, Kat Ulich, Serena Zhao Cover Photo by Ethan Wu, Illustration by Jess Tan Contacting 34th Street Magazine: If you have questions, comments, complaints or letters to the editor, email Nick Joyner, Editor–in–Chief, at joyner@34st. com. You can also call us at (215) 422–4640. www.34st.com ©2018 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.

"You don't move on from the best; she'll be coming back to me."

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR A

las, the bitter end. I haven't been impeached or overthrown (yet), but I do have a successor. Soon, my chair will be filled by the beautiful, dutiful Annabelle Williams. But I can still have my last hurrah. I technically have one letter left, but I think it's only right that I finish my tirades here. I know that y'all have so enjoyed reading about my opossum sightings, my run–ins with black ice, and my pensive platitudes about making the most out of your undergraduate career. It's time for me to pass the mic. And I won't make this into a mushy goodbye.

Annabelle deserves to write her first letter from the editor next week, as she will have overseen much more of that issue than I. I've been a part of Street since I stumbled into the office for a writers' meeting at 6:30 p.m. on September 3, 2015.

I even had this event in my iCal. I just checked. Back then we were jammed into a small room, which fit no more than thirty people. But that was the size of staff then, and a rack of PBR was more than enough for all the writers and editors.

But really, my love affair with Street began before I set foot on campus. When I visited Penn for the first time in the April of 2015, I happened to visit on a Thursday.

Unbeknownst to me, Thursdays were when Street came out. After my campus tour, I popped into Williams to grab a coffee. As I was leaving the building, I sighted upon a rackbox in the corner. There was a pile of DPs with colorful covers, all infographics detailing the acceptance rates across

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the Ivy League that spring. After a quick scan, I noticed the banner at the top: "On Losing a Parent: 34th Street Magazine." I flipped to the center of the newspaper to read the feature, and the rest was history.

I've been a lot of things at Street: contributor, Film & TV beat, Film & TV editor, Features editor, and now lowly dude who writes the weekly Letter from the Editor. I've done some cool things in my time. I interviewed Jordan Peele and talked to him about Get Out two years before it was released. I tried to ask Meryl Streep a question about The Post over Skype while my audio was muted, much to my embarrassment. I've met some incredible writers, editors, and content producers. I've interviewed and gotten to meet so many students and campus leaders. I've answered many a disgruntled email, and spent so many late nights posted up in 4015 Walnut working on the magazine.

There have been soaring highs and rattling lows. Street has definitely taken at least a year off of my life. But Street has made an indelible impact on my time at Penn, and taught me love, patience, and pain.

I dedicate this letter and issue to all of the incredible journalists who I've worked with at Street, UTB, and the DP. I love you all, and can't wait to see where y'all go in the coming years.

But now, I have overstayed my welcome, and I must bid you adieu. And with that, I offer you a respectful goodbye: thank u, next.

WORD ON THE STREET

nose, I resented my olive skin. I resented the way my dark curls tumbled outwards and upwards from my head.

I resented my name: my first name, Ariel, for being aggressively Hebrew, and my second name, Goldfine, for its obvious connections to my great– grandparents’ generation of Eastern European refugees.

I resented all these things, as they fit in with a stereotype from which I craved distance.

I religiously straightened my hair, fanatically removed my excess body hair, fantasized about a nose job. I reassured friends I was hardly Jewish at all, that I didn’t even believe in God. I refused to join Jewish social organizations. I adopted a nickname that my Christian peers would find easier to pronounce. I removed, suppressed, or modified all things that were just so Jewish.

I so badly wanted to assimilate, consciously or not. I bought into the idea, normalized in our culture but rooted in a 20th–century racial pseudoscience, that my Judaism was not a culture or a religion but a race, and that the physical manifestation of that race was unattractive.

Things got worse, not better, when I came to Penn.

Religious groups on campus hounded me the second I stepped foot on Locust Walk.

I treated them with contempt.

I just wasn’t like them, those Jews who grew up in places like New York or Philly or New Jersey. They never knew anti–Semitism. They did not grow up as the Other, yet they claimed as much. Wrongfully, I turned my nose up at

them. Why must they self–select so much?

Couldn’t they have non–Jewish friends? Why must they pursue jobs in finance and in banking…why must they play into every stereotype they have of us?

My relationship with Israel further complicated my relationship with Judaism. As a quiet, uncomfortable critic of Israel, I felt further distanced from Penn’s Jewish community. To me, their pride in being Jewish was tied to their unadulterated, uncomplicated pride in Israel, and in turn was tied to white supremacy. Not all Jews are white, and not all Jews support Israel, and not all Jewish supporters of Israel are uncomplicated in their support. But it didn’t feel like that to me.

I reacted with further assimilation. I joined no Jewish organizations, refused to join a Jewish sorority or senior society, and further asserted my “normality.”

The shooting in the Pittsburgh synagogue changed things for me. Like many Jews and other members of the community that day, I mourned. I contacted the couple of Penn Jews I knew from Squirrel Hill. They were safe and scared, as were their families.

I obsessively scrolled for news updates, as some form of ill– fated attempt at understanding. As much as I didn’t want

rat or

That Saturday morning in late October, I remember waking up to CNN alerts on my phone—I was immediately filled with the sense of dread that comes with mass shooting. The same thoughts crossed my mind that always do, as America’s processing of these killings becomes ritualistic: where was it? How many died? Were there any children?

Who did it? Why? This time, it was in a Jewish neighborhood in Pittsburgh at the Tree of Life Synagogue.

This time, it was during a quiet, Saturday morning service, like so many I’ve been to before. This time, as with the shootings in Charleston and Louisville and countless others, the shooter was a white supremacist, brimming with conspiratorial vitriol.

This time, it was a man who declared that “All Jews Must Die” before murdering 11 individuals.

My relationship with Judaism has always been complicated. I can’t escape it, I can’t deny it. But that doesn’t mean I haven’t tried.

I grew up in an overwhelmingly white, overwhelmingly conservative, overwhelmingly Protestant town in suburban Arizona. I didn’t know a lot of Jews outside my immediate family. Among my peers, I was the Jew. They were the norm, and I was outside that norm in everything: culturally, politically, and spiritually. And like most kids, I wanted nothing more than to be as normal as possible.

I resented everything that made me visibly different.

I resented the bump on my

Ari Goldfine

Illu st

STREET

Growing Up, I Distanced Myself From My Judaism.

The Pittsburgh Shooting Changed That.

Sh em tov |

word on the

a Ele

to, I kept turning back to the face of the perpetrator.

I recognized the hate in that terrorist’s eyes for my people— I knew that hate and resentment, because I felt echoes of it within myself. His diabolical, murderous hatred of me, and my embodied, subtle hatred of myself were all too connected.

Now, when I gaze at my face, when I see the features that so many elementary school bullies laughingly told me were too Jewish, I see my family, I see my ancestors. It’s hard to hate your family’s face.

I now choose not to.

When I see my Jewish classmates return every Friday night to Hillel for services, I try not roll my eyes in contempt anymore. Instead, I try to see a group of young people creating a community without shame. I envy them. I still feel separate from that community, and am still uncomfortable in my own identity. But it’s a process.

r no

When I take issue with the more extreme right wing of American Jewry, which insists upon an orthodox pro–Israel stance to the point of hate and bigotry, I will refocus. I will look towards the Jews who know any love of a homeland must never overrule the protection of human rights and dignity. I will look towards the rabbis who marched in the Civil Rights Movement. I will look towards the religion which told me year after year, that I must love the Other, for you too were once a stranger in the land of Egypt.

I went to my first reform service at Hillel on the Friday following the Squirrel Hill shooting. It was my first time in the building, and it was brief.

But to hear the words of the Mourner’s Kaddish, followed by the names of the eleven victims of the Pittsburgh shooting and the two victims of the Kentucky shooting—it was illuminating.

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This Austin native is fashion–forward, business savvy, and bringing color back to your fall wardrobe.

By Amanpreet Singh What was it like growing up in Austin?

Austin is very unique, especially just considering its setting in Texas. It's just a very strange bubble in the state. I think it definitely has a lot to do with why I am the way I am now. It's a huge art–music hub for sure. Because it's such a kooky town—our saying is Keep Austin Weird—Austin really encouraged me to do things because I liked them and not because it was cool.

It was nice to be in a space where people wanted you to be strange and wanted you to be very individual. Having your own thing was super super valued and admired.

Have you always been interested in fashion?

Before college, I was pretty introverted growing up. I definitely used clothing as a way of being really expressive because it says a lot about you without you having to be the one to engage and open up the conversation. I think people can learn a lot about others from how they dress themselves. I didn't really think of fashion as a career until I came to Penn, which is interesting because it's kind of contrary to how a lot of Penn career journeys happen. Coming here I found the Wharton Retail Club, the Baker Retail Center, and all these places that proved fashion to be a very real and viable career path: that's when I got more into fashion.

Why did you become a TA for Wharton 101?

I just thought the TAs in my section were the coolest people in the whole world. I was really obsessed, and I was like I need to be their friend, so I 4

applied and I got in. It’s just become my real home at Penn.

It's kind of weird because I don't think people think of TAs as being a very tight–knit community, but I feel like specifically the MGMT 101 (now Wharton 101) TAs are really, really tight–knit. We have lineages, we have alumni events every year and all that stuff.

They're like my best friends at Penn.

How did you get involved with The WALK magazine?

It was the first thing I applied to freshman year when I got to Penn. I started out as a women's fashion stylist, so you style all the shoots, which is really fun and glamorous.

Then, I became an online writer, and then a featured print writer for the actual print publication. Then, I actually remember very clearly, I was at an the info session for Bloomingdale's, I think, sophomore year and I was like “I'm really interested in working here,” and the woman was like “Yeah, you do a lot of stuff in fashion but there's not a lot of quantitative stuff here so maybe try and add more.” I was like “Quantitative things, I don't do anything quantitative!!!” So I panicked and applied to be the finance director of The WALK. It ended up being really fun because it's kind of the opposite of how Wharton functions. In Wharton, there's a big emphasis on finance and numbers. A lot of times in the creative industries, that's not as emphasized, but you definitely need that to be able to do anything. I think being the bridge there was really cool, and it's nice to be on the more black–and–white side of the magazine produc-

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tion.

What was the most fun experience you had as a stylist?

We coordinated a shoot with Intermix, which is a store in Center City, and they just told us to literally go and pick out whatever we wanted for the shoot. We had to bring it back like two days later, but it was this weird shopping spree with no budget and it was the most fun I've ever had.

We pulled out all these crazy colorful things like these big fluffy jackets and feathers and whatever else, and to be able to do that with no limit was super fun. The editors also really push you to think outside the box, so it's fun to be able to go to the extremes and wear things you wouldn't usually wear and make an outfit that you think is crazy but looks cool on paper.

What trends do you see for this upcoming season and what are you especially excited to add to your wardrobe?

One thing that Penn did to me (as you can probably tell) is it sucked the color out of my wardrobe very quickly.

But there's definitely been a push for more color lately, especially red. I'm very excited to add some more color back into my closet. I think jeans also—like really fun cuts and styles. Now, people are having more fun with jeans and I think that's also very exciting.

What do you do to de– stress?

I taken actually a decent amount of art classes. They are kind of time intensive, but it's such a change of pace from your regular, or at least my regular, courses that I found it very fun to completely challenge my brain in different

Autumn Powell | Media

EGO OF THE WEEK

Dire ctor

EGO

CHRISSY WALKER HOMETOWN | Austin, TX MAJOR | Marketing and Management ACTIVITIES | Head TA for Wharton 101, CEO of Penn Fashion Week, finance director of 'The WALK' magazine

ways. So I've taken FNAR 264, which is Intro to Graphic Design. I'm in Intro to Photography right now, which is also very fun because it makes you get out of your house and go into the city and actually take pictures.

Do you have any advice for Penn students?

Remember who you are when you come here, because I

think this environment can be very forceful in shaping you.

Not that it's always bad, but I think it's just a lot of forces that can change who you are, and it's very easy to lose sight of what got you here and why you came here. Repeatedly reminding yourself of who you are when you first arrive here is important—and not to lose sight of that person.

LIGHTNING ROUND There are two types of people at Penn... People who wear color and people who don't.

What is your favorite off–campus spot in Philly? I like hanging out in the Rag and Bone in Center City because it's just a really pretty space.

Are you a dog or a cat person? Definitely dog.

Do you have any pets? No, because I'm allergic.

What is one trend that you hope never ever comes back? Oh gauchos. Wow. Never, never again.

Do you have a favorite artist? It’s kind of a cliche, but definitely Beyonce because she compiles art and work ethic in a really cool way.

Go–to karaoke song? "Fergalicious."

What is one question we should have asked you?

What food I would eat for the rest of my life.

And what's the answer? Sushi.

EGO

Gizem Saka Meet the economics extraordinaire with her own Wikipedia page. She might just be the most well– rounded Wharton professor you’ll ever meet.

Amanpreet Singh

Photo provided by Gizem Saka While Gizem Saka’s students may know her for her expertise in economics, many would be surprised to learn of the Wharton professor’s impressive past as a national gymnastics champion and exhibition artist.

Saka, senior lecturer in the economics department at Wharton, was born and raised in Istanbul, Turkey. She studied math and economics there as an undergraduate before moving to America in 1999 to attend graduate school at Cornell University.

After a series of teaching jobs, Saka came to Penn in 2012.

Saka says education “was always very important to me and my family growing up.” Both Saka and her sister have PhDs, as do most women in their family.

Saka became interested in economics through her upbringing in the Middle East. “In Turkey, a lot of people were interested in economics,” she says. “I was growing up in a very high inflation society, so economics was our dinnertime conversation.”

Saka adds that this wasn’t specific to her family. “Everyone would talk about the economy all the time. That usually is a symptom of economic systems that don't work.”

Saka usually teaches a combination of micro and macroeconomics. This semester, she is

teaching Business Economics, Monetary Economics and the Global Economy, and Managerial Economics in the MBA program.

Compared to the Wharton students she teaches, Saka says she had a “very relaxed childhood.”

“We didn't have CVs–we didn't even know what that meant,” she says. “We did arts and sports, you know, not to record it someplace but just for the sake of it.”

She was particularly passionate about gymnastics. “I was kind of a serious athlete,” Saka says.

“Gymnastics is something that you would do starting from a very young age, then you peak at a very young age, and it ends at very young age so it's kind of It's a little bit brutal in that regard.”

“I started just going to an athletics club,” she adds, “and then I became a member of the national team for several years.” Saka was also the national champion in 1989 and 1991. She later quit gymnastics altogether when she was 16 or 17 years old.

Saka has also been doing art from a very young age: “I never actually thought twice about whether art should be in your life or not. To me it's inseparable from everyday life.”

Saka paints every day, and her

work has even been featured in prominent exhibits worldwide.

For Saka, transitioning to an exhibiting artist was “an organic development.” Before her first exhibition in Montreal, Saka “had been painting for quite some time.” She continuously does exhibits, and tries to plan some sort of installation either abroad or in the states every year.

“I paint things that are related to Turkish or Middle Eastern culture. I had one exhibit in which I enlarged Ottoman miniatures onto canvases.” Saka says.

Saka’s office futher reflects her Turkish identity. On the window ledge, on top of a black cloth with a small red pattern, sits several varieties of tea bags and

mugs. A Keurig tea kettle sits on the on the other side of the ledge.

“You can't be Turkish and not love tea or coffee.”

Saka’s artwork typically focuses on the experiences of women.

“Most generally my subject matter would be women: women talking and just living.” She adds, “I'm actually working on a series of portraits with women with crazy hair. That's my new thing.”

For Saka, integrating her interests in economics with her art felt natural. She teaches a course called “Art Markets” as a visiting lecturer at Harvard University. The class covers how artwork appreciates over time, or whether different kinds of economies create different art, and even the market

for art forgery.

Saka’s interest in art is also reflected in her office. On the far corner of her desk, she has a postcard of a Picasso painting—Paul Drawing—next to two picture frames. In one of the frames is Samuel Beckett, a writer Saka loves.

In the other frame is a photograph of Istanbul, taken by Ara Guler, an Armenian–Turkish photojournalist who recently died. Saka adds, “Istanbul is a truly amazing place. It is full of artists and their beautiful architecture and musicians.” For Saka, Istanbul is a “unique” blend of the East and the West. She adds, “Probably everyone says this for their own city, but Istanbul—it was absolutely beautiful.”

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EGO

Making Music with Penn's Symphony Orchestra Conductor Thomas Hong

Penn’s Symphony Orchestra conductor reveals what it takes to Katie Bontje strive for greatness and passion in the arts.

“As a conductor, you’re responsible to teach the students or teach the orchestra what you want to express, so you’re really at the mercy of the instrumentalists, your orchestra,” Thomas Hong says.

“You don’t have your own voice. You’re mute. You have to sort of help them to allow you to speak," he adds.

Thomas Hong is the dedicated conductor of Penn’s Symphony Orchestra. Hong admits, however, that he didn’t always have the same diligent work ethic.

“Me being the youngest of the three siblings, no one really

taught me to study or to be focused,” Hong says. “That kind of added to the lazy mentality.”

His parents, however, were first generation immigrants to the States and were anything but lazy. They moved their family of five to Philadelphia in 1978, when Hong was only six.

Without the ability to speak fluent English, they started street vending merchandise, such as bags and modest jewelry, on Chestnut and Broad Streets.

Hong describes how during his college years, something “clicked." His days of laziness came to a grinding halt.

He credits his parents for this

change: “Having observed their lifestyle, it impacted the rest of my life,” Hong says. “They didn’t have the advantage of speaking English fluently. They achieved this much. I need to achieve so much more, so they could feel like their efforts were not in vain.”

After graduating from Cairn University in 1995, Hong attended the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and studied conducting.

Photo courtesy of Thomas Hong

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That's also where he met his wife, who he calls one of the most talented and humble people he has ever met. He believes she's the youngest person to ever have received a spot to join the world–class Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra, which she joined at age nineteen.

“She’s very even–tempered and very mild,” Hong says.

“That’s why I can’t think too well of any achievements.”

While Hong never brags about his accomplishments in the slightest, his list of accolades is extensive. He has held positions with the Dallas, Pittsburgh, and Seattle Symphony Orchestras, and the Orchestre National de France.

He explains that the majority of these accomplishments occurred right after graduating from Curtis. He focused on developing his career and was in a long–distance relationship with his then–girlfriend and now–wife.

After they decided to get married and have a child, however, Hong knew that long dis-

tance would no longer work for their family. When his daughter Esther, was born, Hong moved back to Philadelphia.

Thus came the next piece of Hong’s extensive career. He has been the conductor for the Penn Symphony Orchestra for the last four years, and he raves about the talented students he works with.

“Being one of the larger Ivy League institutions, you can imagine, just by the virtue of volume, the kind of talent we draw in,” Hong says. “There is a saying from China: Even if you’re one in a million, there’s still a thousand of you.”

While Hong would love more people to know about the Penn Symphony Orchestra, Hong says that it is key to inspire the students to strive for excellence for themselves instead of just for the sake of an audience.

“Sometimes you just pursue greatness and great things will happen,” Hong says. “You don’t have to worry about the things that you can’t control.”

MUSIC

Penn Sargam and Penn Sangam Explore Their Identities Through Music The fusion ensemble and discussion–based organization collaborated over chai, samosas, and good tunes.

Srinidhi Ramakrishna Most musical groups at Penn restrict their music–making to rehearsals and the occasional gig or performance. Not Penn Sargam, one of America’s few collegiate performing arts ensembles dedicated to South Asian fusion music. At their Open Jam and Chai Chat in collaboration with Penn Sangam last Thursday, Sargam expanded the discussion— and creation—to everyone.

While the two student groups differ in only a letter, their purposes are far from the same. The musical group Sargam performs a blend of Indian classical, Western classical, South Asian film, pop, and rock music. Using vocals, Western instruments like the drums, guitar, violin, viola, saxophone, and keyboard, and Indian instruments like the sitar, harmonium, and tabla, Sargam has established themselves within a style altogether their own.

Sangam is a discussion group encouraging conversations on “social, political, and cultural issues pertaining to the Pan–Asian community,” from interracial dating to Asian–American media representation. Their recent event with Sargam was a part of their monthly Chai Chat series, usually held in conjunction with other student groups.

As the members of Sargam and Sangam, along with many other unaffiliated students just curious about the event, packed Harnwell M10 (indulging in hot samosas and well–made chai), one could feel everyone’s enthusiasm for hearing the perspectives of others. First on the docket was the discussion. In this free–flowing, open conversation, the fifty–person–strong group delved

into topics like cross–cultural influences in Western and Asian music (and the practice’s context in the cultural appropriation vs. appreciation debate), how music can connect someone to their heritage, “fusion music” as a concept, and more.

Particularly interesting was the dialogue on cross–cultural sampling—from Missy Elliott’s use of bhangra in “Get Your Freak On,” to Jay–Z’s remix of “Mundian To Bach Ke,” to Selena’s Indian influences in “Come & Get It,” to the increasing amount of Western influence in Bollywood and K–pop music, those present were generally appreciative of rising globalization in music and incorporating elements of different cultures into one’s own music, as long as it was done respectfully.

Meerabelle Jesuthasan (C’ 19), President of Sargam, notes that it was interesting to see the interplay between Sangam, which consists mostly of second–generation Asian Americans, and Sargam, which has more first– generation members. "They had different perspectives on topics such as cultural appropriation, for example.”

Following the discussion, Sargam began their Open Jam—a music–making format they often conduct, and have previously publicized as official events for the public to partake in. Simply put, Open Jams are Sargam–led jam sessions where anyone can try their hand at any instrument, or join in singing a song. A method of artistic creation where everyone—whether or not they consider themselves a “musician” or are in a performing arts

group—can participate, Meerabelle states that “our [musical] process is very much centered around jams” and that open jams are “a really good way to learn and improve.” At Thursday’s jam, people gathered around Sargam members, playing or learning their way around instruments ranging from the guitar to the tabla. As the group played soulful, melodic chords and others sang melodies of everything from Maroon 5 to popular Bollywood songs over them, it was clear how Sargam’s concept had the poten-

Photo Credit Roshan Santosh

tial to unite people across cultural divisions.

Our progressively globalizing world has led to immigrant diasporas all over and far–reaching implications within the musical sphere. As Meerabelle explains, groups like Sargam are “a way of connecting with one’s South Asian side without feeling judgement.” She talks about rising interest in this type of fusion music, describing that “although most

bands at Penn tend to be based on Western music, at our last show in the spring, we sold out a pretty big space, including to non–Penn students.”

From the rising popularity of Latin trap in America, to Spotify’s new Global X playlist, music with influences from all around the world isn’t going away anytime soon.

Sargam's next Open Jam is December 1.

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MUSIC

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪ ♪

Yoni Gottlieb:

Penn Senior Turned Music Producer Arjun Swaminathan The moment I met Yoni Gottlieb (C ‘19) on a Thursday afternoon in Starbucks, I could immediately tell he loves his music.

Influenced by artists such as Earl Sweatshirt, Mac DeMarco, and Tame Impala, and often spotted wearing a Frank Ocean sweater, the art of song is in his blood— his mom is a professional pianist. We were able to discuss our thoughts on some new album releases this year, from Astroworld

by Travis Scott to Daytona by Pusha T, before we jumped into his experiences with music and producing rapper Slim Reaper’s debut album, RIP to the Peaceful (Me).

Although he majors in Biology and minors in Cinema Stud-

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ies, Yoni maintains his focus on music through his electives and extracurriculars. In addition to being a member of WQHS Radio (his show is on Sundays from 11 to noon), he’s also a member of the Songwriting Collective (the collective meets in Hillel every Sunday for two hours to write songs based off poem prompts), part of a jazz combo half–credit course as a guitarist, and in a band duo that does Mac DeMarco covers called RAGE CAYG, alongside his friend Caroline. “The jazz combo is a great opportunity to be around incredibly talented musicians where you improvise a lot and motivate yourself to be better— it's pushed me more than any-

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thing I’ve ever done,” Yoni said.

Yoni’s interest in music has been in full bloom since high school, however. In ninth grade, he made it an outlet and began developing his debut album, Cities and Countries, a neo–classical record released his graduation week in 2015. After releasing Cities and Countries, Yoni wasn’t satisfied—he wanted to follow up and explore other genres further. “I love hip–hop and alt–rock and wanted to make something modern, so I started to learn beat making last summer, beginning with drum loops in Garage Band,” Yoni said. “My friends gave me feedback, and I finally got to the point where I could do a rap beat—and that’s

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Sophia Zhu | Photographer Ben Weinstock (left) and Yoni Gottlieb (right)

when Ben came down to visit me.”

As well as being Yoni’s longtime friend from summer camp, Ben Weinstock is also known as Slim Reaper, originally from Colorado and Israel and currently based in New York. In April, he reached out to Yoni to help produce RIP to the Peaceful (Me). “He did an acapella freestyle and I did the beats impromptu; I also got a summer internship working for a studio in West Philly known as Third Story Recording so I could learn engineering and production as we worked on it,” Yoni said. “I also did a lot of self–teaching so I could use the production software Logic.”

At the end of the summer, Yoni and Ben went to a studio in their hometown of Denver to finish up the album alongside fellow Denver–based producer DJ Eionz (real name Ian Ellsworth). As the production manager for the album, Yoni was responsible for giving feedback.

“We have a team: it’s me, Eionz, Ben, our graphic designer Efrat, and a web staff for design and promotion,” Yoni said.

The album itself is a personal exploration of Slim Reaper’s mindset. With a boom–bap style reminiscent of ‘90s rap, the rapper’s multisyllabic rhymes mesh neatly with his flow. The opening track, “Peaceful Me,” utilizes a peaceful piano to create a dreamy atmosphere and

express the artist’s complacency in substance use. The following tracks, “Pusher,” “Turned,” and “Shover,” serve as an awakening, covering topics such as the passing of a friend and the value of hip hop in moving past one’s old life. Yoni directly produced “Shover,” which uses minimalist piano chords to add emphasis and authenticity to the lyrics. Yoni also served as a background vocal on the hook. The final track, “RIP to the Peaceful (Me),” covers the theme of accepting one’s demons and moving forward through uncertainty faces. As a whole, the record’s introspective approach serves as a powerful tool for drawing the listener’s attention, and its message and production add depth to Slim Reaper’s story.

For Yoni, developing the record was a powerful experience.

“In the process of helping make the album, I felt like I was overcoming my own hurdles,” Yoni said.

“I’ve used that confidence in the last three months to really build my music approach, go to open mics, make a soundtrack for a friend’s short video, and mix and master a record for the Songwriting Collective.”

And the story behind his DJ name, Yugs? “At the camp I attended with Ben my nickname was Yugs,” Yoni said. “It’s my happiest name and I want to spread good vibes through music.”

ST YLE

The Best Ramen to Keep You Warm This Winter With wintery weather falling upon campus, staying warm is hard to get by no matter the number of layers worn. All may seem cold and dark in the world until the word “ramen” comes to mind—sometimes there's nothing better than a warm bowl of savory broth, noodles, vegetables, and meat.

Luckily, there are an abundance of spots around University City to grab a revitalizing bowl of ramen during this chilling time. So if you’re looking for the best of the best ramen, make sure to hit up these local restaurants and order the best of what they have to offer.

CoZara: Spicy Chick Ramen 3200 Chestnut St. Located less than a block from New College House on Chestnut Street, CoZara is the spot to get a quality bowl of Spicy Chick Ramen to heat yourself up in the perfect way. Topped with chicken thighs, Szechuan chili oil, freshly grated garlic, and soft–boiled egg, the ramen is a flavorful, but not too overpowering, bowl of noodles. The ramen isn't necessarily the spiciest option, as there were only a few drops of bright–red chili oil scattered around the bowl, but between the savoriness of the chicken in the broth and the perfectly–cooked noodles, it’s a bowl that will be completely empty by the end of the meal.

While it's on the pricier side at $15, the Spicy Chicken Ramen is worthy of such a splurge, so make sure to stop by CoZara to enjoy some good food while staying warm.

Ramen Bar: Miso Ramen 4040 Locust St. While the waiters at Ramen Bar will most likely point customers to the classic Tonkotsu

Winter is coming, but University City is prepared to comfort you with this classic Japanese dish.

Ramen, the miso raRyan McLaughlin men is what makes the restaurant truly shine. The dish is an infusion instant ramen side of tonkotsu broth and miso of texture, but it’s soup, giving the soup a unique still a great bowl of depth of flavor as the two dif- ramen, especially ferent broths work in tandem for the price of to create a unique saltiness that $8.95. bathes the tender yet firm wavy noodles. Topped with bamboo Terakawa Ramen: shoots, red pickled ginger, fish Signature Ramen cake, corn, sesame seeds, and 125 S 40th St. scallions, Ramen Bar creates Dubbed as “One of Philly’s a vibrantly beautiful dish that Best Ramen Joints” by Philatastes as good and complex as delphia Magazine, Terakawa it looks. They also use butter to Ramen is home to some serigive the broth extra creaminess. ous ramen goodness, especially The traditional Miso Ramen due to the dish that they named comes with pork, but addition- their restaurant after: the “Teral choices for protein include chicken, shrimp, and tofu. It costs $11, but you can add unlimited noodles for $2 extra for when you run out because you will be wanting to finish every last drop.

Bento: Tonkotsu Pork Ramen 3417 Spruce St. Do not let any sort of cold weather beat your cravings for a warm bowl of noodles, because Houston Hall’s Bento has it covered. Conveniently located right on campus, the Japanese food stop has two different kinds of Ramen, Shoyu Chicken and Tonkotsu Pork. Between the two, the Tonkotsu Pork is the go–to at Bento, filled with egg, roast pork, bean sprouts, scallions, nori seaweed, and red ginger. The broth is just the right amount of saltiness and brininess from the pork, and it is packed with the perfect amount of toppings. The noodle–to– broth ratio is a little off, and the noodles lean a little more on the

Cecelia Vieira | Illustrator

akawa Ramen,” or the “Signature Ramen.” As a pork bone soup topped with roasted pork, bamboo shoots, kikurage mushrooms, red ginger, chopped scallions, and a seasoned, boiled egg, the ramen may seem like any other of its kind. However, between the extra savory flavor of the pork bone and perfectly runny egg yolk, the Signature Ramen tops all other pork– based ramens. The toppings are

just the right amount too, as they don’t take away from the flavor, but instead work harmoniously with it, providing extra textures and blending in with the tender, wavy noodles that soak up the broth’s rich flavor.

Terakawa Ramen truly knows how to do ramen, so if you need the tastiest warming up this winter, head over to Terawkawa right away and grab a bowl of their Signature Ramen.

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ST YLE

THE BOURSE FOOD HALL FALLS SHORT OF GREATNESS DURING GRAND OPENING Came for the food, stayed for the giant balloons.

Photo by Beatrice Foreman Let’s admit it, Philly natives, the Bourse used to seem grand and useful but ultimately ended up being gritty and underwhelming.

Luckily, the historic food court and destination for weary tourists near the Liberty Bell recently underwent a near $50 million renovation. Gone were the sticky tables and generic mall food court vibes. They’ve been replaced by 29 eclectic food vendors, seven of which are imports from the DC area, an open air space with sky high ceilings, and a flower shop.

Last time Street visited the Bourse, it was soft opening. My visit during the Grand Opening celebration painted an entirely different picture. Here’s what I, and a group of hungry friends, tried:

Beatrice Forman

CHAAT AND CHAI

ABUNAI POKE

A fast–casual Indian joint with a major South Philly following, Chaat and Chai brings the impactful flavors of Indian street fare stateside. We dined on chaana chaat—a cold chickpea salad topped with all the veggies and chutney—and a mango lassi. The chaat was filling and hit a complex array of flavor notes. It was sweet, thanks to the chutney and yogurt, yet a tinge sour and a dash savory.

Order it if you’ve got an adventurous palette. Meanwhile, the lassi was just short of life–changing. With a consistency that toes the line between milkshake and smoothie and a genuine mango flavor, this beverage will make it difficult to return to a world filled with Starbucks frappuccinos.

A DC native with food truck beginnings, Abunai Poke is dedicated to the art of crafting the perfect poke. We made our own poke bowl with rice, salmon, seaweed salad, wasabi peas, and avocado.

While admittedly not the most groundbreaking poke around, it gets the job done with fresh ingredients, made–to–order service, and a solid topping–to–rice ratio.

If you’re looking to make your first trip to the Bourse a healthy one, Abunai Poke should be your first stop.

MIGHTY MELT

Last time Street went to Mighty Melt, we found it unnecessarily greasy and flavorless, especially for a place that allegedley serves fancy

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Photo by Beatrice Foreman grilled cheese. Upon our return trip, we found a similar tune— only this time, for dessert. We ordered the Sweet Caroline, a dessert sandwich made with bananas and Nutella squished between pieces of chocolate sourdough bread. Ultimately, the sandwich was high on concept and low on flavor. The bread tasted little of chocolate and a lot of supermarket brand raisin bread and was much too messy, with oversize banana chunks falling out after every bite. Despite being a grilled cheese enthusiast who sees the merit in every simple sandwich, I’m going to have to lay down a tough ruling: skip it.

BONATSOS AT THE BOURSE A third generation flower shop dealing in intricate terrariums and impactful bouquets, Bonatsos is my favorite part of the Bourse.

It mimics the vibe of Chelsea Market’s Bastille Flowers, a spot I frequent back home in New York City every time I need a quick pick–me–up. Both are

tucked in corners of their respective food halls, infiltrating cheesy and meaty aromas with notes of peonies and roses. Teeming with Instagram fodder in the form of well-thought bouquets, Bonatsos is the perfect place to stop and smell the roses.

The bottom line? The Bourse is most definitely better than what it once was, but falls short of all that it promised. What it lacks in flavor, it makes for up with a diverse cross section of vendors. Come to the Bourse at least once for the Instagram clout and novelty of it all. But for a similar experience closer to home, stick with Franklin’s Table.

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Your Guide to Pocket Parks and Green Spaces Near Campus Get out of the city—at least in spirit—with these pocket parks.

Emily Gelb Saranya Sampath | Illustrator

Tucked away in Philly’s towering urban fabric are tons of pocket parks waiting for your enjoyment. What’s a pocket park? Pocket parks are small urban spaces open to public and are often created on vacant building lots or irregular pieces of land. So here's a roundup of the best pocket parks and green spaces close to campus.

Cira Green Where: 80 S 30th Street High in the sky, Cira Green provides amazing views of University City, Center City, and the Schuylkill River. Located on 30th Street between Walnut and Chestnut Streets, the park is great place for everything from a picnics to yoga to just relaxing and enjoying the scenery.

The BioPond Where: Off Hamilton Walk, near 38th Street The James G. Kaskey Memorial Park, more commonly known as the BioPond, is the oldest green space on Penn’s campus. At the center of the park is a pond filled with live goldfish, turtles, frogs, mallards, and even crayfish! The pond is maintained by a full–time staff and can be reserved for special occasions.

Trolley Portal Gardens Where: 40th Street and Baltimore Avenue Through a partnership between the University City District, SEPTA, and the City of Philadelphia, the Trolley Portal Gardens was recently launched as a new gateway for West Philly trolley passengers.

It's got a brick walkway, green landscaping, and vibrant colored seating, and you can grab a bite at Trolley Car Station, the restaurant next door.

Innovation Plaza Where: S 37th Street Located on 34th Street between Market and Chestnut Streets, Innovation Plaza is a pocket park that reflects the energy of University City. The park is home to the Innovators Walk of Fame, which celebrates the tradition of discovery and innovation in Philadelphia.

With plantings, chess, checkers and backgammon tables, free WiFi, and a variety of seating, this park is great study spot.

Spruce Hill Bird Sanctuary Where: S Melville Street In a small green space off the beaten path, the Spruce Hill Bird Sanctuary is a great place to get to spot some rare bird species. Hidden among backyards of West Philly row homes, the Bird Sanctuary is maintained by the Spruce Hill Community Association. Try to spot gray catbirds, Carolina chickadees, American goldfinches, song sparrows, and more!

The Woodland Avenue Pedestrian Plaza Where: 42nd Street and Woodland Avenue A former lifeless traffic island, the Woodland Avenue Pedestrian Plaza is now a vibrant urban oasis compete with trees, planters, tables and umbrellas.

Powelton Summer Winter Community Garden Where: N 33rd & Race Streets

One of the oldest community gardens in Philadelphia, the Summer Winter Community Garden is named after the nearby Summer and Winter streets.

The garden is run entirely by volunteers. If you're interested in applying for a plot, email summerwintergarden@gmail.com.

Coming Soon: Al–Bustan Pocket Park Where: 40th Street be-

tween Ludlow and Chestnut Streets Al–Bustan Seeds of Culture is a West Philadelphia–based nonprofit that is creating a pocket park on a now–empty lot located between two buildings on 40th Street. Al–Bustan hopes that the park will be a space that encourages discussion about diversity. A crowdfunding campaign is currently raising money for its development.

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F E AT U R E

A Tale of Two Phillys For Philadelphia natives, coming to Penn means re–examining their relationship with a city they have always called home.

Angela Lin On the face of the Allegheny SEPTA station is a mural of a woman pinching a palette in her left hand and a brush in the other. Behind her, a festival of tents and people and clowns and bagpipe music crowds the underside of the track, but she is intent on introducing the magic of color theory to the children who crouch beside her.

Every so often, the elevated railway screeches past, above the strip of pawn shops and hair salons, discount pizzerias and Toyota Camrys parked on the fringe of Kensington Avenue.

Omaya Torres (C ’21) remembers seeing “The Heart of Kensington” being painted.

She recalls a childhood of blissful ignorance. “People generally assume that the neighborhood I grew up in is bad, which objectively I guess it is. Kensington is the center of the opioid crisis in Philadelphia,” Omaya smiles. “I lived through that but I didn’t know I was living through that.”

The ceiling of her Kensington home was “literally falling down, that’s not an exaggeration.” Sidewalks were perennially littered and many of the houses on her block sat abandoned.

Despite the structural improvements that came with it, moving from Kensington, a predominantly black and Hispanic neighborhood, to Mayfair, an Irish–American one, put the then thirteen–year–old in “a bit of a crisis.” “I didn’t belong here. I didn’t fit into this neighborhood. This cultural shift, I hated it. I wanted to go back home where I’m used to.”

Over time, Omaya’s anxieties subsided. Mayfair became home. Five years later she faced similar anxieties when she enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania. Starting school in University City came with its own culture shock.

Of the 3,699 admitted students in the class of 2021, 172 of them are from Philadelphia proper.

One of these Philadelphia admits is Amy Yeung (C ’21).

Born at the Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Center City, Amy spent her youth between the Italian Market and 1 2 3 4 T H S T R E E T M A G A Z I N E N O V E M B E R 2 8 , 2 01 8

East Passyunk, two blocks away from the cheesesteak rivalry of Pat’s and Geno’s.

Amy attended Julia R. Masterman Secondary School and spent her junior summer in Penn’s Young Scholars Program, an initiative for Philadelphia high schoolers to take college courses. It was her first visit to campus. “I didn’t realize there was an area like Penn in Philly,” she admits. There seemed to be some inexplicable distinction between Penn as an institution and Philadelphia as a city.

Amy places herself in the middle. "I went to an okay school downtown. I had the ‘good’ parts of Philly for most of life.” Still, “Penn socioeconomically is much different. I came into school, and people were wearing boat shoes. I was like, what the fuck are boat shoes?”

Joshua Snitzer (C ’21) attended Central High School, a public magnet school that yields more Penn admits than other Philadelphia–area schools. A 2017 report from the Associated Alumni of the Central High School of Philadelphia counts 48 students accepted to Penn. Despite such a high count of Penn admits per total student body of 2000 students, Joshua says that the culture at Central did not strive for the Ivy League.

“Penn was kind of seen as this place that was almost unreachable. A lot of people wanted an affordable college education and do well, because they were the first in their family doing it, which I think is very admirable.”

"

F E AT U R E

The Philadelphia Kenneth knows is tough, never glitzy, and he's seen how a demand of food and entertainment, driven in part by Penn students, has transformed and gentrified parts of Philadelphia into something he no longer recognizes.

Joshua notes that many college–bound Central graduates attend Temple University or the Community College of Philadelphia. For him, “Penn was aspirational.”

Omaya didn’t know about Penn until her junior year at the Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts (CAPA). “The only other colleges that I really heard about were Temple and Drexel.”

Philadelphia is a nucleus of American history—the city of brotherly love housed both Continental Congresses and served as the nation’s interim capital. Philadelphia has been around since the first burgeonings of a United States; it’s where the Declaration of Independence was signed, where ENIAC was built, and where the Eagles savored the sweetness of a first Super Bowl win.

“I can’t explain why, but people who live here don’t want to leave here,” Amy says. “Even though it’s a huge city, there’s a sense of tight–knit community.”

By nature, Penn is transient. Students are Philadelphians for the duration of their schooling. There’s a fleetingness to Penn that feels mismatched with the long–standing traditions of the city it’s in. Once the degrees are complete, the diplomas delivered, only 10 percent of graduates stay to work in Philadelphia.

The rest bid goodbye.

Kenneth Lac (C ’19) is another Central alum who never considered Penn growing up. “I didn’t know its prestige ‘til late high school. Public school kids’ framework of success is diminished, not at their own fault, but by institutions that deprive them of resources, that tell them they’re not good enough.”

Kenneth grew up in

Northeast Philadelphia to an immigrant Chinese family. He’s been trying to leave the city for a while now; it “just got boring to me,” he admits. The Philadelphia he knows is tough, never glitzy, and he’s seen how a “demand of food, destination, [and] entertainment,” driven in part by Penn students, has transformed and gentrified parts of Philadelphia into something he no longer recognizes.

Kenneth laments how many popular BYO destinations in

ception that Philadelphia is a crime city. I don’t think most people would dare to say it out loud, but when you call something ‘sketchy,’ when you use the words ‘ghetto’ or ‘ratchet,’ there are consequences and implications,” says Kenneth. “It’s mostly structured in some racial or socioeconomic discrimination and a lot of people aren’t willing to acknowledge that.

And they freely throw those words out to describe certain neighborhoods that I call home.”

Kenneth acknowledges that many students come from backgrounds far removed from University City. Adapting to vastly different demographics can evoke culture shock, in the same way coming to Penn after growing up in Philadelphia came with a culture shock for many. “Your initial anxieties are valid,” he sympathizes, “but you have a choice to unlearn that and to realize the full potential Philadelphia has.”

Of all the murals Omaya has seen, “The Heart of Kensington” is her favorite—for reasons of nostalgia, less so aesthetic. There’s a story in the bustle the image depicts, history on the wall it’s painted on. Omaya is currently taking an Academically Based Community Service (ABCS) course titled “The Big Picture: Mural Arts in Philadelphia.”

“Even in the most remote places—places that no one goes to, there’s a mural. There’s a mural in the corner of this building that no one ever sees, but it’s beautiful. And I love it.”

The class has allowed Omaya to better appreciate the nuances between neighborhoods, especially in the West Philadelphia area she never ventured to as a kid. She had heard of the “Penn bubble” before college and sought to “pop it, immediately” upon arrival. She’s grown closer to the city since her time at Penn, but it’s taken active steps.

Omaya is eager to stay in Philadelphia. Most Penn graduates will opt to do otherwise. Still, she hopes they learn to appreciate the city in the meantime.

Chinatown “were the places I used to go for real to eat, not to get trashed.” And the dishes Penn students tend to order are a “testament to [their] understanding of what Philly has to offer,” which is to say, there is more to Ken’s Seafood Restaurant than kung pao chicken.

Omaya is similarly frustrated, particularly by the way ignorance translates into geography. “A lot of people here are so reluctant to leave Penn’s campus and so reluctant to see the world beyond this little bubble, so whenever I hear someone ANGELA LIN IS A SOPHOMORE FROM EDEN PRAIRIE, MINNESOTA STUDYING PHILOSOPHY, POLITICS AND say they’re not going past that street, it’s irritating.”

“It’s an unwillingness to learn, and that comes from the per- ECONOMICS. SHE IS A FEATURES STAFF WRITER.

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FILM & TV

‘Outlaw King’: Doing History Right This Netflix film manages to capture the legend of Robert the Bruce with uncharacteristic delicacy.

Anna Collins Outlaw King has the near–impossible task of depicting an exalted figure in medieval history and his victory. This legend is Robert the Bruce, or Robert I of Scotland, the man who led his country into independence from beneath English rule in the year 1306. He is a fabled warrior, a proclaimed hero, and someone almost larger than life. He defeated England when they were outnumbered by at least 5,000 men with genius military tactics, encouraged his soldiers in a time where it seemed hopeless, and built his army from the ground up.

Outlaw King then has a heavy task in presenting him, but, surprisingly, it succeeds.

The task of portraying Robert the Bruce falls on the endlessly talented Chris Pine. The ensemble, though often lost in the fray of men in matted hair and on horses, is skilled too. Aaron Taylor Johnson is a perfectly deranged Douglas, a man who fights for what he believes in with spit foaming at the mouth. In comparison to him is the merciless Prince of Wales, later to become King Edward II (Billy Howle), Bruce’s main enemy in this battle of Scotland and England. However, Pine is the pulse of the film, along with his perfectly–coiffed wife Elizabeth de Burgh (Florence Pugh). Their relationship is a central aspect of the plot,

Photo courtesy of Netflix

in balance with the stories of war and politics, and it is here that the film succeeds.

As a whole, Outlaw King is technically beautiful. The filming of the first scene is a single long shot, carrying throughout a duel which involves masterful fight choreography that is both graceful and realistic. There is something very casual in the way Robert the Bruce (before becoming outlaw and king) and the Prince of Wales face off in the center of a muddy field surrounded by tents and life going on without them, though a loose circle forms as an audience to the fight. The accents are unnoticeable in their acceptability, but most important is the consistency of Pine’s Scottish accent, which holds up throughout.

The dialogue is not afraid to be anachronistic; it clarifies this quickly with the King of England (Stephen Dillane) informing Douglas that he

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“has balls.” It walks a fine line between being outwardly and obnoxiously modern or too old–timey. This actually works, especially with the source material being placed so far in the past; being genuine in the text would be impossible for an audience to decipher.

For its negatives, Outlaw King leaves much unsaid, symbolism and context clues left to guide us through the plot. Occasionally this works in obvious scenes, such as the marriage between Robert and Elizabeth, or the moment of Robert’s father’s death, but other political moments get lost. Clarification should not be necessary every step of the way, but the beauty and vagueness of the film come at the cost of audience understanding. This is likely the greatest flaw of the film, despite all its positives.

However, the balance of the film is carefully kept. For

example, there is an extended sex scene that is immediately followed by a bloody and unfair battle, depicting the constant battle between intimacy and the terror of war.

The more horrific elements of this era (the senseless violence, grotesque bloodiness, and chaos) are done impressively, in direct contrast to the polished duels of the wealthy. In fact, it is the tug and pull between the softness of humanity and the harshness of the time that is the crux of the storytelling. The best moments are at this intersection: the political tensions as Bruce’s brother, Neil, gets dragged away to be executed, while Bruce’s daughter cries, “Uncle Neil!” as he’s pulled off (in response he is cruelly murdered in front of everyone). And, for once, the heroes—Robert the Bruce, Douglas, and Angus, a steadfast ally—are allowed to cry at their own victory, at

their own losses, their brothers killed and their enemies slain. Such fragility in the glorious hero of Scotland is Outlaw King’s strongest point, a masculinity that is neither overemphasized or entirely downplayed. Often, it is not so, especially with the idea of the proud Scottish warriors. This is what I expected going in: excessive gore for the sake of action, violent masculinity, and no remorse on anyone’s part.

However, this is far from the case with Outlaw King, a delicate piece which realizes the legacy of the King and, in some moments, defies it.

Robert the Bruce is, indeed, the stuff of legend, but he is also a human being, a husband, and a father. This is the beauty of the film and what others could learn from: the legends of the past are not faultless heroes, but complex people with layers of humanity.

Photo courtesy of Netflix

FILM & TV

Netflix’s 'The Princess Switch' Is 100 Minutes I’ll Never Get Back The Christmas film starring Vanessa Hudgens was fine, but there are other holiday favorites that deserve your time instead.

Bebe Hodges Following its initial release on November 16, the Netflix holiday original The Princess Switch has garnered fairly consistent reviews: it's silly, heart–warming, holiday fun that is extremely predictable.

While I have nothing against a predictable story line and actually prefer happy endings, this movie felt like 100 minutes of very little excitement.

The story line follows a Chicago baker, Stacy DeNovo, (Vanessa Hudgens) who travels with her sous chef and his daughter to the fictional country of Belgravia, where the sun is extremely bright and yet there is always snow.

The bakers are there to compete in a prestigious pastry competition and—in proper holiday movie fash-

ion—plans are devised and hijinks ensue. Stacy runs into Lady Margaret Delacourt (also Vanessa Hudgens), Duchess of Montenaro and soon–to–be bride of Belgravian Prince Edward.

Because she wants to experience a “normal life,” Margaret decides to switch places with Stacy for two days. Snow ball fights, extravagant balls, and clichés like “anyone can be a princess” develop, concluding with Stacy and Edward falling in love and Margaret and Kevin doing the same. Oh, and Stacy and Kevin win the baking competition, but that’s a side plot that pales against the love triangle (or square?)

The movie was cute and not necessarily painful to watch, but it certainly wasn’t

my favorite. First of all, the movie is categorized as a “Romantic Comedy.” I did not laugh once.

I promise you it doesn’t take much to make me laugh. Furthermore, I was disappointed by the lack of tear–jerkers. I’m not saying that all good movies make you cry, but The Holiday became a Christmas staple for me after Arthur receives a standing ovation and walks on stage unassisted (cue my sobbing). I just prefer movies that invoke an emotional response, and instead I stared at a screen for almost two hours with a straight face, confused by Hudgens’s fake British accent.

But even if you don’t agree with my emotional response, there’s no arguing there are some major gaps in the plot.

For example, why don’t Stacy or Margaret act more surprised when they meet? I feel like most people would scream if they met someone who could be their identical twin. Even worse, the two are not twins but distant cousins. Despite this being genetically impossible, wouldn’t the “nature” aspect in the “nature versus nurture” debate create a greater disparity in their appearance than a haircut?

Furthermore, in an international competition, why does no one inspect the tools before the competition starts, and thus stopping Stacy from competing with a sabotaged Kitchen–Aid? Or more importantly, how did she make a six–layered cake without a mixer and not even realize the mixer’s cord

was cut until she started the berries!?

Finally, Stacy gets engaged to Edward after knowing him for three days. While I understand the movie is about being “spontaneous,” I’m not sure an engagement in three days is the solution.

While the story ended happily and there was enough snow and Christmas trees for this film to be considered a holiday flick, I am content with never watching this movie again.

It was cute but kind of boring, with an almost absent soundtrack and an annoying number of gasps and sighs in the dialogue. The Princess Switch is fine, but with less than a month before Christmas I’d prefer to spend my time watching the classics I already know and love.

N O V E M B E R 2 8 , 2 01 8 3 4 T H S T R E E T M A G A Z I N E 1 5

FILM & TV

Though it may leave you wanting more, Joel Edgerton’s adaptation of Garrard Conley’s memoir is a heartbreaking story of self–discovery and a lack of acceptance.

The coming–of–age of an LGBT teenager in a religious household is not a premise that is unfamiliar to audiences of contemporary film. The religious experiences of those in the LGBT community spur meaningful discussions around identity, family, self–acceptance, and, of course, love.

The exploration of how religion shapes the experiences of young people within the LGBT community, and the potential trauma that might entail, can be enor-

Chris Kwok | Illustrator

mously valuable for all viewers no matter what their background or identity. In recent years, the traditional canon of coming–of–age stories has expanded enormously as LGBT representation in film continues to grow, with many new classics emerging, garnering critical acclaim and stacking up awards. Based on a true story, Boy Erased provides a crucial look at a dimension of the contemporary LGBT experience that many of us forget has affected hundreds of thousands of Americans—the

continued practice of conversion therapy.

Boy Erased is based off a memoir of the same name, written by Garrard Conley. Jared Eamons (Lucas Hedges) plays the role of Conley in the film, who is introduced to us as a 19–year–old college student and the son of a Baptist pastor. Hedges is accompanied by the phenomenal Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe, who play his parents. Informed by a failed relationship with girl from high school and his at-

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traction to men in his life, Jared isn’t uncertain about his sexuality, though, due to his religious upbringing, he understands that opening up to his parents and community about his orientation poses a tremendous threat to all that he holds dear.

The circumstances under which his parents discover his sexuality are incredibly disturbing. Jared is raped by another young man in college who then delivers a call to Jared’s parents, impersonating a dean and outing him. Jared attempts to explain the situation, and in doing so admits his sexuality. This moment brings about extreme shock and anger, an explosive disturbance to the domestic peace that ordinarily fills Jared’s family home. Although he gets surprisingly little screen time, Crowe’s anguish in sorting out his son’s sexuality is both supremely painful to watch and incredibly nuanced. The film is particular in preventing Jared’s father from becoming a villain.

His relationship with Jared is tremendously complex and deserving of a deeper look than the film allows for. However, within the context of the film’s exploration of the conversion therapy that follows, this was to some degree a necessary sacrifice.

Following the counsel of those in the religious community, Jared’s father places him in a 12–day assessment program with a Christian gay conversion therapy facility. The forces that have shaped Jared's life, namely, his faith and his family, have es-

sentially left him no choice but to accept a place in such a program.

Because the film begins on the first day of Jared’s participation in the Refuge (which, though disturbing, lacks the emotional weight of moments later in the film), audiences get less access to the tangled feelings Jared must be experiencing in being forced into conversion therapy than they may have anticipated. Nancy, Jared’s mother, portrayed with extraordinary sympathy by Nicole Kidman, serves as a more accessible emotional vessel early in the film, as her ambivalence and eventual outrage at what her son has been forced into is seamlessly integrated into the narrative.

In order to capture the horror that Jared faces within the Refuge, including taking tremendous care in exposing audiences to the kind of abuse those in such programs endure (as well as also providing insight into the sheer diversity of experience and survival–methods employed by patients), Boy Erased does leave some relationships underdeveloped and areas of interest untouched. Where it may have been less than perfect from a storytelling or character– development perspective, it was intentional in bringing about a deeper public understanding of conversion therapy as an ongoing struggle for LGBT people and in doing so it gives audiences something meaningful and heartbreaking to reflect on as they revisit the many dimensions of this experience that the film is unable to explore.

FILM & TV

'Riverdale' is a piece of teen iconography, no matter what the quality of the show.

ANNA COLLINS Riverdale, in its creation, is something of an anomaly. Show creator Roberto Aguirre–Sacasa looked at the unassuming world of the Archie Comics and decided to make a murder–mystery TV show for modern adolescents complete with sex, death, and drama. Its first season fared reasonably well, and for good reason: it had a coherent plot and a somewhat–contained story, looking at the murder of a local student. On Rotten Tomatoes, it received an 88% Fresh rating, which is a solid grade. It had its charm in a supposedly self– aware look at high school, which seemed to be comically overdone with its mean–girl tropes and its jock with a heart of gold.

Its social media response, similarly, was generally positive.

Jughead (Cole Sprouse) and his “I’m weird” monologue garnered some rightful mocking, but it was mostly playful. Riverdale is ridiculous but in a fun way. The show is directed at girls between the ages of 12 and 18, and perhaps it’s a little trashy, but self–indulgence is something that women this age are rarely given.

Of course, things quickly fell apart from there.

Season two lost the common thread that held season one together, plots became trite, and the show firmly placed itself as camp without seeming aware of it. Was it still parodying itself or was it genuine? How far are we supposed to suspend our disbelief?

And, with all of that, why is it still popular going into season three?

One clear reason is that Riverdale is, for the current mass of middle and high schoolers, what

Pretty Little Liars was for college students now. It’s a romp into a melodramatic world with sex and death that excites the viewers without being a horror piece. it is firmly in the teen–drama genre, which is its allure. It likely gives younger people today that thrill that I felt whenever I watched a show that talked about sex plainly when it seemed taboo—a feeling of maturity, excitement, and giddiness. With that comes a slew of issues that I can only recognize now: Riverdale over–sexualizes high schoolers, romanticizes a relationship between a teenager and his teacher, and portrays the sixteen–year–old Betty Cooper (Lili Reinhart) as having some sexy, dominatrix dark side. But young people watching this show don’t see that—they see the drama and are excited by it, which is the point.

Riverdale’s draw also comes, in part, from its cast. It is unfair to say that young women are only watching the show because its actors are attractive, but it is certainly a part of it. Cole Sprouse tapped into nostalgia factors of many with his The Suite Life of Zack and Cody history and to show for it has 9.05 million followers on Twitter. Additionally comes the intriguing relationships within the cast—Cole Sprouse is currently dating Lili Reinhart (with whom he shares an on– screen relationship), and just recently Camila Mendes (who plays Veronica) revealed her romance with Charles Melton (who portrays the minor character Reggie). There is drama both on and off–screen which

is interesting and allows for many, many, many Buzzfeed articles about it; it makes the actors seem human. People can fangirl over both the characters and their actors, which creates a constant fodder for content.

Most importantly, however, is that by now, it has swept all of social media. Instagram is full of clips from the show reposted again and again by various accounts. With this new age of re–sharing content, shows garner popularity that is so overwhelming that it’s impossible to go a day without seeing some River-

dale–related post. While this has happened with other pieces of media (namely Netflix’s Stranger Things), Riverdale, with its targeted audience of young girls who frequently use apps such as Instagram and Snapchat, takes the cake. It has created a culture of repeated sharing and commenting, which thus becomes a cycle of relentless popularity.

Riverdale is riding on a wave of fame. It has many, many issues (it uses conversion therapy as a plot point, it has a teenage girl do a striptease, and it seriously queer– baited its audience in trailers),

but most of them will go ignored.

The show was released to an audience in a very specific moment of social media usage which benefited both its actors and its followers to a culture of obsessive sharing and posting. Riverdale will likely lose its popularity eventually, and those young women watching it will realize its deep–set flaws, but until then, it will remain on top, a staple. Young teenagers watching a dark, high–school–targeted show for the first time with all the thrill, sex, and drama of something for adults, making Riverdale delightfully taboo.

GIFT COZY

N O V E M B E R 2 8 , 2 01 8 3 4 T H S T R E E T M A G A Z I N E 17

ARTS

Navigating Fantasy worlds

with TRUTH and IMAGE Image

CHRISTINA LU

Photo by Christina Lu

I–House Philly’s fall exhibition allows viewers to get lost in their own imagination.

Photo by Christina Lu

Up a short flight of steps in the lobby of International House Philadelphia spans a row of artworks across the wall that, at first glance, seem to have nothing to do with each other. One is an abstract black–and–white monoprint that resembles a Jackson Pollock scatter–painting. Another is a colored–pencil drawing of “Satan,” who dons a black cloak with the words “No one escapes me” scrawled across it, the facial expression oddly

resembling something out of a rage comic.

This diverse collection is Truth and Image, an open– call exhibition of artwork that “absorbs, captivates, transfixes, and ultimately delivers the viewer to newly imagined destinations.” On display in the East Alcove Gallery of the Lightbox Film Center until December 15, the exhibit is a celebration of the building of worlds, tapping into unrestrained imagination to

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create fantastical and impossible things. Each “world” is conceived by a different artist, bringing a myriad of worldviews into one space. As visitors move around the gallery, their premises of what is normal are temporarily suspended. Within the boundaries of thin, black frames, space becomes relative, and reality distorts to fit the norms of each artist’s conceived world.

One work is a mixed–media collage titled The Collec-

tor II by Tom Herbert, featuring a Renaissance–esque man–bird hybrid set in the foreground of red forestry, horses, nude women, and images of history perching below a row of jars containing abstract objects such as cords and netting. Like much of Herbert’s other artwork, the piece revolves around deconstructing print images and reassembling them to create a narrative. The human figures incorporated in the collage appear mid–movement, many in a row as if indicating the passage of time, resembling the designs on Ancient Greek kraters. One can only theorize that Herbert has woven a mythology and a history unique to the world encompassed in The Collector II. Another is Michelle Haberl’s digital photography print, Out to Pasture: A Sunfresh Saga I, a whimsical landscape of billowing white sheets suspended above a grassy, golden plain.

The sheets are hung in ways that resemble empty hammocks, conveying a sense of absence that has the viewer on their toes and feeling slightly uneasy despite the artwork’s bright, peaceful surface.

Haberl leaves room for viewers to interpret the story behind the scene: here is a world,

whose presence of humans or cities or buildings has yet not been established. All that is shown is a web of ropes and sheets in a wide expanse of nature.

On the opposite side of the gallery is a print titled Lessons in Glamour III by Ellen Rosenberg. Taking on a more vulnerable tone, it depicts a drag queen in the dressing room in the midst of costume removal, captured mid–transformation. The photograph is flesh and fabric against a stark black background, almost resembling a painting at first glance. Rosenberg offers the viewer a glimpse into a space that, while real rather than fantastical, is to many viewers “otherworldly.”

As a whole, Truth and Image is a jumble of styles, artists, and intent. Beside each work, only the title, artist, medium, date, and price are listed, leaving the true meaning of each piece up to each individual’s take. The common thread that ties Truth and Image together is a suspension of reality and the power of visual imagery to create new and often supernatural realities. Although the exhibit inhabits only a small, quiet gallery, it contains worlds that expand beyond measure in the viewer’s own imagination.

ARTS

Open Studio: A Sneak Peek of Fine Art Senior Projects Sherry Tseng

A walk through what's going on in the heads of these seniors.

The hallway is lined with trash cans filled to the brim. In them are paper towels used to wipe away accidental errors, that line of paint a little out of place, and the smudge on the side of the canvas.

In my own field of vision, there are four giant yellow rectangles, all marked “Flammable”—far too many for a single narrow hallway, in my opinion. But perhaps not for this specific place. I’m at the Duhring Building, the studios of seniors in the Fine Arts Department and where, last Thursday, the Open Studio for the Fine Arts Senior Project took place.

With my mouth full of cinnamon sugar from a donut, I

walk into the first room. Wooden planks sit parallel on the ground with perfectly rectangular openings whittled at the two ends of a few. Together, the planks are a set of components to “a puzzle without a solution,” as the artist Michael Ferrin (C '19) said. It’s meant to be an interactive sculpture; for Michael, it’s especially interesting to see what people make out of it. Up above hang three other wooden pieces. A wooden dresser is my first guess. The choice of wood as the primary medium is what makes Michael stand out for the crowd of other pieces of art. After having gone to school for furniture making and

then working at a wood shop, for Michael, wood is both “organic and warm.” And in this element, he’s made a piece of art from himself for others.

Into the next room is a wall plastered with sheets ranging from a total black to a total white.

It’s a monotype of different materials. After covering the sheet in black, each subsequent piece was made through erasure of the black through different materials, such as oils and Q–tips. “I wanted to think of it as erasure as a purposeful act,” said Ella Konefal (C ‘19).

It’s part of her overarching theme of mark–making and archiving.

“I was thinking about archives and the traces that people leave and how we construct narrative out of these,” she said. “It made me examine my own way of archiving in 2D–modeling.” But she’s not limiting herself to 2D–

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ing the feelings of those who see their loved ones battle with such demons. The words are faint, almost as if they’re being swallowed by the motley of colors.

But these were only a few of the projects the seniors in fine arts are working on. Many of them are transversing barriers and crossing boundaries in their choice of medium and content. And all of that can be seen at the end of this semester.

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modeling. As her project continues, she’s considering a transfer to sound, to show the transience of it, yet its physicality in an occupied spacetime.

Across from her is the studio of Donna Mastrangelo (C ‘19). Five paintings of swirling vortices of color are the focus. Representing addiction, alcoholism, and depression, the paintings also contain the words “Sad,” “Scared,” “Worried,” and “Hope,” reflect-

The Gathering Nov 29 2018 @ 9:00 PM Admission is $3 before 10pm, $5 after 10pm.

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ARTS

Alex Fisher: From Capturing Cafe Culture To Penn Student Life Through the Camera

A close-up shot at the Penn senior's love for photography and film.

WILLIAM PENN

By Josephine Cheng

REALTY Seated at Starbucks, Alex memories from GROUP early college Fisher (C '19) talks with an years; they light up whenever air of quirkiness, creativity, he hits upon naturalistic pho1, and humor. Large In his red Selection but- tography of and Studio, film. ton–up and blue camo vest, A senior at Penn and a forhe smiles while introducing mer staffer for Street and The himself. His eyes crinkle at Daily Pennsylvanian, Alex has the corners while recalling dabbled in photography since

middle school and has long viewed taking photos as a means of acclimating to new 2environments. & 3 Bdrm Having moved frequently throughout his childhood, Alex sees the camera lens as a medium for capturing distinct communities,

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and for going to places he might have never had the opportunity to explore. At Penn, Alex had worked on multiple photography projects, including Mugshot, an online magazine on coffee culture, and 33 to 40, a collection of photos encapsulating student life at Penn in 2016.

For Alex, what sets photography apart from other forms of art is its element of spontaneity. "You're freezing a moment that only exists once, and it's a way of concretizing it." Film, he notes, does an even greater job of capturing the spirit of a spontaneous encounter, as "you take a picture and then you continue having the conversation you were having with that person, and you don't develop the pictures until a week." Unlike

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digital photography, film does not allow for the same degree of control that editing functions can provide, but it is exactly this raw, unfiltered lack of control which Alex finds to be liberating. Photography, Alex says, holds a special place in his heart because "it gives equal value to all different sorts of moments, its not just the heightened point of celebration...photography does a great job of capturing the in–between moments."

Photography is a medium of wide spectrums, but Alex finds the most meaning in preserving the naturalistic tilt of things. "Film photographs...they're imperfect, but they're way more personal," he says. "It doesn't feel too artificial." In contrast to the flood of visual content online, his interest in printed publication stems from an

ARTS

emphasis on human connection, as people tend to value a work more when it is held in their hands. "I don't want the pictures I take to be just more content in the world.

We are inundated with visual content all the time," Alex notes. Because the purpose of photography is to preserve a snapshot in time, he wants to ensure that a picture's lifespan, and the lifespan of its memories, is not cut short by the overload of information spoon–fed to audiences on Instagram and Facebook.

This reminds me of the 33 to 40 project, and I mention how they distributed printed copies of the photo collection.

Co–founded and co–edited

by Alex in his freshman year, the project was a photography time capsule of Penn student life and offered a limited edi-

tion hard copy run. At this, Alex nods in agreement, his eyes sparking up at the memory. "Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah...I look back at that project now, you know I'm a senior now, that was my freshmen year... my understandings at Penn have changed so much. I read it and I'm like 'I don't recognize the person who was taking these pictures and saying these things.' And that's the real beauty of it. It's a physical thing that I get to be like, 'This was what freshman year Alex was thinking!'" For him, the magic of a photo comes to life when seeing a picture and witnessing the memories of that moment resurface, regardless of whether or not they had held special weight at the time.

When asked about his relationship with the school, Alex

asks for a second to gather his thoughts. Penn, for him, has been a bit of a "la la land."

The people, the institutions funding student projects, and the community support for independent creation have built an environment of lib-

eration. "I mean, who in their right mind would fund a 130–page magazine about coffee?", he gestures in grateful incredulity. At this, I can't help but laugh. While Alex's time at Penn is drawing to an end, his work here has left a

mark on him. No doubt, he'll continue exploring in the artistic world, discovering new places and new people—always on the hunt for a moment in time worth capturing through the camera lens.

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