Issue 87.2 by On Dit

ISSUE 87.2 87.1 FEBRUARY MARCH 2019

EDITORIAL *funny_gummi_horse has entered the chat* Pop culture is something that has been ingrained into my being since birth. I remember my mother and I watching Oprah, taking bets on whether she would give people a free car or cookbook. I remember our subscription to WHO magazine coming through the mailbox every Monday; mum and I poring over it’s pages with much more enthusiasm than the latest novels in my book bag. I’d say that pop culture has defined me, shaped my interests, conversations, friendships and what I want to do when I begin my professional career, (Kylie Jenner’s new best friend, anyone?!). Celebrities are an important part of our zeitgeist, especially as young people. They shape the trends, the lingo, the fashion and so much more. Many people look down on celebrities, calling them a stupid interest for stupid people, but I ask you cynics, where we would be without Kim K losing her $72, 000 diamond earring in the ocean? Or the Honeybadger jilting two perfectly eager women in New Caledonia? Or Jordyn Woods sleeping with her best friend’s sister’s two-timing baby daddy? We’d be bored, goddammit! When life is full of spreadsheets, world wars and balding politicians, you need pop culture to balance out all the bullshit. So, as 6-year old Olivia did with WHO Magazine, pour of the pages of this very special edition of On Dit featuring articles on Ted Bundy, Kim K and much more. As Kanye West once said: “This dark diction has become America’s new addiction” I hope you enjoy, Love, Olivia xxx

Political culture and popular culture are thoroughly intertwined, each influencing the other; the zeitgeist of each era is encapsulated in that which conquers the common consciousness. Due to its persuasive capacity and malleability as a format, like all popular media, it is vital that the integrity of this magazine is maintained and that we (the editors) are not swayed or distracted. So you won’t catch me frothing at the altar of celebrity. The social prominence, wealth, and widespread public perception of the entertainers (and respected religious figures) as incorruptible idols, has enabled sexual abuse to occur despite its conspicuity. Kim Kardashian – rich and famous for being rich and famous, and not much else – is hardly deserving of the idolisation she has received, nor her Trump-supporting hubby. We are currently dealing with the preoccupation with the personas of ‘1%’ers who probably hold us, their non-Balenciaga-wearing lessers, in contempt, but I believe that popular culture can be used for good. Popular culture is a medium which permits the rapid dissemination of political content, and for many their first engagement with mainstream discourse and points of contention. Popular culture can be one of the greatest tools in gaining favour and solidarity to unite towards a common goal. In his Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle sites political involvement as the key to achieving the human telos of a virtuous, and most importantly, happy life. Though we are far from a utopic end-goal of justice for all, it is still attainable if we redirect our pursuit from gaining wealth and fame. Art can no longer be separated from the artist, nor the pundit from his politics. Those who exploit their position to push a regressive agenda must be held to account. Perhaps, with a nice egging. Sam

Radio Correspondence What’s On? State of the Union SRC President Left, Right, and Centre Vox Pop

6 7 8 9 10 12

Top Ten Pop Culture Moments in Australia EconDit Student Safety at the RCC Ground Control to Major Tom: Why Orbiting is Ruining My Life Wil Wagner, Abuse Claims, and SelfProclaimed Male Feminists (opinion) Siding With the Psychopath What’s Brewing at the Cloisters?

16 19 17 18 20 22 20

Brexit In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Fall of Cardinal George Pell Robo-Debt Death, and Centrelink’s Failures Art and Performance in Film Jordan Peterson: Intellectual or Imposter? Ten Years of Lady Gaga The Faces that Flamed the Fyre Big Data The Forgotten Journalist:A testament to John Cantlie Venezuela's Dilemma The Flickering Light of Shine SA More To Me Than Maths

Interview With Dom Symes Album Review: ‘thank u, next’ Interview With Paul Foot Book Review: 'Selfish' Movie Review: ' ‘Josie and The Pussycats’ They Speak (Playlist) Creative Writing Your Horoscope as Iconic Teen Movies Gig Guide

48 51 52 54 55 56 58 60 62

22 24 26

30 32 34 36 38 40 42 44

Editors Imogen Hindson Sam Bedford Olivia De Zilva Emily Savage Design Emily Savage Subeditors Maxim Buckley Clare Dekuyer Felix Eldridge Ella Michele Dylan Rowen Cover Art Emily Savage

45 46 47

We would like to Acknowledge that the land of The University of Adelaide is the traditional lands for the Kaurna people and that we respect their spiritual relationship with their Country. We also acknowledge the Kaurna people as the traditional custodians of the Adelaide region and that their cultural and heritage beliefs are still as important to the living Kaurna people today.

Salutations! Since the last time you heard from us, the three of us have been very busy with talking to groups of students who will be producing live shows and podcasts very soon. Some of our lineup includes music shows, film shows, a dating/advice show, and much much more diverse and exciting content. We are incredibly ecstatic to announce our plans very soon, so keep an eye out on our socials. In more recent events, we had the absolute pleasure in taking part in a very humid and cramped version of O’ Week as we shared a booth space with On Dit. During Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, we had a great time talking to lots of students, new and old, who expressed interest in getting involved someway somehow. It definitely felt like we are starting to achieve our goal of having a 'on campus' presence. Initially, it was very surprising to see how many science students were wanting to get involved with us, but in hindsight, everyone needs different kinds of

hobbies and we are incredibly happy to give people the opportunity for a creative outlet. As part of the O Week/ Get More Fest, we are teaming up with the On Dit crew for organising the Student Media Union’s House Party, which has more than likely already happened by the time you have read this correspondence. The party took place at the old unibar (sad reacts only) as a last big hoorah just before everyone settles into the first week of studying. If you still want to get involved in Student Radio and didn’t get the chance to visit us during O’ Week, do not hesitate dropping us a message on Facebook. Love, Austin, Ellie & Jade

WHAT’S ON

MARCH20th

22nd

AUMA (Adelaide University Media Association) First Year Meet & Greet, The Howling Owl, March 20

SUE ME! AULSS Opening Party, West Oak Hotel, March 22nd

Mexican Night: Language and Cultural Engagement, Eclipse Room Level 4 Union House

29th

2628th

Fri-Yay Union Member Lunch

5th

AUSS (Adelaide University Space Society) Quiz Night, Sprigg Room Mawson Building

AUES (Adelaide University Engineering Society) ‘Adventures’ Pub Crawl

12th

ASA (Arts Students Association) Pubcrawl

Free Self Defence Classes, Level 6 Union House

12th

Fri-Yay Union Member Lunch

-APRIL

STATE OF THE UNION Words by AUU Board President Oscar Ong

To start the year, I’m going to talk about something that I am really passionate about, which is my favourite branch of the Adelaide University Union - Clubs! Clubs played a really important role in my university life. It’s where I met most of my friends and built the happiest memories of my campus life. These memories will be the very first thing I recall ten years after my university graduation, and many of my graduated friends feel the same way. To give you a rough picture of our clubs: Number of clubs: 140+; Types of clubs: Cultural & Languages, Faith & Religion, Issue-based & Politics, Skills & Professional Development, Faculty, Volunteering, Activities & Hobbies; Membership cost: $0-15 annually; Amount of time and effort required to participate: None to Lots – you decide! Further info: https://www.auu.org.au/ clubs I’m going to be very honest with you. Being a first year international student at Adelaide University was scary. I used to being an introvert, I was very nervous and found it difficult to talk to anyone in my cohort. People studying the same degree as me would often have different interests and have little in common. But I knew what I loved, everything about Malaysia. Being 5,885km away from my hometown for five years, I could have used some Malaysian food to cure my homesickness. You wouldn’t believe how excited I was when I found out about the Malaysian Students Association’s Facebook page. I showed up to their next event, a networking event where members meet up and play games (of course there is Malaysian food there too!), and I instantly fell in love with the club. It felt so good to meet people from my own country and relate to everything they were talking about. It honestly felt like I was back home again. I eventually took up a leadership role by becoming part of the committee, developing soft skills in communication that I could never learn in lectures. I’ve also gained the courage to try more new things, which lead me to join numerous other clubs as well!

Clubs are all about bringing students together, making friends, building important skills and most importantly, a support network when life at university or life in general gets hard. It can be difficult to organise regular meet-ups with friends (figuring out where to go is always the hardest part) but clubs are able to solve all the problems because they give you a pre-determined, pre-organised schedule of fun and regular meet-ups throughout the year. You will no longer be sitting at home watching Netflix, you’re at the movie night at the Union Cinema, or at a quiz night (check out the Harry Potter quiz night pictures in our Facebook page!), or at a BBQ. All these events are managed by your peers and attended by people who have the same interests as you! I really enjoy going to different clubs’ events, meeting people with different interests. In addition, clubs are very inclusive. For instance, you don’t have to be a Christian to join one of the Christian groups! Maybe clubs are just what you’re looking for too? You can find more information about our clubs on the AUU website. If none of the existing clubs are what you are looking for, you can always start a new one with a group of people with similar interests! With the new grants I introduced through the AUU Board last year, you will be seeing larger events around the campus (check out the AUU clubs’ page for more information) that don’t block your access to, or create inconvenience around, the Hub! So, give it a shot! Want to rant about the RCC being on campus? I would love to hear from you about your concerns around the issue, just send me an email! For any urgent and any security related issues, please contact campus security at 8313 5990 at the very first instance. Oscar Zi Shao Ong President, Adelaide University Union auupresident@auu.org.au

SRC PRESIDENT Words by SRC President Ali Amin

In 2014, I began my studies at the University of Adelaide. It was during this year that the Abbott Government announced its plans to completely deregulate university fees, meaning that universities would be able to charge students more than $100,000 for a degree. Instead of accepting that as an inevitability, I joined with thousands of students across Australia to fight back. After several attempts to force fee deregulation through, the Government was unsuccessful, and we demonstrated just how powerful students can be when we stand together. Although deregulation of university fees was defeated, this Liberal government has continued its ideological crusade against publicly funded universities. We have seen funding frozen and places capped, locking tens of thousands of students out of higher education. We have also seen hundreds of millions of dollars cut from publicly funded research, as well as the lowering of the HECS repayment threshold. If all of this wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t bad enough for students, we have also seen our rights in the workplace eroded. The current Government has overseen record low wage growth, cuts to penalty rates, as well as rampant wage theft in our workplaces. We need more bargaining power in our workplaces to ensure that we (the workers) get our fair share in the context of record profits for big business.

We are also competing in a housing market that is rigged in favour of property investors and landlords. We need fairer rental laws and tenancy rights for students living in rental accommodation, particularly for international students and those who have to relocate for study. We also need more public housing to ensure that housing is affordable for those who struggle to make ends meet. In May this year, over one million university students across Australia have the opportunity to send the government a message at the ballot box. We must ensure that student issues are at the forefront of the discussion in Canberra so we cannot be ignored. It is more critical now than ever for students to be active participants in our democracy. Whether that is getting involved in your local community, updating your enrolment details, or joining a political club, it is vital that we all play a role in shaping our future to ensure we have an egalitarian society where higher education is accessible to the many, not the few. Ali Amin President, Adelaide University SRC Email me at: srcpresident@auu.org.au Tweet me @le_hashimi

Australiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s higher education system is fundamentally broken. It has been re-defined under neoliberalism from being about educating and skilling the next generation of Australians for the public good, to competing firms operating in a market. Vice-Chancellors are paid in the millions while academic staff have become increasingly casualised. Fees have skyrocketed, while the proportion of university income from public funding plummets. Managerial prerogative has displaced organizational democracy. Students are increasingly viewed as clients and our degrees as products. If we want to transform our higher education system for the common good, we must advocate for the decommodification of our universities.

LEFT RIGHT & CENTRE Centre

Left

Tamsin Anspach National Labor Students (Activate)

1. Disgusting. George Pell is now a convicted child rapist. For so long senior conservatives have claimed that we must wait until a conviction occurs until we can be critical of individuals such as Pell, but these conservatives have now moved the goal post. To them defending their own is more important than respecting our legal system and survivors. 2. We live within patriarchy and structural oppression is entrenched in our society. To fix a structural problem, you need to create structural change and quotas are an example of this. There is evidence that the concept of ‘you can’t be what you can’t see’ is true and the implementation of quotas in many institutions have resulted in a greater representation of women in leadership. With this in mind we need to recognise that even when quotas are applied within capitalist institutions, these institutions are still the beasts of capitalism, which is an oppressive system and one of the greatest feeders of patriarchy.

Henry Armfield Adelaide University Labour Club

3. Jordan Peterson is a fascist and an idiot. He and the far-right he represent are a genuine danger to our society. We must do all we can to deplatform their messages and fight the normalisation of their bigotry. This is particularly important in Australia as this country was founded on white supremacy and it has shaped our history. This history is something that we in Australia are not good at talking about and many can not even acknowledge the state sanctioned genocide of Indigenous Australians that has occurred since Europeans set foot on this land.Mainstream Australia and it’s media aren’t at a place yet where they can even tackle our racist past, let alone the racism now. This is why the left must be unified in anti-fascist actions. If you consider yourself progressive then please engage with left wing organisations that are taking a stand against these racist sexist fascists. If you need help getting involved please feel free to email me: tamsinanspach@gmail. com.

1.Absolutely disgusting. Any protection of Pell should result in all credibility as a sane member of society being flushed down the toilet along with the keys to the cell Pell will die in. A month ago, John Howard was praised by Scott Morrison for intervening in a domestic dispute he witnessed on the street. Would he have done the same if it was his long-term friend molesting boys in his church? Howard’s letter in defense explicitly tells us, no. 2.Yes. Ita Buttrose has had an incredible career and the ABC Chair is a capstone befitting her stature. Gender quotas are great when they seek genuine equality but can often be used an HR façade for companies to appear as a promoter of equality. A 50/50 split at the interview level does not equal the same ratio in the office. Quotas are a top down solution to inequality and do not address the structural, societal undervaluation of women in a meaningful manner.

What do you think of John Howard providing a character reference for Cardinal Pell

following his conviction for numerous child sex offences stating that “none of these matters alter my opinion of the Cardinal”? 2.

In light of the recent appointment of Ita Buttrose to the position of ABC Chair despite an

all-female panel only recommending men for the post, do you support gender quotas? 3.

Jordan Peterson – fascist, idiot, or self-help guru?

Right Laura Coppola Adelaide University Liberal Club 3. Jordan Peterson is for people who want to hear what they already know and believe reaffirmed for them. This is done in a tedious manner by a man who speaks like a version of Kermit the Frog who has been reading the Bible while cross referencing a thesaurus. Peterson offers no new ideas. He just repackages traditionalism into something palatable for people who search ‘libtard snowflake destruction’ on YouTube so they can feel like an intellectual when they say, “political correctness has gone insane!” or “poor people deserve to die if they can’t afford healthcare”.

1. Cardinal Pell’s crimes are unforgivable. Being in a position of authority and using that authority to take advantage of children is morally repugnant. I echo Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Federal Families Minister Paul Fletcher’s comments regarding Pell’s conviction, victims and their families will continue to be impacted by this abuse and coming forward was incredibly brave. John Howard’s choice to provide a character reference for Pell was made in his personal capacity, separate from his public life. Whilst I may not agree with his decision I think he is entitled to make a reference and have no doubt that our legal system will ensure justice for the survivors prevails. 2. The recent appointment of Ita Buttrose to ABC Chair is one which I welcome, this role is difficult even before taking into account the tumultuous last year the ABC has faced, however a woman with credentials and a commitment as impressive as Buttrose will undoubtedly succeed in this

position. I do not however, support gender quotas. There is no denying that women are under-represented in some industries and high positions, however all arguments for quotas neglect to acknowledge the historical background of this issue. Women simply entered the labour market later and have had a shorter period of time to work their way up to positions such as CEO or Chair of a board. Buttrose, however, is the exception to the rule and a great model for all young women. 3. None of the above. Peterson is an old-fashioned conservative (not a fascist contrary to popular opinion) who wishes to return to the age where identity politics, political correctness and arguments against free speech weren’t as prevalent in the public sphere.

Vox Pop

William 1. I supported the idea of a student strike. Standing out in the heat surrounded by teenagers sounds a lot less appealing. 2. Studying on exchange in Denmark included late night study sessions, spending a full week at the library, movie nights and trying to go out for coffee before sunset at 4pm. There was a bit of travel and lots of group trips to the supermarket. It’s difficult to pick a single best memory but combined they made a great semester. 3. I don’t really care. 4. I support education being as accessible as possible but it comes plenty of other issues. Financial support and work being available for graduates is also significant. 5. Kate Ellis

Ian 1. Yes, I did 2. My best memory of my time at uni is working very hard with my friends before exams 3. Bernie, bro 4. No, I don’t support it because someone will abuse it 5. Kate Ellis

1. Do you support the 'school strike for climate'? 2. What's your best memory of your time at university so far?

3. Who do you want to win the Democratic primary? 4. Do you support free higher education? 5. Hottest Aussie politician?

Emily

Henry

1. Absolutely, I attended myself. At our current trajectory, we only have 11 years before we’re locked into 1.5 degrees of global warming, so it’s important for everyone to do whatever they can to get politicians to take climate change seriously. I find the maturity and leadership ability of the school student organisers to be incredibly inspiring.

1. Absolutely I was there.

2. Probably my very first O week - seeing how many different clubs and activities there are was very exciting.

4. Only after unemployment, welfare, climate, transport and secondary education are fixed. That being said funding shouldn’t have been cut in past years.

3. I’m too busy following the mess that is Australian politics to follow US politics very closely, but probably Bernie Sanders (or someone else on the left of the party). If the Democrats choose another Clintonlike candidate that embodies everything people hate about the political establishment, they might end up stuck with Trump again.

2. Got to ask Julia Gillard a question first year, she schooled me. 3. Bernie Sanders

5. None of them are hot, see answer 3. for actual heat

4. Yes. If all the absurd things taxpayer money is spent on (i.e. the Captain Cook tribute stuff) are anything to go by, we can certainly afford it. However, the government should concentrate on fixing the welfare system first - there’s no point removing debt as an entry barrier if people can’t actually afford to get themselves through Uni without working ridiculous hours. 5. ...None of the above? I don’t associate Australian politicians with anything approaching ‘hot’.

TOP TEN POP CULTURE MOMENTS IN AUSTRALIA Though this Issue is titled ‘Pop Culture’, we won’t be devoting each and every article to the ins and outs of celebrities and memes, (don’t stress those interested in more pressing matters.) However, to get you all started, we’ve compiled some of the most important moments of pop culture in Australian history:

Editorial

The team behind The Chaser’s War on Everything are used to constantly pushing the boundaries with their blunt political satire and over-the-top stunts involving public figures. In 2007, they took their tomfoolery to an all new height by attempting to gain access to the APEC Summit (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation) held in Sydney. Hosting world leaders including thenUS President George Bush, the APEC summit was rather a large deal here in Australia. So, naturally, pranksters Chas Licciardello and Julian Morrow sought to bring some fun to the party. Dressed as notorious terrorist Osama bin Laden and his bodyguard, Licciardello and Morrow got their pretty shabby motorcade all the way to the “red zone” of security before being arrested promptly after. Becoming “folk heroes” in the eyes of the public, dangerous liabilities in the eyes of politicians and a ratings phenomenon for the ABC, The Chaser pushed the limits of the political climate of 2007 as well as the way we perceive the seriousness of the people who are actually supposed to be in charge.

Beloved Bridget “Didge” Parker had a lot to deal with during her stay on Ramsey Street. After getting hit by a drunk-driving Susan Kennedy and becoming wheelchair bound, she fell pregnant at only sixteen. When things started to look up for Bridget, she was involved in another fatal car crash which left her stranded in the bush for a couple of days. When found, she was delirious and sent straight to the Erinsborough Hospital where she promptly dies from a blood-clot. What got everyone all teary eyed was the “dream sequence” where Bridget crosses over into heaven to the sound of Kate Miller-Heidke’s Last Day On Earth. Didge bid one final farewell to her boyfriend, Declan and daughter, India before crossing over into a garden filled with plastic flowers and stray geese. Gone, but never forgotten!

Hosted by Elliot Spencer for the better half of the 2000s, Rollercoaster was every kid’s afternoon after school. With shows like Blue Water High, Jeopardy (tbt to that show tho), Atomic Betty, Freaky, Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids, Soupe Opera!, Round The Twist and many more, Rollercoaster was the ultimate network for kids of all ages. Elliot was also the coolest dude around town, doing random sketches and gags with his iconic 2000s haircut. Bye for now, Rollercoaster, but not forever!

At the top of his political game, then-leader of the opposition, Kevin ‘07’ Rudd appeared on all the early-morning and late-night circuits of Australian T.V. One of his most memorable appearances was when when he appeared on the ten network’s Rove Live with Rove McManus to talk about his political campaign. Wrapping up the interview, McManus asked Rudd who ‘he would turn gay for’, as was tradition with his chat-show at the time. Usually guests were more than willing to give McManus a comical answer of the same sex, but not risking his very traditional ‘family friendly’ image of the 2000s, Rudd read off some pre-written notes before concluding that he would turn gay for his wife Therese Rein. Scandalous? Not. Memorable? Yes.

Mark Holden’s first touchdown for Cosima De Vito covering Cold Chisel sent sparks across the nation. A touchdown is a great sign of respect, a thing that is deserved when you do something the right way. Holden made his touchdowns scare during the first run of the show, but slowly and surely, he made them more of a regular occurance. Honestly, we’d think he’d

touchdown anything now that he has to go on Dancing With The Stars dressed up as Bobo The Clown. But a touchdown given, is a touchdown deserved and we still stand by that.

The Princess of Pop Kylie Minogue graced the manicured streets of Fountain Gate to guest-star as Kim’s adult-daughter, Epponee-Rae. With bogan-chic and cringe quotes aplenty, (“my marriage is over - O V A H), Minogue rocked it as the misguided and bitchy daughter of Kim and Brett Craig. Singing some of her iconic songs and enjoying a ‘Cardonay’ with Kath and Kim, Kylie made the finale of Season 3 one of the most memorable in ABC History. The second Bachelor from Network Ten’s Bachelor Franchise, Blake Garvey sent the nation into a tailspin when he jilted his firstchoice Sam Frost 2 weeks after their South African engagement and decided to take up shack with second-runner up, Louise Pillidge. This monumental dick move saw Blake labelled as the ‘Most Hated Man In Australia’ and made people lose their faith in all reality TV love stories thereafter.

There was once a time where we could tell our international friends that our Prime Minister ate an onion without even being asked to. Could Barack Obama do that? Could Putin? Trudeau? None had the gusto of dear Tony, dear, misguided, moronic Tony Abbott who holds a Rhodes Scholar degree from Oxford. Life was simpler then, but was it better? Who knows? All we care about is that onion and the way Tony’s whitened teeth pierced through all of it’s different layers while he was pretending to enjoy it in front of a press scrum who wore really confused expressions.

Speaking of Mr. Abbott, another gem in our colourful history would be then Prime Minister, Julia Gillard’s address to Parliament in 2012. After Tony Abbott and other members of the Liberal Party stood next to a sign saying ‘Ditch the Witch’, Gillard made a speech which would be remembered as one of the defining moments of her troubled Prime Ministership. Making Tony squirm, Julia was strong lady in the blue power suit, standing up for not only her own rights, but for the rights of women all over Australia. Hyper-bowl and faceplanting aside, this was a genuinely cool moment in our modern history. Vale Julia, may you present many lectures about sexism and misogyny at Bonython Hall till it gets knocked down by the RCC to become a nightclub.

This might not be the defining moment of Aussie pop culture, but it sure is one of the most recent and scandalous. Let us take you back to 2018. Ten’s most profitable machine, The Bachelor returned for another season with rugby player Nick ‘Honeybadger’ Cummins as the leading-man. Many questioned the choice, given Cummins’s unconventional looks, mannerisms and reputation as a lothario in the partycircuits of the Gold Coast. Unphased, Ten moved Cummins into the Bachelor mansion where he stumbled his through dates using metaphors including, “she’s as hot as a cat on a tin roof” and comparing a girl to a packet of Tim-Tams. Deep right? When Cummins got closer to finding the lady he would “spend the rest of his life with” (or so this was marketed as), the Honeybadger started to go feral, dropping girls left, right and centre and not expressing how he truly felt. Front-runner Brooke left Cummins because of his indecision and the remaining two girls, Brittany and Sophie were flown off to an exotic island only to be dumped by Cummins in a spectacular fashion. Both were told he ‘wasn’t ready for a relationship’, but then were left shocked as to why he was on the show to begin with. Then A Current Affair stalked him on the Kokoda Track and shit got really weird real fast. We can’t say we feel sorry for Cummins, but we certainly enjoy the fact that this whole debacle happened.

Words by Madeleine Pemberton

EconDit

It’s almost April, which means two things to most students: Uni returns, and so does Game of Thrones. For 6 weeks, Uni work will be on the back burner, but for some, the analysis won’t stop on Monday nights. George R.R. Martin has made evident that he has researched and focused on making sure that the underpinning economic movements of his fantasy world actually function, which suggests that the finale of this season can be largely predicted with some economic thinking. The crown relies on three main lenders to finance their debts; the Lannister house, the Iron Bank and the Faith. The great houses of Westeros then pay their taxes, which are partly obtained from their liege lords who manage the taxes of their knights and commoners. Yet the Crown’s debts have largely outweighed their tax revenue for the entirety of show and are progressively growing larger, as revenue continues to decline. Whoever claims the Iron Throne in the coming season not only gains the seven kingdoms, but also the Crown’s colossal debt. Regardless of who gains or maintains the throne, the economic future is bleak, but the Crown is not entirely to blame for the poor outlook. Daenarys ‘Breaker of Chains’ Targaryen’s strict policy of ending slavery has largely attributed to her rapid gain of power. Yet with little fiscal policy, turbulence is experienced not only in the political climate, but in that of the economic too. Essos’s economy largely differs to that of Westeros; the powerful cities are merchant led, the informal economy plays a much larger role and slavery dominates the labour force. As slavery is abolished, producers either have to close production completely, or continue with much higher costs, therefore slowing international trade with Westeros.

Westeros additionally faces many challenges within itself, with the kingdom split over five kings, internal trade is also slowed in the tempestuous political climate and financing moves to war rather than investment. Production is decelerated as many of the fit labourers are called to arms, and plentiful lands are ravaged by war camps and battles. Leadership changes and the entire abolition of great houses mean that little economic policy can be implemented, and new leaders instated from the opposing side mean little loyalty and trust, and little care for the kingdom they have obtained. Perhaps the best move of the Lannister’s yet, is owed to their predecessors who coined the house motto ‘A Lannister always pays his debts’ because, despite the continued defaults, Cersei manages to secure continued support of the Iron Bank of Braavos. Yet the Lannister’s mines have long run dry, and the sacking of High Garden made access to the Tyrell fortune redundant. A large investment into the sell-swords has the potential to secure a victory in maintaining the Iron Throne, but there is little means to repay them as winter descends regardless. Perhaps the bleakness is the clue in itself. Martin could provide no wiggle room in future capital obtainment because there is no future. The Night King, with his army of the dead, has no need of any resources, and with no living lenders to repay, they seem to be the most economically viable contender for the Iron Throne. But possibly the biggest thing we can take from this is that I spend way too much time thinking about the economic systems of a fantasy world, and not nearly enough time on my social life.

STUDENT SAFETY AT THE RCC: RAPE CULTURE AND MUSIC FESTIVALS ON CAMPUS Words by Imogen Hindson and Clare Dekuyer The University of Adelaide’s decision to host the RCC Fringe was driven by a desire to position the North Terrace campus as a cultural hub at the heart of the Fringe. However, given still-fresh revelations surrounding a culture of sexual assault at the university and its affiliated colleges, the arrival of a music festival without prior student consultation has raised eyebrows. As NUS Women’s Officer Sarah Tynan attests, “O’Week is the single most dangerous time to be a student, and having intoxicated members of the public with access to the university and university buildings does nothing to decrease this”. The question stands: is the RCC on campus in the best interests of the students at the University of Adelaide? Music festivals are certainly getting a bad rap at the moment (thanks, Gladys Berejiklian), but there’s some truth to the hysteria. In a survey conducted by the ABC, of 500 festival attendees, 47% of heterosexual men ‘always’ felt safe, while only 20.4% of women felt the same way. That number is even lower for LGBTQ+ attendees. The reality is that spaces like mosh pits are known sites of sexual violence, where perpetrators can pass off groping as unintentional in an often physically aggressive crowd. Compounding this is a damning report of sexual harassment at the University of Adelaide from the Australian Human Rights Commission, where 39% of female respondents reported being sexually harassed at university in 2016, compared to 17% of male respondents. 10% of these harassments occurred in university social spaces. It doesn’t help that RCC has spanned over what’s been termed ‘The Red Zone’- the period of heightened danger of sexual assault during O’Week. In 2018, hazing traditions in St Mark’s residential college were brought to light as victims shared their story with 60 Minutes. Crude rituals of “ponding”, sexual humiliation and degradation were described by former Women’s Officer Olivia Savvas as “clearly indicative of rape culture”. The 2018 ‘Red Zone Report’ published by group End Rape on Campus outlined 151 submissions that identified alcohol as being a factor in sexual assault or sexual harassment at O’Week. As the North

Terrace campus’ liquor license is suspended to allow the RCC Fringe license to operate, former SRC President Matthew Boughey states, “you can’t have it both ways. The University can’t invite this kind of behaviour onto campus while simultaneously spruiking how much change they’ve made to adopting the [Respect. Now. Always] recommendations.” A key concern to the student body is the lack of student consultation before the announcement of the RCC Fringe on campus. Though the university subsequently apologised for the lack of dialogue, Boughey believes that “student welfare wasn’t the primary concern … if it was, I’m sure we’d be seeing a very different RCC … one where students played a part in the development”. The partnership has been touted as a “mutually beneficial agreement” rather than a commercial deal, and the RCC Fringe will cover all costs to return the campus to its original condition in exchange for free venue hire. Already, students have identified safety issues with the festival. According to David Elliot, President of the Pride Club and moderator of the Facebook page ‘Get the RCC off our campus — Adelaide Uni’, campus ‘activation’ “comes with that risk of the wrong people doing the wrong things in student and academic spaces outside the RCC’s formal operating hours”. Reports of a smashed toilet and damage to soil and lawn irrigation systems have been raised by Elliot’s Facebook page, along with “many instances of damage that are brought to light second-hand and go unreported”. Though the North Terrace campus is smoke-free, ABC presenter Peter Goers states in the Advertiser that he “saw no signs prohibiting smoking” and “lots of punters … smoking on university grounds”. Another key issue was the relocation of the campus security office “to a relatively unknown part of campus … and the lack of clear signage directing students there,” though the university has addressed these concerns. The University maintains that the Fringe partnership “was not made to financially benefit the University but to bring a major part of the artistic and cultural

n g i e r a y t i g s a r s e i v i h t n k U s e i h r "t d f e s s l l a a e c d n incr a , s s t s n a e s n repre nt educatio es won conse sent modul con life of Adelaide to the North Terrace campus”. Safety measures implemented include the designation of the campus as a Declared Public Precinct, giving police additional powers to patrol and use drug detection dogs. Deputy Director of Media and Corporate Relations David Ellis notes that many incidents attributed to the RCC Fringe on social media “have had nothing to do with the event”, and while some have gone unreported to University security, those that have been reported hold “no link to the RCC Fringe”. Furthermore, the release of the non-compulsory ‘Consent Matters’ module on MyUni in mid-2018 was an attempt to promote sexual consent education to all university staff and students, in line with AHRC Report recommendations. Still, culture does not shift overnight, and the University still has a way to go. Given that 90% of victims of sexual harassment at the university in 2016 did not seek support after being harassed, there is a high likelihood of unreported incidents occurring on North Terrace grounds. Tynan asserts that the University “… are ignorant to the increased risk this agreement represents”, and calls for “further consent education … as standalone consent modules won’t work”. At the University of Technology Sydney, ‘Consent Matters’ was made compulsory with exam results withheld from students until the module was completed. A more pervasive approach to consent and anti-harassment strategies over a prolonged period, in consultation with the student body, would help resolve this endemic problem in Australian universities. The temporary location of the Security Office for the duration of the RCC Fringe will be on the ground floor of the Oliphant Building, and you can contact them on 8313 5990 to report any incidents. In the UA Student app, there is a Campus Safety feature on the homepage, as well as a Safer Campus website you can access at www.adelaide.edu.au/safer-campus-community/ home. The University also offers free self-defence lessons, the next round of which will be at the end of March. We wish we didn’t have to write this disclaimer! Wishing you all a very safe and happy Fringe season and academic year.

GROUND CONTROL TO MAJOR TOM: WHY ORBITING IS RUINING MY LIFE Words by Olivia De Zilva

If you’ve ever been ghosted, you’ve probably fallen into deep pits of despair, asking the universe why it had to be you. You question yourself, asking whether it was the way you wore your hair or maybe it was the fact that you zoned out when your date asked you about your thoughts on the stock market. Whatever the answer, ghosting is something people, yes, people like you, me or the guy at the bus stop listening to Ariana Grande when he thinks no one can hear, experience throughout the dating experience. However, because it’s 2019 and the world is about to end because of climate change and measles outbreaks at theme parks, there’s been a new added ammunition to the ghosting game. Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce you to orbiting. First coined by Man-Repeller writer Anna Iovine in 2018, orbiting is a term where an uninterested party opens every single Snapchat and Instagram story despite the fact that are not replying to your texts or calls. Iovine explains it simply, stating that a person can “tweet a reply here or a comment there, but largely they are in your orbit, seemingly keeping tabs on you with no intention of engaging in meaningful conversation without the intention of dating”.

Let me give you an example, shall I? Let’s say *Jessica matches with a guy named *Matthew on an innocuous dating app, Tinder, perhaps. They hit it off and immediately arrange to meet up to talk about their shared interests in cats, indoor plants and romantic comedies. When they meet, there’s immediate chemistry and they agree to see each other again at the café with lots of indoor plants and cat pictures on the walls. Of course, they follow each other on each and every avenue of social media so that Jessica can see what Matthew is cooking for dinner on a Tuesday night and Matthew can see Jessica’s outfit suggestions for wine and cheese night with her colleagues in the marketing department. It’s a perfect 2019 love story; instant gratification and connection. However, when Jessica sends Matthew a post-date text from her office cubicle the next day, she doesn’t get a reply. Nor the next day. Or the next. It becomes a pattern. Jessica assumes she has been ghosted and posts motivational quotes on her Instagram story while she watches romantic comedies alone because they obviously weren’t a shared interested between her and Matthew. But, as she opens each story to see who’s invested in her sob fest, she sees one particular name that makes her skin crawl. Matthew. Opening each Instagram story, liking all her pictures from her nephew’s Bar Mitzvah and face-swaps with her cat, is

Matthew, lurking in the background of her online life as if he is somehow involved in it. Has this happened to you? Because it’s certainly, (currently) happening to me and I really want to know why. He obviously isn’t interested in me, but he is interested in my stories about Jordyn Woods and Kylie Jenner’s friendship breakup and is #thirsty for my photos at the beach. In Anna Iovine’s article, she provided some theories as to why people feel the need to orbit, these include, the need for a power move and because they have no idea what they’re doing when it comes to social media. However, I’ve procured my own theories as to why people shouldn’t orbit.

1# It’s extremely hurtful because someone thought you had a connection

Though social media is a silly thing to get upset over, I think a lot of people don’t realise the brevity of how their username can cause distress and anxiety. When that name pops up on your screen when they are ignoring your texts, calls, tear-stained letters and proclamations outside of apartment buildings, it can be stressful to deal with. I know I’ve been in situations where I keep seeing a someone’s name popping up on my feed and it just ruins my day because he’s obviously ignoring me, but still trying to stay up to date with my life.

2# Because at the end of the day, you should be honest with your feelings towards someone I think it’s easier to send a one-line text saying, “Hey Jessica, I had a great night last night, but I think we would be better off as friends”, rather than opening the Instagram app, clicking on someone’s name and watching their twenty stories as to why they are moving on from all Indie boys with long hair who play the guitar. Once someone knows how you’re feeling, they can move on.

3# Because you live in Adelaide, you’re

probably going to match with their friends on a dating app and they’re going to know you’re not very nice Chances are, you’ll match with Jessica’s best friend Melissa who knows all about your shady behaviour on social media. Do you really want to take that risk and have a bad reputation? I don’t think so. Dating for many can be a scary experience, so why should people make it worse with orbiting?

WIL WAGNER, ABUSE CLAIMS, AND SELF-PROCLAIMED MALE FEMINISTS (OPINION)

Editorial by Imogen Hindson CW: Suicide, violence, emotiwonal abuse.

In the past week, a series of emails allegedly sent by the frontman of The Smith Street Band, Wil Wagner, have gone viral. Instagram account @bitchinbrujeria was at the forefront of this exposé, posting on behalf of two anonymous women claiming they had received emotionally abusive messages from Wagner at the end of their relationships. This raises serious questions about misogyny in the music industry, the alienation women feel in music, and the trend of continuing to glorify abusers, but only if their art is consumable for the mass audience. The first collation of emails allegedly sent by Wagner, included lines such as “you made me want to kill myself. You made me feel like a worthless, disgusting piece of shit”, and “you’re a despicable human being, and becoming involved with you was the biggest mistake I ever made.” Wagner has since issued a statement, stating “I am not hiding anything… [but] I ask that you make up your own minds”. Wagner claimed that the emails were ‘selectively shown’, and emphasised ‘one-sided statements’. This statement came four days after allegations were leaked online. One of the two women have remained anonymous, however, Camp Cope’s Georgia McDonald (Georgia ‘Maq’) has posted a statement to Instagram. Maq said “I’m sure by now a lot of you have figured out that it was my inbox that those emails ended up in… I am the receiver”. Maq continued by saying “I’ve been told it was just a bad breakup… I had to threaten him with an intervention order

for him to stop harassing me… This was not a bad breakup. This was harassment and emotional abuse”. The post has since been removed from instagram. Georgia Maq has been supported by Waax Band, David Le’aupepe, PUP, Courtney Barnett, Gen Fricker (Triple J), Thelma Plum, Ecca Vandal, Portugal The Man, and many others. Two supporting bands that were expected to tour with The Smith Street Band, Sweater Curse and The Beths, have since pulled out of future lineups. At what point, then, do we separate art from the artist? I was once a fan of The Smith Street Band, a true believer in the positive messages embedded in their songs. I sat by the beach and sung ‘I Aint Safe’ with my siblings in the summer, ‘Get High, See Mice’ nursed me through a breakup. They helped guide me from a teenager into a young adult. If it were up to me, I would attempt to separate Wagner’s alleged abuse from the songs that guided me through this time, but we cannot allow musicians to utilise their platform to not only endorse and normalise their behaviour, but continue to share it with the world. The Smith Street Band’s popularity had started to grow prior to the release of their 2017 album. However, one of their most recent songs ‘Passiona’ gives the band the title of their album, with the lyrics “and I’m absolutely infinitely more scared of you than you are of me / And I’ve always

been the one who cares too much”. In light of the newly discovered emails, this song takes a much darker tone; one which reiterates the age-old trope of the dynamics between the evil ex and the holier than thou frontman. When these lyrics are read within the scope of emails stating “I’m just a person… who is suddenly terrified of women and wishes they were dead even more than usual”, it is impossible to separate the art from the artist, because the art is so closely linked to real people, real relationships, and abuse. By glorifying a band with a frontman who actively wishes women were dead we encourage women to be seen as the villain in circumstances where they were victims of emotional abuse. This alienation that women feel in relation to alternative and emo music is explored by Jessica Hopper, who believes that “girls in emo today do not have names… our actions are portrayed solely through the detailing of neurotic selfentanglement of the boy singer- our region of personal power, simply, is our impact on his romantic life”. It’s fair to say the release of this album, and the release of Camp Cope’s single ‘Opener’, was the topic of conversation amongst people involved in music scenes. Wagner was celebrated for his ‘soft’ approach, whereas Georgia Maq was critiqued on her supposed inability to prevent her politics from infiltrating her music.

The Smith Street Band so easily created an illusion of the perfect feminist man. With songs like ‘Death To The Lads’ condemning the toxic culture that engulfs the Australian music scene, and ‘Birthdays’ with lyrics such as “we are more than future housewives”, the irony is clear. The Smith Street Band monopolised a demographic of triple J bros, who were so intrinsically the definition of ‘lads’, yet were excused due to their supposedly sincere intentions. This is something that is so fundamentally wrong with our music industry, and is something that is an individualistic issue. Musicians like Wagner gain autonomy over the discussion surrounding male violence at shows, while attempting to silence the women who are attempting to make these changes. We’ve seen the same support of abusers time and time again in Australia’s music scene. In 2017, Sydney’s Sticky Fingers were accused of threatening and verbally abusing other musicians. After a year long hiatus and a sea of supporters quick to defend the group, in October 2018, the band played a sold out show at Thebarton Theatre. When we actively support the art of abusers, we are providing them with a platform to send a message to the world: abuse is acceptable, especially if you play in a band. It is impossible to separate the art from the artist when the art itself is so heavily tied to their inadequate actions. In the case of The Smith Street Band, you won’t find me supporting them any time soon.

Illustration by Clare Dekuyer

It’s the early 1970s and a suave man with twinkling

Except that he’s creepily obsessed with you, and

eyes and a charming grin approaches you in a car

will kill off anyone in your life he believes to be

park. You decide to help this charismatic stranger

toxic. But it’s okay, because he loves you so much!

– why wouldn’t you? More than thirty murders

Who is this man? Why, it’s Joe Goldberg.

later, this man becomes one of the most notorious serial killers in American history. But why weren’t you alarmed by his presence? How were you so effortlessly manipulated? Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Ted Bundy. Netflix documentary 'Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes' shows a real man with endearing charm and wit. The film industry has pounced on the story, casting Zac Efron as Bundy in 'Extremely Wicked,

With the release of Netflix’s highly popular series 'You', it makes sense to talk about the moral ethics of siding with a psychopath. You’re meant to fall for Joe Goldberg, just like Guinevere Beck does. The producers of the show, and author of the original book, position you to empathise with him. It’s only a few episodes deep that you realise... you’re rooting for a psychopath. The creators got you!

Shockingly Evil, and Vile', released in early 2019.

They pried a hole in your moral judgement. But

The world is obsessed with serial killers,

you an existential crisis? Though you’re pining

psychopaths, sociopaths, rapists, and paedophiles.

for Goldberg, your rational mind screams that it’s

We find them intriguing and downright repulsive.

wrong to think he’s boyfriend material.

We’ve entered their minds through film, documentaries and literature. Vladmir Nabokov’s novel Lolita, narrated by paedophile Humbert Humbert, is a familiar example of this. His trancelike prose entices us to root for his character from the very first sentence.

is it even a show worth watching if it doesn’t give

The moral of these television shows, books and films is that a predator is often someone you don’t expect. With that in mind, I hope you’ve all enjoyed the first few weeks of university where you’ve been swarmed with completely charming, trendy, and chatty strangers.

Fast forward to 2018, and a new (fictional) man comes on the scene. He is trendy, well-read and everything you want a potential boyfriend to be.

CRAFTING AN EMPIRE What’s Brewing at the Cloisters? Words by Daniel McLean

As he reclined on a bar-chair in the University’s historical Cloisters, Gareth Lewis looked around the newly paved and levelled quadrangle. “I went to my first gig here when I was sixteen,” said Lewis. In the mid-1990s, he’d heard the rock band Magic Dirt in the university bar upstairs and, soon mesmerised by the scene, attended gig after gig on campus. Back in those days, he said, “you wanted to be a Uni kid.” Sporting a snapback cap, his beard thick like a bushranger’s, Lewis explained how his penchant for beer and gigs – developed in what he admitted were probably a few too many sessions at the UniBar – led to cofounding General Admission Entertainment (GAE) with his friend and fellow director Aaron Sandow. “Aaron and I are, for want of a better term, bartenders.” He chuckled. “It all started off running bars and nightclubs.” Since its founding, GAE has purchased the King’s Head Hotel and produced Adelaide’s Beer & BBQ Festival for several years. “As a collective, what we do is run venues, hotels, festivals, and food and wine events.” Now, GAE’s latest project is running the new UniBar which opens on

Monday, 25 March. On the ground floor of the Union Building, the doors of the new UniBar open directly onto the Cloisters, the area redeveloped as part of a $5 million project. The bar’s atmosphere differs from its dimly-lit predecessor upstairs on level five. Sunlight streams through roof-to-floor windows across heritage-listed tiles. While the north stage and east bar front evoke memories of the old UniBar, gone are its soiled carpets and grungy interior. No one knew who’d be managing this space until late last year. As the old UniBar was calling last drinks in November 2018, the University was searching for someone to run the new bar through a tender process. “This one came across our desk,” recalled Lewis. “We’d sort of been involved with the Uni before and it was even more of a tight fit with what we do.” And so GAE put in a bid for the new campus bar. Of eight bids received, GAE was shortlisted in the top four alongside a joint-tender that came from within the university community

itself. The Adelaide University Union (AUU) had partnered with the University Staff Club to submit its own proposal for the new campus bar. “We firmly believe that the UniBar space should stay in the hands of our most important stakeholders, the students of the University of Adelaide,” read a statement issued by the AUU in November 2018. “It will be a non-for-profit entity, seeking to reinvest funds directly back into the University community.” The nine-member panel that selected the winning tender comprised university staff and students. Dr Ben Grindlay, the University’s Director of Marketing and Communications, was a member of the panel. He said that the panel considered the AUU-Staff Club proposal at length, spending “significantly longer” on it than many other proposals, but decided unanimously to accept GAE’s bid and award it a two-year contract. Dr Gindlay said that GAE were “significantly ahead” on criteria based around live entertainment, food, the local flavour of drinks, experience and professionalism. Pricing was also a major consideration. “GAE were very competitive when it came to drinks, and when it came to food they were really thinking about specials,” he said. “Part of the strength of their proposal was their relationship with suppliers. Their networks are really strong.” Lewis said that GAE would draw on that network to reduce the price of drinks on a menu featuring local craft beers. “Because of our history in the

industry, we’ll offer things at a price point that’s student friendly,” he said. “It’s all done through the producer discounting back to us which we can then pass on to the students.” Available craft beers will include Little Bang, Young Henrys, Sparkke, and Mismatch, with GAE aiming to source 75 per cent of its product from South Australia. As for food, its traditional pub menu will offer daily specials, along with a changing selection of modern and international cuisines. On top of food, beer and gigs, the UniBar will be “a collaborative space, open and engaging for everyone,” according to Kim Littler, who manages GAE’s human resources. “It’s kind of nice to be part of people interested in getting kids back into the bar,” she said, “not just on the premise of booze, but to engage in poetry and comedy, and get the UniBar back to having events every night so that the campus doesn’t die at five o’clock.” As well as poetry slams and comedy nights, Littler mentioned the possibility of karaoke, theatre sports and lunchtime lectures, with some form of entertainment planned for every day of the week. The UniBar differs from GAE’s previous projects, tailored, as it is, specifically to a student market. Offering local, affordable drinks, and entertainment for both general and specific student groups, all in a newly refurbished space, GAE appears to promise an enriched student experience. During the tender process, the AUU-Staff Club announced that its proposed bar would be a “non-for-profit entity, seeking to reinvest funds directly back into the University community”, but GAE’s main intention seems to be to enhance students’ experience at their campus bar. Time will tell whether GAE succeeds in cultivating that experience and whether the selection panel’s outsourcing of the bar was the right call.

You don’t hear of many couples divorcing after forty years. There’s too much baggage, too much shared history. Perhaps even more prohibitive to a conscious uncoupling is the inevitable intermingling of finances and assets. Who gets the house? The kids? How do you prevent reinstating a hard border between the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom while preserving the at times fragile and certainly hard-won peace at the border, while also delivering the much fetishised ‘sovereignty’ over trade, free movement of people and governance you’ve promised? The usual stuff.

Words by Nicholas Falcinella

BR EXIT

Such is the disagreement playing out as the United Kingdom attempts to exercise its midlife (or rather, post empire) crisis by excising itself from the European Union. To recap, on 23 June 2016 (Britain’s ‘Independence Day’ according to then-UKIP leader Nigel Farage), the United Kingdom voted to leave the EU, by a margin of 52 to 48 per cent. Soon after, Theresa May assumed the Prime Ministership, triggered Article 50 (the article in the Treaty of Lisbon that provides for any EU member to quit the bloc), called a snap general election and subsequently lost her parliamentary majority, negotiated a Brexit deal with EU leaders in Brussels, had the deal voted down by a thumping majority in the UK House of Commons and faced a challenge against her own leadership of the Conservative Party. Things have perhaps not gone exactly as May would have hoped. Despite all this, the plan remains for the UK to leave the EU on March 29. There are three plausible scenarios as to how this may occur: . May wins support for her deal. In this scenario, May is able to either appease rogue ‘eurosceptic’ elements of her own party, or cobble together a coalition of centrist Labour MPs, Liberal Democrats and other MPs for her deal to pass the House of Commons. With demands from eurosceptics for a complete exit from the EU customs union and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s ultimatum that Labour will not support a deal unless the UK remains in the customs union, it is difficult to see how this could occur. One scenario is for Ms May to renegotiate the major bugbear of the Eurosceptics - the Irish Backstop. This is the largest stumbling block of the whole Brexit process, and if implemented, could result in a resurrection of a hard border between independent Ireland and the UK’s Northern Ireland and the UK remaining subject to EU customs laws without an political voice or ability to influence policy. . No deal Brexit This outcome is simple; no agreement is reached between the UK and the EU. Critics claim this would result in grounded planes, food and medicine shortages and general economic chaos in both the Western EU countries and the UK. Others argue effects will be minimal and

it may be better to simply sever ties with the EU rather than struggle through a prolonged transition period. . A people’s vote The newly established Independent Group, consisting of breakaway members from both Labour and the Conservatives has spurred Corbyn into declaring Labour will back a people’s vote with ‘Remain’ on the ballot paper, if its version of Brexit does not receive the backing of Parliament (it won’t). Advocates for a people’s vote claim voters were fundamentally mislead about the nature of an exit from the EU. Some argue voters should be asked to vote for one of three options; No Deal, May’s Deal or Remain, while others propose a rerun of the 2016 referendum, this time with a more informed electorate that better understands the processes and consequences of Brexit. May has repeatedly ruled out another vote on Brexit and it is not clear that all Labour MPs would vote for an amendment which established one - particularly those representing constituencies that voted to leave the EU. The only other reasonable option (and most likely at time of writing) is for May to extend the deadline for the UK to leave the EU. While this would only serve to kick the can down the road, it may allow more time for ways to prevent the re-establishment of a hard border with Ireland to be developed. The situation with Brexit changes every day and it is not clear that all parties are acting in good faith. Some Conservatives seem content to let May bear the burden of a chaotic Brexit, and then replace her as Prime Minister once the divorce has been finalised. Labour, despite its protestations that they could handle Brexit better, is thankful that they don’t have to manage this shitshow. Separations are messy, even when far less is at stake. The most acceptable solution, at this point, would be for May to postpone withdrawal and for Labour to lobby effectively for a people’s vote with Remain on the ballot. Only then can the British people make an informed decision and, hopefully, convince their feuding parents to stay together, if only for the wellbeing of their children and their future.

IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, THE SON AND THE HOLY FALL OF CARDINAL GEORGE PELL: A LOOK INTO THE CATHOLIC CHURCH CHILD SEX ABUSE SCANDAL

Words by Athina Kakkos

Trigger warning: rape and sexual abuse mentions. When you think of the Catholic Church, you may recall a cheerful elderly man waving to masses while riding around in a decked-out golf cart that’s been bestowed with the fun name, “Popemobile”, biblical stories of arks being filled with two of every cute animal imaginable and rainbows. Unfortunately, for a large group of people across the globe, the Church evokes harrowing feelings of broken trust, predacious leaders and calloused hypocrisy. For decades the Catholic Church has been inundated with claims of sexual abuse, not only in all states of Australia but in cities across the United States, to schools in Germany, Chile and Ireland. Detailed reports of sexual abuse involving priests and high-ranking church officials against children, many involving young boys have been rampant. In December last year, the third most powerful man in the Vatican who acted as an advisor to Pope Francis, is an alumnus of the University of Oxford and Australia’s own most senior Cardinal, George Pell was found guilty on five counts of committing child sex abuse crimes of his own against two young choir boys. In 1996, Pell was the Archbishop of Melbourne at St Patrick’s Cathedral and

during this time, a Melbourne jury has found him guilty of orally raping a child under 16 years and molesting another young boy. What’s uncanny is that Pell has always blatantly stood against homosexuality, waging a war on sex-related issues such as abortion, contraception and equal marriage. Pell’s disdain for homosexuality became grotesquely explicit when he stated, “homosexual activity is a much greater health hazard than smoking” in response to young boys at Catholic schools being driven to commit suicide as a result of experiencing homophobia. It should be noted that Pell has denied committing crimes of sexual abuse and is currently awaiting to appeal his guilty conviction. However, Pell is no stranger to dodging and carpet sweeping claims of abuse committed by himself and fellow clerical abusers. In 1996, around the same time his own criminal acts occurred, Pell ironically aided the establishment of the Melbourne Response - a scheme created to support and compensate victims of clergy abuse. To make matters easier for itself, the Church opted to not involve the courts and set a limit on the monetary amounts paid to victims. This saved the Church millions of dollars and silenced victims after settlement. In 2013, the Australian Government launched a Royal Commission into the Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse as the victimisation of those that had trusted the Church had continued to be widespread. During

u v o c

the Church has undermined its very own essence of trust and credibility

the investigation, Pell stated that he hoped the Royal Commission would end a “smear campaign” against the Catholic Church. The Church set a compensation cap for victims, firstly at $50,000 as they affirmed large payments would result in cuts to their social programs aimed at assisting society. The Church was so sincerely appalled by the evil wrongdoings committed by its own holy figures and wanted to assist its victims that it grossly undervalued its property portfolio in Australia to ensure lower monetary amounts were paid to its abuse victims; because nothing oozes forgiveness as much as ensuring the victim compensation cap is set well below what you can afford, right? The Church may seem like a bunch of smiling people preaching about love with their biggest crime being the serving of sacramental bread that tastes like drywall; although they certainly aren’t in any financial hardship that they may try to portray. A 2018 Fairfax investigation highlighted the Australian Catholic Church has more than $30 billion assets nationally, including property. In Victoria alone where the Melbourne Response was based, the Church was found to be worth more than $9 billion thus making it the largest non-government property owner in the state. The investigation also found

the average payment to child sex abuse survivors was just under $46,000 and a total of $68 million has been paid out under the scheme. To put the Church’s finances into perspective, an IBISWorld report published in December of 2017 showed McDonald’s Australia to have generated a national total revenue just over $1.73 billion (including sales and other revenue). While the golden arches may be the holy mecca of drunken food runs at ungodly hours of the night, golden crucifixes which represent holy triumph and coincidentally suffering only serve as taunting reminders to the victims of Church abuse. So what does this mean for the largest Christian church with an estimated 1.2 billion Roman Catholics worldwide? Amid global investigations involving Catholic paedophilic sex rings, molestation and rape abuse scandals, the Church has undermined its very own essence of trust and credibility. While Pope Francis has called paedophile priests, “tools of the devil”, given the historical number of abuse cases, it remains to be seen whether the Church can genuinely assist its victims and change the current culture contaminated with sickening abuse. In the meantime, the world will watch on as the ongoing scandals continue nailing the Church to the cross.

ROBO-DEBT DEATH, AND CENTRELINK’S FAILURES Words by Henry Armfield

On the 18th of February the ABC published an article titled; ‘Over 2000 people died after receiving Centrelink robo-debt notice, figures reveal’. These deaths occurred between July 2016 and October 2018. A Centrelink debt occurs when income and Centrelink payments are inconsistent with requirements for receiving said payment. For example, if you were to make more than $1,060.67 as a single person with no children in a fortnight, and receive a Newstart payment in the same period, the Newstart recipient would become indebted to Centrelink. The system itself reaches far further than previous means of collecting Centrelink debts, and is retroactively cross-referencing ATO income records and welfare payments from at least 7 years ago. Prior to the introduction of robo-debt in 2016, Centrelink sent an average of 20,000 letters notifying welfare recipients of their debt a year. After the introduction of robo-debt, Centrelink were sending 20,000 letters per week immediately following the programs introduction. This has resulted in 900,000 letters requiring further evidence of income, and over 410,000 debt notices being issued since July 2016. The incumbent government is sticking to its promise of cracking down on debt collection and attributes a $2.9 Billion increase to the federal budget to recovered Centrelink debts in the same period.

A spokesperson for The Minister for Human Services, Michael Keenan, stated that “Any suggestion that the Department of Human Services' debt recovery efforts have contributed to customer deaths is simply not supported by the facts or statistics.” By the statistics provided, and the data available publicly, this is correct. The Australian death rate per 1,000 people is 7.7 as of 2017 over 12 months. The death rate within the population receiving robo-debt notices is 2.3 per 1,000 people. When broken down into demographics, approximately one fifth of the deaths were aged between 15 and 35. A fifth of the deaths being young is consistent with the proportion of young people receiving Centrelink payments as well as the 2018 death rate of the same population Australia wide. One third were categorised as ‘vulnerable’ prior to their death, making up 663 of the 2030 deaths reported. As Greens Senator Rachel Siewert stated, "Because of the way the system works at the moment, people don't feel confident or don't feel safe or trust the person that they're reporting to flag that they feel vulnerable, or flag that they might have poor mental health at the time". Domestic violence, drug addiction, mental health issues and other vulnerabilities are under-reported across the board, not to mention the inherent disadvantage of people who rely on Centrelink due to financial vulnerability. While the deaths can be explained by Michael Keenan’s spokesperson as in

line with statistics, the sheer amount of people who have become indebted to Centrelink by necessity or accident is another issue entirely. The ATOâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s PAYG system of reporting income is designed for full-time workers with one job, but inaccurate and systematically flawed for casual workers with multiple jobs worked in a financial year. This category of worker is made up by young people, and Centrelink recipients disproportionally. The taxation system along with other government run services incorrectly integrating with one another is the reason that robo-debt sent 900,000 letters but less than half resulted in a substantiative debt recovery. All the while, Centrelink services are outdated in real income terms, and well below the real poverty line. Kill two birds with one stone - fix Centrelink, and people will stop having to take more than theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re offered.

The poor of Australia have been ignored by legitimate and impactful policy since the Whitlam era when unemployment benefits were indexed to the poverty line.

The Triple J 2018 census on young people showed loud and clear, the two biggest issues for the next generation are mental health and economic security. Kill two birds with one stone, fix Centrelink, and people will stop having to take more than theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re offered.

ART AND PERFORMANCE IN FILM

WORDS BY DYLAN ROWEN

The inclusion of art and performance in film has always been a key technique used by filmmakers to layer their creation with numerous metaphors, aesthetic foreshadowing, or parallel imageries. Art is subjective, and its use in narrative-driven cinema continues to provoke discussions on our cultural legacies and the ways in which the screen shapes our conceptions of what art truly is. Let me take you on a guided tour, through the museums and into the cinema, and look back at recent films in pop culture that have utilised the visual medium of art and performance to enhance and add meaning to their storytelling. Suspiria (2018) Luca Guadagnino’s 2018 spiritual remake of Dario Argento’s Suspiria is a beautiful film awash with witchcraft, contemporary dance, and blood. Its themes of motherhood, power, and matriarchy set the perfect stage for intricate renditions of stylised dance sequences (choreographed by Belgo-French ethnomusicologist Damien Jalet) which represent ritualised moments of female agency and witchcraft. (One of) Tilda Swinton’s characters; Madame Blanc,

is inspired by German Expressionist dance teachers Mary Wigman and Pina Bausch. As a key plot device, Suspiria’s dance sequences and their artistic forebears are animalistic, chaotic, yet magically mathematical in their deadly precision. Velvet Buzzsaw (2019) Netflix’s newest literal art-house movie Velvet Buzzsaw, directed by Dan Gilroy, is an explorative portrait of the elitist and pretentious art world, and what the true value of art is, or could be. However silly and satirical this film is, all art lovers will get a kick out of watching rock star art critics and wealthy business owners being devoured alive by the art installations and pieces which they covet. The characters in the film all fall prey to the very art they despise or deride, and we mustn’t forget, as Rhodora Haze explains in the film, that “all art is dangerous.” The Square (2017) This meandering three-hour exploration of humanity and ethics tackles with a lot of heavy subject matter. Set against a myriad of installations, performance

art, and controversial curation, this 2017 Palme d’Or winning satire was inspired by a notorious incident involving Ukranian-born performance artist Oleg Kulik. Writer and director Ruben Östlund parodied Kulik’s 1996 controversy in which Kulik performed like a dog. He was chained next to a sign labelled “dangerous” and then physically attacked members of the public who ignored the sign. Kulik’s posthuman approach to performance art is satirised in The Square, where animal actor Terry Notary plays a performance artist who imitates an ape and in turn violently disrupts bourgeois pretensions. The eponymous square that the title of the film suggests is quite literally a square which is described as a “sanctuary of trust and caring. Within it we all share equal rights and obligations.” In an effort to promote the square, an advertising agency suggests to the museum something rather unconventional and controversial to attract visitors – which then goes horribly wrong.

by the entirely not-real Johannes Van Hoytl the Younger (apparently, “the rest of his shit is worthless junk” according to one character in the film). This faux-Renaissance masterpiece was commissioned by Anderson with contemporary visual artist Michael Taylor, who lovingly and meticulously created the artpiece prop described as “Czech mannerist, Habsburg high Renaissance, and Budapest neo-humanist.” Also, the eponymous hotel of the film was inspired by the outer façade of the Palace Bristol Hotel in Karlovy Varly, and shot on location within the beautiful Art Nouveau-style Görlitz Department Store in Germany.

Hereditary (2018) Ari Aster’s 2018 horror masterpiece film Hereditary is abound with miniature artistic pieces and dioramas which represent the Graham family’s strings being manipulated throughout this sinister narrative. The film’s opening shot pans through Annie’s (Toni Collette) studio with miniature replicas of places and spaces in her life. These miniatures (lovingly made by multidisciplinary Toronto-based visual effects artist Steve Newburn) eventually begin to form into metaphors of the family’s “actions” throughout the film. As the Graham’s have no agency—being controlled by a mysterious cult in every aspect of their lives—these dioramas are key to the multilayered and multistoried storytelling in Hereditary. The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) Wes Anderson’s baroque-pop 2014 drama The Grand Budapest Hotel is literally framed around the framing of a murder, and the involvement of a certain fictitious painting which fuels the plot of the film. Anderson’s distinctive style; stickily-sweet, visually rich in pastel colours, and lavishly crafted, is any aesthete’s dream movie-going experience. Set in the 1930s, the concierge of the Grand Budapest Hotel is bequeathed a painting named “Boy with Apple”

JORDAN PETERSON: INTELLECTUAL OR IMPOSTER? Words by Samantha Bedford

Peterson is considered by many to be a public intellectual due to his doctoral qualification in clinical psychology, which (to his followers) seems to equip him with the know-how to explain the very fabric of society despite having little more to wield than a glorified Myers-Briggs Personality Test. His influence, once confined to the “intellectual dark web”, has spread into the mainstream under the guise of providing genuine, credentialed wisdom. Peterson has become a minor celebrity, recently featured as a guest on Q&A while on tour promoting his most recent pop-psych book. Peterson’s prominence may seem harmless; he is most well known for his selfhelp style 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos (2018) in which he lays out a principled guide to self-improvement. However, his shift into the limelight has been a result of his right-wing political stance on freedom of speech and social egalitarianism. Peterson borrows archaic concepts from the works of early pioneers of psychoanalysis which have since been dismissed by modern psychologists almost unanimously. The pseudoscience of Jungian archetype theory forms the basis of Peterson’s gendered psychometric assumptions; the Big 5 personality traits - extraversion, neuroticism, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience, predispose a person’s social standing. For example, the pay gap can be explained as a natural phenomenon stemming from women’s “universally”, “statistically” higher scores in agreeableness which makes us less likely to demand higher wages, and less persuasive when we do. The sweeping entrance of women into the workforce in the Second Wave has caused a great deal of insecurity as female presence in masculinized professions poses a risk to the self-concept of men as superior. For Peterson to reject the notion of male

privilege in employment demographics, he theorises that the exclusion of women from the upper echelons of male-dominated fields must be biologically predetermined. Women simply choose to not enter coding due to our inherent domestic drive, or are mentally ill-equipped for the demands of STEM, and so our exclusion is reasonable and just. To Peterson, men have lost the ability to compete, traits which have been suppressed by feminists critiquing ‘toxic masculinity,’ a term denoting the destructive and harmful effects of violence, emotional ineptitude, and notions of male supremacy of cognition and athleticism. Peterson has stated that while society would benefit from the entrance of the talents of both men and women into the workforce, to assume that women could ever truly compete (without the support of quotas, of course) is outright false. Mainstream lip-service to the feminist principles of egalitarianism and fairness, have justified the accusation that women have disrupted the natural order of gendered segregation between the public and private spheres. ‘Status anxiety’, a term coined by Alain de Botton, is described as a 21st century preoccupation with a person’s position within the social hierarchy, predicated on the false meritocratic system of contemporary capitalist economics. If prestige is thought to be conferred by aptitude, the man who lacks the prominence expected of his sex is perceived as a failure. And so the man facing romantic rejection, and the independence of women who are more invested in their career than giving up their aspirations for married life and childrearing, is much more politically malleable. If the supposed deprivation of a right can be blamed on a social group or minority, this anger can be repurposed and redirected towards political outcomes. Theories of feminist extremists conspiring to destroy masculinity, leaving men without identity or purpose,

dominate the fears of the alt-right. ‘Red-pilling’, a term also popularised on the dark web, is what alt-righters believe is the rediscovery of some repressed truth, the fabric of society being laid bare, unobscured by the hegemony of ‘polite society’. What his many political supporters believe to be ‘enlightenment’ is actually the reinforcement of old, outdated beliefs which have fallen out of favour - the principles of Social Darwinism, for example - due to their scientific falsity, rather than some feminist conspiracy. Though these beliefs have been challenged more openly, and with more legitimacy, in recent years, misogyny is as pervasive and entrenched as ever, having never quite left the collective consciousness. Peterson’s bioessentialism appeals to the spurned white man, cognizant of his financial and marital insecurity - his lack of social prominence is not his own fault, but due to the perversion of nature by the principle of egalitarianism, and without the demasculinating force of feminism, he could reach his full predestined potential. In the recent Q&A debate, Van Badham acknowledged that the conditions that compel men to follow Peterson’s male supremacist sentiments are that of neoliberalism, and not ‘cultural Marxism’, women’s rights, or the quota system. Though it is easy to dismiss Peterson’s prominence as a promoter of his curative ‘meat-only’ diet, fuming social commentary bordering on delusional, and almost pathological contrarianism as a fascination with a kook from the deep web, he somehow maintains his legitimacy. Renowned for his denial of modern patriarchy, rejection of quotas in favour of the putative meritocracy of capitalistic competition, and dismissal of feminism on the basis that its purported pacification of masculinity has led to the decline of Western Civilisation, Peterson stands in the same vein as many other modern scientists-turned-politicalpundit.

Peterson himself holds an unchallenged professorial position at a major university, but has left the scope of his expertise to lend vocal support and credibility to the kind of far-out thought that remained in the periphery of conventional politics. Robert Kitcher, a philosopher of science, describes the sudden emergence of many alt-right intellectual thinkers as driven by “temptation to gain a large audience and to influence public opinion by defending ‘unpopular’ views” supported by an “epistemic bias” in political discourse which favours conservativism. However, James Watson, one of the male scientists credited for Rosalind Franklin’s discovery of DNAs doublehelix structure, was recently stripped of all titles and honours, including his 1962 Nobel Prize, for his support of race science. In a recent interview published in January, he stated that “there’s a difference on the average between blacks and whites on IQ tests. I would say the difference, it’s genetic”, holding a similar ethological conception of hierarchical society to Peterson. I am, of course, not averse to opposition or contention, as it is cultural critique, minimally toward internal reform, which motivates and drives social improvement. If we are led to believe that the current state of civilisation is manifestly utopian, intellectual and political stagnation results. However, Jordan Peterson and his ilk bring nothing new to politics. I believe that his views serve to reinforce social mores that have fallen out of favour, and if left to fester, stand against the common interests of longevity, stability, and opportunity. As pointed out by Van Badham, it is not the Nietzschean ‘Übermensch’ vision of masculinity that is in crisis, nor Western Civilisation, but the livelihood of women, especially that of the working class.

TEN YEARS OF LADY GAGA WRITTEN BY OLIVER HALES

ART BY JADE MARS

Looking back, Lady Gaga’s ascent to stardom was as swift and striking as any artist could hope for. The year was 2009 and, as far as I can remember, she was suddenly, almost inexplicably, everywhere. Her debut album had dropped the year prior, and she had quickly made a name for herself through a slew of sugary singles. From “Just Dance” to “Poker Face” to “LoveGame” to “Paparazzi”, Lady Gaga’s music was inescapable. This was for good reason, too; by the late 2000s, pop music was in a slump. It had been a good decade since the last real trendsetter, Britney Spears, heralded an age of bubble-gum pop, and run-of-the-mill artists were left to dominate the charts with dull, derivative songs. Lady Gaga’s electropop sound, with its thumping choruses and offbeat lyricism, was like a breath of fresh air. Not only was her sound brazenly theatrical, it was undeniably catchy – the type of catchy that almost seems mathematically created to get stuck in your head. But most startling of all was her persona: She was downright weird. Yet it was a weird type of weird, always teetering between genuine eccentricity and absurd self-awareness. The general public, unsure of what to make of her, found itself equal parts enraptured and confused. Many took issue with her provocative image and found her lewd. Others simply saw her as tacky. Nevertheless, it has been ten years since Lady Gaga became a household name, and popular culture has never been quite the same. Understanding the mechanics of fame – how people go about building renown for themselves – is the most valuable trait someone can have in the entertainment industry. Despite being only 22 years old when she burst onto the scene, Lady Gaga possessed something that set her apart from the majority of her peers; a preternatural understanding of ‘celebrity’ as a concept. Surprisingly few people in the limelight have a firm grasp on this type of thing, which is why they rely on publicists and representatives to safely guide their success. Lady Gaga, on the other hand, was a self-taught master from the beginning. Nobody knew how to stir attention, build hype, and create word of mouth like her. She had studied the icons of the past, and recognised the importance in building a mythology around oneself. The most prominent of her influences is Madonna, whom Gaga would not exist without. However, instead of focusing primarily on sex as Madonna did, Lady Gaga appealed to our fascination with the bizarre. Essential to this was her image. She wore strange, extravagant outfits, because she knew that nothing draws attention quicker than someone who looks ridiculous. Unsurprisingly, the paparazzi ate it up. They followed her everywhere, eager to get a glimpse at whatever new look was on display. In effect, she weaponized the media by always giving them something new to show, and they loved her for it. Most impressively, she managed to present herself as controversial, without actually being controversial at all. She’s never been interested in attracting actual drama or feuds. Think about it: How often do you hear negative press about Lady Gaga?

It’s all pretty tame stuff by contemporary standards – a meat dress here, an odd statement there, a bit of nudity sprinkled in for good measure. Somehow, she managed to attain the status of provocateur without any of the harmful baggage that so often accompanies it. Becoming famous is one thing, but staying famous is another feat entirely. It is in this regard that Lady Gaga takes enormous influence from artists like David Bowie and Cher, both renowned for reinventing themselves across long-ranging careers. In ten years Lady Gaga has been many things: The fame-hungry popstar, the glam rocker, the avant-garde alien, the jazz singer, and, on her most recent album Joanne, the stripped down ‘mature’ artist. Altogether, these roles make up an artist who is quite literally always performing. Currently, post-A Star is Born, she is knee-deep in her very-serious-respected-actress role. Regardless of how her personas have changed over the years, some truths have remained consistent; she writes or co-writes all of her songs, is a fantastic live performer, and has one of the most remarkably versatile voices in modern music (exactly why her earlier albums hid this is beyond me). Still, Lady Gaga is not a perfect artist. I would be cautious in calling any of her albums truly great. They all feature great songs, but they’re not album experiences. The closest she has come to a masterpiece is 2009’s The Fame Monster, an 8 track EP that blends thundering synth-pop with dark, gothic glam. Featuring some of her best songs (“Bad Romance”, “Telephone”, “Alejandro”, “Speechless”), it remains the closest she has gotten to a true coalescence of ‘art’ and ‘pop’ (much more so than 2013’s disappointing ARTPOP). It is hard to deny the enormous influence Lady Gaga has had on the music landscape since stepping on the scene. For one, there is now much greater importance placed on personality and visual appearance. Artists have also become more daring and willing to embrace unconventionality in their work. Take for example Beyoncé, who, after featuring in the video for “Telephone”, went through a total artistic makeover centred around unique costuming and elaborate visuals. Even Kanye West, who once had a planned concert tour with Lady Gaga (seriously, look it up), similarly began to produce music about the excesses of fame, not to mention create ambitious videos, such as the 35-minute short film for his song “Runaway”. Off-kilter acts have always existed, but Lady Gaga managed to bring bold individuality to the very apex of popular music. She has always done things her way, and will continue to do so for the rest of her life, no doubt in a variety of different forms. Lady Gaga, the performance artist, was born in the spotlight and will die under it too. That her debut album was called The Fame was no accident. “I can't help myself, I'm addicted to a life of material. It's some kind of joke, I'm obsessively opposed to the typical”, she sings playfully on the title track.

THE FACES THAT FLAMED THE FYRE Key takeaways from Netflix’s Original documentary: on power, influence, and the disparity between appearances and reality. Words by Hibra Shujaat For a documentary without any one narrator, Netflix’s ‘Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened’, could have easily seemed haphazard and lazy. Despite this, breakthrough director Chris Smith skilfully developed narrative clarity and created a rising sense of doom with each passing minute. The ultimate feat in cohesiveness, given how seamlessly everything from interviews, to behind the scenes footage, to old TV clips just… flowed. Yet, as brilliantly executed as it all was, upon closing credits I had the uneasy sense that my ‘Fyre’ experience remained incomplete. The iGeneration that we are, constantly served information on a silver platter, we’re used to instant gratification for all of our questions. For our ‘hows’, we have parents on speed dial; for our ‘whats’, we have Google; for our ‘whos’, we have Instagram, but ‘Fyre’ didn’t give us the answers to our ‘whys’. The Fyre documentary was trying to tell us something that it hadn’t outrightly summarised in a neat little punchline. It didn’t conveniently hand us a message, or a moral, or a caution; it gave us the tools to decipher our own. Gen X used to call it ‘food for thought’; at the University of Adelaide I suppose we’d call it a ‘classic film technique’. The wet dream of every English or Media academic, the thing they beg you to do for the entirety of your degree, the holy grail of literary techniques: show, don’t tell. In a world where we close Netflix only to open Snapchat, it made me put my phone down. Switch the TV off. Pause. And think. At its core, ‘Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened’ was the statement, not the summary. ‘Fyre’ – the doco-film anomaly – tried very hard not to exercise all the vices it rallied against: power, privilege, and the barren, hollow Grand Canyon

between appearances and reality in our social media age. Its nature as a simple retelling of events by the ordinary people involved testified to that. However, for me it was the voices that we didn’t hear that spoke the loudest. The most powerful people amidst the Fyre fiasco were not the Billy McFarlands or Ja Rules, with their propensity for entrepreneurship, utter believability, and skill for the manipulation of reality. No, those who wielded the most power, influence, and privilege were the people who sold the festival, the pretty faces with the sun-kissed skin. Their image cultivated the crystalline blue of the water, the golden of the sand, and created the utopia that every would-be Fyre attendee paid for; a world where your ‘gram aesthetic is your only currency, where even the poorest are rich. Yet, we did not hear from a single one of these models, the lifeblood of the project. Chalk it up to busy schedules, expensive paid appearances, their unwillingness to be associated with ‘Fyre’ thanks to the lawsuits and bad publicity, or even their inability to give an insight into what went on behind the scenes, simply because they didn’t know. But it’s also ironic: at the end of the day, the fame and image of these God-like influencers is the commodity, meant to be used and discarded. Their voices are irrelevant. Their opinions are irrelevant. Because all they have to give are their appearances. It’s not a classic case of objectification so much as it is a quintessential foible of the ‘Insta-generation’. Appearances are reality. The takeaway isn’t that ‘influencers’ wield a disproportionate level of power and influence over average Joes and Jennies – we already knew that. The takeaway is how little it takes to make an island

"the fame and image of these God-like infLuencers is the commodity, meant to be used and discarded." without plumbing look like heaven. How a festival which doesn’t exist can exist, if these people say so. How something that isn’t real is made real, and it’s as easy as clicking “post”. This should scare you. How easily this generation believes anything just because Kendall Jenner said so, should show us our own complacency. Social media does not train us to be critical, to evaluate the itty bitty nitty gritties. We are no longer people who stop, look and listen. We are no longer people who ask: who is running this festival, and what are their credentials? Who are their suppliers? How long have they been working on this? If they’re so legit, where is the documentation? Where is my itinerary, my assigned accommodation, my tickets, all of which should’ve been emailed to me months before my trip, because that’s how professionals work? The next thing you know, we’re living with Orwellian telescreens and Big Brother, because it’s that easy to enslave us. Okay, maybe this is an exaggeration, but it is a slippery slope. We already live in a world where, before Kim made it sexy, every girl with hips thought she was fat, and eating disorders were as common as eating itself, because some magazine decided skinny was ‘in’. Likewise, youths will now spend thousands of dollars on something which they can’t even verify exists, just because the promotional videos look legit and feature Hailey Bieber and Bella Hadid. Is the axis upon which our world rotates really the ‘gram now? Why do we use social media? What do we gain out of it, and what do we lose? My social media is my personal mood board. My ‘feed’ literally feeds my personality, containing the news, fashion, makeup, and beautiful destinations from around the world. I go to it when I want to

veg-out, have a giggle over a meme, and not think too hard. I post because I like to have a curated personal photo album, and it’s a great way to share my life with my friends and family, many of whom live interstate and overseas. But… I don’t read. I don’t write as much. I don’t look at my surroundings. I don’t take note of the shape of the clouds, or have time to mow my Mum’s overgrown backyard, because there’s always a distraction waiting for me. It always occupies my mind… and probably everyone elses. Pausing gives us the mental space to reflect on the world around us. But if every time we have a spare moment we mindlessly scroll through the ‘gram… we are susceptible to not question what we see at all. ‘Fyre’ definitely wasn’t the Immanuel Kant of our age, but it did, in Kant’s words, encourage us “to use our own reason.” It’s outright message was, yes, that Billy was cleverer and more cunning than the rest of his supposedly ‘smart’ investors and employees. I did however have a concerning deeper realization: it is unreasonably easy to sell a “pipe dream” to all-tooeager consumers, if you know how to play them. That’s right: we got played. P. L. A. Y. E. D. I’m not trying to be dramatic by comparing our meme-generation with the almighty Kant. But although we may not be slaves to the clergy, royalty or nobility, are we slaves to Instagram influencers, who wield almost the identical powers over us? We may not be Enlightenment intellectuals but is social media so all-consuming that we’ve forgotten the basic skill of not buying everything we’re fed and question appearances? Like every other era, ours has found its Achilles heel: social media. We may indeed be the first generation with the inability to realize that all that glitters is not gold.

1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 0

0 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1

0 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 1

1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 1

0 1 1 1 1 0 1

1 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 1

HOW BIG DATA UNDERMINES DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE DID MINORITY REPORT PREDICT OUR FUTURE?

Words by Ana Obradovic We know our data is increasingly being collected, combined and algorithmically analysed. The Snowden leaks demonstrated how deep the spying (sorry, â&#x20AC;&#x153;data collectionâ&#x20AC;?) goes. Just like in Minority Report, predictive policing, targeted advertising, and facial and optical recognition abound. The predictive capacities of new technology can infer information about us to such an extent that the tech seems to know more about ourselves than we do. For example, take the revelation that Target can, by tracking customer purchases, go so far as to work out whether a customer is pregnant. In an infamous case, the department store correctly inferred that a 16-year-old girl was pregnant before she had chosen to reveal that information to her family.

A more serious example is predictive policing. Just like in Minority Report, police can now use algorithmic analysis of crime statistics to choose which districts to target, and which citizen “profiles” are most at risk of offending. This is undemocratic, and disproportionately targets the poor and underprivileged. Poor, black and grew up in a “bad” neighborhood? Increased “random” checks and harsher relative punishments for the same crimes are now your daily reality. These decisions are not made based on careful assessment of personal character. In the pursuit of effective governance, (here, the ideal of lowering crime rates to zero, like in Minority Report) algorithms are used to make inferences about possible future behavior. Unfortunately, these inferences are based on the profiles of strangers that, for opaque reasons, are deemed similar to one’s “type”, and, in this case, decide whether the person in question might reoffend. The point here is that new technology assembles information in ways that can result in discriminatory or unfair conclusions. These assumptions can have serious effects on opportunities in life, and are often based on arbitrary correlations. An employer may choose not to hire a candidate, simply because they submitted their resume via Internet Explorer, instead of Chrome (apparently, workers who don’t use default browsers are more “proactive”). A bank can refuse a loan based on arbitrary inferences that mark an otherwise respectable client as a “risk”. Health insurers may raise premiums for the same service, based on private information gathered from sources like FitBit data (how active is the client?), or even private medical records. This is why we should be critical of data centralization initiatives like the MyHealthRecord app. Governments, corporations and researchers currently take advantage of Big Data’s potential in the apparent pursuit of better governance, services and public goods. The logic is simple, the more we know about the world around us, the better we can apply it to bring positive improvements. But more data collection in increasingly wider fields also means more surveillance. And while surveillance can be validated in the name of providing better security (national or otherwise), it’s important to ask: who really benefits when such capabilities go unchecked? Understanding how something (or someone) functions makes it easier to control. Just like in Minority Report, advertising can be tailored to precisely fit your digital profile. In our capitalist society, mental manipulation regulates consumer choices, while algorithmic filtering of news stories seen online fosters misinformation amongst citizens, who, unwittingly, find themselves in informational “filter bubbles”. The result inhibits informed citizen participation in democratic decisionmaking, as well as less effective scrutiny of those in power. Transparency and accountability, two essential features of democratic governance, are lost.

Our interactions, and our private information, leave permanent digital traces that can be tracked and combined to create extensive profiles of who we are, what we do, and, most disturbingly, how to get into our heads. Often we actively sign that information away in private legal contracts (end-user license agreements or EULAs) that we don’t actually read, and can’t do much about anyway: the choice is between acceptance of creepy and invasive terms of service, or abstaining entirely from platforms like Facebook, Linkedin and Gmail. Considering these services have become so integral to the daily functioning of our modern world, it’s useful to ask whether we have a choice at all. If we can’t choose the terms of our “consent”, and are coerced into consenting by the almost compulsory nature such platforms for modern daily functioning, should such unfair terms of service be allowed to exist? The General Data Protection Regulation rule passed by the European Union is trying to address these issues. But while this legislation marks a move towards a more democratic use of Big Data, there’s a long way to go, especially in Australia where such legislation does not apply. A pertinent case is the My Health Record initiative, where several serious issues exist. As an opt-out service (instead of opt-in), the service undermines the democratic necessity of informed consent. How many citizens now have permanent records of personal health information collected without even realizing, or understanding the extent of information kept? Second, the extensive data collected will be made available for research. The problem with this is that several studies have shown that anonymisation of personal data used for research purposes is complicated and often ineffective. Sometimes “anonymous” information can actually be reconstructed to reveal the identity of the person to whom the information belongs. Finally, the security of the information is questionable. Given the recent hacks to the Australian Parliament House computer network, how confident can citizens be that their information will be safely kept? When information is centralised like this, only one successful attack is necessary for all private information to be publicly revealed. My Health Record marks a further loss of citizen control over private information. The overall atmosphere of our modern society is one of deeper and deeper information collection – which amounts to more invasive citizen surveillance. We know mass surveillance impacts citizen freedom and autonomy. Life opportunities become potentially limited, and citizens may be manipulated into behaving in certain ways. Predictive governance, in the form of openly predictive, Minority-Report-style policing, or more insidious governmental and corporate coercion, is something that affects us all. We should all be paying attention. It’s important that we remain critical of the undemocratic implications of modern Big Data initiatives, including those with apparently benevolent intentions like My Health Record.

THE FORGOTTEN JOURNALIST: A TESTAMENT TO JOHN CANTLIE Words by Lawrence Hull John was forgotten by his government and many of his fellow human beings. The inspirational and courageous journalist set out on a journey to Iraq and Syria to bring truthful reporting to the rest of the world. In doing so he risked his life. Since 2012 he has been a prisoner of ISIS.

that John may still be alive and being held in the last remaining area under ISIS control in Syria. However, these reports have not been verified. With no confirmation of life, one can only imagine the torture John’s friends and family must be going through.

As ISIS has been nearly all but defeated, no substantiated news sparks a glimmer of hope that the young man may still be alive and within reach of rescue.

Whilst some European countries managed to secure the release of their kidnapped journalists, Britain and the U.S have failed to do so. The story of John Cantlie is a poignant one. His father, who issued a video appeal from his hospital bed has since died while John was being held captive. His family have for some time been quiet about his capture. One can only speculate that their flame of hope may well have been extinguished.

November 22, 2018 marked the sixth anniversary of the British citizen John Cantlie’s ordeal at the hands of Islamic State. Since his capture he has featured in several ISIS propaganda films. John looks gaunt and frail, and there can be no suggestion that he was acting of his own free will. There seems to have been no renewed efforts to attempt to secure John’s release by the British government. John embarked on a journey to bring factual and truthful reporting to the world about the conflict in Syria and Iraq. He is now paying a terrible price. The Free John Cantlie Facebook page is flooded with comments of love and support for John. John has been portrayed as a well-liked, down-to-earth young man who was honest in his character. As recently as early February this year, there were reports

Trapped and held hostage by the forces of evil, one can only hope that the winds of justice will blow his way and that he will be freed. For now, journalists and others alike, must cherish what we hold dear and keep John and his family in our thoughts. John Cantlie represents what it truly is to be a journalist. He is courageous, forbearing and determined. It is important for all of us who believe in the value of free press across the globe that John Cantlie remains not just in our thoughts, but also in our writing.

VENEZUELA'S DILEMMA Words by Felix Eldridge

After years of prosperity based on high oil prices, Venezuela is now plagued by twin economic and political crises. Since 2010, Venezuela has been racked by severe shortages, with food and medicine being the most important. This situation has been brought about by a number of factors, all of which stem from the government: Mass corruption, poor fiscal policies and the refusal to accept foreign aid. Venezuela is one of the most corrupt countries is South America. In 2012, Transparency International listed it as the most corrupt country in Latin America and as of 2018 it is ranked 168 out of 180 countries in its level of transparency. During its time of plenty, Venezuela did not set aside revenue for future years, choosing to recklessly spend huge amounts on popular but unsustainable projects. When the price of oil collapsed, so to did the currency, leading to mass inflation and economic destabilisation. Capping it all off, President Nicolas Maduro has refused to permit the majority of international humanitarian aid to enter Venezuela, claiming that it represents a U.S. plot against him and the country. Despite many pleas from foreign nations to allow shipments of food and medicine, many of these shipments have been turned away or are stuck at closed borders. Compounding the prolonged economic crisis, the nation is also faced by a crisis of government legitimacy. In May 2018, Venezuela held its Presidential election, which Maduro easily won. The main opposition groups boycotted the elections and the results were widely disputed. This year, the opposition controlled legislature, the National Assembly, declared the 2018 results invalid. They then stated that the Opposition Leader and President of the National Assembly, Juan Guaido, should be Interim President until a fresh election is held, which is in line with the Venezuelan Constitution. However, the confrontation between the legislative and executive branches is furthered when the pro-government judiciary intervened.

The Supreme Tribunal of Justice stated that the move from the National Assembly was constitutionally invalid. Adding to the complexities, in 2015 Maduro stacked the judiciary with his supporters, so that he could re-write the constitution in his favour and this has led to the scenario where a judiciary without independence is ruling on the legitimacy of Venezuelaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s government. One might believe in this scenario that Guaido should be the legitimate head of state because he has the legal backing of the democratically elected legislature, however Guaido has damaged his democratic credentials by offering amnesty to any military personnel who assist him in overthrowing the Maduro Regime. While the military is a key aspect of the Venezuelan political system, openly soliciting the might of the army detracts from his message of having a democratic mandate. On the other hand, given the armyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s huge influence in maintaining the current leadership, perhaps it is merely the shrewd pragmatic edge that will ensure the longevity of a Guaido Presidency. The final complication is the international recognition of Guaido as the legitimate Interim President of Venezuela. The majority of Europe and South America have recognised him, as well as the United States and Australia. The implications of the international recognition of his claim gives Guaido sizable clout, but if it leads to a transition of power, would set a precedent that international players, not the domestic population, can determine the legitimacy of a government. While there isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t a clear answer as to which leader possesses the legal legitimacy to lead, it is evident that the current President, through shocking levels of incompetence and malice, clearly has lost any moral authority to run the country. As to who ends up winning the struggle and the opportunity to pick up the economic pieces, who knows?

THE FLICKERING LIGHT OF SHINE SA

e t a m i x o r s p a p h 0 0 0 , 0 0 d5 t u c n e e n be i h S m o fr al u n an t e g d bu Words by David Elliott

Shine SA is South Australia’s leading public provider of sexual healthcare, treatment and counselling, with many services targeted to meet the specific needs of the queer community. Its services are crucial in containing and preventing the spread of STIs, HIV and providing a space for safe and respectful access to important preventative health information. In a political environment which still considers many queer people as deviant (sexually or otherwise), a large number of us are only taught about what happens when a penis goes into a vagina; a wholly non-universal form of sex. Shine then is a crucial part of the queer community in providing the information and support the education system fails to deliver to anyone who is not cisgender-heterosexual. Late last year, private consultancy group

Kordamentha delivered its report of Central Adelaide Local Health Network (CALHN) spending. Finding significant structural and administrative issues of overspending, the Marshall Liberal Government awarded Kordamentha an $18.9 million contract to save an estimated $41 million by July 2019. Instead of empowering health administration officials to oversee implementation of Kordamentha’s recommendations, the Marshall Government paid nearly $20 million, to save $40 million in spending: a net saving of $20 million following recommendations of a review into spending maladministration…

As part of a systematic health spending review, the Marshall Government plans to save $276 million over three years. Approximately $500,000 has been cut from Shine’s annual budget, representing a ~10% cut to Shine’s annual budget, or 0.18% of the total $276 million savings target. Consequently, Shine has taken the decision to close two of its four clinics, in Davoren Park and Noarlunga. With restricted funding to pay staff, some services have shifted to the remaining clinics. The targeting of Shine is therefore perceived by many across the health sector, and among many specialised community groups forming the Save Shine SA campaign, as unfairly directed at the queer

community, as well as people living with HIV (many of whom are heterosexual) and sex workers, many of whom face varied social and economic barriers to accessing safe, reliable and targeted sexual health services.

The timing of these cuts by the Marshall Government could not be worse for the community as syphilis transmission has increased across metropolitan and country SA and instances of mycoplasma (a bacterial infection) contraction have been unprecedented. Both are indiscriminate of gender and sexuality. In March 2017, the then State Labor Government declared a state-wide outbreak of syphilis; an aggressive infection which takes years to control within a population with careful prevention, treatment and monitoring. With one poorly considered, yet highly targeted cut, the capacity to respond to the outbreak is greatly compromised. Left untreated, the outbreak stands to cost the health system much more in responsive healthcare. A masterstroke of shortsighted economic rationality trumping long learned lessons in the cost saving value of preventive healthcare. The Marshall Government, who also de-funded Safe Schools in July 2018, has continued its agenda of social apathy by preventing the provision of knowledge, and now the provision of treatment, to the queer community.

The light of Shine as an important feature of our community flickers desperately. We need to reverse these unnecessarily harsh and targeted cuts to sexual health. The Save Shine SA campaign has taken the fight to Parliament. Shine is not just a matter of public health; it is a matter of fairness, respect and equality. Save Shine SA. David Elliott is the president of the Adelaide University Pride Club and campaigner for Save Shine SA.

My name is Eleanor. I am a normal 21 year old girl, who spends her days at university and her nights online shopping or watching trashy reality TV. I work as a dance teacher and wear way too much pink clothing. Words by Eleanor Day

MORE TO ME THAN MATHS

y l e s

It is commonly thought that the prejudice surrounding women in STEM is no longer a problem. And, as a female maths student I mostly do agree with this. Whilst all the big ticket items such as equal pay and opportunity have been mostly covered, we still have a lot to improve upon as a society. It is the little things, such as biased public opinion and advertising that still remain.

e's

But, I also study maths. I dread telling people this. When I was in year 9, my maths teacher told my class that it was scientifically proven that girls struggle with geometry. In year 10, my school had a higher-level maths class offered only to boys. The strangest part of this is that I never questioned it back then. I'd been conditioned to think that it was normal for boys to be better at maths than us.

had to learn to be confident in my own abilities. Everyone learns how to deal with these things differently. I found it important to seek female role models in my field, and I encourage others to do so also. Further to this, I would encourage any girls in STEM to join a group like WISTEMS. It is wonderful to be around like-minded people and spread the message to a broader community. The support is so important and does a world of good to erase any problems that remain. Stand up for yourselves and each other, be proud and tell everyone how great you are at what you do. This article was commissioned by the Women in STEM Society (WISTEMS) for their soon to be published magazine. WISTEMS aims to provide a supportive, fun environment for females pursuing STEM studies and careers. Check them out on fb at https://www.facebook. com/WISTEMS/ and @wistems_uofa on instagram.

Throughout year 11, boys would snigger to themselves when a girl asked a question in maths or science class. By year 12, there were only 2 girls left in my maths class. As a consequence of these small injustices, I was anxious about going to university to study maths. It's the little things that affected my confidence and I became worried that I would not, and could not fit in. During my time at university I have had a career advisor laugh when she found out I was studying maths and a professional supervisor tell me that I was 'lucky to be doing this specific internship because they usually take males from the top Sydney boys schools'. Most importantly, I have

Dominic Symes, acclaimed South Australian poet, discusses his participation in Adelaide Writersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Week and his journey to a creative writing PhD at the University of Adelaide.

Interview With

Dom Symes 48

When I meet Dominic Symes at a café on Gawler Street, he is excited to talk about his involvement in 2019’s Adelaide Writers’ Week show, Hear Me Roar! Slam and Performance Poetry at AWW, telling me that “it’s always nice to be included in a line-up full of local and international talent”. Though he is enthusiastic at the prospect of reading in front of an audience, he still holds some necessary nervousness for the event. “…I’m a little nervous about it because I’m definitely not a slam or performance poet. However, I’m happy to be included in the line-up and I have a lot of respect for slam and performance poetry. I think I was really asked to be part of the program because of my monthly reading series NO WAVE, which encourages local and international poets to read their work in front of an audience...” Indeed, Symes’s curation of the NO WAVE monthly poetry readings held at The Wheatsheaf Hotel in Thebarton has caused quite the ripple in the poetry scene here in South Australia. Amassing a range of different poets from various backgrounds, ages and career stages, NO WAVE has helped to promote the importance of community in the creative arts. “40-50 people come to this poetry reading once a month…Although that might sound really small, for this [poetry] community around Australia, that can be counted as one of the bigger readings.”

then there’s this feeling of being left behind. I think by having something like NO WAVE, it’s good to encourage people to write or perform work they’ve been holding onto. Symes also stresses that diversity is a large part of NO WAVE, claiming that there needs to be more younger faces featured to advance the face of South Australia’s poetry community: “…When you have a really consistent attendance it’s a really good opportunity to introduce younger people to that regular crowd. The really nice thing about poetry in Adelaide is that there’s an established set of poets who will come out to readings and to bring in younger readers or readers from more diverse backgrounds. I’m always trying to have someone young in the line-up so they can bring something different to the table…”

We get back to Writers’ Week, discussing how the festival can be beneficial to the creative community in South Australia: “…it’s a good to remind audiences that SA has as good writers as anywhere. Adelaide writers deserve the same platform as writers every else. I think our authors/writers/thinkers/ intellectuals should really be considered equal to people from around the world…” However, Symes states that there should be more involvement from the creative community to make Writers’ Week more effective for local writers.

And the reason NO WAVE was created? “To encourage poets and expose them to an audience because they are naturally introverted and apprehensive about sharing their work with other people. Adelaide is an amazing place to be creative because everything here is accessible, but what we lack is the anxiety and adrenaline when you live in a bigger city and

“There should be more connections to creative organizations at Writers’ Week. It would be interesting to see the English and Creative Writing Department have an input or give a platform for students to read their work in front of an audience outside of that academic context. Why isn’t there an On Dit tent? One for Writers SA? It would just make more sense to

see these people here to represent the various writers and voices we have here in South Australia.” Of his own creative journey, Symes is reflective. His formative years at The University at Adelaide were imperative for him to realise his passion for poetry. “…I liked studying English because it was like an Easter egg hunt. That is, the author is always giving you clues to their intentions. When you look at creative writing, this is taken into to extremes. Creative writing actually encourages writers to use appropriation and intertextuality of other works to make theirs stronger. I came from a background in song writing where this ‘borrowing’ from other people was really looked down, and for me, that was a really toxic environment for creativity. When I started writing poems, I realised that you could use fragments from others’ work without it being plagiarism, rather, it was like you were proud to show off what you’ve read. Making these references to things that have become before your own work is actually a really important skill because it shows that you’ve been reading and listening intently…” When I ask who inspired him to pursue poetry, Symes has one answer. “My PhD supervisor, Jill Jones. She [Jones] has been prolific in the Australian poetry scene for years and years. I hadn’t even written any poetry before I took one of Jill’s courses when I was 22. I really thought about poetry in Jill’s classes and realised that this was something I wanted to do. And what does he like to write about? Love and feelings. “My default position from the world is very ironically detached. However, when I write, I try to break that position to really surrender to

these important and personal feelings of love, desire, anger – anything I feel at the time. I want to use these images and events to show authentic emotions because after all the memes and irony, people need to feel to be human. While most poets resign to seeing their words on paper, Symes has had a colourful history with his poetry: “I like to present work in different ways. I’ve read as part of a friend’s art exhibition in a blue cape and a mask. I’ve also had a poem beneath a sculpture in Altona in Melbourne… I’ve never seen it, only in pictures. That’s kind of strange, isn’t it?”

Dominic Symes is an award-winning poet and PhD candidate in creative writing at The University of Adelaide whose work has been featured in numerous local and international publications. He currently curates the NO WAVE monthly poetry readings held every first Wednesday of the month at The Wheatsheaf Hotel.

Ariana Grande, Republic Records, 2019

Album Review: ‘thank u, next’ Reviewed by Sarah Hamilton Rating: 6 out of 7 Rings Ariana Grande has forged a career with her determined honesty and candid insight into the relationships and events that have shaped her life as a young twentysomething woman in the music industry. Her latest studio album thank u, next, released less than five months after her synth/dream pop effort, sweetener (2018), is an even more real representation of Grande’s struggles with loss, depression and empowerment after the collapse of her relationship with Pete Davidson, death of her expartner Mac Miller and 2017 Manchester Bombings. Opening her heart with the first track, imagine, Grande reminisces on an easier time in her life with Mac Miller. One of the softer tracks on the album, Grande is introspective, yearning for the past, but knowing she can never return because of Miller’s passing. It’s poignant, beautiful, and one of Grande’s best sung ballads, featuring the rawness of her [Grande’s] pain and whistle notes aplenty. The next track needy is another way Grande expresses her anxieties with dating and finding truth within herself. Claiming that she says “sorry too much” and “loves too hard”, Grande is honest about her struggles in feeling whole in a relationship, questioning if she’s the one who causes her own heartbreak. The album really peaks in this first half, though. With songs including NASA, fake smile and makeup, Grande lets out her feelings through bouncy beats, smooth-synth lines and some of her most powerful vocals. The highlight of this half, however, would be her tribute to Mac Miller and Pete Davidson, ghostin. The song which is Grande’s apology to

Davidson for not “ghosting” Mac Miller, samples Miller’s 2016 Cinderella and allows her to speak to both her formerflames. Telling Davidson "Baby, you do it so well/You been so understanding/you been so good/And I'm puttin' you through more than one ever should”. Of Miller, Grande is more emotional, singing, “Though I wish he were here instead/The one that living in your head/He just comes to visit me/When I'm dreaming every now and then”. The second half of thank, u next is a lot more poppy and samples hip-hop beats in in my head and the album’s second single 7 rings. This track is somewhat of a disappointment for Grande. On multiple listenings, it’s lyrics are shallow, a vapid version of Grande which detracts from the raw emotion she conveys in the first half of this otherwise solid album. Courting previous controversy from black artists including Princess Nokia and Soulja Boy for alleged plagiarism of their respective works, the song is rather a hindrance on Grande’s efforts to be a real person and paints her as a lewd caricature of a rapper. Despite this, however, thank, u next is a solid pop album which allows Ariana Grande to recount her hardships without being overly emotional or disingenuous. Her lyricism has improved from previous albums and the production from Scooter Braun, Victoria Monet and Taylor Parks should be equally commended. Though the album suffers from falling into avoidable tropes, it still conquers as one of the strongest pop records released in the last two years. Thank u, next sweetener, meet the new Ari.

Adelaide Fringe 2019 â&#x20AC;&#x201C;

PAUL FOOT INTERVIEW WORDS BY OLIVIA DE ZILVA

English comedian and surrealist extraordinaire, Paul Foot returns to The Adelaide Fringe with his new show Image Conscious, a “brand new show with brand new material’. “Yes, there’s lots of new material in the new show. Image Conscious is different to some of my previous shows, in that I have actually given it a traditional structure, but jam-packed it with ridiculous humour. It has a beginning, middle and an end, but you won’t know why any of it has happened! That’s the Paul Foot guarantee: an entirely pointless evening, or your money back.” When I ask Foot about his comedic journey from Merton College, Oxford to becoming the world’s answer to a comedic Salvador Dalí, he is delightfully introspective: “It all [the comedy experience] evolved organically really. I have always just gone on stage and said my humour, which I think of because that’s what I find funny. I haven’t done it on purpose, like Salvador Dali bringing his pet anteater onto that television show. What a ridiculous pet to have! An anteater needs to eat 30,000 ants a day. That’s more than 10 million ants per year! Where did Salvador get all these ants from?” And his surrealist perceptions of Adelaide? “It [Adelaide] the cheese diamond of the southern lands” For many British comedians, the rite of passage is to appear on a panel show, arguing pointlessly over funny questions with stupid answers. With shows including Would I Lie to You, The Big Fat Quiz of the Year and QI, there are always opportunities to display one’s comedic prowess with an audience and colleagues from the entertainment industry. One of the most prolific quiz shows, Never Mind The Buzzcocks, has been host to a range of comedians including Noel Fielding, Bill Bailey, Simon Amstell and of course, Foot himself. “Never Mind the Buzzcocks was especially fun, because it was so chaotic. Noel Fielding and Phill Jupitus are excellent and generous performers, and very silly men. There were no rules on that show, and no preparation - anything could happen! Once Noel and I spontaneously smashed a cake into a man’s face on the show. However, they paused the recording to tell us that there were cocktail sticks inside the cake. We had to carefully remove them, restart the cameras, and go back to anarchic cake smashing mode”.

Of the difference between Australian and British comedians? It’s negligible. “I’m not sure there is much of a difference necessarily. I think our national senses of humour are very similar. I have noticed one difference in Australian and British audiences though. A few years ago, in my show called Still Life, I performed a piece of humour about a man who ran a failed guava-themed shop – it only sold guavas, and guava-related merchandise. But there was a pineapple-themed shop over the road, which was obviously much more successful, so his business failed and he met a terrible end. In Britain, people would fall about laughing at this pathetic man and his failed guava-themed shop, but in Australia, when I performed that humour, everyone would be so upset and worried about the guava man, even though he was totally fictional – completely made up in my mind. So, I think maybe the Australian sense of humour is a little less cruel than the British sense of humour – ye are kinder than us, especially towards fictional, failed fruit entrepreneurs.” When I ask about the ever-evolving face of comedy in 2019, Foot is enthusiastic, relishing the fact that he can use “all the various platforms and media to do different sorts of humour”. Foot’s platform of choice? Podcasting. “My podcast is great fun to record – it is definitely where I do my weirdest, most unusual humour. My top Connoisseurs (his fan-base) all download the podcast to hear the weird humour from the depths of my mind. I once did a whole podcast about a kestrel - the kestrel cast. There was also a snake cast and a pigeon.” However, when discussing the platform of television, Foot is slightly ambivalent, saying that his “top priority is stand-up comedy and his live shows”. Though, if he were to make a television show, it would be “fun and entirely fictional”: “I’m sure it would be a fun thing to do…. maybe I could do one about the Titanic. In case you’ve not heard of it, it was a big ship that sank years ago in the ocean because it hit an iceberg because it was too big and couldn’t turn properly. Pathetic! Yes, maybe I could make a show about that, in which I play a young, poor American man who paints a picture of a lady in the night time and then the ship sinks right down. That would be a great show! Someone should make that…” Catch Paul Foot’s new Image Conscious playing at The Garden of Unearthly Delights from the 11-17th of March.

Book Review: ‘Selfish’ Rizzoli, 2015, New York Reviewed by Ashley Thompson

Kim Kardashian is selfish. She shares every intimate moment of her life with a click of a camera, earning her millions of dollars and adoring fans. This unconventional skill of Kardashian’s has earned her a multi-million book deal, amalgamating in over a decade’s worth of photos splashed over the glossy pages of Selfish, a book devoted to her life as an up-and-coming Calabasas socialite to queen of the mobile screen. Published by renowned book-house Rizzoli, Kardashian’s coffee-table book for very expensive coffee-tables, gives insight into the mind of the “modern day personification of Marilyn Monroe” (those words coming from Givenchy designer, Riccardo Tisci). Capitalizing on the “selfie-movement” of the late 2010s, Kardashian expertly places her well-groomed, well-tanned face on each page, proclaiming that each photo tells a thousand words from her day. Whether it be celebrating a well-done makeover by her friend and make-up artist of ten-years, Mario Dedivanovic or a lunch at LA hot-spot Stanley’s with her sisters, Khloe and Kourtney, Kardashian includes all of the mundane, yet, important memories of her almost 15-year career in the spotlight.

The critics will come for this book labelling it frivolous, vain and unnecessary. But isn’t that what Kardashian is all about? Isn’t her vanity apart of what made her so fascinating? Her frivolous spending, tweets and B-movie cameos part of what made her so endearing to the spotlight? Selfish isn’t the next best autobiography. Though it lacks the integrity of Maya Angelou’s I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings and merit of Hemingway’s Moveable Feast, it has something that makes readers want to keep turning the page and learn more about a life so far detached from their own. Although Kardashian hasn’t lived through wars, famine and political turmoil, she’s lived through a failed 72day marriage, armed-robbery and an empire which started from a leaked sex-tape. Her dynasty is only getting stronger and Selfish is the perfect way to understand why.

Film Review: ‘Josie and The Pussycats’ (Universal Pictures, 2001) Reviewed by Maxim Buckley ‘Josie and the Pussycats’ is pretty much what you expect from a movie targeted at people in their early teens. It has all the regular tropes that you’d expect. The characters look as though they were dressed by the same person who did the wardrobes for ‘iCarly’, ‘Lizzy McGuire’ and ‘Hannah Montana’, with the band members even sporting weird cat ears and tails.

make people buy a myriad of different products, this being a stroke of genius by the studio as it meant they could sell a shit tonne of ad space. The message of the film is unique to me when compared to others of its genre. Sure, part of the message is the typical ‘stick with your friends no matter what’. However, the anticapitalism undertones were quite refreshing, especially as someone who is wary of literally any advertising no matter what the product.

The movie is set in the fictional universe of the ‘Archie’ comics, which some people would now relate heavily to the Netflix original series ‘Riverdale’, and follows a young group of girls on their journey to stardom, pretty typical so far. What stood out for me is that the music isn’t actually terrible, some real thought went into each song. At a few points throughout the film I even found myself bopping along to the songs, which has only ever happened once before (flipping love ‘Hairspray’).

Overall, ‘Josie and the Pussycats’ is a fun romp. Though it was initially aimed at young teens, I’d say pretty much anyone can get some fun out of this film. ‘Josie and the Pussycats’ gets four out of five weird cat ears and tails. (You can catch ‘Josie and the Pussycats’ streaming on Stan.)

My housemate even pointed out to me that each song foreshadows the events of the movie, which if you ask me is pretty cool. The focal point of the film is that consumerism is rampant in the music industry. I found this choice to be really fun as it was conveyed in a super unconvincing way. Essentially, the villains of the film put a subliminal messaging track under all of their artist’s songs to

WORDS / IMOGEN HINDSON

RISE AND SHINE

New House Rex Orange County

Way It Goes Hippo Campus

When Am I Gonna Lose You Local Natives

ICONIC DISCO

Starlight The Superman Lovers

Cosmic Girl Jamiroquai

06 Yes Sir, I Can Boogie Baccara

I Want Your Love

Every 1â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s A Winner Hot Chocolate

Voulez-Vous ABBA

Dancing

Open Rhye

Dreams Solange

In The Capital Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever

Hippies Peter Bibby

Money Lime Cordiale

CHIC

YOUR MONTHLY MIX

SOFT FEMME

Frankie Cosmos

AUSSIE TALENT

Kiss Me Crying Ceres

Keen for Kick Ons? Psychedelic Porn Crumpets

Phase Me LOSER

SO MUCH LOVE TO GIVE Anonymous In my back yard Underneath the mulberry tree I kissed you in a moment of passion And I had so much love to give Drunk in my bed Words of love running through my head Your sober voice a soothing mist And I had so much love to give Riding home on the bus Your day had been a mess A million thoughts running through your head And I had so much love to give We couldn’t have sex Your body was a mess A similar situation to your ex And I had so much love to give And when you said you wanted to kill yourself That my life would be easier without you That your head was running a million scenarios a second And I had so much love to give Now I’m your ex We said it would all be for the best An endless cycle of guilt and regret And I have so much love to give But I can’t give it to you anymore

SEMINAR ON THE TORRENS Stanley “It’s a beautiful day. Have your seminar on the banks of the river!” announced the email from HR because the usual classroom was required for university business. We took our abridged copies of Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse down to the Torrens and our casual tutor explained that, in the original, they don’t get to the lighthouse so quickly. We watched reusable plastic bags flow down the stream and catch on the trash island. Some of us dozed off. Then our half hour was up. Those of us who’d stayed awake walked back to the bar where campus had been. We were having a drink when HR emailed us our certificates in mixology. No one had completed the requisite units, and I hadn’t even submitted last Friday’s quiz on the abridged Red Wheelbarrow, but, HR sincerely congratulated us, this time next week the banks of the river were required for university business.

OLD HOMES AND SENSATIONS Max Wurm Back in a time when things didn’t make sense Back on a creaky uncomfortable bed Back to the firsts, of which there was no lack Back when those walls filled me with content. To the old ways I run To the sad days I turn To relive for just a second To remember just a sense. The worst times The wrenched heart The long smiles The last goodbye. Future versions will not forget the bricks nor clay Future weeks will be filled with new and exciting ways Future homes will be built on this foundation Future me will remember these old sensations.

The Signs as Iconic Teen Movies Words by Olivia De Zilva ARIES “A Cinderella Story”

TAURUS "Twilight"

GEMINI "Mean Girls"

You’ve been hiding behind a mask out of fear you’ll be judgement. But look no closer Aries, someone is ready to love you for you! Take off that mask, embrace yourself and let love take over, if only for a sneaky kiss at midnight.

You’ve fallen for someone you shouldn’t have, Taurus. Not only are they off-limits, they might not even be human. Despite the advice of your friends and family, you don’t want to let go of this infatuation, leading you to enter some less than desirable circumstances. Mercury is telling you that this is a bad idea, but you choose not to listen. Be cautious Taurus, you don’t want to fall too hard and never return.

You’ve dealt with your fair share of flack this month, Gemini. You don’t know if it’s you or the people around you causing this negativity, but it’s got to stop. Take some time and re-evaluate your friendships before things get nasty and someone calls you a nasty name in their secret burn book. Don’t get hit by a big yellow school bus when it comes to making the right choices.

CANCER "Clueless"

LEO "Legally Blonde"

VIRGO "Ten Things I Hate About You"

Your mind is going a thousand miles a minute this month, Cancer. You don’t really know where to begin when starting afresh this year. Your vanity and naivety is sometimes getting in the way of doing the right thing. Your friends aren’t helping either and you should probably align with your Gemini brothers and sisters to get a clearer perspective on what makes a good companion. Never fear though, you might have a fraternal influence who is willing to help.

You’re an intelligent creature, Leo, remember that. Don’t let people take one of the defining features about your sign away from you. Although you’ve had plenty of pitfalls when it comes to your career and personal life, things may be looking up for you this month if you play your cards straight.

You’re in love, Virgo and you don’t care who knows it! You want to sing it from the rafters, loud and proud. However, once the high has come down, you’ll be confused as to how to deal with these new feelings. Your grand gestures can only go so far when representing your true emotional feelings to that special someone.

LIBRA "The Breakfast Club"

SCORPIO "Scream"

SAGITTARIUS "Freaky Friday"

You’re going to be trapped in a room with people you don’t like and it’s not going to be fun. The stars tell me that it will be in a schoolyard setting, with some of the worst personalities of your senior year. You shouldn’t run from this experience, Libra, you should embrace it. Get to know these people, see if they can teach you things about yourself you wouldn’t know otherwise. Learning is the most powerful connection we have, so utilize it.

I’m seeing a lot of mask imagery in this month’s stars. Scorpio, instead of hiding behind a mask, you have to run from one. Someone who claims to be your friend has sinister intentions in mind. You must find out who this person is and why they are after you before it is too late. Band together with your friends and allow yourself to feel safe.

Sometimes you need to see things from other people’s perspectives to truly understand what they’re going through. You might find your mind or body has suddenly clicked with another person’s. You needn’t be afraid, you should use this opportunity to get to know this person better and understand how your behaviour might be influencing them in a negative light.

CAPRICORN "Napoleon Dynamite"

AQUARIUS "The Perks of Being a Wallflower"

PISCES "Bring It On"

You’re a little different, Capricorn, we all know this. You might not be into the most popular or trendy things, but people value your thoughts and opinions in any case. This month, you should embrace these differences and see if you can meet someone like minded.

Your great listening skills will come in handy this month when your friends come to you for advice. Take all of your experience and pass it onto these people who truly need you. Your time for a shoulder to lean on will come, but you need to first allow yourself to be that shoulder.

You have a rivalry with someone that you just can’t shake. Instead of being competitive, however, you should probably just concede. You’re not going to win this month and it’s not going to be pretty if you keep on trying to be number 1. Keep your jazz hands away from any combat because they’re just going to become heavy metal.

WORDS BY IMOGEN HINDSON

GIG GUIDE MIDDLE KIDS

When: March 21 Where: Fat Controller

When: April 16 Where: The Gov

NEON TETRA

ALEX THE ASTRONAUT

When: March 30 Where: Rocket Bar and Rooftop

When: April 19 Where: Lion Arts Factory

ODETTE

CUB SPORT

When: March 30 Where: The Gov

When: April 20 Where: The Gov

MALLRAT

MONTAIGNE

When: April 5

Where: The Gov

When: April 24 Where: Lion Arts Factory

LIME CORDIALE

GROOVIN THE MOO

When: April 10-12 Where: Lion Arts Factory

When: April 26 Where: Wayville

PLANET SHHH LAUNCH (GOOD BOY (QLD), PARADISE CLUB, AND GUESTS)

KURT VILE & THE VIOLATORS

When: April 13th Where: Chateau Apollo

When: April 27th Where: The Gov POST MALONE When: April 28th Where: Adelaide Entertainment Centre

APR IL

THE BLOODY BEETROOTS

Best on ground University of Adelaide merchandise available in-store and online now. Level 4, Union House + The General

theadelaidestore.com.au

Free Lunch Every Fortnight on Friday During Semester #AdelUniUnion #getmore