The Georgetown Voice, 2/2/24

U P DAT E P U B DAT E F E B R U A RY 2, 2 0 2 4

“RUNNING AS A REVOLT”: HOW A NEW GENERATION OF RUNNERS IS REDEFINING THE SPORT

By Jo Stephens

POOR THINGS IS A PHILOSOPHICAL ODYSSEY DRAPED IN AESTHETIC ALLURE

By Elspeth Campbell

A NOT-SO-SHORT DEFENSE OF THE SHORT STORY

By Eileen Miller

Contents

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February 2, 2024 Volume 56 | Issue 9 Editor-In-Chief Graham Krewinghaus Managing Editor Ajani Jones

features

Georgetown Law student runs to unseat Georgia state senator indicted with Trump ANGELENA BOUGIAMAS

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sports

A Path to the Pros: Georgetown men’s soccer alumni at the next level ANDREW SWANK

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leisure

21 Savage’s american dream is all bark and no bite

internal resources Executive Editor for Lukas Soloman Resources, Diversity, and Inclusion Assistant Editor for Aminah Malik Resources, Diversity, and Inclusion Editor for Sexual Violence Alison Karki Advocacy and Coverage Service Chair Margaret Hartigan Social Chair Bradshaw Cate, Jo Stephens Archivist Megan O'Malley

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halftime leisure

Ariana Grande’s “yes, and?” is a joyous and defiant invitation to dance GABRIEL MENDOZA

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halftime leisure

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From childhood friends to musical powerhouses, Faye Webster and Lil Yachty reunite on “Lego Ring”

A not-so-short defense of the short story

ISABEL SHEPHERD

EILEEN MILLER

on the cover

voices

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leisure

Poor Things is a philosophical odyssey draped in aesthetic allure

TINA SOLKI

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halftime leisure

ELSPETH CAMPBELL

Ding dong! The Manic Pixie Dream Girl is dead

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SOFIA KEMENY

H*yas for Choice emphasizes education, opting not to protest anti-abortion conference

NEWS

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editorials

Black History Month calls for racial justice action

CONNOR MARTIN

EDITORIAL BOARD

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“Knights of Frolicking” BAHAR HASSANTASH

halftime sports

“Running as a revolt”: How a new generation of runners is redefining the sport JO STEPHENS

contact us

editor@georgetownvoice.com Leavey 424 Box 571066 Georgetown University 3700 O St. NW Washington, DC 20057

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"This Black History Month, selfcongratulations and celebrations are not enough—Georgetown’s Black students, and those impacted by its racist past, deserve real, substantive, and continuous action."

opinion Executive Editor Barrett Ahn Voices Editor Olivia Pozen Assistant Voices Editors Eileen Miller, Alison Karki, Ali Chaudhry Editorial Board Chair Sabrina Shaffer Editorial Board Connor Martin, Brandon Wu, Nora Scully, Jupiter Huang, Lou Jacquin, Olivia Pozen, Lukas Soloman, Dane Tedder, Andrea Ho leisure Executive Editor Zach Warren Leisure Editor Hailey Wharram Assistant Editors Nikki Farnham, Sofia Kemeny, Rhea Banerjee Halftime Editor Eileen Chen Assistant Halftime Editors Gabriel Mendoza, Sagun Shrestha, Francesca Theofilou sports Executive Editor Jo Stephens Sports Editor Henry Skarecky Assistant Editors Ben Jakabcsin, Andrew Swank, Langston Lee Halftime Editor Bradshaw Cate Assistant Halftime Editors Sam Lynch, Anna Cordova, Andrew Arnold design Executive Editor Grace Nuri Design Editor Tina Solki Spread Editors Olivia Li, Pia Cruz Cover Editor Bahar Hassantash Assistant Design Editors Rachel Zhang, Madeline Jones, Elin Choe copy Copy Chief Cole Kindiger Assistant Copy Editors Rania Khan, Maanasi Chintamani, Isabel Shepherd

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multimedia Multimedia Executive Connor Martin Podcast Executive Producer Romy Abu-Fadel Podcast Editor Lucy Collins Photo Editor Izzy Wagener

Tearing away professional sports from D.C. rips at the fabric of the city too

online Online Executive Tyler Salensky Website Editor Mj Morales Social Media Editor Kristy Li Assistant Social Media Editor Mark Manaois

halftime sports

NICHOLAS RICCIO

PG. 8

The opinions expressed in The Georgetown Voice do not necessarily represent the views of the administration, faculty, or students of Georgetown University, unless specifically stated.

Columns, advertisements, cartoons, and opinion pieces do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editorial Board or the General Board of The Georgetown Voice. The university subscribes to the principle of responsible freedom of expression of its student editors. All materials copyright The Georgetown Voice, unless otherwise indicated.

THE GEORGETOWN VOICE

news Executive Editor Amber Xie Features Editor Eddy Binford-Ross News Editor Franziska Wild Assistant News Editors Katie Doran, Sydney Carroll, Aashna Nadarajah

business General Manager Rovi Yu Assistant Manager of Mini Xue Accounts and Sales Assistant Manager of Ninabella Arlis Alumni and Outreach support Contributing Editors Adora Adeyemi, Angelena Bougiamas, Lucie Peyrebrune, Nora Scully, Lou Jacquin Associate Editor Jack Kealey Staff Contributors Meriam Ahmad, Mia Boykin, Elyza Bruce, Elspeth Campbell, Romita Chattaraj, Leon Cheung, Yihan Deng, Paul Kang, Julia Kelly, Ashley Kulberg, Amelia Myre, Nicholas Romero, Carlos Rueda, Ryam Samway, Isabella Stratta, Kami Steffenauer, Amelia Wanamaker, Fallon Wolfley, Nadine Zakheim

graphic by paul kang; layout by tina solki

Page 3

An eclectic collection of jokes, puns, doodles, playlists, and news clips from the collective mind of the Voice staff.

→ A GOSSIP RAT WEATHER REPORT

→ NICK'S FEBRUARY CROSSWORD

crossword by nicholas romero; “wet sad cold rat” by olivia li; newsletter artwork by deborah han; "salubrious sub" by pia cruz ; podcast artwork by sophia frank

Greetings, sinful freaks.

Wow, it is cold unseasonably warm WET. Are you dressed appropriately? Or are you slipping and sliding across campus, shivering in your soaked frat party sneakers? Perhaps Mommy Nature tricked you into dressing too toastily, forcing you to strip in front of your entire econ lecture (and filling my pants with some Gross Domestic Products).

Expect the dubious weather to come again and again and again and again and again.

Stay sexy. xoxo, Gossip Rat

→ THE MOST EGREGIOUS OSCARS SNUBS Nominations for the '23 Oscars came out last week, and Leisure has some qualms. Here are the worst of the worst snubs, by category.

• Best Supporting Actor: Charlie Melton (May December)* • Best Score: Spiderman: Across the Spider-Verse • Best Lead Actor: The bear (Cocaine Bear)* • Best Director: Greta Gerwig (Barbie); Celine Song (Past Lives) • Best Original Screenplay: May December; All of Us Strangers *Won by a landslide... in our hearts?

→ PIA'S SALUBRIOUS SUB

→ TUNE IN TO PODCASTS Check out this week’s Post Pitch episode to hear Voices's Eileen Miller discuss her love for short stories with Podcast Executive Producer Romy Abu-Fadel using the QR code:

→ CHECK OUT OUR NEWSLETTER! The Voice is coming to your inbox! Subscribe to our weekly newsletter at mail.georgetownvoice.com.

ACROSS: 1. To look after 5. Inhaled in surprise 11. October gemstone 12. Tracked vitamins/ minerals 13. Not straight 14. Chaos, disorder 15. Small polka circle 17. Half a small mint 18. Fried pastry hybrid 21. Bread used for gyros 24. Ready, ___, fire 25. Musician job opportunity 27. Bread, in Sevilla 28. South of Houston St. 30. Equal in status or pay 32. Ancient 34. Uni. exam 35. Reasons 38. Female horse 41. Express approval 42. Largest English boarding school 43. More than enough 44. Not a want, a ___

DOWN: 1. What corn is on 2. Monkey 3. “Residential” publishing company 4. John singer, to friends 5. Founding Father school in Fairfax, VA 6. “Isn’t,” in slang 7. Morsel of food 8. Substance made solid from a solution 9. Spherical lip balm brand 10. “Spring forward” proc.

16. Pull 18. Abbr. for the College 19. Brazil city, for short 20. Advice 22. Body ink, for short 23. Whichever 26. Not solid or liquid 29. Mary Kate or Ashley 31. Japanese noodles 33. Car imperfection 35. ___ One Arena 36. First Omegle question 37. Eye lump 39. Wade opponent 40. What this is

FEBRUARY 2, 2024

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EDITORIALS FEATURES

Georgetown Law student runs to unseat Georgia state senator indicted with Trump

BY ANGELENA BOUGIAMAS

W

hen residents of Johns Creek, Georgia heard that Ashwin Ramaswami was running to be their representative in the state senate, there was a decent chance they already knew him. Even after studying computer science at Stanford University, working in Silicon Valley, and pursuing his J.D. at Georgetown University Law, Ramaswami decided he could make the most impact in the place he calls home.

Ramaswami has spent the last month in Georgia District 48 grabbing coffee with constituents and holding town halls, among other campaign events. The 24-year-old hopes the north Atlanta suburb will choose him to be the state’s first Indian-American, Hindu, and Gen Z legislator come November.

All the while, Ramaswami flies back to D.C. weekly for classes and to teach at a local Hindu temple as he completes his third year of law school.

“It is nice to be somewhere like D.C. where it's like the center of everything; you're able to work on policy,” Ramaswami told the Voice in an interview. “But I think something I've realized is, all too often, the place where you grew up is perhaps the place which needs you the most. It's a place where you can really contribute back.”

The opportunity to fuse his policy, law, and technology interests in the nation’s capital are what drew Ramaswami to Georgetown for law school. He said that he’s continued to learn the value of bridging different disciplines working with the Institute for Technology Law & Policy and the Beeck Center for Social Impact & Innovation, where he helped establish the Judicial Innovation Fellowship Program to improve access to justice by bringing better tech to court systems.

Building the program helped him realize the important work being done in government on the state and local level but also the support they need, he said. The work partially influenced his decision to run for office.

According to Dhruv Peri (MSB ’26), the campaign’s communications director, their fundraising has already reached over $150,000, including contributions from Eric Schmidt, former CEO of Google. He said that the campaign is both focusing on spreading its message to voters ahead of the May election and helping make sure that District 48 swings back to blue in November.

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THE GEORGETOWN GEORGETOWN VOICE VOICE THE

Flipping the district is especially important as Ramaswami’s opponent, should he win the primary, is the incumbent Republican Shawn Still. The district’s firstterm state senator was indicted last year for falsely declaring himself as one of the state’s electors and certifying that former President Donald Trump won the state.

“Back home, my state senator was indicted for trying to overturn the 2020 election, and that's the exact opposite work of what I was doing,” Ramaswami said, referring to his time building election technology at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to secure the 2020 presidential election. “I realized that people like me should step up and put ourselves out there as a choice for voters to have, because we need people with integrity, expertise who can actually do the right thing.”

Ramaswami’s time at CISA taught him that there is “a lot of good work being done by nonpartisan civil servants.” But after Trump fired CISA director Christopher Krebs for releasing a statement that affirmed the security of the 2020 election, Ramawami learned that nonpartisan civil servitude isn’t always enough, motivating his run for office.

“It's super important to have technologists in government, but if you don't have the right people in politics, you can undermine all that work,” Ramaswami said.

Ramaswami is running as a Democrat but has experience working for officials of both parties. His time at CISA was during both the Trump and Biden presidencies, and he’s recently worked under Republican Attorney General Christopher Carr.

“I think anyone who gets elected in this district is someone who needs to be someone willing to listen to both sides and someone who's going to be able to work with people, and that’s exactly my intention,” Ramaswami said.

“I am bringing in a new voice, which has previously not been there, whether it's my ethnicity, my technology background, my age. The hope is that people from both parties will recognize that.”

Ramaswami is running on promises to better fund education, expand Medicaid, and improve pay for civil servants, among other reforms. He’s also looking

to invigorate the Metro Atlanta economy by encouraging entrepreneurship, fixing the district’s roads, and making public transit safer.

Some of the policies, like education, are informed directly by his experiences in Johns Creek.

“I was fortunate to go to a public school which is one of the best public schools in Georgia in the sense that, [it had the] most amount of funding and most amount of resources, but even my school had trouble,” he said. “The teachers had trouble getting budgets to make sure they could acquire supplies for their classrooms. Teachers were still not paid very well."

Ramaswami also told the Voice that he is opposed to Georgia’s six-week abortion ban and is in favor of transgender people having access to medical care.

“The government should not interfere with the decisions made with the advice of trained medical professionals,” Ramaswami said in an email.

While Ramaswami hopes to have a direct impact on his home community with his run, he also believes the District 48 election highlights the intersection of local and national politics.

He called his campaign against his indicted opponent one of “the most direct opportunit[ies] to hold Republicans accountable for what they did in trying to overturn the 2020 election.”

“As people say, all politics is local.” G

photo courtesy of ashwin ramaswami; design by ryan goodwin

SPORTS

A Path to the Pros: Georgetown men’s soccer alumni at the next level

BY ANDREW SWANK

O

n Jan. 20, Georgetown alumnus Sean Zawadzki started in the United States Men’s National Team’s (USMNT) friendly match against Slovenia. Zawadzki, a fouryear starter and two-time captain for the Hoyas, had previously worked his way into the starting lineup of the Columbus Crew of Major League Soccer (MLS) since he joined the team in 2022.

His call-up to the national team was a monumental achievement—not just for his career, but for the Georgetown men’s soccer team as well. However, Zawadzki’s success is an anomaly, as most of the current best USMNT players did not get their start in college soccer.

Almost all of the elite professional soccer players got their start in club academies, working their way up to the senior level. For example, Christian Pulisic—one of the best American soccer players of all time—signed for the German team Borussia Dortmund’s academy when he was 16, proving his worth on their youth teams before making his senior debut as a 17-year-old.

Georgetown’s men’s soccer program has consistently been one of the best in the country, with five BIG EAST championships and a national title in 2019 to their name. Many Hoyas, such as Zawadzki, have gone on to have careers as professional soccer players—a sign of the consistent strength of the program.

Sean Zawadzki, Columbus Crew FC The aforementioned Zawadzki is a midfielder/defender for the Columbus Crew.

Zawadzki joined the side during the 2022 season, but only made five appearances in that year’s campaign. The former Hoya captain played a larger role in the 2023 season, making 30 appearances in the regular season and 15 starts, as well as appearances in all six of the Crew’s playoff games. Zawadzki’s appearance for USMNT in the international friendly game against Slovenia was a sign of his rise over the past few years. Admittedly, the team that played against Slovenia was not the “A Team” for the USMNT, but Zawadzki was a steady presence for the team and led the USMNT in touches, showing that he can handle the international level.

Dante Polvara, Aberdeen FC Dante Polvara played three years at Georgetown between 2019 and 2021 and won the 2021 MAC Hermann award as the best player in men’s college

design by pedro vélez aguirre

soccer. He is now a defensive midfielder for Aberdeen, a club in the Scottish Premiership. In his time at Aberdeen, he has made 35 appearances and scored two goals, including his career-highlight goal in a match against Eintracht Frankfurt in the UEFA European Conference League on Sep. 21, 2023.

Polvara’s goal marked the first goal by an American in a European competition in 2023, even before world-class players like Christian Pulisic, Gio Reyna, and Ricardo Pepi. Polvara joined Aberdeen in 2022 after his junior season at Georgetown, before leaving on a short loan to play for the Charleston Battery in the United Soccer League (USL) Championship, the second tier of American soccer.

Aidan Rocha, Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC Aidan Rocha was a standout midfielder who played four years for the Hoyas, leaving the Hilltop after the 2022 season. D.C. United selected Rocha 60th overall in the MLS SuperDraft, and he signed with D.C.’s reserve team, Loudoun United FC of the USL. Rocha had a strong season with Loudoun United, playing in both midfield and defense. In December 2023, he joined another USL team, the Colorado Springs Switchbacks, for the 2024 season.

Jack Panayotou, New England Revolution Jack Panayotou only played the 2022 season at Georgetown, recording seven goals and three assists. After his freshman season, he signed a homegrown contract—a contract for players who began their career with a MLS club’s youth academy—with the New England Revolution.

Panayotou made 11 appearances in the 2023 season, but at only 19 years old, his career is just beginning.

In an interview with the Revolution, Panayotou expressed gratitude for his time at Georgetown. “It helped me [...] get ready for this level, and I think I can come in here and make an impact.”

Dan Gargan Dan Gargan played as a midfielder for four years at Georgetown from 2001–2004, serving as captain in his junior and senior years. The Colorado Rapids drafted Gargan 43rd overall in the MLS Supplemental Draft—the rounds of drafting after the MLS SuperDraft for players who have completed their college soccer careers.

He had a long career, stretching from the 2005 season until the 2015 season, and won the MLS Cup in 2014 with the LA Galaxy. Gargan’s extensive career makes him perhaps the most successful Georgetown men’s soccer alumnus.

Jacob Montes, Botafogo Midfielder Jacob Montes played three full seasons with the Hoyas before departing in the middle of the 2020 season (which was played in the spring of 2021 due to COVID-19). When Montes left, he became the first Georgetown men’s soccer player ever to sign with an English Premier League club when he signed with Crystal Palace F.C. in 2021. Crystal Palace, however, sent Montes on loan to two clubs in Belgium, and he never made an appearance for the English club. In August 2022, he joined the Brazilian team Botafogo, where he currently plays. Most of Montes’s recent play has been for the Nicaraguan national team, where he has made seven appearances and scored three goals for the team. Montes, a member of the 2019 National Championship team, is a very talented player who could have a long professional career.

On the whole, Georgetown men’s soccer has recruited a number of incredible talents and helped them develop into professionallevel players. Their professional careers are proof that there is a path from the Hilltop to the pros. Six Georgetown players were chosen in this year’s MLS SuperDraft—twice as many selections as any other school.

Among the draftees was sophomore forward Jacob Murrell, who was selected seventh overall by D.C. United. Those players have the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of all the Hoyas who have come before them.

However, the fact remains that it is very difficult for college soccer players to make it at the next level, competing against players who have gone through professional clubs’ academies. Georgetown will continue to produce talented professional-level players, but they will face an uphill battle to reach the world-class level. G FEBRUARY 2, 2023

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LEISURE

21 Savage’s american dream is all bark and no bite

BY TINA SOLKI

A

fter a blistering three-year run of singles, collaborations, and features, 21 Savage’s third studio album feels less like a victory lap and more like a tired retread of familiar ground.

Compromised by a half-hearted genre shift and a misguided branding strategy, Savage’s american dream (2024) is, ultimately, little more than another uninspired exercise in coasting on clout.

Born in the U.K., a seven-year-old Savage and his mother immigrated to Atlanta on a one-year visa that he would, two decades later, be arrested for overstaying, making national headlines for the revelation of his Britishness. In October 2023, the announcement of his newly-obtained green card would cause a resurgence in memes and coverage that Savage has, evidently, tried to capitalize on in american dream.

The album’s SHEIN-esque veneer of substance frays on the barest inspection, revealing a teetering foundation of gimmicks and genre clichés. The album’s eponymous opening track, a spoken-word voice memo from Savage’s mother narrating “all the trials / and all the pain” of his come-up, is hollow, verging on corny. These “trials and pain” only reappear with intention in “letter to my brudda,” a warbling interlude unenthusiastic in its reflection, and “dark days,” a molasses-slow closing ballad dedicated to a younger Savage.

While I’m disinclined to demand introspection from a hardened persona like Savage, considering the album’s context as a retelling of his origin story, one might assume “letter to my brudda” is an ode to any one of Savage’s departed loved ones: his brother Quantivayus, his best friend Johnny, or his “left hand” Larry, each lost to gang violence. Instead, Savage devotes the song to rapper Young Thug, who was arrested in May 2022 on racketeering charges, only sparing his best friend a glancing mention: “Hard

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work, tryna keep the past behind me / I still be havin’ flashbacks ’bout Johnny.” Savage wades ankledeep into his past, but cannot bring himself to dive deeper, relinquishing any opportunity for candor in exchange for another tired discussion of his comeup—“Fast forward and the major label signed me.” “dark days” closes the album with a similarly shallow meditation on his life’s journey, backed by a cheesy feature from Mariah the Scientist.

The conclusion? “Even gangsters cry.” “dark days” culminates with another stilted monologue from Savage’s mother reaffirming that “dreams really do come true.” Savage’s final reflection on his upbringing is, at least, a truly American approach to introspection: toothless when it matters, selfcongratulatory when it doesn’t, and ultimately constructed with the barest ingredients necessary to be fit for sale.

Perhaps toothless is the best word to describe american dream: though each track rehashes Savage’s usual material (his stone-cold killer persona is reiterated ad nauseam), it lacks bite. It’s an empty threat of an album—there’s an unshakable sense that nothing real lies behind each bar on this project, paradoxically billed as his most autobiographical.

The dynamism and spark that characterized his earlier projects and cemented his place within the zeitgeist are noticeably absent here.

The fault lies with the album’s discordant mix of stylistic experimentation and inertia. The only novel aspect of american dream (relatively speaking, as compared to Savage’s previous releases) is its sampling: 10 out of 15 tracks are based on crooning vocal samples where his projects have, historically, relied on trap beats. However, doing something new is hardly an excuse to do it poorly. Track after track, Savage fails to capitalize upon anything the beat offers him. His delivery veers from menacing to listless, with moments where he’s downright lethargic on the beat. On “pop ur shit,” where the hook is just that—“pop your shit,” over and over— the listener barely has time to be relieved they’ve broken free from eight egregious measures of dispassionate shit-popping before Savage delivers some of the worst bars on the whole album: “What you smokin’? / Uncle Snoop, / It smell like gas / I think somebody pooped.”

The degree to which the featured artists shine makes Savage’s indifference especially glaring. While Burna Boy and Metro Boomin

can’t entirely save the mediocre hook on “just like me,” Travis Scott’s bouncy opening verse on “neé-nah” infuses the track with much-needed momentum. Combined with a redemptive Metro on production, Savage is reinvigorated enough to see the track through.

Besides “née-nah,” american dream’s most unified track is lead single “n.h.i.e.,” featuring Doja Cat. Here, Savage’s drowsy delivery feels intentional amid the track’s dreamlike atmosphere. Doja Cat’s feature is hypnotic, playing off of Savage with a characteristic irreverence that centers her as the song’s undisputed highlight.

It’s unsurprising, given “n.h.i.e.” is itself an outtake from Doja Cat’s Scarlet (2023), but it calls into question just how often Savage relies on his collaborators to carry him through his tracklist.

Doja’s “(ad-lib!)” ad-libs behind her verse are, in isolation, a fun parody of Savage’s signature “(21!).” More broadly, however, they underscore the staleness Savage has adopted as his modus operandi—one can only coast on a catchy set of ad-libs for so long. american dream isn’t altogether unlistenable, but it is deceptive, meandering, and occasionally vapid; it feels like every 21 Savage song you’ve ever heard, thrown into a blender and excreted as a smooth graybrown mush. It’s slop, in the way many have called the last half-decade of Marvel movies and unnecessary reboots slop—something that goes down easy, that’s uncomplicatedly consumable, and that fails to leave a lasting impression beyond some pale cannibalization of the cultural capital it’s made its foundation upon. Half of american dream would fit neatly amid an infinite rotation of “lofi beats to study and chill to”—a compliment, if you’re actively striving for that genre, but an indictment if you’re the guy known for having some of the most memorable punchlines in the game.

21 Savage’s american dream is a melting pot: a mindlessly okay listening experience, a failed pseudo-autobiography, and a tired junior effort all at once. If Savage’s American dream was to break the glass ceiling on hackneyed, inoffensive self-imitation, he’s made it a reality. G VOICE’S CHOICES: “n.h.i.e.,” “should’ve wore a bonnet”

“née-nah,”

design by pia cruz

HALFTIME LEISURE

The Manic Pixie Dream Girl is dead

BY SOFIA KEMENY

W

e all know her. We all probably hate her.

The best word to describe her is quirky. Whether it’s her ever-changing hair color, her atypical fashion sense that resides between twee or supposedly edgy, or her ability to seemingly change the lives of everyone she meets, one thing is true about this evasive, mysterious, and irresistible woman: she is not like other girls. She’s the Manic Pixie Dream Girl (MPDG).

For the better part of ... forever, film has been plagued by an onslaught of underdeveloped female characters. From the blonde bombshell to the femme fatale, women in film have often accessorized the plot rather than drive it, and the MPDG is no exception.

Coined by Nathan Rabin in 2005, the Manic Pixie Dream Girl lives in the “fevered imaginations of sensitive writer-directors to teach broodingly soulful young men to embrace life and its infinite mysteries and disasters.”

She masquerades as a well-rounded character, with her offbeat lifestyle meant to give her personality, but she lacks life and drive; instead, she exists to serve the leading man.

The MPDG’s problematic nature originates in her sole purpose of pitting women against one another. One of the most established examples of the MPDG is Ramona Flowers from Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (2010), where her conflict with Knives Chau—Scott Pilgrim’s exgirlfriend—is central to who Knives is. Seething with jealousy that Ramona can garner Scott’s infatuation, Knives changes herself to be just like Ramona. She dyes her hair, dons a scarf, and wears a full-length black bodysuit to look more unconventional, like Ramona. As Knives’s life begins to emulate Ramona’s, their relationship is reduced to pure competition. Ramona and Knives do not have lives of their own; they were created to vie for Scott’s attention and to hate one another because of it.

This valor given to women who deviate from convention wholly pervades teenage media. If we think back to the ever-so-popular 2000s high school movies—such as Mean Girls (2004) or She’s the Man (2006)—nearly every protagonist is awkward, nerdy, or clumsy, while the antagonist is popular and perfect, but “basic.” The protagonist is “relatable”: she

design by jihoo yang

trips over nothing, stumbles over her words, and emphasizes that she knows nothing about beauty and style. By contrast, the antagonist is a caricature of femininity. She is deeply interested in style and makeup and obsesses over celebrities. Rather than appealing to the largely female audience, she is villainized because she is too “girly”: she’s vain, ditzy, and boy-crazy. Her femininity becomes her downfall.

The MPDG trope propels this hatred of conventional femininity. By defying traditional notions of femininity, she serves as an enticing alternative to the “basic” girl. Ultimately, this divergence from the canon is not rooted in the actual wants of the MPDG; it stems from patriarchal pressures to be different from the mainstream. But the MPDG can’t just be any type of different: she has to be more like the boys. As popular media and films demonize stereotypically feminine interests, traditionally masculine activities are substituted. She can play sports on the same level as men, but is never better than them. She likes The Smiths, but allows the man to explain the ostensible intricacies of their music to her. The MPDG is held prisoner in the purgatory of being “woman enough” to be sexualized, yet “man enough” to be liked by her male counterparts. The MPDG does not have any agency of her own, because, frankly, she is not her own person. She is a means to an end, created to change the life of the leading man.

In creating the “perfect woman,” writers and directors paint femininity as an inherent evil while treating all other non-traditional feminine interests as a stain on womanhood.

The infiltration of the MPDG has slotted women in film into three categories: the hyperfeminine bitch, the “cool” girl, and the unfuckable nerd.

These three categories treat female characters as the only characters they can be, eliminating any chance of well-rounded and dynamic portrayals.

Despite 20 years of domination, this past year saw the MPDG entirely dethroned, from mainstream blockbusters to indie comedies.

Bottoms’s (2023) unabashedly horny female protagonists PJ and Josie subvert traditional female typecasts. The duo creates a lesbian fight club to get closer to their crushes, completely

decentering the plot from men. Beyond this decentering, Josie and PJ being objectively terrible people is what makes the MPDG trope crumble. They make choices that land them in hot water time and time again, but these choices make them human. Their growth completely diverts from tropes that keep women as static plot devices. Whereas Bottoms highlights the beauty in being traditionally unfeminine, Barbie (2023) uplifts the hyperfeminine.

Barbie has become the shining light at the end of the tunnel, ending the mainstream hate train of all things feminine. The film’s representations of its “Barbies,” who revel in their shared love for fashion, pop music, and one another, embody the antithesis of the MPDG. In Barbieland, Barbies embrace their camaraderie and similarities while possessing their own desires. Barbies do not live for the Kens; they live to become scientists, Nobel Peace Prize winners, and presidents.

While Barbie was one piece of media where femininity was valorized, its sheer popularity puts the final nail in the MPDG’s coffin.

When Barbie and Bottoms were released, social media was flooded with rave reviews and massive appreciation for movies so expertly centered on the trials and tribulations of womanhood. While Barbie’s recent Oscar snubs and Bottom’s lack of nominations reaffirmed that industry elites do not value realistic depictions of girlhood, the online outcry has made one thing clear: dynamic films about women have struck a chord with mainstream audiences. We cannot go back to how it was before, when women were pitted against one another for the approval of a mediocre man.

Although producers may attempt to revive the MPDG for their own interests, one thing is abundantly clear: the people want her to die. She already has one foot in the grave; female moviegoers want characters that resemble themselves and feel real. But perhaps most importantly, they want to be just like other girls. G

FEBRUARY 2, 2024

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EDITORIALS

Black History Month calls for racial justice action

BY THE EDITORIAL BOARD

W

hile Black History Month is a time to reflect on the stories and progress of Black people at Georgetown, this reflection cannot occur without meaningful action. Each February should remind Georgetown of its responsibilities to interrogate the university’s racist past and work toward becoming an explicitly antiracist institution. Rather than simply celebrating progress, administrators should take this opportunity to assess, improve, and reinvigorate ongoing racial justice initiatives.

Georgetown often highlights the legacy of Patrick Healy (president from 1873–1882), celebrated as the first Black president of a major American university. For example, diversity initiatives like the Patrick Healy Endowed Scholarship and Patrick Healy Graduate Fellowship offer financial support to outstanding Black students under the auspices of Healy’s name. But for Georgetown to retroactively point to Healy as an example of Black excellence and racial progress obscures several facts. First, the university did not publicly recognize Healy’s Black ancestry until the 1960s and 1970s, nearly 100 years after his presidency. Second, Healy was only able to serve as president because he was white passing.

After Healy’s tenure, Georgetown continued to exclude Black people from the university and did not admit its first Black student until 1953.

Thus, rather than tokenize Healy, the university should address institutional barriers that have barred Black students from the university for decades. Especially in light of the overruling of affirmative action, the university should make concerted efforts to include Black students in the admissions process through targeted recruitment and other “race-blind” initiatives that increase diverse enrollment.

As part of reparations, Georgetown should provide full scholarships to descendants of the GU272+. Under the current admissions process, descendants are offered the equivalent of “legacy” status but are not guaranteed additional financial aid due to their descendant status.

Though descendants are eligible for need-based financial aid like all Georgetown students, this aid is not always sufficient to cover the costs of attending the university.

Georgetown must also reconsider the way it engages in reparations through the Reconciliation Fund. The $400,000 annual fund, raised via alumni donations, supports community-based projects that benefit descendant communities

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of the GU272+.

Though it was established in 2020, the first round of funding was not allocated until fall 2022, and no additional funding has been announced. Many descendants have taken issue with the fact that the Reconciliation Fund does not offer direct financial reparations and have expressed that $400,000 is insufficient to support thousands of living descendants. $400,000 is the hypothetical sum of a mandatory $27.20 activities fee for all undergraduates proposed by a 2019 GUSA referendum. The activities fee was not meant to reflect the actual cost of enslavement, but was rather a symbolic reference to the 272 enslaved persons sold by Georgetown in 1838.

Future discussions about reparations must continue to include the voices of living descendants and address their current needs, not just a symbolic value. In addition, the university should reconsider implementing the mandatory activities fee that would require all students to participate in financial reparations.

Students should be reminded that Georgetown’s existence was only made possible by the labor and sale of enslaved Black people.

Georgetown must take seriously the act of commemorating its Black history on campus.

At the same time, the university must begin tearing down its monuments to enslavement.

Since renaming Isaac Hawkins Hall in 2017, the university has stalled in its efforts to memorialize the GU272+. The only other oncampus reminder of the GU272+ is a slideshow in Leavey Center that scrolls through a list of names and ages of the enslaved individuals sold by the Maryland Jesuits in 1838. As part of reconciliation efforts, Georgetown must heed calls from descendants for on-campus memorialization of their ancestors.

Georgetown risks causing further harm by continuing to pursue new building projects without considering the history of the land. For example, the ICC, Reiss, and Arrupe Hall were constructed atop a cemetery that held the graves of both enslaved and free people. The university

must properly memorialize its Black history in order to remind students of their responsibility to engage in reconciliation work.

The university is taking an important step by, starting in the 2024–25 academic year, requiring all undergraduates to take a one-credit seminar called “Race, Justice, Power.” The course will hopefully increase students’ understanding of Georgetown’s history with enslavement and racism. The university must ensure, however, that this course does not cause further harm to Black students by training professors to be antiracist while mediating these discussions and inviting feedback from students.

As a predominantly white institution, Georgetown must address the ways that racism persists on its campus today. In particular, the university must take threats of hate crimes and speech on campus seriously. The university must commit to becoming an antiracist institution that delivers justice for its Black students.

Georgetown should ensure that reporting mechanisms like those offered by the Office for Institutional Diversity, Equity, and Affirmative Action are timely, transparent, and reliable.

When a crisis does occur, the university should be willing and ready to respond to students’ needs, rather than forcing them to demand action from the school.

The university should also bolster institutional support for Black students, ensuring that they are well-equipped with consistent funding and staff. The multitude of Black student organizations on campus serve as a place for students to build community and share experiences. The university should exercise its oversight to see that these clubs receive adequate funding and are supported by knowledgeable faculty advisors. Georgetown should also ensure that resources like the Center for Multicultural Equity and Access and Black Survivors Coalition are adequately staffed and funded.

The university should not only act when others demand change. If Georgetown is truly committed to the work of reconciliation, it must continue to make progress on commemoration projects, even when there is no external pressure to do so. This Black History Month, self-congratulations and celebrations are not enough—Georgetown’s Black students, and those impacted by its racist past, deserve real, substantive, and continuous action. G

design by rachel zhang

HALFTIME SPORTS

“Running as a revolt”: how Howsocial socialmedia mediais is making running more inclusive

BY JO STEPHENS

A

s a concept, running is a sport that can come hand-in-hand with scrutiny. Many people who don’t run—and even sometimes those who do—might have preconceptions about what it means to be a runner. How fast someone runs, how many races they’ve competed in, and even what a person looks like might be misconstrued as determining whether someone is worthy of being deemed a so-called “real runner.”

Of course, none of these factors are necessary to being a runner. Anyone who runs is a runner, regardless of their pace, goals, or even fitness. And these ideas, which once weren’t given much airtime, are now surging into popular consciousness. Thanks to both the pandemic-induced surge in running’s popularity and the continued rise of fitness influencers, running is in what could be considered a renaissance.

Thus increased interest has opened the door for continued and heightened discourse about runners and the stereotypes surrounding them; it’s becoming clearly understood that being a runner is about nothing more than the act of running itself.

For people with chronic illnesses, autoimmune diseases, and disabilities, this conversation gives them a lane to speak about their experiences and to highlight the fact that assumptions about what running looks like are rarely accurate.

Perhaps it’s better to say that running is undergoing not a renaissance, but a redefinition.

Here are the stories of some of the people making that reformulation possible.

“I learned how to use my running as a revolt” - Latoya Shauntay Snell As a podcaster and social media activist, Latoya Shauntay Snell is very familiar with the scrutiny that can come with putting your running journey out into the public sphere. Her perspective on the sport has been shaped by her identity as “a plus-size, queer, Black, and chronically ill woman.” Faced with mobility issues and chronic illnesses impacting her reproductive system, Snell has had to adapt her style of training so that she can meet her goals without harming herself in the process.

“Living with two handfuls of medical conditions means that I have to listen to my body’s needs and desires more than the average person … I know that if I push myself beyond my limit, I may not be able to run at all.”

design by olivia li

Because she trains in the ways that are best for her body, Snell has run 28 marathons and six ultramarathons, a deeply impressive achievement. And in doing so, she has pushed back against the stereotypes that often surround long-distance runners—particularly those that relate to appearance and mentality.

“Society is sold that long distance runners have to be lean, eat super clean, and [that] their personalities are all about being laser-focused on nothing but the sport,” she explained in an email to the Voice.

Snell deconstructs these ideas and utilizes her lived experience to teach others that there is no right way to be a runner. Via her social media presence and podcast, she shows thousands of people every day that to be a runner is simply to run—with no other strings attached.

“Countless people paved the way for all of us to show up looking, talking and being ourselves in this sport,” Snell wrote. Now she’s one of those people, working to blaze her own trail in the digital age.

“We are just as capable as anyone else” -dOlivia Nice Olivia Nice was one of the many people who took up running during the COVID-19 shutdowns; she thought it would help her “deal with the frightening, changing world” brought about by the pandemic. What started out as a way to cope quickly became a passion, and she now has a runningcentered TikTok account with over 4,000 followers.

She describes her platform as “a safe space for slow running girlies” and posts on social media to encourage people who might feel insecure or judged for running with a disability.

“Being disabled [in the running world], it is very easy to feel different and left out,” she said, highlighting the frustration she sometimes feels when she compares her pace or achievements to those of her peers. But by taking to TikTok and sharing her journey, she has found a

space both on the internet and in her own head where she can help change what running means and looks like.

“I want to increase representation … we are just as capable as anyone else.”

“I know I can endure” - Adam Wasson Unlike Nice and Snell, Adam Wasson is not an influencer. He is, however, a lot of other things—a professional ghostwriter, the parent of a Georgetown senior, a self-described “persevering badass,” and, of course, a runner.

For Wasson, running and having Crohn’s disease often go hand in hand—but sometimes in ways that might not be apparent. For example, he talked with the Voice about nutrition being a space in which running and Crohn’s complement each other.

“The diet that you eat with Crohn’s disease is really similar to the kind of optimal diet while you’re in the midst of a suffer-festy run … You’re just eating simple carbs. So I am like the simple carb master.”

More than diet, though, Wasson feels that Crohn’s and running are linked in the matter of perseverance. A lot of the experiences he’s had—and the things he learned about himself contained within those moments—have applied to having a chronic illness just as much as they apply to long-distance trail running.

“Suffering through an illness, a bout of an illness or a flareup of an illness, is not so unlike suffering through a really, really hard, long ultra[marathon] ... You’re like, okay.

I’m just going to

keep going. I’m not going to give up. I feel really shitty, and I’m going to keep going until this is done.”

In a world where runners are boxed in by preconceived notions at every turn, Snell, Nice, and Wasson are putting themselves and their stories out there, hoping to widen the scope of what society thinks when they hear the word “runner.” G

FEBRUARY 2, 2024

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HALFTIME LEISURE

Ariana Grande’s “yes, and?” is a joyous and defiant invitation to dance

BY GABRIEL MENDOZA

T

he initial reaction to Ariana Grande’s new track was far from praiseworthy.

Comments like “‘yes, and?’ is just Zara dressing room music” and “I miss the old Ari” are on the kinder side of the feedback Grande has received. However, after listening to this track, I would argue these criticisms are wholly unfounded. In fact, in a somewhat prophetic move, Grande’s new song both preempts and responds to this adverse reaction. She explicitly calls out her haters throughout the song while also commanding the listener to rise above their personal critics. With an addictive beat and uplifting lyrics that exude confidence, “yes, and?” is an immensely exciting introduction to her much anticipated seventh studio album, Eternal Sunshine (2024).

Before launching into this review, I must come clean: I have only listened to a handful of Ms. Grande’s songs and so cannot provide a comprehensive comparison of this track to the rest of her discography. What I can tell you, however, is that this is truly an insanely catchy track that’ll make you want to get up and dance.

Or, at the very least, tap your fingers and forget about the bleak winter weather.

At the track’s start, a muffled voice repeats the phrase “dancing on, I keep” six times (think the intro to Beyoncé’s “I’M THAT GIRL”) until interjected by the line “gonna be at, I know, gonna be at the door.” Not only does the intro just sound fun, but the unbothered lyrics reflect the carefree feeling of the beat, inspiring one to get up and keep dancing. Then, at 30 seconds, Grande gives us a welcome beat drop. And I mean a beat drop. Clearly already aware of the fact that “yes, and?” will be blasted on the dance floor, Ariana released an extended version of the track three days after the original release that boasts a whopping 80-second intro, heightening the allure of the opening even further.

Moving into the first verse, Grande makes the observation “In case you haven’t noticed / Well, everybody’s tired / And healin’ from somebody / Or somethin’ we don’t see just right.” Although not exactly a commentary on the human condition, these lines convey the all-too-recognizable exhaustion that stems from constantly having stuff going on in our lives. Grande continues, instructing, “If you find yourself in a dark situation / Just turn on your light and be like / ‘Yes, and?’”

This advice is rather idealistic (and certainly

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oversimplified), but is it not refreshing to think that we do have the power to just “turn on [our] light[s]” when faced with troubles?

The titular phrase “yes, and?” radiates total self-confidence, strongly asserting that we should own our actions and exclaim “so what?” to our critics or haters. “yes, and?” heavily interpolates and structurally resembles Madonna’s iconic 1990 hit “Vogue." This fact is immediately recognizable from the moment you press play, given both songs’ similar extended intros and near-identical tempos, with “Vogue” clocking in at a speedy 116 bpm and “yes, and?” at 119 bpm. Yet the parallels stretch far beyond their sound. “Vogue” was a landmark release for the queer community given its hailing of individuality and self-expression, as well as its titular reference to the ballroom scene. 34 years later, “yes, and?” unashamedly seeks to parallel Madonna’s sentiment of liberation, and does so triumphantly.

“Vogue” opens with the whisper “What are you looking at?” an almost identical sentiment to Grande’s defiant line of “yes, and?” The similarities don’t end there—when the first verse of “Vogue” kicks in, Madonna sings, “Look around, everywhere you turn is heartache / It’s everywhere that you go.”

These lyrical similarities demonstrate how Grande was inspired to reiterate Madonna's recognition of the fatigue and negativity that so often surround us. Both songs also urge us to turn inward and feel happy by really feeling ourselves. But just feeling good is not enough—they want us to move. Madonna told us in 1990 to “let your body move to the music,” and Grande tells us in 2024 to “keep moving,” highlighting the power of dance to help us escape from the worries of the world.

Grande made sure to reiterate the sentiment of queer liberation at the heart of Madonna’s track. She calls out in the first verse “Boy, come on, put your lipstick on (no one can tell you nothin’),” clearly referencing queer celebration and defiance.

This is not a new sentiment to Grande: her 2020 collaboration with Lady Gaga on “Rain On Me” is a prominent example of how many of her tracks are hailed as queer anthems. In this light, the whole track is an ode to the queer experience and a signal of Grande’s acceptance of her iconic status within the queer community. She adamantly tells the

listener to be their authentic self, and to do so unapologetically.

Toward the song’s end, Grande descends from her trademark belts to huskily speak the lines, “My tongue is sacred, I speak upon what I like / Protected, sexy, discerning with my time.” She radiates a grounded selfconfidence reminiscent of those Headspace mindfulness techniques (IYKYK) where you envisage yourself in a bubble, at peace with yourself and your surroundings. And yet, she adds a sexy and confident aura into the mix that feels oh-so-necessary. As she sings, “your energy is yours and mine is mine,” Grande encourages us to stay in our own lane, protect ourselves, and not succumb to others’ negative energy. Instead, as she repeats in the chorus, “be your own fucking best friend.”

The track’s message is clear: be proud of yourself, be unapologetically who you are, and just get up and dance! G

design by paul kang

HALFTIME LEISURE

From childhood friends to musical powerhouses, Faye Webster and Lil Yachty reunite on

BY ISABEL SHEPHERD

F

aye Webster and Lil Yachty might seem like unlikely collaborators; despite Yachty’s psych-rock turn in 2023 with Let’s Start Here., his trap-forward sound is miles away from Webster’s easy-listening indie-country discography. But the pair have an endearing origin story: the two Atlanta natives were friends in middle school before they drifted apart as adults. In the years since their schoolyard days, both have established themselves as dynamic creative forces. They first crossed paths professionally when Webster, who started her career as a teenage phenom shooting portraits of Atlanta’s rap elite, photographed Yachty in 2017. They’ve since both grown into musical powerhouses: Webster has honed her particular style—an eclectic mix of indie pop, country, and R&B influences—to major acclaim, while Yachty’s experimental spirit has seen him try his hand at nearly every rap subgenre under the sun. Released on Jan. 11, “Lego Ring,” the lead single off of Webster’s upcoming fourth album Underdressed at the Symphony (2024), marks the pair’s first musical collaboration.

While their work inhabits wildly different sonic landscapes, the two artists share an irreverent, playful sense of humor that shines through in the track. It even comes complete with its own Guitar Hero-esque video game called Singsongorama (2024), which the two play in the music video. With its whimsical graphics of animals playing “Lego Ring” themselves, the video harkens back to their origin story as childhood friends.

Webster herself admits that the song is a moment of lighthearted reprieve on her largely melancholic upcoming album. “I think I hit a point in songwriting during this record where I was just like, man, I said a lot.

design by madeline jones

The record feels like a mouthful to me, but I don’t always have to be deep. I can just sit down and sing about this ring made of crystal Lego that I really want,” she said in the album notes for Underdressed at the Symphony. Despite its perhaps juvenile lyricism (at least by Webster’s standards), the sounds of “Lego Ring” are hardly child’s play—the track opens with heavy guitars that emphasize Webster’s distinctively twangy vocals. Piano punctuates the guitar sludge before breaking abruptly into a smooth, characteristically Faye Webster arrangement of pedal steel guitar, groovy keyboard, and bass.

It’s not often that the recording process itself significantly elevates a song, but the production of “Lego Ring” truly enhances its unique, bifurcated instrumentation. All of the songs on Underdressed at the Symphony are recorded in a live room, lending them a richness and undeniably full sound. The two arrangements—the grungy and, for lack of a better word, the Websterian—structure the song, alternating back and forth.

The sudden change of pace is jarring, and it places Yachty squarely in Webster’s world.

Unfortunately, his delivery doesn’t entirely fit there, warbling uncannily as he attempts to capture the softness that’s so central to Webster’s style. Yachty isn’t incapable of meeting this dreamier sound—the opening track of Let’s Start Here., “the BLACK seminole.,” saw the rapper luxuriating in a psych-rock instrumental that would feel right at home on a Webster album. Still, Yachty’s voice, autotuned to high heaven, bubbles over Webster’s, whose vocals suddenly seem sicklysweet in comparison. He offers support from the sidelines through the verses as Webster’s voice takes center stage, and the autotune melds far more seamlessly with the heavier guitars on this portion of the song than on the smooth pedal steel-and- piano chorus.

Nevertheless, the discordance between Webster and Yachty’s voices only underscores the lyrics, as the two wistfully confess, “I know what I like / I know what I want / But you know I kinda need.” What the duo “need” is left unsaid, and Webster seems to leave the choice up to the Lego ring: “It’s a mood ring / it’ll pick for me.” In this space between desire and need, the unusual companions feel more suited to each other.

Yachty delivers the final verse, closing out the track with a bang. High, bright strings make the handoff from the Websterian portion smoother than anywhere else on the song, clearing the way for the rapper’s voice to burst forth in a triumphant command to “​​ Melt me down, it’s sunny / My new ring stick like honey.” Both braggadocious and deeply sweet (“Me and you the dream team / Always together like string beans”), Yachty brings a mischievousness that counteracts Webster’s detached sarcasm, and his delivery injects the track with a refreshing jolt of energy.

While “Lego Ring” is by no means a perfect song, its weaker moments never feel nonsensical, as is often the case with collaborations attempting to bridge wildly different genres.

Instead, Webster and Yachty complement each other in utterly novel and exciting ways—Yachty’s carefree demeanor brings out a side of Webster we rarely hear, one that’s infectiously energetic and uninhibited. Alongside “Lifetime” and “But Not Kiss,” the other singles from Underdressed at the Symphony, “Lego Ring” signals a new era of experimentation for Webster. While she may not have put her finger on what exactly this expansion of the Websterian genre will bring, we like, want, and need to hear more from this “dream team.” G

FEBRUARY 2, 2024

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VOICES

A not-so-short defense of the short story

BY EILEEN MILLER

O

f all the ways I have changed in the past few years, my new fondness for the short story has been one of the more unforeseen changes.

This was not a sudden shift, but rather a gradual phenomena I noticed in my reading habits: the sneaky dominance of short story collections in my record of books I’ve read. In the past year, I’ve enjoyed Ling Ma’s slanted realities in Bliss Montage, Bora Chung’s chilling modern fairy tales in Cursed Bunny, George Saunders’s comic satires in Pastoralia, and even explored collections by authors better known for their long-form works like Ray Bradbury and Shirley Jackson.

For many years, I had an unjustified dislike of short story collections. As an aspiring writer in middle and high school, I was consumed by the notion that a writer must pen novels and only novels. Full-length books were infused with a sense of legitimacy and accomplishment that was then stripped from short fiction. The types of stories I envisioned, however, were better suited for the format of short stories. By shedding the misconception that I must stretch out inspiration to write a book, I was able to write what I wanted to write.

It took some time for my reading habits to catch up, but evidently, the exposure to short story collections has converted me. And why shouldn’t it? Short stories are delightful.

And yet I have been told repeatedly by professors and published authors alike that short stories don’t sell. This wasn’t told to discourage me from writing them, but was rather offered as a sort of resigned comment: an accepted tragedy of the publishing industry.

Writing is an art, but it is also a business.

Although self-publishing has soared in popularity over the past decade, most books still arrive on bookstore and library shelves through the gatekeepers of the literary world: publishers. In the 20th century, short stories were published and widely read in magazines such as Harper’s and The Atlantic. As the century drew to a close, magazine readership dwindled, fiction reading habits shifted, and short stories’ popularity faded. Readers today are more interested in novels, and publishers have taken note. They look at what will sell when making decisions about which books to buy. Lacking the cohesion and sequel potential of a novel, short

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story collections often fall through the cracks as publishers prioritize economic successes.

But putting economics aside, there is a wonderful beauty to the short story.

With no hard rules on length, short stories can span from a few sentences to tens of pages.

Free from the space requirements of a novel, the core element of a short story is brevity. It must avoid convoluted plots and unnecessary descriptions, focusing only on the essentials to bring a story across. Every word must count.

Despite this, there is a reason they are not called “shortened” stories. Some stories work best in a compact format, exploring premises that are intriguing, but with too narrow a scope to warrant a whole book. These short and sweet plots fit perfectly in a few pages, creating rich characters, situations, and worlds. In contrast to reading a book over multiple days or weeks, I can finish a short story in a single sitting and be completely immersed in the story. Whereas novels leave me thinking about their themes and characters, it is the plots of short stories that stick with me after I have moved past the final word. These are not stories that attempt to grapple with world-ending stakes or globetrotting adventures, but instead ones that examine an intricate sliver of life.

In one of my favorite stories, John Cheever’s 1964 “The Swimmer,” a man fancying himself an explorer decides to swim home through the pools of his wealthy suburban neighborhood. In under 5,000 words, Cheever masterfully guides the reader along the protagonist’s journey and slowly shifts the story’s tone, turning a simple premise into a much deeper, darker narrative.

In “The Embodiment,” by South Korean writer Bora Chung, a woman gets pregnant from her birth control and is informed that if she does not find a father for her

baby, the baby will not develop properly. The story focuses on the essentials, the protagonist, and the absurd situation she is trapped within, leaving the reader absorbed in a gruesomely satiric story for all 27 pages.

These are stories that don’t overstay their welcome; free from the pressure of expanding into a novel, their premises can be explored without inflating simply to achieve a page count. Novels can, of course, also be concise masterpieces, but short stories more often take on the unique, underappreciated task of making complex themes and ideas accessible and equally thrilling.

Short stories have also made their mark on culture outside the literary world. The genesis of films like 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and Brokeback Mountain (2005), as well as more recent ones like Arrival (2016) and Drive My Car (2021), can all be found in short stories.

In the busy life of a college student, short stories are the perfect length to fit into an already crammed schedule. The prospect of completing a 300-plus-page novel can be daunting when considering the hundreds of pages of readings assigned from classes. Short stories, in contrast, offer no such pressure. Their short length makes them perfect to read in between classes, sitting in the metro, or before bed. While bookstores may have a smaller collection of short stories, you can find plenty in literary magazines and journals, which publish both online and in print.

This is not to say that short stories are superior to novels; just as short stories have their own specific qualities that make them special, so do long-form narratives. But as novels have less trouble flying off the shelves, we should all give this unappreciated literary form a little more love. If this article was the perfect length for you, I know just what you should read next. G

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LEISURE

Poor Things is a philosophical odyssey draped in aesthetic allure

BY ELSPETH CAMPBELL

I

n a year of cinema characterized by ironic juxtapositions—“Barbenheimer” and, to a less ubiquitous but arguably more memeable degree, “Saw Patrol”—it is no wonder that a film which is both comedy and drama, inspires both fear and nostalgia, and is both serious and tongue-incheek, feels undeniably current. Commercially, the two defining movies of 2023 were Barbie, which challenged conventional gender roles by reappropriating a pop culture icon as a deconstructor of social norms, and Oppenheimer, a portrait of a controversial figure grappling with the human consequences of scientific achievement. Thematically, Yorgos Lanthimos’s Poor Things (2023), a surrealist bildungsroman of a woman wrestling with her existence in a society dictated by sharp moral judgments and sexual politics, blends the best aspects of these two films together to create something truly spectacular.

Based on Alasdair Gray’s 1992 novel, Poor Things is a twist on the trope of a childlike narrator questioning the social conventions they encounter. Bella Baxter (Emma Stone) has the mind of an infant, but the body of a grown woman. Echoing works like Frankenstein (1818) and Emile (1762), the story documents the intellectual development of its protagonist through heuristic edification. As much as the film is a character study of Bella, it is also a rough sketch of post-Enlightenment Western philosophical thought: from the Scientific Revolution’s rationalism, to the emotional liberation of Romanticism, transcendentalism, Marxism, and, finally, the Absurdist acceptance of the flawed yet fulfilling lives we lead.

Rich with existential themes, the movie’s fantastical visuals contrast its serious moral propositions. Its avant-garde style winks at the audience to take everything with a grain of salt, yet the film remains substantive (if only to Lanthimos devotees and first year philosophy students) because its aesthetic reinforces Bella’s wanderlust. Temporally, the narrative is ambiguous: the characters inhabit the ideological setting of the late 19th century, interact with steampunk-esque technology, and dress in clothes that could comprise a contemporary Simone Rocha collection.

The film flaunts visual metaphors and referential humor. Bella’s creator, Godwin “God” Baxter (Willem Dafoe), is named for William Godwin, Mary Shelley’s father; A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) gets a particularly on-the-nose reference; and Nietzsche disciples are sure to get a kick out of the ending. As the setting shifts from the confinements of God’s house to the world’s

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cosmic periphery to a soundstage elaborately decorated to look like a 19th century Parisian street, Poor Things cheekily acknowledges the daguerreotypes and surrealist artwork from which it took inspiration.

Holly Waddington’s costume design is one of the most exceptional aspects of the film.

Subverting traditional Victorian silhouettes with mesmerizing fabric textures, she pays fastidious attention to the practicality of the garments and their symbolic significance at various stages of Bella’s development. In the opening shots, a woman dressed in a blue gown with voluminous, armor-like sleeves made from layers of stiff satin jumps off a bridge. When the film’s heavily gendered themes begin to unravel, the connotation of clothing as armor becomes a symbol of kept womanhood. Bella’s wedding dress, a translucent, white a-line gown with enormous tubed sleeves, is another stand-out.

According to Waddington, this piece represents Bella’s entrapment while also highlighting her figure—visually communicating the dichotomy between her brain and body which underscores the entire film. She looks like a woman, but moves with the unfamiliar awkwardness of a child. As she exponentially progresses from childhood to adulthood, we are meant to struggle with the discomfort and familiarity of this unconventional coming of age.

Whether you believe her to be a woman, a child, or something in between, Bella is primarily

an object to the men who surround her. To her creator, Bella is an experiment. When God enlists his student Max McCandles (Ramy Youssef) to observe Bella’s development for his research, Max becomes smitten with her and proposes marriage. Although their romance is chaste, the gap in their cognitive development is nevertheless disconcerting. Bella’s desirability and Max’s infatuation with her critique society’s fetishization of girlhood naivete.

Poor Things’s foremost focus is Bella’s maturation, sparked by her sexual awakening. She gets her first taste of liberation when she discovers masturbation—or, as she puts it, “happy when I want.” She leaves her father and fiance when narcissistic womanizer Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo, in a riotous comedic performance) lures her to Lisbon for a sexual rendezvous.

Suddenly, the black and white film bursts into brilliant color, symbolizing Bella’s emancipation.

Emma Stone’s performance as Bella— arguably her most complex character to date— grounds the film in genuine emotion. She is unabashedly curious, erratic, and indignant, her feelings becoming more complex as she is exposed to more of the world. Stone, who previously worked with Lanthimos on The Favourite (2018) and is already slated to star in his next project, And, has described Poor Things as a “rom-com.”

Though the film resists genre categorization, it is, fundamentally, the story of a woman embarking on a spontaneous journey seeking love and adventure only to discover herself and her place in existing social structures, which she then subverts. So, yeah, not too far off from Easy A (2010). Though this hefty role requires Stone to toe the delicate line between ingenue and character actress, she portrays Bella Baxter as naturally as Olive Penderghast, precluding this challenge by saying “fuck it, I’m going to have fun.” And that she does. The film’s power lies in its ability to connect with its audience, which is only made possible through Stone’s performance which evokes childhood nostalgia, adolescent angst, and existential anxiety with ease.

Poor Things is a visual feast. In addition to exhibiting intricate costume design and whimsical world building, it also boasts career-defining performances from Ruffalo, Dafoe, and especially Stone. A worthy contender for the accolades it has received and will continue to receive, the film is a testament to the collective filmmaking process and the medium’s revolutionary potential to ponder the relationships between fantasy, politics, and the self. If you see Poor Things solely for its aesthetics, you might leave feeling compelled to pick up a copy of Candide (1759)—consider yourself warned. G FEBRUARY 2, 2024

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HALFTIME NEWS LEISURE

H yas for Choice emphasizes education, opting not to protest anti-abortion conference

BY CONNOR MARTIN

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an. 20 was the 25th anniversary of the Cardinal O’Connor Conference on Life (OCC), but notably, Copley and Healy lawns were empty of the usual pro-choice counterprotest organized

by H*yas for Choice (HFC). Instead, HFC and Georgetown University College Democrats (GUCD) hosted a panel to discuss reproductive justice on Jan. 17, three days before OCC— an intentional shift in the organization’s programming focus.

In past years, HFC has protested on the day of the conference, and drafted a “No Donation Pledge” which demanded contraception access, university funding for pro-choice student organizations, and an end to the conference.

They also published an editorial in 2021 explaining the conference’s problematic history and calling for an overhaul of its name, speakers, and mission.

“I think there was sort of a general consensus this year that we've been protesting a lot. The past several years we've done protests and just screaming, and everyone's kind of tired of it because it's screaming to no avail,” Sydney Hudson (SOH ’26), HFC co-president, said. “We realized that since the university is adamant that they do not support our mission generally and specifically in regards to our qualms with COCC, it would be more productive to turn our efforts towards positive change.”

HFC is emphasizing educational programming, rather than direct protest, as part of this strategy. “Namely, education and advocacy events have become our main focus. This semester, we are working on birth control and sexual health resource accessibility, menstrual equity and empowerment, and many others,” Hudson said.

The panel held shortly before OCC, titled “Reproductive Rights in 2024,” is part of HFC’s new focus on education. There were five speakers, four of whom were Georgetown alumni. Kat Scarborough (CAS ’26), director of contraception and tabling at HFC, introduced each of the panelists: Erin Matson (COL ’02), president & CEO at Reproaction, a reproductive justice advocacy group; Kayla Edwards Friedland (COL ’22), a former organizer of the Black Survivors Coalition; Angela

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THE GEORGETOWN VOICE

Maske (SOH ’19, GHD ’20), former HFC copresident and strategic projects manager at Advocates for Youth, an advocacy group for inclusive sex education and universal sexual health services; Gillian Branstetter, communications strategist at the ACLU; and Dr. Christina Marea (SFS ’02), an assistant professor in Georgetown’s School of Nursing.

“We respect the fact that Right to Life can put on this event and amplify the voices that they want to, but they're not going to do that without us also uplifting people who we believe represent this community, represent Georgetown, because Georgetown is a lot more than what their event portrays it to be,” Karenna Warden (CAS ’25), HFC co-president, said.

The panel discussed reproductive justice organizing as an expansive and intersectional issue, encompassing topics beyond abortion access, such as healthcare equity, inclusive sexual education, and domestic violence prevention. Marea situated reproductive justice as a racial and economic issue, showcasing how restrictions on abortion access worsen healthcare nationwide. Branstetter highlighted the national spike in anti-queer and anti-trans legislation, describing how ultra-right political groups are training lawyers to codify white Christian nationalist beliefs.

Friedland reflected on her activism as a Black, low-income student at Georgetown. In February 2020, she helped organize a multi-day sit-in in President DeGioia’s office as a member of the Black Survivors Coalition to demand improved sexual assault resources for Black, femme, and nonbinary-identifying survivors.

Friedland’s words seemed to resonate with the attendees. She discussed how college campuses are environments ripe for activism because students live close to one another and the administrators in power, which propels movement-building in ways that can be difficult after graduation.

Attendees expressed optimism after the panel, highlighting student hope for greater reproductive rights and justice, despite Georgetown’s pro-life position. As a Catholic and Jesuit institution, Georgetown does not offer condoms, lube, Plan B, hormonal birth control, or other items for contraceptive purposes at the Student Health Center, and the medical center does not perform abortions.

While the panel was held in the same week as the OCC, HFC and GUCD

members focused on promoting education and discussion about reproductive justice, rather than protesting the pro-life conference itself.

“I think the way that it looked ended up seeming like we were, like, purposefully shifting away from protesting COCC. And what really happened was that our resources were just limited, and we poured all of our energy into planning that panel around COCC,” former HFC co-president Soraya Bata (SFS ’24) said. “It definitely wasn't a mindset that dismisses the value of protesting.”

In their Jan. 13 newsletter, HFC described their plans to platform reproductive justice advocates—off-campus professionals and student activists alike—“to bring light to their work, their feelings, and their experiences.”

HFC also planned an open mic for the night of Jan. 20, the day of the OCC conference, but later canceled that event.

According to the HFC board, their focus on education will enable them to engage with more aspects of reproductive justice work beyond abortion access, such as queer-inclusive sex education, healthy relationship strategies, reproductive health care management, and more. “Reproductive justice is so important because it includes abortion rights and because it addresses so many basic human rights that specifically abortion rights advocacy doesn't always touch on,” Bata said.

HFC has always believed reproductive justice is broader than solely focusing on abortion access, and channeling their efforts into educational programming allows them to provide products and services that address a range of reproductive justice needs.

Complementing this educational programming, HFC plans to expand its birth control initiative that provides safe, reliable, and accessible birth control for any GU student.

HFC will also continue its domestic violence prevention programming and plans to start more menstrual equity work this semester.

“We have found that education is one of our best resources because it empowers people to seek out their own needs and spread awareness independently,” Hudson said. “We aim to fill the gap in support and information that the university provides.” G

design by elin choe

HALFTIME SPORTS

Tearing away professional sports from D.C. rips at the fabric of the city too

BY NICHOLAS RICCIO

“T

his is my fuckin’ town!” John Wall screamed while he stood on the announcers’ table after his Game 6 gamewinner in the second round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs. Capital One Arena shook around him as 20,000 people reveled in the hysteria of a fleeting playoff moment. On that night, the Wizards star seemingly buried years of playoff heartbreak that had permeated Cap One, leaching into the psyches of every player and fan who walked those halls.

The Capitals had suffered years of heartbreak—true fans will remember the double whammy of home ice Game 7 losses in both the 2009 and 2010 seasons—and in their cup-winning season, they clinched every playoff series on the road. The Wizards spent most of their time in Capital One Arena lost in a morass of myopic trades and unfulfilled potential: Michael Jordan’s retirement tour, the Gilbert Arenas solo show, and then finally bottoming out in 2010 and drafting John Wall.

Cap One cheered louder than ever when Wall was introduced for his home debut, breaking out the Dougie as the sold-out arena welcomed their savior. And on that night in 2017, with the ball in his hands and the season on the line, Wall’s deep 3—unexpected that such a mediocre 3-point shooter made it, though less surprising that he took it—was a gift to a cynical crowd, keeping hopes alive for a road upset in Game 7. Jumping on the announcers’ table, Wall declared his love for the team, the fans, and the city of D.C. The crowd’s love for their star was measured in a cacophony of cheers that made the building shake. That 2017 team had been the high-water mark for the franchise since it changed its name in 1997, and Wall’s 3-pointer marked the team’s apex. The Wizards lost that Game 7 in Boston, and Wall’s time in Washington was marked as much by his time in street clothes, dealing with major injuries, as it was by his Game 6 gamewinner. Capital One Arena never got a chance to be that loud again. Now, it never will.

design by athanasios basiakos

This past December, Monumental Sports—the organization run by Ted Leonsis that owns the Washington Capitals and Washington Wizards—announced their plans to move the teams to Virginia. By 2028, Capital One Arena will lose its major tenants, leaving the Georgetown Hoyas and maybe the Washington Mystics in limbo, most likely stuck in the abandoned arena and struggling more than ever to fill the seats. The Capitals and Wizards will be headed to the Potomac Yards in Alexandria—just six miles away, but with D.C. traffic, it might as well be 60. Of the four major sports teams that list Washington, D.C. as their home, only one will play within the city limits by the start of the next decade.

Monumental Sports can call it a great business deal, but this matters not just in the world of business. It matters for the fans, who deserve more than what this deal will give them, and it matters for the city, whose already-struggling downtown is being dealt a near-fatal blow.

Sports are more than just the games being played. The memories, the connections, the fans, and the experiences are what make sports matter. Location matters, too. It’s the fact that Capital One Arena is easily accessible from nearly anywhere in the region. It’s seeing the trains fill up with red, white, and blue as the Metro gets closer and closer to the city center.

It’s the chants that break out outside the arena as Chinatown buzzes with excitement—even if the team they’re watching doesn't have a shot.

While these things are replicable in Alexandria, it’s just as likely that the Wizards’ mediocrity and a more difficult distance to traverse means fewer fans in the stands. It happened to the Commanders, who moved to Landover, Maryland in 1997. For years, they ranked in the top three in attendance just based on the sheer size of the stadium, but recently, the hallmark of FedEx Field is the lack of support, both in terms of empty seats and crumbling infrastructure throughout

the stadium. As described in a Washington Post article about the Commanders’ falling attendance numbers, “Things might not be so bad, some fans argued, if not for the location and condition of FedEx Field. The stadium in suburban Maryland, 24 years old and difficult to reach, contrasts with its previous, beloved home of RFK Stadium in Northeast Washington.” Sound familiar?

When Capital One Arena (originally called the MCI Center) opened in Chinatown back in 1997, the hope was that the arena would revitalize the area. It did just that, drawing thousands of fans to watch basketball, hockey, and concerts. As D.C. Councilmember Charles Allen noted last summer: “Capital One Arena is active year-round and sits on top of one of the most connected Metro stations in the country. It anchors two teams that play more than 80 home games a year, is home court for the Georgetown Hoyas and hosts concerts and special events, bringing more than 2 million people annually to the area for about 230 to 240 events a year.”

Now, like the old RFK stadium, Capital One Arena’s role as a community anchor will dissipate, leaving the surrounding area to suffer the consequences of such a move.

Chinatown has, in recent years, struggled to keep its identity as gentrification and dilapidation have driven most of the Chinese population elsewhere. Without the pillar of a professional sports arena keeping businesses afloat, the neighborhood’s future looks even more dismal.

The move across the river isn’t just about the distance; having D.C. sports play in the heart of Washington, D.C. weaves the teams into the fabric of the city’s culture, making every game’s result a matter of civic pride.

Without the pull of the beloved Cap One, fans might find themselves disengaged—and the teams might find themselves wishing they’d never left their true home after all. G

FEBRUARY 2, 2024

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