Medicament

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Me d i c ame n t

I ns i de : S ur g e r y , S e x ua l i t y , a ndS o c hi

03.06.14 VOL. XLV, NO. 18

03.06.14

Medicament

The Indy is in a predicament.

Cover Design by ANNA PAPP

Inside: Surgery, Sexuality, and Sochi

CONTENTS FORUM 3 The Plastics 4 A Helping Hand?

5 The Forgotten Meal NEWS 6 Fash Talk ARTS 7 Cox is the New Star 8 We Caught Them All 9 It's Destiny!

SPORTS 10 The Biggest Failure 11 Legally Exercising

As Harvard College's weekly undergraduate newsmagazine, the Harvard Independent provides in-depth, critical coverage of issues and events of interest to the Harvard College community.

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Copyright Š 2014 by The Harvard Independent. All rights reserved.

President Albert Murzakhanov '16 Editor-in-Chief Sean Frazzette '16 Director of Production Anna Papp '16 News Editor Forum Editor Arts Editor Sports Editor Associate Forum Editor Associate Arts Editor Associate Design Editor

Milly Wang '16 Caroline Gentile '17 Sarah Rosenthal '15 Shaquilla Harrigan '16 Aditya Agrawal '17 Joanna Schacter Travis Hallett '14

Cartoonist John McCallum '16 Illustrator Eloise Lynton '17 Business Managers Frank Tambero '16 Manik Bhatia '16 Columnists Joan Li '17 Christina Bianco '17 Senior Staff Writers Christine Wolfe '14 Angela Song '14 Sayantan Deb '14 Michael Altman '14 Meghan Brooks '14 Whitney Lee '14 Staff Writers Manik Bhatia '16 Xanni Brown '14 Terilyn Chen '16 Lauren Covalucci '14 Clare Duncan '14 Gary Gerbrandt '14 Travis Hallett '14 Yuqi Hou '15 Cindy Hsu '14 Chloe Li '16 Dominique Luongo '17 Orlea Miller '16 Albert Murzhakanov '16 Carlos Schmidt '15 Frank Tamberino '16 Michael Feehly '14 Jackie Leong '16 Andrew Lin '17 Madi Taylor '16 Shreya Vardhan '17

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Right On the Nose

Why plastic surgery is a blessing in disguise.

By ELOISE LYNTON

E

ven after seeing her for a million times, as I sit down to begin our interview, I am struck

by Maya’s eccentric beauty. She does not have a forgettable appearance.

Upon first glance, you might notice her hi-lighted hair, the way it twists and dances around her angular face, as if it had a life of its own. You might observe her multiple piercings, the little glittering gems that shimmer along her ear. You may even take note of her unusual eyes, pools of yellow and green, which are emphasized by dramatic, cat-like eyeliner around her lids.

All of these little added details — the hi-lights, the jewelry, the makeup — call out for attention and create a completely unconventional allure.

They make her different; they make you notice.

One thing I am certain you would not take notice, however, is her nose.

This is because Maya has a perfectly straight, and utterly ordinary nose.

Maya knows this about herself, and, despite her claim to reject anything she deems “boring,” she likes it that way. In fact, just last year, the summer before college, she spent thousands of dollars and endured weeks of pain to make it that way. That’s because last year Maya underwent rhinoplasty; she got a “nose job.”

Today, plastic surgery is more popular than ever. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, Americans underwent 1.6 million cosmetic procedures in 2012. Of those,

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rhinoplasty was the second most common. While the average American income continues to fall, Americans continue to spend on cosmetic surgery, spending 11 billion in 2012.

Initially, the increasing use of cosmetic surgery seems harmless.

Americans certainly think so; according to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons 69 percent of individuals ages 18 to 24 approve of cosmetic procedures.

However, I’m not so sure. There’s something unnerving about the idea that Americans are becoming more and more comfortable with changing their appearance. What is driving the popularity of surgery, and of nose jobs in particular? And, more importantly, should we be worried about this obsession with appearance?

One could easily point to the media as the cause of this drive for perfection.

Women in magazines are habitually photo-shopped and edited, diffusing an unrealistic image of beauty. Many models and actresses undergo cosmetic procedures themselves, selling a face that is not truly their own. The media normalizes the act of cosmetic surgery, helping individuals to see it as acceptable. Tabloids feature stories of stars undergoing surgery. Nip/ Tuck, a series on Fox in 2010, had a plot entirely dedicated to horrifying and entertaining tales of cosmetic procedures.

What’s troubling to me is that this media tends to target teen girls, thus exploiting the insecurities of those

in their most vulnerable and selfconscious years.

Maya and I first met when we were 13. We were both trying to figure ourselves out, make new friends, and navigate middle school. I was not surprised to learn that this was when Maya began thinking about her nose.

“It was a transitional period,” she said, pausing as if momentarily transported back. “A lot was changing around me; I was changing, and I started to become aware of my appearance. I was growing up, and there was an image of beauty around me that I wanted to grow into.”

Part of me wants to believe that the desire to change our appearance is just human nature, that with or without the influence of the media, we would do what we could to make ourselves “beautiful.” In the 19th century, the Chinese bound their feet to make them smaller. For the past 300 years, the Kayan people in Burma have used rings to artificially stretch their necks. The Fulani Tribe in Nigeria increases the size of their earrings until they are left with gaping holes in their earlobes. From this perspective, then, plastic surgery might just be viewed as science’s ability to safely and medically fulfill an impulse that has been with us for centuries.

I become even more convinced of rhinoplasty’s benefits when Maya makes it clear to me that the mental anguish of insecurity is just as real as a physical disability, and is worth treating with surgery. When I first

met Maya, I would never have noticed that there was anything unusual or unappealing about her nose. Yet, to her, it was a daily point of anxiety and torment. “When I looked in the mirror — or me, my nose was the only thing I saw. I fixated on it. And I just couldn’t do it anymore…[Getting a nose job] did benefit my life. It’s kind of sad that that mattered to me so much, but it did — and it did for a long enough time that I wanted to change it and do something about it.”

To me, this relief from suffering that Maya describes, more than anything, seems like a compelling reason to support those who undergo plastic surgery. Whatever its negative implications, plastic surgery is a choice and those who make it should not be looked down on, but should be supported, as we would support any individual in an attempt to better his or her life.

When I ask Maya if she ever regrets the surgery, she answers with a sense of confidence that hasn’t always been there, a confidence that validates her decision more than any words could: “Regret it? I feel like I’m more myself than I ever could have been before.

Regret it? Nope not at all, not for a second.“ Eloise Lynton ’17 (eloiselynton@college) likes her nose the way it is but wouldn’t mind a facelift to eliminate those pesky wrinkles.

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Do No Harm?

The paradox of physician-assisted suicide.

By ALICE LINDER

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he doctor giveth, and the doctor taketh — or that’s how proponents of physician-assisted suicide would have it. A person’s socalled “right to die” through physician-assisted suicide is absent from the US Constitution, yet the subject calls into question a person’s individual freedoms, and the extent of those freedoms. Should our doctors be allowed to let us die, if we wanted it to, if it ever came to that?

The term “physician-assisted death” encompasses three practices: halting or foregoing artificial life support for someone with a terminal illness; giving someone the means to end his or her life, per a specific request; and deliberately causing a terminally-ill person’s death. One side of the debate sees physician-assisted suicide as an abuse of the role of a physician; what kind of doctor actively tries to end their patient’s life?

Many are outraged by such a paradox. Unsurprisingly, the American Medical Association’s Code of Ethics asserts that physician-assisted suicide is “fundamentally incompatible with the physician’s role as healer.”

This view, however, reflects a misunderstanding of what healing someone actually entails. Restoring someone to perfect health is ideal, but where this is impossible, the patient and the doctor must consider: is it worth it?

The point of healing is to alleviate pain, and doing so — whether through a standard surgery or through administering drugs that will cause certain death — is still within the realm of a doctor’s role in reducing suffering.

Choosing to forgo life support actually involves the doctor very little.

Ultimately, the decision to voluntarily end a person’s life falls to the patient’s family acting on the patient’s behalf or the patient’s clear wishes.

The question of the morality of physician-assisted death moves to the foreground when the doctor becomes essential to the process by providing the means for the patient to commit suicide. This situation is usually the source of people’s moral outrage. That being said, a patient who decides that living is no longer a viable option because of unavoidable suffering must take precautions to prevent making any rash decisions. If the patient is mentally capable, they must speak with a professional about their reasons for such a decision, as

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well as notify their immediate family. Three of the four states that have legalized physician-assisted suicide provide for other legal requirements, such as a minimum age of 18, six months or less until expected death, and a minimum of three requests to a physician (two oral and one written). The reasons behind the decision are absolutely necessary to consider, especially since physicianassisted suicide becomes increasingly barbaric as the possibility of familial or hospital pressure due to money concerns enters the conversation. For this reason, a trained medical professional must examine the patient to determine that the prospect of carrying out the act is due to the patient’s desire to “die with dignity” rather than stress from relatives with less-than-noble interests.

In their role as healers, doctors and their employers, the hospitals, are also tasked with creating a comfortable environment for people living out their final days — whether through hospice care or pain medication. Patients that resolutely desire to die, however, may attempt suicide through other, more sudden and more painful means. The end result is the same; the process is, however, much more tragic and much less manageable from a legal standpoint. Going through a delineated process once a patient has decided to die allows the family and the patient a way to come to terms with the death, as well as a clear amount of time in which to do so.

While states should make every effort to legalize euthanasia, they must follow the legal provisions set in place by Oregon, Vermont, and Washington. Law-makers and doctors must take every precaution to give the patient the power to decide, since individual liberty should include the right to die a dignified death. The law can only go so far in trying to keep people from feeling unnecessary social pressures to commit suicide, however, so precautions are essential in discouraging people from making any rash decisions.

Ultimately, it must be within the patient’s control to push that button, to swallow that pill, to sign that document — or to back out and choose life.

Alice Linder ’16 (alicelinder@college) firmly believes in her rights.

03.06.14 • The Harvard Independent

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Ode to Brunch The most important meal of the day.

By CAROLINE GENTILE

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unday is both a blessing and a curse.

For many students, the day of Sabbath begins with a nasty hangover from a wild Saturday night and the crushing realization that the day will consist of grinding through a massive pile of previously neglected work — cpenitence for a night of debauchery, if you will.

But there is one beacon of hope, one shining bright light at the end of the tunnel, on a day that will be otherwise hellish.

Brunch. This combination of lunch and the most important meal of the day is the most important, delicious, and decadent meal of the week; the only time when it is completely acceptable to eat the equivalent of two meals in one. It can be done many ways, and each way is glorious in its own right.

You can do brunch with friends, a significant other, or even by yourself if you’re feeling reclusive. Whether you eat in a D-hall or out in Boston or Harvard Square, brunch is guaranteed to satisfy. I’ve done it in all of these ways, and as a self-certified brunch expert, I will now share with you the best aspects of each.

Brunch with friends is always a good time.

Since it’s brunch, stuffing yourself like a turkey on Thanksgiving is pretty much a given. But you also get to catch up and gossip! What better way to hear about all of your friends’ weekend escapades than over a plate of piping hot, syrup-slathered, butter-soaked pancakes?

Brunch with a significant other is a test.

How comfortable are you around each other, really? It’s always entertaining to observe couples at brunch because the answer to this question becomes very clear. For guys, eating around a significant other isn’t usually an issue, but for girls, it definitely can be. If a girl isn’t comfortable in a relationship, she may not be as apt to gorge herself during brunch, and may instead order a salad and eat very little of it. I think I speak for all of us when I

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say that eating a salad for brunch is extremely unsatisfying and just plain wrong. The girl who eats a three egg omelet, four pieces of toast, and a side order of bacon around her significant other is probably in a healthier relationship than the girl who is “still full from dinner last night.”

Brunch by yourself is not as pathetic as it sounds, although I may be slightly biased because I’ve done it before. Stop judging me and hear me out. Sometimes after a particularly social weekend, I just need some alone time.

So instead of having brunch with people, I go alone. Admittedly, it’s a bit awkward going to brunch by yourself without bringing something to do. My advice is to pick up the Sunday paper or a book you’ve been dying to read and take it to brunch with you. That way, you’ll have something to do while you’re waiting for the mountain of food you will inevitably order.

When else are you going to get to read for pleasure anyway? My most recent brunch book was “The Dinner” by Herman Koch, which was a refreshing read in comparison to my usual literary obligations (my Genetics textbook).

Another plus to going to brunch alone is that you don’t have to share your food. So if reading isn’t your thing, at least you don’t have to surrender a single bite of your precious weekly pancakes.

As for where you have Sunday brunch, there are many options both at Harvard and around it. Veritaffles in any of the dining halls never fail to disappoint, although getting to the dining hall right when it opens is absolutely necessary in order to avoid the painfully long line for the waffle stations. If you feel the need to take a break from HUDS or your parents are in town, there are also tons of brunch places in the square, or in Boston. In the square, though on the pricier side, Henrietta’s Table at the Charles Hotel offers a beautiful brunch spread. The Beat Hotel not only has unique

offerings and huge portions, but also has live music starting at 10:30am. For greasier, more wallet-friendly options, Zoe’s is great, and if you’re willing to walk about a mile, I highly recommend S&S Deli and Restaurant in Inman Square. They’ve been around since 1919, so clearly they’re doing something right.

I like to view Sunday brunch as the weekend’s last hurrah. No matter where or with whom you decide to have Sunday brunch, as long as you eat large quantities of good food, you’re doing it right. With your taste buds satisfied and your stomach feeling incapable of holding anything more, you will be more than ready to take on your mountain of work and/or recover from last night’s festivities!

Caroline Gentile ’17 (cgentile@college) would love to have brunch for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. But not dessert.

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News

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Finding Success A d v i c e f r o m t h e M a r ke t i n g , F a s h i o n , M e d i a , a n d E n t e r t a i n m e n t C o n f e r e n c e h o s t e d b y A M B L E a n d t h e O C S .

By ALBERT MURZAKHANOV The 7th Annual Marketing, Fashion, Media, and Entertainment Conference, which was held on February 22, 2014, consisted of panels in Media and Entertainment, Fashion, and Marketing.

Media and Entertainment:

The panel consisted of professionals with years of experience at Forbes, ESPN, CNN, ABC News, and the New York Times. When getting ready to find and begin a new job, Jennifer Jenkins, a former Harvard College alum currently working as the Director of Operations at ESPN’s Remote Operations department, told students to be ready to do what they do well, work hard, and be ready to spend nights sleeping under desks. Most of the panelists did not have a clear view of their career goals while they were college students, for Susie Banikarim, a network television and video producer, told students to not expect what they do after graduation to determine their future in ten or twenty years. Pulitzer Prize winning writer, Diane McWhorter believes that everyone will hit a turning point in his or her life, and at that point, “things will come clearer because you will start seeing the past as the past and not as the sum of everything you are.”

Question: How do we address the new trend in journalism and media in which websites drive television?

Web presence has become the most important thing, and the fight to be first rather than be right has only intensified. Addressing the concerns for those who think they may be interested in journalism, Ms. McWhorter and Ms. Banikarim provide invaluable advice. “Have the courage to stick to your principles. Do not compromise on integrity; there is a reason why you are not politicians,” stated Ms. McWhorter while expressing concern that aspiring journalists may receive bad training on simply making themselves shine through. Ms. Banikarim encouraged aspiring journalists to not sacrifice the fun part of journalism by just sitting at their desks.

Fashion:

The Fashion panel consisted of professionals coming from diverse backgrounds ranging from college students to those with over ten years of experience in the industry. The panelists encouraged students interested

in fashion to start early and read about what is going on in the industry.

Jay Calderin, Founder and Executive Director of Fashion Week, advised students starting out in the field to not worry about immediately finding and expressing their voice but just be curious and willing to learn. Baruch Shemtov, a television journalist, entrepreneur and HBS student, told advised the audience to start a business in a field they are passionate about online from their own dorms.

Questions: 1. How to prepare for interviews in Fashion?

Jack Pretto, Harvard College senior and former intern at Saks Fifth Avenue, recommends that students know the current trends and do their research to ensure they are keeping up to date with fashion. Students should never rely simply on their intelligence and must take the time to thoroughly prepare and know the basics of the industry (ex: what does a buyer/ seller do?).

2. How to get a returning offer from an internship?

Absorb as much as you can from everyone around you. Build personal relationships with young professionals who are only a few years younger.

“Part of my job is an HR manager,” says Schuyler Polk who is a Harvard College senior and former intern at Saks Fifth Avenue. You have to show off your creative side and be as detail-oriented as possible with every task you are assigned. The competition is very strong, and to get an offer you have to be proactive and always ask to be given a new project. Do something for the buyer that will be valuable to him/ her so that when interviews begin (at the end of your summer internship) you can concretely say what you contributed.

3. What are some helpful websites/publications to prepare you for interviews?

Go on style.com, wwd.com (Women’s Wear Daily), businessoffashion.com (Business of Fashion)!

Marketing:

The marketing panelists consisted of professionals from Estée Lauder, Proctor & Gamble, DigitasLBi, Arnold World Wife, and Acquia. The general advice is that no one expects you to have marketing experience prior to beginning the job or internship, and no concentration can exclude you from being selected for a marketing opportunity. It is your work ethic and performance that will ultimately determine your success in this internship, and as current Vice Present at DigitasLBi, Jill Sherman, stated, “Being the smartest in the room doesn’t cut it, but the knowing how to surround yourself with smart people does.”

Takeaway points: Even though a Harvard education is by no means a sufficient prescription to success in a new job, the liberal arts education we received here has prepared us in more ways than we think. We have experience dealing with sleepless nights, multitasking by somehow juggling, classes, readings, psets, extracurriculars, and work, and continuously honing our speaking, writing, and analyzing skills. What some people may not have learned is dealing with failure, and as the Pultizier Prize winning writer, Diane McWhorter put it, “Everyone gets fired at some point. You get over it and move on.” Getting over it and moving on are invaluable lessons we need to learn regardless of the career path we wish to pursue.

Albert Murzakhanov ’16 (amurzakhanov@college) is ready for his interview.

Photo Credit: Office of Career Services

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Let’s Get This Straight Puns aside, LGBTQ portrayal in the media is really, really important.

BY JOANNA SCHACTER

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hen Laverne Cox, known for her role in the television series Orange is the New Black, came to Harvard to discuss her identity as a transgender black woman, and the intersectionality of these components of her identity, I went to the event a little bit because she’s famous, and a little bit because I couldn’t think of any other queer actors off the top if my head.

The fact that she is transgender and a woman and black (and it’s unfortunate that any of these things should be considered unfortunate) and that that I know who she is even though I have not watched the show, is (also unfortunately) impressive. However, it is a testament to just how hard she has worked to gain visibility in the media form that is known for promulgating fantasy, for telling us what we should want, and who we should be.

What struck me the most in her talk, was when she mentioned something incredibly obvious that had not occurred to me. Orange is the New Black, a television show that is in fact about being a black woman in prison (and for Cox’s character, add transgender to the mix), has a cisgender white woman, Piper, as the main character. Cox explained that a show that is blatantly about black women in prison would never have been successfully pitched, but that Piper is a gateway through which conversations can be started.

Modern Family, a show about a large and unconventional family, also provides a gateway through which the story of a gay couple can be told, without explicitly being the focus of the plot. Modern Family has the opportunity to take “unconventional” families of all sorts and put them into conventional situations — kids’ baseball games, wedding planning, job-changes… Modern Family does an incredible job at making Mitchell and Cam’s story about family drama, and not about being gay. However, the show is very much on the fence. While Mitchell and Cam are portrayed wonderfully as just a normal family, Modern Family is not modern in its fear of alienating its viewers by showing the most normal of family interactions: intimacy. Mitchell and Cam are essentially asexual in their relationship, and while they evidently sleep in the same bed, not only is sex never even alluded to (unlike in the other families who have multiple episodes in

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which jokes about kids walking in on their parents are made), but the two of them also barely touch, and don’t even really seem to be attracted to one another. Modern Family is in its fifth season, but it was only a couple months ago that I first saw any mention of this fact in reviews of the show.

What has been getting a lot of attention as of just a few days ago is Jared Leto’s performance in The Dallas Buyers Club, as Rayon, a male-to-female transsexual woman. The discussion seems to center around four things. First, while the movie is based on a true story, Leto’s character is fictional, and was seen by critics as the amalgamation of tropes about trans people. Second, Leto, a man, played a character, who, while once a man, is now a woman, perpetuating the myth that trans women are just men in drag. Third, given that there are so few LGBTQ actors landing roles, particularly trans* actors, why wasn’t one chosen for the role instead of Leto? And fourth, Leto received a great deal of criticism for not thanking the trans* community in his Oscar acceptance speech, and for not mentioning the adversity that trans* people face.

HBO recently began running a new show, Looking, which has been described as “Girls for gays” (it’s about a group of gay friends in California looking for love), has been slammed for being “boring” and for not tackling any of the complex issues in the gay community. But perhaps, that is the most important thing about Looking. Perhaps it is important to portray queer people as just people, like Modern Family, but with a less prudish approach to gay sexual attraction. Perhaps both cisgender and trans* actors should play whatever character they want, provided that they do it from, as Laverne Cox called it, a “place of understanding.”

Indeed, many authors have taken this approach by including gay characters in stories that are not about being gay. Lynn Flewelling’s high-fantasy series Nightrunner, for example, or Cassandra Clare’s widely known young adult series (now a movie), The Mortal Instruments, both have gay and genderqueer main characters whose purposes are simply to be people, rather than plot devices.

I am fortunate that at least while, as a cisgender female, I am often portrayed as an object or a victim by the mainstream media, there is awareness

of this, as well as a backlash against it. But in a world where, as Cox put it, the mere act of walking down the street is often downright confrontational for people who are not straight, white, male, or any combination of these three; in a world where maleto-female transgender women are placed in male prisons out of a lack of understanding or sympathy; in a world where violent crimes are disproportionately prevalent in the LGBTQ community, but also disproportionately uninvestigated, chances for positive portrayal in the media are particularly important.

It is simply sad that we often spend more time learning about life from time spent in front of a screen, rather than from time spent out in the world. I realized, when I met Ms. Cox after the event, that I had never knowingly even been in the same room as a transgender person. I was extremely surprised by that, and I was honestly a bit ashamed, but I also knew that regardless of my lack of real-world experience, the fact that I have positive perceptions is a result of what I have watched and read. I remember that in the sixthgrade, intrigued by the incredibly vague synopsis on the back cover, I purchased a book entitled Luna, by Julie Anne Peters. I know now that the widely acclaimed Luna, published in 2004, was the first novel with a trans character. But back then, perplexed by the logistics of the matter as twelveyear old me was, I read it as a story, shrugged, and unknowingly internalized acceptance.

Joanna R. Schacter ’15 (jschacter@college.harvard.edu) should probably stop napping in places where her friends can take funny pictures of her while she’s asleep.

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Twitch Played Pokémon,Won,and Made Some Cool Art in the Meantime

When a video game leads to the birth of a religion.

By WILL HARRINGTON

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witch is an online video game streaming service. For the past few weeks it's been host to a channel called "TwitchPlaysPokemon," or TPP. Using the chat box, normally reserved for commentary on the human player/owner of the channel, stream-watchers have been able to become the players, typing in commands for the avatar to follow. Pokémon Red, one of the original mid-1990s Pokémon games for the Gameboy, is controlled on a turn-based system by a simple set of button commands: “up,” “down,” “a,” “b,” and a few others. Despite the spam of commands, with enough voices shouting the same thing progress was made slowly with victory arriving after 16 days, 7 hours, 45 minutes, and 30 seconds. Other websites — most notably Reddit — were largely responsible for coordinating the mob. A veritable war was fought, organized into "operations" such as "Seed of Hope", "Shoot for the Moon", and "Big Air." These operations were published in massive image files, maps with routes, and commentary explaining strategy and purpose.

Yet perhaps the most incredible feat of TPP is the community that has grown up around it. In just sixteen days, incredible amounts of fan art were made. While fan art is nothing new, the way the community went about it was nothing short of breathtaking. Out of the chaos of up to 120,000 people entering contradictory commands, a narrative was created. In the players inventory certain items in the menu emerged repeatedly; they were clicked incessantly. And some of the Pokémon had against-the-odds streaks of luck that earned them nicknames and reputation, most notably Bird Jesus, the invincible Pidgeot who carried the team on his back. Along with Bird Jesus, other names included King Leer, C3KO, Jay Leno, and ATV. What made the fan art so impressive was the construction of a narrative that went far beyond the simple plot of the game. All of these named Pokémon and items were announced as a new religion by the fan community. And like all religions, it needed some stained glass.

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The fan art displayed intricate religious hierarchies, mimicking Christ poses and famous paintings. There was Bird Jesus the prophet, and beneath it the false prophet, a Flareon. The in-game experience became rationalized out-of-game.

But TPP transcended just Christian-inspired art. Other art depicting the religion drew from the Ancient Egyptian tableau style; pictographic narrative displayed in-game progress. Other works of fan art created reason out of another moment of madness: the commands themselves. With hundreds of contradictory commands being issued at any moment, more than 122 million in total by the end of the adventure, the circular wandering of the character become a point of reference.

Red, the player character, was depicted often against a background of the commands, the voices inside his mind. The Madness of Trainer Red. The real-world, out-of-game experience became rationalized ingame. Red's wanderings, indecisiveness, and propensity for throwing away important items and releasing valuable Pokémon was explained.

TPP and the fan community became something much greater than just a black and white (the second iteration, now in session, is in color) video game. TPP is a community and a culture with pathoses, dreams, and inspirations. It's also a lot of fun.

Will Harrington '16 (harrington@college) is a firm follower of the Dome Fossil and democracy.

03.06.14 • The Harvard Independent

THE MAGIC GIRL’S GUIDE TO ANIME AND MANGA / BY JOAN LI

Cutting the red string with Honey and Clover.

“An ancient red thread connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place, or circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle, but will never break.”

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ccording to this ancient Chinese proverb, the gods above link soul mates together with a red cord that affirms that they are destined for one another. Japanese popular culture likes to call this the “Red String of Fate”, and boy, does this string get tangled a lot in anime and manga romances! Popular titles of the shojo genre, a genre targeted for a female audience, really like to create knots in the form of love polygons, whether it be the typical love triangle or some messy cluster of relationships that can’t even be considered a shape anymore. But regardless of how complicated of a romantic life the shojo heroine finds herself in, there is one thing you can always count on: the first guy she falls for will be the one she ends up with. Hurray for the Red String of Fate!

Like other forms of narrative media, genres of anime and manga have their respective clichés.

The majority of shojo series don’t have heroes with wacky hair and wildly named attack moves that they feel compelled to announce in every battle, but the fact that the genre is often situated in the real world does not make it immune to ridiculous tropes.

Shojo series are ridden with main characters who run to school late with a pieces of toast in their mouths and go on field trips to beaches, during which drama ensues between the female lead, the male love interest she is inevitably going to choose, and the other players in the polygon — because let’s face it, without their mucking around there wouldn’t really be a story. I suppose I should give credit to the series that at least resolve their polygons. As I discovered upon reading the last chapter of Vampire Knight, essentially the Twilight of anime and manga, it could be worse: the author could just choose not to have the heroine choose between the two men at all, resulting instead in an awkward three-way relationship.

If Vampire Knight ranks at the very bottom of my personal rating scale of shojo series, then Honey and Clover snags first place. Originally created by Chica Umino as a manga before being adapted into an anime, the series follows a group of five students at an art college as they cope with their changing lives and relationships. Given my earlier rant about polygons, you would think that Honey and Clover, with its three love triangles, does not stand among my favorites. Indeed, at first glance, the series actually contains a lot of common tropes. You have “nice guy” Yuta and his eccentric roommate Shinobu passive aggressively vying for the sweet, innocent newcomer, Hagumi.

There is also the persistent Ayumi who holds an

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unrequited love for her friend Takumi, despite the fact that the latter has fallen for an older woman. His involvement with this woman weaves in yet another love triangle that occurred in the past but continues to haunt the present. There is absolutely nothing unique about the premises of these relationships, but how Umino chronicles these triangles and how her characters evolve through them, is a truly resonating experience.

Most notably, Umino understands the problem with depictions of the Red String of Fate in anime and manga. The idea that you are bound to one person and one future is just downright unhealthy, because it pushes a mindset that portrays change as something toxic, when in fact change is an inherent part of life. Each day, from the moment we wake up, we are forced to make decisions of all sizes that alter us, and that shut some doors while opening others. You could go to that Friday Ec10 lecture and learn something from Mankiw, despite the sea of distracting laptop screens filled with Facebook and Youtube (whoever was watching South Park that one time, yeah, I noticed you), or you could catch up on some much needed sleep and have an intriguing conversation with someone you’ve never had lunch with before. You could continue your plan to be an Economics concentrator, or you could take a course on Middle Eastern politics that the aforementioned person at lunch recommended, and discover that the topic really speaks to you.

Neither decision is “right” nor “wrong.” At the end of the day, it is not the choices you make that determine your happiness, but what you make of those choices.

Like us, the characters of Honey and Clover have to deal with this reality. Ayumi is a frustrating character because of her constant quest to have her longtime feelings reciprocated, but her refusal to move on reminds us of our own fears of selfchange. Hagumi’s indecisiveness over the two very different young men who she treasures reflects the balancing acts we perform as dreamers and pragmatists. Combined with the internal narration of thoughts that read like poetry, the five friends’ interconnected stories draw us in and we can’t help but hope the best for them. But Umino knows better than to leave us with the happily ever after that we are used to and that the characters themselves initially desire. Her characters defy the Red String of Fate. Unlike most shojo protagonists, they don’t cling to their pasts. Befitting to the motif of a turning bicycle wheel and a travelling train that are respectively the opening and closing

scenes of the series, the characters move forward in their lives. It is as if Umino is trying to tell us that there was never really a beginning and ending to the story at all. As the audience, we have merely caught a glimpse of the all too familiar journey of continuous change.

Outside of love, the five friends’ lives are full of other relatable struggles as well. On the comedic level, Yuta’s all-nighters on art assignments are all too reminiscent of the Expos essay assigned weeks ago, but for which “inspiration” only struck mere hours before the deadline. We are also all baffled by that one person who, like Shinobu, seems to have more than 24-hours in a day… because how else does he manage to excel in so many subjects, yet have time to waste hours on the Internet?

Overarching these everyday details are more serious issues, such as the hardships of depression and the ever-plaguing question of self-identity.

Although Honey and Clover is categorized as a shojo series, it is ultimately a story that transcends the genre. It pieces together laughter, disappointment, friendship, and fear — a tessellation of moments that consists of more than the melodrama of traditional romance and challenges the Red String of Fate that has most of the shojo world bound up in its own thread of clichés.

Joan Li ’17 (joanli@college.harvard.edu) would never fit into a shojo manga, because although she grew up in a coastal town, she actually hates the beach.

Illustration by Eloise Lynton

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Sports

Sochi 2014: Failure Americans take money, not medals.

By PEYTON FINE

A

merican failures: allowing Justin Bieber to continue to live here, televising Jersey Shore and The Real Housewives, and twerking. Add to this list the American performance at the 2014 Winter Olympics. Now, before I get too far, please don’t think I am blaming many of the amateur athletes that poured out their hearts and souls for four straight years for a few moments of competition.

Anyone who blames an underfunded speedskater or collegiate hockey player for a country’s athletic failings is crazy. However, blame is not short. It rests on the shoulders of people like Shani Davis, Shaun White, and Ashley Wagner.

As an American, I expect to win in everything.

We are the greatest country to ever exist, and the Olympics is an opportunity to make that distinction very clear. We may not have snow all over our country like Russia or Norway, but we will still beat you. We will have both the most total medals and more importantly, the most gold medals. Anything less is failure. Well, that did not happen. Russia had the most total medals; and Norway, Canada, and Russia all had more gold medals.

Shani Davis, a long track speedskater was the two-time defending Olympic champion in the 1000 meters and two-time silver medalist in the 1500 meters. He did not medal once. In fact, no American speedskater medaled. The skaters blamed everything from the high-tech Under Armour suits to the training above sea level rather than at sea level. Shani, try blaming yourself for appearing in Ralph Lauren and McDonald’s rather than training more.

Shaun White, a snowboarder, was the favorite in both slope-style and half-pipe. He pulled out of the slope-style discipline and failed to medal in the half-pipe where he had won two straight gold medals in Vancouver. White blamed the poor quality of the snow and the dangers of the course. Shaun, try blaming yourself for taking the money to compete in the Winter X Games instead of training in Sochi and worrying about how your new haircut was going to go over with fans.

Finally, we come to Ashley Wagner. Wagner placed fourth at the U.S. Championships, and the United States was only allowed to bring three competitors.

Did we take the top three? No. We took Wagner.

Many said it was because NBC had already featured her in multiple promotions for the Olympics. Hence, it was no surprise that she did not medal. However, Wagner blamed the judges for her failure to medal.

Ashley, maybe you just should not have been there in the first place.

Is anyone seeing a trend? Athlete gets paid big money, it takes time from training, athlete fails to medal, and then we lose the overall medal

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count. Some people have chosen to blame the two hockey teams for losing to Canada. You think I’m blaming college girls who stopped going to school or professional players who got no money and risked severe injury for the opportunity to compete with USA plastered across their chests? Nope.

Others have chosen to blame the male American bobsledders because they won more gold medals in the previous Olympics. Chris Fogt, one of the American bronze medalists, is an active duty member of the military. He reports back to the military in May. You think I’m blaming him? Nope.

Those are athletes that make the Olympics: athletes that give up everything to compete for their country. Athletes that fully embody the American ideal in competing because of pride for their country, not money. The expectation is to win or lose because of these athletes, not to win or lose because of athletes like White or Davis or Wagner.

In these three athletes, we replaced the passion of American sports, which goes unrivaled and

allows us to dominate in each Olympic cycle, with commercialized celebrities who financially won for themselves, but lost for their country.

When I talked about American failures, I mentioned a lot of cultural references. That’s because our losses in Sochi stretch far beyond the ice and snow. Every four years we usually are treated to the best that sports have to offer — athletes putting four years of their lives on the line for a few minutes of competition on behalf of their country.

This year, we strayed from that model, and after a record-setting medal haul in Vancouver, we lost convincingly in Sochi. It was an American failure in every sense.

Peyton Fine ’17 (peytonfine@college) felt the failure of Sochi in his heart while athletes felt successes in their pockets.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

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Sports

indy

Finding Namaste

A reflection on Hemenway’s yoga classes.

By DOMINIQUE LUONGO

H

emenway is a great place for students living in the yard. Much closer than the distant Malkin Athletic Center (MAC), Hemenway offers all of the same equipment, but in much smaller quantities. Hemenway is like the local produce store compared to the mega-superstore that is the MAC. However, unlike your local fruit stand, Hemenway is packed to the gills with (surprisingly aggressive) graduate students and professors who, believe me, will not hesitate to mercilessly rip you off of the treadmill if you dare to go so much as a single second past the 15 minute sign-up block.

Compare this to the ghost town that is the MAC. Walking into the MAC, you still tumbleweeds go by and are driven to madness by the sound of dust falling on the ground.

Without a doubt, Hemenway’s convenience comes at a distinct price. I went for the big purchase and decided to go for a nighttime group exercise class. Scanning the weekly offerings, I settled on an intermediate yoga class, assuming that I had retained enough of my yoga prowess from high school to out-limber awkward law school students.

I arrived to class a tad late (curse delightfully long-lasting Annenberg dinner conversations), but thankfully was able to get a pass to the class with less than 15 minutes to spare. This is not a tactic I recommend; usually classes fill up rather quickly, and passes become available as early as 30 minutes before the class is scheduled to start.

With my florescent green yoga mat (it was on sale) under my arm and my hair in a high ponytail, I was ready to stretch out and do some deep breathing.

The class began late as a spin class walked out of the room on shaky, over-exerted legs. The gender ratio was overwhelmingly female, with women outnumbering men around 5 to 1. Unlike the sage law students I had expected, the class looked more like a bunch of Harvard undergrads aged five years or so.

The instructor guided us to the “props” designed to aid yoga poses and lamented about the short supply – going into great detail as she described the much more numerous equipment available at the MAC. She encouraged us to tell the facility workers in an attempt to restore the balance between the two gyms to more equity.

Once class actually got on its feet and began, I realized how in place I felt. Though the room was filled to capacity and there wasn’t a single square inch of floor area uncovered by yoga mats, there was a Zen-like calm that permeated through the air, fitting every stereotype of yoga you can imagine.

Our instructor pushed us to our limits early in

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order to prepare us for an unpronounceable move that involved a great deal of hamstring stretching and hip opening.

Even after an hour of intense core and flexibility exercises, the move was still difficult for the great majority of us; however, there was something wonderful about having set a goal, albeit a small one, and attaining it.

It was nice to have done something immensely personal and self-gratifying without considering a deadline or how it would look on a resume. Spending some time doing deep breathing, calming the mind, and working the body against the influence of gravity all came together to produce a wonderful, meaningful moment of peace and tranquility, the likes of which I haven’t experienced since before coming to Harvard.

Battling the over aged 22 crowd at Hemenway was well worth it, especially knowing that I would

not have to make the frigid walk to the MAC. I learned that it was not at all odd or strange to start attending a group exercise class in the middle of the semester, that nobody would look at you like you were an outsider if you could not do the moves properly, and that I could benefit in an incomparable way by devoting some time to my own well being.

So take the time out to go to the gym, to get some sleep, to pray, to meditate, or to do whatever you do to get in the zone and restore your harmony with the universe (even if you have to walk in the cold or fraternize with grad students to do it).

Dominique Luongo ’17 (dominqueluongo@college) now frequents group exercise classes, or bikes when she is too late to get a pass.

Illustration by Anna Papp

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