30 ENTERTAINMENT
INREVIEW BY EMILY HELMUTH co-editor-in-chief
“Drivers License” by Olivia Rodrigo “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series” star Olivia Rodrigo broke the internet with debut single “Drivers License” earlier this year. Rodrigo sings of heartbreak and hurt in this emotional and catchy song, which showcases the young artist’s immense talent.
“iCarly” Ever since Netflix released the first few seasons of “iCarly,” I have been binging it non stop. The show is extremely cheesy, but the quirkiness of the show and its characters keeps me hooked. The absurd plot lines are so unrealistic yet hilarious, as Carly, Sam, Freddie, Spencer, and occasionally Gibby’s antics range from starting an internet fight with Fred to pranking their doorman, Lewbert.
“Moxie” serves as an empowering film for women and girls of all ages BY MARY MARCINEK reporter Another contemporary coming-of-age film has hit Netflix this month, centers on shy 16-year-old Vivian (Hadley Robinson), finding her way to make changes at her high school. Vivian’s school is loaded with disrespectful students and irresponsible staff members. Of course, this combination creates an overall toxic environment, specifically for female students. Even though boys at Vivian’s school show outright contempt daily, it’s been accepted by teachers, students, the principal and even Vivian herself. That is, until a new confident and gutsy student, Lucy (Alycia Pascual-Pena), transfers into Vivian’s class, and calls out the obvious issues at school. Ultimately, Vivian finds inspiration in her mom’s “rebel girl” past and Lucy’s boldness to start a feminist zine called “Moxie.” The “Moxie” zine combats the school’s sexist issues, and causes waves throughout the entire student body at Vivian’s school. “Moxie” was definitely entertaining to watch. The movie is packed with jokes, but at the same time, it balances comedy with all the classic coming-of-age elements: bullying issues, dilemmas between friends, parental conflicts, and of course, a little bit of romance. While this isn’t one of the best coming-of-age films I’ve seen, I was definitely interested in the plot and character developments throughout the film.
Despite this movie being reviewed mostly positively, there are prominent criticisms floating around about the film’s focus on “another problematic white girl.” Some viewers are unhappy with the fact that despite the film’s cast holding so much diversity, the storyline ultimately revolves around only Vivian. Fortunately, the film includes an important scene between Vivian and her best friend, Claudia (Lauren Tsai), where Vivian is called out for overlooking the privilege she has over many of her friends. Even though this scene does a good job recognizing the issue, many critics
believe it occurs much too late in the movie, and the film should have addressed this earlier, instead of ignoring the side-characters’ troubles without explanation. While not everything is executed perfectly in “Moxie,” it is still a very entertaining movie. The highly relatable characters portray important elements of women supporting women, and standing up in unity against harassment. Although its characters’ actions and circumstances may not be completely realistic, Moxie serves as a very empowering and influential film to girls and women of all ages.
