5 minute read
MOXIE & CRIME SCENE: VANISHING AT THE CECIL HOTEL
from Inklings
INREVIEW
BY EMILY HELMUTH co-editor-in-chief
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“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.
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.
“Crime Scene: The Vanishing At The Cecil Hotel” explains circumstances of 2013 Elisa Lam case
BY TREVOR FRAHM reporter
Eight years ago, the death of Elisa Lam was one of the first true crime cases to go viral on the internet as it was occurring. With how much coverage it still gets to this day, it is easy for those already familiar with the case to assume they know the full story. However, “Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel” contextualizes the surrounding circumstances and explores the case in a way that is a must watch for anyone interested in the case.
Throughout the four episodes of the mini series the show explores not only the case of Elisa Lam but the reputation of the Cecil Hotel itself. Though the beginning of the deep dive into the history of the hotel can feel very unrelated to the actual mystery, it sets up the atmosphere surrounding the case. The background of the hotel highlights exactly why it became such a cultural phenomenon. The Cecil Hotel has its own mysteries and checkered past and without it the hysteria behind the case loses some of its impact.
Another overlooked detail “Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel” puts front and center is Elisa Lam’s Tumblr posts. The narration of the posts throughout the show not only gives context to Elisa Lam’s personality and frame of mind, but it also showcases another reason the case was so compelling at the time.
Lam’s Tumblr allowed people to connect to her in a way that was unprecedented. Instead of viewing Eliza as a victim or casualty it humanizes her in a way a lot of similar true crime documentaries fail to do.
The exploration of exactly how unprecedented the case was due to the internet is possibly the most interesting through line in the series. With most people’s exposure to the case being through the internet, Elisa Lam’s disappearance affected people’s life on a greater scale than just the people who knew her.
By exploring the case as not just a mystery, but as a cultural phenomenon that impacted the life of thousands, the series holds your attention through the entirety of the four episodes.
Through this complete and thorough analysis of the events leading up to and after the vanishing, the case suddenly becomes so much bigger than just a creepy internet mystery. It becomes both a cautionary tale of the obsessive nature of the internet and an intriguing look into the psyche of Elisa Lam along with some mental health awareness.
Ultimately, if you are just looking for the basic events of the case there are definitely much faster ways to do it, but no other documentation of the case gives as wide of a picture of the greater impact it had.
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Pilot Erasable Pens
Erasable pens are an easy solution to not have to stress about messing up while keeping the professionalism associated with the use of pens. They also add more color and bring variety to everyday homework assignments.
WE’RE SO OVER
Overplayed Songs
The radio seems to always play the same few songs time and time again. The same top songs from last year are still on the radio more often than newer ones. Listening to the same thing on repeat can get frustrating.
