Equilibrant

THE FIRST ISSUE

EQUILIBRANT MOVIES: ONE STEP AHEAD OR BEHIND?

ANTI -FEMINISM?

GAME OF SEXISM DOMESTIC ABUSE: A

MAN’S GAME?

HOT GUYS INSIDE!

IS EUGENIE BOUCHARD

THE GIRL WHO CRIED WOLF

DISNEY: NOT SO CHILD FRIENDLY

19/SEPT/16

GAME OF THRONES: IS THE SEXUAL VIOLENCE NESSECEARY? The success of the critically acclaimed HBO adaptation of George RR Martin’s Low Fantasy saga, A Song Of Fire And Ice, was definitely not without controversy.

The show,

known as Game Of Thrones, is notorious for its graphic portrayal of violence and sexual violence in particular. The events of Game Of Thrones take place in the seIing of a world roughly resembling the Middle Ages as the writer has had a longtime fascination with medieval Europe.

There are many who feel that the sexual violence towards females depicted in the series is excessive,

gratuitous and serve only to reinforce the concept of male dominance and superiority within society yet again. When confronted with this, Martin’s response was that, “The books reflect a patriarchal society based on the Middle Ages. The Middle Ages were not a time of sexual egalitarianism.”

Your response to this might be, “Well, he put in magic and dragons; that’s not true to History; why couldn’t he put in sexual egalitarianism?” Quite simply because Martin wanted his novels to be strongly grounded in history and give an impression of what medieval society would be like, despite the fantasy elements.

“QUITE SIMPLY BECAUSE MARTIN WANTED HIS NOVELS TO BE STRONGLY GROUNDED IN HISTORY AND GIVE AN IMPRESSION OF WHAT MEDIEVAL SOCIETY WOULD BE LIKE, DESPITE THE FANTASY ELEMENTS.” To portray an egalitarian society would thus be dishonest. This seems to be the fundamental principle that most people opposed to the sexual violence in Game Of Thrones tend to neglect. Although society has made tremendous progress over the last century, even the world of the 21st century is still not fully egalitarian. Women still face the challenge of inequality in many situations.

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A seemingly contradictory theme of female power also develops through the story to date. Many of the main female characters do not conform to the norms of medieval society. The portrayal of many of the leading female characters therefore serve to challenge gender roles even in the 21st century. Despite the odds and challenges, characters such as Sansa Stark and Daenerys Targaryen have managed to persevere and achieve things that many men in this world would never have dreamed of.

There are so many female characters who seem to rebell against the role they’ve been assigned simply as a result of their gender. Arya, who would much rather be a knight than a lady; Daenerys who has managed to rise from the ashes to conquer most of Slaver's Bay; Brienne of Tarth who can’t become a knight, even though she could probably beat every knight in Westeros. All of the main female roles are unique and diverse in their values, some tend to be good and some tend to be evil, but all of them are complex multifaceted characters with depth and often challenge gender roles as they have been ingrained through the ages.

It is good to see that a show such as Game Of Thrones leads to discussions about the role of media in gender stereotyping and specifically the sexual objectification and abuse of women. While it is important to remember that the story is told in a historical seIing where these issues likely hap-

“...ALL OF THEM ARE COMPLEX MULTIFACETED CHARACTERS WITH DEPTH AND OFTEN CHALLENGE GENDER ROLES AS THEY HAVE BEEN INGRAINED THROUGH THE AGES.”

pened quite frequently and that the objective of the writer is to portray the lives of people in that type of world, we should not accept such portrayals without critically considering and discussing its consequences.

BY GREGORY BOSCH.

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“TENNIS PLAYER EUGENIE BOUCHARD, RANKING 7TH IN THE WORLD, BECOMES VICTIM OF SEXIST REPORTER.” That is one of the many headlines which were dedicated to the so called “scandal” of January 2015. But was the situation really that devastating, or was it all blown out of proportion? For those of you who aren't aware of the event we are dealing with, let me spell it out for you.

Bouchard has just dominated in the second round of the Australian Open and is being interviewed by a reporter. They discuss the things one would expect, how was the game, how does it feel etc. Then, he starts a thread of questions which, instead of dealing with tennis, deal with her outfit (which was a part of a brand deal with nike). After discussing that for a little while, he says his goodbyes with a final question, “will you give us a twirl?” Surprised and humoured Bouchard shyly obliges him with a quick embarrassed spin.

It was this final question that caused mayhem on media outlets such as twitter, and news broadcast networks such as ABC and Good Morning America. Everyone appeared to be in outrage at this question calling it sexist and outright wrong. All while this was going on, Bouchard was at press conference and when questioned about the matter, she laughed it off saying, “I just think it’s funny that an old man asks you to twirl’.

So was the media justified in its outrage? Or 4

was the media just giving their viewers what they wanted? One can never be sure of the true incentive of articles, but this is my take on it.

We only want to see things that agree with our opinion, things that fit in our little bubble of what is right and wrong. And naturally, the media companies want to make a profit. So what often is a result of these two factors is these companies hold back stories of high importance, while pushing others which may have not normally had such a high profile. The reason being for this hey want to give us what we want, so that in turn we pour our money into them.

This isn’t limited to news publications, this also includes social media sites which have algorithms which analyze us to determine which advert to display, or which friends to suggest. The result is us being cocooned into an environment where we aren’t exposed to anything that may contradict our views on the world. This phenomenon is called the Echo Chamber.The outrage against this reporter and the situation as a whole, was a prime example of this. The media outlets were providing the consumer with what they wanted, even if it meant exaggerating the truth.

When this takes place it can have a harmful effect on all parties involved.

Sexism of both men and women is a very big problem, and should not be taken lightly. Sexism has the ability to shape what we and our children believe regarding genders. So when a story, much like Bouchard's, is exaggerated and twisted, people will take notice of the fabricated information. The result? A mindset that what the media says regarding gender issues cannot be accountable.

But what happens when Bouchard really is a victim of sexist remarks, like the ones she received at the Rio Olympics? People assume it’s simply an exaggeration and continue with their daily lives. It’s the act of trying to exaggerate the volume of the voice shouting for gender equality, that makes everyone want to put it on mute. It’s taking away from the crazy amount of progress we have made as a society towards making the world a more equal and accepting place for all genders. (for more information refer to page 8) Gender inequality is still a problem and we need people to voice the issue at hand. But when we are willing to sacrifice legitimacy for a good story, the only thing we do is pull ourselves and others around us away from a society without sexism.

“BUT WHEN WE ARE WILLING TO SACRIFICE LEGITIMACY FOR A GOOD STORY, THE ONLY THING WE DO IS PULL OURSELVES AND OTHERS AROUND US AWAY FROM A SOCIETY WITHOUT SEXISM.”

BY ERIN MATTHEWS. 5

THE GIRL WHO CRIED WOLF

During my research about how men and women are represented in video games I came across an article that really stood out to me to me. For some background information, I am a person who is not necessarily an active feminist, but that does not mean that I am an anti-feminist or believe that men and women should receive unequal rights and representation in video games or any other source of media. What I do dislike, on the other hand, is people going out of their way to find things that “ suppress” men or women in order prove their point. This article is a perfect example of hypocrisy and unnecessary overanalysing.

An article by movienewsguide.com titled “ ‘Battlefield 1’ Coder Explains Sexist Casting” “Battlefield 1” is a first-shooter video game developed by EA DICE that is yet to be released. The game is set in World War I and is inspired by historical events.

ScreenRant.com notes that many “modern” aspects have been added into the game and yet no female characters were added.

Some may argue that the “realistic” setting of the game is why there are no female soldiers, but the publication reports this is not the case. In fact, an ex-coder of DICE has confirmed the real reason, and it is a little disappointing.

The coder, Amandine Coget, revealed that in the initial stages of the game, they had planned to include female soldiers, “because we’re way overdue”. In the end, none was included because of studio expectations.

Coget, was apparently upset by the decision to not add female characters to the game and was quoted saying: “All that is believable but female soldiers are not, to the core audience of boys.”

-Extracts from the movienewsguide.com article.

Yes women saw combat in WW1, but only 5000 at most, notably the very short existence of the Russian women battalion, which is a faction not even in the game. When compared to the millions upon millions upon millions of men (from the factions that are actually represented in the game) that served during the war, it is quick to see that if only one out of the 64 players in a lobby decides to choose a female character the realism and historically accurate representation that the game is trying to portray will be immensely ruined.

If women soldiers were a feature in an upcoming DLC or a campaign mission, then it would make sense. But being part of the main multiplayer is not only unrealistic, but it ruins the immersion of the game. Battlefield's key motive is not realism, but rather about immersion (like any great game/ franchise). For example seeing a gun from 1919 in Battlefield 1 set in WW1 (1914-1918) will only be a small stretch of realism, seeing as it’s only a year after the year ended, but suddenly seeing fictional characters such as Darth Vader in the game will damage the immersion and realism of the game.

Feminism and the fight for equal rights are at all time high right now. Which SHOULD be a good thing, but unfortunately it seems as if some people have their focus on the wrong matters. The phrase “come on its 2016’ gets used too commonly as an excuse for unwarranted accusations of sexism. Feminism has earned many unfortunate stereotypes thanks to radical feminists who identify everything under the sun as sexist, creating a “the boy(…or girl ) who cried wolf” image and mentality.

BY JAKE PEDRO. 7

GREETINGS PEOPLE OF THIS EARTH

This article is going to discuss male attractiveness according to social media. In the first paragraph we will discuss if fitter men are more attractive because of social media or because women are naturally attracted to fitter men over less fit men. In the second paragraph we will discuss the disadvantages of that as well as the advantages of the media displaying this type of man as more attractive.

If you have seen the magazines recently you would have noticed that the men on the front cover of a men's health magazine are far more buff and muscular than the ones on the front cover of other magazines. A survey has been done recently and it was not the “massively muscular” people that women prefer but rather the “decently built” or well-toned men. What this says about most of the media, especially Men’s Health magazine’s is that they are giving men the

wrong idea of what they should look like. This can make most people think that the more muscular the person is the more desirable he is.

Well, there are some advantages of all these incredibly muscular guys being displayed to men.

There is also a lot of disadvantages to this. One of the advantages would be that, by seeing a man doing better than themselves on the media the men viewing this may try be better that man and thus improve their wellbeing. Unfortunately to get as muscular as the man in that photo they would have to take some serious steroids therefore they will never reach the goal of being as muscular as that man.

The disadvantages are as follows. The male viewers by seeing a photo of a man that is so much more muscular than them may have their self esteem lowered.Another disadvantage is these photo’s cause the male viewers to get into comviii

pulsive eating habits. It has been proven that most people with compulsive eating disorders were amongst other things continually influenced by muscular men on the media. To check out where i get my proof from in this paragraph please check out this link: (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/22862 6956_What_About_Men_Social_Comparison_an d_the_Effects_of_Media_Images_on_Body_and_ Self-Esteem, 15/9/2016).

In conclusion it is actually the well toned people that are more attractive to the ladies than the overly muscular guys. The media is especially Men’s Health magazines are showing overly fit guys that are less attractive than the other well toned people. I would like to end off by saying men you are beautiful just the way you are.

“I WOULD LIKE TO END OFF BY SAYING MEN, YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL JUST THE WAY YOU ARE.”

BY DEVON CROWTHER. ix

EUGENIE BOUCHARD SPEAKS OUT AGAINST SEXIST HOST

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The Rio Olympics was an event to remember, although this might not entirely be a good thing. Majority of the press surrounding this olympics was in regards to the many scandals which unfolded. Be it the pools turning green, competitors getting mugged, or even extraordinary female athletes being belittled, this is a summer olympics that will take long to forget. Recently Erin Matthews from Equilibrant met up with world renowned tennis player, Eugenie Bouchard who competed in the recent olympics.

We wanted to get her view on the recent situation which played out.

EM: Good afternoon Eugenie, thank you for joining us today.

EB: Thank you, thank you, it’s great to be here.

EM: So, before I going into my questions I have for you, can you describe the recent situation which played out while you were at the Rio Olympics?

EB: In short, my interest and focus in tennis was questioned on live TV by a motivational speaker because I take promotional selfies for Instagram.

EM: Now there are some people who don’t see this to be offensive, do you agree with that notion or where you angered by this remark?

EB: Well, angered is a bit strong, but yes I was upset. I mean, who wouldn’t be. Just like most athletes, I rely a lot on sponsorships and promotions in order to sustain being a professional athlete. This could look like anything from wearing nike shoes on the court to spreading the word over social media. If you look at my or any other athlete’s Instagram for that matter, it’s full of these type of photos. That’s why it was so surprising that my interest in pursuing tennis as a professional endeavor was questioned on the basis that I have these photos.

EM: There was also a huge outcry from social media saying that this was sexist, some of the reporter’s own friends publicly called him out. What do you think?

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EB: Okay, well mainly I prefer to focus on my sport in discussions, but the reason I agreed to meet today to discuss this is for that reason. I don’t want young girls who are aspiring to break through in industries previously dominated by men to look up to me to see someone who is just willing to take and accept having their hard work belittled because of their gender. That’s not the right message to send. So yes, I do believe this was sexist comment made by Adam Creek. I mean, we see male athletes all the time making promotional materials and posting it on Facebook, twitter, Instagram etc. And their interest in the sport they have dedicated their lives to isn’t questioned. But because I did something stereotypically seen as “girly”, my entire identity is pushed aside.

EB: Stand up for who you are, don’t let anything, whether they are a man or woman, tell you what you are and what you are not. But, what I think is key, do so with a kind heart, stand up for your identity but don’t break others down in the process. That’s why I think it’s important to say, Adam Creek, what you said was not right, but I believe you have realized that, so I forgive you.

EM: Wow, thank you Eugenie Bouchard, it’s a very inspirational message indeed. We look forward to seeing you play in the upcoming Australian Open.

EB: It’s my pleasure, thank you for having me

EM: Is there anything you would like to say to those girls? *THIS IS A FICTIONAL INTERVIEW*

BY ERIN MATTHEWS.

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I MUST BE BRAVE, STRONG, PROUD SO I SAY NOTHING I CAN'T SAY IT I MUST BE BRAVE I MUST BE STRONG I MUST BE PROUD SHE MAKES ME CRY SHE LAUGHS AND CALLS ME WEAK SO I SAY NOTHING SHE HITS ME BUT I MUST BE BRAVE I MUST BE STRONG I MUST BE PROUD I'M SCARED TO TALK I KNOW SHE'LL HEAR I KNOW NO-ONE WILL LISTEN THEY WILL TELL ME TO BE BRAVE TO BE STRONGÂ TO BE PROUD I SAY NOTHING

I SAY NOTHING

BY TIFFANY HACKER.

FRONT LINES BY MICHAEL GRANT This book tells the tale of several women in the United States army during the Second World War. The story takes place in the US military from 1942-1945. It challenges the gender stereotypes of the day.

Things such as women should stay home and leave the fighting to the men or women are weaker than men.

The story begins shortly after women were introduced into the military in 1942. We are quickly introduced to Rio Richlin, a farm girl from Gedwell Falls, California who enlists at the same time as her best friend Jenou Castain, to Frangie Marr, an African-American girl who joins to support her family after her father is unable to work, to Rainy Schulterman, a poor Jewish girl. An unnamed female war veteran in a military hospital narrates it in 1945. She speaks to Rio, Jenou, Frangie and Rainy and learns their stories of how they ended up in the military and their lives after they enlisted. It is not only about women though, it tells the story of Rio’s boyfriend who is drafted a few days before Rio, herself, enlists.

I found this book inspirational. It showed that you don't have to be a man to do well in the army. It also showed people getting through the tough challenges in their lives. They are the kind of characters that you can look back at and think, ‘Well, Rainy got through WWII, I think I can manage a couple of projects.’

I recommend this book to any girl over the age of 13. Whilst the book is inspirational it is also a bit violent for the younger generation.

I give this book a rating of 10/10 for it's amazing writing and brilliant storyline.

BY TIFFANY HACKER.

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LET’S GO TO THE MOVIES

THE GENDER EQUALITY IN MOVIES Watching movies is something a lot of people do but do they show gender equality? When watching old Disney movies it is really obvious that movies for the most part aren’t gender equal examples.

The princesses usually needs saving from a prince and then they marry and the princess takes care of the prince and their home. In some movies the prince has to win the princess like she property and not a person. If a child should watch a Disney movie it is better for them to watch one that is a bit newer because they are more gender equal and don't use as many gender stereotypes.

For an example in Mulan, it is Mulan that goes to war in her father's place dressed like a man and when it really counts she saves China with some men by dressing them up like women. Another example is in Brave where some men are going to compete for the main characters hand but she doesn’t want to be married away so she competes for herself and shows young girls, they can choose their own way and they don’t need a man in their life to have a good life. Then when looking at more recent films and not just for Disney there is also not of gender equality.

Looking at a study on the top 67 films of 2012 in 55 of the films there is a male lead characters and in only 12 there is a female lead. In the movies with male leads the few women who are in them are objectified and usually doesn’t wear a lot of clothes or are just the love interest of the lead. They are mostly not strong and independent characters but just there because the movie needs a love interest.

Movies influence a lot of people especially the younger audience so society and the film industry needs to come a long way if we are going to have a gender equal world.

BY REBECCA HALEN.

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STAR WARS EPISODE SEVEN The Science Fiction epic, Star Wars The Force Awakens, otherwise known as Star Wars Episode Seven is directed and co-written by J.J Abrams. The film is set nearly three decades after Return of the Jedi and follows Rey (Daisy Ridley), Finn (John Boyega) and Poe Dameron’s (Oscar Isaac) search for Luke Skywalker - and there also seems to be three decades of progression in the way leading female protagonists are portrayed.

Rey’s character has a strong link to leading ladies in the previous movies, but at the same time is very different.

In the previous installments of the franchise, while leading ladies, such as Leia and Padme were badass at times, they were also at times portrayed with almost stereotypical vulnerability and dependency, falling into the same mold as many movies of the era, where women often served as ‘decorations’ fitted around the main storyline - especially in action movies. They can be strong and they can fight, but there always seems to be that point where they become dependent on, and must be rescued by the male protagonist(s). This time there is a female character that refuses the stereotype and not in a forced way at all.

For the first time it seems we have a main female protagonist who is simply who she is. Never throughout the movie does Rey find herself as a distressing damsel, she is instead a survivor and a fighter, as well as a nurturer and a truly all round badass. She possesses the natural human vulnerability of “Am human, can die,” but regardless, she does her part of fighting for the cause to save the galaxy.

There are a few instances throughout the movie where characters those characters who sometimes doubt her ability are gently mocked. For example, Finn repeatedly tries to inject chivalry in situations where it is rather out of place.

During a scene where the two are fighting stormtroopers, Finn runs to Rey’s aid only to find her foes to have been neatly taken care of. He then grabs her hand as they flee and she snaps, “I know how to run without you holding my hand.”

She is female, but first and foremost she is a person. What makes Rey’s feminism that much more powerful is the fact that it isn’t insistant or obvious, but simply there.

BY GREGORY BOSCH.

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THE HUNTSMAN: THE WINTER’S WAR The Huntsman: The Winter’s War, is a film directed by Cedric Nicolas-Troyan and was first released in Italy on the 7 of April 2016. The first paragraph of this review will be speaking about the improvement of the amount of women in media and how it is evident in this movie. The second paragraph of this review will be speaking about how how the improvement of women in the media will affect gender equality around the world.

While this movie may not have got top ratings it does show one thing about film industry and how the film industry is improving. The amount of women being cast in movies is increasing and we have seen this in many movies recently such as Ghostbusters, Frozen and many other movies. This is also evident in this movie and there is actually more women in this movie than there are men. The main characters for the men are: Eric the huntsman, Nion the Dwarf, Gryff the dwarf, Tull a fellow huntsman. The main characters who are women are: Queen Ravenna, Freya, Sara and the two dwarven women.

That fact that there are more women in the film industry today is a very good thing. In the past there was in fact very little women in the filming industry. Today the amount of women and men in movies is almost equal and I expect it to even out completely very soon. A lot of the women nowadays are being showed as strong and this also is promoting equality by showing that it is not only men who are strong.

In summary the movie The Huntsman the Winters War has a lot more women as main characters than older films do and this shows how times are changing and it is no longer man who will always have the main roles.

BY DEVON CROWTHER.

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SUITS

Suits in a nutshell is a TV show about Harvey Specter and Mike Ross. They spend their days fighting crime, or hiding it, in the courthouse as badass lawyers. The only problem? Mike Ross does not have a law degree, so the plot revolves around them trying to keep from those who don’t know, and bribing those who do.

As you may have noticed, the two main characters are both men. Ugh, sexist am I right? Maybe not.

If we look at shows like 2 Broke Girls, Orphan Black and The Killing, one of thing they have in common is either a one or two female lead. And there’s nothing wrong with that. Now that that has been established, let’s move on.

One thing that is a real positive about this show, and what I will be focusing on for most of my review, is the way in which each gender is incorporated.

So while the two men are the lead, it isn’t to say that the women in the show are underrepresented. In fact, big shot lawyer Harvey Specter is continuously having to report to his boss, Mrs. Pearson, the owner of the entire law firm. Mrs. Pearson is a badass in her own right, she’s normally the smartest one in the situation and is always in charge.

But wait, there’s more.

Rachel Zane is a paralegal at the law firm, she becomes Mike Ross’s love interest, all while still maintaining a realistic and well developed character. She stand up for herself, reaches ambitious goals, and sometimes does a better job than Harvey himself.

I could go on with many many more examples of both male and female character who are excellently represented in this show. Although, I would end up repeating myself saying, all these characters have a chance on screen to grow and mature into attainable people. They each have their own faults, and their own upsides, and we learn to love them for that. There is no outright bad guy on the show, everyone has their weakness.

It’s because of Suits well developed characters, and realistic setting, that makes it so well loved. Therefore, in my opinion, Suits is a must see because it doesn’t limit its characters to two dimensional boxes, instead, we see the full picture.

BY ERIN MATTHEWS

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I’ve recently seen the film “Kill Bill Volume 1”, and before I even finished the movie I knew this was a special movie that I needed to share. “Kill Bill Volume 1” is Quentin Tarantino’s 4th film and was first released in 2003.

KILL BILL: VOLUME 1

The story’s plot is based around a bride (Uma Thurman) who seeks revenge on a group of assassins and their leader, Bill, after they attempt to kill her and her unborn child. The main events in the movie take place four years after the attack where we see her battle emotion and physical struggles as well as new challenges and obstacles that she must overcome.

Kill Bill stars Uma Thurman as “The wife”. Her performance is this movie is beyond special. She captivates the audience with every movement and it is hard not feel every moment that she does.

She does a fantastic job portraying a lethal combination of desperation, determination, courage and overall badassary. Other noticeable lead characters being: Lucy Lui, Vivica A. Fox, Daryl Hannah and David Carradine.

What makes “Kill Bill Volume 1” very unique is the fact that is an action movie with female lead characters. This is very rare when compared with the majority of action movies being a complete male dominated genre. It is a very nice contrast to the norm and only helps to add to “the bride’s” strong character as well as the elitist group of assassins also being made up by a majority of females.

I would recommend this movie people who love action/martial arts movies and old western movies, as Kill Bill is heavily influenced by the style of old western movies and seems to be a homage to a lot of those types of movies.

I would give this movie a 16M rating as it does contain violence, swearing and a few sex-orientated conversations, but in the world we live in, I don’t think it is unreasonable for a 16-year-old to see this movie. This movie isn’t afraid to drop the occasional few tongue and cheek lines. The action scenes, sticking true to the Quentin Tarantino style, are very over the top and at some times have very unrealistic amounts of blood and gore. It’s easy for these elements to be off putting for some, but the action the blood and gore is so over the top and fake that it won’t cause any noticeable amount of stomach hurls.

SCALE 1-10 // 8.9/10 If there were a coolness and raw “badassness “ scale, this movie would get 10/10 in a heartbeat, but unfortunately I’ll have to put my childhood dreams of fighting waves upon waves of ninjas aside.

“Kill Bill Volume 1” is inspiring, heartwarming and jaw dropping movie with an outstanding performance from Uma Thurman taking this movie to another level and making us, the audience, feel every moment of drama, tension and laughter, while also leaving countless memorable moments and scenes to be remembered for years to come.

“Kill Bill Volume 1” is just one of those movies that make you smile, and I wouldn’t be surprised if after watching this movie you ended up jumping around your house like a ninja chasing your dog for an hour with this movies awesome sound track ringing in your ears.

BY JAKE PEDRO.

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“MAN BEATEN BY WIFE FINALLY SPEAKS OUT”

Did you know that more married men suffer abuse than married women? Then why don't we hear about it? One theory is that men are ashamed; they feel like people will see them as weak. This is due to the media's representation of men. They are expected to be tough and strong. An exclusive interview with 6-foot, former rugby player, *Bill Williams, whose name was changed to protect his identity, reveals shocking information about the hardships he endured by his 4-foot, physically abusive wife.

Hacker: When did the abuse start?

Williams: She was always a passionate woman.

That’s why I loved her. She began to emotionally abuse me after we got engaged but I convinced myself that it was just pre-wedding stress and that she would calm down after the wedding.

Hacker: When did the physical abuse begin?

Williams: About a year after we were married. She was expecting our son at the time. I accidentally broke her favorite mug while making her tea. She poured the whole kettle of boiling water over the front of my body. I had to take myself to the hospital with third degree burns. I told them that my wife had slipped and accidentally poured the water on me.

Hacker: Why didn’t you tell the truth?

Williams: I loved her. And I believed that she didn't mean to hurt me. She was just hormonal from being pregnant. When it escalated a few years later I realized that I was too scared to tell people the truth.

Hacker: Why were you scared?

Williams: I am a man. I’m supposed to be strong and to be able to defend myself. I was worried that people would call me weak or not a man. I wanted to set a good example for my son. I didn't want him to think that I was weak.

Hacker: Why did you eventually decide to leave her?

Williams: I finally saw her for who she was the day she hit my son. He spilled his juice on the couch and she hit him across the face. I grabbed her hand and said, “I want a divorce” and that was that.

Hacker: Do you have any regrets?

Williams: I wish I got my son away from her quicker. *THIS IS A FICTIONAL INTERVIEW*

BY TIFFANY HACKER

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LADY DEATH

Gregory Bosch (Greg) interviews Lyudmila Pavlichenko (Mila), the most successful and famous female Soviet sniper, Credited with 309 kills during WW2, about women’s role in the army.

Greg: Good day, Major Pavlichenko, it is an honour to interview one of history’s most decorated snipers and a beacon for feminism such as yourself.

Mila: Good day Mr Bosch, it is an honour to be here.

Greg: Was the admission of a female into a sniper division a controversial decision at the time?

Mila: It was certainly. I was initially denied admission into the ranks of the infantry even after I presented my marksman certificate and sharpshooter badge so I had to use all kinds of tricks to get in. Eventually my skill was noticed and I was given 6 months of specialist training in sniping and after that I was assigned to the Red Army’s 25th Rifle Division.

Greg: How did your career as a sharpGreg: Do you feel that women should shooter begin? be able to fight in the Military?

Mila: When I was fourteen, my family and I moved to Kyiv where I joined a sharpshooting club. I used to practice whenever I wasn’t working at the metal grinding factory.

Greg: Did people find the fact that a fourteen year old girl’s favourite pastime was sharpshooting, strange?

Mila: I feel that it is your capabilities that should be taken into account when joining the army, not your gender. I think that I, and the other 2000 female snipers of the Red Army proved that being a women does not limit your capabilities.

Greg: That was the final question, Major Pavlichenko. Thank you for your time.

Mila: Oh, definitely. It was precisely beMila: It has been my pleasure. cause of this that I was prompted to start sharpshooting. When a neighbor’s boy boasted of his exploits at a shooting range, I set out to show that a girl could do it as well. So I practiced a lot.

Greg: What motivated you to join the Army?

Mila: I wanted to serve my country and saw no better way to do so than to utilize my skill in defending Russia against the threat of the Germans as they invaded in 1941.

*THIS IS A FICTIONAL INTERVIEW*

BY GREGORY BOSCH.

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REFERENCES

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