THE RICHARD HUISH COLLEGE MAGAZINE WINTER 2016
THE FUTURE IS NOW
Not only is Forward an interesting read that makes us stop and think about our world as it is today, it is also a fantastic platform for future journalists, designers and photographers to be part of a high quality publication and see their work in print. Congratulations to this issues editorial team for delving into some thoughtprovoking subjects. Everyone can relate to Maddie Barnes’ article on ‘Social Media – Real Life, or Real Followers’, and a focus on Age Restrictions by Haylea Marriott compliments ‘If The Suffragettes Could See Us Now’ by Beth Hamilton. Thanks goes to Liz Webb and Matt Williams in the marketing team for making it happen. Happy reading. Liz Williams Marketing Manager
WELCOME
Forward is a great example of students and staff collaborating to produce a quality magazine. We have so much talent at Huish, this only just touches the surface and we are always striving to find new ways to showcase the skills of our fantastic students.
Hello and welcome to the 2016 Winter edition of Forward Magazine! As the new year begins to set in, we have here a selection of articles addressing the here and now, with topics such as Cameron’s newer bluer Labour, the drawbacks of social media and even a showcase of students’ A Level photography. There is also an interesting article on the trope of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl and its use. Alongside a focus on the present we’ve also got blasts from the past; commentary on the suffragettes as well as the changing standards of beauty from each decade. With such a variety of topics enveloping politics, film, literature and many more, there is bound to be something for everybody. Such a variety of content would not be available without the writers and editors working behind the scenes to always improve
on what came before. None of this would be possible without those behind Forward who are always willing to put in the extra effort and deliver the best they can do. We hope you enjoy this year’s first edition of Forward, honouring the past but moving forward to the future – the here and now. Diogo Ganga
COVER: Sennen Meredith
MEET THE TEAM
South Road, Taunton, Somerset TA1 3DZ forward@huish.ac.uk www.huish.ac.uk
Freya Lodge
Haylea Marriott
Connie Nicholls
Matthew Hallows
Liv Reid
Emma Chubb
Maddie Barnes
Beth Hamilton
The College exists to provide routes to higher education and the professions through close tutorial support. All views expressed in Forward are entirely those of students and not shared by, nor endorsed by Richard Huish College.
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CONTENTS WINTER 2016
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14 4 | SOCIAL MEDIA – REAL LIFE, OR REAL FOLLOWERS?
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6 | SUPER HEROES OR SUPER ZEROES?
22 | SPECTRE REVIEW
8 | WHY CAMERON’S “NEWER BLUER LABOUR” ISN’T AS CONVINCING AS HE MAY THINK.
MANIC PIXIE DREAM GIRL
20 | BEAUTY BY THE DECADE 24 | PLAYLIST
1O | AGE RESTRICTIONS 12 | IF THE SUFFRAGETTES COULD SEE US NOW… 14 | A LEVEL PHOTOGRAPHY SHOWCASE 16 |
GOYA: THE PORTRAITS
FORWARD | 3
SOCIAL MEDIA – REAL LIFE, OR REAL FOLLOWERS? This article is a bit hypocritical of me I admit, considering that I spent over an hour yesterday doing nothing other than checking my Snapchat and messaging a group chat whilst sharing pictures of Honey Boo Boo. But I am determined to get over this obsession, even though it may take quite a lot longer than I anticipate it to.
4 | FORWARD
Social media has become a very big part of our lives, and has also created a generation who socialise through phones and online messaging, rather than face to face. It has become a business run by deception, self-esteem and creating seemingly ‘real-life’ windows into our own personal lives. As a generation, we spend our time online looking at screens, slowly becoming oblivious to the outside world, caused by endless selfies of beautiful people with perfect skin, and celebrities causing scandal; aka, things we do – but really shouldn’t, because seriously, who cares what Gigi Hadid wore to a party last night – actually care about. But despite this addiction to people, press and increasing our own personal value due to the amount of followers we have on Instagram, most of it is not real.
Trawling through fitness accounts yesterday, I realised that promoting health and fitness can be a good thing, but doing it to the extent of making us feel self-conscious seems to cause more harm than good. A lot of people simply change into sports clothes to take pictures, and often don’t actually go out and exercise. Posting and getting likes for pictures of us in scantily-clad clothing does help us grow our self-esteem, but it also lowers others’ confidence. Comments from our peer groups such as “she’s hot” or “he’s hot” make us think “do we have to look like that to get noticed?” Society’s definition of attractive has become entangled with the opinions of today’s generation – muscles, thigh gaps and long legs have become too much of an obsession of ours, trading views of ourselves as people, to people as objects by having to reach ‘acceptable’ standards.
SOCIAL MEDIA MADDIE BARNES
what happens in behind the pages and pages of adventures that they seem to have on a daily basis. Millions of photos are edited to make us look perfect to society, and the events we experience that we film and take pictures of, are purely for show. Our value in society has become only about what we appear to be doing and what we should care about, rather than what we spend most of our time doing, and what we really enjoy.
The reality of our lives are becoming worthless, as we start to do things and end up buying expensive products purely for the sake of posting it on Instagram to gain more followers. Our generation goes to the woods to take ‘Tumblr’ pictures we have bonfires to take ‘Tumblr’ pictures – we even go to the beach JUST to take ‘Tumblr’ pictures. I have slowly realised that we don’t actually do things or go to places for the fun of it, to create memories or to do it for the experience of trying something new. We do it for the amount of likes and followers that we may or may not get. I know this is all a bit ‘cringey’, but the sooner we all realise this, the better. We live through our phones. We film experiences to upload to Instagram and Facebook, but do we ever go to just enjoy it? We spend most Online, our lives are not what they seem. We create of our time looking at things via our phones, rather an image of who we want to be and what we want than through feelings and senses, through visual others to think of us – rather than who we are. experiences and through memories we create. Online accounts and profiles are just pages and So next time you go to a party, gig or festival, try pages of deception, with none, if any, links to our daily lives. We only post pictures that we look good not to use your phone. Really focus on what is happening in that moment, rather than focusing in, write statuses that will make others jealous, and on trying to open Snapchat up in time to catch it. waste masses amounts of time to make our lives We are a generation obsessed with other people’s seem a lot better than they actually are. However, it’s not normally something we stop and think about. appearances, our own appearances, and trying to make our lives seem the most appealing. This lifestyle has been drummed into our heads as a normality, as a way to pass the time, and has Therefore, don’t take a ‘selfie’ next time your makequickly become an increasingly bad habit, because up looks “on point”, and don’t film over half of a gig seriously – when was the last time you watched a rather than watch it through your own eyes – but movie without looking at your phone, or went to a just start LIVING! Trust me, you will feel so much gig without filming at least half of the whole thing? better without the inevitable call of a group chat, We have become overly obsessed about what without the temptation to look at pictures that make others think of us, but it’s not simply keeping up you feel bad about your body, but rather experience appearances. It’s also to help us feel better about what you’re doing. You don’t want to waste your ourselves. Trawling through Instagram accounts time online, when you could be making your life as is not a valuable past time. It just makes us feel interesting and as adventure-filled as possible – and worse than we already feel about ourselves, and not just for Instagram, but for the stories that you again promotes the ideals of what makes a perfect can tell, for what you can feel and the memories that life. Even though their pictures may purely be only you can create. of yoga and green juice, we don’t actually know FORWARD | 5
SUPER HEROES OR SUPER ZEROES? The superhero genre has never been more successful, and it’s difficult to imagine a time when superheroes weren’t part of mainstream culture.
6 | FORWARD
2016 is set to be the biggest year for the genre as a whole, with six films slated for release – from Fox Studios we get the R-rated Deadpool and a continuation of the X-Men franchise in X-Men: Apocalypse. Warner Bros. has potentially one of the biggest films of the year in Batman v Superman as well as a possible breakout hit in Suicide Squad, whilst the Marvel Cinematic Universe is set to return back to our screens with Captain America: Civil War and the mystical Doctor Strange; and all this is only for 2016. In fact, we can expect up to 20+ superhero films between 2017 and 2020, which has led to speculation that the highpoint for superheroes has been reached; with a more saturated market than ever before, audiences are at greater risk of becoming tired of superhero films and therefore the genre is doomed to diminishing returns over time. Before making any assumptions about the fate of superheroes as a whole, in order to understand these films’ future, we must go back to their past. Whilst there have been attempts in the 20th Century at getting superheroes on movie screens, they did not reach their destination up until 1978’s Superman Returns, which grossed a respectable $300.22 million and showed that superheroes on the big screen could not only work, but also draw in massive amounts of revenue. 1989 saw Tim Burton’s Batman earn upwards of $400 million from a budget of $48 million, another success for the fledgling genre. Superman IV’s box office failure only two years before and the much-maligned Batman and Robin sunk both the Man of Steel and the Dark Knight’s respective franchises, and the superhero genre entered stagnation.
Looking back, we can see that superhero films have enjoyed tremendous success over the years. Marvel’s Cinematic Universe format, though incredibly successful so far, can be considered limiting in that each film is a chapter in Marvel’s growing story arc, meaning it must also link to future storylines and show continuity from previous films – for example, Avengers: Age of Ultron, though bringing in $1.4 billion dollars worldwide, was criticised for spending too much time connecting to future Marvel films such as Avengers: Infinity War instead of establishing itself as a movie that could stand on its own. As the Marvel universe is building up to the massive Infinity War films of 2018 and 2019, bringing as many as 67 characters established in previous films for two massive events, it’ll certainly be a challenge to make sure narrative threads do not contradict or clash with one another. Many of these films follow a similar format to those that came before – the same setpieces, high stakes and sanitised violence without consequences; by no doubt are these films lacking, it’s just that they do not bring anything new to the table. Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight in 2008 showed that
superhero films could be serious, hard-hitting adventures when they needed to be. Seven years on and in spite of immense critical and commercial success, not many films can be said to have gained the same critical acclaim as The Dark Knight has. Given the sheer glut of superhero films yet to come, it’s no wonder the end of the genre as we know it is being proclaimed – the superhero genre is a unique beast in that it isn’t actually a genre itself, instead encompassing several genres and adding superhero elements to them. For example, in Marvel’s self titled “Phase One” of movies, we gained a WW2 thriller in Captain America: The First Avenger, a high fantasy epic in Thor, and an all-star ensemble team-up in The Avengers. The inclusion of multiple genres means that there’s a film for everybody to watch, ensuring each new addition will differ from the rest. Warner Bros.’ upcoming slate of DC Comics films will also bring greater diversity in regards to the actors cast – the 2017 Wonder Woman is set to be the first superhero film headlined by a woman and with the success of films such as the Hunger Games and The Force Awakens, a female-led superhero film is long overdue. Aquaman and Cyborg – set for 2018 and 2020 respectively – will both be led by people of different ethnic backgrounds (a topical subject with the Oscars boycott row in full flow) whilst Marvel’s Black Panther and Captain Marvel are both due for 2017 and 2019. If we’re going to be pessimistic and assume audiences will be burnt out and moving on to the next great phenomenon by 2020, the inner nerd in you will surely enjoy what’s up on display here.
CULTURE DIOGO SANTOS GANGA
Bryan Singer’s X-Men launched in 2000; which proved not only the beginning of a new superhero trilogy, but also the beginning of more superhero franchises. Spiderman and Batman both enjoyed critically acclaimed franchises in the 2000s under Sam Raimi and Christopher Nolan respectively, and Marvel themselves would launch Iron Man in 2008, marking the beginning of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which to date has accumulated a total of $9,081,386,580 at the worldwide box office and shows no signs of stopping.
FORWARD | 7
WHY CAMERON’S “NEWER BLUER LABOUR” ISN’T AS CONVINCING AS HE MAY THINK.
8 | FORWARD
David Cameron: the man who’s strode himself towards the centre right, pulling with him, not just his party, but the whole country to an economically stable place with social stability to support the poor and secure the weakest of our society; our “big society”. In the last term he brought us marriage equality and is injecting direct democracy into our nation, with referenda to let the people control the people. He’s the perfect middle ground that holds us together. Blah blah blah yadah yadah yadah… That’s what he thinks people should think of him; the sensible third way, with the clean image and the pragmatic politics, just with a blue tie… Although I’m not so convinced. At the Tory conference Cameron said to you; the people “when you put a cross in the Conservative box, you’re putting your complete faith in us” and what a mighty great shame that is. I could name many reasons why. The cuts made to public sector industry; that sliced the amount of jobs in the steel industry, both skilled and unskilled, in half. The massive amount of inequality; made completely legal due to idiotic tax loopholes that seem almost tailored to suit the rich to a bespoke fit, in corporate and inheritance tax. And the huge chunks taken from the: NHS, Fire Brigades services and the Police; that make our country unhappy, unsafe and unstable. But the main thing that affects every one of these issues is the reduction of people’s rights to protest, strike and apply any sort of power they may hold to politics. David Cameron during his reign has, decided not just to reduce the power of unions, in putting forth legislation to breakdown and criminalise people’s right to strike, but has passed laws that potentially make it a terrorist offence to protest. He’s ignored just about every petition signature, pressure group member, unionist, strike activist, protester, rioter, terrorist or even just anyone who’s out spoken and out of ways to drag themselves out of the grave dug by Cameron and his clan of shadowy, blue suited figures behind him. Even the interjection of the direct public voice in prime ministers questions has gone over his head. He seems to turn his nose up at the opportunity to serve the people, not because our opinions don’t matter, but because we don’t matter. The lashings given to constituency MP’s who want to represent their people (you know because it is a representative democracy after all) has sucked government dry of the relationship and bond between people and politician and drained politicians of the right to support protest and pressure on parliament, even if they want to do so. The list of protests from teachers unions, doctors and nurses unions, railway unions, fire brigades unions, pressure groups opposing austerity, green inefficiency, animal and human rights violation, TTIP, and the general poor running of parliament have been ignored and rejected by the Tories and that
has held our country down all in a time of crisis for public industry. In particular, steel. To me it seems stupid to shut down both Redcar and Scunthorpe steel works, not just because of the 2900 jobs lost, or the fact that we endorse a corrupt government by buying China’s steel instead, not even the fact that we therefore put all our dependency on foreign steel if we want to maybe build homes and infrastructure in times of housing crisis and overpopulation (like we’re in at the moment) by cutting our steel production in more than half. It’s the very fact that he axes these plants in a time in which poverty is at its highest rate since the Thatcher era, the majority of jobs going are those of minimum wage which isn’t enough to live on, and the housing crisis and crisis in welfare means that when you find you can’t afford to pay rent or tax on your property you won’t have anything to fall back on. Osbourne screams Living Wage, as if it’s a Tory life line, in the Commons when questions of how the majority are going to live through this austerity and sometimes I feel he needs reminding that not only are these workers being wasted away on shop floors but they’ll literally be wasted away on a pitiful wage in which no working family could live on whilst keeping their heads above the poverty line. And this wage hasn’t even come in yet for most people. I would say protest but we know that doesn’t matter to them in their ivory tower, so what is there to do.
POLITICS ROB BETTS
Almost a year into the Conservative majority government Rob Betts gives his opinion on David Cameron’s new centre right politics.
David Cameron has well and truly screwed over the nation, yet still has the audacity to hold this sharing caring image that clouds the views of the majority and mystify those who aren’t affected. I haven’t seen a politician spun so tightly since Tony Blair tried to change Labour. In the flesh Cameron is as Neo Liberal as the previous generations of Tories who were spat out of the leadership process. He’s failed to pull his party towards the modern age and seems to have given up on it. You just have to see figures like Osbourne, the Bollington boy with the power to ruin more lives than he dreamed to 10 years ago or Theresa May the New Right minister with an eye on “the Immigrants” and the other on the rest of us, tapping into our internet history and surveying how we eat, sleep and breath the dark fumes that fuel the Tory idea. Even if Cameron looks a brightly polished and tied up with a bow package that’s delivered to you with what you want, you don’t have to look any further than the giggling faces sat behind him or hear any more than the words that are spat from his mouth to be turned away by him. Not even Thatcher made the extensive and dangerous cuts he made to the Military and Police force and that for me say it all really. He’s a Thatcherite, comfortably sat behind a mask. And to really sum up this article I paraphrase Dennis Skinner when I write “this is the real true face of Toryism that we’re witnessing today. It’s only taken them a few months to appear as they really are”.
FORWARD | 9
AGE RESTRICTIONS
10 | FORWARD
According to the law, nearly everything has some kind of age restriction on it; some restrictions can often cause a great deal of controversy. For example, have you ever considered how at 16 you are legally allowed to have sex and potentially bring a baby into the world, yet you cannot adopt a child until you are 21? If you are under 18, you have no legal right to know the identity of your birth parents if you are adopted, meaning those who are adopted can legally have their own child before finding out who their own parents are – is this really right? The age of sexual consent in the UK is 16, but there are wide variations across Europe. In Germany, it is 14 and the same in Portugal and Italy, whereas in Turkey, the law requires you to be 18 before you can legally have sex. Although each country argues its own reasons for their age of consent, who is to say what is right when there is such variation across countries and why should people face more limitations than others? Even in the UK, there has been variation and controversy over the age of consent throughout history – originally the age was set at 12 during the reign of Edward I in 1275 and it was not until 1885 that it was raised to 16.
At 13, you are allowed to get a part time job but only for 2 hours on a school day or Sunday and up to 5 hours on a Saturday. The law remains the same regarding work at 15 years old except for the fact you are now permitted to work up to 8 hours on a Saturday. It is not until you reach 16 that you can work full time, but only providing you have left school and are not working in a bar. This can’t be a bad thing though…before 1940 in the UK, children as young as 5 were often expected to work for up to 12 hours a day; unfortunately, although child labour is now illegal here, it is still prevalent in too many other countries around the world. The voting age in the UK remains one of the most controversial age restrictions due to a clash in opinions. There have been debates arguing that the age should be lowered to 16, due to the fact that at 16, young people can pay income tax and national insurance, join the armed forces, give consent to medical treatment – the list goes on – raising questions of why young people cannot be permitted to vote at 16 in addition to these already existing responsibilities. Surely it is only logical that the younger generation should have more of a say in politics as a democracy? Especially since politics directly impacts young people’s lives and some issues that impact this generation can become less important to those of older generations. The voting age has never been successfully lowered as it has been argued that those as young as 16 are still too influenced by their parents decisions and ‘most’ 16-17 year olds are not politically engaged enough to have a say – but why does this mean that the right to vote should be denied to those who are politically interested and those who have independent opinions?
CURRENT AFFAIRS HAYLEA MARRIOTT
Whether it’s getting a job, getting served or getting the vote, you can bank on the fact there will be a legal age restriction limiting you somehow, but are they logical and necessary?
You’re able to play the national lottery at 16, but cannot place a bet until you reach 18; both are considered gambling, but this means that you could win the lottery, thousands upon thousands of pounds, before you can actually place your first bet, which could maybe get you a few quid – if you’re lucky. So this also means that you are considered responsible enough to possibly receive a life-changing sum of money at 16 after choosing a few lucky numbers, though still not be deemed responsible to open your own bank account to actually keep the money in without permission from another.
Age 20 is very significant in Japan as that is the age at which it becomes legal to drink, smoke and vote and each year there is a ‘Coming of Age’ day to celebrate the threshold between youth and adulthood. It is clear that age restrictions have more significance in some cultures compared to ours, but is that because in the UK so much controversy lies on the topic?
FORWARD | 11
April 12, 1961 saw Yuri Gagarin become the first human to complete one orbit around the globe.
12 | FORWARD
SUFFRAGETTES BETH HAMILTON
IF THE SUFFRAGETTES COULD SEE US NOW… In 1928, women over the ages of 21 were given the right to vote. Eightyseven years later, women’s suffrage and empowerment has been revolutionised in ways the likes of Emily Dickinson would never have imagined. But what if the suffragettes could see the world now? What would they have liked and what would have disappointed them?
Since getting the vote we’ve had successes, victories and growing acceptance of the concept that women are equal to men. However, there are still inequalities present in today’s society, which the founding mothers of women’s suffrage would see as unjust. Ninety years ago it would have been unheard of for a woman to be a leading figure in politics. Other than in the monarchy, the governing of a country was solely by men. Now, in 2015, we have more female leaders than ever; Bidhya Devi Bhandari in Nepal, Angela Merkel in Germany, Portia Simpson Miller in Jamaica... in fact there is a total of 22 countries currently run by female leaders. What’s more, America could be about to get their first female president as Hilary Clinton is a clear choice for the next Democratic candidate – especially because Donald Trump could be her Republican opposition. There are also more women in Britain’s parliament than ever before – but still a shocking amount more men. The suffragettes, who opened the door for women’s politics would be baffled that after all these years, out of 650 seats in the house of commons only 191 are filled by women. In the early days of women’s suffrage, it was the social norm for women to wear long, heavy skirts. It was only during the Second World War that we were liberated from such restrictive clothing to trousers, as women working in the factories and farms dressed for practicality rather than fashion. Now, 70 years later, women can wear trousers without anyone batting an eyelid. However, still
there are restrictions; the pockets of women’s trousers are not an adequate size. This causes a whole array of problems, often involving the imminent smashing of a phone. Where should we keep our wallets and car keys? This isn’t equality: this is prejudice! The most significant issue that the suffragettes would be unsatisfied with is the pay gap. Currently, women are payed 21% less than men; a woman may have more qualifications for certain jobs, yet her male co-worker, with less qualifications will be paid more for the same job. Although women can now work in careers that were inaccessible to them before we received the right to vote, the inequality of pay diminishes this ‘privilege’. It would be shocking for the suffragettes that after 87 years, such an obvious act of injustice is present in society. Furthermore, the ‘glass ceiling’ suggests that women can’t get past a certain point in seniority in the workplace; recently a study came out that in England there are more CEOs called John than there are female CEOs. This may be a result of the constant pressure of the biological clock; the idea that as women can have children, they are less focused in the work place. If anything, having children would make women even more determined to find work! In the grand scheme of things, the suffragettes would probably be proud of how Britain has turned out; in Britain the fact that women can vote is not taboo anymore. It’s illegal to be sexist. Although we still have a way to go, the uprising of social media is a sure catalyst for complete equality. FORWARD | 13
XXX XXX
MEGAN STAPLE
TOBY SADGROVE
CASEY SINCLAIR
As you can see from the images, students work on projects in highly personalised ways. Using our outstanding facilities and with advice from teachers, they produce excellent work, and get brilliant results. Each year, students from Photography progress to university, jobs and Apprenticeships where they continue to impress tutors and employers alike. Casey Sinclair, Beth Pattrick, Reuben Kravis, Camilla Hall, Toby Sadgrove, Elsie Emery, Megan Staple and Lucy Manicom-Dyer 14 | FORWARD
(FAR RIGHT) CAMILLA HALL
A selection of photographs by students on the A Level Photography course,Years 1 and 2.
ELSIE EMERY
PHOTOGRAPHY SHOWCASE
LUCY MANICOM-DYER
VISUAL ARTS SHOWCASE HANNAH RICHARDSON
RUEBEN KRAVIS
BETH PATTRICK
FORWARD | 15
Goya came to portraiture late. His fresh perspective took portrait painting in a new direction, valuing personality over status. The exhibition offers an opportunity to observe Goya’s stylistic evolution, initially restrained by traditional portraiture his ‘ambition exceeded his ability’, but soon finding his feet Goya managed to create some of the most remarkable and revolutionary works of the 18th and 19th century. He was clearly a great observer, and master of painting costume and dress. The translucent lace, the suggestion of shimmer and iridescence from the gold detailing, and the imposing documentation of military dress, all contribute in telling us about the sitter; both Goya’s perspective and their social position. The descriptions of these sitters give us a narrative of society during Spain’s turbulent history. Goya’s paintings portray human qualities and nature that make them timeless and still somehow shocking today.
GOYA: THE PORTRAITS The Sainsbury Wing of the National Gallery hosted what The Telegraph described as “The show of the decade”. A display of the portraits of the great 18th century Spanish Painter; Francisco Goya.
16 | FORWARD
Notorious for his foreboding images with themes of death, or sinister works detailing the destruction of war, the National Gallery's exhibition, curated by Xavier Bray, offers a completely different perspective on the celebrated artist. 'Goya's Portraits' documented the figures that dominated Spanish society during the Napoleonic era. His then revolutionary style has influenced some of the most acclaimed modernist painters since, including Picasso and Manet. From imposing studies of the influential to almost comic, satirical depictions of authoritative figures, the exhibition highlights Goya's ability to paint with empathy and sensibility; something not always associated with his most celebrated works.
ART LIV REID
Goya was a self-taught artist and this is made clear in his early works. Whilst his draughtsmanship is unarguably still excellent, some minor details stray from reality. The proportions and posture of the human form seems slightly unsettling. The 70 paintings in the exhibition provide an insight into the progression of Goya as an artist. Walking through the exhibition we see stiff wooden dolls become energetic animate personalities. Goya is most famous for his works documenting the disasters of war. As painter of the Royal Court, however, Goya painted numerous military figures complete with lavish uniforms and glistening medals. Showing a very different perspective on such events. As well as military figures Goya painted notable families, women and children, as well as intimate studies of his own family. Notably his painting of the highest ranking woman in Spain at the time; the widowed Duchess of Alba (portrait shown to left). Her defiant stance in traditional Spanish dress, the lace delicately painted, and the gold detailing iridescent, highlights her position and wealth. Early analysis of this painting, with her assertive point at the sand which read 'Solo Goya' (Only Goya) concluded the two were lovers. However, it is now commonly believed this detail was to cement Goya's predominance as a painter. The exhibition starts with his first known selfportrait (c.1780). A vivacious painting, his red cheeks and black hair declare a sense of drive and vitality. A picture of a man whose work was to make him the forerunner for expressionism. The exhibition ends with the jarring and tragic self portrait of a dying man, a doctor pressing a glass to his lips, and
a menacing vision of death lurking behind. Aged 74, Goya lies weak as a result of his condition. There is something rather stirring about this portrait; one of the greatest, most respected painters witnessing his own demise. His animated stare gazing directly at us, the same as in his first portrait, the same he used to paint his sitters and witness Spain’s turbulent past. This exhibition was accessible and diverse. An insight into the under estimated talent of one of Spain’s most acclaimed artists. I highly recommend it to anyone, however little interest in art you have, it was a highly accessible and superbly curated exhibition.
Francisco Goya’s lucid brushwork creates unforgiving portraits giving something more than a conservative representation. He clearly bore a deep set hatred of one of his last sitters; Ferdinand VII who appears in the portrait (1814-15) (shown below) as arrogant, imprudent and devious. In his old age Goya
suffered from deafness, the seriousness to which is not clear. However, it is commonly agreed this adversity allowed Goya to create his most successful works. It is said his selective hearing chose not to hear the criticism of the sitter and allowed him to either obliviously or craftily finish and display the painting.
FORWARD | 17
MANIC PIXIE DREAM GIRL “That bubbly, shallow cinematic creature that exists solely in the fevered imaginations of sensitive writer-directors to teach broodingly soulful young men to embrace life and its infinite mysteries and adventures.”
anyway. Woman are trying to prove that they’re worth so much more than that, but it’s hard when oversimplified female characters are just putting them right back in their place.
But feminist perspective aside, this opens up a very important discussion about the effect of characters on reality. I will admit that I often drift A ‘Manic Pixie Dream Girl’ is essentially something into daydreams when I imagine my life being a we are all familiar with from a lot of popular films, film, where everything is constructed and planned but just never knew had such an exciting name. It perfectly towards a nice, happy ending. It’s nice to describes the ‘happy go lucky’ female character that think you are the protagonist of your own story and enters a film exactly when she’s needed, to cheer up the people you meet are just characters progressing the mopey male protagonist after some tragic break your plot. But they don’t. They are the star of their up. It’s fair to say that she’s not a very complex own film and you are just a secondary character. character; she has one layer of ‘fun loving attitude’ in You cannot expect them to be always following your her personality but there’s nothing running deeper. plotline. She exists purely to make the guy happy again and when her duty is done, off she goes. As a narrative I think we as an audience should really focus on device, it is effective. Heartbroken boy + magical seeking out well developed characters and films that girl = a resolution to his sadness and therefore a reflect a more accurate picture of reality. 500 Days satisfying ending to a film. But it is completely of Summer and Paper Towns both directly attack unreflective of any real person. Nobody has such the Manic Pixie Dream Girl in all her glory and for shallow depth to them and it’s crazy that we believe that reason are my two favourite films. It is way too in this character just because it’s in a film. People easy for a screenwriter to just use this preconceived aren’t really like this and it’s worrying that people type of character but we shouldn’t allow them to might think they are. be this lazy. We should demand for characters with complex characteristics; with all the emotional depth Films act as an education for people. It’s a way of real people. And as an aspiring filmmaker myself, for us to learn about the world without leaving I will never include any two-dimensional character in our living room. Especially thanks to the Internet, any of my films. There will be no Manic Pixie Dreams people socialise face-to-face a whole lot less than Girls in sight, I promise. they should and so the socialisation learning curve is somewhat disjointed. People aren’t talking to real people and finding out how real people work, they consume the media’s version of people. In this case, the media is painting a picture of twodimensional women who exist to serve men. Sound familiar? I don’t think this is really helping the female struggle when that kind of attitude is so prevalent
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STEREOTYPES EMMA CHUBBS
1970s
1960s
BEAUTY BY THE DECADE
1980s
Whatever makeup style you are going for, you can be certain that it has been influenced by what’s gone before. Freya Lodge explores how looks have changes since the 1960s. The Swinging 60’s Controversial to the 50’s classic Red lip, the sixties saw a nude lip and fake lash invasion across the vanities of the world. With Twiggy being an inspiration to all, falsies would be applied on top of each other to achieve the same doe-eyed effect Twiggy created so effortlessly. Onto the look, foundation was applied sparingly, where it was needed, a very natural base throughout the 60’s. The drama is in the eyes, the revolution of eyeliner saw the world’s biggest craze – one that remains today, the cat eye. Starting with a pearly based shadow across the lid, adding a darker contrasting shadow in the crease of the lid this time. After the shadows have blended it’s time for the flick. Usually a liquid eyeliner would be used to draw on the cateye, this liner would then act as a guide where to re-add that darker shadow into the crease. Layers of mascara would then be coated onto both the upper and lower lashes to achieve that long, spidery lashes Twiggy endorsed. Finish with a Matte Nude – you could try ‘MAC’ Liptsick in ‘Peach Blossom’. The Sexy 70’s Carrying on the light layers of foundation from the 60’s, the 70’s bought a new fresh-faced looked to the nation. This was the era of Farrah Fawcett, with 20 | FORWARD
her bronzy skin, shimmery eye and her feathered hair becoming a trademark she became an idol to all. To start, very little foundation if none at all would be applied to the face, progressing towards the eyes, a gold shade would be applied in the center on the lid blending up to the brow bone. A light amount of contouring with a dark brown shadow would be applied cutting through the gold and blended into the crease. Again eyeliner would be applied with the option of the cat-eye or just drawing it close to the lash line. A generous coating of mascara would be applied to the upper and lower lashes. Using a powder brush, a bronzer would be used to warm up the face, sweeping the bronzer around the perimeter of the face, giving that sun-kissed look. Keeping it minimal on the lips, a shinny pink-toned lip gloss was the norm. A great lip gloss in today’s market is L’oreal Paris Infallible lip gloss in the shade ‘I got the power.’ The Party Era (80’s) From the excess makeup to the dramatic hairstyles, the ‘80’s challenged every rule the way no decade ever has before. I have to say, I wish I could’ve been there. The inspiration probably stemmed from the up and coming music being produced at the time, it sent the nation into a clubbing craze. I admire
2000s
everything about this era from the outrageous bold colours on the face to the stunning bold garments to match. Instead of blending dark shadows into the crease like previous decades, women around the world would layer bright shades directly on top of each other, whilst pushing the shadows upwards to create a winged effect. They would increase the intensity by bringing the shadow along the lower lash line. Often, women would use a pretty pink shade on the cheeks and then add a shocking amount of highlighter on the top of the cheekbones, brushing it towards the outer face. The cherry on top is the application of a ultra-bright hot pink lip, the perfect hot-pink is by MAC and is in the shade ‘Flat out Fabulous.’ The Naughty 90’S I don’t know what happened in the 90’s considering I was born in 1999, however, I do know that the Spice Girls had a role to play in spicing up our lives alongside the daring berry-toned lips and the rebellious smudged eyeliner. This decade was determined to bring a pinch of grunge into our lives. Acid washed jeans, flower prints and dungarees galore made the 90’s decade smell like Teen Spirit. On to the makeup, foundation was once again sent into hiding and tinted-moisturizers were in. Shadow bases were kept in Creamy Beige tones all over the lid and up to the crease ready for the main event – smudged eyeliner. Eyeliner would usually go along the upper and lower lash lines and then smudged using a fluffy brush to get that smokey eye on. The lips became a very berry shade, using layers of the lipstick to ensure the lipstick stayed opaque all day, a long lasting berry shade is Charlotte Tilbury’s lipstick in ‘Glastonberry.’ The ‘00’s With the millennium in sight and the film ‘Clueless’ influencing every teenage girl’s wardrobe it became acceptable to wear a clip – or ten in your hair. Halfup half-down hairstyles created by straightening the length of your hair, then clipping back three or four strands with butterfly clips. The early period of this era was embracing a metallic look. This was
BEAUTY FREYA LODGE
1990s
2010s created by taking a light shimmer or pale blue and tracing both the upper and lower-lash line. Then take various glitters across the lid leaving space for a bright white under that brow bone, contouring is back, taking a shimmering black shade through the crease creating depth in the eye. The basic coating of mascara and liquid eyeliner was applied to create the drama the shimmer eye needed. Using a ‘your lips but better’ nude lipstick was common practice and a generous amount of lip gloss, an amazing nude is CLARINS Rouge Eclat lipstick in ‘Sweet Rose.’ 2010-now One trend rules all throughout the last five years and there’s only one family responsible for it – The Kardashians. The Influential five sisters have revolutionised the world of contouring and highdefinition, perfectly sculptured looks. Achieved by alternating stripes of bronzer and concealer and blending to the limit in hope to achieve a flawless look. The thousands of beauty tutorials on social media make any make-up look achievable and as a result of this eyebrows across the world remain on fleek, lashes are longer than ever, curled towards the lash gods. Heavy-duty foundations are applied as a base and concealer is often placed under the eyes and onto any blemishes –thanks to the revolution of puberty. After contouring the hollows of your cheeks, the center of your nose and under your chin, blending is performed in excess. Gold’s and neutral shadows are applied across the lid up to the crease and perfected with a sleek cat wing eyeliner, going hard on the mascara. Back to the face, highlighter is applied on the top of the cheeks to get that radiant ‘I woke up like this’ look. Thanks to the youngest sister, Kylie, we can all get those big and beautiful lips, using a pink nude shade, trace the outline of your lips to enhance the size, then add a pink lip gloss to draw even more attention. The Lip liner Kylie uses is by MAC in the shade ‘Spice’ but there has been a shortage of the lip-liners since the coolest teenage in America announced it was her go-to.
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SPECTRE Spectre smashed box office records, enyoying the biggest UK debut in history. Matthew Hallows reviews the much anticipated 24th Bond film.
probably the most iconic of all the Bond cars. The Car The car which was specially made, specifically for this film was the Aston Martin DB10, and I think I speak for the majority of car fans who went to watch the new Bond film when I say that there wasn’t nearly enough of the special edition Aston Martin. It is in the film for the first thirty minutes and then gets dumped in the river by Daniel Craig. This bespoke sports car, costing around £500,000 was truly wasted as a concept in my opinion and should have had a much larger part in the film. But I must admit, the part it did have in the most expensive Bond film of all time was impressive, it’s a beautiful car and looks like money well spent for any rich person. Another awesome automobile which makes an appearance in this film is the legendary Aston Martin DB5, which doesn’t feature at the start of the film because it is undergoing vigorous repairs after it’s thorough demolition at the hands of Silva as Skyfall reached its thrilling climax. This classic car has featured in Goldfinger, Thunderball, Goldeneye, Skyfall and now Spectre. So it is a companion solely attributed to the British secret service agent, who has used its special gadgets to foil the plots of many a fiendish supervillain.
The Song Many people will have listened to ‘Writing’s On The Wall’ by British artist Sam Smith. Past Bond songs have featured all-star names like Tom Jones, Madonna, Alicia Keys, Adele and Shirley Bassey. Sam Smith is the third British solo artist to have the opportunity to record their own bond song, and in actual fact only took twenty minutes to get the original full set of lyrics in place. He is also the first male British solo artist to be asked to do it since 1965. Surprisingly this is the first Bond song ever to reach No. 1 in the British music charts, the closest it has got to achieving this incredible feat is when Duran Duran (A View to a Kill-1985) and Adele (Skyfall-2012) both managed to get to No. 2. Sam Smith’s predecessor, Adele’s song Skyfall, earnt a staggering £1.5 million from downloads alone, also Writing's On The Wall has become the first ever soundtrack from the movie franchise to reach the top of the music charts. It was produced in collaboration with a number of other artists, Britishborn DJ Naughty Boy and siblings Guy and Howard Lawrence who are also known by their stage name Disclosure. This record breaking song tells a very distinct story, which Sam Smith has said “makes more sense once you have seen the actual film”. As it has subtle links with the feelings of Bond as he nears the crescendo of his career, so if you have heard the song and don’t understand it and still haven’t watched the film, then go and watch it. It will enlighten you.
FILM MATTHEW HALLOWS
A License To Thrill The 26th October saw the release of what could be the last Bond film acted in by muscle man Daniel Craig. His Bond career has seen him visit iconic locations such as Venice, The Czech Republic, Scotland and Istanbul. Daniel Craig has been the most travelled Bond since the escapades of early Bond, Roger Moore. This new instalment to the saga takes 007 to locations such as Switzerland, Mexico, Austria and Morocco, in pursuit of the origins of a secret organisation called Spectre. He faces off against ex-WWE superstar Dave Bautista and Christoph Waltz in order to stop the world falling into anarchy. The film starts with a vigilante Bond marauding across Mexico city in a period of filming which used over 2000 live extras, in an attempt to try and track the whereabouts of a global crime syndicate which he discovers to be named Spectre. Meanwhile, he is galavanting across the globe in search of the one they call Franz Oberhauser, the head of the organisation. The film features a number of hints towards previous bond films to please the older audience, the main one being the appearance of the Aston Martin DB5, which is known as
Conclusion As an avid Bond fan I was thoroughly looking forward to watching the latest instalment of Daniel Craig’s career as 007, and the main thought I came away with was how it was good whilst you were watching it but as soon as you left the cinema you suddenly thought to yourself where did the ending go. They spent the entire film building up to this final reckoning between James and Franz Oberhauser (or is it???), then finished the film in about 20 minutes. It was one of those situations where they should have taken more care in constructing a better ending, but at two hours and twenty-eight minutes the film was already pushing on a bit, so decided to cut the ending short, and therefore ruined two hours of careful plotting. It keeps you engrossed for the entire film because of the meticulous tension-building. And also the cars are very impressive, even though there isn’t a lot of them. And along with a cast which would give any film a run for their money, this cinematic spectacle is sure to keep you enjoying it for the length it runs. So if I was going to give it a rating out of 10, I would probably stretch to an 8. Any more I would think would be pushing it a bit, because many keen fans of the franchise and movie nerds would be able to pick out a few fundamental mistakes, some of which I have specified in this conclusion. I’d definitely recommend it, because it was definitely worth paying to see just because it ties up a few loose ends left dangling from the first few films of Daniel Craig’s Bond saga. So overall taste is that it’s a really good film that could have been done a lot better. Matt’s Movie Rating – 7.5 out of 10 Car Rating – 7.5 out of 10 Bond Song Rating – 8.5 out of 10 FORWARD | 23
MUSIC CONNIE NICHOLLS
PLAYLIST 1. Green and Gold – Lianne La Havas 2. Coffee – ylvan Esso 3. It's a Wonderful Life - Sparklehorse 4. First Love – Adele 5. Glory Glory – And The Kids 6. Coin Laundry – Lisa Mitchell 7. Horchata – Vampire Weekend 8. You're the One That I Want – Lo-Fang 9. Christmas in Harlem – Yeezy 10. Master of Art – Laura Stevenson 11. Groove is in the Heart – Deee-Lite 12. Dream a Little Dream of Me – Michael Bublé 13. January Hymn – The Decemberists 14. The Party Line – Belle & Sebastian 15. Christmas Treat – Julian Casablancas 16. Tiger Mountain Peasant Song – First Aid Kit 17. Hoppípolla – Sigur Rós
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