Culture

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[THE WRITTEN WORD]

On the Books

Le Bank pencils in several authors for October events

Written by JENNA JONES

As the leaves change and September fades into October, Left Bank Books (399 North Euclid Avenue; 314-367-6731) is planning to host a plethora of author events this month to keep us extra cozy and curled up with a good book.

Books that will be discussed by their authors and other guests range in topics. From an analysis of racist policing to the history of wrestling at the Chase Park Plaza to a suspense novel, there’s something for everyone in store.

A few of the events will be hosted in person, while others will be streamed through Facebook and YouTube. A trick-or-treating event is also scheduled for the young readers of St. Louis, with local children’s author Amy Sklansky featured the day before Halloween.

Other notable authors include Donna Washington, who has reimagined Goldilocks into “a delightfully spooky fractured fairy tale with a diverse cast of characters,” according to a press release. St. Louisan and Emmy winner Ed Wheatley is also coming up.

The online-only events can be found on Left Bank’s Facebook or YouTube pages. Times vary with each event. All of the conversations with the authors are free to attend. Books discussed at the

Le Bank owner Kris Kleindienst will host a variety of authors both online and in person this month. | THEO WELLING

e Royal Rumble is comin’ to town once more. | COURTESY WWE

events can be purchased online at left-bank.com, and more event details can be found there, too. The full list of events is below: • Jocelyn Nicole Johnson with Walter Mosley, My Monticello: 7 p.m. Wednesday, October 6, online • Ed Wheatley, Wrestling at the Chase: 7 p.m. Wednesday, October 6; meet-and-greet begins at 6 p.m. at West End Grill and Pub (354 N Boyle Avenue) • Derecka Purnell with Brittany Packnett Cunningham and Kayla Reed, Becoming Abolitionists: 6 p.m. Wednesday, October 13, online • Lori Rader-Day with Naomi Hirahara, Death at Greenway: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, October 13, online • Shannon Carpenter with Jonathan Heisey-Grove, Ultimate Stay-At-Home Dad: 7 p.m. Thursday, October 14, online • Cassandra Quave with Amy Stewart, Plant Hunter: 7 p.m. Friday, October 15, online • Donna Washington, Boo Stew: 11 a.m. Saturday, October 16, online • Steven Reigns, A Quilt for David: 6:30 p.m. Saturday, October 16, at Northwest Coffee Roasting on the patio (4251 Laclede Avenue) • Tony Pecinovsky, Cancer of Colonialism: 7 p.m. Tuesday, October 26, online • Nina Mukerjee Furstenau with Ann Lemons Pollack, Green Chili and Other Imposters: Noon Wednesday, October 27, online • Teresa K. Miller and Devon Walker, Figueroa Borderline Fortune & Philomath: 7 p.m. Friday, October 29, online • Amy Sklansky, Knock Knock, Trick or Treat!: 10:15 a.m. Saturday, October 30, at Left Bank Books (399 N. Euclid Avenue) n

[BODYSLAMS]

Off the Top Ropes

WWE’s Royal Rumble wrestles its way into St. Louis this January

Written by JENNA JONES

Leeeet’s get ready to rumble, St. Louis! If body slams and leg drops get you pumped, WWE is cookin’ up some good news for you. WWE’s Royal Rumble is coming to the Dome at America’s Center (701 Convention Plaza) on Saturday, January 29, in what could be the most highly attended event in WWE history.

The Dome is the largest venue to host the event in the Royal Rumble’s 30-plus years. It can host some 60,000 people. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports more than 40,000 fans are expected to attend.

Citing the WWE’s “rich history in St. Louis,” WWE Executive Vice President of Special Events John Saboor says in a press release that the organization is excited to bring the Royal Rumble to the Dome.

“We look forward to giving the WWE Universe an opportunity to experience all that St. Louis has to offer,” Saboor says.

Two matches of 30 men and 30 women, battle-royale style, are scheduled for the event. The men and women will pack into the rings, fighting for a title match scheduled for April 2022 in Dallas. St. Louis previously witnessed the fight for WWE greatness in 2012, when the Royal Rumble was last in town.

St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones says in a press release that the city of St. Louis is “thrilled” to host the event.

“St. Louis has the best sports scene in the country, and Royal Rumble will enhance it even more,” Jones says. “This event is an incredible opportunity for our city, bringing WWE fans from across the nation to St. Louis and helping keep our downtown vibrant during the winter season.”

Tickets don’t go on sale until Friday, October 15, at 10 a.m. A pre-sale is available by signing up on wwe.com. For those who can’t make it to the January event, a livestream will be available on the NBC streaming service Peacock. n

Walking the Walk

St. Louis radio show host highlights suicide prevention a er trolls try to body shame her

Written by JENNA JONES

Feeling pretty is not a job requirement for 105.7 The Point radio show host Lux, but on occasions like PointFest, she’ll seize the chance to get dressed up, something she loves to do, knowing that video interviews have quickly become part of her job. While the men at her station throw on jeans and a T-shirt for PointFest, Lux opts for something nicer — most recently a formfitting pink dress and acket, one that complements her hair color.

There was no way of knowing the monochromatic outfit would draw vitriol from social media, but what started as a negative moment has evolved into an opportunity for mental health awareness.

When Lux posted a picture to Facebook of herself at the event last month, she left it unattended as she went about her day’s work, interviewing bands including Shinedown and enjoying the concert. As she went back to share the photo of her and Shinedown after their interview, she opened the comment section on the original post. The comments struck a chord.

One man had commented on the way she looked specifically her body and how “Jenny Craig called.” When prompted further for explanation by another commenter, another troll added that “she’s let herself go and needs to lose some lb’s.”

Lux’s scrolling continued, this time with another man commenting on how far apart the radio personality’s eyes are and that she was “trying to show cleavage with below average A’s.”

“For some reason, the way that the comments were presented really hit me in a way that told me I needed to stand up for myself,” Lux says in an interview with the RFT. “If nothing else, to raise awareness that I am one of many millions of people who deal with this kind of stuff and the damage it can really do. When you think you’re just making snarky or funny comments online, you have no idea what it does to the other person on the other side.”

Lux has struggled with mentalhealth issues and is recovering from an eating disorder. She’s lost a friend to suicide. Because of these experiences, the radio show host has for years walked and raised money for the Missouri chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. The comments hit as Lux was preparing to walk again on September 26, further propelling her to call attention to the trolls.

“When you have people saying that kind of stuff to you, it adds up to a low self worth, low self confidence and self-esteem, depression, sadness, loneliness, angriness — all those emotions that are risk factors for suicide,” Lux explains. “So I thought, ‘Well, I’m walking, I’m raising money. And if nothing else, I also need to remind people that these kinds of words weigh heavy. You don’t know where anybody is, what they’re dealing with in their life. And, you know, even getting a couple of these a week can be really, really harmful.’”

The radio show personality says she gets about ten to twenty comments like this a week, but she couldn’t shake these ones off for some reason.

As the target of trolling and harassment, she notes that the impact of those comments builds up over time. “Your body still intakes that kind of, that punch, that critique, that cringe, that embarrassment, that shame, whatever it is,” she says.

Lux adds that while her male counterparts at the station have also been body shamed, the sexism toward women’s appearances can’t be ignored. She credits her colleagues for providing a support system. till, she finds that many people seem to consider harassment just part of her job, or think she’s inviting the scrutiny of her body because she’s in the media industry.

“The old phrase ‘face for radio’ came from the fact that we weren’t used to being seen. So, we didn’t really worry about this,” Lux says with a laugh. “And now that I’m out there all the time, I’m enjoying it. I’m happy to use the platform to explore creativity and talk about causes that are important.”

The recent examples of body shaming that she’s shared publicly have been met with a wave of support from her fans and the band Shinedown. Lux has turned the moment into awareness for the way these comments can affect people. She has directed her followers’ attention to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, an organization close to her heart, in posts about the walk. CEO Robert Gabbia says in a press release that the suicide awareness walks Lux actively participates in can help turn “hope into action.” Last year, the walks raised $25 million for the foundation’s education and support programs.

The Missouri iteration of the walk, called Out of the Darkness and held virtually last year due to COVID-19, had 1,255 participants and raised more than $180,000.

“We hope that by walking we will draw attention to this issue and keep other families from experiencing a suicide loss,” Kellen Wolters, the foundation’s Missouri chapter board co-chair, says in a press release. “Our ultimate goal is to save lives and bring hope to those affected by suicide.”

The mission to raise awareness is also playing out in digital spaces. Instagram has become a place where Lux talks candidly about her mental health issues. After she received the comments, she shared on her platform a TikTok video about her experience with body shaming — so far, the video has drawn nearly 15,000 views and hundreds of comments on Instagram. She keeps poking fun at the comments, a creative way to not keep her feelings bottled up, she says.

Making videos is just one way of confronting the impact of body shaming. Lux notes that “talk saves lives” is one of the AFSP’s slogans, which is what she strives to do by being open on her platforms. For her, it’s making “silly” videos, but for others it could be writing it down. The goal is twofold, Lux explains — to get the feelings out but also to talk about the issues and “feel comfortable and not ashamed by them.”

Lux says that she made the videos to address the situation publicly and “teach people to be kind.” When asked if the trolls ever apologize, she replies that, while it is shocking, it does happen. She says sometimes they reach out to apologize and tell her what they said sounded awful. Other times, they attempt to explain what they meant.

“I love to have those conversations,” Lux says. “It is more important than ever now that we allow each other to evolve. We’re all gonna step in it. We’re all gonna trip. We’re all gonna fall. We’re all gonna make mistakes, but if you’re willing to recognize it and then actually make the effort to make that change, I think that takes some serious guts, some balls to step back into my DMs and be like, ‘You know what? That wasn’t cool.’” n

“It’s more important than ever now that we allow each other to evolve,” Lux says. | PROVIDED

FILM

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[FILM]

All Bets Are Off

e Card Counter shu es Paul Schrader’s classic deck

Written by EILEEN G’SELL

Tormented male protagonist? Implacable moral quandary? Scenes of neurotic journaling in stunningly elegant script?

You could be forgiven for mistaking The Card Counter, Paul Schrader’s recent crime drama, for a handful of the films he s written over his five decade ca reer. You could be forgiven, even as his protagonists plainly never forgive themselves.

In The Card Counter — written and directed by Schrader, and produced by Martin Scorsese — his brooding lead takes the form of William Tell (Oscar Isaac), an itinerant gambler and former soldier whose history of incar ceration is revealed early on, via voiceover, as are the secrets to counting cards. “As a boy, I was afraid of confined spaces, he shares, noting the irony that a stint in prison taught him an en viable quantitative skill, and in that, a degree of solace. “That’s all for me are illiam s first spoken words, as he pushes himself from a roulette table with his modest pile of chips.

From the volcanic indignation of Taxi Driver and Raging Bull to the uasi hristian masochism in The Last Temptation of Christ and First Reformed, Schrader likes his heroes trou led and self loathing, his settings equally gritty and banal. Appropriately, Schrader’s latest morality tale opens in Sin ity advisedly not a glamorous mecca of five star hotels and over flowing ackpots. ia le ander Dynan’s unsparing cinematogra phy, as egas is a place where stray cats cross casino parking lots, a concrete Krispy Kreme bakes in the desert sun and the Motel concierge flatly recom

Oscar Issac stars as brooding gambler William Tell in e Card Counter. | COURTESY OF UNIVERSAL PICTURES

mends day old coffee.

Within this hell of clanging slot machines, William’s talent for blackjack stokes the interest of a gambling scout named La Linda (Tiffany Haddish), who entices him with an offer he ostensibly can’t refuse. “You need someone to stake you, she purrs, referring to her sta le of promising gam lers while sipping a Tom ollins. “I’m always looking for a good thorough red. illiam turns her down with a cool resignation, a fa talism at odds with his high stakes profession.

Meeting an aimless young man named irk Tye heridan at a paramilitary surveillance show case, William is forced to reckon with the trauma of his so called service years prior in u Ghraib, the site of abject abuse on the part of the U.S. Army toward the start of the Iraq War. Wil liam’s offbeat paternalism toward the vengeful twentysomething — another signature Schrader trope — leads him to accept La Linda’s backing offer and make as much money as possible playing poker across the U.S. “If I can help him, maybe he has a chance to start over again, he tells his enamored financier. esume his education and start a life.

From here, like so many on the Schrader roster, The Card Counter unfolds as an e ercise in restraint and brutality; corruption, and the violence it abets, lurks in every corner, even — or especially — when a brand of manly equanim ity is on defiant display. illiam s not playing to become wealthy or gain celebrity poker points, but to harness control over a chance fueled, entropic universe. “Noth ing, nothing can justify what we did, he tells irk at a roadside diner en route to a new city, refer ring to his actions in Abu Ghraib. “Your father understood that. If you were there, you could under stand. Otherwise there’s no un derstanding. Part of the thrall of the film is anticipating ust how long William will keep his demons at bay amidst a slew of triggers on their cross country so ourn.

A sultry foil to Isaac’s somber mien, addish may at first e unrecognizable to fans of the actor best known for ribald an tics in Girls Trip and Like a Boss. With her slick bob, black shades and slit skirted dresses, addish makes the most of La Linda’s un derwritten backstory, lending a throaty laugh to e changes oth erwise awkwardly terse. In Wil liam’s and La Linda’s most tender moments together — touring a family friendly Middle merica light show (shot at the Garden Glow at the Missouri Botanical arden she shares with ill her East St. Louis origins, her es cape from a bad relationship and how grooming gamblers became her full time gig. t doesn t mat ter to me if you did something bad in your past, she confides to her tortured shy guy. Such unlikely in timacy would be even more grati fying were Haddish given more to work with; as an actor she has to hustle at least as much as her character.

Like all Schrader ventures, any prospect of romance pales in com parison to the gnawing anguish endured by his lone male protago nist. Saddling an individualistic mystique and epic scope akin to a Western, The Card Counter cul minates in a duel for the ages — and like most Westerns, morality means revenge.

For those who have grown tired of chrader s reshu ing of worn motifs, this movie might not be for you. t might also, ustifia ly, turn off those with issues seeing torture inflicted onscreen though it’s hardly as gratuitous as Zero Dark Thirty). But this may be the most searing indictment of Ameri can turpitude in Schrader’s output so far — and for that alone, I was all in. n