How Real is BeReal?
September 16, 2022
FILM
“Wedding Season,” a new Netflix film, is a trope-filled mixed bag. B4 ALBUM John Legend’s “Legend” doesn’t quite live up to the name of the iconic musician. B6 CONCERT Rising indie-pop star Grace Ives floored DC9 with her incredible talent. B7 The uber-popular social media platform poses questions of authenticity. Adelle Barkhuizen and Ariana Biondi-Copeland Hoya Staff Writers ILLUSTRATION BY: TIMOTHY GOH/THE HOYA
“Two minutes left to capture your BeReal and see what your friends are up to!”
Despite the lack of likes and a follower count, Be Real offers the opportunity for friends to comment
In 2020, French entrepreneurs Alexis Barreyat and Kévin Perreau created a social media app called BeReal. With the slogan “Your Friends for Real,” the app intended to serve as a platform where users are encouraged to be candid and share the most au thentic versions of themselves.
The social media app Be Real has soared in popularity in recent months. While for many Georgetown students the app may be a new way to interact with their peers, users and non-users alike. have raised authenticty and user-privacy concerns.
the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. A way to unite friends and family across the world, BeReal pro vides a platform to be your authentic self.
COURTESY SAMI POWDERLY
For many Georgetown students, BeReal is an exciting new social media platform that presents itself as a remedy to the fakeness of most social me dia apps. However, questions about its authenticity and ethical dilemmas about the app’s data usage muddle its place in college culture.
In essence, BeReal attempts to subvert the toxic expectations of “likes” and “follower counts” on other social media platforms. In 2021, leaked Meta documents revealed the company was aware that Instagram increased risk of mental health issues in teenage female users.
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An exciting and spontaneous way to stay con nected, BeReal took social media by storm during
It’s Time to BeReal
Unlike many other social media platforms, Be Real offers a less competitive approach to photo sharing. With no follower or friend count visible to users, no opportunity to “like” a photo, and no op portunity to edit the photo before posting, BeReal stands alone as it provides a more casual, laid back and seemingly authentic approach to social media.
BeReal, the now-iconic social media platform, has skyrocketed in popularity. But with its ascension, the app is facing challenging ethics questions.
Adelle Barkhuizen and Ariana Biondi-Copeland Hoya Staff Writers
BeReal’s popularity skyrocketed in 2022, largely driven by the dedication of Gen-Z and college stu dents in particular. At Georgetown, students will of ten post themselves having a picnic on Healy lawn, getting bagels from Call Your Mother or studying in Lauinger Library. You get to know where your friends are at the selected moment of the day, whether they are at a Vil A party or a club swim practice.
This notification graces the phone screens of al most 22 million BeReal users every day. Given two minutes to take a picture from their front and back angle of their cameras, users are encouraged to live in the moment and show their friends what they are doing in those two minutes.
Hit Social Media App BeReal Poses Questions of Authenticity, Privacy
“I feel like the app has strayed very far away from its purpose. People only post if they are doing some thing they think looks cool, which is usually several hours after the timer goes off. It makes it seem a lot more like other social media apps,” Greene said.
on each other’s BeReals as well as “react” via selfies.
La Voie also said people on the app sometimes lack the “realness” the app was founded for.
Eleanor La Voie (COL ’25) said she learned about BeReal after seeing her classmates screenshot their BeReals and post them on other social me dia“Iplatforms.firstheard about BeReal in December 2021. I had seen some of my classmates posting semester recaps in the fall of BeReals and that’s what in spired me to get BeReal,” La Voie told The Hoya Georgetown students use BeReal as a mode of photo sharing that translates into compilation posts on Instagram. Students use their BeReals as material for college-themed photo dumps, La Voie said, which has increased the awareness of the app.
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BeReal tried to remedy several of the main is sues people seem to have with other platforms, as it brings a certain “realness” to the notoriously inau thentic world of social media. However, questions surrounding its authenticity and the security of its operation have led both users and non-users to have second thoughts about the app.
“I do not want to worry about another social me dia platform. I have been trying to use my phone less since starting school again, and the last thing I need is to have the omnipresent worry that I am going to miss my BeReal,” Condon said.
Being Fake
“How can one not be performative when, as evi dent in the title of the app, there is an imperative to be something? In order to project authenticity we must first consider what actions qualify as more authentic than others instead of just living or expe riencing them,” Tomlinson said.
Moreover, Greene feels like BeReal encourages waiting for just the right moment to post.
Users and non-users of the app claim that Be Real’s purpose is diluted when people wait to post a picture until they are doing something interesting or fun, rather than posting immediately when the timer goes off.
From a student’s perspective, La Voie said BeReal could potentially fix these issues by adjusting the app’s timer
“I use Instagram daily, and I use Snapchat and Twitter a few times a week. But random post no tifications from BeReal intruded on my time with friends and the time I was spending myself reading or listening to music. I did not like that I felt obligat ed to be on social media when I was enjoying time off my phone,” Karlin said.
BeReal gives users two minutes each day to take a picture with no editing op tion in an attempt to offer a more authenic social media experince. value of participating in this process,” Tomlinson wrote to The Hoya.
observant about what their data is used for and if it is“Youstored.never know what your data is being used for, and it’s important to know where it’s going so that you can maintain some control over how it affects you and the community around you,” Khemka told The Hoya.
While there remain many unanswered ques tions regarding data privacy on BeReal, most stu dents interviewed who dislike the app are not pri marily concerned by potential data exploitation but simply do not find the app to be worthwhile.
One cause for concern is BeReal’s lack of adver tisements coupled with the company’s claim that it will not sell nor disclose users’ personal information for commercial purposes.
Some Georgetown students choose not to down load the app or delete it for other reasons, such as wanting to spend time away from their phone.
“The last thing I need is to have the omnipresent worry that I am going to miss my BeReal. Although we get only two minutes to take our pictures, it is still beginning to become more artificial as people become better at manipulating the system, so its purpose of being a genuine platform is going away,” Condon told The Hoya
Instead of counteracting the current social land scape and comparative trends on other platforms, BeReal is becoming a part of them.
real just because that is the point of the app. If they wanted to wait to post, they could do that on Insta gram or Snapchat instead,” La Voie said.
“While the intention of BeReal may be to allow users to present themselves as authentic, the me dium through which this authenticity is portrayed changes the message. That is, ‘users’ of BeReal are on some level ‘being real’ to gain attention and in crease their visibility, continually reinforcing the
Tomlinson repeatedly mentioned the “attention economy,” a term coined by Nobel Laureate Herbert A. Simon. Simon claims that in our economy, infor mation and supplies are not scarce — our attention is. Tomlinson thinks that BeReal is yet another de mand eating away at our limited supply of attention.
Blue Greene (COL ’25), who deleted the app after using it, found BeReal to be pointless.
“While I do think that apps like BeReal could lead to artificiality, to curated performances, to filtered experience, I am also encouraged by the awareness of Georgetown students regarding the inherent contradiction of being real on social media. Most students see through the performative reality and recognize how easily being real online can be cor rupted,” Tomlinson said.
From the dependence on always having your phone, to interrupting the present moment to be coming an accessory for an Instagram post, BeReal is a far from unproblematic social media platform.
However, some watchers of the digital space, like Tomlinson, think Georgetown students can unique ly overcome these temptations and challenges.
Srishti Khemka (SFS ’23) said users should be
“BeReal has let me feel like I’m more a part of the lives of my friends from home that I don’t get to see everyday. It’s nice to see everyone’s everyday lives be cause we are all a part of different clubs and do differ ent activities. It’s fun to see some insights into what everyone else at Georgetown does,” La Voie said.
Khemka, in 2021, wrote a viewpoint for The Hoya en titled “Beware of BeReal.” In the article — long before BeReal’s current ascendancy — Khemka criticized BeReal’s unfilterdness. Because photos are taken every day at different times of the day, BeReal could collect valuable information about one’s private life.
Niles Tomlinson, adjunct English lecturer at Georgetown, said BeReal is yet another mindless distraction taking up our time.
“Very few of my friends use it. There have been a couple instances when a friend has gotten a BeReal notification while we are together, and it’s inter rupted our conversation, which I am not a fan of,” Karlin told The Hoya.
“I was reluctant to download BeReal at first be cause I really should not have any other forms of social media pushing me to spend more time on my phone. I ended up deleting it pretty quickly because I did not feel as though it was fulfilling its goal, and instead was just slightly less curated clips of people’s lives that I just found kind of pointless,” Greene said in an interview with The Hoya.
For others, like Lucy Karlin (COL ’23), BeReal is an irritating side-effect of her Georgetown experience.
This change could encourage users to be more real and return back to the mission statement of the social media app. But while this problem might not be fixed, we have to watch how we treat something seemingly as innocent as posting one photo a day.
“Everyonefunction.couldget a limit of two hours to post, and after those two hours pass, you can’t post a late BeReal anymore,” La Voie said.
“Sometimes it’s annoying when people post super late because it feels like it is defeating the purpose of the app. I wish it could be a little more
Karlin, another former BeReal user and daily In stagram user, said BeReal was intrusive on her life and ultimately counterintuitive to its main goal.
“I have too large of an internet footprint to pre tend that my data has not already been sold by Mark Zuckerberg,” Condon said.
However, in the summer of 2021, BeReal released a statement in which the company claimed to re ceive $30 million in funding from private investors. BeReal saves every user’s posts within a “memories” section on the app; according to BeReal’s privacy policy, users’ data, including photos, is retained on BeReal’s servers. For some, this private funding and potential data storage poses big concerns.
Brady Condon (SFS ’25), another non-user of BeReal, noticed how the app promoted the same goals of other social media platforms BeReal hoped to circumvent.
The Dark Side
COURTESY BEREAL
“As Hari Kunzuru argues, ‘our very experience of ourselves flows through channels already carved by likes and shares.’ In a sense, one be comes a product to be consumed by others, rath er than being real in a verbal state, which does not necessitate an audience,” Tomlinson said.
“Data scrapers could hack the social media app and create a detailed profile of your routine based on your BeReal posts, which the platform can hold up to three years after the last use of the app and sell to the highest bidder or maybe even worse. With or without the app’s consent, the privacy of its users is in danger,” Khemka wrote in her opinion piece.
Despite an abundance of overdone cliches, this Netflix movie still provides a relatively entertaining watch and some welcome IndianAmerican representation.
The movie represented the large communi ties of friends that feel more like family, beautiful clothing and extravagant weddings and gossipy but well-meaning aunties that are common in the Indian community — as well as, of course, the spelling bee champions.
As a whole, however, the film is a true romance. Asha and Ravi have chemistry; the progression of their relationship feels natural and believable, following tried-and-true cliches from fake dat ing to falling in love. The film is fun to watch and perhaps even more fun to watch and laugh about with friends.
Ravi is also entwined in this struggle, provid ing crucial support to Asha’s career along the way. Asha must choose between her career and her commitment to her family and Ravi, success fully driving the plot of the film.
The film’s shortcomings primarily relate to its unnecessary reliance on overdone tropes. Even ignoring the fact that the entire premise of the film is fake dating, “Wedding Season” includes frustrating moments of miscommu
Starring: Suraj Sharma, Pallavi Sharda Directed by: Tom Day
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Showcasing Indian American culture, albeit overdramatically, Netflix’s “Wedding Season” manages to deliver exactly what its title prom ises — a fun, relatable romantic comedy.
‘Wedding Season’ Has Tropes and Heart
Additionally, “Wedding Season” authentically portrays the struggle of managing a career and family life. Asha, for instance, is clearly aware of how her parents struggled to give her every op portunity to help her reach the success she had attained but still chafes at their often overbear ing presence. Her battle with feelings of guilt and gratitude is likely relatable for many in the intended audience.
However, despite its virtues as part of the emerging field of Indian American-led media, the characters and cliches of “Wedding Season” end up being its downfall.
nication, scenes positioning the main charac ter as the stereotypical “cool girl” who actually eats burgers and fries, and irritating wedding confession speeches.
There were an abundance of other frustrat ing moments, too. The film portrays a perfect world where investors would care more about “the heart” of a project than the numbers; one has to suspend disbelief seeing Asha’s parents randomly show up and interrupt her work on a consistent basis.
Directed by Tom Dey and written by Shiwani Srivastava, “Wedding Season” follows the lives of Asha (Pallavi Sharda), an independent career woman, and Ravi (Suraj Sharma), a nonchalant MIT genius. Facing parental pressure to get mar ried, the two decide to fake a relationship during the Indian wedding season. The line between the fake and the real quickly begins to blur, though it remains unclear whether their relationship can survive its uncertain beginnings.
Who takes over someone else’s wedding to talk about their son’s college path? Exactly.
These titles, along with “Wedding Season,” have sparked conversations about the growing prominence of Indian Americans in the United States, as well as the importance of representa tion. It is a new and exciting phenomenon to see Asian Americans as leads, rather than as token side characters.
Anyone looking for a relatable, no-stress film featuring Indian American representation is sure to enjoy “Wedding Season.”
Released in August 2022, “Wedding Season” quickly rose to Netflix’s Top 10 Most Watched list, joining a spate of other Netflix productions centered on the lives of Indian Americans. Such titles include the third season of “Never Have I Ever,” a high school drama produced by actress Mindy Kaling, and “Indian Matchmaking,” a half-documentary, half-reality TV show about modern arranged marriages.
While no piece of media can be totally represen tative of an entire community, “Wedding Season” makes a strong attempt to do so. Though exagger ated at times — I promise, not all Indian parents actually make dating profiles for their kids, nor do they plan surprise engagement parties pre-en gagement — the film felt generally accurate.
WEDDING SEASON/NETFLIX
Varsha Venkatram Hoya Staff Writer
This summer, native Washington, D.C. rapper Lightshow put out an exciting new EP recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic and only now able to see the light of day. The album’s lead single, “Still Like Drugs,” is the perfect party track, while Lightshow gets introspective on “Intro,” showcasing his vocals and substantive range.
The technical success of Spielberg’s film is matched only by its unprecedented commercial accomplishments.
James Pocchia Guide Desk Editor
Originally released on June 20, 1975, “Jaws” was the second feature film from then-obscure director Spielberg. The film’s story revolves around Amity Island, a tranquil New England beach hamlet that suddenly finds itself terrorized by a man-eating great white shark. After several brutal deaths, the island’s aquaphobic police chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) joins forces with young oceanographer Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) and scruffy shark hunter Quint (Robert Shaw) to kill the shark.
The release of “Jaws” was a watershed moment in the history of action-adventure movies due to its flawless filmmaking craft.
‘WHEN DISASTER STRIKES’
was not considered fertile ground to reap cinematic profits. Most big-budget films were released during the winter, while summer served as a dumping ground for projects studios deemed unimportant.
The IMAX and 3-D re-release of Steven Spielberg’s iconic thriller “Jaws” during the 2022 Labor Day weekend is a reminder of a bygone moviemaking era when craftsmanship took precedence over profits — a period that “Jaws,” ironically, helped end.
LIGHTSHOW
By Nikhil Nelson
“Jaws” also puts sincere effort into a vital cinematic element that many modern thrillers neglect: character development. Chief Brody’s transformation from a uptight man afraid to dip one toe in the ocean into a battle-hardened, fiercely determined hero encourages the audience to root for him. Brody represents the human spirit’s resilient ability to conquer fear even in the face of mortal danger.
ARI LENNOX
‘AGE/SEX/LOCATION’
skillful red herrings and composer John Williams’ famously ominous music to build suspense. The shark itself is almost never shown until the final act, as Spielberg instead uses floating barrels, swiftly moving driftwood and tipped rowboats as foreboding omens of the beast’s presence. By keeping his monster hidden, Spielberg allows his viewers’ imaginations to run wild about what lurks beneath the water surface, striking fear into their hearts.
YOON JONG-BIN AND KWON SUNG-HUI
The response was dramatic.
“Jaws” makes brilliant use of push-in shots,
But starting in the late 1960s, summertime widescreen releases like “American Graffiti” began to draw droves of people — especially teenagers enjoying time off from school — to theaters. The producers of “Jaws” saw an opportunity to take advantage of this budding trend and devised one of the first television marketing campaigns in cinematic history, spending a whopping $1.8 million to advertise the film.
‘NARCO-SAINTS’
Washington, D.C.’s own Ari Lennox dropped her sophomore album “age/sex/location,” once again showcasing her vocal range and creativity. Three years after her first album, “Shea Butter Baby,” “age/sex/location” doesn’t disappoint when it comes to features either, with the R&B singer calling on Summer Walker, Chlöe, and Lucky Daye to contribute.
Before the arrival of “Jaws,” summertime
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Yet hope is on the horizon. Some studios are beginning to produce authentic, well-crafted action blockbusters like “Dune,” “The Batman,” and “Top Gun: Maverick.” Audiences have flocked to theaters each time, with the films’ critical achievements correlating positively with attendance.
An exciting Netflix series created by two of South Korea’s most talented directors follows an entre preneur added to a government operation meant to take down a Korean drug kingpin hiding in South America. The story, which is bound to keep you on the edge of your seat, is based on the true story of drug dealer Jo Bong-Haeing, who operated out of Suriname until his arrest in 2009.
‘Jaws’: A Bite of the Past that Changed Cinema’s Future
Based on the bestselling book of the same name, “Where the Crawdads Sing” traces the story of a young woman raised in the Deep South who finds herself a suspect in a murder case. The novel’s au thor, Delia Owens, assisted with the screenplay, with Daisy Edgar-Jones starring as the lead, Kya Clark. The film is now available for purchase on DVD and the streaming service VOD.
IMDB IMDB @ARILENNOX/TWITTER WHENDISASTERSTRIKES/SPOTIFY
Perhaps studios will soon realize that they can take risks on original blockbuster concepts like “Jaws,” rather than lazy sequels and retreads, and still generate profit. After all, Steven Spielberg is the most commercially successful director of all time, and he did not sacrifice the quality of his craft to get there.
NEW RELEASES
Thefilmwasreleasedin465theatersnationwide — unheard of for the time — allowing the masses to congregate for a suspenseful summer treat.
After the film’s release, studios began to market movies differently. Hollywood realized that movies, if cleverly advertised and widely released, could generate absurd amounts of money, perhaps even regardless of quality. Today, studios are willing to produce poorly made, contrived action films because they know that audience members will respond with open wallets.
“Jaws” became a nationwide phenomenon and helped create the summer movie season.
The film, which cost roughly $9 million to make, would go on to gross $260 million in the United States alone, surpassing records set by previous blockbusters like 1972’s “The Godfather” and 1973’s “The Exorcist.”
OLIVIA NEWMAN ‘WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING’
It’s impossible to criticize John Legend when he does what he is known for: the ele gant, tear-jerking love song. “I Don’t Love You Like I Used To” seems like it would be a fall ing-out-of-love heartache but instead details how through the course of his marriage, his love for his wife has deepened and changed.
Where he falls short is his attempt to modernize the groove he had near-perfected. He falls prey to the allure of radio music in a few tracks and loses his hold on his own mu sic in the process. While these synthesized tracks do not diminish the masterpieces he has created, they detract from the immer sive experience of a John Legend album.
Track five, “Guy Like Me,” will get the lis tener up and on their feet to dance as he employs some of his smoothest vocals and cheesiest pickup lines: “On a scale of one to ten, you more like an eighty.” In terms of vo cal talent, Legend reminds us of the reason he has received so much acclaim over the years, as his voice blends perfectly with the instrumentation and samba background.
“Legend” is a 24-track powerhouse of ar rangements composed of Legend’s undeni able vocal and lyrical ability. He crafts an old-school, soulful feel to his album, com plete with brass and guitar accents under scoring his powerful croon.
With a last name as dramatic as John Leg end, the singer has finally produced a body of work strong enough to take on the weight of the words.
Act 2 of the album sees Legend’s more ro mantic tracks, featuring stunning piano and string accompaniments in heartfelt displays of affection to his wife. The second track, “Ner vous,” details that butterfly feeling you get from someone you love, forcing you to go back and listen to the track just one more time.
nation. Backed by a percussion and guitar track, the song sets up a suave, confident feel that continues through the next few songs.
Woven within these Legend classics, however, are tracks that feel a bit overpro duced, checking off all the boxes for a suc cessful song but lacking the raw emotion that makes him so beloved. “Fate,” featur ing Amber Mark, exemplifies this trend; de spite the haunting trumpet and saxophone
John Legend’s eighth album provides both his famed soaring ballads and more danceable tunes, though he is sometimes overshadowed by his own features.
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Emily Smith Guide Desk Editor
Legend has had an immensely success ful career, garnering all four major Ameri can entertainment awards — the so-called EGOT, or Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony —
to make him one of the 17 people who have accomplished this feat. His 2013 song “All of Me” lasted on the Billboard Hot 100 list for 59 weeks, and it has remained a classic love song ever since.
behind the piano and drum main line, the song feels too formulaic for someone as talented as Legend. The swell to the chorus doesn’t feel as authentic as later tracks, and the vocals don’t feel supported by the syn thesized instrumentation.
This mature perspective of love and mar riage sets Legend apart from his peers, mov ing past songs about beauty and affection into true vulnerability and reflection.
@LEGEND/SPOTIFY
Overall, “Legend” is a beautiful album that has much going for it but includes a few sour notes. Maybe Legend’s legendary album comes later in his career — just not right now.
“Legend,” a two-part album of 24 emo tionally charged tracks, brings some of Legend’s most vulnerable and sultry songs to date, featuring the likes of Jhené Aiko and Saweetie in a bid to live up to its name. Ultimately, however, his claim fal ters. “Legend” is strong, but it will not be remembered as legendary.
The smooth vocals and gushy lyrics that have characterized his career shines on this latest work, his eighth studio album. If I were Chrissy Teigen, Legend’s wife, I would swoon at the soulful serenades fill ing the track list.
Legend opens Act 1 of the album with “Rounds,” a track dripping with lust and pas sion. Alongside Rick Ross, Legend deviates from the more wholesome love that many associate with him and opts for an unfil tered depiction of sex, using vivid imagery of “cotton candy fingertips” and “painted lips” that leaves little — or much — to the imagi
In the final track of Act 1, “All She Wanna Do,” Legend brings Saweetie into a track in an obvious bid to produce a club-style dance track. Legend scraps a dramatic rise leading to the chorus and opts for a headfirst dive into the “fun” part. In turn, Saweetie steals the attention and makes Legend seem like the guest on his own track. Don’t get me wrong, if this song comes on anywhere, I will be dancing as John Legend tells me to, but in an album branded with his moniker, Legend should not lose his presence on the album.
with “Janky Star” opener “Isn’t It Lovely.”
NINA JENNINGS
The concert opened with Brooklyn-based sibling hyperpop duo Frost Children, who donned crushed velvet fur capes and used lightsabers, among other props. With eerie pop punk and unrelenting volume, the duo captured the audience’s attention. The per formance was a family affair, as onstage ap pearances by the duo’s parents and younger brother incited an almost tangible glee from the crowd. Their stage time may have been as mesmerizing as it was haunting, but how ever it felt, Frost Children’s whimsy had DC9 furiously dancing.
“Janky Star” was born as an indepen dent project, and Ives only collaborated with acclaimed producer Justin Raisen two years after she began making demos. Nevertheless, with the modest backdrop of a spray-painted sheet, Ives dazzled with her stylish sound, reverberating vocals and graceful dance moves.
On the third night of her Janky Star tour, Ives lit up a late night show at DC9 Night club on Sept. 10. The Brooklyn-based mu sician started up her first headlining tour Sept. 8, and has dates throughout the United States during the month of September. Ives toured in support of her sophomore “Janky Star,” released in 2022.
Indie Pop Star Grace Ives Lights UpDC9, Proves She Has More in Store
CONCERT
Ives’s 2019 self-produced first full-length album “2nd” shied away from her lo-fi bed room pop-esque portfolio. Her playful synth work and simple vocals toy with restless ness, peculiarity and saliency: all of her songs are under three minutes long, mak ing her first album just over 20 minutes and leaving the listener wanting more.
Grace Ives is expanding, and she’s built to last.
Nina Jennings Guide Contributing Editor
My night at DC9 was a perfect summa tion of Ives’ musical journey: intimate, in dependent and impossibly fun. Ives doesn’t boast theatrics or aesthetics of modern bedroom pop — baring her soul and effort lessly infectious sound on stage for just under an hour, she remains enthralling, eclectic and the grooviest face of new wave experimental pop.
Grace Ives, a small indie artist, presented as anything but at DC9. Her magnetic and electric performance was one to remember, and she proved she has much more in store for her fans.
Much of Ives’s set was limited to her new releases on “Janky Star,” but she made space for a few of her funky fan favorites like “Man sion” and “Mirror,” all of which received bois terous and enthusiastic audience responses. Crammed onto the floor of DC9, her crowd was a sea of cheers and a celebration of her work, past and present.
The mid-twenties pop phenomenon had her first EP release nearly six years ago with “Really Hot,” which featured a set of whimsical and quirky indie pop tracks. Her early work foreshadowed this most recent boom of “bedroom pop,” an indie genre pioneered by memorable artists like Clairo and beabadoobee.
The clock nearly struck midnight when Grace Ives sauntered onto the stage, and after some minor sound equipment malfunctions, Ives led us straight into a dream-like state
“It’s good to care a lot about things,” Ives said while introducing “Icing on the Cake,” a song off “2nd” that rhythmically laments a classic lovers’ quarrel. Nearing 1 a.m., Ives let her guard down through her music and engaged in a casual, vulnerable conversa tion, bringing the audience along for a bout of late-night introspection littered with as trology references. She filled the room with tenderness, taking small breaks between songs for light-hearted chatter and giggles, and remained relatable to her loyal audience of hipster 20-year-olds.
Though it seemed impossible for Ives to produce an album that is even easier to dance to than her last, three years later, she proved her strength as an artist once again. She marked her return with her “Janky Star,” providing a much more mature sound of sophisticated synth pop. “Janky Star” fully displays Ives’ mastery of her own art and is a more versatile, elegant and intimate piece of the music she has been crafting since her bedroom days six years ago.
Ives has always championed the mini mal, evidenced in her characteristically short songs and simple, sweet Roland MC-505 digital beats. As the only person on stage, Ives stood to prove herself as the master of her own craft — all she needed was herself and her turntable.
throughout the night. The show was much like “Janky Star” itself: disjointed, moving and a natural delight. Ives makes perform ing look easy — with disco ball reflections glittering around her, Ives’ avant-garde pop had DC9 spellbound.
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Lately, synth usage in pop has toed the line between danceable and ambient “chill,” and Ives showed her range in providing both, trading pop bangers for slow ballads
The lone bright spot for traditional networks was the new ABC show “Abbott Elementary,” for which Sheryl Lee Ralph won the award for outstanding supporting actress in a comedy series and Quinta Brunson won for outstanding writing. However, when receiving the award, Brunson had to literally step over Jimmy Kimmel, causing online contro versy that Kimmel was not giving Brunson, who was the first Black woman nominated in three cat egories in a single year, proper respect.
To be fair, the ceremony’s movement to Monday was likely a significant damper to ratings, but the fact that NBC moved it to prevent double booking a time slot with “Sunday Night Football” is per haps the perfect encapsulation of how far awards shows have
The 2022 Primetime Emmy Awards occurred Sept. 12 in Los Angeles’ Microsoft Theater without much fanfare. After a resurgence in 2021, ratings fell to an all-time low of an averaged 5.9 million viewers, which raises familiar questions regarding award shows’ relevance and necessity.
In total wins, “The White Lotus” led the pack with 10, followed by “Euphoria” and “Squid Game” with six each. The rise of “Squid Game” in this year’s Emmys is a significant breakthrough, as the Emmys had never before nominated a nonEnglish language show for any major award. The success of “Squid Game” could indicate further recognition of non-English shows in the future.
1 A 1 V 2 I 3 M 1 A 4 C I V I 5 C 6 A R E N A 7 T U T O R 1 E 8 S O R S ACROSS 1. Energy and vigor 4. A type of duty, or Honda car model 6. McDonough’s less glorious and wellknown property 7. Sought for academic troubles 8. To leave, go out (present, je) in French DOWN 1. COVID-19, Monkeypox, Polio… 2. “___ gotta go __ the White House someday!” 3. Little, or a secondary area of study 4. In general, eats Georgetown’s rodents 5. Rare property of on-campus undergraduates ACROSS 1. Pig-pen 6. Response to warnings 7. Bradley Cooper 8. Jack the Bulldog when he sees a treat 9. Verifies identity DOWN 1. Campus field for soccer fanatics 2. Emerging business type, plural 3. Insulated cup brand 4. Puts on, such as clothes 5. Skincare brand
began with a bizarre interpretive dance rou tine to remixes of classic show themes like “Friends” and “Game of Thrones.”
Finally, major snubs were generally few, except for the baffling losing streak of acclaimed show “Better Call Saul,” which has been nominated for 46 total Emmy awards throughout its six-season run, including four this year, and has lost all of them. Sometimes shows are just cursed.
Other noteworthy awards included Jason Su deikis winning his second Emmy for outstanding lead actor in a comedy series for “Ted Lasso” and Jean Smart winning her second Emmy for HBO’s “Hacks.” Surprisingly, the first season of “Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls” won the award for outstanding competition series, a category nor mally dominated by mainstays like “RuPaul’s Drag Race” and “The Voice.”
Ishaan Rai Senior Guide Editor
cal milestones. Zendaya won her second award for outstanding lead actress in a drama series for her haunting performance in HBO’s “Euphoria,” be coming the youngest ever to win two acting Em mys. Meanwhile, Lee Jung-jae of Netflix’s “Squid Game” became the first Korean and Asian winner of outstanding lead actor in a drama series.
Hopefully, the Emmys — along with their other award show companions — can get their act together.
By Clayton Kincade
1 2 3 1 1 6 4 1 7 5 8 1 1 9 This Week’s Theme: Facts of Life
The 2022 Emmys Showcase Television’s Growing Divides
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The ceremony was forgettable at best; host Kenan Thompson delivered a few solid jokes, notably one at the expense of Leonardo Di Caprio’s ever-mocked dating life. The night
Yet the themes were layered with so much elec tronic dubstep to the point of being unrecogniz able, setting the tone for a night of confusion. The crowd was low-energy, and the general produc tion, including the merciless speech timer that multiple winners complained about while on stage, gave the sense that the ceremony was sim ply going through the motions,. But the best part of the night, as always, was the awards, and for dedicated TV watchers, the award ees largely hit the mark. The hit HBO series “Suc cession” won the award for outstanding drama series, while Apple TV’s “Ted Lasso” won its second award for outstanding comedy series. HBO also scored the award for outstanding limited series with “The White Lotus,” clearly displaying both the critical and commercial domination of streaming services — Jennifer Coolidge dancing to the “send off” music after winning outstanding supporting actress for the show also provided a particularly potent rebuke of the ceremony’s production.
Overall, this year’s Primetime Emmys mostly of fered more of the same. It’s clear the same will not be enough to prevent the slow death of the award show format and that drastic changes, whatever they might be, will be needed. It would be a shame if awards shows were to disappear altogether, as they still provide a fun watch and elite allure, espe cially if they are able to cut down their length and remain under three hours.
The acting awards suggested much the same, as both major drama series trophies marked histori
Nevertheless,fallen.the Emmy winners themselves indicate intriguing trends regarding the future of television, including the presence of non-English programming and the continued dominance of streaming services; fittingly, the Emmys them selves were played on both NBC and the channel’s streaming service, Peacock.