The Hoya: The Guide: October 18, 2019

F RI DAY, OC T O B ER 18, 2019 9

TATTOOS ON CAMPUS AND IN DC

ILLUSTRATION BY: ANNA KOOKEN/THE HOYA

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Tattoos Display Identity, Enshrine Experiences KIRA POMERANZ AND MOLLY ZHOU Hoya Staff Writer and Special to The Hoya

A student strolls into one of Washington, D.C.’s multiple tattoo parlors and speaks to a fully inked and heavily pierced desk attendant. After waiting a few minutes, an artist, somehow with even more tattoos than the attendant, takes the student back to a reclining chair and sterilizes a small patch on her arm. The artist loads the tattoo gun and leans over her; as the needle starts to spin, the low buzzing strikes a sense of sudden terror and sparks a full-body, exhilarating excitement.

Many Georgetown University students have experienced the sting of a tattoo artist’s gun and made permanent decisions to ink their bodies with images and words, wearing their meaningful tattoos under sleeves or in plain sight around campus. With these stories written in ink, students can creatively carry their family with them, commemorate unforgettable experiences with friends and provide meaningful markers of identity.

BEHIND THE NEEDLE

Tattoos can reflect personal tales of identity, but behind every ink illustration is a skilled artist who combines a customer’s vision for their permanent body art with artistic talent and editorial tattoo expertise.

One hundred twenty-eight tattoo shops operate within the D.C. area, according to Yelp. From Arlington, Va., to Adams Morgan to the H Street Corridor, there is a wide array of options to get a tattoo done. One of the closest to Georgetown is Jinx Proof, a tattoo shop located on M Street that opened in 1996.

Tattoo culture in D.C. has improved in the last 15 years, with fewer people coming in to make a decision they will later regret, according to Jeff Marsala, the manager of Jinx Proof.

“There are teenagers or 20-somethings everywhere, and it used to be a lot different in Georgetown where

COURTESY JESSIE MCNEILL, MICHAEL HOWARTH FOR THE HOYA

Tattoo and piercing parlors like Jinx Proof on M Street provide an open environment for tattoo conoisseurs of all levels of familiarity with the art form, from anxious customers getting their first tattoo to longtime veterans getting inked for the 20th time. there would be many bars, and you would get a lot more drunk students,” Marsala said in an interview with The Hoya. “But everyone who comes in here now is pretty cool, and we don’t have a lot of issues.”

Though they may be more planned now, tattoos are still a big commitment with potentially far-reaching career and life consequences. As such, some artists, like Marsala, try to remind customers of the permanence of tattoos and body art, according to Marsala.

“I always say to people: ‘You’re going to die with this thing — it’s going to last longer than a car, house, girlfriend, boyfriend, and you are going to have this thing forever, and you are going to get buried with that.’”

Not all tattoos are done in an established shop: Some students get inked in dorm rooms by artistic friends who decorate skin with an at-home tattooing technique known as stick and poke.

Stick and poke can be unsanitary, but the safety of stick and poke tattoos largely boils down to meticulously sterilizing needles and skin before creating any open wound and being aware of potential allergic reactions to ink. Stick

and poke tattoos are permanent, but, depending on the quality of the work, can fade faster than professional tattoos.

Some student artists, like Egan Barnitt (NHS ’21), have embraced stick and poke as a way to hone an artistic skill and make tattoos more accessible to students, according to Barnitt, who began giving stick and poke tattoos during her freshman year.

“College kids are often broke, and tattoos are often expensive (and tattoo shops can be really intimidating), so I really try to provide a needed service, giving low-cost high-quality handpokes in as comfortable an environment as I can manage,” Barnitt wrote in an email to The Hoya. “As I’ve continued to do it my tools have gotten more professional and my tattoos have started to look much better, but I always think back to the first few dumb ones I did fondly.”

Tattoos are permanent — not just for the person receiving the body art, but also for the artist, according to Barnitt.

“In a lot of ways, I just love the idea of being remembered, and putting my art on people forever. It’s such a crazy concept,” Barnitt wrote. “When a tattoo

is over, and people are trying to Venmo me, I usually just tell them to make sure they think of me in 50 years when someone asks what the fuzzy thing on their thigh is.”

A PERMANENT STATEMENT

Tattoos are a permanent way to mark a celebration of identity that starts in college because of a more open and generally more accepting environment, according to Jordan Brown (COL ’21), who got her first tattoo in March 2019.

“It’s really the first time for a lot of people that they get to be themselves and come into their identities and interests,” Brown wrote in an email to The Hoya. “It’s also a time when people (hopefully) won’t judge you too much for having a tattoo.”

But tattoo culture is not widespread enough to make getting inked commonplace at Georgetown, according to Jesse McNeill (COL ’18), who got his first tattoo in high school and got two while at Georgetown.

“Few enough people have tattoos in college (at least at GTown) that it is still something of an anomaly which makes it cool,” McNeill wrote in an email to

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2019 The Hoya.

Tattoos may carry a factor of coolness among younger people, given that almost 36% of people ages 18 to 25 now have one, according to the Pew Research Center, but they still carry significant social stigma. Employers often look down on tattoos as a sign of unprofessionalism, but this varies by profession, according to a report by NPR. The negative stereotypes that come with tattoos can sometimes manifest themselves in the classroom, according to Luke Thomley (COL ’20), whose many visible tattoos range from a branch of an Arabian balsam tree to a two-dimensional rendition of Auguste Rodin’s sculpture “The Fallen Caryatid Carrying Her Stone.”

“The number of times I have walked in to a professor’s office or received feedback on a paper and one of their first remarks is, ‘You’re actually very smart and sensitive,’ is pretty alarming,” Thomley wrote in an email to The Hoya. “I suspect this is due to some presumptions about me as I am, without fail, consistently the most heavily and visibly tattooed student in my classes.”

Since tattoos instantly tell a part of a person’s story, getting one that will be immediately visible is a bold choice, according to Brown.

“It’s cool because you get to see a glimpse into the lives of other students from their tattoos, even if you don’t know them very well,” Brown wrote.

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Spani s h w o r d “respira” — meaning “to breathe” — in her mother’s handwriting.

The word is a lyric from the song “Breathe” from the musical “In The Heights,” sung by the character Nina Rosario, a Latina woman from Washington Heights, a low-income neighborhood in New York City, and the first in her family to go to college.

“Similarly [to Nina], I’m a Black woman from a low-income area of Atlanta, where people don’t go to schools like Georgetown,” Brown wrote. “My mother also always tells me to ‘just breathe’ when I’m getting too stressed, and the song features Nina’s community telling her ‘respira,’ or to just breathe, because everything will turn out fine.”

ILLUSTRATIVE INK

Tattoos are symbolic — one phrase or icon can represent an entire world of meaning that lies on just a few inches of someone’s skin.

Sometimes matching tattoos, like the tattoo Andrew Orbe (SFS ’20) shares with his older sisters, link students and their loved ones through their ink, according to Orbe.

“The tattoo is three vertical triangles, and since I’m the youngest, I have the bottom one filled in,” Orbe wrote in an email to The Hoya. “My sisters have the same exact style and look, but depending on birth order have a different triangle colored in.”

Ink like McNeill’s matching tattoo with his best friend of a cartoon whale with sunglasses commemorates shared experiences and cements friendships into lifelong commitments, according to McNeill. “[We] really got close the summer after our freshman year when we did a road trip out to Colorado and Utah in my family’s 1999 Toyota Sienna minivan that we christened ‘La Ballena,’ which means ‘the whale’ in Spanish,” McNeill wrote in an email to The Hoya.

“The summer between junior and senior year we were munching some waffles next to a tattoo parlor reminiscing about that trip and just did it.”

Some tattoos can serve as a valuable and permanent reminder of a student’s identity and loved ones, according to Brown. Brown’s first tattoo was of the

COURTESY ANDREW ORBE, COURTESY EGAN BARNITT

Tattoos offer an intimate window into the personal lives of people who show them off by visually representing the identities and moments most important to them. Egan Barnitt (NHS ’21), right, has embraced the at-home art of stick and poke tattoos.

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CONCERT REVIEW ALBUM REVIEW

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2019

Pond Mesmerizes With Theatrical Dreamscape

@ANGELOLSENMUSIC/INSTAGRAM

Chicago-based singer-songwriter Angel Olsen continues to redefine her genre-bending sound on her latest album, “All Mirrors.” By shifting away from her more folksy and acoustic roots toward a sound that teeters more toward indie pop, Olsen maintains the same powerful and emotional lyrical abilities that defined the early work in her career.

Angel Olsen’s ‘All Mirrors’ Is a Glimmering Masterpiece ‘ALL MIRRORS’

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ANGEL OLSEN ANGELA PEREZ Hoya Staff Writer

Angel Olsen’s penchant for dramatic, rhapsodic melodies that crescendo into cathartic ecstasy intensifies across her latest release, “All Mirrors,” which is arguably her best album yet. Olsen showcases her growth as an artist, while delivering the powerful harmonies that motivated her earlier work.

Olsen’s previous studio album, “My Woman,” was full of inspiration from classic rock, including the dynamic “Sister,” an eight-minute slow burn that culminates in a virtuosic headbanging guitar solo. This shift marks a departure from her 2017 compilation album “Phases,” which served as a stylistically transitional work in her catalog, straddling both rock and folk genres.

Olsen decided to stylistically shy even further from her folksier beginnings. The barebones guitar and almost indecipherable vocals of 2014’s “Burn Your Fire for no Witness” are no more. This time, tracks are backed by blustering instrumentals, synthesizers, piano and soaring strings.

This sonic departure is not a huge surprise, “with her recent work foreshadowing this change.” Her 2019 feature on “True Blue,” a hypnotic lament on Mark Ronson’s heartbreak dance album “Late Night Feelings,” reads like an emotional prelude and a gateway to the dazzling production of “All Mir-

rors,” albeit without a disco beat. This conversion into a considerably more pop sound, all while retaining her reflective, emotionally jarring lyrical abilities, is a welcome progression.

This sonic departure is not a huge surprise, “with her recent work foreshadowing this change.” Her 2019 feature on “True Blue,” a hypnotic lament on Mark Ronson’s heartbreak dance album “Late Night Feelings,” reads like an emotional prelude and a gateway to the dazzling production of “All Mirrors,” albeit without a disco beat. This conversion into a considerably more pop sound, all while retaining her reflective, emotionally jarring lyrical abilities, is a welcome progression.

The album’s title track and lead single perfectly encapsulate emotional oscillation, reflecting and refracting in reaction to one’s daily iterations. Olsen deftly writes about the common experiences of love, loss, loneliness and isolation throughout the album, but she still but gives herself enough room to avoid emotional stagnancy by showcasing maturity. The vagueness of her lyrics are purposeful, allowing the listener to apply and contextualize its meanings to their own lives.

The synth beat in “Too Easy” is reminiscent of something Tame Impala would have recorded, while “New Love Cassette” features a powerful string section, sounding reminiscent of particular string flourishes heard in songs by The Beatles.

Even at her softest, the emotion of her voice is palpable. The mumbling and meandering vocals of her earlier works have now clearly been exchanged in favor of a louder, enunciated performance. This quality shines through especially in “Impasse,” where Olsen’s almost ritualistic incantations grow more and more pronounced after each repetition.

In “Spring,” a mid-album, piano-laced ballad, Olsen sings, “Guess we're just at the mercy of the way that we feel,” with a sense of resignation, playing into her message of accepting one’s irreversible emotional fate.

The light, twinkling melody stays with the listener long after the song ends.

Olsen does her best to not lure the reader into a sense of complacency with an accepted style. She showcases her broad range and ability to thrive in multiple musical settings across the track listing and the changes between tracks do everything to highlight this dichotomy.

Immediately after the enrapturing disassociative daydream sequence, Olsen captivates in “What It Is,” a song led by a marching synth-lined drum beat, with the occasional symphonic flutter carrying the song to new heights.

With the help of producer John Congleton, who also worked on sad pop songstress Lana Del Rey’s triumphant album “Norman F-----g Rockwell,” “Tonight” formulates a cin-

ematic atmosphere that envelops the entire work completely and coherently. It is, like her previous works, an exercise in catharsis, with its instrumental embellishment only amplifying the emotional weight of every word and every note. Stripped of all of this luxurious production, “Tonight” could easily have found itself on her 2012 debut album.

At the latter end of the LP, The tonal shifts of “Endgame” play with the listener. At first, she is far away, her voice echoing along the gentle string playing in harmony with the slow tempo of the piano. The echoing ceases, and just for a moment, her breathy, unadulterated timbre is heard very clearly. The final track on the LP, “Chance,” a sentimental track musing on romance, complete with a Percy Faith-like orchestral arrangement and a ’50s piano chord progression.

Olsen does not hide behind an outsized sound, a trap which other artists often fall into. Rather, she nestles herself comfortably and organically within this new sonic landscape. With or without the flourishes of synth harmonies or exquisite string sections, the album offers a dynamic and powerful listening experience.

Whether she decides to return to the more humble, threadbare artistry from which she began or press further into this newfound exploration of substantial pop, Olsen has proven time and time again that she can do no wrong.

THE HOYA

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2019

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PERFORMANCE REVIEW

Pop-Up Magazine’s ‘Escape’ Issue Presents Immersive Stories EMMA GINSBERG Special to The Hoya

In a whirlwind mix of personal accounts, comedy, in-person exposes, animation and musical performance, PopUp Magazine’s “The Escape Issue” tour artfully fulfilled its purpose of drawing the audience away from reality for an uninterrupted evening by presenting a new way of portraying stories on stage, bringing them to the audience in a completely immersive manner a page could not replicate.

The two-hour production consisted of 10 acts reminiscent of Ted Talks. Contributors to the live magazine, including comedians, singers, poets and actresses shared stories through humor, photo essays, investigative journalism and more with their short performances.

Pop-Up Magazine feels equal parts performance and literary, highlighting the possibilities of turning a publication into an experience.

The novel format allows for the acts to share stories in a way that is distinct for the show, according to Marin Cogan, senior producer of Pop-Up Magazine.

“Every single time we put on a show, we think a lot about what the arc of the show will look like,” Cogan said in an interview with The Hoya. “If you come to a Pop-Up Magazine show, you’re getting stories that you’re not going to get anywhere else.”

The show fit perfectly in Lincoln Theatre’s usual repertoire of indie performances, thanks to its eclectic subject matter and the ornate space of the theater which contrasted the Magazine’s setup with its bold graphics screen and simple black stage.

The opening act of Pop-Up Magazine’s “Escape” issue featured a hilarious piece performed by comedian and internet sensation Chris Duffy. He detailed his transition from a contestant on “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” to the subject of an internet meme that showed him looking utterly confused at a question about the classic ’90s song “No Diggity”

by Blackstreet. Committed to his role as a comedian, Duffy had the audience roaring with the accounts of other ordinary people who unintentionally took on new identities by becoming memes.

Jo Firestone’s deadpan absurdity in the comedic act “Can You Smell It?” fol-

lowed Duffy’s self-deprecating humor.

Firestone explained how she loves to escape her home without ever walking out the front door by spreading various aromas across her house. Detailed descriptions of scented candles pulled the crowd into the most bizarrely humorous and fictional scenarios imaginable, such as eating a depressing microwaved Lean Cuisine in a remote cabin on an unfortunate retreat.

A more serious tone took over as the live magazine continued. Keri Blakinger’s “The Game” stood out as a piece that uncovered not only the horrible treatment of prisoners on death row in a Texas prison, but also the means by which these prisoners mentally fled their situation. Blakinger makes sure to highlight their humanity by showcasing how they were normal people limited by the torture they endured at the hands of the prison.

The ups and downs of a game of Dungeons and Dragons that the inmates took part in as a means of distraction left not a dry eye in the house, exposing the brutality of confinement in the United States and the humanity of those impris-

oned for the rest of their lives.

While the penultimate act of the “Escape” issue felt overlong, it seamlessly intertwined stories of departure between and among marginalized groups in the United States, featuring author Sarah Kay, who explained her grandmother’s choice to become a teacher on a Native American reservation in North Dakota after being released from a Japanese internment camp.

This piece documented history and captured the audience’s heart, supplemented with both photographs of the reservation and animations that followed the grandmother on her journey from one place of captivity to another.

The theme of escape deeply permeated every single work presented throughout the show and made this issue of the Pop-Up Magazine an impressive addition to the live magazine format.

Pop-Up Magazine presented a well curated selection of engaging performances through their “Escape” issue, offering the audience at the Lincoln Theatre a chance to leave the world behind as distinct contributors shared their work, which ranged from playful to painful.

COURTESY VICTORIA CHOW

Channeling music, animation and performance, Pop-Up Magazine’s “The Escape Issue” presented an array of socially relevant and artistically riveting acts at the Lincoln Theatre, including Jordan Carlos, left, and Sarah Kay. The show shared captivating stories that pulled the audience away from the real world and into the world of print.

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MANAGING READS

‘Gentleman’s Guide’ Encapsulates the Frenzy of Youth Catriona Kendall If you’ve studied abroad, you may think the experience changed you, but I doubt you ever ended up running naked through the gardens of Versailles.

Such antics are just about inevitable in Mackenzi Lee’s “The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue” for Henry “Monty” Montague, the narrator and protagonist. Straddling the line between youth and adulthood, Monty embraces recklessness and debauchery to a fault, living by the motto, “What’s the use of temptations if we don’t yield to them?”

The novel, set in the 1700s, follows Monty on his Grand Tour, a journey around Europe typically taken by high society young men in Britain to culturally educate themselves before they officially began their adult lives. Monty, of course, envisions a revel-filled romp around the continent with his best friend, Percy Newton — complicated only by the fact that Monty has fallen somewhat hopelessly in love with him.

Yet Monty finds his hopes for the expedition dashed by his father’s insistence that the tour

should instill in him the ways of a gentleman, or else he will face disinheritance. To make matters worse, his strong-willed younger sister, Felicity, will be accompanying them, along with an uptight chaperone.

Still, once they get to Paris, Monty — not one to pass up an opportunity to indulge his hedonistic tendencies, especially if it’ll get on his chaperone’s nerves — kicks off a remarkable and entirely unforeseen chain of events when he engages in sexual congress with a woman in the Duke of Bourbon’s apartments and steals an ostensibly valueless trinket box just to spite the duke.

Suddenly, streaking through the grounds of Versailles to escape becomes the least of Monty’s problems, with the duke in hot pursuit of him, trying to retrieve the artifact, a puzzle box that holds the key to a groundbreaking alchemical secret.

Without warning, this once dull trip to Europe escalates into an escapade brimming with attempted murder, pirates, mad scientists, youthful indiscretion, seemingly unrequited pining and, inexplicably, an island sinking into the ocean.

“Gentleman’s Guide” presents compelling historical fiction, with its diversity not seeming contrived or gratuitous. The characters are wonderfully developed and represent an array of identities often erased from the genre.

Monty, an openly bisexual agent of chaos, in particular experiences extraordinary growth

throughout the novel, as the supporting characters challenge him to confront his immense privilege as an upper-class white man. While at times self-absorbed and ignorant, Monty is never any less than entirely endearing, because he’s also charming, hilarious, unsure of himself in a way most of us can probably relate to and desperate to overcome the emotional wounds inflicted by an abusive father.

Percy, with his cool-headed and down-toearth demeanor, ideally complements Monty and cares deeply about his best friend even when Monty exasperates him. Throughout “Gentleman’s Guide,” Percy reveals the difficulties of life as a dark-skinned, disabled man in 18th-century Europe to both Monty and the reader, highlighting a perspective rarely given agency in historical fiction, all the while being remarkably kindhearted and funny.

Monty’s tour would, of course, be incomplete without Felicity, who is asexual, unamused by her brother’s nonsense and fiercely determined to become a doctor in a world that has no interest in women succeeding.

In Felicity we see a compellingly unapologetic feminist and independent thinker, as she reads medical texts disguised as romance novels and provides delightfully disdainful commentary, such as: “Ladies haven’t the luxury of being squeamish about blood.”

Together, Monty, Percy and Felicity form the perfect trio for such an absurd and amusing adventure, as they bicker and support one another in equal measure. Lee’s prose is light

and humorous even as the novel explores heavier topics, crafting these characters into relatable and lovable young adults.

“Gentleman’s Guide” excels as a new adult book because it captures a key moment of uncertainty in youth, as we struggle to grow into a form of adulthood that’s deemed acceptable by society. We’re often asked to outgrow our youthful vices and become “respectable” in a way that we may not always be ready for — and, sometimes, what we’re asked to leave behind are essential parts of our identities.

These characters are willing to grow and progress in the ways that matter — by recognizing their privilege and coming to terms with who they are and want to be — but they remain uncompromising about their authentic selves, providing a good model for all of us to follow.

You don’t need an insane trip to Europe to figure out how to express your identity and meet adulthood head-on, but reading about such an adventure certainly doesn’t hurt. The trials and tribulations of Monty and his companions are sure to entertain and bewitch you — though, hopefully, not tempt you to theft and public nudity.

Catriona Kendall is a graduate of the School of Foreign Service. She formerly served as managing editor at The Hoya.

MANAGING READS appears in print and online every other week.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

A Georgetown Food Crawl With My Mom Tyler Chan Last week, my mother visited me after finishing a business trip in Florida, so we were able to try out two restaurants in the Georgetown area: Clyde’s and Pho 75. The two restaurants offered very different dining experiences while reminding me of the connection I share with my mom.

The first place my mom and I went to was Clyde’s, an American restaurant on M Street. I had heard many great things about this place, regarding both its food and ambiance, so I was intrigued enough to take my mom over there. I ordered the lump crab cake, which came with coleslaw and French fries. The crab cake had juicy and delectable local crab, which packed the perfect amount of saltiness that I expect from seafood.

One thing I noticed about Clyde’s — something that frequently extends to American cuisine in general — is that their food was

exceptionally yeet hay. For those readers who don’t know, yeet hay is a Chinese concept, which roughly translates to “hot air” that builds up from the food you ingest, generally making you unwell if you eat too much of it.

The idea is that you shouldn’t eat much of anything that’s too yeet hay, which includes typical American dishes like fried chicken, French fries and spicy chicken wings. While fried foods are a huge culprit of being yeet hay, the temperature and spices in a given dish can affect just how bad the food is supposed to be for you. Even my crab cake would be considered yeet hay, but despite this, the food was worth it because of its taste.

After happily finishing my meal, I asked my mom if she liked it, as is customary whenever I take my mom to any restaurant. Her reply: “It was okay,” which is a very classic Chinese mom reply. It’s always so hard to find a good restaurant for my parents; I think it’s because they’re very practical and really value whether the food they ate was worth the price, which made me reconsider how I felt about my meal at Clyde’s.

Like my mom, I found the restaurant crowded, the food too expensive for the quality and the service slow. Despite these drawbacks, however, it allowed my mom

and I to reconnect and talk about my life and the events going on back home because of its homey ambiance. Most importantly, my mom said that she likes my articles for The Hoya; I had half expected her to say that they were just “okay,” like our meal at Clyde’s.

The second restaurant I took my mom to is called Pho 75, located across the Key Bridge, in Rosslyn. I had heard a lot about Pho 75 but never had the chance to go for a number of reasons — mainly because I’m too lazy and don’t want to take an Uber there. I’d heard that Hoya students preferred Pho 75 because it’s the nearest off-campus restaurant that has pho that is miles better than the noodle bowls at Epicurean and Company, even if it as one of the best on-campus offerings.

When we got there, it felt like we were transported to another world, a world filled with the smell of beef broth and the languages of Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese people.

I was impressed with the fast service and short wait — fewer than 10 minutes elapsed between placing our order and getting our food, which is remarkably faster than the service at Clyde’s, where about 20 minutes passed before we were served.

What I enjoy most about pho is its no-frills cooking: it’s simply noodles, broth, protein

and some bean sprouts. Nothing less, nothing more — you can choose to add sauces, but that’s minimal. From the moment the first slurp hit my mouth, I understood what Pho 75’s hype was about: The noodles were soft, featuring a not-too-strong broth, and the protein was intentionally slightly undercooked — the theory is that the broth’s heat will touch up the meat, allowing it to cook in the soup.

The soup reminded me of home: the times I would come back from trips and eat pho, or when I would eat at a pho shop before a concert or go to pho shops to catch up with friends. I was glad I could replicate that feeling with my mom as we took that time to catch up, and I’m so grateful that she came over for the weekend — and paid for all the meals.

Clyde’s and Pho 75 each allowed me a chance to explore the city’s dining with my mom and experience new dishes and palettes.

Though my experience did have some drawbacks, each restaurant provided delicious food and allowed me to reconnect with my mom, both through our conversations and our shared culinary experiences.

Tyler Chan is a junior in the College. FOOD FOR THOUGHT appears in print and online every other week.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2019

THE HOYA

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MOVIE REVIEW

‘Midnight Traveler’ Explores Powerful Asylum Journey Directed by: Hassan Fazili Starring: Hassan Fazili, Zahra Fazili, Nargis Fazili JAMES KIM

Hoya Staff Writer

Sharing his story in “Midnight Traveler,” director Hassan Fazili, an Afghan filmmaker, captures the uncertain and dangerous journey of his family members as they fled their homeland to seek asylum in a foreign country. The powerful storytelling sheds light on important issues facing migrant refugees, though the documentary occasionally feels rushed.

The movie presents a striking autobiographical tale of migration, depicting a family’s challenging pilgrimage toward asylum in the European Union. The effective, vulnerable and personal narration frames all of the film’s events beautifully.

Despite these strengths, the film’s rushed ending leaves the story hanging without providing answers to important questions about the family’s fate after their trek.

The movie starts with Fazili and his family hastily packing their necessities and belongings after the Taliban has put a bounty on Fazili’s head, preparing to on their 3,500-mile journey to Europe to seek asylum and escape the dangers of

their home country of Afghanistan. This expedition, however, presents innumerable challenges, as they constantly face discrimination and violence from foreigners during their stays at refugee camps and travels as asylum-seekers.

The entire film showcases a first-person perspective of the family’s departure. Fazili and his family use three mobile phones to capture the entire movie. Either Fazili, his wife Nargis or his daughter Zahra uses a phone for the entirety of their journey to share each member’s viewpoint.

This perspective provides a detailed and extremely intimate portrayal of what it feels like for a typical family forced to leave home in the hope of starting a better life in completely foreign territory.

The emotional intensity of the camerawork overshadows the technical quality of the cinematography, which, while not beautifully shot, highlights the real qualities of the work.

Having at least one of the family members film the entire movie allowed each member to talk more openly and explicitly about the difficulties and joys each person endured, making the film as accessible and

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grounded as it could be in depicting the journey of a family seeking asylum.

Each obstacle the family must get through features narration by one of the family members. This choice effectively enables the audience to gain a strong grasp of the diverse array of emotional complications each family member went through at various points in the film, which prevents the migrant experience even within a single family to come off as monolithic.

When either Hassan or Nargis narrated, each usually talked about how much they want to get their family into a secure place after being on the road for such a long time and distance. When Zahra narrated, however, she mostly talked about how each day, either at the refugee camps or in a car traveling across the desert, presented yet another new experience for her and how desperately she longed for a permanent home and stability.

Zahra’s narrative evocatively communicates the fear and anxiety that come with migrating against all odds, and her brave honesty gives the film an even stronger emotional gravitas than the family’s story wields at face value.

The film ends with the Fazili family’s story, using title cards to describe the elongated documentation process toward potentially gaining asylum, as well as the uncertainties the family still might face in a new environment.

However, Nargis mentioned earlier in the film that gaining asylum after arriving in a country can be just as difficult as getting to that country itself. It would have been more effective if the film had dedicated more scenes toward the end to document the actual process of gaining asylum once the family arrived in Europe.

This choice would have fleshed out the audience’s sense of just how difficult it is for families not only to flee their homes, but also to start an entirely new life once the initial journey is over.

“Midnight Traveler” is a powerful movie that will leave its viewers deeply affected by the first-person description of a family’s journey toward asylum. The film is a refreshing story of one family’s struggle that gives a renewed sense of urgency to finding humane, ethical ways to welcome migrants fleeing violence across the globe.

LEFT: @MIDNIGHTTRAVELERFILM/INSTAGRAM, RIGHT: OLD CHILLY PICTURES

Hassan Fazili’s “Midnight Traveler” is a personal exploration of his own family’s perspective during their asylum-seeking journey. The documentary lets each family member find their voice in the experience and shows the harrowing realities of their ordeal firsthand, leaving viewers with the desire to see improvements for refugees fleeing violence everywhere.

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FRIDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2019

THE HOYA

What to Do in DC

MUSIC

New Releases

MICHELLE BROWN Hoya Staff Writer

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MEGAN WEE

Hoya Staff Writer

INTERNATIONAL HORSE SHOW

From Oct. 22 to Oct. 27, the Washington International Horse Show will feature hundreds of competitors, including reigning champions and Olympic veterans, compete for the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup at the Capital One Arena. In addition to these competition portions of the indoor show, the equestrian show will also feature a Barn Night on Oct. 24 and Kid’s Day on Oct. 26, which will include small group riding contests, pony rides, prize games and trick-or-treating.

@HARRYSTYLES/INSTAGRAM

HARRY STYLES ‘LIGHTS UP’ The highly anticipated first single off Harry Styles’ sophomore solo album dropped last week alongside music video “Lights Up.” It is no accident that it was released on National Coming Out Day, as its uplifting and reaffirming lyrics promote strength of character against adversity.

“Lights Up” serves as a return to form for Styles: The attention to detail, such as the backing gospel choir, again showcases his refined and grandiose take on pop music.

@JUICYJ/INSTAGRAM

FRENCH MONTANA FT. JUICY J, LOGIC, A$AP ROCKY ‘TWISTED’ French Montana’s latest single boasts a host of notable features, with rap titans Juicy J, Logic and A$AP Rocky delivering verses. However, its forgettable, repetitive chorus and unremarkable beat make the track incredibly bland. Logic’s lyrics on the track are comical and playful, calling back his own past hits by referencing “1-800-273-8255.”

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STRIKING IRON EXHIBIT

The National Museum of African Art’s exhibit on ironworking and African culture is showing until Oct. 20. The traveling exhibit of 225 pieces has been lauded as one of the most comprehensive examinations to date of the art created by blacksmiths in Africa. Exploring sub-Saharan African metalwork from early archaeological findings to present day creations, “Striking Iron” deftly chronicles the transformation of natural resources into objects of cultural storytelling.

3 CAMILA CABELLO ‘EASY’ “Easy” is the newest of Camila Cabello’s slew of releases leading to her upcoming album “Romance.” The track is raw and powerful, with a focus on Cabello’s personal emotions that are supposedly about her high-profile relationship with Shawn Mendes, powered by her stunning vocal delivery. It is Cabello at her best, giving fans something to look forward to with her album’s release later this year.

@88RISING/INSTAGRAM

88RISING, JACKSON WANG, HIGHER BROTHERS FT. AUGUST 08, GOLDLINK ‘TEQUILA SUNRISE’ “Tequila Sunrise” was released as a part of 88rising’s second collaborative album, “Head in the Clouds II.” The track follows the same formula as its first album, with sticky refrains and summertime bops. While the song is easy to listen to, it is similar to what fans heard just over a year ago, despite an eclectic GoldLink feature — the track’s saving grace.

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SMITHSONIAN NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AFRICAN ART

NATIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

As per yearly tradition, the National Symphony Orchestra is performing Halloween and movie classics for their “Family Concert Spooktacular” on Sunday, Oct. 20. Musicians will be dressed for the occasion in wigs and costumes, both spooky and historical. The hourlong show is suitable for all ages, with wallet-friendly ticket prices ranging from $15 to $18. @CAMILA_CABELLO/INSTAGRAM

WASHINGTON INTERNATIONAL HORSE SHOW

THE KENNEDY CENTER

MARYLAND RENAISSANCE FESTIVAL

The Annapolis fair and second-largest Renaissance festival in the country ends Sunday, Oct. 20. Twenty-seven acres of land comprise the fictional village of Revel Grove, whose 16th-century shops, artisans and entertainers provide an immersive experience for visitors alongside an abundance of delicious fair food that perfectly blends the past with the present.

MARYLAND RENAISSANCE FESTIVAL

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2019

CONCERT REVIEW

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PERFORMANCE REVIEW

Pond Mesmerizes With Theatrical Dreamscape

THE KENNEDY CENTER

The Mariinsky Ballet’s rendition of “Paquita” at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is simultaneously daring, cutting-edge ballet and an accessible piece for the wider contemporary audience. The incorporation of hand gestures and acting with dance is executed superbly, physically drawing empathy from viewers for a classic, hard-to-reach story.

Mariinsky Ballet Updates ‘Paquita’ for Modern Audiences SARAH KEISLER

Special to The Hoya

Many contemporary audiences find classical ballet culture alienating, but the Mariinsky Ballet’s rendition of “Paquita” at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts pushed the form of dance forward while making the language of ballet more accessible to a wider modern audience.

Last weekend, Russian ballet company Mariinsky Ballet performed “Paquita” at the Kennedy Center, decimating the barrier between elite ballet culture and the contemporary audience member. Choreographer Yuri Smekalov reimagines how to present the classical ballet to a new generation of observers, with the dancers refreshing the definition of ballet with engaging acting and eclectic performance.

Usually, ballet is entrenched in insider tradition: allusions to increasingly obscure fables, nods to famous choreographers only trained dancers notice and long bowing sequences with unclear significance. Ballet features no spoken words, but rather a code of specific hand gestures. Those viewers without a knowledge of the physical vocabulary of ballet must figure it out for themselves or hope

that the performance program has a synopsis when it comes to discerning the plot. For many, ballet is simply an archaic secret code for which they do not have a key.

This adaptation of “Paquita” stood out for its acting and its ability to break the trap of inaccessibility into which most ballets fall. The dancers’ execution of the plot, particularly through physical comedy and emphatic gesturing, brought the audience closer to the hard-to-reach story.

At a professional ballet, viewers can expect to see pointed toes and turnedout feet. In that regard, “Paquita” was not technically perfect. The dancers at times lacked precision during the group numbers, but this fault did not matter during standout moments, like when audience members roared in laughter when two men in a horse costume did pas de chats, or quick rapidfire steps, across the stage.

These new angles on ballet are necessary to increase the accessibility of the style, in an era when attention spans are limited.

Although most professionally trained dancers are not expected to also be talented actors, today’s ballet scene needs a generation of dancer-actors to keep the art form alive and lively. The Mariinsky Ballet has brought that generation to the

stage as heart and humor filled the performance.

The reorchestration of the music by Yuri Burlaka and the artistic direction of Valery Gergiev also helped “Paquita” bridge the gap between classical traditions and the contemporary audience.

The standard, string-oriented orchestra played fresh, flamenco-inspired melodies infused with the canonic score written in 1846.

The dancers used their heels to stomp, creating percussion with their feet and hands. As Paquita (Prima Ballerina Nadezhda Batoeva) performed fouettés, repeated whipping movements of the leg, the audience clapped along in rhythm.

This revival of the original score created a more interactive and engaging experience for the audience and injected energy into this 21st century rendition of “Paquita.”

The original “Paquita” tells the story of a Spanish princess who is stolen by Romani people as a baby after the assassination of her noble parents and raised to dance on the street for money. As an adult, Paquita travels across Spain, dancing as her false mother collects coins behind her. Enamoured with her dancing, a young prince, Andrés, asks for her hand.

Headstrong and sassy, Paquita makes a deal with the prince: He can marry her if he gives up his life as a prince to live with her family. Andres agrees and joins the troupe as a performer himself.

The original story of Paquita relies on ethnic stereotypes that are not acceptable to a contemporary audience. Originally choreographed by well-respected choreographer Joseph Mazilier, the original 1846 “Paquita” represented an ethnic minority in a demonized way that has no excuse.

The ignorant and harmful portrayal of Romani people is especially problematic.

Smekalov’s reimagining dealt with this by simply using the word “peasants” in the program to describe Paquita’s kidnappers while also avoiding other problematic aspects of the original plot. While the Mariinsky Ballet did not entirely reimagine the story to take out the problematic material, it at least edited it to avoid further harming the ethnic minority that the original had turned into a static antagonist.

“Paquita” has been updated both for its content and performance, bringing the ballet to the present day by shedding some of its racist stereotyping and livening the dances with energetic, lighthearted touches.

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FRIDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2019

THE HOYA

MOVIE REVIEW

‘The Lighthouse’ Depicts a Brilliant, Terrifying Journey Into Madness Directed by: Robert Eggers Starring: Robert Pattinson, Willem Dafoe JOHN DAILEY

Special to The Hoya

Meticulously crafted and fantastically executed, “The Lighthouse” is Robert Eggers’s follow-up to his film “The Witch,” which was released to critical acclaim in 2015. Set in the late 19th century, “The Lighthouse” chronicles the surreal descent into madness of the ragged sea dog Thomas Wake (Willem Dafoe) and his reserved, simmering assistant Ephraim Winslow (Robert Pattinson) over the course of their time as lighthouse keepers on a small island in an undisclosed location.

Dafoe’s and Pattinson’s performances are phenomenal. Dafoe throws himself into the role of Wake, delivering his at once crass and poetic lines with such marvelous charisma that the viewer can’t help but be seduced by the grimy old man. Pattinson meticulously develops Winslow into a case study of the rugged fisherman and showcases an impactful range. If their individual performances weren’t enough, Pattinson and Dafoe each complement the other’s character perfectly, creating exactly the tense and eerie intimacy demanded by a film with just two characters.

Despite the limitation of only featuring two characters, the film is far from lacking

in substance. In fact, the dialogue, character development and plot progression are enthralling, making it easy to overlook the cast size. Wake is a salty old man of the sea and good old-fashioned drunk with a penchant for colorful language, and Winslow serves as a youthful foil: quiet, orderly, stoic. Wake orders Winslow around with sadistic delight, and, despite Winslow never failing to execute his orders, he constantly barks at him for falling short in his duties. Winslow silently suffers the toils that Wake puts him through, building up a throbbing resentment with every admonishment he receives.

The film’s major theme of isolation drives it forward. Winslow wants to but can never quite trust Wake, and is thus doomed to solitude, accompanied by selfdoubt, yearning and, eventually, madness.

More interestingly, the theme of sexual frustration is prominent and frequently recurring in the film, underscored by subtle sexual imagery — and the not-so-subtle phallic symbol that is the lighthouse — and, less subtly, by Winslow’s surreptitious episodes of lustful indulgence with a small mermaid carving and a set of racy dreams about the carving’s flesh-andblood counterpart.

The relationship between the acquies-

 cent Winslow and the delusional Wake ebbs and flows like the sea around them, moving seamlessly from cordial resentment to drunken brotherhood to schizophrenic hostility throughout their time on the rock. Pattinson and Dafoe work together flawlessly to convey and develop this bizarre fraternity, and Eggers’ fantastic direction weaves the viewer in as a part of their turbulent journey by focusing in on their ragged exploration.

The first half of the film is relatively tame, albeit unsettling in a can’t-quite-putmy-finger-on-it kind of way, but with a fair deal of framing and foreshadowing. The second half, however, is a rapid unfolding of events, with a rich explosion of themes and symbols in the final third.

The film slowly melts into surreal hallucination, with notions of time and any other grounding concepts of reality thrown out of the window by the end, leaving just the raw, nightmarish psyches of two men who have been stuck together

on a rock for weeks on end.

Shot in 4:3 ratio, the film feels claustrophobic: There’s hardly enough room on the screen for both the maximalist set and the persistent, creeping tension between Wake and Winslow. Expert use of shadows in the black-and-white film and the creepy 19th-century costume design lends a sense of unease to the film, and the constant noise — crashes of waves and squawks of the gulls and creaks of the house — ensures that viewers never have the chance to sit comfortably in their seats while watching, even in moments of relative calm, of which there are few.

This movie will make viewers squirm, and that’s exactly what it intends to do. It will leave viewers speechless and shaken as it wiggles its way into minds and never finds its way out. Ever so often it’ll simply flash across your mind, like a blip on a radar or, more aptly, like a slowly, perpetually spinning light on the far horizon — a lighthouse in the distance.

A24

With mesmerizing, broody performances by Willem Dafoe, left, and Robert Pattinson, “The Lighthouse” lures in its audience, who experiences the intense claustrophobia that the island wreaks on its inhabitants. In only his second directorial feature, Robert Eggers continues to impress with his power to render viewers speechless with a single shot.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2019

THE HOYA

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ALBUM REVIEW

Bonafide Fabian Blends Rock, Psychedelic Folk on Debut EP

‘NEW AND IMPROVED OLD FASHIONED FOLKADELIC’ BONAFIDE FABIAN GABRIELLE IRWIN Hoya Staff Writer

Singer-songwriter Bonafide Fabian’s debut EP, “New and Improved Old Fashioned Folkadelic,” lives up to its lengthy title. The seven-song record is full of swelling piano riffs, languid harmonica notes and synth interjections to add edge to its tracks. “NIOFF” serves an intriguing mix of genres like folk, rock and psychedelic that is both endearingly simple and surprisingly complex.

“NIOFF” imparts the cozy feeling of being around a campfire with friends with its distinctively twangy basslines and inspired delivery. It has the sort of nostalgia that makes listeners smile as they hear tracks like “Yo Delay” or “Forthcoming Nights.” The first few songs of the EP are upbeat, but the tempo slows as the EP progresses. The shift is subtle, allowing all of the songs to flow together nicely.

Fabian’s debut EP is dedicated to his late grandfather, James “Poppa” McClarren, according to an email from Fabian. McClarren supported his grandson’s artistic endeavors but unfortunately died just before the EP’s release. Fabian seeks to create an organic experience for each listener that connects to this loss and aims for a sense of magic throughout the EP. The EP’s earnest and tender songs make this connection easy to form and impossible to ignore.

The EP features a tonal shift that also oc-

curs throughout the album, transitioning from a more psychedelic influence to a heavier folk inspiration. Fabian’s successful incorporation of these developments in the brief runtime of the EP is impressive, making the entire track listing sound dynamic and alive.

The EP kicks off with “Pick It Up,” a drumheavy track featuring psychedelic synth riffs that add dimension to the song. Initially, the only sounds are Fabian’s voice and the drumbeat, but, later, a synth and guitar fill the rest of the song gloriously while his voice fades into the background. An energetic guitar riff opens the next track, which eventually melts into a soft strum under Fabian’s lyrics.

The twinkling synth takes the listener on a journey up and away from reality, creating a complex atmosphere.

The psychedelic vibe persists with the track “Big Mystery,” which is arguably the most synth-heavy song on the EP. Its dreamlike sound is accentuated with soft background “ahs” and a dribbling backbeat.

Fabian’s deep voice is shadowed by an airy female voice, and the song’s guitar adds just enough edge so as to not overtake the song.

“Forthcoming Nights” serves as EP’s highpoint, as it begins the shift toward more of a blues and folk influence that complements his sound more powerfully. It is a sultry and sweet love song that features piano as well as synth and finds Fabian drawing out the ends of his verses in an endearing way. Its

distinct features make it stand out from the crop of love songs in modern music, and listeners can feel the complexities of the track as well as its sincerity.

The folk aspect of “NIOFF” shines through strongly on “Yo Delay,” which opens with simple guitar chords and harmonica. Fabian sings his blues lyrics with just enough country twang to match the instrumental, and even listeners who do not usually like folk or country songs can appreciate its beauty.

Fabian’s “yo delays” start deeply rooted in the song and seem to float up and away, marked by a small popping noise that accentuates each beat. Fabian shows off some vocal range on the track, which pops in the context of the EP. The EP’s penultimate song “All Comes True” opens with soft beatboxing that morphs into a more tropical-sounding beat.

Soft harmonica comes in over Fabian’s soft words, and the song comes alive a minute in when the backbeat is added. Suddenly all aspects blend, and the only constant in the song is Fabian’s soft voice, kept some-

 what in the same tone throughout the track. The song features some subtle synth, but its sounds mimic those found outdoors instead of distracting from the folk style of the song.

“NIOFF” closes with a slow song, like any good night out does; “Ready For You” is hopeful for the future while remaining fond of the past. Another touching love song, the final track deploys harmonica in an unusually soft way, and the guitar strums convey sweetness just as much as Fabian’s words do. “Ready For You” goes all out for the last 30 seconds of the song, when Fabian creates a crescendo with his powerful voice. Then, it fades away gently, leaving the listener deeply lost in thought.

Fabian creates musical atmospheres that evoke memories, emotion and reflection in those who hear it. His ability to combine airy synths with smoky beats and twangy harmonica riffs makes “NIOFF” an incredible album. With an unexpected combination of aspects that amount to a refreshing style, Fabian’s “NIOFF” is a musical treasure.

BONAFIDE FABIAN/FACEBOOK

Bonafide Fabian’s “New and Improved Old Fashioned Folkadelic” is a promising debut EP that daringly mixes sounds across genres. Inspired by his recently deceased 100-year-old grandfather, Fabian creates beautifully emotional soundscapes that evoke empathy for his situation and solidify his musical style.

ILLUSTRATION BY: ANNA KOOKEN AND ELOISE OWEN/THE HOYA