The Hoya: The Guide: April 6, 2018

the guide F R I DAY, A P R I L 6 , 2 0 1 8

A new lens

ILLUSTRATION BY: MINA LEE/THE HOYA

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friDAY, April 6, 2018

COURTESY JAMES SULLIVAN

James Sullivan (COL ’03), World Bank editor and motion graphics artist, poses for a photo with Sesame Street characters at a World Bank event on water and sanitation. Talented at video editing and passionate about disability inclusion, Sullivan produces videos highlighting global disability issues.

Navigating the World With a Disability MOLLY COOKE Hoya Staff Writer

From the outset, James Sullivan’s (COL ’03) study abroad experience his junior year did not go according to plan. Scheduled to depart for Villa Le Balze, Georgetown’s study center in Florence, on Sept.

11, 2001, Sullivan’s trip was delayed amid the tumult of terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C. Undeterred, Sullivan flew to Florence a week later, and immediately fell in love with the city. Enthralled by his immersion in Italian culture and the study of the Renaissance, Sullivan opted to extend his stay at the Villa for another semester.

That spring semester forever altered Sullivan’s life. In February 2002, on a weekend skiing and snowboarding excursion to the Italian Alps, he suffered an accident that permanently cost him the use of his legs.

Sullivan sustained a traumatic injury to his spinal cord that left two-thirds of his body paralyzed.

“If you look at my MRI, there’s a giant black hole where my spinal cord used to be, but I got patched up,” Sullivan said in an interview with The Hoya.

Now, 16 years after his injury, Sullivan is more focused on his capabilities than his limitations. As a videographer at the World Bank, Sullivan has transformed his experience into a career of travelling the globe, documenting the lives of the

world’s poor and sharing their stories.

After traversing continents in his wheelchair, Sullivan still recalls the time he first began navigating his new life wheeling around campus. The accessibility changes Sullivan has observed at Georgetown are a testament to the incremental pace of progress and the challenges that remain.

Wheeling Through Georgetown The accident cut short Sullivan’s extended Italian sojourn. He travelled back to the United States for six months of outpatient rehabilitation before re-enrolling at Georgetown for the second summer session of 2002.

Back on campus, Sullivan had to reorient his college experience around the use of his wheelchair. Terrace-level housing in Village A — provided by Disability Support Services — gave him an operating radius within which he could readily adapt. But other areas, like accessing classrooms for his many art history courses in the Edmund A. Walsh Building on 36th Street, proved much more daunting.

“Georgetown is formidable, man,” Sullivan said. “Concrete’s fine, but it’s the bricks. I definitely flipped myself a few times when we were going out with friends.”

Even reconfiguring routine tasks was a demanding process. Sullivan said it was years later before he perfected a method of putting on pants.

But Sullivan said he also acquired a new outlook on his situation: He viewed these ob-

stacles as puzzles to solve.

“Being in school in a chair for the first time is good because it forced discipline on you,” Sullivan said. “So not thinking, ‘Oh God, what is this new body doing to me?’ It’s ‘Oh, I have stuff to do.’ That was a wonderful thing for me at that time as well, as being back among friends and moving toward graduation, in the sense of ‘Okay, so here’s the goal, and here’s what I have to do to get there.’”

Sullivan’s mother, Anne Sullivan, who retired as a senior associate dean in 2015 after 43 years of working in the Georgetown College Office of the Dean, said she observed that college life provided a good opportunity for reintegration after her son’s injury.

“I’ve come to see that there’s a social network, the terrain is delimited, you can study and physically accomplish the tasks of being a student,” Anne Sullivan said in an interview with The Hoya. “There was the grief of getting around buildings, and I’m sure James can tell you it’s not the easiest campus to navigate, but it was a good next thing.”

James Sullivan has visited Georgetown as recently as December, when he stopped by campus to take a Japanese language proficiency test. He noted how the campus has transformed since his time as a student, with changes such as the construction of Regents Hall in 2012, which now provides easier access to the Leavey Center from the Intercultural Center and Red Square.

The pace of improvement has been incremental, but Sullivan said it is evident that progress is being made despite the challenges of Georgetown’s hilly, historic campus. But he said such progress could not have been possible without the work of disability rights advocates who 30 years ago fought for accessibility requirements and reasonable accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

“Here’s the thing: I have come in with a disability after the ADA has been passed.

That didn’t happen on day one,” Sullivan said. “And that’s why I think a large part of why I’ve been able to do what I’ve wanted to do, which is graduate from college, pick a career that I want to work in and then work in it. I don’t think we can underestimate how powerful that is.”

A Flair for Film Sullivan said he had been exposed to filmmaking early in his life. His father, Bob Sullivan, was a freelance filmmaker who had previously worked with National Geographic as a camera man and sound technician. Growing up, the Sullivans had a darkroom in their basement.

He knew he was a creative person, but he realized he yearned to take complicated concepts and render them into something intelligible while wrestling with academic writing during his studies. Video editing seemed like a natural fit – a chance to explore the humanity of his subjects.

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friday, April 6, 2018 “All you have to do is show up, ask the right questions and you’re gold,” Sullivan said. “Being able to linguistically put together the right question and using their words to tell their story is different from just sitting there and cranking out a script.”

Sullivan graduated in December 2003 with a bachelor’s degree in history, just one semester later than he originally intended before his accident. It was then that he began an internship at the Arlington-based Henniger Media Services and absorbed the skills he needed to launch his career in video editing, before serving as an assistant editor for HGTV and an online editor for a production company created by former executives at the Discovery Channel.

In 2011, Sullivan got his big break: He was hired by the World Bank, where he now serves as an editor and motion graphics artist.

The World Bank, which provides financial and technical assistance to developing countries through capital projects, aims to reduce poverty and promote global development.

One of the World Bank’s key messages is disability inclusion, as it works to mitigate the adverse socioeconomic outcomes experienced disproportionately by the 15 percent of the world’s population who have some form of disability.

Sullivan said his own experiences with his disability have made his job at the World Bank all the more fulfilling.

“Having been through rehabilitation and my own struggles, having the chance to talk for somebody else who has no voice is amazing. The bank functions as they’re sitting on like 5,000 Ph.D.s, so it’s this very A-level,

elitist institution, yet at the same time the problems they’re trying to solve are for literally the people on the bottom,” Sullivan said. “That’s amazing, and I don’t think that everybody gets a chance to do that in their job.”

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terrain for the physically disabled.

But in other countries, he marvelled at the way accessibility was embedded into the everyday infrastructure of the city. During his trip to Japan, Sullivan was fascinated by the fact that even the handrails at his hotel

COURTESY JAMES SULLIVAN

Sullivan was hired in 2011 by the World Bank, which aims to promote global development, and now serves as an editor and motion graphics artist for the organization.

Global Access Among Sullivan’s projects at the World Bank was “Wheeling Through Kingston,” a video in which he travelled to Jamaica to witness firsthand what it was like to be disabled in a developing country, where streets, sidewalks and buildings often provide rough

in Kyoto included Braille messages indicating where the rails led.

Still, Sullivan recognizes that one of the additional challenges confronting individuals with disabilities is that the disabled community is not monolithic, but rather populated with people who have all sorts of conditions.

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“My condition is different from somebody who is an amputee, different from somebody who has a developmental disability, who is blind, who can’t hear,” Sullivan said. “We all come from a different place, and as long as you’re listening to everybody and then trying to figure out what’s trying to work, you can figure it out.”

But Sullivan said making improvements to infrastructure is not enough. To truly accommodate individuals with disabilities, society must strive to promote a sense of belonging — a key plank of the World Bank’s guiding philosophy of inclusivity.

“Trying to make things accessible is two things,” Sullivan said. “It’s the infrastructure, but then it’s also, ‘Oh, can I help you?’

It’s ‘You’re part of this.’”

Progress is slow, but Sullivan is hopeful about the potential for adapting existing systems, from mass transit to bathrooms to mainstreaming in public schools, to work better for people with disabilities worldwide.

But, at the same time, Sullivan stresses the need to shift the cultural lens. He commends the disability lectures on campus and the development of a disabilities studies program at Georgetown as strides toward this greater inclusivity.

And eventually, Sullivan hopes these conversations — on campus and beyond — can lead society to reconceive its notions of what disability means for individuals.

“My goal has always been to just be normal, and I think the definition of ‘normal’ is changing,” Sullivan said. “It’s ‘You’re human’ with this, this and this little asterisk attached to it, but there should be no judgment there.”

COURTESY JAMES SULLIVAN

One of Sullivan’s first projects for the World Bank was titled “Wheeling Through Kingston,” a project in which he explored what it is like to be disabled in a developing country. Because the disabled community is not monolithic, Sullivan sees a need for society to create a universal sense of belonging for persons with disabilities.

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friDAY, april 6, 2018

BALLET REVIEW

KENNEDY CENTER

The New York City Ballet weaves choreography from the past few decades into “Works by Balanchine, Martins & Peck” at The Kennedy Center. Mixing classical and contemporary ballet, this performance provides the audience with a refreshing look into the future of this classic dance form.

Old and New Collide in New York City Ballet

ethan knecht

Special to The Hoya

It seems unlikely that an art established on 17th century royal French etiquette and modern 20th century abstractions can progress into the 21st century. Yet, in “Works by Balanchine, Martins & Peck” at the Kennedy Center, the New York City Ballet moves that art form forward with an intellectually arranged and beautifully performed program featuring a hybrid of choreography from 50 years ago to present day.

The program begins with George Balanchine’s “Divertimento No. 15” which was inspired by ballet’s height in the 1890s. Thirteen women in starched, pearl-white tutus commanded the attention of the audience with their quick, nimble footwork, while three tunic-clad men provided a traditionally masculine danceur role with grand allegro leaps and tours. The piece is couched in a royal elegance reminiscent of the court of King Louis XIV or Peter the Great, as the dancers gaze above their peers with cold, polite etiquette.

Hints of the 20th century’s cultural revolution and Mr. Balanchine’s contemporary style are given through a flick of the wrists, a sassy hip-pop or a bent knee en pointe. Balanchine’s famous love of geometric patterns is central to the work, which is dominated

by formations of circles, triangles and squares whose lines and corners weave through one another like a well-timed military march.

“Zakouski,” a pas de deux, or duet, by former NYCB Artistic Director Peter Martins, grabs the audience’s attention with a passionate tasting course of Russian classical music.

Principal dancers Joaquin de Luz and Megan Fairchild embody the musical passion of the great Russian composers Igor Stravinsky, Sergei Prokofiev and Peter Tchaikovsky with their intimate movements, constantly circling one another in turns, jumps and lifts.

Though the solo variations by both principals excite with their quick, yet purposeful movement, the time the duo spends onstage with each other is what makes the piece irresistible. The human components of the movement, like Fairchild’s soft bend into a gravitydefying dip, contrasts sharply with the cold etiquette of the previous “Divertimento” dance. Yet, the contrast reveals the breadth of movement and styles characteristic of contemporary ballet and its finest choreographers.

Perhaps the most anticipated portion of the evening’s repertoire is Resident Choreographer Justin Peck’s “Pulcinella Suite,” which recently made its world premiere in New York City. Gray silk curtains line the stage and brightly

colored surrealist costumes instantly grab the audience’s attention, making this performance the most visually striking of the pieces.

The first movement of the piece is rather choreographically indistinct; it follows the usual Balanchine geometric patterns with grand allegro and pirouette choreography more typical of a ballet barre than a performance at the Kennedy Center.

Still, in later movements the allegretto thrill when soloist Indiana Woodward nimbly and feistily dances a petit allegro along center stage, moving so quickly in a sunshine-yellow tutu that she appears to be a human-sized bee.

The tarantella performed by the feisty Anthony Huxley is engaging with his springy grand allegro leaps, flicked wrists and playful smile.

The pas de deux performed by Tiler Peck and Joseph Gordon is the most impressive portion of the piece with its coy and playful tone combined with double, triple and quadruple pirouettes and grand battement kicks that show both dancers’ performance and technical skills.

Using a lost score originally meant for the black swan’s pas de deux in “Swan Lake,” Balanchine’s “Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux” with Tiler Peck and Tyler Angle plays as a classical ode to the ideal of the ballerina: sweet and graceful, yet vigorous and agile.

Peck shines, whether leaping sideways into Angle’s arms or completing a dozen fouette turns before effortlessly finishing by flipping her torso around and gazing longingly towards her partner. While Angle successfully performs his bland variation’s leaps and turns with skill and gravitas, his place in the piece is relegated to mere support of Peck’s role.

“Symphony in Three Movements” proves the opposite of “Tchaikovsky” with its modern, angular movements and fantastical abstractions. With the geometric formations of “Divertimento No. 15” but without its classical air, the thoroughly contemporary piece stresses square arms and turned-in positions.

Balanchine’s fellow NYCB Artistic Director Jerome Robbins’ influence can be seen in the piece as well, with its West Side Story-esque dance off and 1950s jazz renverses.

“Symphony” proves the most contemporary piece of the evening and provides a satisfying bookend both for the performance and the future of contemporary ballet.

While newer pieces like “Zakouski” and “Pulcinella” lack the revolutionary abstractions of “Symphony” or the dedicated reverence to the classical past of “Divertimiento,” they show that the future of great contemporary ballet lies both in a nod to the past and an experimental wink toward the future.

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exhibition review

The Renwick Brings a Glimpse of the Desert to DC Maddie Finn Hoya Staff Writer

The Black Rock Desert in Nevada is desolate for the majority of the year. Yet for one week each year, it is transformed into Black Rock City, where around 75,000 people travel to experience the wonders of Burning Man, a massive experiment in community living. The gathering is short, but the cultural movement has spread far outside the playa, or dry lake.

Burning Man has taken the world by storm; now, its message of unabashed creativity has made its way to the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Renwick Gallery in the exhibit “No Spectators: The Art of Burning Man.” Since its reopening in 2015, the Renwick has made a name for itself with impressive and accessible exhibits: Visitors are encouraged to take pictures, lie down to relax and sometimes even touch the artwork. The laid-back, creative atmosphere of the Renwick makes it the perfect venue to channel the untamed spirit of Burning Man. For many, Burning Man is a way of life. The 10 principles that are upheld by “burners,” or the people who attend the festival, are radical inclusion, gifting, decommodification, radical self-reliance, radical self-expression, communal effort, civic responsibility, leave no trace, participation and immediacy.

An important component of Burning Man not listed in the principles is creativity, as Burning Man is a venue for artists to construct mon-

umental art pieces with the Nevada desert as their gallery. Fire is sometimes incorporated into the works, and visitors are encouraged to climb on and fully explore the often monumentally huge art.

Though the traditional museum venue does not allow flames or provide the vastness of a desert, the Renwick curator of craft, Nora Atkinson, did a magnificent job capturing the Burning Man spirit and translating it into a gallery.

Atkinson’s focus has been on contemporary crafts and the philosophy behind creation; as such, Burning Man was a clear match. “[The artists’] work asks questions such as ‘what does art look like when it is separated from commercial value?’ and ‘why do we continue to make in the 21st century?’” Atkinson told the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Atkinson provided no clear answer, leaving it up to viewers to find importance and relevance in the art.

“Temple,” an intricate wooden structure, is a particular standout in the exhibit. Housed in the grand salon of the Renwick and constructed

by David Best and the temple crew, the temple has been a tradition in Black Rock City since Best created it in 2000. It serves as a spiritual center for burners — a place where they can leave shrines or memories of loved ones before the temple is burned to ashes in a magnificent fire.

The temple that stands in the Renwick, constructed solely of blond wood, carries the grandiose architecture of a religious structure, but also the light and soft comfort of a home.

SHEEL PATEL/THE HOYA

Another artwork that seamlessly jumped from desert to gallery is titled “Truth is Beauty,” a sculpture of a stainless steel mesh woman reaching 18 feet into the air. Marco Cochrane debuted the original sculpture, which was 55 feet tall, at Burning Man in 2013. Still, the smaller scale version for the Renwick is impressively powerful. Cochrane successfully captured the awe-inspiring strength in femininity by physically making the woman larger than those around her.

Outside the gallery in the Golden Triangle, a neighborhood between the White House and Dupont, are six sculptures placed there through a cooperative effort between the Renwick and the Golden Triangle Business Improvement District. This extension is titled “No Spectators: Beyond the Renwick,” and adheres to the same themes as the indoor exhibit.

A giant bear, “Ursa Major,” stands on his hind legs outside a cafe, covered with thousands of pennies to give the texture of fur. In front of a bank, Maya Angelou’s head rests atop a stack of books, with birds flying out from where her brain should be. This exciting art mingles with suited businessmen and Washington, D.C. traffic, providing a relief from what Burning Man attendees call the “default world.”

Each large-scale sculpture is accompanied by a plaque to explain the artwork and the exhibition. The hope is to encourage more public interaction with art and with each other, especially for people who would not typically find themselves inside a gallery.

The District, as the seat of political power in the United States, represents many of the things Burning Man seeks to get away from: commodification, competition and elitism. By bringing the art and spirit of Burning Man to D.C., the exhibition shows that creativity is everywhere — for those who are willing to see it.

At the end of the week of Burning Man, most of the art is lit aflame and burnt into ash, along with the Burning Man, a wooden man over 50 feet tall. As quickly as it came, Black Rock City dissipates without a trace.

The Burning Man festival is transient; the only permanence is its effect on its participants. “No Spectators” allows this revolution to reach everyone who visits the Renwick or walks through the Golden Triangle. We could all use a little more Burning Man in our lives.

exhibition review

Artechouse Brings a ‘Cherry Blossom Dream’ to Life alia kawar

Hoya Staff Writer

As a young girl waved her arms in a slow, circular motion, her movements were mirrored onto an interactive wall: Waves of fluorescent colors appeared against the constantly turning cherry blossoms. This young girl, and others of all ages, were interacting with the art, coming up with movements of their own as peaceful piano and water sound effects echoed in the background.

Currently on display at Artechouse, the “Sakura Yume // Cherry Blossom Dream” installation coincides with the 2018 National Cherry Blossom Festival along the Tidal Basin. The installation consists of four galleries and features three artist groups’ — Noirflux, Storylab, and Karan Parikh and Nathan Solomon — interpretations of the cherry blossom experience.

Since its opening in June 2017, Artechouse, a Washington, D.C. gallery that combines art, science and technology, has hosted more than 100,000 visitors, according to the New York Times. Its im-

mersive installations are the next level of the art world — one dependent on technology to create an environment in which the viewer is encouraged to become a part of the art.

Art director and founder of Artechouse Sandro Kereselidze described the exhibit’s goals, saying that by “being heavily invested in the D.C. art and culture over the past nine years and having called D.C. home for over 24 years, we wanted to create an installation that would be very representative of our home city.” From this desire to represent came “Sakura Yume // Cherry Blossom Dream.”

As spectators move from the 270-degree interactive room to a small, pitchblack room that features a glow-in-the dark 3-D interactive sculpture of a koi pond, made by Karan Parikh and Nathan Solomon, they experience a sudden change in perspective. Rather than seeing the cherry blossoms as larger than life, the viewer now overlooks the pond and trees where the cherry blossoms once flourished.

To the left of the main gallery is a lan-

tern alley designed by Noirflux, in which orange lanterns’ shadows follow viewers’ steps as they walk into the last gallery, “Bloom” by Storylab. This last exhibit also features an immersive food experience on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 5:30 p.m.

At the end of the alley is a more intimate setting, where visitors sit on the floor around a long white canvas table.

Different sets of digital designs, ranging from butterflies in motion to Japanese trees and cherry blossom vessels, begin to appear as viewers create different gestures with their hands above the table.

With this year’s seemingly never-ending winter, Artechouse gives its audience the chance to experience spring indoors.

Through interactive technology and vivid graphics, the exhibition enables viewers to fully immerse themselves in the peaceful essence of the cherry blossom season.

“Sakura Yume // Cherry Blossom Dream” is on display at Artechouse from March 15 to May 6. Artechouse is open daily from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m.

ALIA KAWAR FOR THE HOYA

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friDAY, april 6, 2018

Testing Truisms

You’ll Change Your Major More Than Once Vera Mastrorilli

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any of us dread the inevitable question from our relatives and family friends: “What do you plan to do after college?” Narrowing your interests to a single major is challenging enough, and deciding the direction of a 40-year-long career path can seem impossibly restrictive.

While some individuals have known since birth what they want to do, others change their minds several times during high school and college.

As such, the saying “a leopard cannot change its spots” does not apply to everyone — after all, how many of us have held onto our childhood dreams of becoming an astronaut, or even want

to work in the career we envisioned for ourselves when we started college?

Georgetown allows us to change our majors and transfer schools because our interests and goals shift during our four years on the Hilltop.

But how many college students actually switch majors? According to a study by the U.S. Department of Education, onethird of students change their majors at least once during their first three years of university, and 9 percent switch two times or more. But the majority of us stick to one academic track.

This is not the case for students in all majors, however; 52 percent of students who major in mathematics will switch to a different major. While math is the only major that loses more than half the students who initially enroll, a greater proportion of students within science, technology, engineering and math fields change their majors than students who study non-STEM subjects. Though the likelihood that students will stick with their major varies across fields, nearly all majors have at least a 60 percent

retention rate for students who initially enroll.

Given that only one-third of students switch majors, how many make the more drastic change of switching schools? Georgetown does not publish its transfer-out rates, but nationwide, 22 percent of students who attend schools like Georgetown — full-time, four-year, private nonprofit institutions — transfer to a different college or university. So while they have the option to change, more than 75 percent of students choose to stay where they are.

Even if you are a four-year Hoya and stick with the major you declared in your college application, you may change your direction entirely when you start your career. A study by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York found that most college graduates do just that; in fact, 72.7 percent of employed college graduates are working in jobs not related to their majors. A survey by CareerBuilder presented more modest figures, claiming that just under half of college grads took a first job unrelated to their majors; only

32 percent have never found a job in the field they studied.

The choice to pursue a career outside your major, switch majors or transfer schools does not always indicate a change in interests. Economic factors can also play a role — the number of job openings in a given field, the projected earnings for a given major or the cost of tuition at one school compared to another may compel us to change our academic tracks or career paths. And, 36 percent of college graduates wish they had chosen a different major.

So it is no wonder we find it difficult to say where we will end up after college.

More likely than not, we will stay on the academic path we chose when we first arrived on the Hilltop. After graduation, however, more of us may stray from our chosen subject and explore other areas.

Evidently, a leopard can change its spots — but does not always choose to do so.

Vera Mastrorilli is a junior in the College.

Her column, TESTING TRUISMS, has been renewed for the spring semester.

between bali and me

Indonesia’s Holy Grain

Olivia Buckley

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espite Indonesia’s immense diversity, there is one small, unassuming grain of consistency that unites the country across religions and ethnicities: nasi, or rice. From Muslim boarding schools in East Java to the beach towns of North Bali, nasi is a part of life in each area of the country I have visited.

In 2014, Indonesia was the third largest producer of rice in the world, growing 70.6 million tons. Although there are many varieties and preparations, it is a ubiquitous commodity.

In addition to being served at every meal, rice is used in a variety of other goods from liquor to pastries. Its flour is used in sticky, gelatinous snacks filled with palm sugar, and it is always present in the warungs, or food stands, that dot the streetsides.

Rice fields sprawls out for miles alongside roads and over hills in layers of green.

They coat the land like a glaze, glinting under the sunlight and in the shadows of palm trees. Yet, nasi is far more than a

simple source of nutrients; rice in Indonesia has a spiritual element that cannot be separated from its agricultural one.

I had the opportunity to experience the literal and spiritual roots of rice in a Balinese community while living in my study abroad program director’s village in central Bali, Mondok Patel, for a week. Many in the neighborhood work as rice farmers. They participate in a specific type of rice farming unique to Bali called subak — a way of organizing socioreligious communal life around rice cultivation.

Subak farmers must consider the cultural, socioeconomic and environmental effects of their practice. There are five temples dedicated to subak and 12 religious ceremonies for a process that starts with preparing the land for cultivation to harvest season.

On a scorching Thursday morning with few clouds to protect us, we had the opportunity to help one of the farmers turn over one of his rice paddies. We asked our host families to borrow hoes and hats for our trek down a hill behind the village to his fields.

I have never been a Chaco-wearing, hiking kind of person. I enjoy the outdoors in limited contexts — near a body of water that is preferably a beach or in the shade covered in bug spray. Yet, in the village, I realized that I can love the comfortable sides of nature as well as its raw, messy sides. I had been bathing in a river for a

week, so if there were ever a time for me to embrace nature, this moment was it.

I jumped into the paddy and sunk up to my shorts.

Yet, nasi is far more than a simple source of nutrients; rice in Indonesia has a spiritual element that cannot be separated from its agricultural one.

The slick mud covered me up to my thighs, creating an unnerving yet strangely pleasant sensation. We dug our hoes under the roots of the rice and covered them once again in mud. After we finished, we bathed in the river and sipped on young coconuts cut from the trees around us.

It took the more than 30 of us about an hour to farm one plot. We were exhausted and itching from the tiny cuts we’d gotten from stalks. I couldn’t imagine the physical strength and emotional endurance necessary to do that every day for years. But after remembering farming’s tie to spiritual life, it made more

sense as to why people do so.

I must admit I struggled to adjust to consuming rice as a dietary staple. However, it felt offensive to not eat it. Aside from the fact that I was wasting food, I could tell that people view rice with sanctity and reverence.

When I explained to my host mother that I couldn’t eat rice often because of stomachaches, she suggested bubur, which is commonly served with an egg or chicken broth when you are sick.

But what is bubur? It’s rice. Rice porridge.

She seemed confused when I declined her offer. Maybe it was partly the language barrier, but my program director explained that rice has a holiness to it.

Nourishment is a spiritual experience, starting from the planting of the grain to its consumption. Hindu rice farmers are taught to prioritize balance — to keep the natural universe in alignment with the spiritual one. They must balance the principles of Tri Hita Karana, which are the gods, the environment and humans.

I mistakenly assumed that these parts of life could be separately categorized and placed into neat boxes: religious, political, agricultural and so on. Yet, my time in Mondok Patel taught me that all elements of life here have a sense of spirituality embedded within them.

Olivia Buckley is a junior in the School of Foreign Service. Between Bali and Me appears in print every other Friday.

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CONCERT REVIEW

ANNIE GOTT FOR THE HOYA

Both seductive and candid, Demi Lovato made use of devices like display panels, beds and rotating sections of the stage to bring her performance to life. She opened up to the crowd with heart-wrenching piano ballads and stories about her family and childhood, making the concert moving and deeply personal.

Demi Lovato Capital One Arena Annie GOtt

Special to the Hoya

Since her Disney Channel days, Demi Lovato has delivered pop tracks that pack both vocal and emotional punches, and her concert at Capital One Arena on March 24 delivered each musical hit with new intensity. Lovato’s exceptional vocal stamina mixed with her candor and vulnerability enabled everyone in the arena, from the nosebleeds to VIP seating areas, to feel connected to Lovato and her performances.

To supplement her performance, Lovato brought two opening acts on the road for the North American leg of her “Tell Me You Love Me” tour.

First up was Kehlani, an rhythm and blues artist with a solid fan base and moderate mainstream success, most notably from her song “Gangsta” from the “Suicide Squad” movie soundtrack. Dressed in a cropped March for Our Lives hoodie and bike shorts with side snaps, Kehlani expertly worked the stage for her seductive and upbeat numbers, and it was clear from the audience’s cheering and loud singing that she had more than a few fans in the crowd.

Next up was DJ Khaled, a mega-producer who has found tremendous success orchestrating multi-artist collaborations such as “I’m the One” and “Wild Thoughts.”

Khaled played snippets of both of those

hits, but he also made the smart move of only playing parts of songs to keep the crowd from getting bored.

DJ Khaled discussed his weight loss, his son and the importance of love with bits like, “When you love yourself you can love others.” While DJ Khaled barely did any actual DJing and his performance did not extend much beyond being a glorified hype man, his talent for pumping up the audience was impressive.

Rising from the floor in a black trench coat, Lovato kicked off her show with a rousing performance of “You Don’t Do It for Me Anymore” under a few striking spotlights, setting the stage for the many power ballads to come. She then sunk back into the floor as a section of the stage descended, and a pre-taped video featuring two Demi Lovatos — one a therapist and one a client — rolled, an appropriate introduction for her song “Daddy Issues.”

Next came “Cool for the Summer,” a song that faced some backlash when it came out for portraying same-sex attraction as something temporary and to be hidden with its line “Don’t tell your mother.” For this performance, however, “Go tell your mother” was displayed across the four giant screen panels behind her, signaling clearly for the audience members not to be ashamed of their sexuality, as Lovato danced seductively with both male and female dancers.

Lovato continued in the same vein with

“Dirty, Sexy, Love” before performing one of her older hits, “Heart Attack,” a song that demands massive vocals even by Lovato’s standards. She delivered, making it a highlight of the night. Another song memorable for a different reason was “Give Your Heart a Break,” during which a giant kiss cam showcased couples.

Following energetic performances of “Confident” and “Games,” Lovato moved to her rotating B-stage that featured a bed, which ushered in the stripped-down portion of the show. Sitting on the edge of the bed in a silk robe and strumming an electric guitar amid a sea of black, Lovato made the arena feel much more intimate.

The simplicity of “Concentrate” and “Cry Baby” allowed Lovato’s voice to be the center of attention without competition from background music.

After a seductive performance on the bed for “F---in’ Lonely,” her dancers brought the mood back up while she returned to the main stage. Lovato re-emerged in a bright blue outfit to sing “Promises” and “Échame la Culpa.” While most of the night Lovato left the dancing to her dancers, she showed off her own moves during “Culpa” and brought some levity to the show.

Following a video montage of her growing up, Lovato spoke candidly to the crowd. She noted that, beyond music, she “want[s] to be remembered for making

an impact” and explained her initiative CAST on Tour. CAST on Tour is a partnership with CAST Centers, a mental health and addiction treatment facility that Lovato co-owns, in which CAST Centers holds free, pre-show counseling sessions to provide a safe and uplifting space for concertgoers.

Regarding her performance at the March for Our Lives earlier that the day, Lovato remarked that it’s “so powerful that this generation stands up for what we believe in.” She noted that she recently celebrated six years of sobriety before performing the ballad “Warrior” at the piano.

Lovato explained that she “wanted to make this show really personal” before performing “Father,” a song she said she had never put on a set list until this tour because it was hard for her to sing live given her difficult relationship with her dad. The song, which starts as a delicate piano-backed song and explodes into a gutwrenching power ballad, was the apex of her emotion-filled show.

For the finale of the show, Lovato brought Washington, D.C. group 18th Street Singers out to back her up for “Sorry Not Sorry” and “Tell Me You Love Me.” The songs made for a spirited, churchlike finish to a concert that proved once again that Lovato is a singer whose personality is just as real and powerful as her voice.

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the guide

THE HOYA

television review

Champions

Created by: Charlie Grandy, Mindy Kaling Starring: Anders Holm, J.J. Totah, Mouzam Makkar kyra dimarco Hoya Staff Writer

Mindy Kaling’s new NBC show “Champions” packs heart, humor and pop culture references, but the sitcom falls into a pattern reminiscent of “The Mindy Project.”

The show follows failed college baseball player Vince, played by Anders Holm, as he runs his deceased father’s gym in Brooklyn.

In the pilot, Vince’s high school girlfriend from Ohio, a schlubby Kaling, arrives with their gay, theater-loving, 15-year-old son Michael, played by J.J. Totah, who needs a place to live while he attends a New York performing arts high school.

Jokes and hijinks ensue, often juxtaposing the messy, musical Michael and neat, sporty Vince, who has at least one good and bad paternal moment in each of the first three episodes. Vince’s parenting is supported by his brother, Matthew, played by Andy Favreau.

Matthew is a little too nice and a bit too dumb, even by sitcom standards. Yet, the interplay between Favreau and Totah is heartwarming.

Holm is well-cast as Vince, who comes off as charming; in other hands, the character could easily be annoying. “Champions” ap-

pears to be the first time Holm has played a father on camera, and his — and Vince’s — ability to quickly adapt to this role was surprising. Moreover, Holm is a great foil to Totah’s dramatic flair.

Totah’s relative inexperience is evident, but he is a firecracker as Michael.

Totah is able to deliver not only great quips — “Are you a freshman at Berkley?

Because you protest too much,” he asks at one point — but tender moments as well.

Yet, the show could improve by making Michael his own distinct pop-culture obsessed character. Right now, he seems to merely deliver lines left over from Kaling’s character, Mindy Lahiri, on “The Mindy Project.”

Given Kaling’s background in workplace-turned-family comedy, it is no surprise the close knit “Champions” characters self-identify as a family within the first episode. Disappointingly, however, most of the characters are merely tropes, many of which were already used by Kaling on “The Mindy Project.” This staff just comes off as annoying instead of loveable.

The only exception to these cliches is For-

tune Feimster’s Ruby, an overconfident gym trainer. In the first two episodes, Ruby seems nearly identical to Colette, the role Feimster played on “The Mindy Project.” Yet, in the third episode, she disguises her confident, lesbian self as a middle-aged housewife to spy on a rival gym. Her disgruntled expression as she overpowers a lateral pulldown machine with no weight on it is hysterical.

The moment lasted for under 10 seconds, but it is one of the most memorable of the first three episodes; this story arc proves the supporting cast of “Champions” can forge their own character paths.

The first three episodes also demonstrate notable character growth. However, now that Vince’s gym is stable and Michael has settled in, it will be interesting where Kaling and her team of writers go from here. Each character needs the time to escape the risk of being a trope. Feimster’s development by the third episode is proof that other characters may grow in complexity as well.

“Champions” has the potential to grow into the new staple sitcom NBC wants to fill out its current comedy lineup. But, to succeed, the writers must leave their “Mindy Project” comfort zone.

Directed by: Alison Chernick Starring: Itzhak Perlman Hoya Staff Writer

“Judge me by what I do, but don’t judge me by what I can’t do,” says Itzhak Perlman, world-class violinist and star of documentary “Itzhak.”

Listening to Perlman play the violin, viewers might think he could do anything. He studied at the Juilliard School, the world’s premier performing arts conservatory, and later returned there in 2003 to teach. Former President Barack Obama awarded Perlman the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015.

The documentary chronicles the life of Perlman poignantly. Watching his performances with legendary musicians like Yo-Yo Ma in front of powerhouse political and cultural figures like Obama and Queen Elizabeth II, something beyond Perlman’s breathtaking musical

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3 Arts Entertainment

film review

Itzhak Charlotte Lindsay

friDAY, april 6, 2018

ability stands out: He sits when he performs.

After contracting polio at age four, Perlman’s leg muscles were permanently damaged. Sixty-eight years later, he still requires crutches or a mobility scooter to get around. Such a disability complicates most activities, but Perlman faced another hurdle: Upon moving to the United States from his native Israel, he could not speak English.

At first, Perlman could not even communicate with his violin teacher. Yet, he continued to persevere. Admission to Juilliard is awarded to only the most skilled musicians in the world, and even those closest to Perlman — and most aware of his musical abilities — feared that as a disabled immigrant he would be unable to attend.

Yet, Perlman’s spirit is as rare as his musical capacity. Charming and intel-

 ligent, Perlman is cheery throughout the documentary. One scene in particular demonstrates Perlman’s unflappable spirit: Attempting to maneuver over two-foot high banks of snow filling the already crowded streets of New York City, Perlman was patient as his team cleared the snow for his mobility scooter to pass.

While his wife, Toby Perlman, feared his scooter would be no match for the heavy snow, Perlman remained calm and levelheaded.

Undoubtedly central to Perlman’s musical and personal success is his wife and his relationship with her. The two grew up together, having known each other since they were young teenagers. Also, a classically-trained violinist, Toby Perlman is Itzhak’s biggest fan and toughest critic.

“I know I’m very critical of his playing.

Everybody who knows us knows that. But

to me when I hear that sound––when I hear that playing, it’s like — it’s breathing. It’s being alive,” she said in the film.

Both identify closely with their Jewish heritage; their pride in their identity is inspiring. Perlman combines his love of heritage with his love of the violin, playing a 1714 Stradivarius previously played by fellow Jewish virtuoso Yehudi Menuhin.

“Music gives us permission to dream, and out of our dreams sometimes something important happens. It gives us permission to feel — to be human. It’s what separates us,” said Toby Perlman in the film.

Perlman is, undoubtedly, a dreamer; he makes each of his dreams a reality.

“Itzhak” is a moving documentary that explores the life of an incredible man.

One does not need to be a music fan to enjoy an inspirational film.

friday, april 6, 2018

the guide

THE HOYA

B9

exhibition

Tony Lewis Reimagines ‘Calvin and Hobbes’ as Poetry Tarina Touret Hoya Staff Writer

Tony Lewis’ “Anthology 2014-2016,” an installation composed of 34 poems mounted on the walls of the second floor of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, explores the fragility of time and a longing to discern life’s meaning.

In addition to the artistic display, a booklet located in the middle of the room contains the typed poems and an introduction

by Lewis explaining the gradual need he felt to type the poems as he completed the art pieces.

Among the themes in the poems are love, fear, action, desire and determination. Lewis is a young Chicago-based artist and the recipient of the 2017–2018 Ruth Ann and Nathan Perlmutter Artist-in-Residence Award at the Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University.

His monochromatic poems are made up of rearranged texts from his favorite comic strips: Calvin and Hobbes cartoons.

Lewis uses correction tape and graphite to block out certain words and phrases from the cartoons, which are then trans-

formed into collage poems. Requiring purposeful construction and decision-making, this form of poetry — like blackout poetry and erasure — gives new meanings and suggestions to the underlying text, transcending the limitations and restrictions of traditional poetry and grammar.

At first glance, the exhibit seems somewhat distant and confusing. The words appear jumbled and arbitrarily chosen. However, as the reader proceeds from one poem to the next, it becomes clear the artist has purposefully selected these disjointed words.

Lewis, through the narrative and order of the poems, seems to shows the artistic procedure he undergoes while creating the poems. Just as he breaks apart and reorders certain phrases and sentences to create new ones, readers, too, piece the poems together themselves.

Lewis’ work offers a refreshing way to look at comic strips, which can be viewed as trivial or childish. The display looks back on childhood with nostalgia and longing.

The poems are sprinkled with emotionally charged words that add an ironic tang to the display, changing the originally humorous tone of the cartoons. Confronted

with the choppy poems, viewers wonder what is hidden under the piled strips of correction tape.

The structure of the poems mirrors the thought processes the viewer may experience when engaging with certain pieces of art. The seemingly random speech bubbles mimic the thoughts that may randomly pop into the reader’s mind when reading the displayed poems.

Additionally, the exhibit emphasizes discovery and learning, which are most present in a child’s imagination. The poems reveal what it is like to observe the world in a carefree and fluid manner. The use of correction tape implies the presence of error and mistake — things only perceived as one ages. Thus, the poems suggest that as we age, we feel the need to black out certain memories. At the same time, however, the clear delineation of each piece of correction tape demonstrates the near impossibility of this act.

Speaking about “Anthology: 2014-2016” in an interview with the Hirshhorn, Lewis said he sought to give new meaning to the beloved “Calvin and Hobbes” comics of the ’90s.

“This is the clearest form of writing

I’ve done to date, transferring authorship from Bill Watterson’s dialogue to a distinct writing process,” Lewis said. “‘Calvin and Hobbes’ was a literary and artistic savior growing up in the ’90s. By physically destroying it, appropriating it, editing it and rebuilding its narrative, I find new language and ideas that culminate with an intimate collection of poems.”

While at first it can be difficult to discern exactly what Lewis wants the museum-goers to grasp when observing his art, the ambiguity reflects the purpose of both Lewis’s exhibit and art as a whole — to intrigue, captivate and confuse. Through delicate construction, Lewis gives new meaning to old comics and encourages the viewer to find their own meanings as well.

“Anthology: 2014-2016” is on display from March 6 through May 28 at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. Admission to the museum is free and it is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. The museum is located at Independence Avenue SW and 7th Street SW.

AMANDA VAN ORDEN/THE HOYA

Tony Lewis uses correction tape and graphite to block out certain words and phrases from “Calvin and Hobbes” cartoons, which he then transforms into collage poems. By reinterpreting these poems from his childhood, Lewis forges new meaning and encourages viewers to do the same.

B10

the guide

THE HOYA

FRIDAY, APRIL 6, 2018

What to Do in DC

MUSIC

NEW RELEASES

NOAH LEVESQUE Hoya Staff Writer

1

MADDIE FINN Hoya Staff Writer

PETALPALOOZA

Formerly called the Southwest Waterfront Fireworks Festival, this inaugural celebration of Washington, D.C.’s blooming cherry blossoms features live music performances, plein air painting, and a beer garden. The festival kicks off at 1 p.m., and a fireworks show is scheduled to begin at 8:30 p.m. Admission is free.

2

HINDS

SABA

HINDS, ‘FINALLY FLOATING’

SABA, ‘LIFE’

Hinds, an all-girl band from Madrid, released the single “Finally Floating” to promote their new album, “I Don’t Run,” scheduled for release April 6. To put it simply, this track is fun. The sound combines pop with old school garage band vibes in a simple but innovative way. The lighthearted lyrics and upbeat guitar serve as a reminder of warmer weather to come.

Saba, a rapper from Chicago, and a member of Chance the Rapper’s hip-hop collective, Savemoney, released his second studio album “Care for Me” yesterday. His new song “LIFE” is a sign that he is ready to take the rap scene by storm. The beat is an instantaneous hit, and his words are rich with rhythm and poignancy — it’s melodic and bouncy, a recipe for a great song.

UNKNOWN MORTAL ORCHESTRA

UNKNOWN MORTAL ORCHESTRA, ‘EVERYONE ACTS CRAZY NOWADAYS’ New Zealand-based Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s new track “Everyone Acts Crazy Nowadays” is tinged with psychedelic rock influences and features an infectious beat. Their instrumental vibe harkens back to the ’60s and ’70s, which is reflected in their nostalgic lyrics. However, their music is in no way sad — the groove makes it impossible to sit still. They will be coming to the 9:30 Club on April 27, so get your dancing shoes ready.

HAYLEY KIYOKO

HAYLEY KIYOKO FT. KEHLANI ‘WHAT I NEED’ Some may recognize Hayley Kiyoko from Disney’s 2011 movie “Lemonade Mouth,” but she has transformed into a star in her own right with the release of her album “Expectations.”

Kiyoko provides much-needed representation for openly gay, female artists in the mainstream. In “What I Need,” Kiyoko sings, “I only want a girl who ain’t afraid to love me / not a metaphor of what we really could be.” Her lyrics in this powerful track have the potential to normalize all love and focus on her music, not her sexual preferences.

WES ANDERSON RETROSPECTIVE

Following the release of Wes Anderson’s new film, “Isle of Dogs,” the National Museum of American History kicked off a festival dedicated to Anderson’s oeuvre Wednesday. The event features screenings of his films and performances of songs from his soundtracks on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings. Admission for each individual movie is $12, and an all-access pass costs $58.

3

BLACK CAT

PICTURES OF THE YEAR AT THE NEWSEUM

On display at the Newseum until Jan. 20, 2019, “Pictures of the Year: 75 Years of the World’s Best Photography” is a collection of photos that have been selected from the archives of the Pictures of the Year International competition. These photos offer a reflection on photojournalism since World War II. Admission to the museum is $24.95.

5

20TH CENTURY FOX

DAMAGED CITY FESTIVAL

The District has historically been a bastion of hardcore punk music, and the Damaged City festival, taking place at the Black Cat from April 5 to 8, upholds this reputation. Featuring bands like Limp Wrist and Rixe, Damaged City brings artists from all across the United States and Europe to D.C. Tickets are $25 for Friday night and $35 for Saturday night.

4

PETALPALOOZA

NEWSEUM

THE IMPROVISED SHAKESPEARE COMPANY

This weekend, the Improvised Shakespeare Company, a Chicago-based theater ensemble, is performing at the Kennedy Center. The show mixes improvisational comedy, audience participation and Shakespearean style to ad-lib a performance never rehearsed. Showtimes are 7 p.m. on Thursday, 7 and 9:30 p.m. this Friday and Saturday and 7:00 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets start at $29.

IMPROVISED SHAKESPEARE COMPANY

the guide

friday, APril 6, 2018

Directed by: Greg Berlanti Starring: Nick Robinson, Keiynan Lonsdale, Katherine Langford Hoya Staff Writer

Amid the tired and unsatisfying crowd of coming-of-age movies and high school romantic comedies plaguing the 2010s, “Love, Simon” is a refreshing breath of authentic, modern and unapologetic gay teenage identity.

Set in a picturesque Atlanta suburb, “Love, Simon” tells the story of 17-year-old Simon Spier, played by Nick Robinson, who, within the opening minutes of the film, promises the audience members he is just like them: He has a close-knit family and supportive friends; he loves iced coffee and “Hamilton”; and he listens to Bleachers and The 1975 on his way to school.

But beyond this well-curated image is a deeper anxiety: Simon knows he is gay but is scared coming out will fundamentally change his life.

Action begins when another closeted teen in Simon’s class posts about being gay on their high school confessions page and Simon begins to communicate with him via email. The pen pals develop an honest and open relation-

ship centered on their personal struggles embracing their gay identities and coming out.

In melding elements of mystery, romance and the coming-out story, director Greg Berlanti — who himself is a member of the LGBTQ community — masterfully shows the complexities and angst that accompany youth, when appearance seems to be everything and selfexpression is a carefully regulated process.

Berlanti’s adaptation of Becky Albertalli’s 2015 young adult novel “Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda” resists the temptations of oversaturated tropes and stereotypical characters, while playing up coming-of-age cliches to weave a feel-good love story through good writing and excellent acting. Robinson’s performance, combined with Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger’s screenwriting, makes “Love, Simon” an accessible and wonderfully relatable experience.

The film has its shortcomings: Simon’s character, a masculine, straight-passing gay man, could benefit from a deeper portrayal of his personality beyond the boy-next-door trope, and his coming out process surely ben-

Ready Player One

efits from his white, upper-middle class background. Moreover, Robinson, the film’s lead, is not queer himself, raising concerns about representation in Hollywood films.

Still, “Love, Simon” marks an inspiring first for gay representation in Hollywood films aimed at a mainstream audience. The movie’s cast is also ethnically diverse, featuring strong performances from black actors and actresses like Alexandra Shipp, Jorge Lendeborg Jr. and Keiynan Lonsdale, who complement Robinson’s performance through every twitch, smirk and tear.

Lacking the sensual and erotic nature of some queer awakenings, “Love, Simon” embraces its wholesome family appeal with touching conversations between Simon and his friend Abby, played by Shipp, Simon and his parents — played by the heartwarming duo of Jennifer Garner and Josh Duhamel — and Simon and his childhood friend Leah, played by Katherine Langford.

“Love, Simon” confidently establishes itself in a modern setting: Audiences are reminded of the social and political issues around them

Special to the Hoya

Best known for genre-defining Hollywood classics like “E.T. the Extraterrestrial” and “Jurassic Park,” Steven Spielberg brings Ernest Cline’s 2011 bestselling novel to life with his latest venture, “Ready Player One.” Despite clear deviations from the source material, the movie enhances the book’s plot by addressing the flaws in characterization that are prevalent throughout the novel, while delivering a thrilling science fiction blockbuster grounded in 1980s nostalgia and abundant pop culture references.

Set in 2045, “Ready Player One” follows the story of a young orphan named Wade Watts, played by Tye Sheridan. Like the rest of humanity at the time, he escapes his brutally dystopian and desolate reality through a virtual reality world known as the OASIS. The brainchild of the eccentric and introverted creator James Halliday, played by Mark Rylance, the OASIS grants users the

 through references to the 2017 Women’s March and the presidencies of Barack Obama and Donald Trump, as well as cultural moments like LinManuel Miranda’s “Hamilton” musical.

These references set the movie in a strikingly progressive world, but also an environment in which homophobia remains alive and insidious, as evidenced by the bullying Simon and Ethan, an out, femme, black classmate, experience.

Despite this external stress, “Love, Simon” offers audiences the fairytale romance queer teens need right now: With a significant increase in LGBTQ people reporting discrimination, seeing this portrayal of gay love and LGBTQ representation in a major Hollywood studio’s project is refreshing and encouraging.

In short, the film moves the realm of LGBTQ movies forward from the outdated model of teaching tolerance by provoking audiences to ask: “Why is straight the default?” In doing so, “Love, Simon” unapologetically declares what many gay Americans have always thought: “Yes, I am gay, and I deserve my own great love story, too.”

movie review

Directed by: Steven Spielberg Starring: Olivia Cooke, Tye Sheridan, Ben Mendelsohn Cynthia sun

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MOVIE review

Love, Simon CHRISTIAN PAZ

THE HOYA

freedom to be whoever they want.

Halliday’s death sparks a global contest to find a golden Easter egg hidden somewhere within the universe that will grant its finder the entirety of his fortunes and full control over the OASIS. Using his avatar Parzival, Wade sets out to find the three keys that all lead to this Easter egg.

The movie finds its main antagonist in corporate figure Nolan Sorrento, played

by Ben Mendelsohn, who presides over an army of drone players that hunt the Easter egg for future profits.

One of the film’s greatest strengths lies in the seamless shifts between the dazzling dream world of the OASIS and the bleakness of reality, a testament to Spielberg’s masterful world-building. The contrasts between the two worlds is especially highlighted by dynamic differences in colors.

Whereas the OASIS is constantly portrayed in vibrant hues, reality is tinged with gray.

The film is riddled with iconic references to the ’80s. From music by the Bee Gees to

allusions to films like “Back to the Future,” “The Shining” and “The Iron Giant,” the inclusion of cultural icons adds plausibility to the idea that the OASIS is a world built on Halliday’s fascination with that decade.

Moreover, it is hard to describe “Ready Player One” as anything other than a visual masterpiece. The majority of the movie is done entirely in computer-generated imagery, and the visual effects of the action sequences are well-executed. With immersive scenes like a car chase in the beginning of the film and the extended sequences from “The Shining,” viewers will easily become immersed in the virtual reality of the OASIS. Both dazzling and at times overwhelming, Janusz Kaminski’s cinematography is an ambitious feat that pays off.

Despite being visually stunning and a nostalgic ode to the ’80s, “Ready Player One” lacks something characteristic of all Spielberg films: a heart. The movie’s underlying message that the real world matters as much as the virtual reality is lost in

 the wild ride to finding the Easter egg and fails to have any real impact on the story or the audience.

Outside of the OASIS, both the main antagonist and the real-life relationships between the characters are underdeveloped.

The romance between Wade and Samantha, fellow egghunter Art3mis’ real-world identity played by Olivia Cooke, felt trite and unnecessary and diverts the viewer’s attention from the noteworthy themes of escapism and rebellion. As a result, this romance cheapens the film’s plot and detracts from the overall movie instead of enhancing it.

In times when culturally impactful films leave viewers with an important underlying message, “Ready Player One” does not have a lasting impact, nor does it feel like a story that needed to be told.

While Spielberg’s “Ready Player One” is an outrageously fun tribute to everything pop culture, in the end it proves to be more glitter than substance.

Illustration BY: Janis park AND emily shambaugh/THE HOYA