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Queen
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Graphics by Nora Levy For this issue, The Wooster Blade staf focused on the theme of female legacies. Inspired by Queen Elizabeth, we felt as though now would be an appropriate time to highlight female athletes, politicians and business owners.
Legacy of Women in Sports Female athlete’s legacies inspire
NORA LEVY
sports editor Three female athletes who have made immeasurable contributions to their sport and to the growth of women’s sports have announced their retirements this year. Sue Bird, Serena Williams and Allyson Felix are all stepping away from their respective sports after long and illustrious careers. Star WNBA point guard, Sue Bird was drafted in 2002 by the Seattle Storm and spent her whole career in Seattle. While in Seattle, Bird won four WNBA championships and was selected as an All-Star 13 times during her 18 years playing. Bird also retires as the WNBA’s all time assists leader according to a Sept. 8, 2022, article by The Seattle Times. On the international stage, Bird has five Olympic gold medals and four FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup Championships according to the same Sept. 8, 2022 article by The Seattle Times. Bird’s impact goes well beyond her on court performance. Brooke Ritchie (9), an athlete and basketball player at WHS explained that Bird had an impact by showing her what was possible. Ritchie explained, “Seeing a woman succeed in a male dominated sport definitely inspired [me] to work harder.” Bird’s impact is felt far and wide within the basketball community and sports world. Tennis queen Serena Williams is, in her own words, going to, “evolve away from tennis.” Williams won her first major title 23 years ago in the U.S. Open; she would end her career there, according to D’Arcy Maine in an ESPN article published Sept. 2. The same article cites Serena having 858 tour victories, 73 singles titles, 14 doubles titles and a record 23 major titles — the most by any tennis player in the Open era, woman or man. Serena’s dominance on the tennis court has impacted young tennis players throughout the world. Wooster tennis athlete, Minnie Pozefsky (12), said she has been inspired by Serena’s advocacy off the tennis court. Pozefsky explained that “Serena has done so much to improve gender equality not only in tennis, but in professional sports as a whole.” Serena has had an incredible impact on the opportunities that are available to female athletes. Track star Allyson Felix, retires as a five time Olympian with 11 Olympic medals, including seven gold medals and 19 medals at the World Championships according to Allyson Felix’s Team USA bio. Felix primarily ran 400- meters toward the end of her career, however, she was also a very accomplished 200- meter runner. She was an integral member of many relay teams representing the United States of America as evidenced by her resume on Team USA’s website. Felix has impacted Norwayne Track athlete Jaylee Wingate (12) during her time as a runner. Wingate said she, “loved seeing Allyson compete at the World Championships with her young daughter watching.” Wingate explained that by Felix running in front of her daughter, “it shows that she could be doing anything other than running, but she chooses to continue what she loves.” Felix’s love for her sport continues to inspire the next generation. These three women have impacted not only their sports, but the culture of women’s sports as a whole. Their impact can even be felt within local schools, especially by the female athletes who look up to them.
Legacy of Women in Politics Queen Elizabeth II
RHYS FLORENCE-SMITH
staf writer On Sept. 8, Queen Elizabeth the Second died. The Queen’s death sent shockwaves throughout the globe, starting a rise in antimonarchist sentiment. This sentiment was further highlighted by the coronation of King Charles the Third, on Sept. 20, who is far less popular than the late queen. The question left resounding throughout the globe is now of what comes next. Queen Elizabeth was one of the more popular monarchs in the world during her reign, with ratings of 75% of approval from a poll on YouGov.com, a British international market and research analysis frm. Much of the queen’s popularity is attributed to her efort to improve relations with members of the Commonwealth, having taken over 200 trips to Commonwealth nations throughout her reign. In contrast, King Charles the Third only has a rating of 42% from the same poll. Furthermore, Queen Elizabeth devoted much of her reign toward increasing the British relationship to its Commonwealth. The British Commonwealth is a voluntary coalition of 56 nations, a signifcant number of which were under British rule prior to the collapse of the British empire. Most of the countries within the Commonwealth had a love for the late Queen. In 2021, Barbados chose to leave the British Commonwealth and become a republic. Since the collapse of the British Empire, there has been a growing trend of nations declaring themselves independent from the British empire, including Ireland, which also left the Commonwealth in 1949, and Australia whose prime minister, Anthony Albanese, recently announced the possibility for a separation from British rule with the rise of King Charles. Indeed, some British citizens are even pushing for the dissolution of the British monarchy entirely, with a poll from Statista stating that 22% of British citizens want an elected position in replacement of the monarch. With so much change within the monarchy at this time England is in a state of much turmoil, from nations wanting independence to abolitionist movements. Only time can tell what will happen to the British monarchy and its commonwealth.
WHS alum starts Standard Measure
OLIVIA HINER
co-editor-in-chief Carly Styer woke up one day this summer and decided that she would like to become a baker. With almost no baking experience prior to this year, Standard Measure was created and her products have been sold at Local Roots since July 12. Styer is a WHS graduate who obtained a degree in marketing from OSU. After working in marketing for 12 years, she moved back to Wooster to help her parents and realized that she did not want to be in marketing anymore. She said that she, “got into woodworking and all these things and was like ‘you know what’s kind of fun? Baking.’” After experimenting with recipes and a lot of trial and error, Styer began to work on her recipes. She uses all natural ingredients and color, making her products as organic as possible. The mint macarons, for example, are made with mint fresh from her garden. Currently at Local Roots, she sells macarons, Japanese cheesecakes, and has just introduced a chocolate caramel mousse dome. When asked how her business began, Styer said it started as, “something to do… I needed something I could be around, that wasn’t necessarily freelance marketing.” Although she spends almost all day, everyday, baking, Styer said “It doesn’t feel like work as much… It’s different from having to be somewhere from 10-6 or 9-5… It doesn’t seem as daunting.” She’s enjoying learning about different desserts that are becoming her own niche. For now, Styer works on her own. When looking at next steps for her business, Styer stated “By next summer, I should be prepared for the market circuit and am looking into a food truck/trailer.” She also said that she would like to work on, “growing product offerings.” She is currently working on more festive recipes and building her website, standardmeasurebakery.com. With her business, Styer said she has the hope of, “exposing people to desserts they might not have known about, and keeping it fun.” She sees herself continuing to do this for the foreseeable future, and has really been enjoying the process.
Court appointee makes herstory Female impacts Emmys
LAYNEE ESLICH
staff writer
Ketanji Brown Jackson took a huge step for women in politics. Jackson was elected as the frst African American woman as a Supreme Court justice. After going to Harvard, earning and earning a bachelor’s in government, she worked for one year at Time magazine as a journalist and researcher. That was not enough for her, so she entered Harvard law school, one of the 33 black women in the program. After her graduation and multiple internships, Jackson worked for the United States Sentencing Commission for two years. She took a break to become a federal public defender in Washington, D.C., for two more years and then rejoined the United States Sentencing Commission. This information was found from the website, Biography. In 2012, Obama nominated Jackson to the federal district court of Washington; then in 2013, renominated Jackson. She was afrmed in March. After staying in that position until 2021, Joe Biden nominated her into the court of appeals. In 2022, Justice Bryer announced his retirement from the Supreme Court, and Biden nominated Jackson for the role. After a 41 day process, reported by NPR reporters, Leila Fadel and Nina Totenburg, on April 7, she was nominated in February 2022 and got her confrmation, to be the 116th justice of the Supreme Court on April 7. After the passing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Sept. 18 2020, there has been a lack of women representation in the government, showing only three females since Ginsburg’s death. This can be seen by a chart formed by the ofcial Supreme Court website. Growing up, Jackson made a statement in her yearbook that she was determined to receive a judicial appointment. Not only has she conquered this goal, but she has also become a role model for young girls of color.
STELLA POWERS
trends editor Female nominees had major successes at the 2022 Emmy Awards, with many winners making history within their categories. Some notable female wins are those of Zendaya, Quinta Brunson and Sheryl Lee Ralph. Following her Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series win for her role in Euphoria, Zendaya made history as the first Black woman to win twice in that category. “I just wanted to say my greatest wish for Euphoria was that it could help heal people,” shared Zendaya in her acceptance speech. “I just want to say thank you to everyone who has shared their story with me.” Quinta Brunson took home the award for Outstanding Writing For a Comedy Series, becoming the first Black woman to receive this Emmy. She was awarded this for her work on the hit ABC series, Abbott Elementary. Though her speech was cut short by Jimmy Kimmel, Brunson made an appearance on his show the following Wednesday to address the incident and finish her speech. “I honestly was in such a moment of just having a good time,” shared Brunson on Jimmy Kimmel Live! “I won my first Emmy.” History was also made by Sheryl Lee Ralph, being the first Black woman in 35 years to receive the Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series award. Ralph also won for her work on
Abbott Elementary.
“Anyone who has ever, ever had a dream and thought your dream wasn’t, wouldn’t, couldn’t come true, I am here to tell you that this is what believing looks like” said Ralph in her Emmy acceptance speech. “This is what striving looks like.” Many other women including Jennifer Coolidge, Amanda Seyfried, Lizzo and more were also recognized by the TV academy at the 2022 Emmy Awards.
Marvel’s She Hulk disappoints fans and lacks creativity
Not a single episode of SheHulk will make someone fall over laughing or put them on the edge of their seat in excitement. The show’s story has very little meaningful events, and no serious conflicts until the fourth episode. Even when conflict is presented its not interesting or exciting in any meaningful way. The show creator Jessica Gao, who also worked as executive producer on the show, brings little other than reused Marvel material from other productions. The writing is almost identical to any other Marvel production and it’s very boring at this point. It seems as if there is no direction outside of Jennifer Walters becoming Hulk and the show seems padded for runtime with meaningless side plots and boring events. Overall, it appears like SheHulk was abandoned creatively by its producers and writers, dooming what could have been a fun show with a nice cast, and turning it into a boring mess.
TRISTAN MILLER
She-Hulk centers around Jennifer Walters, played by Tatiana Maslany, a DA in New York. While on a road trip with her cousin Bruce Banner, played by Mark Ruffalo (The Hulk) a car accident leaves her with the same superhero abilities as him. After this accident, she loses her job as a DA and must navigate being a lawyer for the superhuman law division of a large legal firm. Overall, the plot comes off as uninspired for many reasons, including recycled writing, and a terrible plot.
staff writer
She-Hulk is a Marvel show that can be viewed on the Disney Plus about an aspiring lawyer whose life is flipped upside down when she gains the ability to become The Hulk. Nearly every aspect of the show, whether it’s plot, writing, or storytelling falls short of viewers’ expectations and makes for a very boring viewing experience.
She-Hulk could have been an enjoyable viewing experience, but it’s muddled by horrible writing and a complete lack of interesting events.
Head to Head: Students debate the merit of actors
CALEB SINGER-HOLDEN
staff writer starring in the movie Don’t Worry Darling. People were looking forward to seeing this movie because of Styles, but after the release day, the reviews are not as high as expected. Getting a 38 rating on Rotten Tomatoes, as well as reviews saying not just Harry, but the movie in general, wasn’t the greatest do the acting being subpar. Stunt casting is often done purely to make extra money, as in the case with Harry Styles, but the producers of the movie obviously knew they would be gaining a new demographic of people to watch the movie. Occasionally there is times where a person is stunt casted but still does a phenomenal job, but the bad work done outweighs it. The controversy of pop stars starring in movies has recently been brought back to life with
CALEB KOSTOHRYZ
staff writer Drake started out as an actor in Degrassi: The Next Generation. As an interesting note, there seems to be more pushback about musicians moving into the movie scene than actors moving into the music scene. Scarlett Johansson, who is known for her role as Black Widow in the Marvel franchise started her career as a singer in 2008 with the release of her album Anywhere I Lay My Head. She has also contributed vocals to both Sing movies as Ash. Having a well known person can greatly increase the movie’s chances of success because they already have a built-in fanbase. According to americanfilmmarket.com, “Having a well-known star dramatically increases the chances of getting some sort of theatrical release.”
Upcoming Playhouse Square Productions:
Les Misérables Oct. 7-30, 2022 KeyBank State Theatre
Upcoming Movie Releases:
All Quiet on the Western Front Oct. 7, 2022
Movies, shows and theater often like to use their lead actors as a main focal point of their advertising. Sometimes a very well known singer, model or internet celebrity may be cast in a role for something which can get people excited for the movie, but when the production comes out, the performance can be lackluster, this is often called stunt casting. In the past, we, as viewers, have seen this done in the musical Mean Girls. The production cast Cameron Dallas, an internet personality, as Aaron Samuels. Fans of the musical criticized the choice after watching Dallas, saying that he was unable to sing well and could not dance well either. This topic is being addressed lately due to Harry Styles
the release of Don’t Worry Darling and the casting of Harry Styles in one of the lead roles, which seems ridiculous because audiences do not seem to mind his acting nor his role in the film.
However, it is not a new thing for people in the music industry to star in movies as Styles, who also had a cameo in Marvel’s The Eternals, is just one of many musicians to be in movies. Lenny Kravitz (who appeared as Cinna The Hunger Games), Whitney Houston (The Bodyguard), Jennifer Hudson (Respect) and Lady Gaga have also starred in movies. Don’t Worry Darling is a great example of how one artist can encourage people to see a film. When you take into consideration that there are multiple artists who have been successful on stage, screen, and on the music charts, it seems ridiculous that talent is even debated. Look at multitalented artist Jennifer Hudson. She has had a successful career both on and off screen. She has two Grammys, she has won an Oscar, earned a Tony and also earned a Daytime Emmy; in fact, she is the youngest EGOT winner, according to billboard. com. Pop stars can bring a lot of publicity and viewers to movies. Some people believe that the only reason pop stars are in movies is for publicity, and not their acting ability. They should be welcomed into movies.
