ARTS & POP CULTURE

FRIDAY, APRIL 15, 2022 tuftsdaily.com

Arts editors and tour guides talk about their nontraditional connection to the arts on campus

by Jack Clohisy and RaiAnn Bu

Arts Editor and Assistant Arts Editor

Art comes in many forms, and it permeates all facets of life. No matter how removed from artistic practice some people may be, it’s undeniable the impact that art has on everyone. Two editors of the Daily dive into their own experiences with the arts and how they came to join a greater community of Tufts students who appreciate and celebrate art in all its forms.

RaiAnn:

Jack and I had crossed paths for about two years before we formally met at our summer tour guiding job. I now know Jack wants to have a family large enough to fill a basketball court. When we met, however, he was the one who inspired me to begin writing for The Tufts Daily in the first place. We were both athletes, both STEM majors and on paper what I thought were the farthest things from the ‘artsy’ kids.

During high school, I had little interaction with the arts. There has always been a dichotomy in my mind that puts arts and academics on two opposite sides of the spectrum. If I chose to be more involved in arts, it would be less ‘prestigious’ than a dedication to science or math. As a result, I did minimal work for music class in high school and made my interest in movies, drawing and fashion a hobby instead. When I came to college, I was excited to suddenly have such a wide range of academic freedom. My first semester, I took an art class as part of the arts requirement.

Like with my interest in art, I had never had any interest in writing for a school newspaper. Before college, I had always been more STEM oriented in my extracurricular activities, trying to fulfill an image of what I thought were ‘smart’ activities (I actually don’t even like science now). Additionally, two of my friends were editors of the high school newspaper, and hearing about the stress of meeting monthly deadlines was enough stress for me. So if you had told me in high school that I would enjoy writing for the newspaper so much that I wrote an article every week, I would tell you that you visited the wrong dimension. But it has been so freeing to finally explore an interest I suppressed for so long.

What’s so beautiful about Tufts and college in general is the space to grow, discover your own interests and have your ideas challenged and changed. Since I’ve been at Tufts, my worldview has changed to consider shades of gray where I previously saw black and white. For example, math, which had previously been my worst enemy, turned out to be the class I looked forward to the most (embarrassing, I know).

I think college is a time where you learn to be your own human, separate from your parents, friends and any expectations. Tufts gives you that space and resources to explore your previously held beliefs about yourself and others. It gives you a place where you can dumpster-firestyle fail but still be safe.

COURTESY RAIANN BU

Jack Clohisy and RaiAnn Bu are arts editors at the Daily.

Jack:

When I first met Rai, we immediately connected over the shared interests we had. She, a lover of Minecraft, and I, a lover of Minecraft YouTube videos, were destined to unite. It was when Rai shared her playlist with me that I realized we were going to be friends. Chock-full of Phoebe Bridgers, Lorde, Mitski and the likes, we had an instant overlap in music taste. Rai also became one of my closest friends within the first few months of our friendship when I could rely upon her for support in my personal life, and I am so grateful for her.

When I was younger, because I considered myself ‘good at math,’ I didn’t think I could inherently be an artistic person. It wouldn’t be until my high school years that I discovered that art comes in more forms than visual arts. I fell in love with the artistic craft of authors in American literature such as “The Scarlet Letter” (1850) and “The Catcher in the Rye” (1951), but what really struck me was music. It shouldn’t come as a surprise, then, that for a presentation on evolving freedoms in American culture, I juxtaposed the works of Emily Dickinson’s poetry with Rihanna’s “Sex with Me” (2016).

see EDITORS, page 9

A nonexhaustive guide to Tufts theater

by Henry Chandonnet

Assistant Arts Editor

Tufts has a vibrant theater community, with many options and on-ramps for prospective members. They range from department-run to student-led and vary in commitment level. This includes all facets of theater engagement, whether it be acting, directing, tech, costume designing or anything in between. For incoming students, the most important note is just how open and accepting the theater community is. However involved you want to be, in whatever form you would like, you’re welcomed. So, here’s an incomplete list of all the theater opportunities at Tufts. This list will surely miss a few, mostly because the theater opportunities here at Tufts are constantly changing and growing. Still, it’s helpful to have an idea of what the broader theater community looks like. So here it is: a nonexhaustive guide to Tufts theater.

To start, there are the classic department-run shows. These are the closest to “professional” and thus may expect higher commitment levels. The Department of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies at Tufts will generally put on two mainstage shows a year, though it may support other productions on an ad hoc basis. The TDPS department put on two shows this year: “Almanac” (2021) in the fall, a student-written musical based in the past and present history of Black art, and the new-age hit “Spring Awakening” (2006) in the spring. Anyone can take part in these shows, either by auditioning to act or by contacting the production team for more behindthe-scenes roles. The TDPS department is also supporting one student-led production this semester, with four seniors directing and acting in their own production of “Macbeth” (1606) for their capstone. In addition to these shows, there is, of course, a myriad of classes students may take within the department, each having performance and technical opportunities. Overall, the TDPS department provides bountiful theater opportunities that are both professional and accessible.

In terms of student-run theater, the organizations are divided between musicals and dramas. Tufts’ musical theater student organization is called Torn Ticket II and will generally put on three or four shows a year. In the fall, Torn Ticket II produced “Mamma Mia!” (1999), and the spring brings both “Chicago” (1975) and “The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical” (2014) to the stage. These productions are entirely student-run, with the whole production team made up of students. In fact, the shows are proposed and voted on in Torn Ticket II student meetings. This means that if there’s a musical you’ve always wanted to put on, Torn Ticket II might be your chance to do it here. Torn Ticket II also puts on its biannual “Over The Rainbow” cabaret, which is also open to all for submissions. Torn Ticket II allows students to produce and perform in a number of different shows each year, giving them freedom that they may not have had in their high school programs.

For plays, Pen Paint and Pretzels, known as 3Ps, is the student-run drama program. 3Ps puts on traditional shows and original student works every year. In the fall semester, 3Ps put on “Dry Land” (2014) by Ruby Rae Spiegel and “Trainwreck” (2021), written by student Tatyana Emery. The spring brought “The Impromptu at Versailles” (1682) by Molière and “Opus 1” (2022) by student Ryan Pratt. This means that whether you want to act in, direct or even write a play for 3Ps, you can do it. These shows also have many students in technical roles helping behind the scenes, bringing another opportunity for students interested in theater tech. Finally, there are also two audition-based children’s theater groups on campus. Trunk! puts on shows for schools in the area, performing silly skits and scenes for younger children. The group also occasionally performs shows on campus, still bringing that fun children’s theater air. Local Bard’s Players, which is housed under 3Ps, is the other children’s theater group on campus, specifically adapting Shakespeare’s plays for young school audiences. These productions are often silly and goofy but make Shakespeare’s

Editors RaiAnn Bu and Jack Clohisy discuss what arts at Tufts means to them

EDITORS

continued from page 8

I had a knack for staying up late when my favorite artists would release albums and would spend the next week with their projects on repeat. I loved the idea of album concepts and how tracks could form a story, much like literature. When I was 14 years old, I sat down and listened to the entirety of Lana Del Rey’s “Honeymoon” (2015) one Friday in ninth grade to absorb myself in the craft of my favorite artist. It would become common for me to do this, and now I see new album listen-throughs as my favorite pastime.

When I stepped foot on Tufts’ campus, I had no idea where my path would take me. I came in intent on majoring in clinical psychology but quickly pivoted paths toward computer science and cognitive and brain science with a brief stint considering an English major. I began college on the track team, but as the years progressed, I found myself enjoying my time focused on other interests, such as The Tufts Daily. My first article was an opinion piece on racism in the music industry, specifically centered on Beyoncé’s 2016 Grammy snub. From there, I began to write more frequently and wanted to delve into the intricacies of the art world that my other Tufts peers were writing about.

I’m so glad to have been able to embark on this new journey in the art world where I can lay out my appreciation for pieces that move others and me and hopefully inspire those who consider themselves ‘less artistic’ to find a medium that speaks to them.

Tufts offers a vibrant theater community

THEATER

continued from page 8 complex language more digestible for a younger audience. Local Bard’s Players also does occasional on-campus shows and this school year, the group is putting on the parody show “A Very Hamlet Musical.”

Surely this list is missing a couple of shows, as there’s simply too much theater to list. This also ignores the countless a cappella groups, comedy and improv troupes and even a mime performance group. If this list tells you anything, it’s that arts and creativity at Tufts is expansive and liberating. You can do whatever you’d like with whatever involvement you want. Theater can be your main thing, or it could be a two-to-three week stint. In sum, if there’s anything Tufts theater has, it’s nearly everything.

NICOLE GARAY / THE TUFTS DAILY The Aidekman Arts Center, home of Tufts TDPS, is pictured in August 2020.

SPORTS Students share their recruitment experiences, path to Tufts

RECRUITMENT

continued from back Edward Iuteri shared an anecdote about his visit that sold him on Tufts.

“The culture of family really drew me to school,” Iuteri said. “The coaches and players all really made me feel welcome. … I’d done a couple different [overnight visits] at a couple different schools, but this school was the only school where the player I was staying with let me sleep in his bed, and he slept on the floor. That’s one of the reasons why I felt like I was part of the family.”

The process starts to become personal — as personal as sleeping in a player’s bed. No more faceless emails and awkward handshakes with coaches who are strangers. For the football program at Tufts, potential recruits are aware that Tufts, in addition to the school’s many unique attributes, is also unique in the structure of the postseason. Unlike several other Div. III schools, there is no postseason. The team plays nine games throughout the season, regardless of outcome. In addition to the family culture, Iuteri said the postseason format actually drew him to Tufts.

“The reason we are not in playoffs is because they were never in playoffs,” Iuteri said. “Tufts football has been around since 1875, so being part of that history and exhibition, I thought, was cooler than going to a random Div. III school and being in the playoffs. … You’re a part of history; they kind of preach that to you when you come in, so that’s kind of cool.”

Sophomore football player EJ Comerford echoed Iuteri’s positive outlook on the team’s lack of a postseason.

“One thing that [the coaching staff] talk about a lot is, you only have 33 games left in your career and that’s it,” Comerford said. “Or when you’re a senior, they’ll say you have four games. That’s a big talking point they have — you might as well give it your all because you might only have like two left, three left, four left.”

No postseason and centuries-long history — those are the special, school-specific things that athletes at this stage of the recruiting process look for. While it’s easy to strive for the top-ranked school or the best statistically performing team, junior baseball player Jimmy Evans looked for a balance that would work for him. As he entered his senior year of high school with several options spanning all divisions of play, the recruiting process work was nearly done. Now, he just needed to decide.

“A piece of advice I’d give is: Trust the process and know what you’re looking for in a school, both athletically and academically,” Evans said. “At the end of the day, wherever you commit is not just for the sport, but for a degree, the location and the school itself, which includes social life and everything like that. Don’t just commit to commit, if that makes sense. Find what’s the best fit for you and your family.”

While I agree with the sentiments of my fellow student-athletes, I feel one important piece of the recruiting process is missing. In my experience, it was about being in the right place at the right time — luck. It was luck I’d earned through my long, grueling recruiting process, but luck nonetheless. As my dad and I evacuated a muddy softball field due to thunderstorm delays at the summer ball tournament, I looked to my right and saw the Tufts softball coach sitting in her car, also waiting out the rain delay. She motioned for me to come sit in her car with her, gave me her card, told me she’d seen my emails and I was on her radar and invited me to come to campus for a camp. Two weeks later, I went to the camp and performed well at the right place and right time. She offered a ten-minute meeting after the camp, and I committed a week later. If I hadn’t made slight eye contact in a rainy storm in Colorado with the Tufts softball coach, I don’t know if I’d be sitting here in my Stratton Hall dorm at Tufts University, writing this article for The Tufts Daily. Hard work, marketing, good grades and research are all important. But for athletes looking to get recruited, I’d also wish you a little good luck.

TRASHING ONE EGG WASTES 55 GALLONS OF WATER

Sacha Waters

Public Cinemy No. 1 ‘The Batman’ fails in its social justice commentary

Every time I watch another superhero blockbuster, I can’t help but imagine the producers sitting around a table, breathing down the screenwriters’ necks as they decide which social issues to water down, aestheticize and shoehorn in. Will it be something contemporary, like the pandemic? A timeless classic, like misogyny? Or a safe choice, like wealth inequality?

My point isn’t that blockbusters shouldn’t comment on political and social issues, but that their commentary is deliberately hollow. The thing about big-budget megahits is that spending a lot of money means you have to make a lot of money, and you must therefore appeal to as wide an audience as possible. Any commentary on any remotely controversial topic is ultimately compromised to avoid alienating any demographic. Wide audiences aren’t designed to have worldviews expanded; they’re designed to buy tickets, and it’s difficult to sell things to groups you make angry. The result is political commercials — soundbites that sell.

“The Batman” (2022) is the latest usual suspect. The movie portrays Gotham’s police as incompetent and corrupt, invoking a subplot on cops pushing drugs in low-income communities and stating that the department is funded by mobsters. To Batman’s surprise, the Riddler is right: Gotham is built on a dishonest political system that champions the rich at the expense of the poor.

And then the message is walked back. The Riddler — who, until the last hour, has a reasonable motive — decides to hurt civilians. Hero cop characters emerge as foils to a broken system. The AOC-coded Mayor Reál calls for rebuilding trust in untrustworthy institutions. The speech Batman’s writers gave her isn’t progressive or radical — they just assigned a white man’s talking points to a woman of color.

The fundamental problem with blockbuster social justice is perfectly captured within this microcosm. The Riddler’s plan and interspersed police protests satisfy moviegoers supporting police reform and the ACAB movement, while the ‘good apple’ boys in blue are there to mollify those who identify with or support police. The movie depicts social issues, but its stance on them is a shrug.

“The Batman” isn’t an isolated example, but it calls to mind a trend bolstered by many predecessors. For example, “Joker” (2019) features incoherent commentary on white male rage and the mental health-based justification for it. The female empowerment of Wonder Woman within “Justice League” (2017) and “Wonder Woman 1984” (2020) is immediately followed by sexualized cinematography. The potentially pro-Palestine message within “Captain Marvel” (2019) seemed paired with Air Force deification (and military recruitment advertisements that ran before it in theaters).

To be clear, the superhero genre has a long history of being successfully political, from the original comics to Marvel’s acclaimed “Black Panther” (2018). The line toed stands between movies that use political and social issues as a foundation and fundamental message, and movies that adopt a social justice aesthetic to justify the towering corporations behind them. Unfortunately, one is more common than the other.