The Wake - Issue 6 - Spring 2021

student magazine

The Fight to Legitimize Sex Work

p. 9

volume 20 — issue 6

The Downfall of David Dobrik

p. 19

Don’t Call Me Your “Gay Bestfriend”

p. 10

The Future of Superheroes

p. 21

Drowning in Debt & Stress

p. 13

The 2021 Grammy Awards

p. 25

©2020 The Wake Student Magazine.

Disclaimer: The purpose of The Wake is to provide a forum in

All Rights Reserved.

which students can voice their opinions. Opinions expressed in the magazine are not representative of the publication or university as

Established in 2002, The Wake is a fortnightly

a whole. To join the conversation email eic@wakemag.org.

independent magazine and registered

VOLUME 20, ISSUE 6 EDITORIAL Editor-in-Chief Managing Editor Cities Editor Voices Editor Online editor Copy editors Multimedia Editor Multimedia Producer

Tala Alfoqaha Marley Richmond Ian Knoll Sylvia Rani Na’Jai Wilson Autumn Sanders Peter Nomeland Sebastian Alfonzo Cynthia Maya

student organization produced by and for

The Wake Student Magazine

students at the University of Minnesota.

126 Coffman Memorial Union

The Wake was founded by Chrin Ruen and

300 Washington Avenue SE

James DeLong.

Minneapolis, MN 55455

PRODUCTION

THIS ISSUE

Executive Director Creative Director Finance Manager PR/Ad Manager Social Media Manager Art Director Web Manager Distribution Manager

Writers

Esther Chan Chae Hong Hannah Dove Udita Goel Grace Augustin Sydnney Islam Natalie Bluhm Shannon Brault

Stephanie Tapia-Ponce, Lisa Alexander, James Schaak, Matthew Voigt, Carter Starkey, Marley Richmond, Sydni Rose, Jemma Keleher, Isha Rihal, Shannon Brault, Hannah Lundquist, Sylvia Rani, Peter Nomeland, Tosin Faseemo, Macy Harder, Avery Wageman, David Ma Art 1 Isabel Atkison, 2 Giselle M-S, 3 Sydnney Islam, 4 Amy Haslerud, 5 Madison Kuehn, 6 Natalie Yang,

Music and Review Interns: Avery Wageman, Macy Harder Editorial Interns: Mitchell Levesque, Holly Gilvary, Sydni Rose, Jemma Keleher, Srihita Raju, Ellie Roth, Avery Wageman, Macy Harder, Hannah Lundquist, Panache Matemba-Matusa, Erica Bouca Multimedia Interns: Linnea Baerenwald, Parker Smith

Designers: Anna Aquino, Gavin Schuster, Makenna Larson Production Interns: Skylar Neubar, Tymia Phathachack, Amy Haslerud, Art Interns: Isabel Atkinson, Megan Bormann, Madison Kuehn, Natalie Yang

7 Megan Bormann The 2021 Grammy Awards, How Did We Get Here?, Minari, And It Was Shakey! art from original sources.

Cover and Feature art by Isabel Atkinson, designed by Makenna Larson

wink! one page magazine

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APRIL 26 — MAY 24

INSIDE 8

The Role of Virtual & Livestreaming in 2021 In Conversation with Sir David Attenborough

9

The Fight to Legitimize Sex Work

10

Don’t Call Me Your “Gay Bestfriend”

11

Making Music During Quarantine

13

Drowning In Debt & Stress

17

Princess Diana, Immigrant Women, & Generational Trauma

18

How Normal Will “Normal Be

19

The Downfall of David Dobrik

20

Social Media Platforms, Activism, and the Perils of Individualism

21

The Future of Superheroes

22

Stef Q&A

25

The 2021 Grammy Awards

26

How Did We Get Here?

UPCOMING EVENTS 4/28—5/2

5/18—5/31

Virtual Art in Bloom 2021

Collection Playlist: Black Mary & Shades of Shadows

new.artsmia.org/artinbloom

walkerart.org

5/8 @10am—12pm

5/5—5/7

Online Workshop for Families: Dance and Draw

Art Therapy

Join artists Michael Gaughan and Emma Eubanks to learn some new drawing techniques and show off your best dance moves.

The Doodle Room presents a 3-day intensive art therapy workshop. Art and color have the ability to heal.

walkerart.org

The Doodle Room

Virtual return of Mia’s annual floral celebration of creativity and philanthropy.

A film from the Walker’s Ruben/Bentson Moving Image Collection.

Minari 27

And It Was Shakey!

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Letter from the Editor-in-Chief Dear Reader, For the past four years, I have found myself writing letters addressed to you: the reader, my beloved collective abstraction. This will be my final such letter.

As I struggle to determine what words are possibly worthy of being the last I will ever write for this magazine, I keep coming back to you, to me, to us, to our relationship: the writer and the reader.

For the duration of your engagement with this letter, our roles are fixed. I am the creator, and you are the consumer. But after reading hundreds of your articles during my stint as an editor, I know our relationship is fluid. Me and you do not exist on opposite ends of a one-way street; our relationship is more like an eightlane highway.

This is to say: media is complex and powerful and collectively determined. Media does more than passively reflect events. Media actively constructs reality. Media influences what you care about, where you care about, why you care about, and how you care about. Media privileges certain voices and certain stories and, intentionally or inadvertently, excludes other voices and other stories. And while media shapes you, you shape media right back. You seek out certain content.

You trust some outlets, and you avoid others. You repost Instagram stories. You reshare articles. You uplift. You donate. You amplify. You may even write. In each case, you leave an indelible mark on the living and breathing organism of knowledge production that we broadly call media.

And somewhere among this dialectic, there we are: me and you, writer and reader, suspended for a moment in time. As you leave our relationship behind and enter into others, I hope that you recognize the essential role that you play in producing and consuming knowledge. Media is so much more dimensional than the corporatist sliding scale of Fox News to MSNBC. Media can be independent and radical and justice-based and community-oriented. Local media-makers such as Georgia Fort, Unicorn Riot, The Neighborhood Reporter, Sahan Journal, The Minnesota Reformer, On Site Public Media, and Move for Justice News have proven that much to be true. As readers and listeners, our role is not passive. For independent media to thrive, we must nurture it--follow social media accounts, consume stories, amplify work, and support individuals reporting from the frontlines.

Now, I should probably end this stilted farewell on a personal note. After four years at The Wake Magazine, I’m left with an immeasurably heavy feeling of gratitude that tears through each page I attempt to place it on. No words can adequately express how much I’ve gained from this space and this community, so I’ll keep this part brief: thank you. For everything. Keep in touch.

Tala Alfoqaha Editor-in-Chief

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APRIL 26 — MAY 24

ART

THE WAKE

Art by Sydnney Islam Art by Chae Hong Rock The Boat

CITIES

The Role of Virtual & Livestreaming Venues in 2021 Music venus in the Twin Cities turning to virtual spaces

BY STEPHANIE TAPIA-PONCE Pre-covid, both myself and other music heads enjoyed the space of having live music: the loud sounds, the social aspects, and the dancing. Being in spaces where artists, DJ’s and creatives can share with supporters or listeners has always been an exciting aspect of the venue world. After a year of COVID restrictions causing most venues in the US, including many in the Twin Cities, to shut down, many have been left wondering how venues are thriving and catering to their supporters. Turning to online technology has made it work.

Aunties, a Black Women-owned venue in Minneapolis, just recently had a “Virtual Venue Launch Party” on March 27th, which included a live virtual lobby that supporters could access from their devices, and that allows them create their own custom avatar that could experience listening to live music from artists and DJ’s such as DJ Keezy, Sophia Eris (owners of Aunties), DJ Advance, and Chastity Brown. The lobby also lets you order food from Soul Fu, interact with others, and order merch.

When I got a glimpse of what the Aunties Virtual Venue was, I was truly amazed. It was pretty easy to use after you created your customizable avatar as well as being able to walk around the venue whether it was accessing the stage or going upstairs to chat with others.

Other music venues have also successfully implemented virtual and live streaming events, including First Avenue, which has some upcoming events in the months to come. For these spaces to continue to give people the option to listen to music with others, chat with others, and just interact in general in the comfort of their home to maintain safety is more than excellent. Social media outlets like Instagram have used features like “live” to have online events.

As we continue our COVID journey, I foresee venues making virtual and live streaming events more and more accessible to people. It’s crucial for the venues that we have supported from the beginning to continue making these events happen, whether in person or not. Still, we as the listeners and concert go-ers need to be able to make the views noticeable.

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In Conversation with Sir David Attenborough The iconic voice of Sir David Attenborough

BY LISA ALEXANDER To me, Sir David Attenborough is the voice of Mother Earth. From Netflix’s Our Planet, to the iconic Planet Earth documentaries, to his Life Collection that our parents grew up with, Sir David Attenborough uses his regal voice to simply yet intricately describe awe-inspiring acts of nature caught on film. So, as I tuned into the live zoom lecture “Conversations with Sir David Attenborough” on Easter morning, I wasn’t expecting to see him answering questions in what looked like the corner of a public library. I was expecting something as enigmatic as what I’ve always associated him with. Instead, the interview was an intimate conversation with one of the most influential voices of our time.

The conversation covered shifts in conservationism to the UN’s 26th Climate Change Conference and everything in between.

The question, “what conservationist story inspires you?” stood out to me as Attenborough responded, not surprisingly, with Jane Goodall. However, it was surprising that though Jane Goodall is a world-renowned heroine for her commitment to understanding and advocating for chimpanzees, Sir David spoke of her as a good friend. A friend he admired because he could never find time to meet with her, as she never stopped jetting, working to save chimpanzees.

This was also my first time hearing Sir David Attenborough converse rather than narrate. Yet, he still spoke with his iconic style and colloquialism. He described friends as “remarkable characters,” took long, poignant pauses, and told stories with dazzling imagery, making even the most informal sentence powerful. His parlance is what us mere mortals only wish we could muster once in a lifetime, let alone have as our default.

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This common theme that these gods amongst men are men stood out to me, and I’m sure most of the audience. I know how cliche, right? But Sir David, no matter how eloquent, is a man.

Jane Goodall, no matter how relentless, is a friend. This theme sat as a reminder of how powerful the individual can be, a reminder that we all have a voice that can stand for something important, just like Sir David Attenborough.

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APRIL 26 — MAY 24

CITIES

The Fight to Legitimize Sex Work

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The past two years have proved successful for the industry, but safety is not yet guaranteed

BY JAMES SCHAAK Over the last couple years, it has appeared that sex work is on the verge of a turning point. Prior to the pandemic, exotic dancers were calling for a nationwide unionization effort, political efforts for the decriminalization of prostitution seemed to be growing, and gay porn performers began pushing for fairer pay. Not to mention Hustlers, the Hollywood blockbuster starring a slew of A-listers, like Jennifer Lopez (who was nominated for a Golden Globe) and Cardi B (a former stripper herself). Based on the real-life story of strippers’ efforts to thrive amidst the 2008 financial crisis, the movie’s position as a pop culture sensation worked as a soft news companion to the year’s burgeoning sex industry headlines. An industry often maligned for its assumed seediness was proving effective at pushing for a more mainstream position.

Even as COVID-19 began to ravage the world this past year, sex work was able to evolve and keep its progressive strides moving. OnlyFans, a subscription-based website displaying usergenerated content, fulfilled its longheld potential as the future of pornography. Though it was founded in 2016, rose to prominence in 2019, and features many SFW creators, the network’s importance felt more fully realized when it allowed sex workers to continue to make an income while following social distancing guidelines. Others, who previously never participated in sex work, also joined OnlyFans in search of a second income during the economic strain. Alexandria OcasioCortez even jumped to the defense of one such EMT. Simultaneously, the nation’s most recent racial reckoning provided opportunities for a look at the role of race in sex work: black exotic dancers protested the blatant racism found in many strip clubs, and black trans activists outlined how their disportionately large sex work community is

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especially at risk of violence caused by sex work stigmatization.

After not only persevering, but also making gains, during one of the most difficult years in American history, the Atlanta spa shootings came as a devastating blow to the movement. Violence against sex workers is common and often not talked about. Yet this tragedy queasily thrust the issue into the spotlight. It quickly became clear that the crime was motivated by a perverse web of anti-Asian sentiments, sexism, and sex worker stigmatization. Though the killer has dubiously claimed that he was motivated by sex addiction, rather than anti-Asian racism, it is clear these two impulses are inextrictable. For decades, from Anna May Wong through Lucy Liu, American popular culture has fetishized and exoticized Asian women with the intent of satisfying the leering white male gaze. Couple this media pattern with the well-known role that Asian women (some due to coercion, but not all) play in illicit massage parlors and that is a more fully formed, albeit still simplified, explanation of why the Atlanta spa shooting victims were specifically targeted based on their identity.

victimization, rather their rights, being broadcast to millions of Americans, only encourages further harm. Studies have shown a correlation between negative media attitudes about sex work and increases in violence against sex workers.

Once again, violence has served as a reminder that sex workers are putting their lives at risk everyday. Often marginalized for their feminine, immigrant, non-white, or queer identities, and without the necessary legal or professional framework to protect themselves, these professionals are on the frontlines of America’s battle against hate crimes. Despite these odds, sex workers are creating a wave of progress that could provide more security to not only their wages or their jobs, but their lives and their futures.

Through organized labor, increased legal capital, and better media representation, sex work could finally become a legitimized industry.

A mass shooting directed at women presumed to be industry professionals is undoubtedly a setback in the sex workers’ rights movement. These sorts of highly publicized accounts of violence afflicted against sex workers offer media pundits the opportunity to spread dangerous anti-sex work rhetoric. In the days following the shooting, Tucker Carlson predictably listed prostitution as one of the reasons why the shooting ocurred, while explicitly doubting any possibility of a racial motivation. This combination of misinformation and borderline victim blaming is characteristic of right-wing media. Narratives of sex workers deserving their

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CITIES

Don’t Call Me Your “Gay Bestfriend”

“Positive” stereotypes of LGBT people and why they’re problematic

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BY MATTHEW VOIGT The phrase “Gay Bestfriend” strikes anger, confusion, and fear into the very core of my being.

Even though I’ve heard it a thousand times, I still never get entirely used to having my identity reduced down to a singular characteristic— my sexuality. Apparently, because I’m a gay, masculine-presenting person, there’s only one way I can be. A demasculinized person speaks in a “gay voice” and has a great sense of style.

For a young, impressionable person, these “positive” stereotypes were all I had when I first came out and started forming an identity. These “positive” stereotypes were quite damaging to my young, confused, gay self in hindsight. It forced my sexuality and gender expression into an archetype for years until I learned that you can make your identity what you want it to be. Once I realized that I didn’t need to fit an archetype, I never looked back.

The LGBT experience isn’t universal; it’s a deeply personal, challenging experience and affects every LGBT person differently. But for a young, impressionable person, these “positive” stereotypes were all I had in my initial understanding of what gay meant.

Initially, when I first came out to my friends nearly eight years ago, my entire gay identity was informed mainly by 2013 Tumblr—so, middle and high school girls shipping “straight” men together (Johnlock, Destiel, Phan, any combo of One Direction members, almost any combination) and lowkey fetishization of gay-coded relationships and culture. While not overt, the “positive” stereotyping warped and harmed my perception of gay relationships and identity.

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These “positive” stereotypes of gayness promoted the “admirable, desirable, or beneficial qualities and characteristics” defined by the American Psychological Association. But by stereotyping gay people in that way, forcing a group into a preordained societal box also causes a onedimensional look of identity. But stereotypes can affect people in different ways. To help me explain how it can look in another person, I asked my friend, Macy Harder, a cis-gendered and bisexual woman, to explain some of the stereotypes she’s faced.

“In general, the main one [I’ve faced] has to do with bi-erasure; that bi people don’t exist. It’s just an inbetween phase between being straight and being gay, which is so wrong and so binary,” Harder said.

Bi-erasure is a huge issue, both outside and inside the LGBT community. Bi-erasure is the continuation of the trend of LGBT persons continually being “erased” from the historical record and having their issues minimized because people think that we made “the wrong choice” or we are “indecisive.” Let me be clear: sexuality and gender are not voluntary “choices”; LGBT people don’t choose; we’ve always felt this way. When the time is right and safe, the choice we can make is to act upon our true identities and live authentically.

for who I am; many LGBT people don’t have that privilege and struggle even harder than I have.

But, if you’re wondering what you can do, educate yourself about LGBT people, culture, and history. One of the easiest ways to do that is by surrounding yourself with LGBT-created media and people. Whether that’s following more LGBT creators, watching movies directed by LGBT people, or reading literature and history by LGBT people, education is the first step to change. And you shouldn’t limit yourself to just LGBT issues, numerous marginalized groups face damaging stereotypes, and you should continually educate yourself and listen to their stories. The most important thing you should remember is that most people don’t fit neatly into a box, let alone stereotypes.

“Nobody is one thing; people aren’t just one thing,” Harder said. “It can be really hard on queer people because they feel like they have to conform to what society thinks a queer person is.”

While the list of “positive” stereotypes (and those less than savory stereotypes) is miles long and I’m not a qualified person to talk about every stereotype and how it intersects with other stereotypes and identities; I can, however, talk about the ones I’ve faced, call them out, and use my platform to educate people about how and why stereotypes can be damaging. I have the privilege of being in a safe space that accepts me

APRIL 26 — MAY 24

CITIES

Making Music During Quarantine And how to turn creativity into connection

BY CARTER STARKEY One of the best things about any community I’ve ever been a part of is the music. Music has the power to bring together groups of people in ways nothing else can. Any good musician will tell you that the power in that relationship comes from the people involved. We gather, we create, and we listen. In a year when gathering wasn’t really possible, how did we create and engage with the music that we love?

“I basically took a year off of playing in front of people; I’m just playing for myself right now. It’s like, who knows what the rest of the world is going to think about it? It’s for me at this point. I’m almost like ‘I don’t care if anyone else will hear it.’”

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One of my favorite parts of this album is the art direction. For that, Deano turned to another local artist named Walter Smits. Together, they filmed two music videos, and Walter was responsible for the album cover and the accompanying photo zine. It adds the perfect dimension of color and personality to an already vibrant project. I asked Deano what it was like working with Smits, and specifically about the video for ‘Meddle in the Middle.’

To answer that question, I talked with one of my favorite sources of that connection I’ve so dearly missed: Deano Erickson, who performs under the name Internet Dating. In his new album, “Incomplete Control,” he’s able to bring back the feeling of the close-knit, acoustic sets that once had the patrons of small bars and clubs around the Twin Cities swaying in their seats. He writes songs about the little moments and big feelings in life through his storytelling and lively guitar playing.

“What surprised me the most was Walt’s ability to We talked about what the pandemic meant for put things together… We hit up friends to dance in artists like him. the video, and one of the dancers, Celeste, helped put together a wardrobe and everything. We “I started writing Incomplete Control the day after filmed the video almost entirely in one shot.” He the release of my last EP, Stall,” said Erickson. “I went on to explain how the two artists pushed was all set to release it last year before covid hit, each other. The piece that became the album but I just decided it wasn’t the right time. Then, in cover was one of the largest that Smits had done January, Brace Cove [Records] hit me up and said, to date, while making the music videos forced ‘Hey man, are you still sitting on that album?’ and Deano to accompany his music with images that we decided to put it out.” he may not have otherwise concocted. By the end, all the parties involved had something to be proud The timeline of this project is long, and it reflects of. a lot of what is true for any musician right now: adaptability is key. As venues closed their doors, Every musician has had different experiences with lots of artists across the world were forced to find Covid. What is undeniable is that it’s changed not new ways of making ends meet last year, and only how we consume music (I haven’t seen live many were left with more time than they’d had music in over a year) but also how it’s being made. before. Deano, ever the optimist, felt like this was For many musicians, sources of inspiration and a unique opportunity. He said he used Covid as a income vanished entirely. What Incomplete Control time to perfect the album. He was able to work on is able to do so well is connect the audience to the remastering many of the recordings he had going world around us, or remind us of a world without into the pandemic and make the album sound a virus looming over our heads, and for that I am the way it does now: intimate, soft, and heartfelt. thankful. You can find Internet Dating’s Incomplete What’s more is that this time allowed for a new Control on Apple Music, Spotify, or Bandcamp. connection to the songwriting process.

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ART

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Art by Sydnney Islam eat your heart out

APRIL 26 — MAY624

DROWNING IN DROW N I NG IN DEBT STRE SS DE BT & ST RE SS

F I N A N C I A L B A R R I E R S T O C O L L E G I AT E & P R O F E S S I O N A L A C C E S S I B I L I T Y F I N A N C I A L B A R R I E R S T O C O L L E G I AT E & P R O F E S S I O N A L A C C E S S I B I L I T Y

THE WAKE

BY M A R L E Y R I C H M O N D, SY D N I RO S E , A N D J E M M A K E L E H E R

BY M A R L E Y R I C H M O N D, SY D N I RO S E , A N D J E M M A K E L E H E R

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FEATURE

DROWNING IN DEBT & STRE SS F I N A N C I A L B A R R I E R S T O C O L L E G I AT E & P R O F E S S I O N A L A C C E S S I B I L I T Y

Between efforts to make college more affordable and debates about how fair it would be to forgive student loan debt, financing higher education has become a political concept more than a lived experience in the eyes of the public. But for college students, who may be juggling full-time course loads, multiple jobs, and other forms of unpaid labor, finances are anything but abstract.

For in-state students, tuition and fees at the University of Minnesota cost a bit more than $15,000 this academic year. Twenty years ago, that number was under $5,000, and forty-five to fifty years ago—around the time some politicians would have graduated—UMN tuition and fees cost under $1,000. This trend reflects average costs for public universities nationwide.

While lawmakers may stay up-to-date on tuition costs, they may not have the first-hand experience that today’s students do, and therefore don’t intimately understand the difficulty of paying for one’s own education, even with financial aid.

FINANCING THE COLLEGE EXPERIENCE Shannon Brault is a second-year student at the University who is financing her own education, and the process has not been easy. To start, the amount of financial aid that a student receives is based on their parents’ income even when, as in Brault’s case, their parents are not contributing to the cost of tuition.

Often, financial aid doesn’t come close to covering the costs. The U Promise Scholarship, which the University claims helps “make a U of M education possible for Minnesota resident students,” is one such underwhelming program. “I thought [it] was going to be so much, but they gave me, like, $153 [per semester]. That’ll pay for a textbook,” Brault said.

Loans are no less confusing, and even after weighing different options and assessing “ridiculously high” interest rates, as Brault said, students are left with debt and, often, remaining out-of pocket costs just to cover tuition. Educating students about types of loans and other options is an important part of making college more accessible, especially for first-generation students or those with additional barriers.

According to Matthew Voigt, also a current student at the University, what he knows about financing a college education was something he had to learn himself. “I wasn’t taught 90% of what I know about college financing in any high school or college class... All I know [I learned] because I did the research, read the fine print, or asked the question,” he said. “I’ll always remember my personal finance professor trying to explain college financing and struggling because of how weird and convoluted the systems are.”

As important as financial education is, understanding an unfair and overpriced system can only get students so far. Institutional change, especially student loan forgiveness, is necessary to make higher education truly affordable.

WORKING TO STAY AFLOAT Even after financial aid, scholarships, and loans, Brault’s tuition, like that of so many others, is not fully covered. In order to cover those costs, as well as those of living in a large city, many students must work part- or full-time jobs as students. Adding tens of hours of work on top of the education one is actually paying for makes balancing a schedule quite difficult.

“It’s also a little frustrating sometimes because I’m working to try to build up money and to pay for college, but I feel like with the price of college, even living at home, I’m not even making a difference,” said Brault.

Even when a student is working many hours a week, it isn’t always possible to find a relevant, discipline-specific job to build up experience for the future. Retail positions, food service work, and University jobs are often some of the highestpaying jobs available to students and rarely relate to what they are studying in school. Instead, unpaid internships, volunteer work, and low-wage entry-level positions create a barrier between those who have the privilege to build up that type of experience and those who do not.

Voigt shares this perspective, saying that most entry-level positions in his field require a background that is unattainable for those working to live. “Having all those [qualifications] is a privilege that many aren’t afforded,” he said. “You need a job to get experience, but you need the experience to get a job, and that cycle is really hard to break.”

The cycle can be impossible to break if a person relies on their wages to pay for necessities like groceries or rent, meaning they often must take a job outside of their field in order to survive.

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BY M A R L E Y R I C H M O N D, SY D N I RO S E , A N D J E M M A K E L E H E R

DROWNING IN DEBT & STRE SS

FEATURE

F I N A N C I A L B A R R I E R S T O C O L L E G I AT E & P R O F E S S I O N A L A C C E S S I B I L I T Y And even those who are able to make ends meet without wages must sacrifice their time by taking unpaid, low-status internships. “Unless you’re willing to do the menial work for no compensation, you’re sort of out of luck,” says Voigt.

OVERWORKED AND UNDERPAID In order for students to support themselves after graduation, good job prospects are a high priority, meaning a paid position that offers relevant experience. Whether it’s an internship, freelance work, or a full-time position, the biggest necessity is being able to sustain, at the very least, a bare minimum lifestyle.

One of the more prevalent obstacles students face today is the well-known concept of unpaid internships. While the sentiment is there—allowing young adults to gain valuable work experience—it doesn’t pay the bills.

Hannah Lundquist, a sophomore studying strategic communication at the University, says she’s already feeling the stress of finding jobs and internships that are relevant to her career path while supporting her financially.

Lundquist not only said she thinks full-time unpaid internships are a privilege to take on, but also that they aren’t sustainable. “If you need money [and] you can’t get it from the internship, then you have to work on the weekends or other odd hours.” She added that needing to have an additional job as a source of income on top of an internship can lead to burnout—something she’s already experiencing.

The financial stress that may come from working an unpaid internship isn’t even the initial stressor; landing the internship in the first place is. As a sophomore, Lundquist has begun the process of applying for internships only to be rejected time after time due to a lack of experience. “A few

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years ago, applying to a job with just a degree was enough to at least get an interview, and now almost every entry level job needs some type of experience,” she said with frustration.

When Lundquist is scrolling through LinkedIn, she sees other students, many also in their sophomore year, who already have experience from two or three internships. Their resume building only adds to her stress, “I struggle with feeling like I don’t have enough experience, and [that] stems from being turned down from so many internships.”

In order to make internships more equitable, employers must start paying interns a living wage and consider applicants with varying forms of previous experience. Such changes might require institutional incentives or requirements, whether that be raising the federal minimum wage or limiting types of unpaid labor. Along with forgiving student loan debt and making college more affordable, these changes will make post-secondary education more accessible. In the meantime, students who are making college work despite financial challenges deserve support and commendation.

This struggle is by no means unique, and it’s become an increasingly common problem students face. Brault echoed Lundquist’s thoughts saying, “It feels like a catch 22, you can’t get hired if you don’t have experience but can’t get experience if you don’t get hired.”

BY M A R L E Y R I C H M O N D, SY D N I RO S E , A N D J E M M A K E L E H E R

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ART

Art by Megan Bormann

APRIL 26 — MAY 24

VOICES

Princess Diana, Immigrant Women, & Generational Trauma A look at how the media and royal family’s treatment of Princess Diana mirrors the experiences of immigrant women and how the next generation is taking matters into their own hands

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BY ISHA RIHAL My earliest memory of the royal family is waking up at 5 am in fifth grade to watch William and Kate’s wedding with my mom. My mother is an Indian-American woman but was born in Kenya (under British control at the time) and grew up in Canada (another commonwealth country). She was incredibly excited for the event. However, her excitement didn’t stem from her loyalty to the country that colonized her homes, but because William was one of the few remaining connections to her beloved Princess Diana.

Perhaps the most compelling way Diana mirrored the experiences of immigrant women was the way in which she, very publicly, faced disrespect and abuse, both from her family and from the public.

Diana was a woman who stuck her neck out for what was right; her philanthropic efforts even won her a Nobel Peace Prize. However, society saw her independence as a threat. She was setting a “dangerous example” that women could be more than wives and mothers, and the media took every chance they could to vilify her.

As I watched my parents spend the evening after the wedding discussing the tragedy that was the life and death of Princess Diana, I felt a strange sense of deja vu. Diana died before I was born, so I didn’t know why her story of hope, conviction, and betrayal rang so familiarly in my 11-year-old ears. As I grew older, I began to realize that the familiarity of the story did not come from Diana but rather from the stories I heard from women in my own life. In many ways, Princess Diana’s life in the public eye mirrored the experiences of South Asian (and many other immigrant) women.

This cycle of publicly shaming women when they try to reach for something greater than the roles they are expected to fulfill is unfortunately not unique to the royal family. Immigrant women face the same sort of public shaming when they try to achieve something other than fulfilling their traditional role as a woman. Additionally, many immigrant women also have to deal with a lack of support—and often respect—from the men in their lives the same way Diana did with Charles.

Charles, despite having cheated on his wife, was never publicly shamed nor held accountable for the end of their marriage in the way Diana was. In my mind, the power that Charles had (and didn’t use) is akin to the way that men in immigrant communities let their wives, sisters, mothers, and daughters bear the burdens of their mistakes and shortcomings. Like Diana, immigrant women are held to impossible standards and expected to exceed those standards, while also being held accountable for the actions of the men in their lives.

To start, Diana was presented to the public as the “commoner” whose life took flight once she got married. Adoration for Diana swelled in the hearts of the people of Britain, as well as British subjects (like my mother) as she became a wife, and later, a mother. The public watched her achieve every girl’s dream: marriage. At this point in her life, Diana represented the belief held by so many immigrant families, and repeated to so many immigrant women, that your life begins once you are married.

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My childhood sense of deja vu returned this past month as Harry and Megan sat down with Oprah to discuss what they had experienced during their time in the royal family. However, this time the sense of familiarity was not because of stories I had heard, but because of my own thoughts and experiences. Harry’s remark that he was “worried history was going to repeat itself” rang familiar in my ears. I, and many other young women like me, hold that same fear that our lives will take a similar path as our parents, that we will inherit and unconsciously perpetuate the trauma our foremothers had to endure. Harry and Megan’s quest to end the generational cycle of silencing women, and instead to empower them to carve their own path in life, sparked a sense of hope in me. It was a feeling that I imagined my mother and her peers felt when they saw Princess Diana, one that brought comfort to my inner conflicts.

One that told me: I’m not alone.

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VOICES

How Normal Will “Normal” Be As we start to see the light at the end of the COVID tunnel, will outdoor attractions close down as we progress towards a more homebody living style?

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BY SHANNON BRAULT I think we have become homebodies over the last year, at least to some extent. The pandemic, for the awfulness of the virus and the lives it has taken, has also reminded us that sometimes we need to take a pause from our go-go-go lifestyles. But will outdoor attractions close down as we progress towards a more homebody living style? I have mixed feelings.

I feel like outdoor attractions are going to be the future of what people are doing. When the pandemic hit, it seemed like everybody and their mother had suddenly become outdoor people. I saw more beginning skiers out on the trail this winter than I have ever seen before, and I have constantly seen people out running, hiking, biking, or walking with their families.

Outdoor sport and activity equipment has also been flying off the shelves. It is still difficult to find bikes, hiking boots, skis, and other things that people have bought to try out during the pandemic. Additionally, campsites are getting booked at the fastest rate that I have ever seen.

Camping is a nice outdoor activity for homebodies since you set up a tent as your home for the week and you don’t have to interact with anyone you don’t want to. It’s great!

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While it is great that people are getting outside, my hope is that people start, and continue to, respect the trails and the environment that they are in.

The Boundary Waters saw an unprecedented number of people this year, but they also saw an unprecedented amount of trash. People would litter, leave their belongings, tear down live trees, and leave their fires unattended to. They did not show respect for the protected wildlife area.

While I sometimes became crabby with the overpopulated trails when I was trying to do my thing, I do hope people stick with the new activities that they have tried.

On the other hand, some of the things we used to do outside prior to the pandemic are highly unsanitary and I don’t know if I will ever be comfortable enough to do some of the things that I used to do.

Even the summer before the pandemic, I thought amusement parks were germ-infested cesspools.

The roller coaster seats have so many butts touching them every day (the worst is when the seat is wet from a preteen who went to the waterpark prior to getting on the ride), and they aren’t cleaned throughout the day. People are touching the gates and the lap bars, and you can’t always trust people to wash their hands.

Or the Minnesota State Fair. I am not a crowd person at all, and I have never been. There are hundreds of thousands of people packed into the fairgrounds like sardines. Let’s not forget that prior to the pandemic, people would still go out if they didn’t feel well or were sick, and I really hope that changes. Again, there isn’t much sanitation of rides, general seating areas, etc.

I won’t touch on large music events, but I do hope they come back for the sake of live music.

COVID could become something that we live with for a long time, like the flu, and it’s not going to disappear with the vaccine. I wonder if we are going to get to a place where people are as comfortable as they were prior to the pandemic and act like it never happened at all. Or will we move forward to get back to a better and more ethical normal?

Maybe indoor attractions will make people more nervous because of the pandemic, and maybe outdoor attractions will become our new normal.

The thing that seems certain to me is that we need to take better care of our environments, whether that’s nature trails or amusement parks. There is a more ethical and safe way for us to enjoy outdoor attractions, and we need to do it.

APRIL 26 — MAY 24

VOICES

The Downfall of David Dobrik A short reflection on recent events

BY HANNAH LUNDQUIST TW: Mention of sexual assault, nonconsensual jokes/acts, victims, and consent.

I never thought I would see the day when David Dobrik and the Vlog Squad were completely canceled, but here we are. I have been watching Dobrik for as long as I can remember. His videos brought me so much joy when I was sad or lonely. I thought the pranks and jokes were hilarious, at least at the time, and so did everyone around me. I thought that everyone enjoyed his videos, and it was only recently that I found out I was very wrong.

Dobrik started on Vine, the now-dead application that was heavily used, much like today’s TikTok. Originally from Slovakia and a DACA recipient, Dobrik made his mark on Vine in high school by producing engaging six-second videos that usually consisted of him and his friends doing things to make people laugh. After the Vine era, Dobrik made the switch to YouTube and became one of the most popular YouTubers. He made some of the first “vlogs” on YouTube, which are video blogs that follow the day-to-day life of a YouTuber. He monetized these vlogs by giving the name the “Vlog Squad” to himself and his friends. The Vlog Squad consisted of Viners, YouTubers, people Dobrik met in Los Angeles, and some of his hometown friends.

I enjoyed watching his videos until multiple victims came forward and began to share their stories—specifically in regard to the recent incident involving one of Dobrik’s Vlog Squad members, Dominykas

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Zeglaitis. With the nickname “Durte Dom,” he has a reputation for pursuing women when they are clearly uncomfortable with his actions. With the recent sexual assault allegations from victims who were in a Dobrik vlog from 2018 involving “Durte Dom,” I have taken a step back to take a look at what I am consuming on social media and who I am following or look up to. I find myself wondering how I could have missed all of the red flags in Dobrik’s videos. With the recent allegations, more videos have resurfaced, showing Dobrik joking after the incident that they were “going to jail.” That video has now been removed from his page. Aside from that incident, there were very clearly videos that displayed a lack of consent or showed people being made uncomfortable.

Looking back, I wonder how I could have missed this or how I could have looked past something so big. I think a large part of this is the culture that has been promoted and cultivated by the YouTube community, specifically Dobrik, with nonconsensual pranks and jokes that very obviously cause discomfort to the people involved, and in more serious cases, long-lasting trauma. As a society, it seems like we have become desensitized to this toxic culture, one that is still very prevalent on YouTube. While other major influencers have been called out or canceled, it has taken a few years for Dobrik’s past to catch up with him. Now that this situation, one that has shocked me and other YouTube fans, has been brought to light, I think it is necessary to not only respect the victims by holding Dobrik accountable, but also to take a look at what and who we are consuming on a daily basis on various social media platforms.

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VOICES

Social Media Platforms, Activism, and the Perils of Individualism

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When movements are built online instead of face-to-face, what do we lose?

BY SYLVIA RANI Does the movement against police brutality owe its success to the new social media technologies of today, which allow for communication on a scale not possible before? Or is the success of the movement contingent upon the organizers who have been doing the work, both on and offline?

The role of social media platforms in activism has been a hot topic of discussion in recent years. The viral success of the #BlackLivesMatter campaign stirred public conversations about the potential for publicizing and organizing movements online, with eager journalists declaring social media as the “future of activism.” Meanwhile, black scholars (including Malcolm Gladwell in his New York Times piece, “Small Change: Why the Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted”) critiqued the mainstream media’s sensationalism around the topic, arguing that while the social web can be used to further a movement, armchair activism comes with its own set of pitfalls.

Perhaps both narratives contain truths. Perhaps what we are seeing is a historical movement stretching and growing to fit a new media environment—and this change, filtered through a white lens, appears revolutionary.

The question remains, however: Do these new media technologies truly support social activism?

Can they effect actual change and sustain robust movements, or do they serve different purposes?

We can certainly give them some credit. Thanks to platforms like Twitter, the dominant white media is finally waking up to the reality of police brutality.

Social media has forced black death at the hands

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of police onto the screens of millions of people who would have otherwise stuck to their E! News and fantasy football, and this has been a crucial factor in bringing racial consciousness to the masses. We must be able to name the problem before we can solve it, and this increased awareness is useful for putting police violence into context.

But what about organizing? What about creating the strong ties that hold a movement together even when the cameras are off? Social media appears to be very useful for creating large networks of weak ties and raising awareness of issues that have been ignored by the mainstream media for too long.

People are mad and want to do something about it.

But this may backfire in other important ways. When it comes to social movements, motivation without coordination can have mixed and unpredictable results.

Consider the case of Oluwatoyin Salau. Described as an emerging leader and vocal presence in the movement, Salau was active in the Tallahassee protests against police brutality in the wake of George Floyd’s murder. Days after appearing in videos at the Texas State Capitol speaking passionately in front of a group of protesters, she was kidnapped and murdered because she was unable to find a ride to the church where she had sought refuge to escape an abusive living situation. How does this happen? Salau was a victim of (among other things, of course) the perils of individualism—the very individualism that social media platforms nurture and protect. While

her friends were home tweeting and sharing GoFundMes on their Instagram stories, Salau was alone on the streets of Tallahassee, relying on strangers for transportation. Ironically, the outrage that followed her death spread mainly online. But by the time people decided to care, it was too late.

What Salau needed was for someone to be there for her. On top of being a black woman, one of the most historically overlooked and marginalized identities, Salau was 19 years old, home insecure, and vision impaired. She needed an organized group of people who were accountable to one another, people with strong ties who were invested in not only her message, but her personal safety as well. Instead, what she got was tribute tweets and postmortem think pieces.

This is why some black scholars are wary of the idea that social media will tip the scales in favor of revolution and are hesitant to embrace these platforms as the catalysts of change that the white media presents them as being. Community organizers know that the real work takes place offline, in places with friction and struggle and eye contact. Social media has helped the movement in key ways, but it is not the movement. Organizers can leverage the power of social media to raise awareness, spread information, and document police wrongdoing on a public stage. But they cannot build the type of community that is central to sustaining coordinated efforts to make change. We will not tweet ourselves into justice.

APRIL 26 — MAY 24

VOICES

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The Future of Superheroes Superhero movies are the most popular thing in Hollywood. What will they look like in the future?

BY PETER NOMELAND that they stick to, which makes for consistently It’s been two years since Marvel Studios released good entertainment, but it makes you wonder how “Avengers: Endgame,” the record-breaking they will evolve with many of their more prominent culmination of the 22 movies in the Marvel characters leaving the fold.

Cinematic Universe, marking the end of an era regarding superheroes. This March, the “Snyder Cut,” DC seems to be taking a very different approach. director Zack Snyder’s extended version of his 2017 Even as vocal groups of Snyder fans ask that the film “Justice League”—which was tampered with connected universe continues, the studio seems by the studio and disowned by his legions of fans— dedicated to keeping everything separate. We was dropped on HBO Max. They represent two already have a new Batman (RIP Batfleck) in very different endpoints of the cinematic universes Robert Pattinson who is signed on to play the Marvel and DC have created, but with varying character in a new trilogy. James Gunn has jumped degrees of success. Marvel has created the most ship from Marvel to DC to write and direct a successful movie franchise in history with almost no bad projects to their name, and DC has made some “sequel-reboot” of the Suicide Squad with Margot Robbie back as Harley Quinn. The trailer looks like of the most polarizing films of the past decade. it is everything the previous film wasn’t: R-rated, a ton of fun, and completely free from any cinematic Iron Man and Captain America might be gone, but universe constraints. With how mismanaged and Marvel is showing no sign of slowing their film and inconsistent the attempted connected DC universe television output. After a year off due to COVID-19 became after their first few releases, it looks like delays, we’ve already gotten the TV shows the studio is doing what they probably should have “WandaVision” and “The Falcon and the Winter done in the first place. Don’t try to be like Marvel Soldier” on Disney+, and we’re just getting started. and make everything one franchise, just make the Barring any more delays, we are expected to get best movies you can with talented people who four more TV shows and four theatrically released understand the characters. films including “Black Widow” and a third Tom Holland “Spider-Man” movie. 2022 gets even However, one of my favorite superhero properties crazier with five planned movies and even more of recent memory hasn’t been from Marvel or DC, shows. This is the most popular franchise in the but from Amazon. “The Boys” is a television show world, so it’s no surprise that Disney wants to get based on comic books about what would happen as much content out of the studio as they possibly if superheroes actually existed. And by actually can. The MCU has perfected a formula of tone

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existed I mean that they are egotistical maniacs who are employed by a large conglomerate. You know, like Amazon. This dark, subversive take on the superhero genre is ultimately not really about superheroes. The original comics run was written by Garth Ennis, who was vocally not a fan of traditional superhero cliches. Rather, the show looks at what would happen if superheroes were in the real world, and is about real world issues like capitalism and racism. It also has a lot more blood than the average superhero property. Like a lot.

So yeah, we are not going to be starving for new superhero content in the next couple of years. But these daunting slates of movies may force you to ask the question: Are we going to get burned out by new comic book properties releasing every other week? It’s a lot to consider, and ultimately we won’t know until this new phase passes. One thing is for sure though, if people keep watching, Hollywood will make these movies until they run out of comics on the shelves. “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” has given me hope that Marvel can still make good content in a post-Thanos world. And I’ve watched the trailer for “The Batman” about 100 times. But one has to wonder, if the genre doesn’t start expanding itself in tone like “The Boys” does, will audiences start feeling a superhero hangover?

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Q&A

stef Q&A

BY TOSIN FASEEMO

stef, also known as Stefani Colvin, is a pop singer from Nashville, Tennessee. Read on to find out about her biggest inspirations, her live show experiences, and her upcoming EP.

: What genre would you describe your music as?

S: I think it depends on the song, honestly. I feel like I get pretty experimental with my sound. I definitely would say pop. I like to call it dark pop, which I know is not a genre but that’s what I like to call it. I think it has indie pop elements as well, but I guess we could just go with pop.

: Who are your biggest inspirations when it comes to making music?

S: I feel like it changes often, but recently I’ve been loving BENEE a lot. There’s this girl called spill tab that’s super cool. Dua Lipa is definitely a big inspiration for me; I think she absolutely killed her Grammy performance. And there’s a band called Sad Night Dynamite that I really like as well. They use a lot of experimental sound.

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APRIL 26 — MAY 24

Q&A

:What’s your creative process like?

S: It just depends who I’m working with. I do have two people that I would call my camp, my squad that I usually take a majority of songs back to. My producer’s name is Christian Fiore. He’s based in LA; he’s so talented. I can’t wait to see all of his dreams come true. He’s literally one of the best producers I’ve ever heard in my entire life. He’s so good. And then there’s this girl named Ricky Randall that I love to write everything with and she’s also one of my best friends. I think the funnest part about making music is working with your friends. I love working with my friends. But my creative process, I’ll usually write with a producer and they’ll build a track around an idea I already have or they’ll build a track and then we’ll kind of form an idea and melodies around that.

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: Do you collaborate with a lot of other people? I know you’re a solo act.

: Before the pandemic did you ever do any live shows?

S: Yeah, I’m a solo act. I haven’t released any collabs, but that’s definitely something I’m looking to do in future projects. I have a few names in mind that I want to collaborate with, but I think the writing process and creative process is just super collaborative. Whether I’m working with my friends or random people on a video or song I think it’s always really collaborative for me, which is what I love about it.

S: Yes, so I’ve done two live shows singing my own music. I used to lead worship for church and be in theater. I released three songs in September of 2019. I did a 300 person show in Nashville and it was sold out. That was amazing. I love my band.

It was so fun; I had all my friends there. But then I did a show in Knoxville, Tennessee in January 2020 and there were like 400 people there. I was an opener. It was a great practice to perform in front of some people that didn’t know who I was.

: What’s the story behind your latest EP that’s coming out soon? How did that get made?

S: So my EP comes out April 30th. It’s called “a glitch in our virtual reality.” It started with a few songs I had made in LA at the beginning of 2020 right before the pandemic hit. I somehow formed them into this concept album, each song being a sentence long, except the song “switch.” It’s supposed to form a paragraph of a complete thought. Each song represents an emotion having to do with love. I kind of thought of that concept but I needed one more song to go in there, and so I wrote “switch,” which is the third song on the EP. We wrote that in Palm Springs in June. My two writers and I just went out there and we just stayed in the house the whole time and wrote some really good music.

: Who would you love to collaborate with?

S: Okay, so I have this indie pop song I’m thinking about releasing eventually and there’s a guy in Nashville called Huron John that I think is super cool. There’s an indie pop artist named Ryan Woods, that I think is super cool. I think doing a hyperpop remix or something would be really fun for one of my songs like 100 gecs or CMTEN. Of course, I have like my dream big artists to collaborate with like Frank Ocean; he doesn’t really do collabs though. But yeah I have like a whole list of people I want to collab with.

stef’s EP, “a glitch in our virtual reality,” comes out on April 30th.

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ART

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Art by Sydnney Islam

MARCH 29 — APRIL 26

REVIEWS

The 2021 Grammy Awards How COVID-19 precautions resulted in the best show to date

BY MACY HARDER I’ll admit it, I like award shows. I know that the commodification of art is one of capitalism’s many pitfalls, but I find them to be entertaining nonetheless. That’s not to say that award shows shouldn’t be critiqued; there’s a concerning level of underrepresentation among nominees and a questionable sense of what makes a “good” film or album (usually, this means being created by white men).

a limited, socially distant audience, created the ideal environment for intimate and truly outstanding live performances.

That being said, I always tune into the Grammys in hopes of seeing my favorite artists, songs, and albums of the year being recognized. The show is usually filled with various fashion hits and misses, long-winded acceptance speeches, and, of course, performances from some of the biggest names in music.

The show opened with four knockout performances on a small stage backed by warm lighting. Harry Styles led the pack with a groovy rendition of “Watermelon Sugar,” incorporating a funky bassline and some brass and woodwind instruments. It was my favorite version of the pop hit so far, setting the bar for the night of performances ahead.

With this comes my annual criticism of the Grammys: the performances are usually underwhelming, to say the least.

In past years, the live sets have been characterized by cameras far off from the stage, terrible acoustics, and awkward cuts to a disengaged audience. All of these factors combined to set even the most talented, critically acclaimed artists up for a disappointing performance. But of course, these performances took place under conditions that seem foreign in the wake of COVID-19: at a large venue packed with a live audience.

Billie Eilish followed Styles, along with HAIM and Black Pumas. All four performances shared elements of close-up camera shots, pristine sound quality, and live instrumentals that gave them a much more personal feel than previous years, and this remained true for the entirety of the show’s lineup. In short, the Grammys were off to a spectacular start.

Despite predictions of another disastrous attempt at a COVID-era award show, I was pleasantly surprised by this year’s Grammys.

In fact, it was the best one I’ve seen yet, and it could set a precedent that will change the show for the foreseeable future. This year’s awards were held at the Los Angeles Convention Center, a much smaller venue than the Grammys’ typical home, The Staples Center. This change, combined with THE WAKE

DaBaby and Roddy Ricch kicked off the second round of performances with a gospel-esque version of “Rockstar.” DaBaby later joined Dua Lipa for half of her elaborate two-song (and three-outfit) set consisting of “Levitating” and “Don’t Start Now,” both of which she knocked out of the park. Next on the lineup was one of my favorite performances of the night. Bruno Mars and Anderson. Paak made their debut as the newly-formed Silk Sonic, performing their single, “Leave the Door Open.”

Their simple, 70s-inspired performance highlighted their smooth vocals and undeniable charm, stealing our hearts and stirring anticipation for Silk Sonic’s upcoming

album. Later came the night’s most significant conversation starters: Megan Thee Stallion and Cardi B. Megan took the stage first with a spirited 1920s-themed performance of “Body” and “Savage,” complemented by flapper outfits and even a tap number. She was followed by Cardi B with “Up” before the two joined for a sexually empowered performance of “WAP.” The artists faced criticism for the performance’s explicit references, and it was undoubtedly a hot topic in the days following the show.

The most memorable performance was, without a doubt, Lil Baby’s “The Bigger Picture.” It took place outdoors, and the rapper made a powerful statement about police brutality that echoed the song’s message. Lil Baby’s words were illustrated through choreographed re-enactments of protest and police violence and even a spoken-word piece by activist Tamika Mallory. In her poem, she called on the White House directly; “President Biden, we demand justice, equity, policy, and everything else that freedom encompasses,” Mallory said. It was arguably the most important (and wellexecuted) performance The Grammys has ever seen.

This was undeniably the best Grammy Awards to date. COVID-19 precautions ultimately led to a more intimate and captivating show that will hopefully set a precedent. It was less of a spectacle and more of an opportunity for artists to showcase their talent, which is what “music’s biggest night” should really be about.

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REVIEWS

How Did We Get Here?

By Blu DeTiger

BY AVERY WAGEMAN Boreria volorib earcia explit eveni aut ut quas New York City-based artist Blu DeTiger’s new EP “How Did We Get Here?” is a culmination of fun, bubbly electro-pop tracks, with hints of disco and 1980s pop. The EP’s recent release came nearly a year after the first single, “Figure It Out,” went viral on Tik Tok in April 2020. Along with her soft, raspy vocals, she is also a very talented bassist.

The first track, “Figure It Out,” is a laid-back, bouncy song. DeTiger’s gentle vocals are complemented by a groovy bass beat, capturing the context of quarantine. Her lyrics about “figuring it out” in a time of confusion are a sign of the times and seem to be the EP theme. Following “Figure It Out” is my favorite track, “Vintage.” This song captures DeTiger’s style. Her lyrics express her influence in both her music and fashion from previous decades.

“Toast with the Butter” is a slow and heavy track with the signature groovy disco-Esque beat of DeTiger’s bass. Her lustful lyrics of a new fling get accentuated with panicked breaths of a person freaking out. At the center of the EP is “disco banger, but you’re crying in the bathroom,” an instrumental intermission to the seven-track EP. “Night Shade” is another soft yet bubbly song about a night out with friends in NYC. “Cotton Candy Lemonade,” in contrast, is a song that depicts DeTiger’s very relatable loneliness in quarantine.

Her delicate vocals, along with the light echo of her bass and keyboard, make the song sound like it was being played in an empty room. Concluding the EP is “Kinda Miss You,” a modern disco-pop track with melancholic lyrics of a one-week fling.

“How Did We Get Here?” is a fun EP with songs I will definitely be adding to my summer playlists.

Blu DeTiger is an artist whom I am excited to hear more from.

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Minari A quietly heartrending story about the American Dream

BY DAVID MA Directed by Lee Isaac Chung, Minari is the tale of a family of Korean immigrants attempting to make a life for themselves in rural Arkansas. Steven Yeun stars as Jacob, the father in a family composed of his wife Monica, Monica’s mother, and their two children David and Anne. Jacob dreams of cultivating a farm growing Korean vegetables that he can sell to other Korean immigrants. Still, he soon finds his dream in conflict with the desires of his family members. The everyday lives of the Yi family are depicted with a quiet and observant angle.

While perhaps the pacing and writing can border on being too subtle, the ultimate product is a film that distills a slice of what it means to be human.

When one is presented with a film directed by a Korean-American starring Koreans speaking Korean, there’s a tendency to view the movie through nothing but a racial lens. Although AsianAmerican-ness has been increasingly spotlighted recently, Minari doesn’t touch on the question of Asian-American identity very overtly. There are a couple scenes of vague racial discomfort, but no characters act with the motivation of racial malice. There’s no scene wherein the grandmother is knocked to the ground, nor a scene where someone spits on Jacob, calls him a chink, and tells him to go back to China. Although such events very much happen in real life, no doubt their inclusions would be criticized as being heavy-handed. That’s not to say that the movie doesn’t say anything about race, of course. It simply depicts the Yi family’s Korean identity through a more subtle lens, maintaining it as one thread amongst many that interweave the narrative.

Just as prominent a thread is the question of the American Dream, which Lee Isaac Chung does not sugarcoat. There are moments of happiness and flashes of joy, but so too are there tragic accidents and quiet outbursts of grief. It is not a

scathing critique of America, but nor is it a patriotic celebration. Even the end of the movie provides no particular resolution, no resounding statement that all will be ok and that the family will live happily ever after. The chronic tensions between Jacob and Monica throughout the narrative have not been entirely resolved. One can easily surmise that they will continue for the rest of the characters’ lives. But such is the way of the world, is it not? At its core, Minari is deeply personal, striking at those chords that carry forth great films.

All it does is portray the struggles and labor of an immigrant family as they attempt to make a life for themselves. Still, it does so in a way that elicits sympathy and a swell of emotion. It weighs love against comfort. It weighs family against pride. It takes fundamental ideals of the heart and puts them to the test.

While Lee Isaac Chung wanted to avoid putting too much of the focus on the son to prevent projecting too many of his own perspectives, some still leak through. Even beyond the coincidentally shared name, many scenes involving David resonated with me, as they might with many children born to immigrants. The generational gap between David and his grandma, born of his desires for Americanness, powerfully evokes that familiar sense of living on the border of two different worlds. Distilled through his childhood lens, Minari offers no answer to how to navigate such questions but merely renders them in innocent detail.

I watched Minari in my mom’s company, who immigrated to the US with my dad in the 90’s. While many aspects of her journey differed from that of the Yi’s - we ended up in a suburb, for example there were fundamental similarities inherent to almost every immigrant journey. The struggle of assimilation, the difficulties of finding a place to fit in, and above all, the uncertainty of one’s future.

Minari’s title refers to a Korean plant known for its resilience and thus obviously serves as a metaphor for perseverance. Resilience is another thread carried throughout the film, even as Jacob and Monica are pushed to their wits’ end by the harsh reality of their reality. While they do not face their uncertain future with unbridled optimism, they face it nonetheless. Honestly, what more can we ask for?

APRIL 26 — MAY 24

REVIEWS

And It Was Shakey!

An indescribable man, Shakey Graves delivers entertainment through live stream concerts that remind us of why we love him.

BY SHANNON BRAULT Shakey Graves has a way of telling a story in every song that he does, which is what makes him a great musician. He can take the random, sometimes mundane things of life and turn them into a fantastic song that just about anyone will love.

Shakey Graves is the stage alias for Alejandro Rose-Garcia. He is an Americana musician from Austin, Texas, who combines rock and roll, blues, folk, and country to create masterpieces of songs.

It is hard to describe Shakey Graves because he just is. He’s quirky and funny, kind and sarcastic, and one great musician. He adapts his shows into live streams so fans can continue to stay connected to him and his music.

Shakey Graves is a fantastic storyteller, but he has a unique way of conveying his stories. When he is creating his music, he doesn’t write it out. Instead, he records himself playing the music and then listens to it again to learn how to play it. He says that he never plays a song the same way twice, even though sometimes he wishes he could. He said that it’s part of storytelling and that you don’t tell a story the same way every time you tell it, so why would he play his music the same way when it’s his story to tell?

THE WAKE

He also has a suitcase drum that his friend built for him because he was sick of carrying around a bunch of equipment. This tripped-out suitcase allows him to play the drums and the tambourine at the same time. If that doesn’t help describe the type of guy he is, I’m not sure what will.

Of course, he used the suitcase drums during his live streams since it is one of his staples. The first live stream of two that I was able to attend was Shakey Graves performing solo at the Hole in the Wall in Austin, Texas, on March 16. He played there during the happy hour special ten years ago, where he honed his craft. He said that sometimes it was just him and the bartender, Dennis O’Donnell, in the building, but he would listen, and even if the room was empty, he would clap and bring Shakey whiskey. Shakey said that sometimes that’s all it takes: a little bit of acknowledgment and a kind act. The rest is extra icing, as he says.

O’Donnell is also the owner of the Sage Brush, where Shakey Graves performed for the second show on March 23. O’Donnell had given Shakey a TW Samuels bottle and wrote “love you brother, kick their butts” on the bottle when Shakey stopped playing happy hour at the Hole in the Wall. During the first live stream, he told that story and paused

to thank those who work in service and encouraged people at home to raise a glass to them.

Shakey Graves embodies everything that I want to be one day. He continues to do what he loves without taking himself too seriously. As a very chill one-man show, he has an encompassing aurora that draws you into him. During the second live stream, he played two guitars at once and laughed at himself and with his friends throughout the show. He’s a hipster man that enjoys the little things in life and takes his experiences to share something beautiful with the world.

He has songs about random toll-booth ladies, his first time traveling to New York City, songs about how the world will make you feel small, and songs commenting on society’s most pervasive problems.

His musical range is unmatched, and he continues to break norms that keep many artists stuck outside of what they want to be genuinely doing.

Shakey Graves came to the stage virtually with us, and he delivered. He reminded us of why we love him and what makes him such a great storyteller.

Shakey Graves gave an iconic performance to keep us connected in a time where we aren’t able to share the music, and that is a beautiful thing.

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