Rodia Kalamaras '22 It's an understatement to say that Olivia Rodrigo among many other female musicians is quite a big deal. And honestly good for her and other artists like her, I’m glad there are more female musicians on the radio from Dua Lipa, to WILLOW, to Lizzo, they all worked hard and deserve their success. However while they should be applauded I really think they shouldnt be labeled, specifically with the term “punk” because honestly I don't think they are.
Besides the obvious homages to punk and rock and roll sound that artists like Rodrigo and WILLOW employ, their origin stories are far from it. Punk as a whole was a respite from the over-bloated music industry in the 1970s,from the poverty found in America and England. It was a place where anyone could make music simply by knowing a few cords and willingness to be creative. The Ramones for example aren't in the hallmarks of punk because they were classically trained musicians displaying their high quality art to the world, it was because they were a bunch of poor guys in their 20s knowing next to nothing about “true music” and doing what they wanted. That’s what punk is, its rebellion from the constraints of normal society and no offense but Disney star Rodrigo is quite the opposite of that. Now of course these punk musicians were rocketed into stardom for their unique sound and overtime these musicians evolved, as generations of punk artists sonically experimented so too did the concept of punk. And that's where the term “pop-punk” comes in when punk artists take cues from modern pop through structures like verse-chorus-verse and a distinct effort placed on melody. That's where greats even today in punk music come from, bands like Green Day, Blink-182, Fall Out Boy, and a million others. But make no mistake, while their genre may be “pop-punk” , they are fundamentally punk first. Now side tangent here in researching for this article I found one by the fortyfive “00s Pop-Punk was a white monolith. The 20s will be better” and I found it rather insulting to the genre of punk as a whole. Punk may have many white people and fans but make no mistake in its roots, punk is for everyone, men, women, people of color, LGBT+ communities, the poor, every social outcast one can think of. The 2000s scene specifically was an ultimate convention of “punk” people. Take frontman for the American rock-band Fall Out Boy, what the media forgets (and honestly whitewashes) is the fact that he is a bi-racial man, he found comfort in the Chicago hardcore scene (hardcore a subgenre of punk), where he could express himself, his frustrations on race, politics, love, his struggles with bi-polar, everything. And when he recruited a band made up of an awkward drummer turned superstar vocalist Patrick Stump, a vegan straight-edge drummer Andy Hurley, and a Jewish former groupie turned outstanding lead-guitarist Joe Trohman they made Fall Out Boy. They might be famous now but they, like any other punk band, sweated it out in drab basements and scenes like the rest of them. They just like Green Day with their subversive themes of the mass hysteria of Americans during the Iraq war to even the leader singers’ bisexuality in the song “Coming Clean”. They just like all the other juggernauts of the era from hip-hop band Gym Class Heroes, to dance music band Cobra Starship. Because punk isn't a genre, it isn't a movement of a bunch of white guys and the occasional lady (side note- women have always been inherent to the punk scene just look up Debby Harry or Haley Williams), genres and scenes can and will be toxic but fundamentally punk is for everyone who wants to try. That's why I personally don't believe that Olivia Rodrigo, Willow and honestly I don't even want to say it Lil Huddy are punk, they may incorporate that sound and aesthetic they are the most corporatized musicians I can think of they of course may have had their struggles but they most certainly do not have punk roots, they have Disney, celebrity, and TikTok roots to be exact. So personally to mainstream reporters and media outlets please don't call these people punk, call them talented musicians like most deserve. And if you want to support punk artists I suggest you find them out yourself, discover them and watch them thrive from basement to stardom. Give your love to people who deserve it, give love to your fellow outcasts and watch them shine.
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Efstasia Karahalios '24 In honor of the leaves falling and spooky season approaching, a book I’ve seen popping up a lot on the internet is A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson. It tells the story of a high school senior named Pip, who has to complete a capstone project for school. She decides to uncover the secrets of her town’s biggest tragedy….the murder of Andie Bell and Sal Singh. Along the way Pip encounters dangers, makes new friends, and discovers secrets that were right in front of her the entire time.
I first read the book in September of 2021. My first impression of the book was that the plot summary sounded extremely interesting. I genuinely enjoyed the beginning of the book towards the middle because it described in detail Pip's thought process and how she came to each and every decision. I didn't exactly love the ending because of how wordy it was. I didn't think it flowed the right way and was very choppy. I had to go back and read it a few times to fully understand. Asking other students who have read the book, I heard relatively the same thing. 15-year-old sophomore Giana Capialbi states, “I enjoyed the journal entries at the end of each chapter because we got a summary from the first-person point of view. However, I disliked the part where the dog was murdered because that made me want to cry and served no purpose they could have left the dog alone.” Anita Perez, who also read the book recently, says, “I was not a big fan of how choppy the writing was, and I agree with Giana: the dog showed an inexplicable amount of sadness for no reason.” All in all this book had a great plot, and if you are able to slowly dissect the ending, then it could be an amazing experience with good plot twists. Alessia Bruzzese '22 The TikTok social media app which broke records in July of 2019 has been an outlet for all people to express themselves. If you’ve browsed the app, you may have noticed its increasing number of branches, or “sides”. One of the largest growing sides on TikTok is BookTok. Opening the hearts of old readers, welcoming new ones, and making books scale up the charts, BookTok has continuously grown over the past few months. Among these BookTokers, a 20-year-old creator named Ayman has surpassed 490,700 followers with her verified TikTok account: @aymanbooks. Just this month, on October 12, she posted a video with over 400K views. In this, Ayman engages with her followers by captioning the video, “when you’re borrowing books from b&n and an employee comes around and asks if they can help you find anything”. Over the past few weeks, by using satire, she has created a running joke with her followers (and even several Barnes and Nobles TikTok accounts) based around the idea of her “stealing” books from the international store. Penelope Douglas’ 343-page book, Punk 57, published on October 27, 2016, has been awarded as a Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Romance, won some Edgar Awards, and a number of others. Fame from BookTok has undoubtedly helped the success of this novel since it was published. Speaking from personal observation, just about all high school and college readers have read it or have it on their TBR (physical or written “to be read” list). At the beginning of this Halloween month, I embarked on my usual trip to the book store and picked up five books, one of which was Punk 57. Immediately rushing to start the book, I could’ve never expected what that experience would entail. The main characters, Misha and Ryen, are two high school students that have been writing as pen pals since fifth grade. Then, seven years after they were meant to stop writing, these best friends had never met, searched for the other person on social media/the internet, or shared photos of themselves. They knew everything about each other… besides what they looked like. Then, everything changed when Misha found a picture of a girl named Ryen online. After reading Punk 57 I worried that I’d fall into a reading slump… any reader’s worst nightmare. I worried that no book I’d read soon after would make me feel the same way that Penelope Douglas had. However, picking up Ali Hazelwoods, The Love Hypothesis may have been the smartest decision I could make in this situation. Published on September 14, 2021, this contemporary romance was the perfect transitionary novel. With the announcement of a second book, just one month after the publication of the first, BookTok readers are absolutely loving this series. Readers learn about the fictional character, Olive Smith, a third-year graduate student, and Ph.D. student. Aiming to convince her best friend, Anh, that she was over her ex, Olivia began a fake relationship with her professor. What happens when their “relationship” is tested by Anh’s relentlessness? How about a one-bed trope? Perhaps readers may see another infamous enemies to lovers romance story. By far, my personal favorite novel recommended from BookTok has been It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover which was published on August 16, 2021. This #1 New York Times bestselling author captivated me from the first to last lines of this heart-wrenching story. “As I sit here with one foot on either side of the ledge, looking down from twelve stories above the streets of Boston, I can’t help but think about suicide” was the perfect first line for this devastating, but beautiful, novel as it perfectly sets up the rest of the story. In this book, the main female character, Lily, moved from a small town in Maine to the large city of Boston. What happens when both an attractive neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid and her first love, Atlas Corrigan, come into her life? Will she end up with the stubborn, but incredibly intelligent and sensitive Ryle? What about Atlas, the man who bakes great chocolate chip cookies and is the typical cool INFP character? Or, will she realize that she is meant to stay independent without a romantic partner? At this point, you most likely realize the answer to my proposed question on whether it is worth it to read BookTok books. I truly believe that this specific TikTok community provides authors with a number of opportunities as millions of readers come together in hopes of finding the perfect next book to collectively rave over. By listing two of the novels (Punk 57 and The Love Hypothesis) I encourage you to read them after rating them ⅘ stars. Both provide readers with very different storylines and tropes, but the writing in these novels is absolutely incredible. It hooks the audience’s attention and provides plausible reasoning behind its popularity on BookTok. However, I’d argue that no recommended book from BookTok has left as large an impact on my life as It Ends with Us. Colleen Hoover takes horrific topics of domestic violence and is able to bring light to them. Moving forward, I look forward to reading more BookTok books and I truly appreciate the community that TikTok has offered me and fellow readers. Alex Somerville '24 The new season of Euphoria is coming out later this year or early 2022. The story line is based on a group of high school students through their experiences of sex, drugs, friendships, love, identity, and trauma.
The teen drama TV show Euphoria came out on June 16, 2019. The show had 260 million streams. It was a very popular show amongst teens and young adults. Euphoria is streamed on HBO Max and was filmed in Los Angeles. The TV show is based on the Israeli television miniseries of the same name created by Ron Leshem and Daphna Levin. Kaitlyn Leon ‘24 stated about Euphoria, “At first it was confusing and too much, but I did really enjoy it.” Another student, Shannon Rose, ‘24 said, “I really enjoyed the show, I liked how it showed what severe addiction could get and the bad sides of social media.” Euphoria was extremely delayed and set back because of COVID-19. It was planned to come out early 2021. They started filming the show again in April of 2021. Zendaya gave a little insight by saying there would be some devastating and sad information about her character “Rue” coming to light. Everyone in the cast is returning and no one has left the show. The show ended on a cliffhanger with Jules leaving town and hopping on a train. Fans are eager to see how this ends up. We are expecting some major changes, thanks to some clues from the cast. A trailer hasn’t dropped yet, but HBO has been dropping little teasers over the last couple months. Hopefully it comes out soon enough! Giana Capialbi '24 If you've ever seen a red carpet outfit worn by Zendaya or Anya Taylor-Joy, you would know how they are constantly pulling out all the stops and are looking top tier. Law Roach styles both of them and so many more, and his work is so well done and I’ve been dying to talk about it. Law grew up in Chicago and started his career as a vintage broker. There, he collected and curated vintage clothing until he eventually moved to New York. He opened Deliciously Vintage Harlem and soon opened another back in Chicago. It soon caught the attention of many people, including Kanye West. He later closed the shop and moved to Los Angeles to become a stylist. He became a big part of Celine Dion’s fashion upgrade in 2016, and is constantly pulling off great looks on all of his clients. Speaking of, I have to talk about Zendaya’s Dune press tour looks because every single one is fantastic. This custom Balmain at the Venice Film Festival? Blew everyone’s mind and was all I could think about for like a week. She wore my absolute favorite designer, Vivienne Westwood, in London of all places. She and Law are so on point every single time. They are truly one of the best duos and never ever miss. A particular favorite of mine is Hunter Shafer’s Schiaparelli look she wore for Jimmy Fallon, which was styled by Law. TV shows coming back were one of the first big events after COVID and they really did not disappoint. So good. And I have to say, his design for Anya Taylor-Joy is everything! I feel like Anya is a true example of elegance and Law matched it perfectly with this custom Dior for the Golden Globes. This dress had a hold on everyone who saw it for weeks. It was truly insane. Once again at the Venice Film Festival, she’s wearing even more Dior (haute couture to be exact), capturing the Barbie look perfectly. Her in Dior is a match I can’t get enough of. I cannot wait to see more looks from her soon. I feel like Law is one of the few Hollywood stylists who really gets his clients and styles them correctly. A lot of people really just don’t fit what they're wearing - personality wise, not size wise. And a lot of red carpet looks are just straight up boring. My theory for this is because 1. their stylists just aren’t connecting with them, and 2. their personalities don’t shine through. Personality, and art and style is what makes fashion fun. Law does a great job of making sure what he puts on his clients is never ever boring and it’s something I really appreciate. Gabrielle Reddan '24 After many months of the world being in a total shutdown, everything is slowly yet surely beginning to make its way back, including broadway shows. Many new shows have just begun premiering over the past few weeks, and theaters have been filled for the first time since March of 2020. Many broadway favorites are premiering this year, this may encourage many people not just from New York City but from all over to attend these great shows. Many Broadway fans are thrilled for the new shows and cannot wait to go see them. “I love Broadway and am so excited for it to be back!” said student Victoria Verrecchio ‘24. Over forty shows have announced their return back to Broadway this year. Performers and staff are thrilled to get back on their grind of producing these shows. Many award winning plays such as Aladdin, Wicked, The Lion King and more are all making their way back. Student Keira Ward ‘24 said “When I went to Broadway for the first time I loved it so much. I am so happy that it is now open again. I cannot wait to return soon!” By October 31, 2021 all performers, staff, and viewers must be vaccinated in order to perform or watch these productions. This will encourage many people all over to get vaccinated in order for them to finally be able to attend these shows after the long pause. Photo By: Eduardo Munoz/Reuters Daily Beast Website All throughout the Covid lockdown, the usually busy streets all around Broadway were empty for the first time in years. Now that Covid is slowly getting better with more vaccinations being administered, Broadway will be booming with many shows premiering and many people coming to see them very soon. Nina Shulzhenko '24 Versace’s new Platform Boots are being spotted everywhere! From Bebe Rhexa to Beyonce, these shoes have been one of the most trendy pieces of fashion so many people wish to have in their wardrobe!
During the Fall/Winter 2021 fashion show in Milan during fashion week, the Versace leather platform boots have been recognized and loved. Going for the ”reasonable” price of $1,400, these boots are on everyone's wish list. Celebrities are being spotted wearing these boots such as Bebe Rhexa and Beyonce. They are being worn as a staple piece in many celebrities’ daily outfits. They were recognized for their simple, minimalist, and expensive looks. These boots are leather based with an all rubber, 155 mm platform. The material is hard to damage, making it perfect to wear for the upcoming seasons dealing with snow, cold weather, and rain. Amanda Gopie '23 Bang Bang Con 21 was on April 17 at 2 am EDT. Bang Bang Con is a livestream of prerecorded BTS concerts that happened in the past. The livestream was eight hours long and we saw three of their concerts from specific albums. Bang Bang Con 21 was streamed on BTS’s official youtube channel, BANGTANTV.
The first concert, BTS Live Trilogy: Episode I BTS Begins, was performed in Seoul, South Korea in 2015. The second concert, BTS 5th Muster (Magic Shop) was performed in Busan, South Korea in 2015. The last concert, Love Yourself: Speak Yourself was in Sao Paulo, Brazil, performed in 2019. Songs performed in the BTS Live Trilogy: Episode I BTS Begins include “No More Dream,” “Like pt 1 and 2,” “Skool Luv Affair,” “War of Hormone,” “Attack on Bangtan,” and “Danger.” This concert had songs from their first few albums. “Jump,” “We Are Bulletproof pt. 2,” “Idol,” “Pied Piper,” and “Magic Shop” were some songs performed in BTS 5th Muster (Magic Shop). One of the songs performed was an unofficial song by Suga, RM, and J-hope called “Ddaeng.” In the Love Yourself concert, they highlighted the solo songs done by some of the members. Some of the solo songs performed were Jungkook’s “Euphoria,” Jimin’s “Serendipity,” V’s “Singularity,” Suga’s “Trivia: Seesaw,” and Jin’s “Epiphany.” All of BTS’s solo songs are on the 2018 Love Yourself: Answer album. This was my first time watching Bang Bang Con and I really enjoyed it. Everything was timed well and the visuals were spot-on amazing. They had little movies to help represent their theme of the albums they performed. They made sure the boys had breaks between entertaining the army, which is the name of their fans. Sophomore Kareena Joseph also watched Bang Bang Con '21. “I watched parts of the stream, but I really thought it was great. I love how BTS decided to give some of their fans an insight into what their concerts looked like.” Since I became a fan of BTS during quarantine, it was nice to see their past concerts from when they just started. It was nostalgic and we get to see them growing up in a way. They showed pictures of them when they were in middle school and the clips they made over time as a band. I really enjoyed Bang Bang Con and it was great for anyone who was new to the army to have the opportunity to experience past eras of BTS. Giana Capialbi '21
AnnaMaria Petalas '21
If you know me, you know my favorite actor is Tom Holland. I was so excited to see his new movie, Cherry. I watched it the day it came out on Apple TV+. The movie is a Rated R because it does touch on some sensitive topics. The basic storyline is that Cherry, played by Tom Holland, met a girl, Emily, played by Ciara Bravo, in college, and they fell in love. Emily wanted to move away to go to a different college and the news broke him, so he signed up for the military. She ended up not going away, but it was too late for him to back down. They got married before Cherry left and she waited for him. However, when Cherry returned home, he had changed. He came back with PTSD from the war and did not know how to deal with it, so he got addicted to Heroin and Oxy. Cherry’s addiction eventually rubbed off onto Emily. However, to obtain enough money, Cherry robbed a bank. Not one, not two, but a lot of them. At one point in the movie, Emily almost died of an overdose, so she wound up in rehab; causing Cherry to turn himself in. Many years later, he was released, and standing at the gate was Emily, waiting for him once again. In my opinion, I think playing this role had pushed Tom Holland's acting skills further than ever. He played a student, a lover, a soldier, a junkie, and a thief all in one character. Each one was portrayed in its own chapter of the character’s life. I would personally rate this movie a solid 9.5/10. I don’t know if that’s because Tom Holland was the main character or because it was overall just a really good movie, but I have recommended the movie to everyone. Honestly, I couldn’t say anything bad about the movie. I thought all of the actors and actresses did amazingly and played their roles perfectly. The Rotten Tomatoes scale and the scale on Google are very different. On Google, Cherry got a 4.6/5, while on Rotten Tomatoes, the audience rating is a 3.8/5, and the critics on the Tomatometer gave it a 5.2/10. Some reviews from top critics are negative such as, “What an absolute mess of superficially explored themes about addiction and America.” and “Cherry's decision making at the end is very cool visually, but hard to understand and never explained.” On the other hand, some are more positive, “Tom Holland and Ciara Bravo are exceptional in this film, with a very memorable score and incredible cinematography.” and “If you want an example of someone delivering big and single handedly upping the quality of a movie, you have to see Tom Holland's work in Cherry.” Obviously, I agree with the positive comments, and will definitely be watching this movie again soon. |