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(10/26/23 2:35am)
The 18 people killed in two mass shootings in Lewiston, Maine, included a 14-year-old bowler, a shipbuilder who loved playing the game of cornhole and a sign language interpreter.
(09/29/23 7:17pm)
MUNCIE, Ind. (NewsLink Indiana) — Almost two months after a mass shooting at a block party left one dead and 18 injured, emotions are still high and families continue to look for answers.
(10/28/22 3:59pm)
Jeanne Clery was a first-year student at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania.
(10/13/22 8:00pm)
By TERRY SPENCER Associated Press
(09/14/22 9:43pm)
By MICHAEL TARM and JOEY CAPPELLETTI Associated Press
(08/24/22 2:21pm)
UPDATE on August 20 story:
(08/20/22 10:13pm)
According to a press release from Muncie Police Department (MPD) Deputy Chief Melissa Criswell.
(04/10/21 1:00pm)
By Conner Tighe
Actor and artist Darren Criss released his latest music piece, “F*KN Around,” which centers on Criss’s days as a young wannabe star. I originally thought the piece was a larger project, and it turns out it is. But it would not be in an album but a start for more music, which is yet to come. Diverging from his other works like EPs Human and Homework, “F*KN Around” comes with a comedic, fun vibe that makes the singer sound like a half rock star and half pop star.
Criss grew up in California, mainly doing theater work for Team StarKid. He was always into the music scene, playing alongside his older brother Chuck. The two never went into full stardom until 2017, when they released EP Lost Boys Life under the name Computer Games. Perhaps what Criss is most well known for is his time in the spotlight as character Blaine Anderson on Fox’s Glee, which lasted for six seasons. He was one of the first openly gay characters on the show, an act completely different from Criss’s real life as he married his wife Mia Swier in 2019. He’s continued working for shows under Ryan Murphy’s handling, like American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace and Hollywood.
(03/09/21 4:28pm)
By Mason Kupiainen
In recent years, Stephen King has been shifting away from the strange and horror genres. Books like The Outsider and If It Bleeds still implement horror and bizarre elements, but it’s beginning to feel as if these elements have been placed on the backburner. He's been fixated on the crime, mystery, and detective genres with novels such as the Mr. Mercedes trilogy and The Outsider. King has released novels under the Hard Case Crime imprint, books intended to catch the feel of classic pulp fiction and noir novels, beginning with The Colorado Kid and Joyland. King once again returns to Hard Case Crimes with Later.
Later follows Jamie Conklin, who has the ability to talk to the dead, but with minor exceptions. When asked a question, the dead have to give him the truth, and these ghosts can only stay around a few days until passing on. Jamie lives with his single mother, who’s a struggling editor. Once her bestselling author dies without finishing his final novel, she uses Jamie to talk with the deceased author to finish the book. His mother’s detective girlfriend, Liz, struggles to believe he has this ability while drawing him into a case with the hopes of stopping a deceased serial killer who left behind one final surprise.
King at his finest
One of the best aspects of King is his approach to bizarre and outlandish ideas. Novels like Pet Sematary, The Shining, and It perfectly showcase his ability to take strange concepts and turn them into some of literature’s finest works. Later follows this same idea with having a concept that might sound similar to The Sixth Sense but approaches it differently. The concept is structured in a way so that it feels fresh and unique. Since it is a Hard Case Crime novel, the book has a quick and speedy pace; these novels tend to be shorter than King’s usually lengthy tomes. Unlike some of King’s other works, like Pet Sematary and The Stand that linger around in some areas, Later gets to the point right from the start and never slows down. The story also bleeds in and out of different smaller stories that connect to the overall tale. It begins with Jamie’s mother trying to finish the dead author’s novel before leading into the small crime portion of the book. Both of these then lead into the actual meat of the story.
The book also makes use of its title by incorporating multiple layers. The word “later” holds many meanings and is used continuously throughout, without ever feeling repetitive. For example, the story is told from a first-person perspective, with Jamie reflecting on his life. On almost every page, Jamie will point out something that might seem minor now which comes into play “later” or mention a subtle detail he didn’t catch until “later.”
For being published under the Hard Case Crime series, it was surprising to find that Later wasn’t a crime novel. There are crime elements sprinkled throughout, and for the exception of a minor section of the book, there isn’t much detective work. The focus on horror instead of the detective work is a detour from The Colorado Kid and Joyland — both released under Hard Case Crimes. However, Later turned out to be the best of the three by improving upon many aspects. Later feels less like King trying to force his style into a genre that can’t support it and instead feels like a stereotypical King novel.
And, of course, you can’t have a King novel without references to the larger King universe. Fans of his work will enjoy the connections to the rest of his universe. From small references to a novel like The Shawshank Redemption to major plot elements taken from It, this tale was almost like a Where’s Waldo? for King fans.
Maybe later
Later does struggle from some elements that feel like a result of King’s age. The dialogue and actions at times when Jamie was younger did not feel natural to how kids are today. Although King is notorious for capturing the essence of children within his books — most notably It and The Body (adapted into the film Stand By Me) — Later feels almost as if King is too far removed from his youth to portray children perfectly. The way the story follows Jamie growing up was done well for being a shorter book, but it still has its minor missteps here and there.
Something annoying that King has usually been good at leaving to the wayside is talk of politics. King’s never been afraid to add monologues about topics and ideas within his books, but he usually tries to avoid putting his political beliefs within his work. Even though Later doesn’t contain many examples of this, it was annoying at certain points when the story felt as if it paused to present his views on the political climate. Perhaps if these elements were better woven into the story, so they didn’t stick out like a sore thumb, it would have appeared less intrusive. However, in the beginning, there are certain points where it felt as if King was sacrificing the characters to force political drama that did not feel natural to how the characters were introduced.
Since the book revolves around the young boy being able to talk to the dead, this ties in with the theme of secrets. Countless times throughout the story, disturbing secrets are revealed about characters, tying into a theme that some secrets are better left unknown. This concept works well for most of the secrets, except for one. A mystery that haunts Jamie is who his father is because his mother refuses to tell him. Once his identity is revealed in the end, it works with the theme of leaving secrets alone. It does feel like King went a little too far because most will wish they hadn’t learned the answer to this particular question.
Sources: Hard Case Crime, IMDB
Featured Image: GameSpot
(02/01/21 8:30pm)
By Mason Kupiainen
The opinions and views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the opinion of Byte or Byte’s editorial board.
Being a passion project for writer and director John Hancock, The Little Things has been in development for almost 30 years. The first draft was written back in 1993 with Steven Spielberg originally interested in helming the project. He eventually left due to the story being “too dark” for him. Directors such as Clint Eastwood, Warren Beatty, and Danny Devito all circled the project at one point or another, with none of them attaching themselves to it. Now, finally, Hancock’s story is being brought both to the big and small screen, with the film playing in theaters and streaming on HBO Max at the same time.
The Little Things follows deputy sheriff Joe Deacon (Denzel Washington) and sergeant Jim Baxter (Rami Malek) as they try to solve a series of brutal murders. As they unravel the mystery, Deacon’s haunted by a past mistake that echoes their case.
Clues don’t matter
With an all-star cast, including three Academy Award winners, Washington, Malek, and Jared Leto, as well as notable directors like Spielberg and Eastwood all attached to direct at one point, it’s disappointing to see the film turn into an unsolvable mess. Washington and Malek give very hollow and dry performances to their weakly written characters. Their motivation is clearly shown in the movie, but their dialogue and actions are confusing and awkward at times. Surprisingly, Leto gives one of his best performances, with his character stealing every scene he’s in. An example of his brilliant performance comes from an interrogation scene between him and Baxter. This scene perfectly encapsulates his sick nature, while showing off the characters playfulness. Leto gives off an incredibly uncomfortable and unsettling vibe, while also having a likable and amusing nature. His character always has a quip and is perfectly written to the point that you never truly know what he will do next, or if he’s ever telling the truth.
Hollywood’s finest
Aside from the weak performances, the technical aspect doesn’t hold up either. A frustrating thing about big studio films is the easily avoidable mistakes. From the start of the movie, the editing felt off and jarring. Throughout the movie, many quick cuts and scenes are jumping from one to another without a smooth transition. There are also times when an actor’s expression dramatically changes, only to go back to their original expression seconds later. Having something this noticeable and awkward made the movie even more frustrating since it’s something that easily could’ve been avoided. The direction didn’t have anything remarkable about it either. It felt bland like the rest of the movie, and lacked any creativeness to it. None of the shots were rememberable or stood out as unique ways of telling the story.
A mystery without any mystery
With a script that was written back in 1993, you’d think that the story would have been locked solid, but it’s not. The movie opens with an attempted murder and kept the killer’s face hidden during the sequence. Whether it was intentional or not, there was a quick moment where we get a view of the man’s face that throws away any mystery as to who’s committing the murders. Also, Leto’s character, who’s the prime suspect of the whole movie, has a distinctive walk, to the point that the moment he’s shown on screen, you instantly know whether he is the killer or not. Since the movie tries to be an edge-of-your-seat thriller that wants to keep you constantly asking questions, the movie at the same time doesn’t give much to keep your interest. There are moments when the film does do a great job at creating suspense, but these moments are too quickly dissolved.
Most great serial killer murder mystery films have a message directly tied to the killer’s motivation. One of the best films of the genre, Se7ven, includes great messages revolving around the seven deadly sins, as well as the fall and corruption of man. The Little Things lacks having a clear and distinctive message that leaves it feeling lifeless. There are many Christian parallels to angels and allowing our past to haunt us, but neither of these felt like messages, but rather like themes. Lacking a moral message makes a film like this feel hollow and soulless, and leaves us only trying to solve the mystery. But if the movie lacks a compelling mystery and conclusion, that adds to the overall disappointment of the film.
Speaking of the ending, the climax of the movie is terrible. There isn’t a better way to describe the ending rather than terrible and unsatisfying. The ending echoes similarities to the climax of Se7en but without any of the payoff. How the movie decides to resolve the mystery isn’t necessarily a terrible way to end a film, however, in this instance, it was poorly executed. Many of the film’s mysteries are left unsolved by the time the credits roll, and it felt like an odd note on which to leave the movie. For viewers who pay extremely close attention to the subtle details planted throughout the film, they can try and piece together the mystery after the fact. However, with the evidence that the viewers are given, the movie will leave you frustrated since the clues all point to different outcomes. It could be that the filmmakers wanted audiences to feel irritated, just like how a detective who can’t solve a case may feel. But again, the execution of the film is handled too poorly to leave any effect on viewers.
Sources: Deadline, Collider, Oscars (Denzel Washington), Oscars, (Rami Malek), The Hollywood Reporter, The Metaplex
Images: Los Angeles Times, Cleveland, Vulture
Featured Image: Hypebeast
(10/09/20 11:13pm)
MUNCIE, Ind. (NewsLink)— A local Muncie store was broken into on Sunday night.
(03/31/19 11:22pm)
by Emily Reuben
The opinions and views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the opinion of Byte or Byte’s editorial board.
True crime is currently all the rage. There is a seemingly endless amount of podcasts, YouTubers, books, and documentaries all tackling the subject to varying degrees of quality. With so many choices, consumers have a ton of material to choose from to get their fix. But for many, retellings and evidence of cases isn’t enough; cases without any narrative padding can be too gruesome, or even boring for many consumers.
With the rise of true crime popularity we have also seen fictional retellings based off of real cases. Just to name a few we have the biopic Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile starring Zac Efron as Ted Bundy set to release later this year, Martin Scorsese is set to direct Devil in the White City, based on serial killer H.H. Holmes, and even My Friend Dahmer which released in 2017.
Following the trend, The Hulu original series The Act released on March 20th to positive reviews, and at the time of writing this article, has currently released four episodes. The anthology series reenacts actual crimes, focusing on one specific case per season. For the series’ first season, the case of Gypsy Rose and the murder of her mother Dee Dee Blanchard is the season’s focus.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_5fqDZCjQo[/embed]
Gypsy, a victim of Munchausen syndrome by proxy inflicted by Dee Dee, eventually conspires to kill her mother with her boyfriend Nicholas Godejohn. Shortly after Dee Dee is killed, Gypsy and Nicholas were found and arrested. Gypsy was sentenced to ten years in prison and will be eligible for parole in 2024 when she is 24 years old.
While The Act does a great job of retelling the case, there is some creative freedom at play. To tell a compelling narrative, some liberties had to be taken to construct a cohesive, interesting narrative for the television format. For those interested in Gypsy’s story who want a non-fictional account, the HBO documentary Mommy Dead and Dearest offers a more raw, authentic look into the case.
Mommy Dead and Dearest is a documentary released in 2017 and directed by Erin Lee Carr, director of another true crime documentary Thought Crimes: The Case of the Cannibal Cop. In Mommy Dead and Dearest, Dee Dee’s murder is discussed, but the primary focus is the abuse endured by Gypsy. Because her mother suffered with Munchausen, Gypsy was forced to play the role of an incredibly sick child suffering from leukemia, muscular dystrophy, and even brain damage that allegedly “made Gypsy have the mind of a seven-year-old child”. Gypsy was confined to a wheelchair, fed with a feeding tube, and had multiple surgeries for her various illnesses, but her illnesses were all fabrications made by Dee Dee.
Dee Dee managed to convince the world she was a fiercely dedicated, loving mother who garnered sympathy and monetary donations from those who clamored to support her and Gypsy. Their home in Springfield, Missouri was built by Habitat For Humanity after the pair were supposedly left homeless after Hurricane Katrina. Gypsy was given charitable donations, was a Make-A-Wish recipient, and appeared in the local news.
In actuality, Gypsy was needlessly subjected to surgeries by a mother who hindered her freedom and was forced to lie to those around her about her illnesses.
Dee Dee isolated Gypsy from just about everyone. While Gypsy had made friends with her neighbor Aleah Woodmansee, her mother would keep her from speaking to her friend, calling Aleah a “bad influence.” In the television movie Gypsy’s Revenge Gypsy states, “I couldn’t trust Aleah because my mother was starting to put things in my head that Aleah wasn’t my true friend and that she was a bad influence on me so I couldn’t be friends with her anymore.”
A character not given much screen time in The Act is Gypsy’s father. In Mommy Dead and Dearest the case is relayed by Gypsy herself, journalists, doctors, and so forth but also by members of Gypsy’s family, including her father. These testimonies are incredibly interesting and showcase elements of the case from a personal perspective.
“I didn’t reach out to my dad because I grew up with my mom saying all these horrible things about him.” - Gypsy, Gypsy's Revenge Gypsy’s father, Rod Blanchard, was active in Gypsy’s life until around age 10 when she and Dee Dee moved to Slidell, New Orleans. After that, he was hardly allowed contact with his daughter and was not aware of the abuse she endured. Dee Dee and Rod separated shortly before Gypsy was born. According to Buzzfeed, Rod explains
that Gypsy was a healthy baby, but as time passed Dee Dee began claiming Gyspy had more and more health concerns, ranging from sleep apnea to a chromosomal defect. While certain instances raised suspicion for Rod, he knew nothing about Gypsy’s local fame and the illnesses. Like everyone else who knew Gypsy, he wasn’t even aware that Gypsy could actually walk.
Tired of the constant operations and heavily restricted lifestyle imposed on her, Gypsy did eventually start pushing back against her mother.
On June 14, 2015 the Facebook account shared by Dee Dee and Gypsy posted a concerning message that caused alarm:
After seeing the message, a concerned family friend called the police. Once the police entered inside the house, they found Dee Dee in her bedroom, stabbed to death, and Gypsy was nowhere to be found.
The key difference between The Act and Mommy Dead and Dearest (other than one being a retelling while the other is a documentary) is that The Act allows viewers to see what might have been the daily life and abuse Gypsy faced. Because creative liberties could be made, there is plenty of opportunity for character building and dramatic effect. Dee Dee, played by Patricia Arquette, does a great job of being both intimidating and sickeningly sweet. Joey King, the actress who plays Gypsy, is excellent and genuinely looks and sounds like the real Gypsy Rose. Both of these performers work off of one another to make the narrative effective. However, The Act is realistic fiction, so it’s difficult to say just how accurate the interactions between are, more specifically the ones that happened behind closed doors. Because the series is still releasing new episodes, it remains to be seen how the show will handle Dee Dee's murder and Gypsy's subsequent trial.
This is the appeal of the documentary format. While testimony is used and adds some drama to Mommy Dead and Dearest, it doesn’t embellish or dramatize the case. It should be noted that, while not disingenuous or manipulative regarding what information is provided to the audience, the documentary does skew towards empathizing with Gypsy and even criticizes her sentencing. There is some opinion provided, so for those looking for a documentary with little input and nothing but facts and evidence, this may be a turn-off.
Despite some liberties taken, The Act is incredibly respectful to the source material. A problem many true crime stories based on real cases run into is romanticization of the crime and killer. The upcoming Ted Bundy biopic became highly controversial after the first trailer released, making the character of Ted Bundy appear to be a cool, Wolf of Wall Street-esque bad-boy. It’s easy to forget that these stories are based on real people and real victims are involved, and because of this, need to be told with expert care and respect towards those involved. Luckily, The Act manages to be both entertaining and respectful.
In terms of preference, it honestly just boils down to what you’re looking for. If you want a no-frills look at Gypsy’s case, Mommy Dead and Dearest is probably the better choice. If you want a series with character development and a slow build-up, The Act will probably be more satisfactory.
Frankly, Gypsy was failed by those around her. Medical professionals could have intervened and stopped the abuse had they been more vigilant. CPS failed to find anything amiss with Dee Dee’s mothering. Neighbors were manipulated and unable to help Gypsy. Gypsy’s father was purposefully kept away by Dee Dee. Whether you start watching the The Act or catch Mommy Dead and Dearest on HBO, the case of Gypsy is a tragic, sickening story of child abuse.
(02/26/19 9:42pm)
by Baylie Clevenger
The opinions and views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the opinion of Byte and Byte's editorial board.
Over the past few weeks, news and social media have been buzzing with post after post about Empire's Jussie Smollett. This whole thing has been a confusing collection of events, so let’s start with a rundown of what has happened.
Smollett claimed that he was attacked on Jan. 29 in Chicago in what was being investigated as a hate crime. USA Today reports that he alleged that the men who attacked him threw racist and homophobic slurs at him, poured chemicals on him, and also wrapped a noose around his neck — a nod to the lynchings that have happened to a lot of black people throughout history.
The Chicago Police Department came forward with new developments in the case recently in which they report that Smollett likely faked this attack. On Feb 15, after having arrested the suspects of the alleged attack, the men that were questioned by police claimed that Smollett paid them to stage the attack.
On Feb. 20, after further investigation, Smollett was indicted for charges of disorderly conduct and false reporting of a crime. On Feb. 22, the Empire star was officially removed from the cast of the show.
This whole case has been sad and despicable, and in the midst of a widely publicized fake accusation, there is no better time than now to remember how many real hate crimes happen on the daily.
According to reports made by the FBI, in 2017, more than half of the hate crimes committed were motivated by race and about 15% of them were motivated by bias against sexual orientation. Among the hate crimes that were reported, religion, sexuality, and race were the top three biases that were motivation for the reported crimes.
Breaking down the information, the FBI also reported that among the sexuality-related hate crimes, more than half of them were against gay men, and among racially-motivated hate crimes, about half of those were anti-black attacks as well.
Hate crimes are grossly underreported, as reported by The Chicago Tribune, so the number of hate crimes taking place is likely higher than what we actually have statistics on.
While Smollett may have allegedly used his identities for personal gain by faking this attack, he does not represent the entire black community, and he also does not represent the entire LGBTQ+ community. He is one person in those communities that chose to use a false claim for his own benefit while millions of others experience real crimes.
Though he has been an advocate in the past, his actions in this instance have negatively impacted both the LGBTQ+ and black communities. All it takes is one highly publicized false accusation to set the tone for a whole community. Even though the majority of hate crimes are not fake, people are going to remember the one that was. His actions have moved advocacy for black and queer people back many steps.
(01/31/19 9:44pm)
by Sydney Norman
As a true crime aficionado and fangirl, the idea that a Ted Bundy documentary would be coming to Netflix excited me to no end. I knew a lot about Bundy from previous readings and podcasts, but these taped recordings were an exclusive that I’d never even heard of before. Conversations with a Killer is a documentary focusing on the life of Ted Bundy, partially told by Bundy himself, which begins with the story of Bundy requesting to speak with a journalist in order to tell his side of the story and clear his name.
The documentary features tapes of Ted Bundy talking about his childhood — he takes his time before he gets into the murders. The reporter who was responsible for taping the interviews, Stephen Michaud, had to come up with a way to get Bundy, a textbook narcissist, to discuss the murders, which is the real beef of the interviews. So Michaud decided to ask him what he thinks happened. This approach gave Bundy a level of power and let him think that Michaud wanted his genius point of view, which got him talking. Bundy tells the stories of the murders from the point of view of the killer. This information is mentioned in the documentary but barely given airtime.
At one point, an interview with Bundy’s kidnapping survivor really draws you in. Carol Daronch tells the story of being kidnapped by Bundy, and then the story of how she escaped. Bundy is said to have killed another woman, Debra Jean Kent, very shortly after Daronch escaped, which makes her story all the more thrilling. This was an amazing directorial choice, seeing a living victim who can tell a story rather than just police-assumed retellings creates a connection between viewers and the story. The emotion in the voice of someone who lived through such an event leaves a much larger impact than just hearing the story from a third party.
Similarly, Bundy’s mother, Louise, is shown pleading for her son’s life. She states that she, nor the rest of Bundy’s family and friends, believe that he is possible of such heinous crimes. She does interviews with the press asking that people reconsider their thoughts and insisting that her son is innocent. The pain in her eyes speaks a million words. Much like an interview with a Bundy survivor, this adds depth to the documentary because of the raw emotion, she thinks her son, her baby, is going to prison for doing nothing. It’s almost painful to watch.
Despite a number of interesting interviews, this documentary lacked in many areas for being a four-hour endeavor. It never discusses Bundy’s reasoning for picking his victims, like their generally similar characteristics. The documentary also focuses very little on the actual tapes of Bundy talking and instead relies on interviews with journalists, police officers, and people that knew Bundy. This makes the title misleading. I went in assuming that there would be mostly recordings of Bundy telling the stories of the murders. This was especially disappointing because there are approximately 100 hours of recordings of Bundy telling his stories. Out of hundreds of hours of recordings, we probably heard, at maximum, an hour of Bundy talking. Calling a documentary “The Ted Bundy Tapes” implies far more interviews with Bundy and far fewer interviews with other people. These factors do help make the story better by providing input and points of view from different sources, but they don’t add to the validity of the title.
This documentary did one thing well though; it showed Ted Bundy as both a monster and a (quite literal) lady killer. Although Bundy was on trial for the rapes and murders of college-aged women, many women in that age group showed up to his trial every day and stared at him in awe. As the prosecution and defense are going over the details of the case, women can be seen in the background gazing at Bundy. There are even interviews where women say that he’s so charming, and they don’t believe he has the eyes of a killer. He could convince and connive his way out of any situation, or so he thought.
Bundy thought he was the smartest man on Earth, and liked to pretend he truly was. Most murderers could be categorized as unattractive, scary, social recluses, but Bundy was none of these things. It is mentioned briefly in the documentary that this is what made the case so unique. By showing both sides of Bundy, monster and attractive man, we are shown more perspective of the women of the 1970s, and why they were so enticed by Bundy. His charm and general good looks made him the perfect candidate to be a killer. He assumed because he was so personable, that he could get away with murder. This made the documentary flourish because you were able to see exactly what a charming smile and a college degree can (almost) get away with.
The documentary also highlights the fact that this was one of the very first cases to be nearly entirely televised, making it a worldwide sensation. Every person could turn on the TV and see the details of the Bundy case come to life day after day. This made the making of the documentary easier, as there was so no shortage of footage to include.
The documentary ends in 1986, with Bundy up on Death Row to be killed within the next week. Many lawyers stood up for Bundy, saying that he shouldn’t be electrocuted because of his mental state. This entire section of the documentary seems muddled and boring. Usually, you can rely on a strong conclusion to make a movie or documentary seem better than it was, but it just ends with interviews of cops from Florida discussing their hatred for Bundy. After the enthralling footage that was shown in the documentary, it just felt underwhelming to end on something that is nowhere near as interesting as anything else in the entire show.
(12/03/18 8:12pm)
by Shwetha Sundarrajan
The opinions and views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the opinion of Byte or Byte's editorial board.
In the Wizarding World where everything is magical (especially the Butterbeer), there was one thing that upset me, a hardcore Harry Potter fan. It was the second installment of the Fantastic Beasts movie. Don’t get me wrong, the first one was fantastic. "The Crimes of Grindelwald," however, not so much. With the script written by J.K. Rowling herself, I truly expected every character to have a developed profile, including the minor characters, like how it was in the original Harry Potter films. But I truly lost faith in the movie when news of Nagini came out.
The final trailer showed that Nagini is a creature called a Maledictus, which according to the official website Pottermore, is "a carrier of a blood curse which will ultimately destine them to transform permanently into a beast." But it was the casting of Nagini that enraged a lot of fans like myself. Played by Korean-American actress Claudia Kim, it seemed as if Rowling’s casting choice was to simply include POC’s. Even if that was her intention, her reasoning behind the casting was absurd. According to her statement on Twitter defending her decision, Rowling stated, “The Naga are snake-like mythical creatures of Indonesian mythology, hence the name ‘Nagini.’ They are sometimes depicted as winged, sometimes as half-human, half-snake. Indonesia comprises a few hundred ethnic groups, including Javanese, Chinese, and Betawi. Have a lovely day.”
For all the extensive research Rowling does for her books, she definitely missed the mark with Nagini. To clarify, the Nagas descended from Hindu mythology, not Indonesian mythology. According to Wikipedia, “The term Naga in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism denotes divine, semi-divine deities, or a semi-divine race of half-human half-serpent beings that reside in the heavenly Patala (netherworld) and can occasionally take human form.” So why cast Nagini as an East Asian woman when the Nagas themselves should be played by a South Asian actor? Besides, the very concept of making Nagini an Asian woman plays right into the fetishization of Asian peoples and the subservience of women. In the Harry Potter books, Nagini is Voldemort's loyal servant. Furthermore, by making Nagini an Asian woman, Rowling plays right into the disgusting stereotype of the exotic Asian woman fetishized by the white man. And by being the only Asian character, the lack of representation sticks out like a sore thumb.
(11/26/18 4:00pm)
by Eli Sokeland
With the first entry in the series, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the story built up a significant world from the Harry Potter universe. Not only did it introduce a new protagonist, the film also expanded on the wonderous world of the international wizarding communities. Therefore, this sequel has a lot to uphold compared to the high standard its predecessor set.
Fantastic Beasts: Crimes of Grindelwald quickly dashes any hopes of improving against the first film. While the movie has a multitude of flaws, there is one major issue that is a consistent plague: the lack of a cohesive story.
(11/08/18 8:00pm)
Devin Tarr, a senior actuarial science major, did not know.
(03/21/18 4:20pm)
by Conner Tighe
Warning: This review may contain spoilers for this episode and previous episodes of The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story.
Andrew’s childhood is explored in this new episode of American Crime Story, along with Gianni’s. The opening scenes include background on how Gianni got into the fashion business due to his mother. Andrew is seen coming from a wealthy family, but with a dark secret. This episode is one of the slower ones but provides some excellent insight into Andrew’s abusive childhood.
Taking previous episodes into consideration it’s confusing as to why Andrew’s mother is the way she is. In this episode it’s revealed that Mary Anne, Andrew’s mother, suffered from depression during his first few years. His manipulative father, Modesto, is verbally and physically abusive to her. He strives for Andrew to become educated in almost every subject. There are several different scenes in the episode that can be linked to Andrew’s behavior in past episodes. His neglect towards his mother is learned by his father.
The episode at first is sweet and calm but the atmosphere quickly turns tense when it is revealed that Modesto has been having his customers invest in fake stocks. The FBI catches on and attempts to take him in and he quickly hurries home. He has money prepared for this situation and steals Andrew’s car to get to the airport, then makes his way to Manila in the Philippines. The emotional toll this has on Andrew and his mother is understandable but incredibly sad.
It’s learned shortly afterward that Modesto emptied every credit card and bank account in the family, so Andrew and his mother are left to fend for themselves. Mary Anne treats Andrew as good as ever as she prepares meals for him, but Andrew only responds in negative ways. Modesto always told Andrew that his mother had a “weak mind” and Modesto’s treatment towards Mary Anne rubbed off on Andrew.
The atmosphere takes a turn, however, when Andrew first meets Elizabeth at a party. Andrew is dressed very flamboyantly and is met with judgmental eyes. He begins to dance while "Whip It" by Devo plays in the background. Elizabeth quickly joins him and the two become good friends. Elizabeth seems to represent the hope and good in Andrew’s life. She is curious about Andrew and wants to understand him. The party scene as a whole is a good example of the prejudice and hate towards the gay community in the '80s.
Andrew attended a private school in California which was supposedly the best in the state. He is seen standing in line for pictures and making a scene because there is no originality in anyone’s poses. A guy then turns around and tells him to shut up. Andrew then walks up to the picture guy and unbuttons his own shirt to look different than everyone else. This scene seems to have no impact on the episode, but it says a lot about Andrew’s character. His struggle with being different has made him into a stronger person. He has learned to ignore people’s comments.
Andrew is misunderstood and alone in his world. He strives to live up to his father’s expectations regardless of his absence but takes the initiative to go find him. He then makes his way to Manila and finds him living in a small shack-like house. This scene is particularly tense and powerful due to the acting of Darren Criss and Jon Jon Briones. The two are initially happy to see each other, but then it turns dark. They engage in a verbal argument until Modesto slaps Andrew. Andrew then picks up a nearby kitchen knife and holds it in a defensive stance. Modesto urges him to stab him, but Andrew cannot. He begins crying and leaves. The acting by both Criss and Briones is well done, and the relationship between their two characters is shown in its true form here.
(03/18/18 9:04pm)
by Conner Tighe
Warning: This episode may contain spoilers for this episode and previous episodes of The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story.
"Ascent" seems to build off of the previous episode of American Crime Story, using similar characters to help build more backstory on Andrew Cunanan’s life. Versace’s illness begins to weaken him as he eventually suffers from hearing loss. Donatella struggles with taking over the Versace company. Andrew struggles to make a name for himself in the escort business and decides to go rogue. The first spark between Andrew and David is revealed.
Like the previous episodes, this episode is full of backstory on the Versace family along with Andrew’s story. Donatella grows envious of her brother and is nervous about taking over the company. Gianni is easily able to come up with new designs and ideas for clothes. Donatella doesn’t have this gift and attempts to persuade Gianni that she is not ready for the responsibility and their relationship struggles for a while because of this.
Andrew and his mother are struggling financially to make ends meet. He attempts to join the escort business and struggles because of his Asian-American heritage. He decides to work his way into the social hierarchy by attracting the attention of older wealthy men. He meets both Norman and David along the way and his love for David begins to form.
Gianni and Donatella argue over a new design idea that he has when suddenly, he goes deaf. He begins screaming frantically and Donatella comforts him while they call an ambulance. It turns out that Gianni has ear cancer and the future of Versace is left to Donatella. She approaches this new challenge head-on.
This episode is able to reveal how Andrew made his way into the hearts of many men. He keeps this all a secret from his delusional mother. He has never killed at this point but witnesses a murder of one of his friends and is left in shock. There is true fear on his face and this can be linked to Andrew’s future killings. Norman truly becomes interested in Andrew and the two build a house in California which we saw in episode six. It also becomes clear how Andrew and David met after an incident at a bar. Andrew is sitting with a group of wealthy people when he spots David sitting alone at the bar. He buys him a drink and the two later have sex in a hotel room. David reveals a little background on his dreams as an architect while Andrew stares longingly into his eyes.
The acting is as good as ever, especially during the scene between Andrew and his mother. Andrew is seen packing to go live with Norman when his mom decides to come with him. The two get into an argument and he pushes her into the wall, fracturing her shoulder bone. Andrew stares at her in shock and later cries when they go to the hospital. His mom lies about what happened to protect Andrew. This is very touching and a good representation of the relationship between the two.
Gianni and Donatella’s interactions in the episode is a tearjerker. Gianni is slowly inching towards his death while Donatella prepares herself. Donatella wishes to help him, but Gianni often gets angry at her. Antonio eventually steps in to tell Gianni to calm down. The scene where Gianni goes deaf is very sad and is done very well. Gianni repeatedly says, “I can’t hear anything! I can’t hear anything!” which is very hard to watch. Donatella fights back tears when she approaches the workers to break the news.
The emotional appeal in this episode was gripping. There were several different scenes that were disheartening and difficult to watch. Andrew’s selfishness gets in the way and he leaves his mother to be alone. His mom loves him so much that she makes excuses for his erratic behavior. This episode isn’t all sad, however, as the love Andrew feels for David begins to grow. Andrew’s manipulative behavior becomes very clear as he is easily able to persuade anyone of anything.
(03/15/18 9:14pm)
by Conner Tighe
Warning: This review may contain spoilers for this episode and previous episodes of The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story.
In the latest episode of American Crime Story, Andrew’s life begins to crumble around him as he celebrates his birthday. Episode 6 takes place nine years before the murders of Jeff Trail, David Madson, Lee Miglin, and Gianni Versace. Andrew is madly in love with David Madson whom he eventually murders. He is doing anything he can to win David over, including lying his way to David’s heart. Andrew’s life is one big lie and David sees through Andrew easily. Jeff’s friendship with Andrew crumbles as they fight over David.
Flashback nine years. Andrew is living with wealthy Norman Blachford in a large mansion in California. Norman and Andrew have a mutual relationship while Norman pays for Andrew’s troubles. Their relationship fades when Andrew falls for David Madson. Andrew’s friend Elizabeth Cote, gossips with Andrew about his love for David when Jeff shows up. Andrew persuades Jeff to look like he’s in the navy so that he can impress David with his friends. David eventually shows up to the party and meets Jeff. The two begin to mingle and Andrew’s jealousy is sparked as he attempts to break them apart.
There is a conflict between Jeff and Andrew until Andrew decides to go all out to impress David. He rents a room in a luxurious hotel in California for the two of them. He shares his feelings for David, but David doesn’t return them and leaves the hotel. Andrew begins to emotionally break and he returns to his mother’s apartment. Andrew’s mother is just as odd as Andrew as she hums while giving him a bath. Andrew then leaves for Minneapolis where David lives.
Andrew’s backstory is told in an interesting way, in the sense that it is told backward. Andrew’s friends and relationships are explained an episode after we first meet them. His family life is not as great as he claimed. His dad is nowhere to be seen and his mother appears mentally unstable herself. Each episode so far has shown Andrew’s descent into depression and madness and this episode is no different. Andrew’s hatred toward Jeff is fully explained in this episode, as is his love for David.
The acting in this episode is outstanding. Darren Criss is great at showing how easily Andrew tells lies to David about his family and childhood. He commonly has a grin on his face as if he is up to something. David really tries to work things out with Andrew, and Cody Fern is particularly good at portraying this during the dining room scene in the hotel. Andrew is commonly caught staring off into nothingness during this episode. This is especially creepy given that Andrew’s murderous side has already been revealed in previous episodes. Darren Criss really gives off the impression that his character is truly insane with no real emotional attachment to humanity.
There are several fights and arguments from beginning to end in this episode. Andrew’s friends see right through his lies and realize he is fake. Andrew usually responds in anger and his rage gets the better of him. Andrew smashes Norman’s glass table and leaves the mansion. He gets into a fight with Jeff at his apartment over David. His drug dealer also begins to have trouble with Andrew’s erratic behavior. His behavior is completely unpredictable and this provides a sense of suspense throughout the episode. From previous episodes, we know what Andrew is capable of.