Masculinquiries: Defending punctuation
(02/28/20 8:00pm)
Matthew Yapp is a senior communications major and writes “Masculinquiries” for The Daily News. His views do not necessarily agree with those of the newspaper.
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Matthew Yapp is a senior communications major and writes “Masculinquiries” for The Daily News. His views do not necessarily agree with those of the newspaper.
by Matthew Yapp
by Matthew Yapp Disclaimer: The following contains conversations of violence, rape, sexism, and racism. 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. On Oct. 4, Todd Philips’ Joker was released worldwide. The film is an origin story of DC Comic’s infamous Batman villain, the Joker. The film was met with praise and success at several film festivals, including a massive win at the Venice Film Festival. Some critics, however, believe that the film was not only subpar, but even problematic. Certain critics felt that the film was glorifying violence. In an article for Time, critic Stephanie Zacharek stated that the movie portrayed violence as something that made the protagonist feel “more in control, less pathetic. Killing—usually with a gun, though scissors or a good old-fashioned suffocation will do just fine—empowers him.” She also felt that the film made the Joker seem less like a villain, and more like someone the audience was meant to feel bad for. “In America, there’s a mass shooting or attempted act of violence by a guy like Arthur [Joker] practically every other week. And yet we’re supposed to feel some sympathy for Arthur, the troubled lamb; he just hasn’t had enough love. Before long, he becomes a vigilante folk hero.” Fear resulting from this movie wasn’t just based on its content alone. The US Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of Investigation released a joint-intelligence bulletin to the police, later obtained by CNN, stating that there had been a number of violent threats posted online, including calls for mass shooting at showings of the movie. This led to the NYPD increasing police presence at several theaters. The Century Aurora and XD movie theater publicly stated that they will not be showing the film at all. The Century Aurora theatre was the location of the 2012 mass shooting, which occurred during a midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises. The bulletin notes that the threats make references to the incel community. This may have to do with, as Zacharek stated, the film depicting the Joker as someone who could “easily be adopted as the patron saint of incels.” But what exactly is an incel? The term incel is an abridged version of the term “involuntarily celibate,” meaning someone who would like to be having sex but is unable too. Incels are an online culture centered around the concept that they want and deserve to have sex, but women are withholding it from them. Because of this, they believe themselves to be victims of society. Incels create communities on sites like reddit and 4chan, but are often removed for misogynistic language and attempts to incite violence against women. Below are several posts found on different online incel community forums. While I find them disgusting and disagree with them entirely, I am adding them to get across the severity of many incels' radical beliefs. Incels are literally the jews of the modern era. pic.twitter.com/AMPrq25FPt — Involuntary Celibate (Incels.co) (@IncelsCo) September 30, 2019 These communities hold almost shared beliefs and encourage men to “take the blackpill,” or adopt their way of thinking. This way of thinking, being that life is unfairly stacked against men who are not traditionally attractive, and being without the love of a woman, they have no purpose and therefore are useless. They’ve even gone so far as to develop their own language over time, which if read by someone who isn’t involved in their communities, it would seem like gibberish. Below is a short list of commonly used terms in the incel community. Incel’s toxicity has not stayed strictly online, however. Incels have been perpetrators of a variety of violent crimes in the past few years. In 2014, Elliot Rodger murdered six people and injured 14 near the University of California. Prior to the attack, Rodger uploaded a video onto YouTube titled “Elliot Rodger’s Retribution,” in which he explained his plan for the crime. He explained how he planned and acted on the crime in order to punish women for rejecting him and punish men who were able to have sex with women because he was jealous of them. He also sent a 141 page manifesto continuing to explain his incel ideology to his friends and family. Despite this horrific crime, incels actually praised Rodgers, coining the phrase “Going ER” to refer to folks who committed violent acts like him. It is not just a term; many incels actually did follow in Rogers footsteps. In 2018, a man drove a rented van into a crowd of pedestrians, killing 10 people and injuring 16. After his arrest, the perpetrator stated that he had spoken online with Rodger, describing him as the “founding forefather” of incels and saying Rodger’s crime was the inspiration of his own. The killer stated that the reason for this heinous act was for retribution against society and an inability to have sex. The police publicly released a video of the interrogation of the criminal, in which he states he was hoping to “inspire future masses to join me in my uprising.” And this seems to be the fear with Joker. Critics describe the film as something that incels would find relatable. In his article from The Guardian, Jordan Hoffman describes the film as “really just a drama about a mentally ill man with no friends who is targeted by bullies, lives with his mother, is ignored by the attractive woman down the hall and only finds purpose in mass murder.” There is an understandable fear that if Joker’s titular character has the same characteristics that fit a typical incel, and the movie centers around him invoking mass violence to feel in control, then this could inspire real-life incels to do the same. Not everyone is completely convinced, however. In her review, Kayleigh Donaldson stated, “In my opinion, Joker is not incel bait, nor do I think it is encouraging anyone to commit and celebrate violent deeds.” In Vulture Nate Jones also stated, “I’ll just say that, while this Joker could be taken as an avatar for the incel movement, the film does do away with one particular misogynist trope that popped up in the script. There is still a lot of masculine rage in Joker, but it’s directed more at society as a whole than at women in particular. Also, for what it’s worth, the majority of the Joker’s victims are men.” All of this to say, while it certainly plays with the themes of inceldom, not everyone seems to think that Joker is going to incite incel rallies. Others, myself included, felt after seeing the film that Joker created a clear portrait of an incel hero, that was something to be admired. That, coupled with the fact that we’ve already seen threats for mass shootings at showings of the movie, paints a very disturbing picture. Joker, intentionally or not, has managed to not only cast a sympathetic light on the disturbed madman, but also cause those whose ideologies line up with his to feel empowered. Sources: CNN, New York Times, Twitter, Time, NBC, The Denver Channel, The San Luis Tribune, BBC, Vice, YouTube, The Guardian, Syfy Images: Matthew Yapp Featured Image: IMDb
Welcome back to Remixed! This week, we discuss the latest album from Angel Olsen. How has her music changed with this recent release? How does this music reflect the artist’s beliefs? Find out all of this and more on this week’s episode of Remixed!
Matthew Yapp is a senior communications major and writes “Masculinquiries” for The Daily News. His views do not necessarily agree with those of the newspaper. Write to Matthew at mpyapp@bsu.edu.
by Matthew Yapp
by Matthew Yapp
by Matthew Yapp Spider-Man has returned to the Marvel cinematic universe, announced a joint statement from Marvel and Sony Pictures. This comes only a month after an ongoing deal between Marvel Studios and Sony was ended due to disagreements on how costs and profits for the Spider-Man films should be split. The character is licensed to Marvel by Sony, who owns the rights to the characters cinematic use. Disney was seeking a large cut of the future Spider-Man films and Sony was seeking to keep the same deal that had been used for Spider-Man: Homecoming and Spider-Man: Far From Home. The new deal, as reported by variety, will grant Disney a quarter of future films profits while allowing Disney to maintain their marketing rights for the character. Disney is also expected to pay for a quarter of the films costs. Kevin Feige, president of Marvel Studios, stated in the joint release, “I am thrilled that Spidey’s journey in the MCU will continue, and I and all of us at Marvel Studios are very excited that we get to keep working on it. Spider-Man is a powerful icon and hero whose story crosses all ages and audiences around the globe. He also happens to be the only hero with the superpower to cross cinematic universes, so as Sony continues to develop their own Spidey-verse you never know what surprises the future might hold.” Sony Chief Communications Officer Robert Lawson “We have had a great collaboration over the last four years, and our mutual desire to continue was equal to that of the many fans We are delighted to be moving forward together.” The film, which will feature Tom Holland reprising his role as Spider-Man, will once again be produced by Kevin Feige. It is expected for release in July of 2021. Sources: Variety, Deadline, Verge Image: Pexels
by Matthew Yapp The original Super Mario Maker hit Wii U's everywhere way back in 2015, and straight away it was a smashing success. The game offered players complete free reign to be as over-the-top and creative as they wanted in level design, as well as an ability to share their courses online with players across the globe. This game was a high point in the Wii U’s library and now, four years later, its successor has hit the Switch. While the core mechanics and ideas of the original game have remained the same, there have certainly been some tweaks that set this sequel apart. That being said, does Super Mario Maker 2 live up the excellence of its predecessor? Building upon greatness Without a doubt, the most fun thing to do in Mario Maker 2 is design levels. It feels incredibly intuitive and simple enough that a child can do it. Which is good, since that is the target audience here. Mario Maker laid fantastic groundwork, so I was very curious to see where the creators would go in terms of expanding on the level creation aspects of the sequel. Seeing as it’s not just a port, players are expecting new features and improved gameplay, and luckily, they received it. Nintendo was wise in the sense that they omitted very little from the original game but incorporated several new features that made gameplay even more fun. Ramps were something in high demand that breathed new life into speedruns and overall aesthetic. There is also a variety of new enemies so you can add to some new dangers to your courses. You can even add the angry sun that spits fire at you from Super Mario Bros 3 if you want to make a level with not-so-subtle allusions to our current climate situation! What I’m most pleased with, though, is the addition of the on/off switch, which will make red and blue tile blocks disappear and reappear when hit. This adds an incredibly fun mechanic to the game; in fact, I’d say after playing the online courses uploaded by other players, the on/off switch is incorporated to nearly all of the most popular levels in some capacity. While Nintendo did amazing building off the work they’d done in the previous game, there is sadly a glaring omission from the items catalogue. Despite being an amazing instrument of creativity, we tragically had to say goodbye to the mystery mushroom. The mystery mushroom allowed the player to transform into a wide variety of Nintendo characters, even ones from outside of the Mario Brothers franchise. I won’t lie when I say I was incredibly sad to find out I couldn’t design a level based around me transforming into Link. It’s a rather strange item to take out since fans were so previously enamored by it. What's even more surprising is that Mario Maker 2 truly made the most groundbreaking achievement, which was finally having a feature in a game that actually worked better when it was used on the Wii U rather than on the Switch, and that would be the touch screen. I’ve honestly never used the Switch as a touch screen up to this point, and something just feels unnatural about it. Don’t get me wrong, designing levels this way is super easy. There is just something slightly off about doing it on my pristine Switch screen. That being said, you couldn’t pay me to go back to using that no-battery-life-having, waste-of-a-console generation Wii U, which is why I started using the controller-based input for level design. I was pleased to find that after a slight learning curve, I ended up liking it even more than the touch controls. It felt just as natural and it didn’t leave any finger smudges. An improved single-player experience When I started playing Mario Maker 2, the last thing I thought about was a story mode. However, when I finally rolled around to giving it a shot, I found myself having a lot of fun with it. In terms of plot, it’s not really substantial, but that comes as no surprise. Essentially, just as you finish constructing Princess Peach’s new castle, an Undo Dog comes and destroys it. This leaves Mario responsible for collecting enough coins to rebuild the castle by completing a variety of “jobs” that come in the form of platforming levels. I was really pleasantly surprised by how hard the levels started to get towards the end and found myself spending far more time than I thought I would in the story mode. Another fun aspect of this is the fact that unlike a typical Mario platform, not all of the levels are just about making it to the flag. A new mechanic in Mario Maker 2 is to set clear conditions like never jumping or finishing the level as Cat Mario. It’s a simple change that breathes some new life into the possibly oversaturated platforming market. That being said though, the 100 premade levels that are offered to you in story mode do feel pretty bland when compared to the wacky and creative levels made by players on online play, so if you stick to just story mode for too long it can get a little...meh. Even outside of story mode, the game is a ton of fun to play solo even though there is an emphasis on online and multiplayer mechanics. The Endless Challenge allows players to see how many levels they can get through on a limited number of lives, which if set on one of the higher difficulties proves to be immensely fun. Bumpy but tremendously fun online play In a game that is all about creation, it makes sense that a big aspect of this game should be sharing your work. Course World allows you to upload up to 32 of the levels you designed and offer them up for anyone in the world to beat. This is what really makes the game for me. There is literally a near limitless supply of incredible levels offered to you endlessly and each one is completely unique with its own gimmick and vision. There is a definite problem where, seeing as these courses are designed by mostly amateurs and there’s not really a good filtering process, you may have to slog through some pretty lame levels before you find the gems. There is an upvote/downvote system but the problem is, when you’re sorting by new levels or levels on the rise, the voting hasn’t really had time to take effect and you can end up getting a lot more misses than hits. Genuinely though, if you just sort by popularity you will end with incredibly entertaining and innovative levels that—without sounding too dramatic—makes me incredibly eager to see what this generation of game creators will make in the future. There is also the brand-new online multiplayer feature, which allows you to try and compete against players to see who can complete a course the fastest and stomp your enemies. Or, you can be a coward and play cooperatively where you all try to finish together. Honestly though, without bloodshed, where is the fun? Any way to make something unnecessarily competitive is welcome in my book. You are given a letter rank starting at D, and given the ability to rise up in the ranks as you beat players and gain experience. This adds a real sense of achievement and fun that I love, but I must admit it is VERY laggy. There was more than one occasion that I couldn’t complete a level because the course was bugging out so bad, but even with that issue I really do think that the multiplayer mode is incredibly fun. Fun or not though, there is something really unforgivable about an online mode being destroyed by lag and next to unplayable when I’m paying 20 dollars for Nintendo Online, after I already paid 60 dollars for this game. Images: MarioPartyLegacy, Twinfinite, NintendoLife Featured: Nintendo
Welcome to this week’s episode of How It’s Played! This week, we are discussing Apple’s announcement of the game streaming service. How will this service compete with the already crowded market? Is this another example of Apple creating a monopoly? All of this and more on this week’s episode of How It’s Played.
Welcome to Cryptidbits, the podcast all about finding the truth behind the legends that society hides. On this April Fool’s special, we discuss the legends surrounding Indiana. Was Matt really saved by a mud mermaid? Is there a legendary turtle in the state? Find out all this and more on this episode of Cryptidbits!
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.
by Matthew Yapp 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. This week we got our first glimpse into the 8th generation of Pokémon. Fans have been eagerly awaiting news since the new games were announced to be in development last year. This will be the first mainline Pokémon game on a console and fans are expecting quite a bit. That’s why people were thrilled not just to get a look at the new Galar region, but also to see the official art work for generation eight’s starter Pokémon. That being said, there are already a lot of opinions about the three newest additions to the Pokédex. That is why, at this point, it only makes sense to pit them against the other generations' starter Pokémon. Since we are unsure how these three will fare competitively, the rankings will be based on appearance. 8. Generation 5 None of these were good. For a generation with perhaps the strongest plot, Gen. 5 saw the weakest of the starters. All of their color palettes are just a little bit off: with Tepig being an odd orange, Snivy being slightly too-dark green, and Oshawott being a weird combo of blues. Also, Oshawott is just awful; they somehow managed to make him look cluttered by sticking the shell on his chest, and the adorable freckles aren’t enough to make up for those weird nubbin ears. Overall, these three were weak leaders for a generation. 7. Generation 2 Okay, it’s not that these are all particularly bad. They are all just very boring. Chikorita is definitely the worst though. I mean what is that, a choker? What is it supposed to resemble? It just looks like a daikon (that is, a mild winter radish) that grew legs. It’s not great. Totodile, on the other hand, is pretty alright. It’s a very bland design, and I wish it had something to make it more distinct than simply a blue alligator. Cyndaquil is very possibly the most boring of all the starters. It's just a little long-snouted ball with fire tacked on the back. It’s boooooring. 6. Generation 8 Right off the bat, all of these are very cute. I’m willing to admit that I may not have warmed up to these three yet, given that they released yesterday. Each one just has a glaring issue. Grookey, while adorable with a unique design, has a color palette that just bothers me. I’m not sure why its weird spherical mouth also bothers me so much; I think it resembles a half-grapefruit stuck on someone’s face. Scorbunny has an amazing color palette but, as much of the internet pointed out, it looks more like it belongs in Sonic or on a cereal box. And Sobble has too small a body for its giant head, which sort of makes it look like a lump. 5. Generation 6 Froakie is really a saving grace for this bunch, although none of them are terrible. Froakie has a wonderful color scheme on top of really looking unique. He’s not just a recolored frog, and the additional features added to him aren’t terrible. Chespin is also rather unique and I like the kind of helmeted gopher look they’re going for, but I’ll be frank with you when I say his stupid bucktooth smile makes me want to punch him. Fennekin is sleek and doesn’t have anything glaringly wrong, just a bit boring. 4. Generation 7 Let’s get one thing straight, Rowlet is perfect. He looks great, he’s a sweet boy, he has a unique color palette that makes him stand out from the rest of the grass starters AND HE HAS A LEAF BOWTIE. Litten also has a pretty good design and looks sleek. Although I will say, he looks pretty similar to the many other cat Pokémon so he’s lost some points there. Popplio is an enigma. While I was immediately repulsed when they first showed him after months of him being a meme king and upheld as the goodest boi, I now look at him with affection and appreciate his whimsical design. 3. Generation 1 For being the first shot at starters, Nintendo really nailed it. They all look undeniably iconic and really have strong looks. Bulbasaur is one of my favorite Pokémon in general, and he started the unbroken trend of grass starters being the best. His adorable little dinosaur crossed with onion bulb design is so fun. Charmander looks super inviting and I think the pastel orange is a wonderful color choice. Also, he has just enough incorporation of flames to get across that he’s a fire starter without beating you over the head. Squirtle is the only one that I’d say is a little rough. Please don’t get me wrong, I think he’s excellent and looks like he deserves my love, but fitting into the running theme in this list, I don’t love that he’s simply a recolored turtle. 2. Generation 4 I would give my life for Turtwig, I mean that. I would die a death of 1,000 cuts to make sure no one hurt a leaf on his precious head. I love the color green used for his body. It’s very similar to the palette they were going with for Grookey; however, I think the slightly paler shade combined with the slightly darker mustard color makes all the difference. Chimchar also looks adorable, and one small detail that really makes me love him more is his precious little pointy teeth. That, combined with the cute tuft of hair and swirled chest, makes his entire design so whimsical that I just adore him. Piplup is also great, but I’ll say that it’s the design keeping this trio from the top. I think it’s a strong design and has little details like the dots on its chest that make it fun, but it is a little bland, and once again we see half a grapefruit stuck onto a face. Not bad at all, but still not as strong as the other two. 1. Generation 3 The golden trio. Torchic? Baller. Mudkip? Slaps. Grass type all-star Treecko? Literally the GOAT of Pokémon starters. All of these designs knock it out of the park. Mudkip looks so adorable and the nice splash of orange-spiked cheeks to contrast that sharp and distinct blue is phenomenal. Torchic looks great and has eyes that make me believe that I’m going to be okay. The spiky yellow-feather effect on its body gives it a fun dynamic while maintaining its minimalistic approach. Treecko is above and beyond my favorite starter. His design is sleek and cool with sick snake eyes, adorable little bulb hands, and the use of a pale red for his stomach makes him stand out among grass types. While all the starters are great and iconic in their own right, Gen. 3 just outperforms the rest. Of course, what is the “best” is not only objective because we all have different design preferences, but also because we have different memories tied to the generations, so you may very well put this list in a different order. That being said, if Gen. 3 isn’t at the top of your list, you are wrong. Images: IGN, Amino, We Got This Covered Featured Image: Matthew Yapp
by Matthew Yapp
Welcome to this week’s episode of Input 2! We discuss Fox’s Rent Live and how it compares to its movie and stage predecessors. How did this movie handle the topics of AIDs and LGBT representation? Find out this and more on this week’s episode of Input 2!
Love is in the air as we approach the anniversary of everyone’s favorite massacre. That’s right Valentine’s Day. A day to celebrate love, as if it wasn’t already held to a high enough regard in our society. While today may be many peoples favorite holiday and a prime opportunity to cuddle up with their significant other, for many queer people it’s not quite as enamoring.
by Matthew Yapp Love is in the air as we approach the anniversary of everyone’s favorite massacre. That’s right Valentine’s Day. A day to celebrate love, as if it wasn’t already held to a high enough regard in our society. While today may be many peoples favorite holiday and a prime opportunity to cuddle up with their significant other, for many queer people it’s not quite as enamoring. For a lot of queer youth, they spent their early years in the closet, unable to truly celebrate love on a day centered around it. Even people who are out often find trouble participating seeing as how it’s fairly common for people to run into opposition when being romantic as a queer person. But hey, even if queer people can’t always celebrate in the same way everyone else does at least they can go with a classic Netflix and chill and watch some endearing gay movie, right? Actually, as you’ve probably guessed from my sarcastic set-up, that’s not the case either. Whether it be uncomfortable age gaps or the fact that many of these LGBTQ movies really only focus on white, cisgender, gay men queer love stories can run into quite a few issues. Perhaps the biggest problem they run into though is they get really depressing. I mean, debatably the most popular queer love story of all time is Brokeback Mountain, which will make you weep just thinking about it. “Bury your gays” is a trope that has dominated pop culture for quite some time now. What it means is that movies have started creating queer characters and love plots, but they always end in death. While representation is fantastic, it doesn’t always feel amazing to have the love stories that you relate with end in tragedy over and over again. Now a major reason behind this is many of the current queer writers and filmmakers grew up in a less accepting world and thus writing from their own experience made their stories a bit darker. So yes, while it is very realistic that a lot of queer love of the past and even present can be riddled with tragedy, you don’t always want to see it on the big screen. Sometimes you want to just sit back and watch a cheesy romcom that has characters like you in it. With all these issues in mind, I’ve set out to create the perfect queer Valentine’s movie list all available to stream online right now either on Hulu, Netflix, or Amazon. Hopefully these movies will be perfect for you to cuddle up with everyone you love and won’t make you cry since they don’t end with a depressing long shot of sad Timothée Chalamet that will break your heart (he’s a good boy, he deserved better). 1. The Way He Looks It’s not all that common to find a movie about disabled queer people, even less so to find one about disabled queer people of color. The Way He Looks comes through delivering a truly touching story that is perfect for Valentine's Day, if you don’t mind subtitles that is, as the film is entirely in Portuguese (it’s worth it, trust me). Leonardo is a blind teenager coming to the realization that he has feelings for one of his closest friends. A movie that truly moves, The Way He Looks captures that all-too-familiar feeling of awkwardness you get when you fall for your friends and the nostalgic charm of a first crush. With a soundtrack to die for and characters who don’t, this film is certainly worth a watch. 2. The Birdcage It’s a Robin Williams movie. That should be enough for you. I’ll explain more though. Robin Williams is a man in a loving relationship with a drag queen. When their son reveals that he wants his fathers to meet his fiancés’ conservative Christian parents, they devise a scheme to fake straight in order to make things a little easier. This film is as heartwarming as can be and most importantly it’s hilarious. With its charm lying in its characters, The Birdcage is a fantastic film about love, acceptance, and the perfection of Robin Williams. 3. But I’m a Cheerleader Finally, a lesbian romcom. It’s what we all deserve really. Megan is the girl at school everyone wants to be. She’s a cheerleader, she’s popular, and she’s dating a football star. What more could you want? Well, in Megan’s case, she wanted to date girls. When her parents send her to a conversion therapy camp, she begins to truly find herself and love. While it sounds a little dramatic, it’s actually a very sweet and funny movie that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Also, RuPaul plays a conversion therapist which is something everyone needs to see, so check it out. 4. Boy Meets Girl [embed]http://vimeo.com/channels/transgendermovietrailers/121057601[/embed] It was depressingly hard to find a trans love story which is fairly reflective of the representation that trans folks often receive from the media. However, after some searching, I found Boy Meets Girl. The story centers around a young woman named Ricky who wants to abandon her small town and move to New York. Things grow more complicated as we see her relationships with her friends change and a relationship with a new woman in town blossom. Without spoiling anything, this movie is tender, touching, and unexpected. I think it is a pretty solid queer love story that can satisfy your desire for some good trans representation this holiday 5. 4th Man Out This movie shines a light on one of the very realistic but often ignored struggle for queer people, which is coming out in your adult life. Far too often in media it is looked at as something that is done tearfully and simply in your teen years, but for many people, they go well into their adulthood before feeling comfortable discussing their sexuality with their loved ones. 4th Man Out centers around Adam’s changing life as he comes out as gay to his three extremely close, extremely bro-ish, best friends. It explores the dynamics of friendships between straight and gay men rather well, and, at the end of the day, it’s really charming and funny. Als,o without telling too much, there is some nice queer romance in there for you. 6. Love, Simon Come on, you had to expect this one. This film was a trailblazer in its own right having a major company putting into theaters all across the country, Love, Simon focuses on a young man named Simon and his journey through self-acceptance and desire for love. In a similar vein to But I’m a Cheerleader, this movie is just a classic high school love flick. I think that is good though because the generation of queer teenagers in high school right now deserve to see the same campy love stories that their straight peers get to see. It’s nothing groundbreaking in terms of story but genuinely sometimes you just want to watch something dumb and romantic. Love, Simon is easy listening in terms of queer love and would be an excellent movie to end a romantic night with your boo thing. 7. San Junipero Okay listen, I know not everyone classifies this one as a movie, but it’s an hour long stand-alone story, it’s perfect, and it’s my list, so we’re going with it. San Junipero is equal parts mysterious and moving. It is the only movie on this list that brought me to genuine tears just from the emotion it creates. The story centers around Kelly and Yorkie, two women who meet in the '80s and their relationship develops from there. Everything about this movie is beautiful: the costumes, the cinematography, the score, and most importantly, the relationship between the characters. Although queer people can have an odd relationship with cinema, hopefully this list can give you a couple of ideas for films to watch when you’re in a bit more of a romantic mood as opposed to wanting to weep over dead spouses. Rather you’re looking for something to watch with your partner, or just something sweet to watch by yourself, this list should be able to leave you with a night full of love. Sources: History.com, Independent, Huffington Post, IMDB, TV Tropes Images: Miss Cinematic, SFGate, The Playlist, IMDB, Reeling, Vimeo, Entertainment Tonight, Vulture Featured Image: McKenna Kolb
No one asked for it, no one expected it, but here it is anyways. On Jan. 24 at midnight, with no warning, Weezer ambushed listeners with a cover album titled Weezer (The Teal Album). Looking at the cover you can tell the band was going for a throwback vibe seeing as everything about their looks screams 80’s, and the track list is no different.
by Matthew Yapp No one asked for it, no one expected it, but here it is anyways. On Jan. 24 at midnight, with no warning, Weezer ambushed listeners with a cover album titled Weezer (The Teal Album). Looking at the cover you can tell the band was going for a throwback vibe seeing as everything about their looks screams 80’s, and the track list is no different. This all started back in September of 2018 when the band released a cover of Toto’s 1983 hit Africa with the help of “Weird Al” Yankovic. After that cover skyrocketed in popularity, it seems the band wanted to drop a few more reimagining of past hits, likely to build up a bit of hype before they release Weezer (The Black Album) on March 1. However, while social media is abuzz discussing how unexpected it is to hear the band covering 90s rap and 80s pop, the question stands: is the album any good? Vocal and energetic highs Overall, the music is quite exceptional. Lyrically and composition-wise we can’t give them too much credit seeing as, other than some tweaks to texture and beats here and there, it’s not their music. The songs are great because they were already hits. That is not to say the band doesn’t deserve some praise. Lead singer Rivers Cuomo’s vocals still shine after his decades in the game. Most notably in Mr. Blue Sky and Take on Me, Cuomo wows by hitting a falsetto that should be long gone for a 48-year-old man. Another strong suit in the collection is that you can hear how much the band enjoyed making this album. Weezer (The Teal Album) feels like a love letter to the original artists and every single song leaves you bopping your head along to the beats. It feels like Weezer took songs that weren’t just loved by the public but loved by the band and it bleeds through into the energy of the album. Feeling distinctly Weezer The band is clever in the sense that they don’t feel a need to reinvent the wheel. There’s nothing worse than someone covering a hit song and just completely ruining it by changing too much. Weezer keeps the songs very reminiscent of the originals while still sounding like Weezer. This shows best in my favorite song on the album No Scrubs. Originally released by TLC in 1999, I thought there was no way Weezer could possibly make it work. Weezer is pretty far from late 90s female rap. However, they proved me wrong. They managed to keep the same too-cool-to-care vibe I’ve come to expect from Weezer, but shaped it to fit all of the songs. Creating songs that manage not to be dwarfed by the shadow these goliath songs is no small feat, and Weezer does it well. Being original on a cover album is honestly the quality that earns the most praise. Even a cover album needs direction My biggest complaint with the album is a lack of cohesion all the way through. The songs share almost no qualities as we jump from genre to genre and mood to mood. They aren’t even all 80s songs despite the cover making you think that’s what you’re getting. While, separately, I do think all the songs are great, it would be difficult to casually listen to this album from front to back and not get whiplash from the jump between Paranoid and Mr. Blue Sky. It’s hard to have an album with amazing songs but isn’t enjoyable to listen to in it’s entirety Image: Spotify Featured Image: Ultimate Classic Rock
Female employees regularly belittled at staff meetings. Women promised pay raises and promotions that were given to male coworkers. Women made fun of and sexually objectified. According to a lawsuit filed in early November, these and other more egregious claims are being brought against Riot Games in a class action suit alleging the company and it’s top management created a workplace environment which fosters a culture of sexism and discrimination toward women.
