Politics

Nobody’s Opinions | Trump’s Candidacy: Fact, Fiction or Fraud?

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Most people have probably imagined being the POTUS at some point. Fewer people have imagined their best friend as president, fewer still their business associate, and most have probably not considered actually running for the office themselves. Consider it from this perspective, though: if you could be reasonably assured that either yourself or your business partner could ascend to the highest office in the land, wouldn’t you put some effort into making that happen? I probably would. More than that, I’d try pretty damn hard to make sure it did.

Politics

POLITICS & STUFF | Asian-Americans and #BlackLivesMatter

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As the consequences of racial inequality take center stage in US politics, America again uncovers its divisions across racial identities. From the abolitionist movement to the Civil Rights Movement, the fight for black liberation has been passed to the modern #BlackLivesMatter movement. Like many afrocentric racial justice movements, Black Lives Matter has been politically charged and has received much attention from both white and black Americans. However, the role of Asian-Americans in the Black Lives Matter movement has remained unexplored. Perhaps it is because we occupy a confusing space between white privilege and minority disadvantage.

Culture

ON MY MIND | Wake Up Mr. Kim: On Asians Who Say the N-word

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Hello! Today I want to talk about why it’s not okay for non-black people of color – specifically Asian and Pacific Americans – to say the N-word. But before we can do that, I need you to chew on this interesting and relevant anecdote:

Picture me, Spring, 2015. The air was brimming with promise as I contemplated the two glimmering stars compelling me towards a sweet horizon – a.k.a. high school graduation and Kanye West’s supposed new album So Help Me God SWISH Waves The Life of Pablo. On an otherwise nondescript sunny day in March, I found myself at one of several school-sponsored “parties” for our graduating class.

Bill Nye

MANGA MONDAYS | Anime and Rural Japan

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I recently watched Only Yesterday at the Cornell Cinema (highly recommend it!) and the show really got me thinking about the role of rural settings in Japanese popular culture. Note that I didn’t just say anime there! I’m broadening my horizons a bit this week. To which end, we’re going to start with some cultural background. Modern Japan has a bit of a problem: during the postwar period, the country urbanized at an unprecedented rate (if I recall correctly, it was the highest rate in history, though I don’t have a source for that).

Entertainment

BLOGGIN’ IN ALL CAPS | Your #MCM Thinks This is Deep

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We all have at least one friend – usually from high school – who thinks they are “deep” for posting pictures of maudlin statements like, “sleep doesn’t help if it’s your soul that’s tired,” in Helvetica on a white background with the Valencia filter on Instagram or Twenty-One Pilots lyrics on FaceBook. The people who typically pull this kind of shit are the ones that tell you that they are “different” from other guys or the girls that are constantly reminding you that they are “like, super weird.” Characterized by technological literacy, pessimism and melodrama, they are the archetypal members of what Noreena Hertz calls Generation K.

What does the K stand for? Katniss – yes, as in Katniss Everdeen from the The Hunger Games. Demographic cohorts are named after the defining event of the generation. The Baby-boomers are defined by the profound impact of being the first generation to come of age in a world post-World War II, and the Millennials are distinguished as the first generation to come of age in the new millennium.

Entertainment

MOHAPATRA | What’s in an opinion?

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Having devoted the better part of my free time to social media (and not proudly so), it has been remarkable to witness the  transformation in the kind of material that crops up in my feed. There have been  tangible shifts, to the extent that everyone I know seems to have become a political activist at some level. Recently though, I have gotten into too many spats with people who have pulled out articles they saw on their Facebook feed on the alleged perpetuation of rape culture by the present-day Indian society, or people who have quoted a friend’s tweet verbatim to back up their point about the presidential primaries, only to stand corrected after being presented with a news report that speaks otherwise. I have become extremely wary of these quickly formulated opinions: while everyone is at perfect liberty to air theirs, generalized statements featuring charged words make me immediately put my guard up. I think this largely stems from my worries about where such opinions originate and whether they are informed or not.

deep focus shot

WATCH ME IF YOU CAN | Hollywood and the Blacklist

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The 2015 biopic Trumbo depicts the struggle that many screenwriters faced during the Red Scare. Dalton Trumbo (played by Bryan Cranston), along with nine other screenwriters, was tried and charged for contempt of Congress under the accusation of writing films promoting anti-American ideals.  As a consequence, he and many other writers faced blacklisting, forbidding them from writing and getting paid, wasting an enormous amount of talent. After his jail time, he decided to use the loopholes in his court orders to his advantage. Trumbo wrote films under the identity of Robert Rich (another screenwriter who was away on military leave) and even won an Academy Award for Best Original Story for The Brave One.

Entertainment

GOOD TASTE ALONE | Sotwatdriaba

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I’m going to be serious about something for one second. Okay, done. Just had to get that out of the way. I have to be serious at least once a day or they’ll put me back in the mysterious filing cabinet they found me in. I do, however, want to talk about a great movie that I recently saw in my head while I was falling asleep in class.

Politics

POP CULTURE, POLITICS AND PERCEPTION | The Mythical Now

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The mythical demigod Theseus is a testament to the heroic ideal of the ancient Greeks. King of the Athenians, his mythical slaying of the minotaur is still present in the western cultural narrative. He performed many acts of heroism throughout his reign, including the valiant defense of Hippodamia. This young bride was stolen by the lecherous centaurs on her wedding day. Thankfully, she was restored to her groom by the noble Theseus.