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(04/23/14 4:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>I began the week with an interesting lecture. One of my class’ many associate instructors took the podium to discuss the dangers of anonymous identities on social media, particularly in specialized online forums. You can find a community for just about everything on the Internet. There are sites for people with unusual sex fetishes, people looking to have an affair and people shopping for the perfect mail-order bride. My AI talked about communities that encourage eating disorders, namely the pro-ana movement. These websites are dangerous and are negatively affecting adolescents.A 2006 study by David Giles showed more than 400 pro-ana websites, “ana” being short for “anorexia.” There is also the pro-mia movement, “mia” being short for “bulimia.” People with an eating disorder support each other through these communities, which provide tips for starving and purging, and can even maintain a diary of their progress online. These websites can have a strong influence on adolescent girls. Thirty-five to 57 percent of adolescent girls use some kind of dangerous method to lose weight, such as purging, using laxatives, fasting and crash dieting.The strong camaraderie of these communities have flipped the way some see eating disorders from a disorder to a lifestyle choice. Anorexia and bulimia are not diseases but positive health decisions people should feel free to make.I don’t believe eating disorders are lifestyle choices. I think they are disorders, and people with them need help.People can fall into an eating disorder for a variety of reasons. Some want to lose weight, and some use it as a coping mechanism to gain a sense of control. In that sense, I believe it is a choice. You choose to starve yourself for days at a time, just like you choose to force yourself to vomit after eating a large meal. But as time passes, I believe those decisions form habits that then become a disorder.The dictionary defines a medical disorder as a “physical or mental condition that is not normal or healthy.” We must then decide what is “normal” or “healthy.”I think it’s safe to assume that most of us grew up eating three meals a day, though some, including myself, tend to skip breakfast. Three meals is normal. WebMD says a moderately active woman between the ages 19 and 30 should eat 2,000 to 2,200 calories a day. A moderately active man between 19 and 30 should eat between 2,600 and 2,800 calories a day. These are normal and healthy standards. By these standards, a 16-year-old girl eating 400 calories a day is not healthy or normal. But these websites don’t acknowledge that. Instead, they tell the girl to snap herself with a rubber band when she feels hungry and to avoid her friends until she reaches her goal. These communities encourage not only eating disorders but self-harm and social isolation.These communities are not healthy. They are causing confusion and multiple unhealthy habits among adolescents.I understand we all see beauty differently, but no matter how we try to reach the goal, it needs to be done in a healthy manner.lnbanks@indiana.edu@LexiaBanks
(04/17/14 4:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Sports are a cheap shot into making a film emotional. They begin with some sort of adversity, such as race or socioeconomic status. Then the audience is propelled into a moving story of brotherhood or sisterhood as the team finally unites to defeat the opponent in an epic game that comes down to the final seconds.Well, “Draft Day” is no “Remember the Titans” or “A League of Their Own.” “Draft Day” is a film for the pure-hearted football fangirl, with about as much depth as the turf the sport is played on.Kevin Costner plays Sonny Weaver Jr., the general manager of the Cleveland Browns. Sonny is going through a lot. His father just died and his girlfriend, Ali (Jennifer Garner) is pregnant. But most importantly, it’s Draft Day, and as the general manager, it is Sonny’s job to select the future players for the Browns.Tired of doing what everyone expects or asks of him, Sonny decides to take some risks that could put his and the team’s future in jeopardy. I actually enjoyed “Draft Day” for some reason I still can’t fathom. I was entertained throughout the film and satisfied with the ending. But when I broke it down, I had to admit it was a bad movie.“Draft Day” is about delivering an authentic look into the NFL draft. The entire film takes place throughout the course of the most stressful day in the NFL. The film begins agonizingly slow and builds speed throughout Sonny’s day up until the time of the draft.Non-sports fans are isolated in the film’s overuse of football jargon. And if you don’t understand how the draft works, you will be endlessly lost.Sadly, the film tries to wrangle those lost audience members back in through unnecessary emotional plot pulls. As if Sonny’s day isn’t stressful enough, his father’s death is continuously brought up, and he has to watch his pregnant girlfriend walk around the office angry at him for not being thrilled at the thought of being a father.These plot points are so underdeveloped, they’re insulting.The most annoying part of “Draft Day” was a poorly-chosen editing technique. I don’t know what director Ivan Reitman was thinking, but he lets a thick black line cross the picture to transition scenes and split the screen during phone calls. Worse, while on the phone the characters’ bodies go over the line and into the each other’s scene. It’s cringe worthy. There is no point to “Draft Day.” There is no antagonist, just Sonny dealing with his stressful life, which isn’t a good story. There is no epic game to look forward to, just some phone calls between middle-aged white men spitting football statistics.“Draft Day” is basically just one long, expensive promo for the NFL draft. So let me save you some time and money and tell you the draft begins May 8. You’re welcome.
(04/16/14 4:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Last week the world received some pretty dramatic news — David Letterman is retiring as host of “The Late Show.”CBS announced that Comedy Central’s Stephen Colbert will replace Letterman.I love Colbert. I don’t get to watch “The Colbert Report” as often as I like because by 11:30 p.m. I’m either ready to crash or am just starting my homework.But on the nights I’m feeling crazy or seeking extreme procrastination, I like to listen to Colbert play devil’s advocate and make fun of America’s biggest assholes.Starting next year, the world will get a full hour of the real Colbert, not the hilariously over-the-top, patriotic and bigoted character he plays on Comedy Central. Still, some don’t think Colbert was the best choice. Members of my beloved Buzzfeed have criticized CBS for playing it safe by choosing Colbert.Buzzfeed’s Krystie Lee Yandoll, Tracy Clayton, Adrian Carrasquillo and Erin La Rosa transcribed a long conversation about the straight white male-dominated world of late night television. They have a point. Late night television is run by straight white males. There’s Letterman, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers, Jon Stewart, Colbert, Conan O’Brien, Carson Daly and Craig Ferguson, who I just discovered existed. Thank you, Google. The only female late night host is E!’s Chelsea Handler. Just one woman among nine men. And they’re all white.Yandoll and the other Buzzfeed writers seem to be under the impression that the lack of women and people of color in late night television is because we, the audience, have forgotten that women and people of color can be funny.I don’t think CBS choosing Colbert has anything to do with being afraid to hire a woman or a person of color. Kevin Hart is arguably the greatest comedian today, but that doesn’t mean he’s suitable to host a TV show. In the article, Yandoll and the other writers suggest Amy Poehler and Tina Fey. As awesome as that would be, those two are a little busy ruling the world. The hard truth is that CBS is a corporation. It’s a business that produces entertainment for us to consume. CBS needs entertainers who can draw in viewers, increase ratings and bring in more money. That’s what it did by choosing Colbert. Colbert, a quality entertainer who has already built a loyal audience and fan base, works hard and knows what he’s doing. I’d say that’s a pretty smart move. I don’t remember this issue being brought up when it was announced that Fallon would replace Jay Leno. No one questioned why NBC chose Meyers instead of Kenan Thompson to replace Fallon on “Late Night.”Colbert deserves the same chance to move up the ladder like Fallon. He’s a talented comedian who can bring a lot to CBS. We also can’t forget that by leaving “The Colbert Report,” Colbert leaves an open spot for someone to fill — hello Wyatt Cenac, what are you doing in 2015? That would make everyone happy.This is a replacement for David Letterman, we’re talking about. Letterman isn’t a small name. Letterman has been doing late night television for more than 30 years.He deserves to know he will be replaced by someone who can meet the standards of the program he has been building for more than a decade.Colbert has the potential to be that someone.lnkbanks@indiana.edu @LexiaBanks
(04/10/14 4:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Five Seconds of Summer began as a group of adorable Australian boys with guitars singing Justin Bieber and Chris Brown covers on YouTube. But once the fairy god-boy band, One Direction, waved its magic wand, our little Cinderellas gained world-wide recognition. Luke Hemmings, Michael Clifford, Calum Hood and Ashton Irwin formed 5 Seconds of Summer in 2011. They have nurtured an extensive and loyal fan base through social media.Five Seconds of Summer is influenced by some of the greatest names in the pop punk/pop rock genre, such as Good Charlotte, Blink-182 and All Time Low, which is prominent in 5 Seconds of Summer’s newly released EP, “She Looks So Perfect.” Title track “She Looks So Perfect” is a summer anthem just begging to be belted out while sweating in your car. The perky guitar rifts go along with the lyrics of a young romance still in the stage of making mix tapes and discussions of running away together. “Heartache On the Big Screen” is the EP’s big hit. It’s about as catchy as the common cold. Centered around the metaphor of a romance just like in a movie, the lyrics stick tight to the theme to the point of almost being overkill. The music demands childish head banging and some air guitar. The harmony of the guitar and bass creates a groove that builds smoothly into the chorus that is filled out with extra guitar and vocals. Third on the album, “The Only Reason,” tones it down a bit. The verses are slow and melancholy as the boys sing of working their way through a dying relationship. The chorus picks up speed as they sing of their hope to make things work.Last on the EP is a cover of “What I Like About You.” This was a disappointing discovery at the end of the rainbow. The boys tried to put their own spin on the 1980s hit by the Romantics.Five Seconds of Summer is in the process of establishing itself as an original artist and not just a cover band. It made little sense to include a cover of a song that has been widely covered already, since I and other YouTube stalkers know the band has more original songs it could have used instead.What works for this band are the contrasting voices. Hemmings, the lead singer, is a powerhouse vocalist with a deep tone. There to ground him is Hood, who has a higher pitched, smoother voice ready to break or run under Hemming’s belts. Clifford and Irwin also contribute to vocals, lending depth to the choruses. In a time when pop rock/pop punk bands are being shoved into dingy bars or agonizing tours like Warped Tour, 5 Seconds of Summer could be the hero the genres needed.They’re still young, but as they grow they will shape a new generation of rockers and make these genres more than a dark phase in the battle of adolescence.
(04/09/14 4:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>For an Ivy League university, Yale has made some dumb moves in regard to its students.In March, Frances Chan, a student at Yale studying history, submitted an essay to the Huffington Post. Chan was at risk of being kicked out of school because of her weight. According to Yale Health Center standards, Chan is extremely underweight. A clinician told Chan she would be put on medical leave unless she agreed to attend weekly weigh-ins. Weekly weigh-ins led to urine tests, blood tests, an EKG on her heart and appointments with a nutritionist and a mental health counselor — all while still attending classes and studying for exams. The medical professionals of Yale Health accused Chan of having an eating disorder. At 20 years old, she is 5-foot-2 and has weighed 90 pounds since high school. She comes from a family of super skinny people and has never considered her weight unusual or unhealthyChan began a weight-gain diet. In her essay, Chan reported eating more carbs at each meal, eating three to four scoops of ice cream twice a day and purposefully loading up on junk food right before bed and avoiding exercise whenever possible, just to gain two pounds. These eating habits inflicted to meet Yale Health’s standards pose a greater risk to Chan’s health than the imaginary problem Yale Heath has been harassing her about. A recent graduate of Yale, who contacted Chan, developed high cholesterol after starting a weight-gain diet similar to Chan’s to get out of the weekly weigh-ins.A 2010 feature in the Yale Herald found two other Yale students whose lives were interrupted by Yale Health. In one case, Alice, a fake name given to her by the writer, was a competitive gymnast who was unable to compete because she weighed too little. Stacy, also a fake name, was threatened with being kicked out of school unless she increased her weight, regardless of her grades. The more she failed to reach Yale Health’s standards, the more anxious she became and the more she lost her appetite. I don’t think the intentions of Yale Health were wrong. They genuinely thought these students were suffering from eating disorders, and they wanted to help them, just as any school is expected to. They just went about it in the wrong way. By basing its standards on BMI, Yale Health left no room for consideration of family history or genetics. Holding the students’ education over their heads is unfair and pushes the students to dangerous means to satisfy conditions they can’t control. It must also be noted that while targeting students who were underweight, none of the reports mentioned efforts to help overweight students. About 34.9 percent of adults in the United States are obese, while fewer than 2 percent of U.S. adults are underweight. The college years are the most influential in shaping the lifestyle habits and behaviors we will carry into adulthood. With obesity being a larger issue, it would make sense for Yale Health and all universities to focus more on that end of the spectrum. More importantly, universities need to redefine what healthy means. There are different kinds of healthy, and the same standards can’t be applied to every individual. lnbanks@indiana.edu@LexiaBanks
(04/03/14 4:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Revenge is sweet. Enacting your revenge on national television while crushing and corrupting the lives of children and incurring the wrath of parents from across the country is enough to put you in a sugar coma. Unless you’re Guy Tilby. Guy is a 40-year-old man with a sailor mouth who pushes his way into a national spelling bee through a loophole. For reasons he won’t disclose, even to Jenny Widgeon, the reporter helping him, Guy is determined to make it to the final round no matter who he pisses off. Along the way Guy makes an unlikely friend in 10-year-old spelling bee contestant Chaitanya Chopra.Chaitanya represents the stereotypical nerd. He studies all the time, has no friends and he’s annoyingly polite. But through his relationship with Guy, Chaitanya tastes the wild side of life.A lot of twists and surprises pop up in the road to the final round, with an unexpected decision and a hilarious show down waiting at the end. “Bad Words” pulls the audience in through curiosity and irritation. We all want to know why a 40-year-old is forcing his way into a child’s spelling competition. You run every cliché in the book through your head, but Guy’s reasoning isn’t revealed until three-fourths of the way through the film.It was a clever move by the screenplay writer, Andrew Dodge. Normally, we’d get a sad background story in the beginning that would tug on our heartstrings. Instead, we have to accept Guy for what he is: an asshole. He’s rude, selfish, foul-mouthed, borderline racist and he lacks integrity. He is detestable, only saved by his comedic antics. Jason Bateman brought his style to “Bad Words” as the director and the star. He delivered his lines in the emotionless, deadpan way he has mastered. Prolonged camera shots complemented his comedy, waiting through his awkward pauses and slow monologues. But the true star of “Bad Words” is Rohan Chand as Chaitanya. This kid takes adorableness to a new level, and he knows how to work it. Most surprising was his great comedic timing. Chand had no problems keeping up with a professional like Bateman.In comedy, it’s easy to fall into a formula. As a result, plots become predictable, jokes sound all too familiar and surprises aren’t a surprise at all. “Bad Words” steered clear of the clichés, throwing curve balls that could have ended badly. But the risks were worth it. “Bad Words” is guaranteed to make you laugh and learn a few new words.
(04/02/14 4:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Old Navy got into some trouble last month. The Gap Inc. retailer was accused of Photoshopping thigh gaps in between the legs of mannequins modeling plus-size jeans.As a former employee and frequent shopper of Old Navy, I was concerned by this accusation.A Tumblr blogger noticed an odd white spot in the thigh area of a pair of jeans. Upon further investigation, similar awkward spots have been seen in other pairs of jeans. An Old Navy spokesman released a statement denying the use of Photoshop or “any photo-altering techniques,” passing the blame off on the pinning of the pants on the mannequins. Normally, pinning wouldn’t cause blurry edges or result in random lumps protruding from the leg. But maybe that mannequin has a special condition, and I’m being insensitive. Target was in a similar situation earlier in March, but it was much worse. Photos of a teenager modeling juniors swimsuits were butchered. In one photo, it was obvious a part of her shoulder was removed, leaving a creepy streak of skin dangling from her body.In another photo, her waist had been altered, resulting in another weird bump of flesh. The most startling edit, however, was a little farther south. The girl was missing part of her crotch. In both photos, one of her back and the other of her front, the girl is missing almost perfect squares of her crotch. Target at least had the courage to acknowledge the fiasco. Spokesman Evan Miller said, “It was an unfortunate error on our part, and we apologize.” But a simple apology isn’t going to fix the damage that’s been done. These two Photoshop disasters risk drawing the annoying thigh gap trend from the depths of hell and back to the forefront of the Internet.Social media has played a big part in supporting the thigh gap obsession. Photos of girls showing off their creepy chicken legs can be found all over Instagram, Tumblr and Pinterest. You can see the posts of girls whose arms have the circumference of water bottles complaining about how fat their thighs are. These girls need a hard slap in the face from reality. The thigh gap is not just a matter of fat. Orthopedic surgeon and fitness expert Vonda Wright said a thigh gap comes down to genetics. You have to have wide hips. You can lose every ounce of fat on your body, but if you don’t have the genes for wide hips, no thigh gap for you. If you’re narrow-hipped, you would have to start getting rid of your body’s muscle, which you need to, you know, walk. So thank your parents for their crummy genes, and move on.One thing social media has been good for is catching idiot mistakes like these. Retailers need to realize that children and young adults are paying closer attention to fashion than ever before. Through online shopping and fashion blogs, they are always keeping tabs and absorbing slight trends like the thigh gap. And they definitely notice shitty Photoshop jobs.Retailers hold a lot of power in how children, especially young girls, view themselves. They need to use that power for good and promote healthy and positive self-image through their clothes and models. lnbanks@indiana.edu@LexiaBanks
(03/27/14 4:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>I went into “Divergent” expecting another tacky young adult romance dropped in some silly sci-fi world with no real depth. But, I was pleasantly surprised.Tris Prior lives in a post-war society that is split into five factions. There’s Erudite, the intelligent; Candor, the honest; Amity, the kind; Abnegation, the selfless; and Dauntless, the brave.The day before choosing which faction she will live in, Tris takes an aptitude test to find where she should belong. Tris tests into multiple factions, a rare occurrence called Divergence. Divergents are seen as a danger to society, as they are unpredictable and don’t belong to just one faction. For that, Tris could be killed. Without a true answer as to where she belongs, Tris decides at the last second to join Dauntless.Dauntless serves as the military. Tris and the other initiates are subjected to rigorous training, led by the gruff and mysterious Four.Director Neil Burger dealt with this transitional period in a refreshing way. Instead of montaging the training, he lets it play out. We see the combat training, the knife throwing practice and the gun exercises.It’s easy to forget there is a bigger story arc. Erudite is plotting to overthrow Abnegation, the governing body of the city, and it plans to use Dauntless to do its dirty work. As a Divergent, Tris is immune to Erudite’s mind tricks and it becomes her responsibility to stop them before her former faction is eradicated. This is not another sci-fi epic where little is lost and everything works out in the end. There is so much tragedy and death in “Divergent” you would think “Doctor Who” and “Sherlock” showrunner Steven Moffat had something to do with it.You can’t have a young adult fantasy without love. There is an obvious physical attraction between Tris and Four, but their personalities clash. Their relationship forms through time spent together training and literally getting into each other’s heads. What’s nice about their relationship is that Tris in no way is dependent on Four or what he thinks of her. She remains the strong, independent heroine, a rare occurrence in the young adult genre these days.Shailene Woodley’s performance as Tris has changed my mind about the actress. Tris undergoes a massive character development, transforming from a reserved civil servant to a fearless soldier. Woodley had no problem keeping up.Theo James was meant to play the boy with a dark past. Four is a complicated character who struggles with the trauma of his past while wishing to be more than what his faction represents, and James was great in portraying that. Kate Winslet was the cherry on top of a great cast. She brought her best bitch face as Jeanine, the Erudite leader trying to overthrow Abnegation and purge the city of Divergents.“Divergent” is a brilliant film that other young adult franchises could take a lesson from. It’s a thrilling ride down to its final seconds.
(03/27/14 4:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>It’s rare to have a Christian movie that doesn’t make you leave feeling as if you’d just been choked by a Bible. But somehow, “God’s Not Dead” manages it.Shane Harper plays Josh Wheaton, a college freshman. Things are going well until he meets his philosophy professor. Professor Radisson (Kevin Sorbo) is an atheist and wishes to have the class skip the Christian portion of the curriculum by writing three words: God is dead.Josh, a devout Christian, refuses to comply. As a consequence, he must prove the existence of God to the class.Against the wishes of his parents and overbearing girlfriend, Josh accepts the challenge. As he struggles to find evidence of God, other characters’ story lines unravel.Ayisha, a student at Josh’s school, must hide her Christian beliefs from her overprotective Muslim father.Amy Ryan is a spunky journalist diagnosed with cancer.Mina’s mother is suffering from dementia. In the end, all these characters are brought together by one thing. No, it’s not by God.The reason this film didn’t feel overbearing is because not everything works out in the end. There are no miracles. Amy still has cancer. Mina’s mom still can’t remember who her children are. Some come to God and some still brush him off their shoulder.It all comes down to choice, just as in Josh’s final presentation.The criticisms of Christianity today and its role in the media was represented in Amy’s impromptu interview with “Duck Dynasty” stars Willie and Korie Robertson. Amy criticized them similarly to how the cast has been censured in the past. In terms of production, the film wasn’t consistent in quality. There were moments of brilliant camera work with artistic angles and changes of focus. Then there were complete flops like shaky camera, which is never forgivable. Never.Director Harold Cronk tried to go for interesting cuts to better the flow, but they didn’t work in his favor. There’s no sense in going from a student challenging the creation of the universe to a woman in her office sobbing over her computer and then back to the student. The scenes didn’t complement each other or relate.Cronk’s other mistake was dramatizing two situations that didn’t need it, using the cheesiest techniques in the book. There was no need for slow motion or awful aerial shots.When you take God out of the equation, this was a film about rebellion. There were kids being told that something they loved and believed in was wrong. Instead of giving in, they challenged it. This film isn’t for the godly or cynical. It presents an interesting argument on the existence of God but doesn’t touch on a level that would change minds. There is no conclusive answer. Everything comes down to a choice.
(03/26/14 4:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Thanks to a new app, guys may never have to text their girlfriends again.The BroApp is an app for Android phones designed to send automatic text messages to girlfriends so men can “spend more time with the Bros.” The bro downloads the app and selects his girlfriend’s number in his contacts. A list of messages are shown to choose for the girlfriend to receive — if the bro really loves her, he can edit or add his own original messages. Then he puts in his most used WIFI zones, such as home, work and his girlfriend’s, so the app can detect when he’s at his girlfriend’s place and will know to not send a message.After that he picks the days and times for the messages to be sent, approves the settings and lets his phone begin to date his girl while he rips the sleeves off his T-shirts, eats dirt, watches football or whatever it is that the app designers think bros do together.The app takes more protective measures aside from detecting the girlfriend’s WIFI. The app detects if the bro has recently contacted his girlfriend of his own volition, and if so, won’t send a scheduled message.The app also has a “Girlfriend Intrusion Detector.” If the app senses a snooping girlfriend it will reveal a list of gifts the bro had planned to buy her. This app creates a new level of douchebag. This seems even ruder and more insensitive than just not contacting the woman. There is no point in being in a relationship if you can’t be bothered to communicate with your significant other. If you’re not willing to put in the effort of just tapping your thumbs on a screen, then you have no right to waste another person’s time in a half-assed relationship. The creators even recognize that this app would infuriate women who knew their boyfriends were using it. In boasting about the amazing “Girlfriend Intrusion Detector” they wrote, “Instead of her getting pissed off at your BroApp usage, she will think you’re the best boyfriend in the world.”What’s worse, there is an implication that this app is doing women a favor as well as men. The app protects women from their oblivious, lazy boyfriends. If bros use this app, their girlfriends will never feel neglected or unloved.The only non-douchey aspect of BroApp is that it allows for only one girlfriend to be programmed at a time. But that’s not a good enough reason to use the app or defend its existence.BroApp needs to go. It’s disrespectful to women and counterproductive to what a relationship stands for. And it uses the word “bro” far too much. lnbanks@indiana.edu@LexiaBanks
(03/13/14 4:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>If this is the future of pop music, I fear the genre is doomed.Notorious for her role on Fox’s long-suffering series “Glee,” Lea Michele is dumping the corny covers to try and make a name for herself with her own music on her debut solo album “Louder.”The album is a sequence of eerily similar pop anthems, with a ballad dropped in there every now and then. The album is busting at the seams with themes of love and self-empowerment and redundant lyrics that lose their effect by the sixth song.Lead single “Cannonball” was released in December and reached No. 75 on the U.S. Billboard chart. “Cannonball” is a mid-tempo pop song with lyrics centered on a metaphor that makes no sense. But it highlights the strength in Michele’s voice with powerful crescendos and alternating note sequences.The title track “Louder” is intended to be a poppy dance tune of self-empowerment. In truth, it’s a train wreck of pop clichés that will have you rolling your eyes from the opening lyrics: “Come out of the shadow/ Step into the light/ This could be the moment/ Are you ready to fight?”Your gag-me-now alarm should be going haywire. The rest of the song’s lyrics aim for the same inspirational tone, complete with a fire metaphor and Michele asking and commanding you to “scream a little louder” in the chorus. The message is clear: don’t be afraid to be yourself, speak up, shine bright like a diamond ‘cause baby you’re a firework. Sounds familiar.It’s the ballads of this album that keep it bearable and provide a breath of fresh air from the highly-produced tunes. “Battlefield” is a simple piano piece carried purely by Michele’s vocals. As she sings the story of a couple who maybe doesn’t belong together, we hear a glimpse of the grit in her voice. Her Broadway tone is evident, but not overpowering.The album ends on a sad note with “If You Say So,” a haunting piano narrative that is sure to hit “Glee” fans right in the feels. “If You Say So” tells Michele’s reaction after her boyfriend and fellow “Glee” star, Cory Monteith died. The opening lyrics waste no time revealing the subject of the song: “It’s been seven whole days, seven whole days since you paralyzed me/ Seven whole days, seven whole days since you lost your fight.”As the song continues, the music and emotion builds to the point that even non-“Glee” fans like myself are touched. The songs are catchy, but most of them are forgettable. Aside from a few, there is little evidence to imply any real effort or challenge went into this album.The good news for Michele is that she has been building a fan base since 2009. The 12-year-olds that started out with her and the new 12-year-olds that are just discovering her will keep her career afloat for awhile. Hopefully, she’ll use that time to develop as a real artist.
(03/12/14 4:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>In November, Sarah Bray raised hell with Franciscan St. Francis Health-Indianapolis. Bray’s partner, Jennifer Clemmer, was admitted to the hospital for an overdose that Bray said was a suicide attempt. When Bray tried to go see her partner, she claimed that the hospital officials would not let her into the room. Bray said they refused her access because of her sexual orientation. You can imagine how excited this got local activist groups. GetEqual, a gay rights group, learned of Bray’s claims and released a statement saying the hospital was in violation of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender hospital visitation rights. The hospital denied that it refused Bray access to her partner, and the two parties have gone back and forth, always shifting the blame to something else.In the midst of this annoying feud, GetEqual spokesman David Stevens poked his nose where it didn’t belong. He completely sided with Bray, saying, “I feel like no matter what’s happened, unless she’s an absolute danger to her partner, that she should have the right to be there by her side.” Well, he sure is eating his words now.On Feb. 20, Bray was sentenced to a misdemeanor battery charge. It turns out Clemmer didn’t try to kill herself. Bray tried to kill Clemmer. After leaving their home because of a fight, Clemmer said she received threatening text messages from Bray demanding she return home. When Clemmer returned, Bray punched her in the face five times and slammed her face into the floor. Maybe I’m just reading too far into things, but that makes Bray seem dangerous to me.In January, Bray pleaded guilty. As part of her plea deal, the charges of criminal confinement and felony battery were dropped. Bray got off with 180 days of probation and a required trip to a psychologist. This woman landed her significant other in the critical care unit, and she’s getting off with a slap on the wrist.She lied to news media and used her sexual orientation as a tool to gain the attention of the public. She had people rallying behind her, painting the hospital out to be the bad guy when she was the one at fault. What Bray did is deserving of serious jail time. If she was a man, I have no doubt in my mind that she would be behind bars right now.This idea of patriarchal chivalry, of taking it easy on women, is old and outdated. It’s time we mature as a society and accept that women can be bad people, too — and they should have to answer for that.The law needs to apply proper punishment for domestic abuse, regardless of gender, race or sexual orientation. No one should get away with abusing another human being.lnbanks@indiana.edu@LexiaBanks
(03/06/14 5:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Liam Neeson needs to stop. His career is beginning to echo the pathetic likes of Nicholas Cage’s. Neither of them seem to know how to say “no.”In “Non-Stop,” Neeson resumes his consistent role as a badass with a dark past who needs to save someone. This time it’s a flight of 150 passengers on their way to London.Neeson plays Bill Marks, a U.S. Air Marshal with a drinking problem. Once the flight is in the air, Marks begins receiving anonymous text messages. The messenger threatens to kill a passenger every 20 minutes unless $150 million is transferred to a specified bank account. As Marks investigates, his already damaged reputation deteriorates. His frantic behavior attracts the suspicion of the flight attendants, pilots and the passengers. And thanks to technology, the rest of the country is able to see him in action, sending the media into a frenzy. Dubbed a terrorist, Marks races to save the plane and prove his innocence before it lands.From the opening scene, we’re made to feel sorry for Marks. We see him pour liquor into his coffee and we know he’s suffering through an internal struggle. The lack of trust from the passengers and other characters drives him closer to the edge and the audience is forced to sympathize. Julianne Moore’s character, Jen Summers, plays a large part in building our sympathy. Summers sits next to Marks on the plane and through her we see his discomfort and urgency. She becomes the only one who believes in Marks.Moore could have been a great supporting actress had the writers given her a little more depth. She retains her trust in Marks for no justifiable reason other than feeling that he’s “a good man.” It’s not believable when every news station in the country is accusing him of hijacking the plane she’s on board. The action is unimpressive, and that might be because of Neeson. We’ve seen him do the same tricks in films such as “Taken” and “Unknown.” The fights are predictable and the explosions are rudimentary. The story is just as uninspiring. The dark knight trope is overplayed, especially by Neeson. The first half is all about getting to know his character, and the second half is about the action. There are a few twists and surprises that hook the audience just before the clichés can push them away. But no surprise made us doubt the outcome of the film. We know that Marks is going to come out on top. We know he’s going to succeed because it’s Liam Neeson and Liam Neeson doesn’t lose. Everything works out too well, and it’s annoying. For an action film, it was played Disney safe. Director Juame Collet-Serra needs a lesson in “kill your darlings.” In a genre where characters constantly take risks, he should get up the courage to follow suit and take another one. And seriously Neeson, it’s OK to say no to the occasional action flick.
(03/05/14 5:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Hollywood took over the world Sunday night as the 86th Academy Awards hit the airwaves. By now even the sad people who didn’t watch the awards know that “12 Years a Slave” went home with the award. This was a big deal because Steve McQueen, director of “12 Years a Slave” became the first black director of a Best Picture. But there’s always one person who tries to ruin the mood. That one person was a dude in my telecommunications class who just had to point out that Brad Pitt’s name was called out before McQueen’s when they were walking toward the stage to receive their award.Is that fact relevant? No. But did this spark a five-minute debate of racism in filmmaking? Yes.Pitt’s name was said before McQueen’s. But it was not intended to degrade or disrespect McQueen racially or in any other way. It was because of the cinematic hierarchy. Pitt is one of the producers of “12 Years a Slave.” And in the movie food chain, producers trump directors. In the four phases of producing a motion picture, a producer is someone who makes most of the decisions — development, pre-production, production and post-production. They run things. The Best Picture award goes to the best film of the year. It compiles all the categories of filmmaking previously awarded in the ceremony, such as acting, directing, writing and cinematography. And who chooses the main cast, director, writer and cinematographer? The producer. McQueen is also listed as a producer, but it wasn’t his production company fueling the film. It was Pitt’s, along with a few others.Pitt had more stake in the film. That’s why his name was called first. It had nothing to do with racism.What still irritates me is that the guy in my class brought this up for no reason in front of 150 people when we were supposed to be talking about the virtual cinematography of “Gravity.” On a night when history was made, he just had to find a way to darken it.I’ve said before that I think our society has an obsession with spotting racism, even in places where it doesn’t exist. The majority of us have accepted that racism is bad, but know that it still exists somewhere. And when we don’t see it outright, we imagine it.Ellen DeGeneres, host of the Oscars, ended her opening monologue with a joke related to this. “Possibility number one, ‘12 Years a Slave’ wins Best Picture. Possibility number two, you’re all racists.” I loved this joke, because it was something I and some of my friends had joked about, too. It exploits the stupid idea that if we don’t rain praise on African-Americans and their work, we are just as racist as the people in the 1950s. In reality, it is those sort of implications that degrade and disrespect people and their work. Pity and guilt votes don’t do anyone any favors.It takes hard work and talent to tell a good story, and that’s what the cast and producers of “12 Years a Slave” did.lnbanks@indiana.edu@LexiaBanks
(02/27/14 5:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The stars of YouTube are making a break for the big screen.Best known for their successful YouTube channels, Grace Helbig, Hannah Hart and Mamri Hart packed their awkward personalities with their arsenal of vagina jokes and boozed-up comedy, and traveled to a setting where they could be both hilarious and endearing — summer camp. Helbig plays Elise, the stereotypical not-working-her-dream-job-but-has-a-hot-fiancé modern woman in Chicago. But an accident at work causes Elise to lose her job. To top off the sundae that was her day, she finds her fiancé with another woman. Depressed and looking for an escape, a chance encounter leaves Elise with one option — return to her childhood summer camp, Camp Takota.Back in the mosquito-swarmed forest, Elise catches up with her two best friends from camp, Maxine (Mamrie) and Allison (Hannah), who seem to have never left.As the mosquito bites and poison ivy rashes bring them together, the future of Camp Takota is threatened. An obnoxious Wi-Fi addict has plans to mow the camp over and transform it into a social media Mecca, every teenager’s dream. But the women refuse to let that happen. They band together to show the girls of Takota that their camp can offer more than any Wi-Fi zone. “Camp Takota” explored a very realistic representation of adulthood gone wrong. Though it was moved by dramatic situations, the responses were comedic and relatable. One example would be the scene after Elise has discovered her cheating fiancé. We might expect to see our heroine whining to a friend or destroying her house or cuddling an empty wine glass in bed. Instead, Elise is on the living room floor drinking straight from a liquor bottle, Facebook-stalking the woman who ruined her relationship. The close relationship between Helbig, Hannah and Mamrie translates flawlessly to film. Their obvious level of comfort with each other makes it easier to process some of the jokes, the vagina ones in particular. Mamrie and Lydia Genner, who co-penned the script, wrote the perfect role for each woman, shadowing the character after each actor’s personality and level of acting ability.The screenplay itself was oozing with Mamrie’s sense of humor, incorporating cheesy puns, making fun of teenage trends and a lot of drinking.On the production side, the film is very simple, and it works. Some of the fades and transitions seem off, but the cinematography is sharp, and there are many artistic shots emphasizing the scenery of the camp.“Camp Takota” was advertised purely through the Internet. The YouTube community came together in their videos and through social networking to promote it, which allowed the targeted audience to keep updated throughout the production process.“Camp Takota” is the perfect example to show it doesn’t take a bottomless budget to produce or promote a good film.It keeps you laughing the entire time, and you will find no guilt in watching it over and over again.
(02/26/14 5:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>For the second time since coming to IU, I had to sit through a lecture completely dedicated to sex.Among almost 400 students I sat and took notes while a guest lecturer talked on and on about the history and effects of pornography like she was talking about the development of the television.And as I’ve actually sat through a lecture on the development of the television, I can tell you the levels of attention and awkwardness were unparalleled.Maybe it’s immature of us, but when we heard the speaker say “titty fucking,” we were hooked. We closed Facebook and Pinterest, paused our European hockey games. We laughed and snickered like children.And then the lecturer started asking personal questions. She began asking if any of us watched porn. She wanted to know if we bought magazines or watched it online. She wondered about the first time we ever saw porn.No one raised their hands. No one wanted to confess their experiences with porn. It wasn’t until half way through the class that a very small number of people began raising their hands, and even fewer were willing to speak. I was relieved. As much as sex is exploited in college culture, I was genuinely glad to find there is one aspect of it that people don’t want to brag about in public.Maybe I’m a prude with an old woman’s soul, but I don’t like talking about sex and I don’t like hearing about it without a good reason.I understand the benefits of talking about sex. With your partner it makes the experience more comfortable and prevents misunderstandings. When parents talk to their kids about sex it actually encourages them to wait. And in schools, teachers have the chance to inform students on how to prevent STDs and unplanned pregnancy.But some people take these benefits too far and suddenly they’re talking about their sex life in the middle of Starbucks with a group of strangers. With women in particular, sex talk seems to be used as a feministic ploy. There has been a double standard for years between men and women when it comes to sex. Where a single man on the prowl may be praised for his sexual behavior, a woman is shamed unless she’s married.But the playing field is evening out, perhaps due to the increased number of discussions. And that’s great.However, there is something called manners. There are things you talk about in public, and things meant to be private between your family or close friends.I don’t need to know about the personal experiences of people benefiting from talking about sex. I don’t want to know who you’re kissing, licking or humping. I don’t care what porn you’ve been watching. I have about as much interest in your sex life as in your bowel movements — which is none, because it’s personal, disgusting and needs to be kept to yourself.My point is that in this progressive college world we are currently stuck in, it’s OK to be conservative about some subjects. Not everything needs to be shared, and sex is one of them.lnbanks@indiana.edu@LexiaBanks
(02/20/14 5:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>I’ve never read Mark Helprin’s novel “Winter’s Tale,” so I can only hope
he felt insulted by the mockery director and writer Akiva Goldsman
turned it into.
“Winter’s Tale” is the story of Peter Lake, played by Colin Farrell, an
orphan who grew up to be a thief in early 1900s New York City. He has an
Irish accent, for no explained reason. Peter used to run with a bad
crowd, essentially the demon mafia of New York. The leader of the mob
would be Pearly Soames (Russell Crowe), who feels he raised Peter.
As he got older, Peter developed morals and no longer wanted to harm people, inviting the unreasonable fury of Pearly.Beverly
Penn (Jessica Brown Findlay) is a young privileged woman dying of
consumption, an illness that requires she stay cold even if it means
sleeping in a tent on the roof in the middle of winter.
But Beverly doesn’t let her illness darken her life. She’s a gag-me-now
optimist who sees the world in rays of light, which plays a central
theme throughout the film. It’s that same optimism that allows her to
fall in love with Peter when he breaks into her home, instead of calling
the police.
This incident of love at first sight thrusts Peter into the role of the
unlikely prince. He saves Beverly’s life, meets her father, teaches her
some valuable skills, saves her family and takes her dancing. Then he
has sex with her and she dies. Very romantic.
With little will to live, Peter is easily captured and disposed of by
Pearly. But Peter survives and passes through time for almost 90 years
with no memory. He only has an image in his mind of a girl with red
hair. Virginia Gamely (Jennifer Connelly) comes to his aid and the
aid of the film in general. Together they try to understand why Peter
hasn’t died, while Pearly wonders the same but for a completely
different reason.
This film had the makings of a wonderfully tacky, somewhat-modern fairy
tale. But the objective storyline has too many loose threads. The
audience is never sure if it’s a battle between angels and demons or the
abstract aspects of light and darkness. At one point, it’s explained by
a Native American folktale.
It’s all just too confusing.But, I must commend Colin Farrell.
Through the chaos of the screenplay, his character was consistent. He
played a man who went from having nothing to lose to having everything
taken, and he did it with tenderness and thoughtfulness.
In her minor part, Jennifer Connelly stole the show. Her sincere
performance grounded me to the real world even as the fantastical plot
unraveled around her. She keeps the audience in their seats, while
Crowe’s horrible accent pushes them away.
Whether the fault of the author or the screenwriter, there was just too
much going on in this story. Let’s just hope, in the future, Akiva
Goldsman sticks to action flicks.
(02/19/14 5:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Let’s take another trip to Russia — I bet no one has ever said that before.Following every Olympic Games is an army of journalists stalking and starving for a good story. Besides records being made or beaten, journalists try to get to know the human beyond the athlete. Sometimes, it doesn’t work out too well.NBC’s Christin Cooper set an example for all journalists when her questions led to one athlete’s emotional breakdown.Olympic champion alpine skier Bode Miller broke into tears during his post-race interview with Cooper, in which she pushed him with questions about his deceased brother. Bode’s brother Chelone “Chilly” Miller died after a seizure last year. Chilly was a snowboarder hoping to join his older brother in the 2014 Sochi Olympics. Cooper wasn’t the only one taking advantage of Bode’s most personal life moments. NBC kept bringing them up. Before Bode’s event began, the network broadcasted a package showcasing the intimate aspects of his life off the mountain, and the same subjects were brought up later in an interview with Matt Lauer. The reason Cooper is taking most of the heat is because her questions were merciless and her interview tactless. Bode was the first to bring up his brother in an answer to one of Cooper’s question. It was understandable for Cooper to in turn ask a question about his brother. Beyond that, the subject was unnecessary.The man is the highest-decorated U.S. Olympic alpine skier and the sport’s oldest medal winner. He just won his sixth medal in a nail-biting tie with Canada in what may be his last Olympics, and she wanted to press him about his brother. Bode took to Twitter to defend Cooper, saying she asked the questions any other reporter would have, and he doesn’t believe she intended to cause any pain. Upon learning that Bode actually knows Cooper and that Cooper is a former Olympic skier, I agree that she wasn’t trying to cause him pain. But that doesn’t make her performance as a journalist less awful.People don’t always realize that there is more to being a journalist than a fast-paced Brooklyn accent, a coffee addiction and a notepad permanently attached to your hand. They have a lot to learn beyond fact checking and how to write a good lede. Every journalist knows that there is a time and a place. We may have all wondered the same questions as Cooper, but that doesn’t mean you ask them right after his race while he’s surrounded by fellow athletes, fans and dozens of media sharks.There is also a time to walk away. Body language can be just as loud as words, and journalists should at least have a minor understanding of that. It doesn’t take a behavioral analyst to tell you that when a grown man wipes a tear from his eye he’s done, and it’s time to stop.There is a line between getting the deeper story and fishing for emotion. NBC crossed it.Sometimes journalists forget that the people they interview aren’t just stories, they’re humans. Their objectivity or determination can turn any subject into a front-page feature or a primetime package. Hopefully in the future, Cooper will keep this in mind and refrain from reducing another Olympic champion to tears. — lnbanks@indiana.eduFollow columnist Lexia Banks on Twitter @LexiaBanks
(02/19/14 5:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Let’s take another trip to Russia — I bet no one has ever said that before.Following every Olympic Games is an army of journalists stalking and starving for a good story. Besides records being made or beaten, journalists try to get to know the human beyond the athlete. Sometimes, it doesn’t work out too well.NBC’s Christin Cooper set an example for all journalists when her questions led to one athlete’s emotional breakdown.Olympic champion alpine skier Bode Miller broke into tears during his post-race interview with Cooper, in which she pushed him with questions about his deceased brother. Bode’s brother Chelone “Chilly” Miller died after a seizure last year. Chilly was a snowboarder hoping to join his older brother in the 2014 Sochi Olympics. Cooper wasn’t the only one taking advantage of Bode’s most personal life moments. NBC kept bringing them up. Before Bode’s event began, the network broadcasted a package showcasing the intimate aspects of his life off the mountain, and the same subjects were brought up later in an interview with Matt Lauer. The reason Cooper is taking most of the heat is because her questions were merciless and her interview tactless. Bode was the first to bring up his brother in an answer to one of Cooper’s question. It was understandable for Cooper to in turn ask a question about his brother. Beyond that, the subject was unnecessary.The man is the highest-decorated U.S. Olympic alpine skier and the sport’s oldest medal winner. He just won his sixth medal in a nail-biting tie with Canada in what may be his last Olympics, and she wanted to press him about his brother. Bode took to Twitter to defend Cooper, saying she asked the questions any other reporter would have, and he doesn’t believe she intended to cause any pain. Upon learning that Bode actually knows Cooper and that Cooper is a former Olympic skier, I agree that she wasn’t trying to cause him pain. But that doesn’t make her performance as a journalist less awful.People don’t always realize that there is more to being a journalist than a fast-paced Brooklyn accent, a coffee addiction and a notepad permanently attached to your hand. They have a lot to learn beyond fact checking and how to write a good lede. Every journalist knows that there is a time and a place. We may have all wondered the same questions as Cooper, but that doesn’t mean you ask them right after his race while he’s surrounded by fellow athletes, fans and dozens of media sharks.There is also a time to walk away. Body language can be just as loud as words, and journalists should at least have a minor understanding of that. It doesn’t take a behavioral analyst to tell you that when a grown man wipes a tear from his eye he’s done, and it’s time to stop.There is a line between getting the deeper story and fishing for emotion. NBC crossed it.Sometimes journalists forget that the people they interview aren’t just stories, they’re humans. Their objectivity or determination can turn any subject into a front-page feature or a primetime package. Hopefully in the future, Cooper will keep this in mind and refrain from reducing another Olympic champion to tears. — lnbanks@indiana.eduFollow columnist Lexia Banks on Twitter @LexiaBanks
(02/13/14 5:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>This may be a hard one to describe, because the words I need to properly express how awful this film was do not exist yet.You will find better quality and fewer life regrets in a Taco Bell burrito.“Sinbad: the Fifth Voyage” does everything you’re not supposed to do in film making, starting with its use of narration.I was always taught narration is the sign of a weak script. Even with Patrick Stewart’s timeless voice flipping the pages through this tale, the story was too weak to be salvaged by anything.The story of this movie is too simple and overplayed. Sinbad (Shahin Sean Solimon) is a famous sailor engaged to the sultan’s daughter. The Deev, an evil sorcerer, freezes the sultan’s palace and kidnaps the princess. When Sinbad discovers his love interest is gone, he and his merry crew embark on an epic adventure to rescue her.It wouldn’t be an epic adventure without a few monsters. But when they turn out to be Claymation monsters, you lose my respect.Claymation is only acceptable in “Elf,” and the 1960s Christmas films ABC Family plays on loop throughout December. As if the Play-Doh cyclops and scorpion weren’t bad enough, this film had the worst green screen effects I’ve seen since “Wizards of Waverly Place.” The sound levels were unstable and inconsistent. It was painfully obvious when they were using different audio tracks when switching between shots. The greatest sin of all took place when the camera zoomed in on a shot and it shook as if the operator was pushing the zoom like a button on a video game controller. That shot even making the cut shows extremely lazy editing, and it isn’t the only proof. There were multiple useless shots that seemed shoved in there for the sake of timing to match the music flow.Then, there were the horrendous camera filters. This film tried to emphasize the scenes that took place in the past, but it didn’t work. It looked like they let a 13-year-old edit the film on Instagram. As for the acting, Sinbad was the weakest hero I’ve ever seen. For playing a dude whose woman has been kidnapped and is battling giant clay creatures, Solimon is annoyingly chill. He has three different facial expressions throughout the entire 89-minute film, and two of them aren’t shown until the last four minutes.The rest of the cast was just as unimpressive. Patrick Stewart’s narration was the only thing this film had going for it. And I’m still wondering what bet he must have lost to agree to put his name on this project.The only good this film could do is if it’s put in a film school textbook in the “What Not To Do” chapter. Just take your $8 and get yourself that burrito and some Pepto.