“It Is The Strangest Yellow, That Wallpaper!”: Rising Above The Yellow Peril
For the first time, three female Asian students lead Royal Holloway’s top media outlets! CASSANDRA LAU
With so much talk about religion, politics, and cultural appropriation throughout the 21st Century, Asian prejudice has been carefully concealed behind a yellow wallpaper: out-ofsight but very much present. However, this summer has been a celebration of diversity as Asian-American actors, directors and writers step into the limelight. It is almost impossible to miss Netflix’s new film based on Jenny Han’s novel, ‘To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before’ starring Lana Condor: the first Asian-American romantic lead, and the all Asian cast film, ‘Crazy Rich Asians’, directed by Jon M. Chu. Both films have been extremely well received, prompting debates and raising awareness towards the social struggles Asian minorities have been
Index
facing in the west. Closer to home, Royal Holloway breaks university records with its unprecedented phenomenon: no publication at RHUL has ever been led by an Asian student before, but this year, not one but three Asian women from the English Department are simultaneously stepping up to the role which is unseen of in the UK. “The fact that all three students are Asian women reflects the rapidly changing demographic of the English Department and its enthusiastic commitment to a diverse and multicultural student body,” says Head of English, Professor Juliet John, “The English department is very proud to have produced such talented and motivated students and to see them put their writing and editing skills to such great effect!”
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News.................................................................................1 Opinion And Debate.........................................................6 Lifestyle............................................................................8 Features...........................................................................12 Arts: Arts And Culture....................................................14 Arts: Film........................................................................15 Arts: Music......................................................................18 Arts: Literary Reviews....................................................20 Sports...............................................................................22
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Artwork by Jack Water
Balancing Work p. 9
Coppafeel! p. 13
Colour Run p. 23
2 NEWS
THE FOUNDER October 2018
A Note From The Editor
CASSANDRA LAU EDITOR IN CHIEF 2018/2019
I am absolutely delighted to take on the role of editorin-chief for The Founder this academic year and would like to welcome all old and new faces to the 2018-19 paper. With all that, Co-Editors, Dan Brady and Lila V. Costello have accomplished throughout the past few years, it will be difficult to carry on their impactful zeal but I look forward to the opportunity to work and learn alongside this year’s editorial crew. I hope to take forth the following: rebranding, diversifying our team and content, and organising more social functions and meetings within and outside the team. With less and less students turning to old-fashion news outlets for information, I believe The Founder is in need of reviewing and restrategising its content, image and accessibility, so
stay tuned for all our new changes. So far, readers will discover new sub-category sections under Arts and Lifestyle including a University Life, Careers, Accommodation and Health section for the latter to help students get in touch with useful information and advice. On top of that, spotting the obvious, we have completely redesigned the paper, to know more about the changes check out the article below. With so many big plans ahead for the 2018-19 issues, we will need all the help we can, so feel free to always drop off your CV and Cover Letter, or ideas at editor@thefounder. co.uk. Cannot wait to enjoy this year with a new team with new goals!
Why The Facelift?
The Founder Gets A Makeover On 3rd October 2018, The Founder’s first board meeting took place. Members of the board reviewed and discussed how the paper could be improved, and the focus was unanimously directed towards the paper’s image and layout. It was agreed that despite its infamous appearance, it was time to change the head banner, and layout. Hoping to stay tuned to The Founder’s traditional foundations but eager to display a thirst for modernity, it has been decided that Playfair is the perfect font for the paper’s heading. Its traditional design was introduced during the European Enlightenment in the late 18th Century when broad nib quills were replaced by
pointed steel pens; the font is representative of development, not only aesthetically, but literally. It was popularised alongside printing technology, ink and paper making, which allowed for a greater volume of information and ideas to be spread across great distances. Moving into an era of uncertainty and ‘alternative facts’, The Founder is here for the students of Royal Holloway as a tool of opinion and source of truth, and the new banner is a symbol of that. “The purpose of art is to lay bare the questions that have been concealed by the answers.” – James Baldwin We have also splashed some colour onto the paper with colour coded sections
to help readers navigate through the paper more easily, as well as introduced comics and illustrations. The purpose of a newspaper is arguably to propose ideas and inform its readers, and this is what art has been doing for centuries. From frescos and murals to literature and animations, art has been, according to Berthold Brecht, “not a mirror held up to reality, but a hammer with which to shape it.” We hope to represent all students’ points of view whether through words or paintings, so send your works to editor@thefounder.co.uk if you have something to share with everyone.
The Founder Board 2018 - 2019 Editor in Chief Cassandra Lau Managing Editor Zahra Hussein Designer Helena Keeble Marketing Director Sally Gibbs Marketing Manager Isobel Frances Sanderson Online Content Editor Tom Conlon Arts & Culture News Editor Editor Iffah Ahmed Molly Williams Deputy Film Editor News Editor Graciela Mae Sindhooraa Chico Satheesh
Opinon and Debate Editor Nicholas Ross
Music Editor Charlie Catmull
Lifestyle Editor Kyrie Roxby
Literary Review Editor Rachel Farguson
Features Editor Olivia Close
Sports Editor Frankie Christou
Arts Editor Mimi Markham
Deputy Sports Editor Jack Wright
The Founder is the independent student newspaper of Royal Holloway, University of London. This means we are not affiliated to the student union or the college. We pride ourselves on our investigative journalism and aim to keep our readers up to date with news on and off campus. The views expressed in this publication are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Editor, particularly of opinion and debate pieces. Every effort has been made to contact the holders of copyright for any material used in this issue, and to ensure the accuracy of its stories. To book ad space in The Founder, contact our managing editor at managingeditor@thefounder.co.uk. THE FOUNDER is printed in Cambridge by Iliffe Print
NEWS 3
THE FOUNDER October 2018
Indonesia Tsunami
Photo via https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/topics/c3494ene869t/indonesiatsunami
IFFAH AHMED
The recent tragic earthquake and tsunami which occurred in Indonesia on Friday the 28th of September is still seeing the death toll rise. The number of citizens known to have died since Friday has risen to 1,347 as stated by disaster response officials. The death toll of individuals leapt on the 2nd of October from a previously confirmed figure of 844. The 7.5 magnitude quake hit just off the central island of Sulawesi which then triggered a tsunami that swept the coastal city of Palu. Looters are being prevented by the police authority who are guarding shops as people are severely searching for food, water and fuel. Initially, officers were not as strict and took a tolerant approach to survivors seizing basic necessity items and goods. However, some people have been since arrested for stealing cash and computers. National police chief Ari Dono Sukmanto said “After day two the food supply started to come in, it only needed to be distributed. We are now enforcing the law”. Soldiers and police have been escorting humanitarian relief convoys into entering the city to provide aid and reassurance. However, there are still major fears that some survivors are still in difficult situations and trapped under the rubble of destroyed
buildings. The BBC have been notified by the Indonesian Red Cross officials that the bodies of 34 Indonesian students “were found under a church buried by a mudslide.”. From a Bible camp in the Jonooge Church Training Centre, a group of 86 students have been reported missing and the whereabouts of the other 52 students is still unknown. Ridwan Sobri, a spokesperson for the Indonesian Red Cross told the BBC, “The mud conditions in that area are terrible, we have to walk about one and a half hours to reach [the mudslide area], that makes it very difficult.”. Furthermore, Mr Sobri confirmed that the ages and identities of the students could still be unknown. The United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs has said there are nearly 200,000 individuals in deep need for urgent assistance and around a quarter of them are children. It further added that there are multiple citizens in areas that are not amongst the principle focus of government recovery. Vice President, Jusuf Kalla has stated that ultimate death toll could be in the thousands. However, the Red Cross estimates that a total of more than 1.6million have been affected from this natural disaster To read more on the effects of the Tsunami and
Royal Holloway Hosts First Festival of Volunteering
Photo via https://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/about-us/news/royal-holloway-hosts-first-festival-of-volunteering/
SINDHOORAA SATHEESH
On the 26th of September, Royal Holloway had its inaugural Festival of Volunteering at Founder’s Square. Launched by Surrey’s High Sheriff Jim Glover and Royal Holloway’s Vice Principal Ben O’Keefe, the festival was a resounding success. The area was divided into five zones, each addressing a different aspect of volunteering, along with a Guinness World Record sign-up space. The zones included aspects of volunteering such as Community Action, Social Action, Community
Research, Volunteering/ Challenges Abroad, and Sports Volunteering. There were also themebased talks by those who had made a career in charity services. Wendy Solesbury MBE, who is the national youth engagement manager at the British Red Cross, and Linda Fenn, who is the head of volunteering at the British Red Cross, were among those who gave speeches regarding pursuing a career in charity. The Voluntary Support of Surrey were on campus providing advice to those who were interested in volunteering in the local community, and there was also a community
related film being screened. The Royal Holloway Volunteering society held this festival to encourage more students to participate in community service and volunteering, as well as to aid those who wish to pursue a career in charity work. Phil Simcock, the Volunteering Manager at Royal Holloway’s Student Union stated that the festival had achieved its goal, and that the Volunteering Society was very happy to be hosting this festival, which was held in conjunction with Challenges Abroad, vInspired, Enterprise RAC, the British Heart Foundation, MTC Europe and NCVO.
4 NEWS
THE FOUNDER October 2018
Holloway Historian Helps Shine New Light on Modern German Cold-Case
Photo via https://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/about-us/news/royal-holloway-historian-helps-shine-new-light-on-modern-german-cold-case/
IFFAH AHMED
From Royal Holloway, University of London Historian Dr Barbara Zipser has employed the regular linguistic profiling skills she uses on ancient Greek documents to underline a horrifying child abduction
and blackmail case from the 1980s. The “cold case” from 2010, which was closed involved the kidnapping and murder of 10 year old Ursula Hermann from Bavaria after a former neighbour of the
victim was sentenced to life imprisonment after being found guilty. However, Stern, A German TV programme at a recent time revisited the case and Dr Barbara Zipser utilised her expertise and knowledge to analyse and understand blackmail letters which had been sent to the parents of Ursula. Dr Barbara Zipser, through linguistic profiling came to the conclusion that it was very likely the wrong person had been accused and convicted. Therefore, through her analysis and opinion, the legal team of the convicted man have called for the case to be re-opened. Ursula Hermann’s brother has supported the claims and
has written an open letter proposing the view that the authorities have prosecuted an innocent man whilst the real suspect is still free. These claims were reported in the German media. Dr Zipser has used linguistic profiling, a method of practice throughout her academic work. Thus through her analysis of language and knowledge, Dr Zipser was able to unveil unknown evidence from this alarming case. Dr Zipser said; “I processed the ransom notes the same way as my manuscripts. This led me to conclude that the man convicted was very likely not the author of these
notes. “My work on this case has shown how powerful linguistic profiling can be, and how important it is for police work. “There are many conclusions we can draw about a person based on their use of language. Details such as age, gender and educational background can be determined through this method of practice. “This is a technique I have used consistently throughout my academic work, and it’s really amazing to be able to apply these skills and use them to, hopefully, help free an innocent man and bring the right person to justice.”.
NEWS 5
THE FOUNDER October 2018
Iraq Annually Holds the Largest Peaceful Gathering in History
Royal Holloway Rising Up The Ranks IFFAH AHMED
In the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2019, Royal Holloway, University of London has risen four places in the national rankings to number 24. For a second year running, the university has been the fourth highest performing university in the guide’s table of London universities. Royal Holloway’s success from The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide can be seen reflected across multiple other league table outlets from this year, including the Complete Iraqi Christians walking to the shrine of Hussain alongside their Muslim brethren
ZAHRA HUSSEIN
Karbala, the land which held the most barbaric and inhumane battle in human history, holds its arms annually to millions of pilgrims. Last year, over 40 million pilgrims attended the Arba’een gathering in the holiest shrines in central Iraq. Arba’een means forty in the Arabic language which marks the 40 day mourning period since the martyrdom of Hussain and his family. Hussain, the grandson of the Prophet Mohammad was a man who stood against the tyrannical leader of his time, Yazid, and refused to pay allegiance to him. Hussain was killed savagely by the corrupt political leaders of his time. Yet despite this, he is venerated by millions as he taught humanity the meaning of strength and justice. Now, around 1400 years later, the message of Hussain remains alive. Karbala welcomes all the people to her borders, from all
beliefs and backgrounds. The Iraqi people welcome the pilgrims annually with free food, drink, shelter and healthcare many miles before Karbala’s borders. There are thousands of volunteers from all the different routes to Karbala offering their service to enlighten the message of Hussain. Despite the false media coverage of Iraq, many pilgrims come from all over the world including Russia, Morocco, Oman, Iran and the UK to pay respect to the grandson of the Prophet. Iraqis though plagued with the tragedy of many wars, are known for their astounding hospitality and generosity. The numbers of this year’s pilgrimage are said to exceed 40 million, and Iraq waits to serve the people of the world for the sake of Hussain.
University Guide and the Guardian University Guide. Once again, Royal Holloway has also surpassed the average score for student satisfaction in the 2018 NSS results. The Office for Students and the UK higher education funding bodies carries out the NSS, an independent survey. Principal at Royal Holloway, Professor Paul Layzell stated; “Our ranking in this prestigious league table endorses the experience we offer to students through the high quality of our teaching
and world-class research. This creates a community of inspired students, who strive to achieve excellence. “Royal Holloway is privileged to be home to some of the world’s leading authorities in science, the arts, management, economics and law. “We continually invest in resources for our students, and to advance the positive impact we can achieve as a research-intensive university. This year saw the opening of the Beatrice Shilling Building. This technology led building provides high quality facilities for all students and staff.".
Celebrate 200 years of Becoming Digital at Royal Holloway
Photo via https://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/about-us/news/celebrate200-years-of-becoming-digital-at-royal-holloway/
SINDHOORAA SATHEESH
Royal Holloway’s Computer Science is celebrating its 50th anniversary with an exhibition commemorating the past 200 years of digital technology. The exhibition, which runs from September 24th to November 29th lays out the history of computing technology and its effect on society; and emphasises the contributions of women scientists and engineers. One of the featured women is Margaret Rock, who graduated from
Bedford College. Bedford College merged with Royal Holloway in 1985. She was recruited in 1940 to work at Bletchley Park, which was the site of the Government Coding and Cypher School. Part of the team responsible for decrypting enemy codes during the Second World War, she received an MBE for her part in breaking the Enigma Code used by the German forces in the war. The exhibition also includes a recreation of the analytical engine
created by Charles Babbage in the 19th century which is considered as the forerunner of modern computers; and an explanation of how the miniaturisation process has driven drastic increases in computer speeds, and how the process is soon expected to halt. Professor Adrian Johnstone, a professor of Computer Science at the university says that the exhibition is a celebration of how our lives have been impacted by the advent of technology. He also emphasises the contribution of women in the field; and believes that the trend of women being underrepresented in the discipline must be reversed. Royal Holloway is one of the leading universities in the United Kingdom for computer science research, and specialises in creating novel yet practical computing systems that have great practical value.
6 OPINION AND DEBATE
THE FOUNDER October 2018
Screening Children NICHOLAS ROSS
Dining in a backstreet in the Algarve last summer, as wine funnelled down my throat and a glass’ crimson translucence cleared, my ears were begrudgingly subjected to torture. On my right sat a couple of disillusioned parents whose small child they placated by entrancing him with an electronic tablet resting on the condiments. Out of it boomed various sound effects. The following evening, another young boy bounced around smiling in his high chair as his screen did its bewitching. Having arrived home in England a few days later, I saw yet another child clutching
a device by his father’s side as they dawdled about a pharmacy. Internationally underway is a nocuous form of parenting. Do not be fooled by the reduction of whiny tantrums in the infantile generation’s growing populous of children distracted by screens. Parents discovering this technological amphetamine must understand its consequences. Children are impressionable enough, and – as only hermits might disagree – one may continuously observe that even adults are susceptible to addictive content on screens. Programmers tailor apps and games in ways best to keep users playing, elaborately patterning features like a game’s difficulty and reward systems. Many
studies also prove beyond reasonable doubt social media’s hypnotic dominance over the brain. Caution is therefore urged to the parents of children who might be brought up on diets of apps and games. Like children who are given particular foodstuffs and in turn grow up with a taste for them, so too will the ceaselessly entertained recipients of garbage media and tech, given by parents for the sake of silence during meals or cosmetics browsing. Indoctrination into a life of the mindless consumption of pixelated stimuli is a by-product of parenting lacking the zeal to encourage offspring’s interaction with the world.
No childhood should have gadgetry taking centre stage. It is sad that young children should be preoccupied with tablets instead of being outdoors, dazzled by discoveries of animals and environments, interacting in attentive familial relationships without the reluctance of fatigue. More importantly, these children will grow up as members of electorates, responsible for governments and legislatures of impending global history. There are already too many people whose obsessive tapping at screens makes them fall for political cretinism fed through social networks. In the age of the screen, enormous crowds are manipulated into trivial discussions and important policy is neglected. Bloggers
and tweeting celebrities lack the credibility of political scientists and writers, but they infect countless internet users with their opinions. Admittedly, one should be able to enjoy entertainment like video games or memes without too much criticism. Nevertheless, the quotidian usage of tablets and phones by children will stunt their development, drastically delaying endeavours in more meaningful pursuits. Parents should not show their offspring that life revolves around screens.
On Protecting Freedom of Expression NICHOLAS ROSS
There are noble justifications for limiting freedom of expression. In Royal Holloway’s Left Forum last year, I listened to arguments of historical precedence that noted the capacity for extreme groups to rise up when their voices are not quashed. In the early twentieth century, the presence of Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists in the East End of London was hostile and antisemitic, culminating in violent clashes such as the Battle of Cable Street in 1936. The Home Secretary refused to ban a march of Mosley’s supporters and Blackshirts, who, with their freedom of expression and right to protest intact, were guarded by an aggressive police force against Communist counter-protesters. Currently, removing
extremist propaganda from the internet in order to prevent impressionable users from being converted to dangerous ideology appears an obvious choice. But one should find a great deal of value in protecting freedom of speech and expression, for humans invariably hold different perspectives, conflict of thought arising naturally. Various nuanced calculations of reason may be applied to most debate motions. People may argue about a political issue if their ethical reasoning differs, if they prioritise different aims, or if they simply think differently. To advocate anything less than freedom of speech would thus be oppressive, authoritarian, and inhumane. The antifascist argument above, though honourable, is not tenable regarding contexts where dictators of the manacles of expression
are totalitarian themselves. In North Korea, residents may be imprisoned for poor treatment of images of the late Kim Il Sung, let alone vocal and written criticism of “The Parent Leader” or his large button-equipped descendants. Limiting expression there has meant no checks and balances, exclusive governmentsanctioned media, and the North Korean populace must entertain the products of decades of cultural mendacity. Juche Thought survives, a red-herring in the form of an empty ideology promulgated as part of Sung’s propaganda campaign in the 1970s, unjustifiably attaching North Korea to Marxist sentiments, a means of glorifying Sung as a great thinker. In the Soviet Union, most people would not have dared scrutinise Stalin, who organised purges and gulags. Many prisoners of gulags were sent to them in order to fill quotas so that the
country’s population would be small enough for Stalin and his secret police force, the NKVD, to control. Some prisoners were deprived to such an extent that they could be released on the brink of death so that they would qualify as civilian deaths in statistics. Forgetting Saddam Hussein’s Iraq and other examples, limiting freedom of expression is in fact historically bound to the worst instances of totalitarianism. There is a choice to be made: Does society allow piffle to be a civil liberty or civil right, which may be debated, as with the recent smear campaign against Jeremy Corbyn? Or do we pray whichever people or mechanisms dictating thought and speech are moral, competent filters? The trouble for the latter position occurs when it is your thought that becomes censored, and you are left in the despairing shadow of moronic or dubious others. The Syrian poet Adunis
champions a modernist style despite static Islamic poetry having been dictated by theocracy since Abu Tammam in the ninth century. In the Middle East modernity has been associated Western science, which finds authority in the future rather than the past. It is thus considered dissent and heresy. Like debate, whose raison d’être is progress created in arenas of free expression, Adunis’s work represents freedom of expression as an imperative tool to human progress, here in the field of literature. Debate is contingent on free expression and is one of our most important means of disseminating thought through the filter of logic, essential for representing the justifiably opinionated and intellectually curious, pivotal to human progress.
THE FOUNDER October 2018
OPINION AND DEBATE 7
Opinion & Debate On Mental Health Public campaigns are to promote The idea that mental health running awareness of illnesses like is as important a conversation depression, some of which as physical health is finally becoming less radical, but there being as simple as telling is still far to go in promulgating men it is okay to cry, that it facts about looking after is important not to repress yourself and others. Common your emotions, which may misunderstandings still pervade help men come forward and our conversations on the talk. People are finally issue. Terms like ‘depressed’, being encouraged to open ‘anxious’, and ‘mood swings’ up about mental health are recklessly employed in However, one conversation in a way that is issues. fears that once talking harmful to true sufferers. People are suffering at the about mental health issues hands of an NHS lacking the becomes commonplace, the funding to truly help them, campaigning will cease. though the Overton window Talking is imperative but has shifted, and conversations it is only the first step. It is about mental health are important that people are becoming more ubiquitous. opening up to more than HARVEY CARLIN
a smile and some words of encouragement. This is not to take away from the work being done by mental health professionals every day. But more assistance is needed to allow them to help those who come forward and open up, to talk, and to keep talking. Once someone has made initial contact and revealed a sadness, a trauma, an insecurity, or a case of bullying or adversity that has the potential to spiral out of control, the required mechanisms of assistance need to be in place and prepared. Funding needs to exist to allow for continuous contact sessions with qualified professionals. This will stop
people from becoming overly reliant on help from friends who, in our current climates of stress, may be too busy or dealing with problems of their own. Appointments with NHS staff to grant access to prescription medication, as would occur somewhat more easily with physical ailments, should be widely available, without delays being caused by the healthcare system’s starvation of funding. Talking is far less productive if it is met by a response without zeal at the other end of a telephone call, or a response limited by a lack of funding, or time from professionals with too many patients to attend.
Whose responsibility is it to ensure that people who come forward with mental health issues are supported in the required way? University health centers have a role to play, and could do with being less intrusive, more compassionate, and better organised. Everyone needs to try and improve their awareness, so they may recognise those among us who need help. We should educate ourselves on how to guide people to the services best suited for their mental health needs. Finally, and most importantly, the government must be committed to providing more funding to the country’s health budget.
The Importance of Listening NICHOLAS ROSS
A revelation struck me the other night in the back of a taxi. In the front my friend spent over an hour talking to a driver from Eritrea, which borders Sudan and Ethiopia. I sat in the back simply listening. The driver had attempted to escape the Ethiopian-Eritrean war but was rejected as a refugee by British immigration authorities. However, he managed to be admitted into England by appealing as a human rights case, and he proceeded, despite his limited English, to explain the Geneva Protocol. My drunk friend and a taxi driver engaged in one of the most fascinating conversations I have ever
witnessed, the former talking personally about an inspiring familial sacrifice of his father’s, the latter wowed, conversing about family dynamics in African culture. I dare say I learned more in that car journey than in most of my university lectures. But ours is unfortunately a world in which the civil liberty not to have nonsense chit-chat forced upon oneself does not exist. It strikes me that university, the apex of the education system, redefines students’ values. Young adults in milieus of education begin to prioritise the mind. But at Royal Holloway and elsewhere,
many insecure students appear to want to prove how intellectual they are, when the most intelligent among my friends are those who are just realising how little they know, consequently beginning to quietly but assiduously study their respective fields. During any historical or political discussion, pay attention to adults desperately attempting to mention some barely relevant point from a halfremembered news report or long-ago misunderstood book. At a student party last year, I had to listen to someone tell me that the global community always supports America because the country always works for the
benefit of democracy… At that time one of my more intelligent friends was constructing a wellargued piece of research on America repeatedly using humanitarian propaganda for promoting self-beneficial, aggressive foreign policy. I had been in Egham’s Caffé Nero that very day reading Noam Chomsky on similar themes, and a polemic against the villainous Henry Kissinger who was recorded saying about Chileans, that if they could not vote for the right government, he would choose it for them. The library of this irritant at the party must have hosted only the US Constitution and
some Blairite’s fanfiction. He must have been in awe of the charming and poetic Barack Obama whose elegy to misplaced drone strike victims was sadly unpublished… So, one realises that listening must become more active than passive, in order to process information and language of varying quality. It is perhaps a little cliché to suggest people need to focus on listening more to others. But they should also listen more actively to themselves, for it appears there is a human propensity for the vocal exertion of drivel, and we must put effort into silencing our own nonsense.
8 LIFESTYLE
THE FOUNDER October 2018
Own Your Body
Artwork by Helena Keeble
HELENA KEEBLE
You must teach your sense of self To stand upon its own two feet, Instead of propped up on the views Of every person that you meet. – Erin Hanson Body Dysmorphia affects thousands of people, particularly teenagers and young adults. It is a huge stimulant for mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety, not to mention eating disorders. It has been an issue throughout humankind with women and men programmed to constantly compare themselves with each other. In this day and age, our human necessity to dream for other peoples’ lives, money and bodies is accentuated by our intense accessibility into the perfected world of strangers through social media. Our screens flash with glorious images of slender women
in bikinis, happy couples, and the luxuries of wealth, to name a few. But what we see is through a false lens. People only show what they want us to see. Sometimes those who look like they have it all are struggling the most. This filtered lens can make us more vulnerable and susceptible to jealousy and angst. We long to have that car, that house, that guy, those boobs, and that waistline. It can make us more desperate to achieve these things, whether healthily or not. To your social media followers they don’t see the pain and agony you battle everyday over how you look, they only see the good days when you’re strutting your little black dress with your breasts perfectly bulging out. No one but you knows about the panic attack you had before you pulled on that dress and put on your make-up mask of confidence. Young women and men see actors and actresses, who are years
older than ourselves, playing young teenagers with their clear skin and settled bodies, increasing our vulnerability about our bodies. We battle with the questions: ‘Why don’t we look like that?’ ‘How can I be them?’ ‘I’ll do anything to look like that.’ But then again, all we see is a directed performance in an age of advanced technology where images and films are constantly photo-shopped. We are all guilty of this falsity – it empowers us, enabling the creation of a flawless version of our lives online. Our Instagram is filled with those perfect moments glazed with our favourite filter. Clarendon Lark Juno Aden X-Pro II Lo-Fi Hefe Inkwell… - the list goes on. Click on your discover page now
and your feed will be filled with celebrities living their glamorous lives, friends flaunting their significant other and people working out. We don’t think of the consequences of displaying our lives as a collection of perfected images, forgetting our responsibilities as role models to others. So, the next time we all click on our social media apps we must remember that we are all guilty of portraying our lives as outof-this-world. We must remember that with nearly every perfect looking body is someone who has their bad days. They look at themselves with self-doubt, only seeing the unwanted curves and imperfections, thinking of their next diet and workout they’ll put themselves through before they post another snippet of their life online. It is human to focus on imperfections, but it is important to see them through a realistic perspective. Everyone has their ups and downs about
their body, but it is vital that we don’t let ourselves be brought down by believing someone has it better. We can’t continue to damage our self-worth by constantly bringing ourselves down over what we don’t have. Your happiness should not be defined by how many likes and compliments you get on Instagram when you post that picture of yourself. You must learn to focus on your own life and making those negative moments about your body better in a healthy way. We know what our perfect body would be – but don’t let it be someone else’s. It is yours to dress and wear as you please. Doing this won’t instantly make you love your body, but a positive mental attitude will enable you to begin that journey. No body is the same; so don’t try to make it that way. Own your body. It is yours, and yours alone and no one can take that away from you.
THE FOUNDER October 2018
LIFESTYLE 9
How to Balance Part-Time Work with Full-Time Study
Photo via https://www.pexels.com/photo/cash-coins-money-pattern-259165/
LAUREN ELLIOTT
Earlier this year, the Independent revealed that the average student is living off £1 a day, after spending their maintenance loan on rent which is now at an average of £566 a month. Getting a part-time job works for almost half of all full-time students – giving you that extra income to put towards your weekly shop, lifestyle and academic materials. Royal Holloway have official guidelines for full-time students wishing to find part-time work: during term-time, you should work no more than 20 hours a week (two full 9-5 working days in central London, including train travel). If a student were to spend any
Artwork by Jack Water
more than these 20 hours in part-time work, their studies would likely suffer. In all cases, your university studies take priority and your employer should be understanding about this. Now in third year, and still balancing part-time work in central London with my English studies and social life in Egham, I’m writing to offer some advice for those wanting to earn some extra cash. My first tip is to buy yourself a sturdy 2018/19 Academic diary. Having a physical copy of dates, deadlines and meetings will set you in good stead for keeping on top of the busyness of the workplace when your mind is thinking about your next university
assignment! For desk jobs, make notes of computer passwords and colleagues numbers for safe-keeping, and for shift work, especially in customer service or hospitality, use this diary to keep track of your hours and uniform policies. To keep your lecture hours close to hand at all times, print out your personal Royal Holloway timetable and stick it in your book. It may seem old-fashioned to keep note of your life in diary form, but knowing when you’re expected to turn up will never go out of style! This one isn’t for the students who have a colourcoded timetable that they stick to religiously every April as they will be doing this already: make checklists! When you write down a To-Do list, whether at the beginning of the day, week or month, you are far more likely to complete the task at hand. It will reduce your anxiety during busy periods, focus your mind and remind you how hard you have worked once it is all ticked off. If you’re already doing this, take it a step further by setting yourself personal deadlines ahead of college and work deadlines. If your boss would like that scanning finished by next Wednesday, try to finish it this Wednesday. Similarly,
when you are given a college deadline do not leave it to be submitted within ten minutes of the deadline – give yourself an extra week, if possible. As previously mentioned, Royal Holloway have a firm policy on allowing fulltime students to work no more than 20 hours a week. Often, once you factor in course work, nights out and societies that you have committed to, you won’t have a full 20 hours left to give to a part-time job. If you want any chance of successfully balancing your studies with work, be realistic with your time. Ask your course convener for their recommended hours – they’re usually suggested during your first course meeting or on Moodle – and then work out how many hours you have left over, not excluding your resting time. If you’re in doubt about whether your studies will suffer, it’s best to raise this concern with your personal tutor or another trusted member of the department faculty. Leading on from being realistic with your time, set yourself a radius of how far away you’re willing to work. Personally, I wouldn’t be able to work anywhere more than one
hour away on a train journey as it takes up too much time doing multiple journeys in a week. While working locally may be the obvious solution to this, you can be in central London in under 50 minutes from Egham station, and there are far more opportunities if you broaden your locational requirements for part-time work. There are many other bonuses to working parttime in London: walking past national landmarks, the potential of earning the London Living Wage and being able to utilize your journey time by catching up on reading! And finally, just enjoy living on more than £1 a day! Whether you’re filling in time sheets weekly (that diary will come in handy keeping track of those hours…) or on the company payroll, be sure to appreciate your pay day. Unlike the borrowed money of a maintenance loan, this is your hard-earned money and should be treated as such. Go on. Treat yourself. Buy Heinz rather than Tesco’s own brand. Remember that if you are having any problems in maintaining the side hustle and study balance, we have a Careers and Employability Service, Financial Support team and a Wellbeing team operating on campus at Royal Holloway.
10 LIFESTYLE
Give It A Tri!
THE FOUNDER October 2018
How Knot To Hire A Boat
Photos via https://www.romilly.com/fullscreen-page/comp-ipr1u74o/ d0aa5540-91a1-42c8-bcdd-5442a4f5bb46/2/%3Fi%3D2%26p%3Dbmxkv %26s%3Dstyle-iyj2n30i
REBECCA WILLIAMS
In a world of rising obesity and a default sedentary lifestyle, the governing bodies of various sports here in the UK have seized an opportunity to push less popular sports into the limelight, with an increasing number of people looking to lead a healthier lifestyle. One activity taking this by the scruff of the neck is the triathlon. It is a sport that has been creeping up on mainstream media for a while here in the UK, previously hiding behind the popularity of long distance running. The emergence of the infinitely talented and incredibly successful Brownlee brothers has in recent years paved the way for a wider British audience. All these factors considered, the triathlon community saw the opportunity to introduce a ‘mini’ triathlon. Not as far as an Olympic triathlon, the smaller alternative is the perfect way for someone to introduce themselves to something new, something I myself have signed up for. Come June 1st, 2019, if all goes to plan, I will be fully trained and ready to swim two hundred and fifty metres, cycle twenty kilometres and run a further four. Some may look at this distance and think you can do that in your sleep, while others may feel the opposite but I myself think this is
the perfect introductory distance. As a lifetime lover of sport and a lifetime hater of exercise, my feelings towards completing this type of challenge have been hopeful as well as a tad apprehensive. For as long as I can remember I have been taking part in sport, whether that be football, tennis, basketball or most recently the lacrosse team here at Royal Holloway. While I never really struggled regarding my ability, I was always held back by my lack of fitness, so I wanted something to aim for in the next coming year that will be not just an achievement, but a way to keep fit. My ultimate aim for this triathlon is to be able to incorporate exercise into my day to day routine. As I am sure many other students will agree, finding the time to include exercise in a lifestyle focusing on optimising your grades isn’t easy, especially when exercise has to myself always been somewhat of an enemy. Much like I have to study to get good grades, I have to exercise to make sure I am fit enough to compete in the event. Simple as that! With the dedication required to get a degree, to complete a run, swim or cycle six days a week may not seem practical, but you don’t know until you try and as many education experts will say, exercise can be equally as important as studying to get the best out of your degree. Wish me luck!
Photos courtesy of Elisabeth Callcut
ELISABETH CALLCUT
This Loch was vast – boasting calm waters and beautiful scenery. The boat too (a standard Wayfarer), was larger than I’d expected. Ten feet from stern to bow. It had a towering mast with benches set down the edges, and a hatch – housing a hornet sized horsefly that kept following me, even when threatened with being squished by a map. What the boat didn’t come with, was a headsail. Which would have made sailing upwind easier and faster. “You’ve got to be a longterm customer with us to ask for a Jib” the store owner stated, probably doubtful that I could handle it. A store employee named Rhys helped roll the boat to the launch jetty while the wind came in relentless vicious gusts. “Are you sure you want to go out right now?” he asked, watching with no small amount of mirth. His eyes laughed as the boat rocked savagely when I climbed aboard. Struggling to prove I could keep my balance, I raised the sail, and the boat sped ahead like a missile. I looked back a second later and there wasn’t
a trace of anyone else, even Rhys. It was just the wind, the boat, and me. At first, I wasn’t certain if my centreboard was up or down as I couldn’t move it an inch. After a few hours of constant drifting - the boat stubbornly refusing to follow a straight course – I was fairly convinced it wasn’t down, as it should have been. Constantly being pushed by the wind, the lakeside I was stuck in was filled with so many foamy white right angles and zig zag lines from behind me the water looked like a tough arithmetic equation. I started to sail from one side of the lake towards the centre with the vague hope of tacking back to the jetty where I set off – the wind had other ideas. Huge gusts pushed in the opposite direction, nearly capsizing me on several nerve-wracking occasions. I submitted to taking the sail down – an instinctive move that only made me lose all control of the boat. My bad luck didn’t end there. Along with the heavy wind, came the dismal pelting downpour typical to Scotland. Within milliseconds I was soaked to the bone. Shivering
and helpless, I considered jumping ship and swimming to shore while pulling the boat along behind me. Just as I was about to, a blurry silhouette emerged and my brother’s yelling to see if I’m ok. No, no I was not. He ended up throwing me a rope and pulling the boat to the edge of the lake, through the reeds and mud, tying it up securely to a handy nearby tree. As soon as Rhys set his eyes on me back at the boat shop, a great big grin spread across his face. A little bit too smug for a welcoming smile. Watching my graceful dance for balance earlier must have been amusing. I told him about the issues with the centreboard. Apparently, all I had to do was ‘pull the pin out to lower it’. Offering to bring the boat back himself, he picked up a wrench – apparently for the pin – and left. The following morning, I checked the weather. Light winds, no rain forecast, nice warmish temperature (for Scotland anyway). Perfect for sailing. How could I miss such an amazing opportunity? So of course, I stayed in watching Harry Potter, eating
THE FOUNDER October 2018
LIFESTYLE 11
Having a Part-Time Job at University Top Tips To Get You Through The Year
Photo via https://intranet.royalholloway.ac.uk/students/news-events/news-articles/may-2017/become-a-studentambassador.aspx
KYRIE ROXBY
While having a lovely sum of money deposited into your bank at the start of each term is pretty exhilarating, large amounts can disappear quickly. Books, rent, bills and groceries are all the essential things your maintenance loan goes towards – and they eat up a whole chunk of it. So, what do you do? It’s not like you’re suddenly going to stop getting take-out and never go out. Nope. Get a part-time job! Aside from the extra money, there are a lot of reasons to get a parttime job: something for the CV to bring up in interviews and show work ethic, transferrable skills,
references, and maybe even something career related to gain valuable experience. You can find all different types of job opportunities at the university Jobs Fair or at the Careers Service Centre. When looking for employers, be careful of the zero-hour contract. They are perfect if you aren’t reliant on the extra money because it’s more relaxed. However, you can become lethargic towards working and end up not doing as many shifts. Employers that offer zero-hour contracts have many other available workers, making it difficult for you to get shifts when needed if you drop too many. A study by Endsleigh shows around 77% of students work to help fund their studies and 56% of those students need to
work to keep up funds after under-estimating the costs of university. If you need a job to continue with your studies and afford to sustain yourself at university, a zero-hour contract job might not be for you. Working in set shifts will create a structured work pattern and routine, allowing you to schedule your studying and social life around lectures and work. Having work on the weekends can also make you more productive with studying during the week. Time management, even with less free time from working, will help keep your degree a priority. Be upfront with your employer about flexible hours you can realistically do, it’ll help in
the long run with putting Uni first. Twenty hours is the maximum allowed for students (including International students) per week. Also think about how far you’re willing to travel. Campus-based jobs could be the most easilymanaged, but if you find work elsewhere be aware of how much the costs of travel will mount up and take away from your pay check. Bear in mind how much a taxi is coming back if you’re working late shifts or about safe routes home if you’re walking home in the dark and buses stop running before you get off. Thankfully, there are many different types of work you can do as a
student. The university's job fairs are a great way for finding employers looking for workers around the area. For steadier rotabased employment, taking a few CV’s around to local businesses and cafes could be more lucrative. Alternatively, use your own marketable skillset like tutoring (e.g. if you can play an instrument or know another language) or selling artwork for spare cash. A maintenance loan can often fail to cover your complete cost of living, so a part-time job might be a necessity. Plus, spending a few hours outside campus with a new crowd can be a well-needed break from your routine.
12 FEATURES
THE FOUNDER October 2018
Continued From Front Page Cassandra Lau I was absolutely thrilled when offered editor-inchief for The Founder by Dan Brady – but now I am even more thrilled to share this platform with two other talented female Asian editors. It has all been so surreal and I feel that I won’t be able to wrap my head around it until our last issue’s been properly published. Saying this, I do hope that, a few years down the line, diversity won’t be a cause of celebration, but a norm. Brady notes how “great [it is] to see student media adapt alongside changes,” and with the number of international students at the university, “it only seems
Michele Theil Without further ado, from Hong Kong, Michele Theil, 20, has been elected editor-in-chief of the official Student Union magazine, The Orbital. Theil says, “It’s amazing that the students of RHUL [trust that] I would champion their thoughts and opinions through the medium of magazine journalism.” Theil has an impressive resume, participating in RHUL media
right that these students are properly represented in student media outlets. Balance is essential in journalism, and this is certainly a step in the right direction.” Though racial prejudice still exists within educational institutions, I have been fortunate enough to have found supportive teachers and professors to prompt me to constantly challenge and improve myself. Though it is about time we see some diversity in university papers, I strongly believe that changes like this will open up greater opportunities for BAME students to pursue their interests.
since 2016. Under the wing of then editor-in-chief and managing editor of The Founder, Dan Brady, she took on the role of Deputy Online Editor, and has been writing for both The Founder and The Orbital since. Competitive at heart, the two papers have long been at odds but Theil and I are hoping that greater results can be achieved by supporting each other.
Sandra Leung At Royal Holloway’s creative writing magazine, QUAD, Sandra Leung, 20, will be passed the editorin-chief baton by her peers. The Shanghainese creative writing student expresses her anticipation to combine creative writing with editorial responsibility explaining, “Managing this media outlet provides a platform for people to
showcase writing pieces that writers have poured their time, effort, and heart into.” Extremely accomplished, Leung has worked as a freelance writer at Society 19 and LND magazine since 2017 and recently worked at Hong Kong’s Television Broadcast Limited (TVB) as an intern.
"Don't let other people's opinions affect you. They don't matter nearly as much as what you think of yourself." To Our Younger Selves Talking to Leung and Theil, we discussed what have been the main hindrances of getting to where we are now, and what we wish we could’ve told our younger selves. Theil notes how, “racial microaggressions are always a thing”, whether in educational institutions or in the workplace. The former was especially prominent at my boarding school: I recall being made to take GCSE English as a Second Language despite English being my mother-tongue, and later advised to take IELTS despite achieving full marks in IGCSE and A-Level English Language and Literature. As a teenager, it was very disheartening but I was luckily surrounded by supportive peers. Less fortunate, Theil explains her greatest barrier was, “People not taking [her] seriously and telling [her] that what [she does] is a waste of time and that journalism is too hard to try to make it in.” She stresses, “Don’t let other people’s opinions affect you. They don’t matter nearly as much as what you think of yourself.” For Leung, the issue resided at home
as her “parents [have an] ambivalent attitude towards [her] chosen field of study.” She wishes she knew that, “Hard work always pays off, and never let adversity deter you from pursuing what you’re passionate about.” Currently, there still remains a significant lack of Asian writers in western media. According to Professor John. There is bias both conscious and unconscious, not just within individuals, but woven into the fabric of society at all levels; this is both cause and effect of inequality. More Asians [and women] in leadership roles will help to change things and the media is very important in how society is represented and understands itself.” With the media being such a powerful force, the phenomenon “is therefore not just personal but political, a visible, hopeful marker of equality of opportunity and progress towards a more equal future,” concludes John. I hope all students, regardless of race, gender, or age, know that they can be whatever they want to be, and that each story of success will be a step closer to this more equal future.
FEATURES 13
THE FOUNDER October 2018
Coppafeel! TILLY CURRER
Boobs. Tiddies. Jugs. Pecs. No matter what you call them, most of us have them. However, how often do we really feel them? At age 23, Kris Hallenga was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer. Herself and her sister co-founded Coppafeel! after her diagnosis in 2009 to raise awareness and to help young women and men catch breast cancer in its early stages. It's easy to disregard breast cancer as only affecting older women, but young women and men can be diagnosed too. In fact, Coppafeel! informs us that 1 in 8 women will experience breast cancer in their lifetime, and 400 men a year are diagnosed. That's where the Coppafeel! Uni Boob Team come in. We're here to remind you to regularly check the twins in a way you'll
remember. We talk about a heavy message in a lighthearted way, and we want to make boob checking a monthly habit for all young people. The earlier breast cancer is diagnosed, the higher the survival rates. To help everyone on campus remember to check, we have an array of materials such as our giant boob and our pink sparkly boobs to grab your attention. At the Freshers Fair many of you were bemused, even shocked by their presence on our table, and a lot of the men who passed told us that they didn’t need to check their pecs. This only furthers our desire and passion to educate young people more. It’s easy to tell you to check your boobs, but how do you actually do it and how do you get involved?
Here are our top tips: Know your normal. Get to know the look and feel of your breasts. Look in the mirror while you touch them and watch out for a sudden change of size or shape. It’s important to know what feels different because only women (not men) from ages 50-70 are covered for screening in the UK. Look. Look in the mirror and feel for unusual lumps, dimpling and nipple discharge. If you see any changes simply go to your doctor to make sure everything is okay. Feel. Feel from your collarbone to your armpits, and for any thickening of the skin. Breast tissue and cancer is not limited to the breasts themselves, it is vital to feel
and check your armpits up to the collarbones as well. Watch out for a feeling of constant pain in your breasts that is unusual to you. Check in the shower! A simple way checking your breasts while you're washing the shower and sudding those melons.
Artwork by Tilly Currer
of is in up
Sign up for text reminders. It's easy to say you'll remember, but life gets in the way so Coppafeel! is here to remind you with a text! Simply text: “UBT RHUL” to 70500 and you'll get a monthly reminder to check those tattas. Don’t listen to fake news! You can get breast cancer if you have small boobs and if you are a man,
you cannot get breast cancer from the wrong size bra, and you cannot get it from deodorant. It is important to separate the facts from the fake news. Get involved! We are looking for people to get involved and help us raise awareness! Message our Instagram (UBT_RHUL), Facebook (Royal Holloway Uni Boob Team), or myself personally if you're interested in joining the cause. We will welcome anyone willing to help with open arms!
Remember, being diagnosed with breast cancer at a young age is very unlikely, but it does not hurt to keep checking those babies, and it could save your life. If you are interested in finding out more, head to Coppafeel.org to explore the organisation more!
Photo via https://twitter.com/coppafeelpeople
14 ARTS & CULTURE
THE FOUNDER October 2018
Michael Jackson: On The Wall STEPHANIE AIREY
It was my sister who persuaded me to visit the ‘Michael Jackson: On the Wall’ exhibition at the National Picture Gallery with her. Not always a regular headliner on her playlists, I hadn’t expected her to be such a fan of MJ. During the train journey into London on August 20th, I considered Michael Jackson’s influence on fashion and The Weeknd to be at the heart of her intrigue. The reality is that Jackson’s legacy cannot be reduced to anything less than pop culture icon. Entering the gallery, we were faced with Kehinde Wiley’s ‘Equestrian Portrait of King Philip II (Michael Jackson)’ (2010). Wiley appropriates
classical European art for the king of pop, making for an aptly progressive commission from Jackson. The portrait precedes the tone for the rest of the exhibition: a collective Jackson constantly in motion, never tiresome, trying to both escape and encompass all that was projected upon him. His voice travels from faraway speakers; his lyrics run in painstaking transcriptions to comprise the album art of ‘Thriller’ and ‘Off the Wall’ in Michael Dolphin’s art; his choreography is reproduced in a hypnotic video of a dance troupe simply entitled ‘Thriller’. His vast ideals, exemplified
in Keith Haring’s singular blue and black Jackson burgeoned with a red cross on his forehead, become an inclusive experience of idol worship. The glowing-eyed masks of Dan Mihaltianu’s installation stare behind visitors as they watch ‘An Audience’, a video from a Bucharest concert of the 1992 Dangerous tour. It draws attention to the frantic adoring crowd, who shriek MJ’s every movement. Jackson’s image is consistently affecting throughout the exhibition. His unmatched and exploited fame permeates more disturbing installations, such as Jordan Wolfson’s ‘Neverland’ (2001). Jackson’s eyes, taken from
footage of his statement against paedophilia accusations, are isolated and float in white nothingness. David LaChapelle’s portraits of a defamed American Jesus are moving in both their sympathy and frustration with Jackson’s obsessively damning media narrative. Todd Gray’s mixed media explores black identity MJ is integrated with images of African-American families. One caption reveals how Michael confided in Gray that he wanted to be as famous as Mickey Mouse. Our relentless consumption of his image is also apparent in the Andy Warhol room. Silkscreens and collected memorabilia suggest Warhol’s own
fascination with mythicised figures, as does Grayson Perry’s ‘Sex, Drugs, and Earthenware’ (1995). The exhibition recognises Jackson’s persecution but avoids sensationalistic biographies. Travelling home, I reconsidered the power of his impact on popular music, artistry and culture. Our forty contemporary artists feature a diverse range of artistic response to Jackson through visual art in manifold mediums. As October and Black History month begin, the ‘Michael Jackson: On the Wall’ exhibition ends on October 21st. It seems fair to say that his legacy, however, will not.
Heathers: The West End's Explosive High School Musical
'Heathers: The Musical', Theatre Royal Haymarket, 2018 MOLLY WILLIAMS
Dear Diary, something explosive is happening at London’s third-oldest playhouse. The Theatre Royal Haymarket is currently home to the dark and hilarious ‘Heathers: The Musical’ – based on the 1988 cult classic film of the same name starring Winona Ryder and Christian Slater. Take a walk through the hallways of Westerberg, home of the Heathers, where the demon queens of high school float above the very chaos they create. Bottom
of the Varsity food chain, Veronica Sawyer (portrayed by Carrie Hope Fletcher), makes a plea with the three Heathers in a bid to boost her social status and make the year more sufferable. Veronica winds up submerged in the world she so desperately despised, unable to escape the manipulative grip and control of the most popular clique at school. The arrival of James Muscato’s character, JD, causes Veronica to rise to the same hellish level as
the Heathers. What begins as a dark humoured high school musical escalates into a spectacle of mental health, social hierarchies and isolation within a landscape of lockers and lunch trays. Even alongside the dark and disturbing themes of depression and school shootings, ‘Heathers’ is yet another exhibition glorifying the 1980s. There’s a predictability to the stereotypes used that has been outdated since, well, the 1980s. The characters range from jock to cheerleader and from yearbook committee member to AV geek. These groups and social labels are passed off as personalities for the cast of characters, creating an artificial impression that we know the characters already. We are denied any real understanding of who they are beyond the clique they are in. It’s this familiarity that forges a sense of nostalgia to an audience born over a decade after ‘Heathers’ was set. The arrival of ‘Mr-NoName-Kid’, JD, is the
catalyst for the collapse of the social hierarchy at Westerberg. His refusal to abide by the status quo and social cliques eventually leads to the death of Heather Chandler (portrayed by Jodie Steele). With the loss of a leader and the murder of two high-profile jocks, the pyramid topples. The remaining Heathers are no longer supported, and thus continues the decline of the demon queens of high school. Nearing the end of their Westerberg careers, the students are faced with a world outside their incubated bubble. JD’s arrival signifies the imminence of adulthood, as he himself was forced to grow up too quickly. In a heart-wrenching duet between Fletcher and Muscato’s characters, the longing to cling onto adolescence ripples throughout the audience: ‘Can’t we be seventeen? / Is that so hard to do? / If you could let me in / I could be good with you’. The song is stark against the storyline of forged suicides, as the two have seamlessly gotten
away with the murder of their classmates. One of the highlights of the West End show is the solo ‘Lifeboat’ performed by Sophie Isaacs’ character, Heather McNamara. The song euphemises the isolation experienced in an environment of cliques and personal valuation based on popularity: ‘Cold, clammy and crowded / The people smell desperate / We’ll sink any minute / So someone must go / The tiniest lifeboat / With people I know’. Despite her popularity, McNamara is unhappy in the pressure cooker of high school. Once a surreal piece of fiction of the 1980s, Heathers now holds a cultural relevance unable to be overlooked by the modern audience. The frequency of school shootings in twentyfirst century America make ‘Heathers: The Musical’ hardly fiction at all. This musical will shock you. It’ll make you feel uneasy. It’ll make you laugh. It’ll also leave you with an unsettling thirst for a slushie.
THE FOUNDER October 2018
ARTS: FILM 15 ‘Extinction’
[Not in Cinemas]
SAM MCLOUGHLIN
Photo via https://freestocks.org/photo/watching-netflix-on-tv/
This summer, Netflix faced controversy after its highly watched war with the Cannes Film Festival. Netflix had to disembark its trip to the prestigious Palais des Festivals (carrying Alfonso Cuarón’s much-anticipated ‘Roma’) - pulling out from the competition after organisers banned the streaming platform due to their lack of theatrical distribution. With ‘Roma’ winning the Golden Lion at this year’s Venice Film Festival, and prior Cannes
favourites such as ‘Okja’ and ‘The Meyerowitz Stories’, quality is not actually the issue; there is plenty of exceptional filmmaking on Netflix and other streaming platforms. If anything, we should focus more on how we can utilise both cinematic and on-demand distribution to save film as a medium, but that might have to be a task for another day. Whether you strictly watch films in the cinema, or if you frequently watch films on your iPhone,
Netflix does not show signs of halting the expansion of its catalogue any time soon. With cinema ticket prices so high, and the looming reality of post-freshers bank accounts, Netflix might just be here to save the day. This column will review films (from various streaming platforms) selected by our team of writers. Hopefully, it will help you decide whether to keep that film in your ‘watchlist’ or not.
Not to be overdramatic, but watching ‘Extinction’ is an experience akin to finding out hell is exactly like your obsessively catholic Grandmother told you it was as a kid. It’s a painfully slow burn crowded with wasted potential and stock dialogue - I always imagined Hell would be an eternal onslaught of winceworthy clichès. Ben Young’s new Sci-Fi action-drama follows Peter (Michael Peña), a father, husband and visionary prophet of an impending alien invasion, as he scrambles to save his family when extraterrestrials begin wreaking destruction on everyone and everything. The hour and a half long flick jumps confusedly from one plot line to the next like a bee trying to pollinate plastic flowers. The family’s race to safety provides the bulk of the film and is actually quite enjoyable, in a sort of cheap thrills kind of
way. Young throws in some intense action sequences amongst the claustrophobia of a dimly lit futuristic urban setting and the grisly fate of another family provide a ballsy shock that really sets the stakes. Another great bonus is the actual aliens themselves. Taking a leaf out of the Duffer twins’ book, Extinction provides us with wholly original and captivating monsters without total reliance on CGI. However, around the hour mark, this film is dropped into a hole that it doesn't quite manage to get out of when the big twist is revealed. Within the final third, it attempts to cram in a complex explanation whilst also clambering to find some sort of catharsis. Unfortunately, it never fully achieves either. Extinction is a great idea, but the execution is far from smooth.
‘To All The Boys I've Loved Before'
GRACIELA MAE CHICO
One of the most highly talked about films this summer is the treacly sweet ‘To All the Boys I Loved Before’. Directed by Susan Johnson, the film follows sixteen-yearold Lara Jean (Lana Condor) and her box of love letters. Not love letters that were given to her, but letters she wrote and addressed to five crushes she’s ‘loved’ over the years (including her older sister’s boyfriend). The letters are clearly only meant for Lara Jean’s eyes. That’s why when the letters go missing, and appear to have reached
the recipients, Lara Jean’s life goes into havoc. So much so, she ends up in a fake relationship with one of the letter recipients: high school jock, Peter Kavinsky (Noah Centineo). The adaptation of Jenny Hans’ 2014 novel ticks every rule in the teen rom-com book, but it does so with such charm that it’s irresistible not to fall in love with it. Much of the film's charm is due to its cast. While the internet has made Noah Centineo its new heartthrob, lead Lana Condor provides a truly engaging performance. The only star who manages
to outshine Condor is Anna Cathcard who plays the cheeky youngest sister, Kitty. Though following wellknown tropes, it’s enchanting to see a well-made John Hughes inspired story set in the modern age. Its focus on an Asian-American family, Lara Jean being half Korean, is also refreshing. Finally, we see an Asian girl be the love interest; the one the cool high school jock chases after. Like candy, the film is addicting. After the first viewing, you’ll have such a smile on your face, you will want to watch it again.
Photo via https://shop.scholastic.co.uk/products/To-All-the-BoysIve-Loved-Before-Jenny-Han-9781407177687
16 ARTS: FILM
THE FOUNDER October 2018
From One Stage To Another: The Art of Moving Media
Photo via https://www.standard.co.uk/showbiz/celebrity-news/ lady-gaga-and-bradley-cooper-shine-on-the-red-carpet-for-a-star-isborn-premiere-at-venice-film-a3925076.html ERIN LEONARD
The concept of ‘sticking to what you’re good at’ has been lost on many a familiar face over the years, and nobody more than celebrities trying to prove themselves in the industry as triple threats. Musicians and models have been forcing their way into the realm of acting for years now; the growth of social media puts them all under the microscope with expectations heightened and the potential success of these endeavours is back on everybody’s radar. Is it a violation of the sanctity of film to allow people to transfer from the other disciplines? Or are we simply re-entering the golden era of Bing Crosby's and Doris Days? The upcoming feature ‘A Star is Born’ is set to feature Lady Gaga and, from the trailer, she knows exactly what she’s doing. While many believe this to be Gaga’s
debut, she has already appeared in ‘Sin City: A Dame to Kill For’ (2014) and received a Golden Globe for her performance in ‘American Horror Story: Hotel’ (2016). Over the years we have been forced to watch the on-screen tragedy of many talented individuals fail wholly at their tasks. It appears, at last, that the film and music industry has found a happy medium. Casting amateurs as characters close enough to their own situation – usually musicians – that they are not forced to do the heavy labour of empathising with a more challenging perspective. Gaga plays Ally, a struggling artist looking for her big break – this is the role that most singer-cumactors are searching for. Both Jennifer Hudson and Beyoncé found these roles
in ‘Dreamgirls’, and that certainly proved a success for everybody involved. Time and again, the audience is made to sit and watch as people who are looking for more fame than they’ve already managed to grasp try to portray somebody almost identical to themselves and pass it off as a dramatic performance. It is in drawing the line between tokenism and real presence within the film that we, as an audience, must figure out how we feel about this cross-industry involvement. It is in the difference between being known as somebody who can do both versus somebody who gave up one prospering career for one that was doomed to fail. Those who are known for their performance are successful where those who are known for their mere presence are infamous. With what we have seen of the film so far, Gaga certainly seems present and honestly, upon the screen, she seems
to have potential. Stephanie Zacharek claims that ‘ what's surprising about Gaga is how charismatic she is without her usual extreme stage makeup, outlandish wigs and inventive costumes’. Gaga seems to have done her part to contribute to a positive portrayal of singers-cum-actors. Looking at the production team, it looks clear that the film is not interested in commercialising and making money off the back of big names. From a critical point of view, the film certainly has a lot of promise and the dynamic between the two leading cast members is certainly going to capture the attention of its audience. Perhaps things are being taken a little too far now. In the past, only the biggest names such as Michael Jackson and Cher could get themselves roles in mainstream movies without any real experience, and now it seems to be common practice. Films that are on the Oscars radar – such
as ‘Dunkirk’ (2017) – are casting talent competition successes, namely Harry Styles, to broaden the scope of their prospective audience. Where once the most successful directors would work with people on the basis of talent, many now function by the measure of their fanbase. Even Spielberg has fallen into this trap with rumours flying that Liam Payne (also of One Direction fame) is in talks about a role in the remake of ‘West Side Story’. Should musicians stick to what they know or should they take the opportunity to branch out? The question of whether they are involving themselves in quality productions is too subjective for there to be any sort of definitive answer. Anybody who can afford to take the risk in the current cultural climate, within which fame doesn’t necessarily align with talent is commendable for trying to branch out and prove themselves capable of multi-format entertainment.
THE FOUNDER October 2018
ARTS: FILM 17
‘Wildlife’: A Powerful Exploration of Power Dynamics in a Broken Home GEORGE SIMMONDS
While many films use family conflicts to create cheap, forced or easy drama, Paul Dano’s ‘Wildlife’ plants you right in the middle of the painful and deeply uncomfortable experience of seeing a family slowly come apart, whilst managing to make it a captivating and rewarding viewing experience. Through the eyes of Joe, played by Ed Oxenbould, we witness his mother and father’s marriage slowly deteriorate, with this teenage only child being caught in the crossfire. As we follow him, we see just how helpless Joe is in this scenario. The two people who have cared for him his whole life collide; he is left not knowing what to say and
with no one to go to for help. Dano’s directorial debut also focuses on the more prickly aspects of the relationship between a parent and their child, with both of Joe’s parents at times seeing him not as a son, or even a person, but as a tool to help them win this personal war with their opposing spouse. In the case of Carey Mulligan’s Jeanette, we see how a parent plants ideas in their child’s head, aggressively shaping how and what to think. Whereas with Jerry (Jake Gyllenhaal), Dano shows how one can exploit their child’s natural honesty with them in order to learn more about his wife’s goings on. As Joe is bounced back and forth emotionally between what are meant to be his protectors, we
sympathise with his lack of agency and become equally frustrated with both Jerry and Jeanette. The film also makes the smart decision of being impartial when it comes to presenting responsibility for the marriage coming apart, in the same way that a child doesn’t take sides immediately after their parents being the process of separating. We see that both Jerry and Jeanette Brinson are severely flawed people, with both of them being to blame for the problems that they face as a couple. Jerry is a man whose pride and over-enthusiasm has cost him and his family for many years, with these qualities resulting in him losing his job near the opening of the film. Meanwhile, Jeanette is
a frustrated housewife who has let years of regret and frustration build up inside of her, which she starts unleashing on her husband and son over the course of the film’s runtime. While neither of these characters are made to be saints, we understand what drives them and therefore why they do what they do, even if we don’t agree with all, or any, of it. In doing this, ‘Wildlife’ makes for a very honest portrayal of how people come to fall out of love with each other, fixating more on each other’s flaws rather than their positive traits. This ‘real’ feel also comes through in the film’s shot selection and duration, with Dano clearing taking inspiration from Steve McQueen, who
he worked with on Academy Award Best Picture winner ‘12 Years a Slave’ back in 2013. There are a number of long, unbroken shots that show characters move and talk, keeping a minimalist approach so that we see these people react to their situations without interruptions or unnecessary cuts. This makes for a very admirable debut for Dano, and with him recently announcing that he plans to make more films in a similar vein to this, he is absolutely one to watch in the future. ‘Wildlife’ is part of the ‘First Feature Competition’ at the 62nd BFI London Film Festival. It comes out in the UK on November 9, 2018.
‘First Man’ : Bigger Project, Thinner Identity PABLO G. ALVAREZ
After his leap from anonymity to critical exposure and interest with ‘Whiplash’, to the commercial mountain from the immense success of ‘La La Land’, Damien Chazelle managed to start a great buzz about his upcoming Neil Armstrong biopic, ‘First Man’. This is his third feature film — his fourth if we consider his failed draft ‘Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench’, a novice incursion on the musical ground. To date, Chazelle ́s primary interests could be synthesised as two qualities: the first one, purely formal, is an explicit integration of music into the film narrative beyond atmospheric reinforcement; to develop character evolution (a
constant background in ‘Whiplash’ and almost an exclusive counterpoint in ‘La La Land’) in the manner in which the best Hollywood musicals performed. The second element, merely tonal, is a repetitive taste for garnishing false expectations for stories that, at their core, are essentially sad. Both elements are scrupulously kept in ‘First Man’, coated this time with the varnish of an epic Hollywood blockbuster. The musical attribute now appears decreasingly explicit – although it never stops being obvious. Diegetic songs are turned into recurring leitmotivs, measured repetitions of machinery noises and sounds conforming rhythms and identifiable melodies
throughout the film’s score accompany an expressive use of silence that goes beyond the well-trodden standard we are used to hearing in every single Hollywood movie set in space. It does so in a quite satisfactory way, to some extent, it is even unconventional (as long as we stay within the frontiers of the big-budget American filmmaking this movie is part of), but it happens only sporadically. It is not, however, a constant element that would vertebrate this film on the way his previous features did. This is arguably a logical decision given the new context, the genre, and even Chazelle’s own creative evolution. The second identifiable hallmark, the tone, becomes equally less evident without
disappearing from the surface. Nevertheless, it does not vanish for the same reasons the narrativemusical taste does: this mood dissolves into a set of scenes that do not give rise to a joyful counterbalance; diluting the shock of any final emotional blow into a more homogeneous, conventional dramatic ensemble. One could argue, however, that this counterbalance happens precisely on the previous and inevitable knowledge of the historical reality this film narrates: the fact that, by the end, Armstrong will step on the Moon. One of the biggest flaws of the narrative derives precisely from this realisation; it was completely unnecessary to overload the script with
such a relentless number of informative scenes, empty context, being those potential plot holes already widely known by the audience. Hence, these reminders are not necessary on a narrative level neither. The story is focused on individual character development, using a universal character treatment, and all storylines conclude with no allusion to these reminders whatsoever – far from being enhanced by these contextual elements, the pace is irretrievably stagnant in the presence of this banal reiteration. Ultimately, the majority of ‘First Man’ is strictly that: context. ‘First Man’ premiered at the Venice Film Festival on August 29 and will be in UK cinemas from October 12.
18 ARTS: MUSIC
THE FOUNDER October 2018
A Love Letter to Banquet Records CHARLIE CATMULL
Hello, thanks for picking up the second instalment of The Founder for this academic year and I hope freshers was as messy as I remember; this issue I wanted my contribution to differ from a review or interview and the like, and, instead just write about a place and company I have come to love, and hope you guys will too whilst at this university. Now I know Egham really isn't the most lively of places, and London clubs and gigs will more than likely bankrupt you if you get a bit too loose with your contactless card, but there is a great, alternative
place for music fans of all genres a bit closer to Royal Holloway, and I believe there is nowhere better than this particular spot; Banquet Records in Kingston. The brick and mortar record store has become legendary in its own right amongst the Kingston locals but I hope this brief article makes more of you make the trip. For starters, you can get a couple of trains there for around £6. Secondly, the tiny (and I mean tiny) record store hosts some of the best live events I have attended. The store has persuaded real giants of the live music circuit to play in Kingston's most intimate of spaces, whether it was at their
Thursday night indie club 'New Slang' which used to be located at The Hippodrome, an iconic venue which sadly closed its doors earlier this year due to (yeah you guessed it) housing redevelopment, or whether the gigs take place at Banquet Record's new live event home, Pryzm, they all allow for live acts to play album release shows which prove a more intimate affair than their regular arena tours or the experience offered by the cavernous venues of London's O2 group. Being a small, independent retailer and supporter of the new resurgence in vinyl and the experience of actually taking time to physically
Car Alarms, Youtube, and Fame SAM PALMER
Car alarm. When one reads that phrase, the first thing that comes to mind is rarely a catchy beat, and yet that is exactly what brasshouse band Too Many Zooz used it for. Following a challenge for other bands to do a similar thing and try to make a hit song using a car alarm as the drone throughout the piece. Too Many Zooz used the internet circulation from the challenge to expand the online popularity the band first encountered after they got their rise to fame through a video of them busking in the New York subway went viral on YouTube. A lot of bands would have taken the online fame at face value and continued as they were, but not Too Many Zooz. They then started to use this internet fame to grow larger. Being a three-piece band consisting of trumpet, baritone sax, and percussion, there were many options for where they could go with
this newfound popularity. Due to the fact that they originated in the subways of New York, they had no strict rules to adhere to. Their self-proclaimed genre of “brasshouse” being an original concept combining modern EDM with the harsh acoustics of brass meant that as they developed as a band, so did the genre. Their options were endless. Their first decision was to make Leo P the dancing baritone saxophonist the face of the band, as his extravagant dancing is an image you're likely not to forget. Then they released the album “Subway Gawdz,” which combined their original style with some more pop associated elements; more technical effects were used, and several songs on the album featured rappers, a dramatic change from their original, purely acoustic sound. On this album, one song, in particular, become very popular: Warriors. This, in turn, caused KDA to do a dance remix of it, which
singer Jess Glynne added vocals to. Having reached number 1 in the UK charts 7 separate times, Jess Glynne is well known, and thus her version of Warriors with vocals (named So Real) got added to Spotify’s dance playlist, causing the track to grow even bigger. Then we are brought back to their song “Car Alarm.” This track subsequently caused several articles and responses, meaning their name and style became spread yet further. It is a brilliant business practice, playing to their strengths as a unique and original band, capturing the attention and imagination of as many people as they can reach. A lot of groups that become viral overnight could learn from them, as while they have changed some of what they do to suit the demographic, their music has largely kept its core elements, and thus they remain true to themselves while becoming ever larger in presence.
discover and purchase music, what Banquet have achieved in their organisation of live shows is staggering to think about. Back in September last year, the shop celebrated their 2000th live show in Kingston and with there being several shows on every week of the year, all organised by the hard-working employees at the record store, Banquet shows no sign of stopping in their mission to bring live music to small spaces outside of London. Examples of just some of the artists over their history of gigs include Foals, Jamie T, Disclosure, Bastille, and, Alt-J to name a few. The store even attracts legends of the music industry including
that of Nile Rogers and CHIC, who I was lucky to see play their hits last Saturday at Pryzm of all places. Overall, just get yourselves down to the store, have a browse, find a gig that you like and enjoy it, the work that Banquet and owner Jon Tolley have accomplished really needs more recognition in a time where live event spaces are closing down every week, and these intimate moments with your favourite artists are becoming few and far between. Follow them on Twitter @ BanquetRecords or see their listing banquetrecords.com
Students on Stage: Welcome Week and Lesedi CHARLIE CATMULL
Musical trio Lesedi, made up of Eve Beech, Tom Keast, and Daniel Looseley, kicked off the year with two performances in Founders’ Square at the Volunteering Festival, and at the Open Day. I managed to steal them away from their busy schedule for a couple of minutes to ask them some questions! How and why did you form Lesedi? - Tom: “I was asked in the back of a theory lecture, in one of the first weeks of term. We played together once and knew we'd be great together and have been playing since!” What have been your favourite gigs so far? - Tom: “We loved playing at the SU last year, but our favourite gigs have been at the Packhorse with all of our mates watching and singing and cheering!”
- Eve: “It was also really good fun performing in Somerset over the summer - it was a great experience to play in a different part of the country and we can't wait to be back there for a few wedding gigs next year.” How was performing in Founders’ Square this week? - “Founders square was HOT, but so much fun; we got to see so many people and so many people got to listen! We had lots of people in Founders listening from their bedrooms which was great!” What’s next for Lesedi? - “We've got a couple of gigs lined up, mainly our own night in Medicine on the 30th of November, which we cannot wait for! We would also love to record an EP of our originals, and possibly release some merch too! Check them out!
THE FOUNDER October 2018
ARTS: MUSIC 19
‘I Want To Write Huge Pop Tunes That Set The World On Fire.’ Interview with Black Honey frontwoman Izzy B. Phillips
Photo via https://www.m-magazine.co.uk/features/interviews/interview-black-honey/ BEN JACQUIN & EMILY KELLY
Last Friday saw the release of Black Honey’s eponymous debut album, and we were lucky enough to attend an acoustic gig by the band at Banquet records, prior to their larger gig at the Fighting Cocks pub in Kingston. The intimate acoustic gig allowed us to get a sneak preview of some of the new music that was being released on the album the following day. We also managed to sit down and have a chat with lead singer, Izzy B. Phillips, discussing inspiration and the vision she has for this brazen breakthrough band. Q: So obviously your album’s out tomorrow, how are you feeling about that? A: Oh my god, like, when you said it then I was like ‘it’s tomorrow’, like what? Feels like it’s happening to someone else kind of, I don’t really believe it yet, maybe next week it will. We just did an in-store set, and hearing it there was super weird, I was like, ‘woah, everyone can hear it!’
Q: How long did you take to compile this album? Because obviously you’ve released a lot of singles, but this is your first full length album. A: I always have this thing where I say I’ve been writing for my whole life, it feels like it’s been my whole life coming, but officially we worked on it since last year. But, I mean, I’m always writing, so it doesn’t ever really feel like I’m making an album, but subconsciously you always kind of are. Q: You spoke about your song writing in a cinematic sense, how does that affects your style visually and musically? A: I think it stems from that feeling of when you put on music, it makes your life feel more cinematic, you know? If you’re, like, on the bus and it transports you in some way to make you feel like you are in a movie. And that’s the feeling I want to recreate, I want people to listen to our songs and feel like they are in a film, or whatever they are
experiencing, they are really present in it. Q: The band has quite a distinct aesthetic, is that something that is important to you as a band? A: Yeah! I think art direction is really important, I think it starts and ends with the songs, I think you can have all the style and all the art narrative in the world, but if you haven’t got good tunes, then people really get involved with it. Q: I read something and it said that you ‘fucking hate modern pop’, but it’s also interesting that you said you were also inspired by it. How has that affected your music from the beginning until now? A: My whole perspective stems from being an outsider, so my hatred of pop music is kind of rooted in this trying to figure out why there is this mass cultural obsession with these things that literally make my guts churn. I think that exploring pop music was important to me, because I love pop music if you’re
album to fans? A: Yeah, we’re stoked man, Electric Ballroom is a massive venue, I’m in awe of the fact that someone has even invited us to play a stage that big to headline. Loads of tickets on the tour are already sold out, I’m just like ‘what is going on?!’. I’m used to playing gigs in tiny venues to like two people, so it’s really awesome. I think it’ll be very real once we’re playing the album to people and they’re singing it back, also you can expect a new light show, the production is getting a little bit better, merch as well, it’s all kind of growing nicely. Their first full album, produced wholly independently, has managed to break into the UK charts, charting at 33 over a week after its release, not bad for a band that had only released one EP and a few singles over the past 3 years. You can hear the interview of this audio on the Insanity Mixcloud page Q: You guys are going soon! out on a headline tour later this year, how are you feeling about that? Are you excited to play the new talking the Beatles, Elvis, like the original 60s and 70s pop music I adore, so I wanted to see like; if One Direction existed in the 60s, would they have been the Beatles? Q: A lot of your music spans a lot of genres in a way, do you put yourself into a particular genre, or is that cross-genre style something you really enjoy doing? A: Yeah, I loved it, because I feel like, you know how you listen to Spotify these days, and your playlist has loads of different things, and people are like ‘what are you into?’, and you’re like well everything, and I think I wanted to reflect that culturally in what we were creating, and to just show that we’re a bigger entity than something that just plays guitars and is indie and is cool. I want to write huge pop tunes that set the world on fire.
20 LITERARY REVIEW Must Read: The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell
THE FOUNDER October 2018
Sebastian Faulks At The Royal Academy
Photo via https://www.cheltenhamfestivals.com/literature/whats-on/2018/celebrate-with...-sebastian-faulks/
HELENA KEEBLE Laura Purcell, The Silent Companions (London: Raven Books, 2017)
COLLETTE FIRESTONE
If you’re anything like me, the thing you look forward to most as summer draws to a close is the cosy feeling you get when you curl up under a blanket with a hot chocolate and a spooky book. While a classic such as The Woman in Black, 'The Tell-Tale Heart', Dracula, or even a childhood favourite like Goosebumps would certainly hit the scary spot, The Silent Companions is sure to satisfy your morbid curiosities. The story is centred around Elsie, who was recently married and recently widowed. Elsie is pregnant and she is sent to her husband’s country estate to ensure she spends her pregnancy in the peace of the countryside. Once at the estate, simply named “the Bridge”, Elsie discovers the locals seem unhappy to speak to her and the servants are openly hostile towards her. Now situated in the perfect environment for any decent ghost story, the lonely Elsie is left with only her husband’s awkward cousin for company – or so she thinks. When she discovers a two-hundredyear-old diary behind a locked door, along with a
wooden figure that bears an eerily striking resemblance to herself, the secrets of the house start to slowly unfurl. This novel is a gothic paradise with twists and turns along the way that will shock you and keep you on your toes. The style of the writing is traditional for the genre, and yet the story keeps adding new elements and surprises that even an avid horror reader won’t find predictable. The book’s atmosphere draws you in and you find yourself utterly spellbound by the story, even days after the book is finished. Which is exactly what you want from a true ghost story. And if my opinion doesn’t sway you, The Silent Companions has got a whole (g)host of glowing reviews – including one from the queen of the modern ghost story herself, Susan Hill (author of The Woman in Black). Susan writes that ‘[recent ghost stories] haven't quite got it right but this is terrific. Perfect setting, great buildup, chilling’. So, what are you waiting for? Nestle up in a well-lit room and get those chills running up your spine!
In September the Royal Academy of Arts, London celebrated its 250th Anniversary by hosting The Festival of Ideas, showing off and officially unveiling their newly extended campus displaying their ongoing development as an artistic institution. The Festival of Ideas brought together an array of artists including the musician and artist Goldie, the Waterstones Children’s Laureate Lauren Child, the well-loved childrens’ author Michael Morpurgo and to celebrate his new novel, Sebastian Faulks (as well as many more). Faulks has been touring around the U.K. over the summer to promote his new novel Paris Echo, and on 14 September, the Royal Academy paired Sebastian Faulks in conversation with Suzi Feay where they discussed the development of Faulks’ writing throughout his novels and his opinion on WW1 and WW2 disappearing from societies’ memory. Faulks was preparing to celebrate the 25th anniversary of his globally sold novel, Birdsong on 15 September, while his new novel Paris Echo arrived in bookstores across the U.K. Fey began the event by
revisiting Faulks’ thirteenth novel, Birdsong, which Faulks admitted had only been picked up and read by him since its publication (twenty-five years ago) in order to prepare for this event. He claimed his thoughts while reading it was – ‘blimey!’. Birdsong was an international success, and was made into a play shortly after its success. When challenged why it achieved such great success, Faulks believes it is not because it follows the traditional convention of what makes a good book, but rather that it is ‘so wrongfooting’, ‘It’s th[e] instability that makes it very compelling … there is never a let up … not a scene where you’re not being shaken’. Faulks claims that most of the plot ‘shouldn’t happen in the book … but …. I wanted readers to think, this author will do anything’. It is this sense of instability of traditional structure that perfectly allows Faulks to explore the catastrophic conditions of the First World War, both behind and at the front line. After all, ‘Birdsong is about 20 million bereaved parents in a way’. When discussing the Wars, Faulks expressed his hope that ‘one day that it will be forgotten’ with ‘the first and second war are [already]
going out of memory’. ‘One day I would like to think [that there will be a ] Happy ending… [but it’s] not in sight at the moment’. In 1971 Faulks visited France and was surprised to see Veterans as a person of priority for seats on the Metro, but then again, ‘thousands of them were alive then’. Nowaways authors like Faulks has to carefully think how to angle their books when writing about the Wars. Faulks claims that the most important thing to think about when writing on these subjects, is making the younger generation question ‘Why should I care about all of this?’ Like many authors, Faulks stated his passion as a writer was established in his childhood, ‘I always wanted to be a novelist from the age of fourteen or fifteen’. And, as Fey was keen to confirm, fourteen novels later from that childhood, Faulks is now a globally celebrated author. However, it was interesting to learn that, despite many of his novels being set in France, depicting the Wars, Faulks ‘[is] not a big noise in France’, but humorously Faulks chuckled – ‘It can always change’.
THE FOUNDER October 2018
LITERARY REVIEW
From Sherlock to Shakespeare
[Poetry Review]
Say Something Back, By Denise Riley
Denise Riley, Say Something Back (London: Picador, 2016) SASHA SMITH
Photo courtesy of Rachel Farguson RACHEL FARGUSON
2015 and 2017 saw two major productions of Hamlet: one starring Benedict Cumberbatch and directed by Lyndsey Turner, and one starring Andrew Scott and directed by Robert Icke. Broadly speaking, I had hoped the former would be so much more than it was, and I could never have imagined quite how brilliant the latter would be. It’s an obvious comparison to make, but it might just be too obvious to ignore – Scott himself has frequently been asked if his Sherlock co-star’s performance had in any way influenced his own. At London Film and Comic Con 2017, Cumberbatch himself spoke of both performances and said the intimate production he had first hoped for had been ruled out to allow more of his fans to see the show. I question, however, whether the size of the theatre – in Turner’s case the Barbican – dictates the intimacy of the performance: Scott’s portrayal lost none of its gravity once the show moved from the Almeida to the Harold Pinter Theatre. The
real intimacy is in delivery rather than space. In interviews and Q&A sessions, Scott frequently responded to questions surrounding his performance choices and gave his thoughts on the way we view Shakespeare today. One particular session saw an audience member ask about his choice to keep his Irish accent while playing Hamlet – he very quickly responded that the play is set in Denmark. This response in itself immediately drew attention to the expectation that Shakespeare should be delivered in a particular way. Scott also spoke of ‘the famous play buzzer’ that helped to ensure the production was not being overtaken by the grandeur that accompanies the play purely by virtue of its author. This, for me, is the difference between Cumberbatch’s portrayal and Scott’s. Yes, Shakespeare is profound, yes, Hamlet is profound, but to attempt to cram a performance with profundity somehow eradicates it altogether. There is a chance that Cumberbatch’s
intense theatricality was part of an understanding of Hamlet as a character, and as a man potentially pretending to be ‘mad’, but this doesn’t quite ring true for soliloquies. The over-doing of the iconic soliloquy engenders a hyperawareness of performance, but not in the metatheatrical sense – The Murder of Gonzago has that well and truly covered. Instead, it reveals too much of the labour of performance. It will always be emotional; it will always incite reaction and create the ripple of excitement amongst the audience as everybody realises what’s about to happen. I do not believe, however, that you should be quite so aware that this is Shakespeare, that it’s iambic pentameter, and that this has been done a million times all around the world. Good Shakespeare doesn’t need to remind you that it’s Shakespeare. Turner’s production was visually beautiful, and that I will not argue with. But the problem is this: the play knew it was Shakespeare, and Hamlet knew he was Benedict Cumberbatch.
When we are grieving, we often fight with ourselves. We try to find the right ways to cope, try to figure out how to grieve ‘properly’. Riley’s collection of poems Say Something Back largely explores the poet’s love and grief for her son. However, the whole collection is worth buying if only to read Riley’s ‘A Part Song’. The poem is a profound exploration of grief and loss, a sort of elegy for her son, but more beautiful. It is reflective of the time that is stolen from you when you lose a loved one. We romanticise every moment we had with them, we dissect our memories, and we feel guilty for not doing the right thing when they were alive. They get stuck in your head like an incessant, incomplete song, cut short at the wrong time. Riley reminds us that in every death, a child is lost. A child ‘gets cannibalised by its years’, and not only do they die, but so does every version and memory of them, from ‘The large-eyed boy’ and ‘the teen peacock’. There is nothing more to say back to them, and the only reply we will ever receive from
them is silence. In this way, Riley’s work is reminiscent of Plath’s poem ‘Daddy’ where the desperately unspoken is brought to life in their poetry: the words they forgot to say, and the scars that remain. The poem comprises several different tones, section vii most notable for its pleading and feeling of desperation, in lieu of a death. Under different circumstances, this would feel more like scolding, more like something she would say to her son for missing curfew: ‘oh my dead son you daft bugger/this is one glum mum. Come home I tell you/ – And end this tasteless melodrama’. He is almost punished for something unavoidable, but this is a perfect exploration of the different experiences and stages of grief, from depression to anger and bargaining and all the varying emotions in between. ‘But by now we’re bored with our unproductive love, And infinitely more bored by your staying dead’. Riley gives us clarity on grief, and the right to grieve in the way we want. But, more importantly, her message is this: we should speak up before it is too late to get a response.
22 SPORTS
THE FOUNDER October 2018
Meet The President: Royal Holloway Men's Football
Sport Event Of The Month
Photo via https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:England_national_team_World_Cup_2018.jpg FRANKIE CHRISTOU
Photo credit to Rahul Parmar FRANKIE CHRISTOU
Remy Henry, a thirdyear Politics and International Relations student was proudly elected as President of Royal Holloway’s Mens Football for this academic year and opened about the club’s ambitions and that winning goal he scored in his first year.
game for the first team. The game ended 2-1. Before becoming President how was you involved in Sports at Royal Holloway? I was heavily involved in playing football in both my first and second year as I played for the first team. At the end of my first year, I thought it would be best to increase my involvement in Men’s Football and run for the Head of Volunteering position, which I was successful in getting elected for.
What made you start playing Football? From the age of six, I used to watch football games and from there a passion started to grow to the point where I wanted to play and be like the Why did you run for football idols I used to watch. President? I ran for President mainly Who was your footballing because I knew I was ready to Idol growing up? take on the challenge but keep I am a Liverpool fan, so it was the club going in the great Steven Gerrard. direction it was going. From winning the most improved What is your most club in the previous year, I memorable moment playing personally wanted to keep that for Royal Holloway? success growing and aim for One of the most memorable bigger achievements. moments I have for playing for Royal Holloway would be What are your aims for in my first year, where I came Men’s Football this year? on as a substitute and scored My aims for Men’s Football from a header that won the this year is to be able to bring
the club more success both off the pitch and on the pitch in comparison to last year. This means winning more silverware amongst our four teams, integrating the members of the club more closely through more socials, getting involved in more volunteering projects and fundraisers and holding more career evenings that members of our club can actively get involved in. Finally, what would you say to individuals who are sceptical about joining a sports club? Anyone who may be sceptical about joining a sports club should give it a chance first, as various clubs on campus, not just football, are very competitive, so it’s a good way to remain physically fit. Also, joining sports clubs is a great way to make friends, especially for first years, who may be very nervous towards meeting new people in a completely different environment.
On the 12th of October 2018, England will be eager to seize their chance to avenge their Semi-Final World Cup defeat when they travel to Rijeka to face Croatia in the Nations League. For many, the Kieran Trippier free-kick in the opening five minutes against Croatia in Russia was the pinnacle of their Summer. England Fans around the globe would have been jubilant with excitement and would have begun belting “It’s coming home” while being covered in their own beverage. However, peaks are often followed by troughs and the England fans watching on the 11thJuly witnessed two goals by Ivan Persic and Mario Manzukukic sent England home and left fans traumatised. It is a fixture that many England fans would like to forget. With the two teams set to meet each other again only three months after the fierce encounter, both teams, managers, and fans will be looking forward to this SemiFinal replay. Croatia’s heroic effort in Russia will be remembered for centuries but since their defeat to France in the final,
it is being said that they are experiencing post-World Cup depression. They drew to a Portugal side that lacked star names in September and then was thrashed 6-0 by Spain in their opening Nation League match. England however, are also experiencing similar form. Since their defeat to the Croats, the Three-Lions have lost to both Belgium and Spain in competitive fixtures. They ended their three-game losing streak in the friendly against Switzerland when a Marcus Rashford goal was enough to separate the two evenly matched sides. Both Nations will be going into this match with a lot to prove. Croatia will be wanting to show that they were worthy World Cup finalists while England will be looking to avenge that defeat and continue to show they are becoming worthy challengers themselves. The introduction of the Nations League is an attempt to revitalise national football outside major competitions by removing the unnecessary friendlies and replacing them with competitive fixtures. Croatia V England is a prime example of it. The fixture holds some highly anticipated unfinished business that both sides will be looking to settle.
SPORTS 23
THE FOUNDER October 2018
The Colour Run
Photo via Student Opportunities Facebook JACK WRIGHT
On October 30, around one hundred runners took part in the annual paint throwing Give It a Go event known as the Colour Run. Starting at the sports centre, the route around campus was as follows: runners completed two laps around the sports field, before running through Gowar and Wedderburn, up towards Jane Holloway Hall, across Founder’s meadow, completing the race on Founder’s field. Every participant was provided with a t-shirt and a packet of powder paint, and a pair of sunglasses, that ensured that they completed the race in some style despite being coated with serval different colours. Along the route, volunteers from the SU were tasked with throwing handfuls of multi-coloured paint at runners as they passed by the four dye stations along the route. Those participating in the run were not afraid to get their own back on volunteers, who each served as ideal targets for the packets of powder paint. The event was a huge success, thanks in great part to the organisation of the SU staff, most notably the Give
It A Go co-ordinator, Alison Baker. Working as a volunteer at the event, I was delighted to see the number of individuals eager to take part, meaning that we soon ran low on t-shirts and packets of paint. Refreshments and snacks were provided at the Student’s Union building after the event, wherein all runners could relax and unwind after a spectacularly colourful three kilometre run. The colour run is a fantastic opportunity to test your fitness, whether individually or running within a sports club, or to have a good laugh with your friends, while still staying active. Walking, jogging or running are all acceptable. The event is great for helping new flatmates to bond, teammates to test each other, or for a colourful makeover. Our beautiful campus serves as the perfect landscape for such an event and I would strongly recommend that you give the colour run a go next year.
Balancing Sports and Fitness at University
Photo via https://www.pexels.com/photo/woman-girl-silhouettejogger-40751/ JACK WRIGHT
With lectures, seminars, essay deadlines and examinations, maintaining a sporting and healthy lifestyle at Royal Holloway can be a challenge. Here are some top tips on how to maintain high levels of fitness while at University, without impacting too heavily upon your studies. Use your time in the gym effectively. If you have a gym membership, either here at Royal Holloway or within the local area, there is a chance that you could be reducing your session time, without sacrificing the fitness benefits. Leave your mobile phone in your locker or car, if you find that you are being distracted. Phones can be great for music, and making note of your workouts and progress, but that Snapchat or WhatsApp can wait until after the session is over. Warmup and try to get the workout under way as soon as possible. Complete your exercises with appropriate rest times (one to two minutes for machine-based exercises; two to three minutes for compound exercises e.g.
squat and deadlift) and remain focused throughout. By all means, say hi to familiar faces, though remain focused on your own workout. Make sure to cooldown at the end of your workout to reduce DOMS (see next tip). Reducing distractions and planning out your workout will help keep sessions concise and productive. Plan, plan, plan. Planning your sessions will help to reduce both time spent in the gym and delayed onset muscle soreness, or DOMS. This soreness is encountered one to three days after exercise, as your muscles acclimatise to unfamiliar bodily movements. Before every session, plan out which muscle groups you are targeting, or establish a clear fitness goal. Perhaps today will be your ‘pushing’ day, meaning you will work on your bench press and triceps dips. Your ‘pulling’ muscles (back and biceps) will be rested. Your next session, therefore, you could work on your deadlift and chin-ups, for example. One set of muscles can recover, while the other set of muscles is worked. If you avoid weights and prefer cardio, then set a fitness goal and work towards it with patience and consistency. If your goal is a 10km run, then begin by walking; then walking
with occasional jogging; and finally jogging. Increase both distance and work-rate and avoid high levels of DOMS. Trust me, you’ll be grateful when tackling Egham Hill for a 9am. You can also plan out your diet for the week ahead. Apps such as MyFitnessPal are fantastic for counting calories and checking your daily macros (like carbs and protein). Weight-loss and bulking diets are most effective when planned out in advance. Consider what your three daily meals will consist of and ensure a balance of food groups across the day. It’s okay to rest. At a certain point in the year, that overwhelming feeling can creep up on us. Reading and worksheets can pile up, while essay deadlines and examination preparation take centre stage. Maybe an injury leaves you on the sidelines for a while, or you lose motivation in the gym. Whatever reason you have for taking a rest, they are all acceptable. At the end of the day, as a student, your grades and degree matter more than anything else. Make sure to prioritise your education and do not be afraid to skip a club training session to catch-up on reading or lecture notes. On the other hand, exercise may be the perfect form of meditation and a fantastic emotional release. Running is a great example. Immerse yourself in your surroundings, focus on your breathing and your step, and keep your eyes ahead. Your stresses will dissipate and you will be able to approach your work with a fresh mindset. Bear these tips in mind as the year progresses and keep up the great work.
A big hi! from Danehurst. We’ve spent the last nine years developing purpose-built accommodation for students at RHUL, the very first in the area. Through our sites, The Pad and Podium on Egham Hill, we have provided a stress-free, fun and safe environment for hundreds of fellow students during their stay there. We are always learning from previous schemes, enhancing the environment around our sites and working with our designers to create stylish spaces. We want the residents living in the schemes we create to have the time of their life at Royal Holloway and become part of the community. Which is why we think it’s important for Danehurst to become a part of that community, backing initiatives within local schools and sports clubs. We are proud of what we have created so far and excited about what's to come. We are committed to providing unbeatable facilities and an unrivalled service... a true home away from home. Enjoy the coming term and a big hi! from everyone at Danehurst.
www.danehurst.com