Artichoke Vol. 6 No. 2

WHAT ARE YOU AFRAID OF? Happy Halloween!

OCTOBER 2016 I VOL. 6 No. 2

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CONTRIBUTORS

Editor-in-Chief

Mayeesha Chowdhury

Assistant Editor

Safa Gangat

Writers

Cole Kennedy Christina Zisko Katherine Collier Kabeer Garba Elijah Budgeon Shannon Gerrod Harris Leah Borges

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Art Director

Daniel Dohyun Kim

Designers

Mary Anne Cruz Emily Mcdonald Holden Kao Sarah Wong Justin Veneracion Madison Pflance Sarah Nwabuike Judy Gu Patrick Descartin Heena Chudasama Gurleen Hansi Elisabeth Yoon Larissa Ettlin Bri Coggans Samantha Hansel Cherry Law Nicole Hall Samneet Mann

Win ters CONTENTS

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Burton & Batman

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Darkest Before The Dawn

Between Pannels

Cole Kennedy

Katherine Collier

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EWAG Word Night

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Is Representation A Bad Thing

Elijah Budgeon

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Found Fish

Kabeer Garba

Word Night

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My First Time

Andre Lopez

Creative Musings

Creative Musings

Word Night

9 Shannon, The Recovering Romantic

Word Night Shannon

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Non-Fiction Superstition

Christina Zisko

Creative Musings

Creative Musings

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Lacuna

Katherine Collier

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What’s Going On

Gerrod Harris

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Burton Vision

Leah Borges

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Keeping Up With Blending In

Diana Edelhauser

Creative Musings

Entertainment

Entertainment

Lifestyle

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BURTON

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BATMAN 3 BY COLE KENNEDY

I want to officially state that I enjoy many, many superhero films, past and present. Having said that, some are better than others, much better. Sometimes the quality of a film depends on the actors, the time of release, directors, special effects, production, and studios. There are so many factors involved with the success of a film that it’s hard to place the blame on just one. Well, I’m about to.

Superhero films today are great, overall. However, the biggest problems I have with the present films are the connections established across multiple movies, and the enforced control studios enact on the directors and producers involved. When a director signs on to do a film, they’re expected to bring their own unique sense of style and visual storytelling to the project, and are usually allowed to use

it. Present day superhero films, the majority of them at least, are built on studio agendas, allowing very little room for the director’s artistic abilities to shine through.

Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy showcased the best parts of Nolan’s directing abilities and existed within its own world, with its own set of rules, something that Marvel (and soon DC) films do not have the luxury to do. With the commonly used tagline “It’s All Connected”, current superhero films are bound to the rules set by the previous and subsequent films made around them. Even before Nolan’s monumental trilogy, another director seemingly brought superhero films back from the dead.

In 1989, Tim Burton’s Batman was released.

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Tim Burton, best known for Edward Scissorhands and A Nightmare Before Christmas (among many others), brought his unique, artistic visual design to the world of Batman, and the result was spectacular. Imagine a world where Batman isn’t a man necessarily physically dominant over his foes, but someone who is crazy enough to actually dress up as a bat at night; a world where a woman is reborn by supernatural forces, dresses up as a cat, and dies eight times, demonstrating the whole “cats have nine lives” thing. This is the world Burton created for Batman. It’s not quite the world comic readers were familiar with in the decades that preceded it, or the world kids felt comfortable with. Burton’s Batman was cold and dark, with even colder, darker enemies. Burton’s Gotham

was not a city, but a monument, with statues as tall as buildings riddled throughout the modern gothic landscape. Burton’s Batman was not the Batman audiences were expecting, but he was an interesting one nonetheless, and his world was one never seen by comic fans and general moviegoers alike.

The kind of creativity and originality Burton brought to his two Batman films is the kind lacking in today’s superhero films.

As the director, Burton claimed the freedom he needed to tell the story he wanted. Statistically, Burton’s Batman made less money than Nolan’s The Dark Knight, yet it sold more tickets. Fans liked what they saw. Superhero films, or rather the studios that create them, could learn from Burton’s unexpected success with Batman and Batman

Returns. I don’t know about you, but I’m growing tired of the same, formulaic superhero films that feel they need to precisely follow the source material. I want originality, I want creativity, I want directorial freedom… I want more like Burton’s Batman.

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EWAG W NIGHT 5

Word Nig h t

WORD

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Photos courtesy of William Cook

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my first time By Andre Lopez My first time being racially profiled by the cops It was just me and my best friend Walking around our old elementary school Having life talks

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We were just chilling on the playground Laughing on the swings And that’s when I see 3 cop cars and 2 undercover SUVs and they all convene surrounding us strategically It was wayyy over the top

Word Nig h t 5 cars, 9 cops, for 2 skinny teens on swings?

Then they get out of the car Aggressive Shine lights in our eyes Yelling Telling us that we probably have drugs in our possession Well, no need to yell Mr.officer Don’t worry we get the message I get it Were young and black, and therefore should be suspected As Criminals and if it were up to you All of our asses would be arrested

That was back in the day when I was young Before I knew How racially corrupt And unjust And so fucked The system is Why us?

If we were a couple of rich white kids Would you be searching our stuff?

Before that day I thought cops were my protectors That was the last day I saw I cops as anything but oppressors And that’s something that I’ll have to keep that with me forever

Or worse.

My first time

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S Shannon, th R

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By: S Shannon

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Hi I’m Shannon and I’m a recovering romantic It’s been god knows how long since my last relationship

I’ve tried and tried again but it always turns to shit This addiction that I have cannot be contained or controlled

It always starts with a spark but soon it turns cold I asked myself, why do I do this?

Is it because I like the pain?

The lying? The tears?

This jack hammered panic in my brain?

Is it because I’m lonely? Because I’m bisexual?

Yeah...probably.

These are questions that wrack my brain at night.

When I clutch my pillow and my dreams take flight.

Why do I hurt so much?

What the fuck have I done?

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This isn’t funny this fucking hurts.

I’m tired of having my heart dragged through dirt

I’m tired of boys and girls.

I’m tired of being stood up and let down feeling the

clown dressing up for you in the hot summer heat while all my texts you delete I’m tired of being used as straight girl bate.

I’m tired of being asked to be your girlfriend

two years too late.

I’m tired of being the one to marry but not the one to date I’m tired of being the best friend.

The one that you say you’ll never hurt but you do and

you do it because you know I’ll come back not because

I want to but because I love you Some say those are the same things.

But to you and I they are different.  So hey! Who’s listening up there?

Am I too sinful to get a prayer?

A piece of hope? a promise?

A pat on the back that says hey kid you been through some shit No. I have nothing.

Just gotta keep on wandering.

Destined to roam until whoever is running this place

wants to send me someone good.

So please.

I’m down to my knees.

Send me someone good before I go to my grave.

This heart is torn open and I’m all out of band-aids

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Non-Fiction Superstition The real omens of bad luck

BY CHRISTINA ZISKO

“I’m not superstitious, but I’m a little stitious.”

- Michael Scott

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Walking under a ladder, when you cannot even get on the a double-double. While this is breaking a mirror, or having a black bus in the morning. Almost every definitely a #FirstWorldProblem, cat cross your path. According to commuter has had this experience there is a special kind of the superstitious, these are sure - you see the bus in the horizon, disappointment when you have fire ways to ensure some bad luck. I but you are still half a block away been dying for a pick-me-up coffee am not sure how much I believe in from the stop. You pick up the pace, to stay awake during your 8:30am superstitions, but I would be lying if eventually speeding into a full out class, take a sip, and instead of a I said I did not knock on wood every run (or at least an awkward halfwarm hug, your coffee is a hot mess. once in awhile. jog). You are still a few feet away Does this foreshadow a day full of

from the stop when the bus pulls up annoyances? I think so.

While there are many superstitions beside you. Thinking they are going

that are believed to bring good luck, to stop for you, you breathe a sigh When you are paired with the we seem to remember the ones that of relief, only to have the bus barrel most annoying person in class for a are dubbed “bad omens”. Whether right on past you. Great, now you project or not you place any faith in missed the bus, are sweaty, and out

superstition, university students are of breath. Are the lucky souls who Whoever the most annoying person faced with a lot of real life situations made it onto the bus laughing at you in class is to you, may it be the one that foreshadow bad luck without a now? NOT a good omen. who comes in late every day and doubt.

make a whole bunch of noise, or the

A Tim Horton’s Trauma one with a constantly raised hand When a bus crosses your path and

who just will not shut up, it is never keeps driving.

Forget a black cat, a black coffee is a good sign when you are paired

really bad luck when you ordered with them for a project. It is bad You already know your day is destined to be full of bad luck

C reative M u sin g s enough that you could not pick your string of bad luck in that class for own partner, now you are stuck the next 8 months. with them for the next few weeks in

a sea of Facebook chats trying to get Those who do not believe in work done. When you already hate superstition can easily laugh off a your partner before the project even situation that is deemed to be bad begins, that cannot be a sign of good luck. After all, does a mirror really luck to come. have the power to make or break the

next 7 years of your life? My advice “Rate My Professor� Woes after one of these incidents would

be to search around until you find Lots of us students do this. We get a penny on the ground, pick it up, our timetable, read off the names and get ready for the good luck to of our professors, and immediately roll in. A logical, fool-proof plan type them into ratemyprofessors. right? com. Most people would rather walk under a ladder, holding a black cat, and breaking a mirror than see that their future professor is a 1.2/ 5. When you already have the misfortune of getting what seems like the worst professor in history for one of your classes, expect a

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Darkest Before the Dawn

BY KATHERINE COLLIER

C reative M u sin g s Street lights retracting yellow patterns on black walls Night seems more friendly than days ever did Masks come off Windows get closed And we are constantly reminded Of who we are inside When the world is quiet And the dawn is several hours away Loneliness claws at our heart and mind Showing us false demons and clouding our vision Making us believe That the monsters we hide inside Are real

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IS REPRESENTATION A BAD THING BY ELIJAH BUDGEON

It’s a big wide world out there, filled with all sorts of people with as many differences, variations, and life experiences as there are hues and shades colour.

Representation in all fictions media, allow the world to be signified more accurately and completely. It also allows readers to project upon a character in that work. Representation in comics is also nothing new. In the 1960’s characters like the Incredible Hulk and the Amazing Spider-Man were cultural representatives that came to symbolize counter-cultural attitudes.

Spider-Man for example was a 15-year old everyman taking on adult responsibly in costume and out of costume, trying to take care of his elderly Aunt May, while the Hulk resonated with readers because of his antagonistic relationship with the army, or ‘The Man’.

Readership has always been more diverse than people thought. In spite of this, depiction in comics has always sort of been a straight white boys club with, for the most part, perfect bodies and teeth, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing until one believes that is the standard—the default. For a reader who doesn’t fit neatly into one of these categories, they may be wondering, “Where am I? Where are people like me in this world?”

People want to see more of themselves in the world they put so much into, and want to believe that anyone can be Spider-Man—anyone can be special—anyone can be a hero. It’s the reason why it seems like in the last few years or so, there has been more dialogue on the subject, between the race and gender bending of characters in film and television (which is sort of its own discussion) to more diversified characters being created. Riri Williams is a new Marvel character stepping in for Tony Stark while he takes a sabbatical.

With all that in mind, not everyone wants diversity in comics. As escapist fiction, some people lean on comic books as a 22-page escape hatch from their life. If the reader battles mental illness, racism,homophobia daily in their lives, it’s possible that the last thing they want to see in their getaway is more of what they’re getting away from. A world similar to our own, but not quite accurate is a lot simpler to navigate and understand than the one we live in.

It’s definitely a fine tightrope to walk, and one that may not leave everybody pleased with the outcome.

Change for the sake of change, while risky, could easily be mistaken for pandering without substance.The danger with representation, and probably the reason for resistance is because some readers believe that publisher bids for diversity have more to do with their wallets than their well-meaning intentions, and it might be even harder to feel good about it when it seems selfcongratulatory. But does it matter? If people are getting the sort of diversity and representation that they want does it matter that the publisher has more on their mind than social justice? Regardless, with the real world as wide and diverse as ours, the fictitious one deserves the right to be able to match it. Like everything, it comes down the how much is too much?

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“Depiction in comics has always sort of been a straight white boys club.”

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FOUND FISH

BY KABEER GARBA

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A man and woman newly wed.

“I’ll love and protect you”, the man had said.

Never could they have foreseen. The gruesome end to all of their dreams. A carnivorous creature whose teeth dripped red. So still the young ones all tucked in bed. He cut and slit and there he fed. On the mother and children of once happy newly weds. The father rushed in with a hurry.

With dripping tears of fearsome worry. The father fought but despite his fight. The creature had an undefeatable might. And when the beast had finally fled, he saw one child left undead.

The one lone boy whose life was spared. Whose physical form was left impaired.Though he alone was left unharmed. The boy had suffered and so his arm, once proud and strong and full of meaning. Was withered and lost most but all its feeling. How cruel the fates, how wrong he said, a sheltered life that youngster led. That disabled child left undead. The boy found over time and growth. That his father’s protection had become too close. His watchful eye and crazed demeanor, lost its sweet and safe loved fever. In his search for freedom the child had been. Spotted by a horrible beast, eyes glowing green. The beast was quietly carefully lurking.

In the shadow waiting and searching. The boy with hatred in his eyes. Went off to impress the new school guys. But was quickly grabbed by

C reative M u sin g s swift sharp hand. And pulled into the back of the van. He screamed he kicked he punched he rolled. But he was still losing air from the hold.

As soon as he knew, the father fled through the streets. And with a friend he found in the woman he meets. She’s cursed in the head, she repeats all her words. Though she’s loving and kind, she repeats all her words.Through dark alleys and bloody streets the two sift.With scabby feet they crawl hopping for a lift. Some people pick them up though they’re high as a kite. Each breath is a challenge each day a new fight. Many good people are met, but the bad are as equal. With so many close deaths there might not be a sequel. Let’s turn the woman says, leave it to another day. But the father won’t let anything get in his way. He pushes through gangs, murderers and the mob. But no one good enough to finish the job. The fight is over and he’s sees something familiar. His son and this boy their faces so similar. Could it be that this boy that has been found. Is this my dead son who lays on the ground? Leave me alone he shouts to the girl. This new found

fate has destroyed his world. He’s cries and he swears as he runs and leaves. Trying to erase these most resent memories. The woman moves on with tears in her eye. He used me than moved on what a typical guy. I hate him I hate him I hate him I do. I just want to say that I love you. Is it so bad to be in love with me? So bad that men just have to flee. Men are jerks it’s just a fact. I hate him I hate him, wait what’s that?

That boy over there I’ve seen him before. Is that the boy who was dead on the floor? Maybe they’re twins a separated pair? Is that the son who left my man in despair? Hey boy come here I know your dad. He thought you were dead he was oh so sad. So the boy and girl found the father as two. He said, Nemo I finally found you.

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Lacuna The real omens of bad luck

Let’s pretend you had a falling out.

A panicked, pallored expression paints itself across your body– And let’s say, theoretically, Your face takes its shape against his fervid skin.

Yes, he already knew.

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Latter to a pause, his voice murmurs timidly over the faint purl coming ‘neath the bedroom walls, (Likely some concoction of roaches breeding and mice droppings scattering); “I’ve always loved your smile, it reminds me of the heavy rain back home.”

In that moment, A lacuna is borne of you.

BY KATHERINE COLLIER

All you desire is to grow a pair of sea legs and rescind your thoughts, Leaving behind the dragonflies and opened letters– But something is lacking.

You clutch your chest as it sinks sharply…

You feel as if that lacuna is in some way, transposing into your heart.

Can it feel outside of you?

Can it exist in tandem with your own two lungs?

Can it feel the arid flakes of ash filling the hole where jovial thoughts once allumed?

No. She is passionless dark matter. Nothing more.

All you can do is open your mouth to fill her depths.

Maybe then you can feign a shimmering glimpse into that memory, Of the heavy rain back home, Where he thought Of you.

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Boisterous Anger (In the Spirit of Dark Imagery) If I had a string as strong as steel, and as thin as cobweb, I’d glide it silently across your ginger scalp And pluck every strand, one by one Off your obnoxious head.

I’d reach into your throat, soon after, And place every follicle gently around your lungs.

Parody of the Night Whirring noises pull lethargic air, pull gravity, Closer to your cotton ball ears Am I sleeping? Will I ever wake up?

I’d let your skin itch with great gusto– Gusto for me, that is.

Standing naked, only in underwear Plucking out strands from a coiffure designed by slumber

And then I’d curbstomp your jaw.

Eyes dart so swiftly, Neglecting to find the blot of red cabernet on the bed sheets.

Your petty little words would have to find a home In someone else’s mouth.

Looking for something, but it’s all so fleeting– With temperance, sitting down, taciturn.

Thoughtless.

Withdrawn from me, no body, no ardour.

Virility and delicacy, blemishes upon my person– Frigid manhood, bleeding through the wine, Through our beings, Through what has remained on my bed sheets.

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WHAT’S GOING ON?

a guide to the best halloween entertainment toronto has to offer 21

Halloween is fast approaching and the bright city lights on those spooky nights are a calling. With so many possibilities at your disposal for having the most epic Halloween weekend, I have put together a quick guide of some of the most exciting events going on in Toronto this Halloween!

Haunt is a classic among Toronto’s many events. Enjoy the world renowned theme park rides that Wonderland has to offer in the setting of your worst nightmare as a cast of killer clowns, ghastly ghouls, and all things undead roam the park and lurk where you least expect them. Be sure to visit the many haunted attractions and haunted houses offered.

Toronto After Dark Film Festival: While not during the Halloween weekend, the Toronto After Dark Film Festival takes place between October 13th and the 21st, at Scotiabank Theater, allowing for you to get your horror fix just a little early. At only $13 a film, you certainly cannot go wrong! Film titles include Ethan Hawke’s In A Valley Of Violence, Japanese horror icon Takashi Miikeès As The Gods Will, and The Void among many others!

Band Night At The Ab: Winter’s very own Absinthe Pub will be bustling with some killer music for some of York U’s best bands and artists. For no cover you can enjoy a night of hard rock, good booze, and great times and your favorite pub! Performances will include sets from The Accolades, Xoanna, and Monroe Park.

Halloween Haunt: Again, this event is open every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday between September 30th and October 31st, but everyone knows that Wonderland’s Halloween

Zombie Prom: For those who wished to upgrade their highschool prom photos for something a tad more gory, head to Queen West’s The Great Hall for a night of the dapper undead. With music by DJ Johnny B Goode, professional zombie makeup stations, complimentary

BY GERROD HARRIS

photo shoots, costume contest, candy and fully stocked bars, this will be among one of the city’s best parties on Friday, October 28th. Be sure to buy your ticket in advance as they are currently being sold for $25 but will be available at the door for $40. #FNLROM: Goosebumps: The ROM will continue its tradition of offering a lively party on October 28th as a part of their Friday Night Live series of events. Guests are encouraged to come in their “Halloween best” for a night of food, drinks, and live music. Performances will include sets from DJ Cozmic Cat, DJ D-Smooth, The University Of Toronto Faculty of Jazz, and Olivia And The Creepy Crawlies. Tickets can be bought ahead of time online, or at the door for $15.

Danny Elfman’s Music From The Films Of Tim Burton: On Saturday October 29th, Roy Thompson Hall will host the Toronto Symphony Orchestra as they pay tribute to both the music of composer Danny Elfman

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as well as the movies of director Tim Burton. Behind the TSO’s performance will include clips from Burton’s various films to give an enriched visual experience which is expected to pair perfectly with the expertise that is the TSO. You can expect to hear works from Batman, Edward Scissor Hands, and The Nightmare Before Christmas, among others. With tickets starting at $35, this will certainly be a memorable Saturday night!

Halloween At The Haunted Brew House: The Amsterdam Brewery will be hosting quite the shindig at their lake-side brew house on Saturday, October 29th. With music from some of the city’s best DJ’s, the party will offer wood oven baked pizza, copious amounts of craft beer, and live dancers. There will also be a costume contest with prizes ranging from gift certificates to a full sized Amsterdam keg! Tickets can be bought online prior to the event.

HOT97 All Star Halloween Night House of Horrors: Boasting at Toronto’s biggest Halloween party since 2000, HOT97 All Star Halloween Night House of Horrors will conclude your Halloween weekend with a bang. Taking place on all Hallows Eve—yes Monday, October 31st, at Stadium Nightclub, the event features three floors of partying! The first floor, otherwise known as “The Haunted Trap House”, features a variety of trap, hip-hop, and reggae music from New York’s DJ Young Chow among many others. The second floor, “The Cemetery”, features a set of old school R&B and Hip-Hop from the 90’s from internationally known DJ Starting From Scratch. And finally, the third floor, also known as “The Zombie Island”, will spotlight DJ Jay The Soca Prince for a night of Reggae hits! Tickets can be purchased for $20.

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BURTON

VISION

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BY LEAH BORGES

En ter tain men t What better time of year than October, to honour the one and only: Tim Burton. This creative genius has truly become an inspiration to many. He has the ability to mesmerize people with his quirky style by balancing the perfect combination of creepy and sweet. His work is iconic, recognizable, and intriguing despite it’s unusualness. This world we enter when looking at his drawings or watching his films allows us to see in Burton vision. He depicts this juxtaposition of dark and light; kind and cruel; frightening and friendlychallenging the normalities and assumptions that most people live by. More importantly, the Burton world is full of contradiction where the monsters are kind and the beautiful are cruel and that is the powerful message that is consistent throughout many of his films.

I remember the first time I watched a Burton film. It was “Nightmare before Christmas,” and I recall being somewhat scared but also intrigued by it’s unconventional charm. I was relatively young when I first saw it, and watching it now only makes me appreciate the complexity of the characters’ inner and outer traits thanks to his attention to detail.

The depth of Jack Skellington’s character alone, has layers which then unfold as the film progresses and the viewer is taken on this journey with Jack as he searches for identity and purpose. We connect to the troubled but hopeful character that is Jack Skellington regardless of his nightmarish exterior.

Personally, I will confidently admit to just how much Burton’s work has given me inspiration, not

only in my art but also in life. He is definitely an individual that is not afraid to be the outcast avoiding what is always expected and seen as normal. It has really become a sort of motto for me, to not always feel the need to fit in and be like everyone else, but instead, to be myself and to be different. I’ve adopted this mindset and changed the way I see the world. I love to recognize unconventional beauty in a world that appears to be so bright, but is truthfully dark in many ways too. Burton is not blind to uniformity and through his work, he gives recognition to the so called excluded, the outcasts, the unique and the peculiar.

“Visions are worth fighting for. Why spend your life making someone else’s dreams?”

- Tim Burton

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KEEPING UP WITH BLENDING IN: Thoughts on Insta-Brainwashing, Part One

BY DIANA EDELHAUSER

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I LOVE INSTAGRAM. PLAIN and simple. I start my day by scrolling through everything I’ve missed over night (the Australian Insta scene is gorgeous, and most of their posts pop up while I’m asleep), and repeat the process several times before going to bed at night.

As a very visually-driven person who gets a lot of information from photos and image media, Instagram allows me and its 400 million-plus users to explore our interests and share our lives through (ideally) captivating shots. Above all else, Instagram is arguably the most pervasive tool with which we brand ourselves.

Not unlike the rest of social media, Instagram allows us to filter our lives and curate our daily doings to present the ideal and most covetable version of ourselves possible. In a way, it makes us feel a bit like celebrities, right? We know that most, if not all, of what public figures put forth is carefully

conceived to give the illusion of perfection, but when we see their posts, we accept the information delivered and forget that behind the Crema filter (highly recommend) and wide angle shot, there’s a lot we aren’t being told. But we see it, we love it cause it looks great, and we believe it. If it looks good, it must be good. Except while this may be harmless when we are the audience to a celebrity, what happens when we adopt this mentality while viewing each other?

As much as I enjoy Instagram, what I don’t enjoy is this new wave of “Instagram models”. I mean, I don’t want to accept that that’s even a real thing, but let’s be honest - Instagram has become a platform for every day people to fluff their egos and get paid as a result. Great, right? Another job market? Not quite. Let’s entirely disregard the compensation aspect

of social media for the scope of this piece and consider the narcissism that is being harvested through this app. Instagram models, specifically females, dedicate vast amounts of time to their feed which is, to no one’s surprise, chock full of selfies, ‘professional’ photos and sponsored content. They’ve likely got thousands of followers. They’re young, they’re beautiful, and they certainly seem to have it all. They live an exciting life. Instagram models are so prevalent that, whether we submit to it or not, they have become emblematic of the millennial generation. Normally, I am the first to support young women who can hone in on a skill and profit off of it. However, I take big issue with the fact that more and more, everyone on Instagram (and noticeably more in real life, too) LOOKS. THE. SAME. Originality is dead.

L if estyle French braided pig tails, heavy contouring, drag queen eye brows, Adidas superstars and skinny jeans.

Congratulations, you’re as unique as the girl next to you scrolling on her gold iPhone as she prepares to take a Snap of herself with the puppy dog filter and use it as her Instagram profile pic. Why do we all want to look this way? Why do we all want to look the same?! I noticed it first on Instagram, of course I did, I follow Kylie Jenner just like 76 million others do, and the trend cannot be missed. Slim thick bodies and overdrawn lips, that naturally we would never admit to because you know, it’s all natural, duh. I say ‘we’ because trying to remove myself from the guilty masses would be so demonstrative of a lack of self awareness. I was recently having a conversation with my dad and I asked him, how does anyone think

they’ll stand out nowadays, when we all try to look the same? The truth is, we simply don’t want to. I don’t think we care much for being unique anymore. I think we shy away from it, we fear it, we attack it when we see it in others. “Beautiful” has become, in our society, synonymous with uniformity.

What we don’t realize is how much time we are truly wasting while trying to project this false image of ourselves. I feel so confident when my eyebrows are “on fleek” (seriously, why is this expression even a thing right now?!) and when I’ve got my ripped jeans rolled up just above my ankles to properly show off my Nike Huaraches. But is this because I’m being true to myself, or is it because Im more comfortable now with just blending in? It’s certainly not the first option. And it’s certainly difficult to look back to when I was

younger and would happily go to school in my favourite dress from my mom and knee high striped socks in my favourite colours with my hair in 4 different ponytails around my head. It’s difficult because that was me, that’s still me, but I’m too busy keeping up with the trend and finding comfort in blending in to strive for authenticity.

Who needs that when you can just rebrand yourself into whatever will get the most likes, right?

But things get worse.

To be continued.

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Winters Free Press EST. 1967