Senior Uncertainties

Feature

The Uncertainties of the Teenage Self-Image Written by: Jackson Kavanaugh and Meghan Samples

YouTube and Instagram influencers such as Loey Lane (@LoeyBug) and Candice Huffine (@candicehuffine) are working to prove that no body type is “too big” to be beautiful. Loey Lane has an entire YouTube category dedicated to self-love and body confidence where she candidly expresses her struggle with loving her body. Candice Huffine, a Victoria's Secret model, posts photos of herself that society doesn’t typically expect of a model. She posts pictures of herself standing and having fun, not worrying about posing to make herself appear thinner. Every aspect of her Instagram shows self-love and body positivity.

Style is about self-expression and confidence. With the rise of social media trends, many teenagers have adopted trending styles to find what works best for them. What you wear and how you wear it can influence how much confidence you have. The adoption of different styles and trying them out has helped many to find what they are comfortable in. While some with bigger body types may be more comfortable in wearing bigger clothes to cover themselves, others enjoy wearing crop tops and small clothing. Some with smaller body types may enjoy wearing full coverage clothing like hoodies, while others prefer more revealing outfits. It’s all about confidenceand comfort.

The most important part of style and self-love is understanding that the only person you need to worry about is you! Dress for yourself, and wear what makes you comfortable and happy. Be dressy or casual, be bold or mild. All of those stylistic choices vary from person to person, generation to generation. Style can be used to find more confidence, to express oneself and their personality, or to stay on trend. But what does not go in and out of trend is body type. That is not something a person can choose, and, in some cases, they may not be able to change it either. Whether it be medical reasons, or a lack of resources, many can’t change the body they are in. Which is why loving the body you have is so important. You only get one. Happiness at any size for anyone is achievable through self-confidence and self-love.

Student life

The Last Quarter: The Uncertainties of a Senior Written by: Lexie Holder

As eleventh grade comes to an abrupt halt and each year goes by quicker than the last, upcoming twelfth grade students find themselves in a sense of uncertainty. The coddling of years before has slowly come to an end and the common anxiety and excitementof the outside world becomes more prevalent as the days move toward graduation. During this year, many minors officially become adults as they turn eighteen. The dramatic changes that a junior undergoes as they become a senior make these newfound responsibilities seem more daunting. This is the time of looking back at past teenage years and realizing thatevery decision made now has an impact on the future. “I mean life is all about learning how to not wait for the storm to pass but to dance in the rain. I just gotta roll with the punches,” commented Senior Class President, Brinn Dameron on her feelings of uncertaintysurrounding adulthood. “I know right now I am doing small things at home to help me prepare. I am going ahead and making my plan, but the best laid plans normally go awry. So, I’m just thinking that I’m not really nervous but very excited.” Adulthood comes with major responsibilities, but for students like Brinn who are alreadypreparingfor the uncertainties that face them in the near future, the nervous feelings are turning into excitement. When the general population hears that the birthday of a teenager is coming up, they typicallygive itas much attention as any other age, but the birthday of a teenager turningeighteenis less of a celebration and more of a steppingstone in life. The feelings of“oh man, I’m officially an adult,” automatically hit when the individual see the responsibilities multiply in front of them. The pressures ofgoing into college or finding a place on the workforce side of society becomes a very real situation. The “outside world” has officially begun once the teenager steps offa high school campus for the last time. The people theyattended school with and shared parts oftheir lives duringtheir most influential years now are finding their own paths. It is the final year of “let me lean on…” which is disintegratingas the days progress toward graduation. The cushion of protection laid byhigh school teachers is being taken away. The uncertainty of the adult life is becomingmore apparent. “In my next chapter oflife, I’m kind of uncertain about me and my—personality. Like how I am gonnagrow and how I am gonnaget judged because I know you get judged in the real world and that is part of life. The uncertaintyof whether people are gonnalike me is scary,” said Senior Delia Guy. The ever-constantjudgements that come with being an adult are an obvious concern. The reality ofgrowing up is facing the judgments to personality. It is an exciting venture into the unknowns of becoming an adult that most seniors are the most excited and nervous about. “The first thing that hits you and you’re like ‘Oh I’m a senior’ is you can talk about it all summer long and can hear your parents say ‘oh my goodness you’re gonnabe a senior! Are you excited?’… but it really didn’t hit me until I actually got into school and realized I am actuallythe oldest person here. This is actually the real deal. This is actually a thing that is happening to me. It’s not people saying ‘Oh, you’re gonnagrow up one day.’ It’s like no, it’s time to start pulling up your boots. It’s time to get with it.” Dameron, when asked about the moment stepping into the hallway her senior year. As Brinn Dameron explains realizingthe gravity ofbeing a senior, some would describe the uncertainty of being a senior, looking toward adulthood, an adventure all in itself. 8

Entertainment

Netflix: Losing Touch or Losing Grip?

Written by: Walker Grant COVID-19 caused many problems in the entertainment industry. Many big TV and movie studios had to stop production on every project being filmed as ofMarch. Even juggernauts such as Disneyand Universal pulled movies in reaction to the worldwide pandemic. The world was forced into a standstill during the quarantine with everything closed and shelter-in place orders put into effect. People turned to streaming platforms like Netflix for entertainment. They are famous for their unique range of original movies and shows. However, they are infamous for their unique hobby of cancellingthese praised shows, movies, and smaller shows that are barely off the ground. Netflix typically cancels shows that are not big hits, as they crave for shows to hit the heights of their more successful projects. However, if they do not reach an audience in the first or second season, stopping funding when they are at their peaks. It would seem as if, at the end of the day, Netflix cares more about what gives them the fattest wallet. When a platform cares more aboutmonetary gain than art, integrity is lost. Netflix was one of manycompanies who had to stop production due to the quarantine. Havinga multitude ofshows in the pipeline, they were forced to stop production on all liveaction projects. Theywere quickto add a lot ofthird-party content to the site to make sure they would not lose money. This contentincluded Avatar:TheLast Airbenderand other popular shows; these third-party shows were added to occupytheir growing audience until originals could resume filming. The showThe Witcherwas about to start filming their season 2 in late March. The show delayed its filming during the lockdown. On August 12th, The Witcherresumed production with many people excited thatthings are slowly returning to normal. However, just as things were looking up for Netflix, they canceled 2 of their most recent successful shows: IamNot OkaywithThis,andThe Society.Both shows garnered over 3 million views when they came out. Both cancelled shows, just like The Witcher,were about to start filming their second seasonbefore quarantine hit. Both shows had less views than TheWitcher;however, theystill were big enough thata large majority had wanted to see more from the shows. Many were saddened thattwo of the biggest shows of this year will not see a follow up season. When a company gets as big as Netflix is, they have the freedom to take risks without the fear of losing more money than is flowing in. Netflix took a risk with the productionof their own original content. Netflix took on indie projects that would have otherwise never become exposed. When Netflix’s most popular original showStranger Things, came out, it was an instant hit with many people getting a subscription to the service just to watch the show. Netflix gained 94 million subscribers after the fourth quarter of 2016 according to Quartz. The same quarter that Stranger Things hit the service. Netflix started to focus more attention on their originals, hoping to capture another lightning in a bottle. They started canceling shows that had smaller fanbases to make room for bigger, more marketable, shows. Rob-Waksbergthe writer/director of the Netflix original BoJack Horsemanand executive producer on another Netflix original Tucaand Bertiehad both shows cancelled. Both BoJackand Tucawere cancelled in their prime. After Tuca'scancellation, Waksberghad this to say about Netflix’s new model of production, “...the Netflix model: to give shows time to build an audience... it's a shame that they seem to have moved away from that model." When looking at what Netflix is doing financially, the decision is smart. However, Netflix's model is still doing wrong by the consumers who enjoyed those smaller shows. Netflix cancelled BoJackafter it almost won 3 Emmys for best animated show, for an unknown cause. The best guess to why is to help fund the next painfully dull 9 Family Guyrip-off.

Entertainment

Netflix: Losing Touch or Losing Grip?

Written by: Walker Grant Netflix cancels great shows to give money to what is the most popular. Take adult cartoons for example, which are growing rampant on the service. Shows like Big Mouthwhich is the most popular cartoon on the site, is about middle-school kids going through puberty and having hilariously age-inappropriate experiences, such as early relationships, for the sake of comedy. That is why Netflix picked up the movie Cuties, a movie that criticizes the sexual exploitation of children because ofgrowing internet culture. The original movie is a satire for how young girls are expected to be provocative and sexually alluring at younger and younger ages. However, Netflix changed the message of the movie and it became the very thing that French Film writer MaïmounaDoucouré appeared to criticize. The way Netflix described the movie was, “Eleven-year-old Amy becomes fascinated with a twerking dance crew and decides to join them, she starts to explore her femininity, defying her family's traditions.” Netflix took a basic movie about how exploitation can ruin the minds of adolescents and described like it was more prudish than the movie was. Netflix changed the way the art was presented to get a higher watch rate. Although, it is not entirely Netflix’s fault. When watching the movie, you can see that the director’s intentions were not as glossy as they would seem.mMany shots were either filler and taking up runtime the movie does notdeserve or grosslyexploitive as they can and serve no purpose but to show off children in a sexual manner.

Many people are rightfully appalled by the movie, with thousands starting the hashtag #cancelnetflix. Long time subscribers of the service cancelled their subscriptions in protest. All the while, Netflix did absolutely nothing to fix the situation, with Netflix sending a letter defending the movie rather than siding with the consumer. The movie was still advertised and was even pinned on the home page. Netflix did not come out unscathed, being completely static on the issue led to a giant loss of stockholders; twelve percent have pulled out as of right now, according to Google Finance. So naturally, Netflix, looking at all their options, chose the smartest possibility: they canceled two unrelated shows amidstthe controversy. It is possible that they lost too much money thanks to Cuties, but Netflix will not even have a dent in its massive wealth; twelve percent is not a huge net loss to Netflix Additionally, thanks to the pandemic, Netflix has gotten over 10 million new members according to metrics by Business Insider. At the end of the day, Netflix has great content on their website and at least tries to give many creators a chance. However, theystrive to build up their bottom line when their bottom line will never break. Netflix ruins creators' chances at bring their visions to life. Netflix murders the creator’s baby before itcan walk with the greats. These shows will fade into obscurity, forever a part ofthe deepest parts the site as a reminder of the spark that was not able to keep a light. Which begs the question: what if these shows had just one more season, one more episode, or even just 5 more minutes?

Clark, Travis. “The Creator of 'BoJack Horseman' Called out Netflix after His Show Was Canceled despite Its Final Season Getting a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 5 Nov. 2019, www.businessinsider.com/bojack-horseman-creator-calls-out-netflix-for-quick-cancellations-2019-11. Rodriguez, Ashley. “Netflix Now Has an Audience of 94 Million Worldwide.” Quartz, Quartz, 19 Jan. 2017, qz.com/888801/netflix-shares-are-rising-on-strong-fourth-quarter-2016-subscriber-growth-nflx/. 10 Bess. “Netflix Slammed For Using 'Inappropriate' Poster That Sexualized Young Girls.” Eyerys, 24 Aug. 2020, www.eyerys.com/articles/timeline/netflix-slammed-using-inappropriate-poster-sexualized-young-girls?page=10.

Sports Stories

Uncertainties in Sports: Black Lives Matter Activism With the major uncertainties already surrounding sports due to CoVid-19, manysports fans were dismayed at the delaying and canceling of games in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. However, many don’t see the impact that sports activism can have on a movement. While some believe that Sports professionals and famous influencers should stick to the status quo, others encourage the use of elevated social status and platform to support social justice movements such as the Black Lives Matter movement.

The Black Lives Matter movement was founded following the, “acquittal of Trayvon Martin’s murderer” (BLM) in 2016. The mission of the BLM is to, "eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities” (BLM). They hope that by, “combating and countering acts of violence, creating space for Black imagination and innovation, and centering Black joy,” (BLM) they can help to make the world a safer and more enjoyable place for people of color. The recent surge in fascination with the movement was due to the protests during the summer of 2020 which occurred as a result of the shooting and killing of people of color by law enforcement officials. These protests gained global attention; many were peaceful, but some were violent, leaving businesses and public property in disrepair and some protestors injured or killed as a result from tension between the protestors and opposing groups. This portrayal ofthe protestors as inherently violent has left many fans to question why professional sports teams are backing the movement.

Written by: Meghan Samples

Many major sports teams such as the Milwaukee Bulls and even individual players such as Naomi Osaka have put their supportbehind this movement. The Milwaukee Bulls in particular refused to play in their play-off game against Orlando Magic to protest the shooting of a black man named Jacob Blake in their home state of Wisconsin. This was the first protest, sparking many more like those “in Major League Baseball, [where] three games were postponed.

Another Wisconsin team led the way — the Milwaukee Brewers called off their home game against the Cincinnati Reds” (Goldman). Powerful statements like these have lasting impacts on the mind of the public as well as supporting the movement. The Black Lives Matter website published a “Thank you” to those teams who have stepped up to support their cause, showing the impact their gestures made. The impact on the public has been mixed. Many agree that using their socially elevated platform is important to support the movement. However, many more sports fans believe that it is unprofessional to use a corporate platform to support personal causes. The controversy stems from public misunderstanding or the negative portrayal of the protests. President Trump publicly announced his influential opinion regarding the sports teams and their protests, saying, “...The greater social and political activism of players and, in some cases now, coaching staffs and entire leagues appears to have turned off Americans who disagree with their messages or the way they express them. The net effect at this point has been negative for the industry’s image” (Campanile).