Volume 121 • Issue 1 • September 2013
BRUISED DREAMS
SO, what’s the craic?
how’re you doing? Whatcha thinking? Are you happy?
What time do you go to sleep? Who
do you wake up next to? You
what?
Nobody wants to hear that.. But
tweeted
where are you going?
Where have you been? Seriously? Do you ever
dream of electric sheep? What course are you in? You like it? Yes but, will it get you a job? Oh, you’ve already got one?
And the identity crisis? You changed your hair? Oooh you have
A good one? Very nice. Are you cool now?
finally mastered facial hair? Congratulations truly. And you
what was that? You want to talk about Turkey? You’ve been to Istanbul? You’ve been to Rome? like to grow you’re own vegetables? Not really vegetables?
My, my..
What do you think of carrots?
Do you ever lie
awake at night thinking about--? ..well that’s just peculiar. You’ve
What was that about high-school? You’d never go back? Don’t finished that video-game?
really blame you.. You like Jazz? You used to play? You used to
sing? Ah, well, were you any good? Did you….
Tell us about it. tcdmiscellany@gmail.com Editor
POLITICALLY MINDED 4 Winter Dawns on the Arab Spring Neil Warner
7 Seanad Reformed? Killian Murphy
9 The Rosie Hackett Bridge Campaign: A Forgotten History Angelina Cox
11 Smite Your Darlings: India’s
Struggle against Feminicide and Sexual Violence Polly Dennison
VOICES 14 Giving The Trinity Experience A Voice Owen Bennet 15 Erasmus All’ Italiana
Alexandra Thompson
17 Fageddaboutit: Why You Should Leave Fear Behind When Travelling in Thailand Ben Collopy 19 Twerk Liberation? Molly-May O’ Leary
CO NTEN TS ...and don’t forget
AGONIES
on the page 30...
GEEK OUT 20 Geeking Out: A Guilty Pleasure in a Mainstream Sub-Culture Matthew Corbally 23 Game of Thrones: What the Dragon Happenend in Season 3? James O’ Connor
25 Pokemon X and Y: What to Expect David Flanagan
26 Instruments of Mortal Bore? Reviewing the Latest Teen Fancy Eva Short
EDITOR
Denise Wilkinson
DEPUTY EDITOR AND POLITICS EDITOR Cillian Ó Fathaigh
GEEK OUT EDITOR Matthew Corbally
ONLINE EDITOR Bernard Mackey
28 Existentialism in Interview with the Vampire Katie Clover
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POLITICALLY MINDED
WINTER DAWNS
ON THE ARAB SPRING by NEIL WARNER
The Arab Spring began with a series of protests in the southern Tunisan town of Sid Bouzid in the last in few weeks of 2010 after Mohammed Bouazizi set fire to himself. It only really became a globally significant phenomenon, however, with the January 25th revolution in Egypt and the crowds of Tahrir square in those eighteen extraordinary days in January and February 2011. It is horrifically ironic then, that it was a movement and a ‘revolution’ which claimed to be the natural successor the January 25th revolution. It adopted much of the same rhetoric and imagery and indeed had millions of the same supporters, and seems to have definitely drawn the curtain over the optimistic phase of the Arab revolutions – at least for now. The uprising and subsequent coup which overthrew Mohammed Morsi on June 30th enthusiastically proclaimed themselves as continuation of what started two years earlier. Many Western commentators seem initially to have bought into these claims as well – despite warning from the likes of Simon Jenkins in The Guardian that “Egypt is not Les Miserables”. Now, after massacres by the armed forces of a kind which the Mubarak regime did not even come close to perpetrating, it is pretty much impossible in any objective sense to maintain that attitude. In fact, with such scenes in a country which was essentially the symbolic centre of the 2011 revolutions compounding a generally dismal picture in the rest of the region,
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it is becoming increasingly difficult to even see the Arab Spring as a whole in any kind of positive or optimistic light.
In retrospect, it will probably be found that the hopeful phase of the Arab uprisings ended much earlier. But we did not realise it at the time. Of the six countries which experienced genuine mass uprisings in 2011 – Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Bahrain, Libya and Syria- only in the country where it all began, Tunisia, can things really be said to have gone to plan to any kind of significant degree (and even Tunisia has plenty of problems). It is arguable that in some ways it was downhill for the Arab Spring pretty much since the fall of Mubarak. Insurrection spread, but regimes ceased to fall like dominos as many of us had hoped. Instead, they increasingly dug in and responded to protests with increasing violence – gaining lessons and encouragement from each other as the protesters did from other protests. None have fallen swiftly and completely as the first two. Ali Abdullah Saleh held on in Yemen for a year before being replaced by his vice president after an immunity deal, with the real regime still in question. The uprising by the repressed Shia majority in Bahrain was completely suppressed after an invasion by Gulf state troops. Gaddafi only fell in Libya after Western intervention and a civil war that cost tens of thousands of lives, with genuine central authority still far from being restored. Finally, of course, there is the horrifying quagmire of Syria, where Assad still holds on and where even ultimate rebel success is unlikely to lead to the prospect of better government given the composition of rebel forces. A symbolic turning point in the events of the Middle East might be found in events in Libya in the Autumn of 2011. These arguably initiated the phase so common to so many revolutions where the oppressed become the oppressors. In August of that year, anti-Gaddafi forces swept into Tripoli. This was arguably the last event of that year or since which could be said to signify a toppling of the oppressive old order in the Arab world. For a few days, the world media was transfixed, relishing the images of rebels who stormed Gaddafi’s compound of Bab al-Azizia triumphantly carrying away such souvenirs as his sceptre, golf buggy and Condoleezza Rice scrapbook. But while the world’s cameras soon grew bored and left, returning really only for the news of Gaddafi’s death, the war itself dragged on for another two months, and Libya’s post-war troubles continued for much longer than that. 5
POLITICALLY MINDED
As the rebels became the rulers, instances of violence against black Africans and groups and tribes associated with Gaddafi, which had been present in more sporadic form since the start of the uprising, increased dramatically. It reached its nadir in Tawergha, where that Autumn rebels from Misrata wreaked vengeance upon the town for its supposed opposition to the uprising by engaging in an ethnic cleansing of the whole town. By October they had reduced the city, which formerly had a population of 25,000 to a ghost town. The former residents of the town are still refugees, with those who have attempted to return reportedly prevented by militias. With the exception of Ali Abdullah Saleh’s much quieter negotiated exit in February 2012, it has essentially been downhill for the Arab uprisings since then, though general pattern of deterioration has only gradually become evident. Is all now lost?
It is easiest, because it is quite easy to simply respond that life right now in the Arab world is not better than it was in 2010, nor does it look like it will be getting better very soon in any country except Tunisia. To this must be added the fact that, in light of the civil wars in Syria and Libya, the uprising may well have cost something like 150,000 lives. It is also a very hard response to give however, because it would entail accepting that the bravery and determination that was shown by millions of ordinary people in 2011 was not only for nothing, but counterproductive. It may then simply be nothing more than an attempt at comforting reassurance to assert this. Nevertheless I do not think that this answer is necessarily the correct one. At least, I do not think enough time has elapsed to make that assessment properly.
Should other Arab people, in retrospect, have quietly observed the If, as Zhou Enlai famously said, it is events in Tunisia and carried on as if “too soon to tell� whether the French nothing had changed? Revolution was a good development, it is certainly too soon to evaluate To say that in fact they should have stayed quiet the impact of the Arab uprisings. and not risen up, is in some ways both the easiest and the hardest answer. The reality is that political revolutions rarely work out for the better in the short term.
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This seems to be a remarkably consistent rule in history that people often have a quite extraordinary capacity to forget. In the longer term, however, long after disillusion and despair have set in, they often do produce a better reality than what went before. Whether they are worth the horrors that come in between, is of course another matter. The dilemmas that arise with respect to means and ends, the calculations necessary to assess the number of lives lost for the sake of a possibly better future, are virtually impossible to make. Democracies almost always take years, if not decades, to become established after an initial flare up like the ones we saw in 2011. More basic grievances like economic deprivation and neo-liberal economic policies, which Gilbert Achcar probably rightly argues are the more fundamental cause of much of the unrest of 2011, take even more wide-reaching structural adjustments
than the establishment of democracy does – and may require further mass movements that embrace a span of countries far wider than the Middle East alone. But it probably remains a reality that the mediumto-long-term future of the Arab world is still brighter than it was three years ago, even if the present and the immediate future are not. Something in the psychology of the relationship between Arab people and their rulers has been changed utterly and permanently. In the sense that the rulers of much of the Arab world can never again feel entirely comfortable about their ability to control and ignore the mass of their countries’ people. The Middle East has already, in a certain basic but irreversible sense, moved in a more democratic direction.
Neil Warner is a postgraduate student in the Department of History
SEANAD REFORMED? by KILLIAN MURPHY The Ireland I want to live in is not the Ireland I do live in. And I’m passionate about changing that. There is a belief (more a fear) that reform will not happen. I wish to immediately refute this. There is a reform Bill currently being debated, and if you want to table an amendment, get in touch with Future Matters.
What concerns me so much about this Seanad Referendum is that an opportunity to transform Irish society is being squandered.
Compared with Teachta Dála, Senators are twice as likely to be female, and more importantly, twice as likely to contribute to a debate. Senators are concerned with articulating the Ireland they are working towards, the future they want to build. This is a welcome change from Parish-Pump-Politics of the Dáil, where often TD’s neglect Committee work – of National interest – to address their constituents concerns, even to the detriment of the nation. Think Tribunals.
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POLITICALLY MINDED In a reformed Seanad, the five expert panels would be elected by those with talents and knowledge relevant to the panel. Take the Administrative panel, it represents some of the most marginalised in Irish Society – the deaf, the mentally handicapped, the physically disabled, and those with life limiting disabilities. It is to further a just society that the marginalised and the needy are supposed to be supported by such strong voices, and to suggest that such a system is elitist is disturbing. That the budgets which originate in the Dáil are so regressive and unjust is exatly the reason so many who fought for our future of this Republic voted in 1937 to give a stronger voice to the marginalised. Recently the Seanad took an extraordinary move: to debate legislation which had been passed by the European Parliament, and signed into Law by a single member of the Dáil. This Seanad debate was the first recorded debate on such an important (read: life changing) legislation. This debate was made possible by the close relationship the Irish Kidney Association has with the Senator who pursued the signatures to recall the Seanad. This relationship gives the Irish Kidney Association an important voice in our Democratic process. Imagine if the National Youth Council of Ireland, the USI, or any other body that specifically represented youth interests, was a nominating body, and able to maintain a close relationship with Senators. Instead of organ donation, the Seanad was being recalled to begin a debate on youths committing suicide, third level grants, or what the hell is being done to stop the need for emigration. What if we reformed the Seanad so one of the Taoiseach’s appointments was the President of the USI, or some other person representing us, the youth? I am not concerned with defending the Seanad as is – but I am enthusiastic about what the Seanad could do. What reform, instead of abolition, will do for our future. I’m not a philosopher but it seems evident to me that we have a duty to promote a more just society. The idea of vindicating dignity is almost innate in students, demonstrable in Herculean Soup Runs that go on past midnight, Homework clubs with the needy, or the tireless efforts of law students giving free legal aid to those in unforgiving circumstances. The great promise of a Republic is equality of opportunity. The great promise of Capitalism is social mobility. The two most fundamental commitments of this Nation are mere theory and rhetoric. In a reformed Seanad I see these being tackled. Quango’s are established by the Government of the day to perform a function.
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Whether this is healthcare, transport, or education, they are charged with acting in the public interest. The various Ombudsmen, and the vital Standards in Public Office Commission, even the Board of Trinity are all Quango’s. In principle, Quango’s are vital. Often the quality of persons appointed to Quango’s is questionable. What if national appointments were no longer made by the Minister of the day, but by a reformed Seanad? This would draw greater awareness of the often Trojan work members do on our behalf. But more importantly, it would draw attention to these bodies themselves. No more would supporters be rewarded with positions beyond their abilities. Citizens with real knowledge and talent might say “I can help”, and we would benefit as a people, as an economy, as a community. The prospect of changing the way we do politics in this country would be best begun by voting No to Seanad Abolition. With this beginning, we then have to engage our democratically elected Senators. Instead of a town hall meeting with our SU president, imagine the GMB chamber filled with students who have drafted amendments to the Seanad Reform Bill and were arguing for their inclusion, and their merits with their peers, the university panel, and the education panel. The desire to see change is motivating such lofty notions of participative democracy. Earlier this year, a Bill which would require AED’s to be readily available in sports clubs, among other venues, was endorsed because Senators believed action had to be taken in the fight against Sudden Death Syndrome. This is life and death, and the action was taken by the Seanad, not the Dáil. We want radical reform. In a more prosperous Ireland, Emigration would not be a reality of growing up Irish. There are such talented people in all walks of life proud of their Irish Heritage. Making use of this talent is another way a reformed Seanad could be utilised. This is relevant to us as young Irish Citizens who have emigration as our only option. And by drawing on experts from around the world, we would build a stronger, more diverse economy. These experts would be working closely with Irish educated citizens, which would arguably boost the reputation of those institutions. Another gain for Ireland. It is simply wrong that Irish Citizens registered to vote can’t vote. Let’s change that. Vote No on October 4th.
Killian Murphy is a Junior Sophister Science student
THE ROSIE HACKETT BRIDGE CAMPAIGN: REDISCOVERY OF A Long before construction of the new Liffey Bridge is complete speculation surrounding its name is settled. The job of christening the bridge fell to Dublin city council which produced a shortlist of five names from the hundreds of entries received, eventually deciding upon trade unionist and 1916 veteran, Rosie Hackett. The practice of naming streets, bridges and other landmarks after cherished historical and cultural figures is an important form of recognition for their contributions and impassioned campaigns for a variety of names were mounted for this bridge. The motivation stirring the Rosie Hackett Bridge Campaign emanated from the absence of proper recognition for the contribution and sacrifice rendered by women in historic social and political struggles. The campaign aimed to resurrect the forgotten story of an ordinary woman impelled into action by extraordinary circumstances.
FORGOTTEN HISTORY by ANGELINA COX This trend of non-recognition is mirrored in women’s underrepresentation in politics and many other public forums. The lack of role models for young women is a significant factor contributing to women’s reluctance to compete for public office. The Labour Movement, in particular, has a proud and bountiful tradition of activism. We have an exceptional record in recognising and lionising our historic foot soldiers; James Connolly, the ‘big’ Jim Larkin, and Tom Johnson are rightly regarded as our most prominent representatives. However, constantly relying on those few men to tell the historic story of the Labour Movement only tells part of our story. Recognising and paying due regard to the whole range of historic figures in the Labour tradition, as this campaign did, only serves to further enhance the historic prestige enjoyed by the Labour Movement.
ROSIE
The standard Irish history lesson describes the bravery of a handful of men and the odd maverick woman in bringing about social change. The constant urge to commemorate these few well-known names self-fulfils the standard narrative, while writing brave women, like Rosie, out of history.
Born in 1892, Rosie dedicated her life to the trade union movement and struggle for workers’ rights. At the time of the 1911 census she lived on Abbey Street with her mother, sister, stepfather, stepsisters and a lodger. She joined the Irish Transport and General Workers’ Union (ITGWU) when it was founded in 1909 and worked as a messenger in Jacob’s biscuit factory in Dublin. In 1911, the male workers withdrew their labour in pursuit of better working conditions and Rosie was one of the first women to come out in sympathy with them. Rosie helped to galvanise and organise more than 3,000 women in the Jacobs Factory to withdraw their labour in protest.
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POLITICALLY MINDED Rosie also played her part in Ireland’s struggle for national independence.
The women were successful and they received better working conditions and an increase in pay. Rosie was just 18 years old at the time. In 1913, she once again helped to organise the women in Jacobs to strike and protest against poor working conditions. Rosie took part in the ‘Bloody Sunday’ protests on Sunday the 31st of August, marking the beginning of the 1913 Dublin Lockout, the culmination of five years of increasingly bitter disputes between Larkin’s ITGWU and the city’s employers, led by William Martin Murphy. Employers demanded that workers sign an undertaking to surrender their membership of the ITGWU or face ‘lock-out’ from their work. The lockout of 20,000 of Dublin’s unskilled workers lasted for almost six months, during which time, the authorities regularly staged violent attacks on worker’s meetings, resulting in the formation of the Irish Citizens Army. In the end, however, it was the more subtle violence of hunger and deprivation, directed against the workers’ families, which broke the strike. For her part in the lock-out, Rosie lost her job and Jacob’s, and went on to train as a printer.
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She was a member of the Irish Citizen Army and served with Constance Markievicz and Michael Mallin in the Royal College of Surgeons and St. Stephen’s Green Park during the Easter Rebellion 1916. She was one of the small group who endeavoured to print the 1916 Proclamation on a faulty printing press and brought the first copy, still damp, to James Connolly. Rosie’s eye-witness account of the Rebellion, documented by the bureau of military history, captures the danger faced by the rebels – “I was stationed at the first-aid post in the park. It was very exciting there. We were under very heavy fire from late on Monday evening. Even when we marked out the first-aid post with a red sign, they did not recognise it and kept firing on us.” For her part in the Rebellion, Rosie was sent to Kilmainham Jail, whereupon her release she re-founded the Irish Women Workers’ Union with Louie Bennett and Helen Chenevix; and for years served as clerk in the union which, at its peak, organised about 70,000 women, including bookbinders, contract cleaners, laundry, print and electronic workers. Later she took charge of the ITGWU’s newspaper shop on Eden Quay. In 1970 Hackett received a gold medal in recognition of her 60 years’ service to the Irish trade union movement, yet she is almost forgotten in today’s world. My hope is that Rosie’s memory will serve as a testament to the struggles hard fought and won, and an important reminder of the battles still raging – struggles against unemployment and emigration. The campaign to commemorate Rosie was fought by three young women – Angelina Cox, Lisa Connell, and Jeni Gartland. The Rosie Hackett Bridge campaign used facebook, twitter, an online petition, a public meeting and endless emails, telephone calls and meetings with the councillors to put forward the case for selecting Rosie. I hope our successful campaign is just the start of a wider agenda to properly commemorate the forgotten stories of ordinary people’s struggles and sacrifices for social change.
Angelina Cox is a Senior Sophister Student of Law and Politics
SMITE YOUR DARLINGS INDIA’S STRUGGLE AGAINST FEMINICIDE AND SEXUAL VIOLENCE by POLLY DENNISON A 2013 article in The Guardian branded India as the “worst place to be a woman” in all the G20 countries. Incidents of rape and sexual assault may appear relatively low in the national statistics available, but many believe the numbers are in fact, much, much higher. It can be characterised as an iceberg situation; a lot more cases under the surface. One group is launching a campaign, with the hope of changing attitudes, while thousands march the city streets in protest against the many attacks now being reported on in national media. Cases of rape in India have seen more international attention recently than ever before; mostly off the back of one case: Last December, a twenty-three year old woman
and her male companion stepped on to a New Delhi bus, which had, unbeknown to them, been taken for a joyride by the driver and five friends. The woman was accosted by the driver for being out late at night with a male friend. The driver’s friends decided to “teach her a lesson” and when the woman’s male companion attempted to intervene, he was brutally beaten with an iron rod. The six men then proceeded to gang rape the woman, eventually using that same iron rod. One of the attackers, the most brutal, was a minor; raping the woman twice and causing significant and horrific internal damage. The two were then dumped, semi-naked, on the side of the road. Allegedly the bus driver then tried to drive over the woman’s body, but her male companion pulled her aside, preventing this. She was hospitalised, but after two weeks, died due to her extensive injuries.
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POLITICALLY MINDED The story rocked Indian and international media sparking protests across the country, against the nation’s treatment of and attitudes towards women. Petitions sprung up all over the internet, calling for various changes to Indian laws and a variety punishments for the perpetrators. The case is only now going through Indian courts. One of the men has already been tried and sentenced, but as a minor as he was under eighteen at the time of the crime. Despite the severity of the crime, he has been sentenced to just three years imprisonment in a juvenile detention centre. This has been widely criticised as too lenient, as has the court’s choice to continue with his trial as a minor. The lead accused in the crime was found, hanging in his cell in March, 2013. The other men accused, have recently been sentenced to death.
A thirty-year old female American tourist was raped in Manali in June of this year. She hitched a lift with three men, who drove to a secluded spot, gang- raped and dumped her. The woman’s phone and wallet were stolen and, as it was dark, she could not see the van’s license plate making an arrest difficult. The case of a five year old girl who was abducted in Bihar, in north eastern India also received wide press coverage. The child was raped and beaten, then locked in a room, left to die; she was later rescued, brought to hospital and survived. One senior Indian politician, Sushma Swaraj, who visited the little girl in hospital tweeted that the child in the next room was also a five- year old female rape victim. She also tweeted that doctors in the hospital reported recently treating a young boy who had been sexually assaulted as well. A four year old girl was taken in Madyha Pradesh, by a man who lured her from her home, promising to buy her bananas. She was raped and her body dumped.
Images taken from Save the Childern India’s new ‘Save Our Sisters’ campaign.
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She was found alive, but the severity of her injuries was too great and she died soon after being admitted to hospital.These cases are not unique in India; they are not one-offs. In the direct aftermath of the case last December, and until now, Indian and international media have been nigh-on constantly reporting on cases of gang-rape, rape and sexual assault in the country. This is no sudden epidemic though, the focus has simply shifted to highlighting the problem. 68% of women in India will face domestic violence in their lives.
A new campaign is attempting to change the national attitudes to women and stem the high numbers of sexual assaults. “Save Our Sisters” is a powerful anti-sex-trafficking campaign run by Save the Children India. It consists of images of Hindu goddesses in their traditional poses, surrounded by that which they represent, but they are bruised, injured, attacked, crying. The tagline “Abused Goddesses” sits on the bottom left.
Over the past fifty years, cases of sexual assault in India have gone up an estimated 873%,
According to the posters, 68% of women in India are victims of domestic abuse.
according to statistics compiled by National Crime Records Bureau. The same report also found that three out of four cases of rape went unpunished from 2002 – 2011 in New Delhi. The national conviction rate, according to the report, lies at 26% for the period 2001 – 2010. Statistics relating to reported rapes and sexual assaults are low and many believe that the numbers are much, much higher in reality; cases going unreported due to embarrassment, shame, fear. Cases of child-rape are also thought to be much higher than the reported numbers show, although reporting has been steadily increasing over the past decade, according to a report by the Asian Centre for Human Rights.
The goddesses are revered, with millions of Indians praying to them daily; their images can be found across homes and places of worship. Lakshmi, goddess of wealth, Durga, of strength and power and Saraswati of knowledge and wisdom feature in the campaign.
But, why is this happening? Why is there a prevalence for such attacks? It is difficult to say with certainty, but analysts and journalists have been attempting to answer this question since before the December rape and murder. Sunny Hundal, an author and Al Jazeera correspondent has found that sixty million girls were either aborted, murdered or neglected at birth due to their sex or killed by their husband or his family over dowry disputes in the past thirty years. Many families believe women to be a burden; men marry and bring another woman into the family to assist in caring and housework. Daughters require dowries and leave the natal home to care for another. A report by Action Aid found the rate of women to men in some Punjabi villages to be 300 to 1,000. A 2012 Unicef report found that a shocking majority of young men and women believed it acceptable for a man to beat his wife.
It aims to argue that these female deities are worshipped and respected by millions of men and yet their sisters, wives, mothers, friends are not. While reports continue to surface of gang-rapes, rapes and sexual assaults from India, progress is being made, legislatively. In the aftermath of the December attack, the Indian government passed a law stating that the perpetrators of any rape which results in either the death of the victim, or brings about coma, shall be sentenced to death. A death sentence may not appear to be progress to all, however, it is a recognition that a more severe recourse than before was required. The same piece of legislation also makes stalking and trafficking punishable by law. It is still argued however, by many who protest, that more still needs to be done to change rape culture in India, to improve national attitudes towards women and to combat the culture of victim-blaming.
Polly Dennison is a Trinity College History Graduate, and the 2010 editor of this magazine 13 13
VOICES
GIVING THE TRINITY EXPERICE A VOICE
Former University Times editor Owen Bennett expounds the enduring yet ever-evolving role of student media in understanding the ‘Trinity experience’. There are a number of factors which contribute to Trinity’s position as Ireland’s premier university. As is often the case, the most important elements of any states are the unquantifiable, intangible features which one cannot codify or expound with any degree of certainty. One such feature is undoubtedly the ‘Trinity experience’, that integral element of one’s time in the college that permeates all activities undertaken. It cannot be rigidly defined and it appears to transcend both the academic and the extra-curricular. Indeed, it is in the challenge to give a voice to this force that Trinity’s student media lends its existence. Within the college’s four walls, one hundred and eleven societies and forty nine sports clubs operate. These organisations provide a fantastic outlet for students to supplant their academic tuition and offer a refreshing experience for the many of us not fully satisfied with our courses. Our clubs and societies achieve many wonderful things every year and these achievements demand recognition. Moreover, with the internal college discourse defined by a cacophony of voices, the achievements and indeed the existence of many of our greatest extra-curricular outlets are lost in a vacuum. It is within this environment that I feel student newspapers thrive. I firmly believe that newspapers have social responsibilities, both negative and positive. For instance, a newspaper has a responsibility not to defame or tarnish the name of a community member. But I believe it has an added, more proactive responsibility to promote civic engagement among its readers. And in our college community, civic engagement is defined by the fabric of clubs, societies and student activism. Yet student media ought also to act as a platform upon which thoughtful, measured and progressive opinions can be espoused. The student community is consistently the most progressive and idealistic demographic, and acts as a bastion of liberal values. Moreover, given its university seat, a student newspaper is obliged to seek truth and must never mimic the ‘spoon-feeding’ nature of western mass media. As an extension to this, it is natural that many issues which are close to the hearts of students are rarely covered and in cases even acknowledged by the mainstream media. In recent years, this reality has been particularly evident in the context of social issues such as same-sex marriage and abortion rights but it also pertains to more trivial issues which affect students qua students.
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That understanding of the role of student media constituted a set of values which we sought to promote within the pages of The University Times last academic year. In all our activities, we strove to instil a culture of ‘student significance’. In practical terms, this resulted in a content merit test involving two criteria: is it a student issue and if not, is it an issue which students will be interested in? On that basis, we avoided publishing articles which focused on geopolitical issues and promoted articles which dealt with issues such as marriage equality, student finances and graduate unemployment. Our basic rationale centred on the belief that to focus on anything else would be to negate the publication’s unique selling point, namely a student-centric focus. In a more strategic sense, we sought to advance the culture of innovation which has made The University Times Ireland’s most widely-read student newspaper. We invested the bulk of our financial and human capital in pursuit of the creation of a digital-first newsroom. This emphasis was manifested in the construction of a new website, dedicated online sub-editors and best-practice guidelines for the various social mediums.
This strategic shift reflects the fundamental changes taking place within media globally. Suffice to say, print media is dying a slow death. Regrettably, many outlets across the world have failed to grasp the reality that a print newspaper is a medium, not an end in itself. The general motive for consuming newspapers is not for the pleasure derived from the experience, but from the desire to ascertain fact and opinion on the affairs of the day. As information technology continues to advance to dizzying heights, the limitations of print will continue to expose themselves. In that context, we sought to usher in a new era in student media in this country, reflecting the transition of media generally. I am very much of the opinion that just shy of the printing press, the advent of social media is one of the greatest advancements in the history of student media. Simply put, the majority of students are only somewhat engaged with the general college community. As such, only a small number will queue (or indeed pay) for a copy of the student newspaper and few will ever organically seek out the newspaper website (i.e. type ‘universitytimes.ie’ into their web browser). Given that the average user spends roughly four hours each day surfing Facebook and Twitter, the news feeds of these platforms offer an opportune marketplace to reach readers. Even a superficial understanding of social media strategy can allow journalists to place their content in the spheres of those who need to see it. However, there is a dark side to online media, and poor editorial judgement caused difficulty for The University Times in this regard last year. A number of weeks before term started, I sanctioned the publication of an article which at the time, I did not recognise as being aggressively hateful toward those who identify as LGBT. The decision to seek debate on a subject the vast majority of us consider to be without rational detraction was one which I now see to have been immature. Indeed, we paid the price for the error in judgement, and the overwhelmingly negative reaction to the piece, the author and the newspaper on the various social platforms illustrated the new outlets’ popular power to regulate media. As is often the case, the bad memories are quickly forgotten as sentimentality allows for rose-tinted reminiscing. Indeed, the marathon production weekends, the critical letters from readers and the awareness that whenever something goes wrong,
the editor’s head is under the guillotine rarely invoke reflection at this point. The enduring memories are those which correspond to the positive impacts, like seeing the joy on a writer’s face after the publication of a debut article or witnessing the progression in writers’ journalistic talent over the course of a volume. If there is one thing three years as a philosophy undergrad has taught me, it’s that life is in many respects, a collection of experiences. Editing the fourth volume of The University Times was one experience which will have a lasting impression on me. It was a privilege to have worked with some immensely talented individuals and I look on with a degree of envy at those taking up the baton in the coming year.
ERASMUS ALL’ ITALIANA by ALEXANDRA THOMPSON
Everyone says that your Erasmus year is the best year of your life..
But they also say 1st year of Uni is supposed to be amazing. Unfortunately for me my 1st year at Trinity was not that great, but I worked hard and got my Erasmus to Bologna in Italy. I knew no one before going over, not even the other girls from Trinity and I was so nervous I wouldn’t like it or fit in or make friends or understand things in class and find a place to live etc. I ended up finding a place to live on a week-end trip over to Italy with my Dad. Mid-September I hopped on a plane, landed a little while later and couldn’t do anything else but smile, so exicted at the idea of getting to start over, be who I want to be, and starting a life there.
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VOICES My flat mate, who turned out to be dead crazy in the end, took me out for ice-cream, kinder bueno flavoured and it was amazing!! My 3rd day I got on a train and went to Venice for the day. One day on the way home in my first week (still not knowing anyone in the country) I saw there was a park in front of my house (literally directly in front) so decided to pop in and have a nosy around.
Then there was that time when I was really ill with back pains and had be prescribed enough medicine to sedate a horse.
I walked in and saw a rugby pitch, then a car with Rugby Bologna Lions drove in.
All I had to do was send a text saying: “I’m drugged” to this Italian guy, and within 20 minutes he got to my house, took one look at me and said, “let’s go to the hospital”. He stayed with me over 3 hours in the waiting room till 2am. In the morning I get a text from a friend saying, “where are you?”. I answer saying “in Hospital”.
I attempted in my basic Italian to ask if there was a women’s team but instead I was told to come back in half an hour and coach kids and get paid for it.
In 10 minutes there were two of my clostest friends from the rugby team with chocolate and hugs and kisses.
I went back and coached the kids, got introduced to another girl, who after training, told me to go home get my rugby stuff and come with her. I went with her, and she took me to my first training with Le Fenici of Bologna. She basically introduced me to my family. Over 30 girls took me under their wing, taught me Italian, corrected me constantly, took the piss out of me for my accent, and took me out for dinner and looked after me. I met the kindest, most wonderful people ever. Getting to know people in classes was a lot harder, doing my best to stay away from the other Erasmus people determined to make the most out of my Italian Experience. But that didn’t stop me going to the Irish pub and meeting a handsome Italian man, a real Italian Stalion.
They looked after me, took me home, ordered pizza, forced me to eat it, put me to bed and stayed the whole day over 6 hours, every half an hour coming into my room checking I was ok. That is what I call friendship.
A guy who without word of English. Who says hello when he actually means to say goodbye as the Italian ciao can be used in both situations. Not once did I feel alone! Not even when I was sick.
I fell in love with Bologna and the Italian life. I learnt how to cook Italian food, to dance without being drunk and to speak the language fluently. I now get mistaken for an Italian and then have to spend ages trying to get them to believe that I am Irish. I didn’t do an Erasmus I did a complete lifestyle change. I lived, learned and breathed the Italian life. You could say I was handed everything on a silver platter, from coaching rugby, to finding a team or should I say family, to having the southern Italian boyfriend, to speaking the language, to cooking the food, to travelling to over 10 cities to being asked to teach an English class. To being interpreter, English teacher and tutor on a rugby camp with the kids and the Leicester tigers. I had THE BEST year of my life with the best people I have ever met. Actually getting very emotional writing this, thinking of having to fly back to Dublin in a few days’ time.
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Alexandra Thompson is a Junior Sophister student of Italian and Spanish
"FAGEDDABOUTIT''
WHY YOU SHOUD LEAVE FEAR BEHIND WHEN TRAVELING IN THAILAND by BEN COLLOPY Anybody reading the title of this article is probably wondering how there could be a connection between southern Asia and Al Pacino. There isn’t one. It’s just how getting by in Thailand was explained to me by a Dutchman named Maarten, at half one in the morning, bouncing around in the back of a pick up.
“It’s like that movie with the scarface guy’’ he grins at me. I’m still adjusting to Thailand, having just come from Bangkok by means of a nine hour train journey. I expected a car but nah, it’s the back of a pickup. I explain my apprehension to Maarten so he delivers his theory. I laugh but the more time I spend in the country, the more I come round to his way of thinking. Fear needs to be forgotten because in Thailand you will sleep on night trains, confronted by a menagerie of creatures that would make H.P. Lovecraft wet himself, meet people that speak no english, and a plethora of other things that will make you panic. That being said it takes a while before it sinks in. In my case it took a beach, a ‘shark’ and an Australian, before I took it to heart. I spent a lot of time on beaches over the course of my trip. I love oceans and open water in general but this has an odd caveat for me: I’m terrified of what’s in the water with me. So during my first trip to a Thai beach, this lead me to ask a rake of questions of Dom, a Thai boxing student I met in the village I was staying in. There were two problems with this, firstly, if you’re afraid of something don’t go to a muay thai boxer for advice, they don’t really feel fear or comprehend anxiety. Secondly, this conversation took place as a group of us are walking towards the ocean.
It went like this: “ hey Dom?” “ yeah man?” “ what’s the story with sea creatures here?’’ ‘’ sea creatures?’’ ‘’ yeah like sharks and jellyfish’’ ‘’oh, sharks won’t bother you, too close to shore and just try not to swim into jellyfish....’’ then he dives right in, leaving me with my jaw in the sand. This fear is a source of constant embarrassment for me as a lifeguard. This is something my friend Connor (another lifeguard)is quick to point out . “are you not getting in?’’ ‘’ummm....’’ ‘’Fuck sake’’, at which point he shoves me head first into the water. Ok, so I didn’t forget about my fear so much as have it wrestled out of me, but the principle stands. Anyway after about five minutes I get out of my own head and start to relax. So Maarten’s advice pays off and continues to do so again and again. Back in the jungle, while taking a shower and a scorpion decides to join me, its all good. The night I forgot my torch and my friend casually shone her’s above my head to reveal the rather large black snake that was about to give me a neck massage, it was cool. (okay there may have been a whimper that time, but it was super manly). Each time something new cropped up I could quell the panic just by thinking it through and not dwelling. The thing I forgot is that fear is a good thing sometimes. Towards the end of the trip we head to an Island called Koh-Phayam, a great place that has maybe 240 inhabitants. So it’s pretty empty, apparently we’re not there during tourist season. There’s maybe three different bars left open on it. Once you get over the fact that the place is stunningly beautiful and looks like every beach postcard 17
VOICES and movie you’ve ever seen you’re left with the conundrum of what to do. The only way to get around the island is by mopeds, so when you’ve sped around the island at 80 kms an hour in 40 degree heat (it takes maybe 45 minutes) you naturally come around to the notion that swimming would be a pleasant way to while away the hours. Luckily there’s a lot of places to do that on an island. With this in mind a few of us make our way down to another stretch of deserted postcard beach. So once we’ve swum about a bit we start to compete, races, and that kind of thing. One such genius method of competition is suggested by Connor.
“I’ll race you out as far as we can go.’’ My mind, now in a thoroughly macho competitive mode, thinks this is the best idea its ever heard. So the two of us jump in and start to swim. We swim at top speed for about ten minutes and by the time we look back we’re a good seven hundred metres from the shore. We’ve gone over the shelf and there is nowhere left to stand. The pair of us tread water and Connor decides to make conversation: ‘’Jesus we’re a good bit out’’ ‘’Yeah man’’ ‘’Are there not supposed to be nets or something to stop this happening?’’ This is a fair point, there are. Two of them, the first one stops jellyfish coming all the way in, and the second one keeps the sharks out. The pair of us turn around to see the markers for the second net, it’s about two hundred metres back. Shit. It is swiftly decided that we should head back as quickly and yet as delicately as possible.
We make it to about 50 metres from the net and then we fucking see it.
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A big fuck off silhouette moving towards us under the water. There’s no confidence in my voice. ‘’Must be.’’ There’s not much in his either. Then a fin crests the water, ever so slightly, and we both find God at the exact same moment. The shape swims right up to us and then simply buggers off at top speed, we find it to be a wonderful idea do the exact same. The two of us make it to the beach gripping our sides and gasping. The level of conversation we can manage at this point is:
‘’Bar?’’ ‘’Bar.’’ We find one of the only open bars on the island and sit down, there is one other guy in it, who turns out to be Dave the Australian. Dave happens to comment that we seem to be a little shaken up. We explain. ‘’ So it came in past the net?’’, he has a smile on his face we can’t really figure out. ‘’..ummm not really.” ‘’Oh so you swam past the net?’’ ‘’Yeahh’.’ ‘’Well it’s not like it matters.’’ we both blink, feeling that it matters quite a bit. ‘’Probably just a leopard shark or a really big fish boys,” he says, “they don’t have any proper sharks round here.’’ His smile has become a giant grin at this point. Considering how dangerous a leopard shark sounds we questioned him a little further. This led to our discovering that Leopard Sharks, despite sounding truly scary, are utterly docile and curious creatures that do not attack humans. The large silhouette in my imagination seemed to shrink when confronted with this new information. ‘’Nah what you dodged there were jellyfish. That could have been nasty.’’ Ok so it wasn’t sharks, but jellyfish are scary and it proves my point. We let fear get the better of us and now we looked like twats. While you will encounter a bunch of scary creatures and experiences in Thailand and you will feel genuine fear, that is sometimes warranted, and you shouldn’t let it get in the way of your experiences there. Otherwise you may end up walking away from a bar having had your amazing Jaws story stood on by an amused Australian.
Ben Collopy is a Senior Sophister student of English Studies
TWERK LIBERATION?
by MOLLY-MAY O’LEARY I heard about Miley Cyrus’ VMA performance before watching it. I read headlines about her grinding against “father-of-one” Robin Thicke, Facebook commentary speculating as to the shame her dad must feel and saw photos comparing her bum to a chicken. Cyrus appeared to be expressing herself sexually and the world was condemning her for it. Same old story of fear and suppression of female sexuality, right? Yes, but upon watching the video I realized there was more to it than that. There is no doubt that the backlash Cyrus received was sexist. Some commentators have defended her, saying that she was entitled to express herself sexually in whatever way she wished. Although I support Cyrus being sexual I would like to ask, firstly whether her performance should be viewed as genuine sexual expression and and secondly, ought it be labelled as feminist?
Thicke’s line “just let me liberate ya” was grimly relevant to Cyrus’ performance. It was hard to believe Cyrus was liberated and genuinely expressing herself sexually when she was doing so in exactly the way the music industry would like her to, through self-objectification. It is possible, however, that genuine sexual expression is an unrealistic standard to set in this context. It is probable that Cyrus’ choices are governed by managers above her. Even if this is not the case, Cyrus did not start from a position of strength, having to counteract the years of Hannah Montana. Furthermore, being a female performer, there was more at stake, as how she presents herself sexually is inherent to her identity as a performer. In addition, as she has been immersed in the pop world throughout her life, it might have been difficult for her to overcome its expectations, to see past the sexual personas of good-girl and bad-girl it presents. 19
GEEK OUT So, in light of these factors, genuine sexual expression is perhaps elusive. We would do better to simply ask if Cyrus freely chose to present herself the way that she did. There does not seem to be any reason to think that she did not, indeed, it is probable that she found her choice empowering. As Emily Heist Moss explains in her open letter to Cyrus, presenting her body in the way she did was a means of reclaiming power and using her sexuality to her advantage. However, assuming this choice was freely made and empowering for her personally, would this be enough to make it feminist? Making any sort of judgement on how a woman presents herself sexually is dangerous, as it creates a moral code which limits sexual freedom. However, does that mean that all free female sexual expression is feminist?
Some commentators do not think so and have criticized Cyrus’ performance, but this in turn has led them to be accused of slut-shaming. I think that Cyrus’ choice to wear hardly any clothes and grind against Robin Thicke as he sang about the blurred lines between consent and rape further normalized and contributed to the objectification of women and sexism in the music industry, and for that reason cannot be described as feminist. So as feminists, we ought not to let our fear of patronizing female artists prevent us from examining the real freedom of their decisions, particularly the fairness of the context in which they were made. Equally we should be careful that our support for female sexual expression does not make us assume all forms of it are positive as doing amounts to an over-simplification of the reality and can allow injustices to go unchallenged.
Molly-May O’Leary is a Junior Freshman student of Philosophy
GEEKING OUT A GUILTY PLEASURE IN A MAINSTREAM SUB-CULTURE
by MATTHEW CORBALLY Admit it. No matter how cool you are, no matter what interests and hobbies you have, at some point at your life you have ‘geeked out’ at something. Whether it was over a particularly great bit of special effects in a videogame or a film (the suit assembly in Iron Man comes to mind), a really interesting scientific discovery or innovation (such as FUNCTIONING CYBER LIMBS!), or even seeing a reference to your favourite bit of nerd trivia in an ostensibly mainstream media product, we’ve all experienced a moment of ‘guilty pleasure’ over something commonly seen as geeky and/or nerdy. Even though you are expected to restrict your passionate interest to traditional hobbies (e.g. sports, fashion, popular music and ‘reality’ TV), you’ve always had an interest in one of the following; video games, sci-fi and fantasy literature, roleplaying games, cosplay,
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comic books, anime, science, Star Trek, Lord of the Rings and Star Wars. You may have gotten a fair bit of slagging over it from your peers during your teenage years, and maybe even a bit of disdainful sneering from teachers and lecturers for not engaging enough with ‘highbrow’ art, but do not fear. Here, in MISC’s new Geek Out section, we love to indulge in this particular guilty pleasure. It is impossible, or at least ill-advised, to have a section on geeking out without mentioning geek culture and how much it has changed over the past two decades. It is even more important to mention that over the last few years, geek culture and interests have become increasingly visible and popular in mainstream society, to the point where ‘geek chic’ has now been included in the Oxford Online Dictionary. One can even argue that geek culture has undergone a complete metamorphosis, going from a fringe sub-culture for social rejects to one of the most dominant and powerful groups in modern culture. Hollywood in particular has realised how much money there is in appealing to geek interests and nostalgia, and so much of their marketing and film output has been aimed at nerds. You only have to look at the media buzz surrounding comic book and sci-fi films like The Dark Knight, The Avengers and Pacific Rim, as well as their commercial successes to see how big a deal geek movies are today. Furthermore, while Hollywood used to rush their films into international movie festivals like Cannes and Sundance to generate critical buzz, nowadays they scramble to get a presence at big geek conventions. Conventions themselves have become in creasingly important and popular in mainstream culture, with the larger cons having an incredibly huge corporate and media presence on par with sports championships. Cos-playing (costume play) in particular has become an incredibly popular passtime, with many attending conventions just to dress up and act as their favourite characters. Videogames have also gained in popularity, with some videogame launches resembling blockbuster movie releases (Bungie was even accused of attempting to influence the US presidential elections by releasing Halo 4 on voting day), and now nearly every family in Ireland has some form of game on some sort of platform, from Angry Birds on an iPhone to Super Smash Brothers Brawl on a Wii. It can thus be safely argued that, for the most part, geeks and nerds are the new cultural norm. Is it still possible for geeking out to be considering a guilty pleasure, in the face of this cultural transformation? I’d argue yes, as despite this progress, there is still a certain degree of disdain for the level of passion and obsession that geeks are known for. Furthermore, not every aspect of nerd culture has enjoyed this mainstream acceptance. Enthusiasts of tabletop games like Warhammer 40000 and Dungeons and Dragons are still looked down upon, even by other nerds, for being ‘too nerdy’.
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GEEK OUT I remember my brother, a dedicated PC gamer, telling me he’d disown me if I ever stepped into Games Workshop. Live action role-players (or LARPers) are also subjected to a large amount of derision and mockery from other more ‘casual’ geeks. And I believe I don’t need to say anything about aficionados of fan fiction. Thus, it is fair to say that, for all that geek culture has become mainstream,
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the act of geeking out can be considered a guilty pleasure for various reasons. But what would life be without its guilty pleasures? Here, in this section, we aim to indulge in that guilty pleasure as much as possible. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do. Matthew Corbally is a postgraduate student in M.Phil Popular Literature
WHAT THE DRAGON HAPPENED IN SEASON 3? by JAMES O’CONNOR Games of Thrones season three has come and gone and I’m here to give you a re-cap of what happened in the show that gives us more tits than the Dail and Seanad combined; so let’s get down to it! Episode one: Sam, the over-filled pastry bag with a pubic hair beard, survives the attack of the albinos and returns to the wall to warn the seven kingdoms that the really white people from up North are coming down South for a tan. Jon Snow is a ride. Daenerys, the ride, seeks to buy a load of ball-less black men and is saved from a crazed child with an insect that made me soil myself. Highlight: Daenerys once again worked that blue dress like the go-getting beast she is. You go gurrrllll! Episode two: Jaime and she-Hulk walk some places and have a “sword” fight on a bridge and are captured. Arya, a tubby boy and the guy from Skins get caught by some fugly rebels. Theon is tied to a cross and is tortured, presumably for all the war crimes he’s committed against beauty with his manky face. Bran, Hordor and the fugly wildling who’s name I can’t remember, come across the kid from “Love Actually” and talk about magic n’ shtuff. Highlight: Theon getting tortured, cuz he’s ugly and I hate him for assaulting my eyes. Episode three: Robb, the ride of the North, and Catelyn attend her dad’s funeral. Tyrion is made Master of Coin a.k.a. professional handbag holder.
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One of the Wildlings (they all look the same) sends John Snow to the wall. Sam watches an inbred child being popped out by Cassie from Skins (remember we’re still North of the wall, not Alabama). Daenerys agrees to buy the ball-less black men. Jamie gets his “sword” hand cut off. Highlight: The look on Sam’s face, like someone who’s just got wedgied, when he saw that the baby had a willy. Episode four: The ball-less walking egg, Varys, tells Tyrion how he lost the family jewels. The Night’s Watch go all Mean Girls at Crastor’s house and scratch each other’s eyes out while Sam and Cassie from Skins waddle away. Theon, who thinks he’s escaped, nearly becomes a pillow-biter and is brought back to the castle for torture and so the rest of Westeros doesn’t have to see his fugly face. Daenerys frees the ball-less slaves and overcooks their old master: she’s no Nigella. Highlight: Daenerys being a blonde, ride-able, Abraham Lincoln.
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GEEK OUT Episode five: The guy who can make you crap yourself with a stare, Tywin Lannister, forces Tyrion to marry Sansa (she’s fourteen, no big deal) and Cersei to marry Loras Tyrell who’s like a Game of Thrones version of George Michael. Robb chops off the head of one of his bannerman, Karstark, for killing two Lannister children (Robb could give me his sword any day). Arya watches as the Hound kills one of the fugly rebels only for him to do a Jesus and come back to life. John Snow has sex with the Wildling who looks like that chavy ginger one from Eastenders. Highlight: Wildling sex Episode six: Tyrion tells Sansa that she can’t be with the Westeros George Michael and must marry him instead (told in a Careless Whisper). Littlefinger catches ball-less egg’s informant and gives her to Jeoffrey who sticks a load of arrows in her (that child needs the wooden spoon). Robb tries to form an alliance with Filch from Harry Potter, Walder Frey, by marrying off one of his generals, Edmure, to one of Frey’s fugly daughters. Roose Bolton sends Jaime to King’s Landing but keeps she-Hulk at the castle. Highlight: When Sansa talks to George Michael about getting married and children, and he looks as though somebody has just shat in his lap. Episode seven: Theon gets little Theon chopped off. Talisa tells Robb that she’s now his baby mama. Arya runs away from the fugly rebels and is caught by the even fuglier Hound. Tyrion’s Hoe says that she won’t ride him when he marries the Stark with the personality of a cardboard box, Sansa. Tywin tells Jeoffrey to stop being an annoying arse. Jaime goes back to rescue she-Hulk from a bear. Highlight: Robb’s abs, ‘nuff said. Episode eight: Tyrion gets married to Sansa and threatens Jeoffrey at the reception (that child needs a serious going over with the wooden spoon, I get so angry when I see him that my face turns the colour of an aubergine). The red witch rides the guy from Skins with bad facial hair, and then puts leeches on him because she’s touched in the head.
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Daenerys gets a mercenary who looks like something out of a bad 80s music video to fight for her and take over Yunkai. Pubic beard Sam kills an angry albino thing and runs away. Highlight: Daenerys’ side boob. Episode nine: Right, big one here so we’ll go over the small rubbish first. Jon Snow betrays Patsy Palmer a.k.a. Wilding chav girl. Bran goes further into angry albino land. Daenerys’ boy toys infiltrate Yunkai. Now it all kicks off. Robb and his army go to Walder Frey’s castle for the wedding and for Robb to apologize. What happens next can only be described thus:
OHHH MY GOD, NO! NO GOD! NOOO, TAP DANCING JESUS CHRIST, NO!!! Robb, Catelyn, Talisa, everyone, they are all murdered by Walder Frey and Roose Bolton.
Highlight: I’m still too distraught for a highlight. Episode ten: Arya sees the corpse of her brother (no jokes can be made about this). Jaime arrives in King’s Landing and visits his sister for a bit of twin-cest. Jon is shot full of arrows by red headed Wildling chav. Daenerys frees the slaves and lives up to her rideable Abe Lincoln status. Highlight: Jaime looking like your man from Scary Movie 2. In conclusion, as my uncle used to say to me after playing a spirited game of “Don’t Tell Your Parents”: “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.” Now we just have to wait until Spring 2014 for the next series. . . Kill me now.
James O’ Connor is a Senior Sophister student of English Studies
POKEMON X AND Y: WHAT TO EXPECT by DAVID FLANAGAN The Pokémon series, since its origin in 1996 at the hands of creator Satoshi Tajiri, has achieved major success and popularity in the gaming scene, becoming the second biggest video game franchise in the world (second only to the Mario franchise). We all remember getting our first Pokémon game and experiencing an intense amount of joy and competition as we sought to ‘catch them all’, whether your first game was Red and/or Blue, or the more recent Black/2 and White/2. Either way, we all hold a deep love for this game at the core of our being. We must, as long term Pokémon fans, ask why we love it so much? Why do we keep playing these games? For some, it is to compete and prove they are indeed a Pokémon Master. Others love the challenge of the game, trying to defeat the infamous Red at Mt. Silver without losing a single Pokémon. And there are many more reasons for this affection. But why play X and Y? Surely there can’t be any new content other than a handful of new Pokémon, another map, and a Professor named after a tree? Once again Tajiri’s creation continues to amaze us with new features for the series. Here are some that I believe will stand out for the returning fans. 1) Mega Evolutions Mega Evolutions give your Pokémon the ability to evolve mid battle, without actually using up your turn. Doing this allow them to change their appearance, their natural abilities, their stats, and in some cases their type. In order to activate a Mega Evolution, you must first find a Mega Ring, a Key Stone and a Mega Stone which corresponds to the Pokémon. For example, if you have a Blaziken holding a Blazikenite, then mid battle, you will be given the option to Mega Evolve and then attack. For the duration of the battle, it will stay in its Mega Form, but reverts afterwards. I believe this will completely change the dynamics for competitive battles, such as online tournaments requiring new certain rules for their use, as well as in the singleplayer game! 2) Starter Choices One thing that every Pokémon game has in common is the choice of a Fire, Grass or Water starter Pokémon. For this game, Chespin (Grass), Froakie (Water) and Fennekin (Fire) are your choices. However, X and Y are doing things differently this time around. Instead of your starter given to you by the Professor, you shall receive it from one of your childhood friends.You may be thinking “So all I get from the Professor is a Pokédex?”
Well, you’re wrong there. Upon reaching Professor Sycamore, he will bestow upon you a choice of three starters; Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle, the old Gen 1 favourites will be joining you this time in the Kalos region. With upon levelling up to their final stages, they will each be able to Mega Evolve to help you on your journey. 3) Complete 3D Game play For the first time ever on a hand held console, 3D Pokémon game play is coming your way. Your Pokémon is no longer just a small animated sprite with little movement. It now acts and reacts accordingly to what happens. For example, in a battle between Mewtwo and Dragonite, Mewtwo might use its signature move Psystrike. This creates a lot of crystal-like orbs around Dragonite, which fly into Dragonite all at once. However Dragonite now reacts to the pain of the attack, rather than flashing multiple times as was done previously. Each Pokémon has its own set of animations for reactions and for different moves. Also new to the battle system is the brilliantly executed ‘Sky Battles’. Pokémon who are able fly or levitate can engage in this fight mode, allowing us to see how two flying Pokémon do battle in the air with the background detail corresponding to your location. It should be also interesting to see how certain moves, such as Surf and Waterfall, can be performed whilst flying. For those of you who have always wanted more interaction with their favourite Pokémon, the brand new feature Pokémon Amie is just for them. This Nintendogs-style mini-game allows you to play with your Pokémon, feed it Poképuffs and even petting them to increase their happiness. These fun activities can also be hugely beneficial for battles as it can increase your Pokémon’s Evasion and Critical Hit Ratios before combat even begins. While these are certainly not the only things to look out for in Pokémon X and Y, I do hope they will grab your attention, as this is not a game to be missed out on this year.
David Flanagan is a Senior Freshman student of Computer Science 25
GEEK OUT
INSTRUMENTS OF MORTAL BORE? REVIEWING THE NEWEST TEEN FANCY by EVA SHORT The art of book adaptation is a tricky one, a process that is never easy and seldom entirely successful. Through the transition of a given work from page to screen things get lost along the way, replaced, or even changed. Cassandra Clare’s “The Mortal Instruments” series is the latest fantasy franchise to be brought to cinemas, with a total of six films on the cards.
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So how exactly does the first movie instalment, The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, fare? To be frank, not particularly well. City of Bones is a story featuring fantasy tropes that will ring familiar with even the most casual of fans; angels and demons, werewolves and vampires, even other dimensions. No zombies though, as apparently they don’t exist. If this all sounds like a mishmash of every bit of fantasy lore in existence, that’s because it is.
A variety of creatures appear but are never explored enough to make their addition seem anything more than cursory. Our protagonist, Clary (played by Lily Collins), is a young teenage girl who one day discovers that she is not a human but is a Shadow Hunter, a race of angel/human hybrids whose main purpose is to protect the world in the unrelenting, unending fight against evil.
All that we know is that he has been blocking Clary’s memories since she was young, that he’s somehow fabulously wealthy, and that he thinks that Shadow Hunter Alex is “hot”. Speaking of Alex, he too is hastily thrust into the plot - Clary’s accusation that he is in love with fellow hunter Jace sounds ridiculous when we consider that the two male characters only share about five minutes of screen time.
Evil in this case is personified by Shadow Hunter-gone-rogue Valentine (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), who is determined to find the ancient holy relic called ‘The Mortal Cup’ so that he may propagate the Shadow Hunter race.
Rhys Meyers’ Valentine eventually enters the fold, and his attempted intensity is unintentionally hilarious.
And Clary, but of course, is the only one who can possibly help the Shadow Hunters. Her mother, having hidden the cup years ago, implanted the location into the furthest reaches of Clary’s memory. Before Clary can even process this new information, drama quickly whizzes her away, between her mother going missing and ‘mundane’ (human) friend Simon Robert Sheehan) being drugged and captured by vampires. She has no choice but to follow leather clad Shadow Hunter and love interest Jace (Jamie Campbell Bower) and try to unlock the “treasure map in her mind”. Everything about this film is rushed it seems that between book and screen many details had to be cut out, making revelations sound hollow. Characters go unexplored but yet we are meant to both accept their presence and to become invested in them.First we have Hodge, the agoraphobic Shadow Hunter and bookworm. We learn very little about him other than some expository lines thrown in and spoken by other characters. Despite this, audiences are somehow meant to be shocked when he goes on to play a role in the story’s twist. Then there’s Magnus Bane, a powerful warlock who is meant to play a pretty major role in the novels and yet only appears on screen twice; he’s only wearing pants on one of these occasions. Nobody bothers to explain that.
He shoots off about “cleansing” the Shadow Hunter race (because that’s what we all need, yet another allegory for racism in fantasy), and his performance falls short of how formidable and threatening he is built up to be throughout City of Bones. The acting isn’t spectacular - the occasional subtle expression does add a nice touch of humour, but ultimately performances are underwhelming and even disappointing. Robert Sheehan’s Simon is unimpressive and his American accent is patchy. He only manages to thinly veil his brogue, and even at times lets it come out clearly. While it is hard to find specific criticisms other than this, there is nothing praiseworthy either. Overall, The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones fails to excite despite having plenty of high stakes action. City of Bones casts a wide net, but never catches our attention. It is bland, hasty and very forgettable. While it does leave the impression that the story itself is interesting, the poor handling of the source material only serves to exacerbate the disappointment. My advice is to dodge this, and dodge the subsequent five films. If you’re inclined to satisfy your curiosity about alt-goth half angels, pick up a copy of the book and save the two hours of your lives that I unfortunately lost.
Eva Short is a Senior Freshman student of English Studies 27
GEEK OUT
EXISTENTIALISM IN INTERVIEW WITH A VAMPIRE by KATIE CLOVER Anne Rice’s Interview with a Vampire, ever since its publication in 1978, has been a novel which has enthralled and beguiled all those who swing towards the gothic. Indeed, it has encouraged in no small part the proliferation of such works as Twilight and The Vampire Diaries. However, the difference between Rice’s ‘Vampire Chronicles’ and the trite offerings filling today’s Young Adult fiction aisles lies in the way in which Rice explores the exquisite horror and the mental implications of immortality. The idea of immortality, from an existentialist perspective, offers a unique window into human actions and reactions when divorced (to a certain extent at least), from the societal norms of the day. It must be stated that ‘existentialism’ as we think of it today is not a cohesive philosophy,
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but more of a set of ideas thrown together from numerous nineteenth and twentieth century thinkers, many of whom would never have described themselves as existentialist. The foremost common thread in these ideas is that existence precedes essence. This notion, that one’s personal consciousness comes before the ‘essence’ defined by class, social status or cultural mores, is particularly interesting when applied to this universe, as the relevance of appearance is both paramount and inconsequential in equal measure. For the vampires Louis and Lestat, and indeed many of the other characters they encounter throughout the course of the novel, the longevity of their lives means that they become detached from what we would term normal human existence, forgoing what an existentialist might describe as the essence of human daily life.
However, one would certainly be justified in arguing that the vampires (Louis in particular) have been merely offered a new essence, a vampiric essence. Indeed, when Louis first becomes a vampire, the pressure to act in the same way in which Lestat does almost overwhelms him. Louis chooses to feed from animals for a long time, only giving in to Lestat’s protestations that he ought to feed on humans after a number of years living with him. It is difficult to tell here where ‘essence’ ends and ‘existence’ begins. Lestat, for example, seems to act purely from instinct. He is impetuous, the sort of character who could (albeit rather glibly) be described as a ‘force of nature’. It is difficult to see Lestat as a product of his surroundings. His extreme age, coupled with his childish sense of mischief, give him a certain timelessness which existentialists would argue is the ultimate goal. The same cannot be said, however, of Louis. His refusal to give in to his vampiric urges leaves him unsure of who or indeed what he is. His retention of the vestiges of his humanity leads Louis into soul-crushing remorse when he acts according to his newfound vampire instincts. The phrase ‘existential crisis’, clichéd as it has become through overuse in sitcoms and Philip Roth critiques, almost perfectly describes the progression of Louis’ emotions throughout the novel. Louis’ search for meaning eventually leads to his feeding on a very young orphan girl, Claudia. Lestat, in an effort to retain a link with Louis, and to force his companion into staying with him, then proceeds to ‘turn’ Claudia, making what we would perhaps consider a monstrosity; a child who can never age and never die. Claudia forms deep bonds with her creators, but as she grows more mentally adept the Kafka-esque horror from which she cannot escape becomes more and more apparent. It is true that the other vampires in the novel are equally ageless, but Claudia’s tragedy is that circumstance has forced her to remain a child, despite having a developed and adult mind. A central existentialist idea is that
one should live ‘authentically’, i.e. that one should not deny one’s inner self in favour of acting as one should. Claudia is prohibited from doing so by her very body. Every day, and especially in the company of humans, she is obliged to act in a way which directly contradicts what she thinks and feels. It is also true, however, that Claudia and Louis encounter vampires who have no feelings, and who merely act as ‘monsters’. The question of essence seems irrelevant in these cases, as these vampires exist merely for one purpose: to feed. There is no anguish or wrangling among these vampires, as they seem to have no consciousness. The existentialist notion of the absurd is also very much in evidence in this novel. Louis’ aim in chronicling his life is to show the horror of his existence, but all the reporter can see is the allure of immortality. Ultimately, it seems, Louis’ every effort has come to naught. The parallel worlds he inhabits, both human and vampire, will continue to function as ever they have done, he cannot stop the inexorable march of absurdity.
Katie Colver is a Senior Freshman student of English and Spanish TSM 29
AUNT FIRECROTCH
AGONIES
UNRUSTLE YOUR TROUBLES with Aunt Firecrotch
“Stop your mobid fancies, take up yoga,
”
and never kiss a man in a canoe
Your lover no longer makes you cabbage pie for breakfast? You said the wrong thing to Interpol? You shouldn’t have bought that studded thong? Wearing it in the gym was a mistake? There are times in life when such questions haunt us, follow us, even torture us… untill we can no longer eat, sleep or perform in our one-night-stands. Auntfirecrotch understands. She always does. She’s done it all after all, and as an experienced ‘Conesseur Of Lyfe’, she is willing listen and share her marbles of wisdom with you. 30
Q: Appreciating the hot bod of one the invigilators here. I eagerly wait for the next exam season. Failing second year is but a small price to pay for love. But how does a poor philosophy student over-come age difference? #sageoftheages FIRECROTCH: He who dares wins, my friend. . . that was Delcartes right? Hmm. Anyway, nobody gave a shit about age difference, look at Plato and Woody Allen, they didn’t care, they sure loved the young ones: who’s to say your invigilator is any different? You go for it, I bet that invigilator’s a one fiesty Schopenhauer just waiting for a bit of Foucault-ing. Q: Hi. Second year Hamilton Student speaking. Ussher 4 girl is breaking my heart, with her long, endless legs and those big brown eyes. She’s always reading the Irish Times on her little netbook thing, and I just want to say:
hey mamma, come over here and I’ll show ya the Good Times.
But as it goes, I never said any of that, not even ‘hi’, and now exams are well over she’s nowhere to be seen. How do I find her without looking like a creep? #HamiltonCreeper FIRECROTCH: Dear HamiltonCreeper, Aunt Firecrotch knows those feels, she really does. Many’s a time I’ve developed longing for some fine piece of booty: thinking of them all the time, looking at them wantingly across the room, covertly cutting off pieces of their hair as they lie sleeping. I recommend investing a small GPS tracker which can installed on the tip of an umbrella and be embedded under the skin upon contact so that if you see that long legged beauty again, you can just stab her with it and then you’ll know where she is at all times. Failing that, I can help you find her initially, but don’t bother contacting me, I already know where you are.
Q: So I met this hot stuff French boy on Erasmus last year. What a ride. And I think he liked me alright, as he told me many times, but then again you never know with these Frenchmen. You know what I mean? Anyway, I wouldn’t mind keeping up the banter at the very least. Maybe then get him to visit and make me some French Toast. Any thoughts? #froglover FIRECROTCH: Now here’s something for Aunt Firecrotch to get her teeth into. I’ve been to France many times and let me tell you, I’ve ridden a lot more than bikes when I did the Tour de France, so I know what gets them snails crawling. We all know that French people like two things: themselves and cheese. So lure that frog over here with the promise of tonnes of Camembert and when he does arrive make sure to gobble on that baguette and stick a mirror on your face so he can look at himself while delves into the Loire Valley.
So submit your latest agony to Aunt Firecrotch @ tcdmiscellany@gmail.com. And please, pick a pseudonym, nobody wants to know it was you. 31
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