OPENWIDE v.18.5

THE FIMS’ A LTERNATIVE ST UDE NT PUBLICATI ON

OPENWIDEZINE.COM

VOLUME 18, ISSUE 5

5

WHEN MACHINES KILL

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LONDON FREE PRESS AND PEDIGA

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GROWTH

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FIMS-SHMIMS: COOL NON-FIMS ELECTIVES TO TAKE IF YOU’RE GETTING BORED OF ALL THE NIHILISM

It is really, really, complicated when a driverless car takes a life Predictably, The London Free Press is Racist Planting an idea

The academic calendar you truly deserve

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SO, WHAT’S YOUR REAL NAME?

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BREAKING THE GLASS WALL

The glass box of mental health in the UCC basement

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PUNK TALK: WHAT HAPPENED TO ONE OF MUSIC’S MOST INFAMOUS GENRES?

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THE POST: A BRIEFLY EMPOWERING FILM

My disappointment with the feminist branded film

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LITERARY WITCHES: A CELEBRATION OF MAGICAL WOMEN WRITERS

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STICKER DESIGNS

20 22 23

On the obvious decision to call people what they want to be called

Does it need to be saved?

A combo of my two favourite things: women and witches Get your laptop cases ready...

FOOD REVIEW

Find out what campus food you’re most compatible with

LAUNCH PARTY

In case you missed our launch party, here’s a recap

COMIC

Shoutout to the grads of 2018!

table of

contents

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EDITOR IN CHIEF

VERONICA CHEUNG MANAGING EDITOR

Dear readers,

We’ve made so much progress this year. In terms of Openwide, we created a full-colour issue for the very first time, had a successful launch party, and made laptop stickers (attached to the cover of this issue!!) I’m so proud of my team and our contributors for taking the time and effort to put little pieces of their lives into these pages.

KIA ANDERSEN

Thank you to Veronica who helps with organization, graphics, and deals with my frantic messages at 2:00am saying “HEY WE SHOULD DO THIS FOR THE NEXT ISSUE!!”

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

Thank you to my wonderful graphics team who get (super) last minute edits but still design everything with grace and talent – you make dreams come true. Thank you to the section editors who meticulously read through thousands of words each month and pick the best ones to publish. Thank you to the promo team for telling everyone how awesome we are Thank you Tala for giving us an existence on the World Wide Web. Thanks to FIMSSC for showing me everything that happens behind the scenes, and for constantly supporting our faculty initiatives!

Thank you to members of the FIMS administration for helping our ideas come to life. Finally, thank you to YOU, the reader, for supporting our magazine and listening to what we have to say!

ALEX PRONG

‘‘

s

EDITOR’S NOTE

KSENIA KOLODKA

As the school year comes to an end, we are left with somnolent memories that can only be immortalized through artistic expression. Openwide exists to let you immortalize your opinions and designs and ramblings, and enlighten fellow readers at the same time. I’m excited to see the direction Openwide takes in the future, I hope that even more progress is made, and I’m glad to have been part of this legacy.

Have a bright and peaceful summer!

Love, Ksenia

LIKE US // facebook.com/OPENWIDEzine FOLLOW US // twitter.com/openwidezine WRITE FOR US // writers.openwide@gmail.com Disclaimer: The sole responsibility of this publication lies with its authors.

Contents do not reflect the opinions of the University Students’ Council of Western University (“USC”). The USC assumes no responsibility or liability for any error, inaccuracy, omission, or comment contained in this publication or for any use that may be made of such information by the reader.

WORLD EDITOR

BRIENNA FRENCH

WESTERN LIFE EDITOR ANMOL CHANDLA, ALEXANDRA BURZA & JILL DING GRAPHICS

HANNAH ALBERGA CREATIVE EDITOR MELISSA HOFFMAN, SARA MURPHY & BRIELLE GOULART PROMOTIONS

TALA AL-RAMAHI WEB EDITOR

JEYASRI PAKEERATHAN PHOTOGRAPHY

Letter to The Editor

Let’s have a conversation. See something in this issue you want to respond to?

E-mail your thoughts, musings, comments, concerns to openwide@gmail.com and we’ll either publish them on our site [openwidezine.com] or in our next issue.

Dear Openwide, One day, being in the FIMS building for my class, I accidentally passed by a pile of your journals. It caught my attention, and I decided to read the latest issue. One article, “A story of colonial complicity”, was especially surprising, and I would like just to share my humble opinion.

Indeed, it is true that for many Indigenous people arrival of European settlers was a tragedy, and I have learned that terrible cruelties were applied on them. Definitely, there were many mistakes that worth condemnation; however, it is strange to consider the creation and the very existence of the state of Canada as something sinful. Without foreign interference, would it be possible to create magnificent cities, railroads, technological industries, healthcare system, education, economical institutions in all its complexity and up to the highest standard, and so on, and so forth? With all due respect to the First Nations, I cannot imagine that. I am quite sure that contemporary Indigenous people would not like to have the same quality of life as existed in pre-colonization era.

As a recent immigrant from ex-USSR, I consider the opportunity to live here as the greatest luck of my life. Both Canada and the United States are truly amazing countries, which remain a dream destination for immigrants from all over the world, and provide everyone with an opportunity to realize their full potential as well as to earn for decent living and to be free. But, even though Ariana despises capitalism, it would be hardly possible to create something so fabulous without it. If we speak about solid social security, then it already exists in Canada and European countries, and I support it, but it is still based on market economy. It is simply infeasible to share everything strictly equally between all people on Earth.

So, what exactly does the author want to dismantle? The system which has always been a backbone of the Western countries, and has ensured its freedom and prosperity? I do not have any illusions about the opposite, because it is command economy. This type of government once led Russia and many other countries to severe dictatorship and misery, and its legacy formed a dream of my life – to leave the country where I was born. That is why I failed to understand.

If I were Ariana, instead of regretting about colonization and being redundantly left, I would rather be proud of her parents and previous generations of immigrants who came to this land in search of freedom and transformed it into one of the best places on Earth to live. And, no matter where our ancestors came from, we all are equal citizens in this New World, we all belong, and should strive for prosperity of our families, society, and the country in general, while helping each other. For, after all, “we are explorers, risk takers, and dreamers, fighting the odds in a land of extremes. Across a vast continent, we built a nation, truly strong and free.” (“The Story of Us”, CBC) Thank you for taking the time to read this, even though I am not at all an expert in these matters, and it is just my point of view as a newcomer.

Yours sincerely, Max Faculty of Engineering

WHEN MACHINES KILL On March 19th 2018 a driverless car killed a pedestrian.

49 year old Elaine Herzberg was walking her bike across the road around 10 pm at night when a driverless car owned by Uber struck her in Tempe, Arizona.

This is the first time that a self-driving car has killed a pedestrian.

It is in tragic moments like this when rupture occurs.

Rupture is a concept created by French Cultural Theorist Paul Virilio, which describes the creation of a technological disaster as being central to the process of new invention. He is famously quoted as describing it by stating “When you invent the ship, you also invent the shipwreck.” With the invention, testing, and implementation of driverless cars we invent the driverless accident.

This tragedy leaves us struggling on how to proceed. It is an accident that somehow feels colder than if it were committed by another human being. It has taken away half of the human involvement in the car accident. Without a driver, there is only the victim’s family left grieving and personally impacted. It does not ripple through as many people, affecting less personally. This all makes it seemingly senseless.

Caution needs to be taken in the wake of this rupture. If the car was at fault, who would be charged? Would it be the coding team, the driver who was also behind the wheel as a precaution, or maybe a CEO? More realistically it would be the company who would be deemed responsible, despite being an entity that cannot go to jail. Uber could be fined as a penalty.

If a monetary settlement was reached because of this accident, it would set a dangerous precedent. It is dangerous to place technological “progress” as entitled or

RUP TURE

//KIA ANDERSEN

justified in taking human life it can afford to. Depending on the sum, risk management may not curb real world testing of new innovations if it remained financially and culturally viable.

Some articles have already shared police speculation that the accident would have been unavoidable by any driver.

Regardless of fault, it is still an important moral question.

As more driverless cars hit the roads, collision aversion will not be the only technological harm posed. Hacking is another.

As real life edges closer to becoming one big Black Mirror episode, driverless car manufacturers need to protect cars against hacking. In 2016 researchers at the University of South Carolina, China’s Zhejiang University, and the Chinese security firm Qihoo 360 successfully jammed sensors on a driverless Tesla S to make objects invisible to its navigation system. The potential for danger is massive.

All of the car manufacturers testing driverless cars say that they make cybersecurity a priority, however it is reasonable to assume that hacking is possible. If the tragic death of Elaine Herzberg has taught us anything it is that it is not a question of if, it is a question of when.

Ruptures will continue to arise in the seemingly impending era of the driverless car. Technology is not invincible or infallible. Often it is portrayed as justified that human life is discarded in pursuit of “progress.” This is romanticizing the technological reality that led to the Death of Elaine Herzberg. Romanticizing technological failure conceals the reality that although driverless cars seem to eliminate human error, they also create new types of even more potentially devastating errors.

PEGIDA Coverage In The

London Free Press Throughout 2017, the Canadian chapter of Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West (PEGIDA) held multiple rallies in London, Ontario, which were counter protested by various peacekeeping groups. These protests have received a great amount of coverage from local newspapers, including the widely circulated London Free Press (LFP) and Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). The privately owned LFP often takes a biased and sensationalist approach to the events it reports on, which includes these rallies and their counter protests. On the contrary, CBC is Canada’s nationally funded news outlet, and therefore has a duty to report non-sensationalist news in the best interest of Canadian citizens (Who We Are, What We Do). Publicly funded news corporations, such as the CBC, are an integral component in shifting movements into the mainstream consciousness. To demonstrate this, a comparative content analysis is performed on the sympathy towards PEGIDA in the LFP and CBC’s coverage of London’s PEGIDA and its counter protest movements.

Sympathy is measured through whether the news outlet focuses on the fact that PEGIDA does not want to be labelled as a racist or white supremacist group. This research concludes that the LFP is immensely more sympathetic to PEGIDA’s racism than the CBC, which is not in the interest of the public, and does not accurately portray the peacekeeping counter protests.

This research was conducted by performing a keyword search for ‘PEGIDA’ on both the LFP and the CBC’s websites, and analyzing all of the responses for sympathy, not including opinion editorials and letters to the editor.

The sole area of focus is online articles, which means that radio and video coverage were not consulted. These two

broadcasting networks were chosen because they have some of the widest distribution in London.

The international anti-islam group PEGIDA started as a German Facebook page in 2014. Within three months of the page’s creation, PEGIDA and its supporters started meeting weekly publically, with a rally of 18,000 members in the streets of Dresden, Germany. With such a substantial following, Prime Minister Angela Merkel acknowledged the movement, urging other Germans not to join. PEGIDA has many demands specific to Germany, including stricter immigration policy, a ban on refugees, deportation of all criminal immigrants, and regulating German as the only language to be spoken by citizens in their homes (Connolly). In 2017, three years after its inception, PEGIDA’s support base in Germany is weakening. Despite losing momentum in Germany, PEGIDA has garnered an international base, including one in London, where they host anti-islam rallies.

Within three months of the page’s creation, PEGIDA and its supporters started meeting weekly publically, with a rally of 18,000 members in the streets of Dresden, Germany.

These rallies are consistently met by counter protests held by multiple peacekeeping groups, including The Council of Canadians and People for Peace (Ghonaim, “Solidarity rally”). There are often two components to these counter

protests, to allow for participation from all people. For example, as well as meeting to directly counter PEGIDA’s rallies, often a ‘family friendly’ rally is held for people who cannot or do not want to attend, such as vulnerable people, children, and families. Combined, these protests have many more attendees compared to the PEGIDA rallies. At an August rally, PEGIDA had 30 supporters, and there were 500 combined counter protesters (Carruthers). These rallies take place either in Victoria Park or outside of City Hall, both being high traffic areas in downtown London. Mayor Matt Brown and city council, “passed a motion affirming that activities that promote hate would be banned in the city”, as these areas are city property (Margison). However, this has not stopped PEGIDA, and their affiliated groups, such as the ‘Three Percenters’, as they have since rallied without a permit (Margison). This is a popular topic among news networks in London, which have helped shaped the rhetoric around PEGIDA and its counter protests; unfortunately, some of this coverage has hindered activists v.18.5// in penetrating mainstream conscious, as seen with the LFP. An analysis of the LFP’s coverage of PEGIDA and counter protest movements highlights multiple concerning trends; 50% of the articles show sympathy towards PEGIDA by voicing the group’s concerns. To demonstrate sympathy, 7 out of 14 of the LFP’s articles on the rallies in London voice PEGIDA’s discontent with their labels of ‘racist’ and ‘white supremacist’. The LFP giving him a platform to conspire against Mayor Brown with no grounds only amplifies the voices of PEGIDA, and allows them to garner sympathy.

Creating a sympathetic angle for white supremacy makes it easier for people to normalize it, which is harmful to many members of society. The CBC’s coverage of PEGIDA and its counter protest movement is stark in contrast to the LFP’s; 0% of their articles demonstrate sympathy towards PEGIDA. All communities need a news outlet that prioritizes the public interest as paramount; as exemplified through the LFP, privately owned newspapers often demonstrate partisan interests. This content analysis highlights the importance of a news company that is mandated to report on behalf of the public’s best interest, such as the CBC. Using sensationalism when reporting topics as complex as

PEGIDA and its counter protests creates space for criticisms of the peaceful protestors, that activists need to work to deconstruct. The problems brought by sensationalism are amplified immensely when paired with the LFP’s sympathy

50% of the articles show sympathy towards PEGIDA by voicing the group’s concerns.

To demonstrate sympathy, 7 out of 14 of the LFP’s articles on the rallies in London voice PEGIDA’s discontent with their labels of ’racist’ and ’white supremacist towards PEGIDA being called racist and white supremacist.

Discussing racism without its label, in “abstract” terms, is a technique used by right-wing politicians in the United States to advance racist ideologies, as, “techniques which denigrate minority populations but do so obliquely enough to allow the speaker room for deniability if challenged” (Brown 317). This demonstrates the importance of antiracist and anti-white supremacist reporting, especially with topics within the scope of race-based issues and movements. The LFP’s creation of a sympathetic angle towards white supremacy only reinforces the structure of it, and works against the goals of the PEGIDA counter protesters. In London, the CBC’s coverage is necessary to introduce non-sympathetic discourse regarding PEGIDA, and non-sensationalized discourse with counter protests.

A news company that values the citizens it represents, such as the Canadian Broadcasting Company, is arguably necessary for social movements to penetrate mainstream

consciousness. It is difficult to change public perception of movements, and therefore it is important that unbiased discourse is created to allow the voices of activists to be heard fairly.

//BRIENNA FRENCH v.18.5// 7

// KSENIA KOLODKA

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So, What’s Your

Real Name?

It is the first class of video production, and the professor asks the class to go around and introduce ourselves.

“Hi, my name is Amy. I’m an international student from China.”

It takes the prof a few more seconds to locate this student on the attendance sheet.

“How do you say your real name?” she asks curiously.

The student pronounces her ‘real name’ slowly. Unsurprisingly, the prof gives a series of failed attempts to mimic that pronunciation.

Usually this is where people end the ‘foreign name pronunciation game,’ but not this lady.

“I like your real name better,” says the prof who cannot properly pronounce that name. “Why change it?”

The student does not have an answer for her, nor does that question demand one.

“What is it like to name yourself?

12//v.18.5

Guess I can be Savana.”

I don’t think it was the professor’s intention to offend or insult the student, but she did nonetheless.

It is not a professor’s or anyone’s right to choose their preferred way of addressing someone. And there is a reason why international students adopt English names instead of being called by their given names: most people cannot get the correct pronunciation and no one wants their name mispronounced all the time.

I cannot remember how many times I’ve heard people giggle when a foreign name is pronounced during attendance-taking; why would people be expected to stick to their given name just to be made fun of?

This is not about ‘conforming to White supremacy’ or ‘losing cultural identity.’ Adopting an English name in an English-speaking environment does not mean abandoning one’s given name. Judging international students for having English names contributes to a sense of exclusion, implying inauthenticity because of birthplace.

The name struggle does not only affect international students.

Canadians with culture-specific names also experience discomfort constantly.

“People try to say my name with the ‘proper’ Portuguese accent, and butcher it when when I specifically give them the pronunciation I like,” says Nara Monteiro, a third year Arts & Humanities student.

Sometimes it is insulting when people try to pronounce “exotic” names with pretend accents. My advice: don’t do it unless you know the language well and can say it right.

Afterall, a name is merely a term used to identify an individual. The name given by one’s family can have significant meaning and importance; the process of giving names varies from culture to culture. Often it involves ancestry, family memories, or in some cases, religious meaning.

However, it is common practice for people to change their names as they grow up and develop their own senses of personal identity. In these cases, the name given at birth is only the first of many one will bear throughout one’s life.

In the movie Lady Bird, protagonist Christine McPherson was challenged by the college professor for writing down “Lady Bird” as her name: “Lady Bird, is that your given name?”

“Yeah.”

“Why is it in quotes?”

“I gave it to myself, it’s given to me by me.”

It’s 2018, folks. Respect what people want to be called - it’s that easy.

//VICKY QIAO //Vicky Qiao

BREAKING THE GLASS WALL For the few of us who voted in this year’s USC election, this question will be familiar: “Would you like to see student mental health and wellness included as a high priority of Western’s Strategic Plan in perpetuity, potentially at the expense of the funding and support of other priorities?”

Receiving 6,136 votes (89.3% of voters), this plebiscite passed with overwhelming support.

Before I start, I’d like to acknowledge the hard working full-time staff and students who work and volunteer at the Wellness Education Centre. I think the resource can do good for students and I won’t use this op-ed to generalize a campus service. My hope is to start a discussion on how we handle mental health on this campus. Is it working, and if not, how can we do better?

The Wellness Education Centre (WEC) is located in the basement of the UCC. It’s defined as “your one stop shop for mental health and wellness resources at Western University.”

Is this really how Western is framing serious mental health issues? For me, language matters. I expect more from a multimillion-dollar school than the description of an individual’s mental health struggles in terms of a shopping experience.

As a person who suffered from serious mental illness in second year, I am sensitive to how Western is choosing to combat mental health and, more seriously, losing lives. For a year, I was one of countless students desperately clinging on to any service I could get, hoping that something could work. WEC was made for students to easily navigate resources on campus; however, it only ever made me feel more uncomfortable.

The physical attributes of the service don’t make sense to me. The WEC may as well be renamed “the glass house of people who need help.” The corner location, right beside the stairs and bookstore, makes the space feel like a display case. Ideally, I would like the stigmatization of mental illness to disappear; however, I think we can all agree that when we’re in crisis mode, we don’t want to tell everyone we know. When I was struggling, I

would walk past the room, knowing that I was their target audience, but I could never build up the courage to walk in and ask for help because anyone could see me. At the time, I would’ve been embarrassed if someone saw me waiting in there. There’s a reason why doctors’ and psychiatrists’ offices are set up the way that they are. Discretion is important.

Secondly, I’ve always been uncomfortable with students being at the front desk offering navigation. Although I’ve never been a personal friend of someone who has worked there, they are still my peers who could run in the same social circles as me. While I believe in student empowerment and am happy that students are willing to go through training for this role, I never wanted to out myself to a peer. I always thought to myself, “what if I saw them at a party next week?” or, “what if they told someone else my situation?” Although this fear came from my own insecurities, my discomfort is still relevant. We shouldn’t need to worry about social relationships when seeking medical attention or financial services; privacy and comfort are important, and utilizing the WEC should not be an exception.

The WEC is also put on a pedestal on campus tours. There are frequently bunches of parents and high school students being shown the “one stop shop.” The space is colourful, new, and flashy. As a university, have we looked at how this space is impacting current students, or is it just a positive talking point for attracting prospective students and their parents?

Coming from a critical theory program, I tend to meticulously analyze each method to our madness. While this may seem absurd, I believe that through critical examination we can adapt and learn to listen to each other a little more. We can always strive to do better. Especially with Western’s Strategic Plan including a pillar on mental health, we need to ask what exactly this means. As students, we need to start talking.

I truly appreciate the anonymous donor’s contribution to this service. The donation shows kindness and a commitment to ensuring mental well-being for everyone.

//EMMA COATES

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But is this what we remember about punk? Or has it become about an aesthetic, perhaps lumped into the same category as 1960s rock? While rock had similar subcultural meanings, artists and fans signified their distaste for capitalism by participating in capitalism. They saw consumption as liberating in the sense that they could encode their beliefs within their fashion choices, like ragged clothing and gothic-inspired styles. It’s no surprise that marketers tapped into this and sold that style back to them.

You may have to squint your eyes to see rock as a major oppositional force when their artifacts come from the local JCPenney. And now, maybe the local Forever 21.

A decade later, punks were determined not to make these same mistakes. Punk’s ‘Do-It-Yourself ’ culture lived up to the demands of punk lyrics with the use of indie music labels, “fanzines” (punk magazines produced and distributed by fans themselves) and re-appropriated suburban household items like safety pins to hold together ripped clothing and signify distance from normative style. They created materials without the aid of the capitalist system they so passionately opposed. Now that’s resistance.

Pause: What went wrong?

Believe it or not, there is a reason modern day hipsters fear the mainstream. It has a track record for absorbing subcultures once they make themselves known. Seriously, it’s like clockwork. Ripped clothing and safety pins appeared in fashion magazines, like Cosmopolitan spreads showing ways punk could be “chic.”

Neutralizing the meaning behind punk styles became as easy as tossing them on a runway.

External forces can’t take all the blame. Punk had trouble balancing its wild imagery with the ability

openWIDE// ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

to inspire public involvement and support. Nothing about a swastika screams “positive social change.” It also didn’t help that punk lacked an alternative goal, and floated around in public consciousness as a series of signs with no discernable direction. In “constructive” hardcore culture, there was not much that was constructive about an exclusive, underground community, despite the revolutionary DIY ethic. Though impactful through shock value, punk had trouble being widely influential, and this might have pulled the string on its final curtain.

It would be unfair to say that punk is completely gone. Think back to your early 2000s childhood and asking your mom for a copy of American Idiot. Yes, let’s talk about Green Day. Rock opera “Jesus of Suburbia” gets to the purposelessness of suburban life much like Black Flag songs did, though you might not have known it at the time. Blasting on many a CDROM player were lyrics capturing the essence of a world built on plastic with about as much substance (“Land of make-believe/And it don’t believe in me”). Lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong representing himself as a suburban punk character literally named Jesus also echoes deconstructive punk’s alarming symbolism. The Sex Pistols might appreciate “Holiday” with its startlingly anti-Bush lyrics like “Zieg Heil to the President Gasman,” aka a big middle finger to the Iraq War. Punk-type music now often takes the form of streamlined “pop punk,” the reverse of what punk originally set out to be. Punk rock and hardcore punk tore down traditional notions of truth, and represented this on their own terms. But current pop punk is a part of the corporate structure – it is rooted in the music industry and is therefore shaped by the very same values punk rock and hardcore worked to degrade. Does 5 Seconds of Summer’s torn clothes, skinny jeans, and guitar-driven music make

them punk? If you’ve heard their song lyrics, you might have had flashbacks to the 1990s boy band cheese-fest of romantic love songs. Current punk seems like a shadow of its predecessors and has been dying out in much the same fashion.

Fast forward: Does it all matter?

These factors led to the slow evaporation of punk as an active musical field, but what were punk bands’ original goals? Did they seek to become the mainstream or merely oppose it? Maybe we shouldn’t view punk as a “failure” because that would mean we are still judging it through the traditional lens of success. It’s possible punk never set out to drive social change or be accessible to the largest possible group of people.

Maybe it simply wanted to be an emblem of unwavering nihilism, to play around with symbols, and in doing so, destabilize existing values.

Letting go of internalized standards may be the first step to freedom, and this could be punk’s biggest lesson. For an art form that produces meaning to express meaninglessness, there is likely no final goal or idyllic fantasy at the end of the road. Punk musicians were not heroes or truth-tellers, nor did they present themselves as such. They merely asked us to see what is unseen, to re-examine the taken-for-granted values that have become the backbone of our culture, and then to decide for ourselves what to think and do. There may be a time when punk can resist the mainstream pushback that had previously stamped it out. Who’s due for a rebirth?

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The Post

y l f e i r B AEmpowering Filmeview R //HANNAH ALBERGA Seeing The Post was like trick or treating. As a kid, I couldn’t wait to dress up and run door-to-door, but after an hour of trudging through the autumn chill and only receiving Kit Kats and Mars bars, I was ready to go home.

As a feminist, a journalist, and a Meryl Streep enthusiast entering the movie theatre to see The Post, my excitement was overwhelming. The film was explicitly labeled a feminist work. Disappointingly, the strong-willed female empowerment I sought only commenced in the last few minutes of the film; there was no gradual progression. Instead, it was like a light switch flicked on in the middle of the night. One moment we were in the trenches of female passivity, the next we were on the front lines of empowerment.

Meryl Streep played protagonist Katherine Graham, a publisher of The Washington Post. When the 16//v.18.5

Pentagon Papers were leaked in 1971, Graham was forced to make the difficult decision to either publish government secrets and risk the vitality of her heritage newspaper, or withhold information from public knowledge.

One moment we were in the trenches female passivity, theofnext we wereof onempowerment. the front lines Evidently, Graham was under enormous pressure to make decisions that would not only impact The Post, but also the entire population of the United States, their government, and beyond. On top of deliberating breakthrough judgment calls, she was simultaneously under the scrutiny of a boardroom

openWIDE// ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT comprised solely of men in dark suits. In a meeting, a potential investor asked her for evidence that the newspaper was financially stable. Bewildered and wide eyed, Graham looked down at her wellprepared notes, but remained speechless. At the beginning of the film, I had an urge to bring her a mug of hot cocoa, wrap her in a fuzzy blanket, and tell her everything would be okay. However, this timid portrayal lasted 1 hour and 53 minutes of the 1 hour and 56 minute film. My sympathy was beyond its capacity.

Before Graham’s meeting with male investors interested in buying shares of the newspaper, Tom Hank’s character, Ben Bradlee, the executive editor of The Post, joked, “I bet you every dollar in my wallet you are the only person that read through all those papers.” Graham responded, “I’m probably the only person that needs to.” Her response was not frustrated, sarcastic, or self-deprecating, but rather light and casual. She merely stated a fact and continued on with their dialogue. On one hand, it is important to acknowledge that the film took place in the 70s when gender equality was not as it is now, but the compilation of these incidents, which certify women as second-class citizens, was continuously disheartening.

On the morning The New York Times released the first set of Pentagon Papers - before The Post had access - Graham lazily lounged on her couch in a silk robe reading the newspaper. She did not react troubled by the shocking news and even joked around with her daughter about it. Her subdued reaction was puzzling. From a naïve perspective, I presumed the publisher of a newspaper would be profoundly concerned about the breaching of government policy, a historical moment in the United States. Perhaps this assumption was optimistic. In contrast, Bradlee was distraught by the news, eager to find the source of the papers, and obtain a copy to publish. The juxtaposition of their reactions framed a disappointing traditional gender dichotomy, Graham as a passive female and Bradlee as an active male.

During one of the several galas Graham hosted at her humble mansion in upstate New York, populated by the city’s elite socialites, she made a speech toasting a friend’s retirement and congratulating him on his newly purchased yacht. While speaking, her assistant urgently interrupted her with a vital situation in the newsroom. Graham attempted to ignore her several times until she unwillingly excused herself from the party. In this scene it was unclear whether Graham prioritized the paper. Often The Post seemed more like a sentiment of her father’s legacy, whom she inherited the paper from, rather than a personal ambition.

The portrayal of Graham throughout the majority of the film, intimidated by a room of men or hosting New York socialites, starkly contrasted her quick transition into an empowered female protagonist in the final few minutes of the film. In the concluding scenes she makes the bold decision to publish the remaining Pentagon Papers. Although this transition was uplifting, it was long overdue. Her switch from passive female to idealized feminist was like the jolt of an electrical wire. It shocked you, but the astonishment was brief and soon after, the credits were rolling.

The portrayal of Graham the majorityby ofthroughout the film, intimidated a New room York of mensocialites, or hosting starkly contrastedintoher quick transition an empowered female protagonist in the final few minutes of the film.

Just like trick or treating as a kid, when I got home and dumped all of my candy on the floor, there was only one Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup amongst a sea of Mars bars and Kit Kats.

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Literary Witches

A Celebration of Magical Women Writers

by Taisia Kitaiskaia, illustrated by Katy Horan, Foreword by Pam Grossman ’ll be honest: I picked up this book based on the name alone, referencing, as it does, two of my favourite things- women and witches. While perhaps not exactly what I expected, I was not disappointed with what I found. Accompanied by dark, eerily beautiful illustrations by the talented Katy Horan, Taisia Kitaiskaia pays homage to thirty great women writers through a series of vivid and imaginative vignettes, highlighting the magic of each unique brand of storytelling.

I

Female voices have a long history of being underrepresented and silenced in patriarchal societies. In light of this, it can be argued that the act of writing is itself a feminist act. In her Foreword, Pam Grossman eloquently articulates the predominantly feminine history of the figure of the witch, describing her as, “...

Someone plugged into an ancient current. Someone who is pliable not out of resignation but out of selfpreservation. She’s an intelligent, resilient being who changes with the times, and changes the times along with her”.

Such a description definitely draws certain parallels to mind. These things can, of course, be said about women in general. Grossman goes on; “Who is more worthy of this moniker than female writers, who themselves conjure worlds out of words? ...women who create things other than children are still considered dangerous by many. They are marginalized, trivialized, or totally ignored”. Grossman notes that the figure of a witch is in fact, “...the only female archetype that has power on its own terms. She is not defined by anyone else. Wife, sister, mother, virgin, whore...The Witch... stands entirely on her own”.

Featuring writers like Toni Morrison, Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Mary Shelley, not only is this book feminist in its highlighting of women writers’ voices, but the collection is also intersectional. It showcases women from diverse backgrounds, many of which are also often marginalized by Western society.

As both a woman and aspiring writer myself, I found this book both inspiring and empowering. Maybe it’s also because I have always been fascinated and inspired by the figure of the witch. Watching the oh-socheesy Disney movie, Halloweentown, as a little girl, I wanted so badly to find out that, like Marnie, I too was a witch. It’s something I’ve always wanted to be, almost as much as a writer.

This book has reminded me that I can be just that- a witch, conjuring something out of nothing. Being reminded of such strong female voices is uplifting, and encourages me to carry on their tradition in my own writing and in everyday life.

It’s been a rough year for all of us. This book gave me hope for the new year, and the inspiration to keep fighting. In these troubling times for women and minorities, it’s safe to say that we could all do with a little more (intersectional) feminist magic. //TORI LEVANG

OPENWIDE STICKER DESIGNS

y r o t c e ir D g in in D s On-Campu // MATTHEW CONACHER

University Community Centre Edition

Starbucks Interested in waiting 45 minutes for a $6 cup of hot milk and 23 ground up coffee beans?

Lines: With lines longer than the Behemoth Rollercoaster ride at Canada’s Wonderland

Theme Park this Starbucks is designed to disappoint. You might as well pack a lawn chair because if you’re trying to get your Iced Caramel Macchiato ‘fix’ anytime between 11:00am and 2:00pm you’re gonna need it.

Selection: Starbucks is home to everything you could ever wish for. Loaves (unfortunately not of bread), Muffins, Oat Bars, and like four fruit fly colonies occupy a large display-case-refrigerator-thing by the cash registers. In terms of drinks, the Starbucks in the UCC can make everything a regular Starbucks can. If you’re emotionally hurting after finding out how destructive capitalism is, I recommend spending your (or more likely your parent’s) money on an Americano with an extra shot of espresso. Upset by how corporations like Starbucks exploit workers in third world countries for economic gain? I recommend the Double Chocolatey Chip Frappuccino!

My Recommended Order: I myself can destroy two venti coffees, black, with a birthday cake pop (everyday is your birthday when you are a white man in the patriarchy).

The Spoke The Spoke and Rim Tavern is like me, back in first year: confused as to what it wants to be. Is it a cafe? Is it a bar? Who knows? All I know is that it is the home of Western’s most prized possession: The Buffalo Chicken Wrap.

Lines: The Spoke Café line is longer than the food lines during the Great Depression. Fitting considering wintertime in

London, Ontario is probably the greatest depression. If you want to make it to your 9:30 a.m. on time, carve out a solid 32 minutes for a bagelwich.

Selection: Great Canadian Bagel Company supplies The Spoke with its world

famous bagels. With over five varieties of bagels and six cream cheese flavours, The Spoke Café’s is more diverse than the students here at Western! With weekly live music from international superstar Rick McGhie it is easy to get distracted and accidentally pay $13 for a wrap.

My Recommended Order: Jalapeño Cheddar Bagel with Roasted Red Pepper

Cream Cheese; because there is nothing my trembling, caffeinated, university student corpse needs more than 1/16th a serving of vegetables.

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The Wave The Wave is basically The Spoke on crack!

Higher prices, longer wait times, but better food all around.

Lines: Although the line at the entry is not long at all, the amount of time you will spend sipping your water at the table will make watching paint dry sound appealing.

The atmosphere is very pleasant and I was pleased to discover outlets at every table, making The Wave a low key study spot.

Selection: Using the highest quality of ingredients, The Wave’s menu is a menu I can get behind! Fresh salads, delicious

sandwiches and burgers, and a bruschetta with guacamole on it (surprisingly good), make The Wave the perfect place to take a love interest. Vegetarian, Vegan, Aristocratic, Gluten Free, Communist, Paleo? Do not worry! The Wave’s menu accommodates almost every dietary restriction and is sure to have something for everyone.

My Recommended Order: The Wave has an unreal Pad Thai. I am neither educated in Thai cuisine nor culturally aware but regardless it is pretty good in my humble opinion.

Subway Subway’s official slogan is “Eat Fresh”? The only thing fresh about the UCC Subway is its employees. If you’re hungry for a healthy dinner item, look elsewhere. If you’re down for some heated gossip from the sandwich artists, this might be the place for you.

Lines: The line at the UCC Subway is either one person long or thirty four thousand people long. I don’t know what is it

about science students but they seem to be powered by tuna salad subs. With that, I would suggest getting your submarine sandwich during one of their required courses when the line is dead.

Selection: A glass display case filled with “Fresh” veggies, cheeses, and cold-cuts gives the illusion of health. Subway is customizable, I will give them that. They have something for everyone — even those disgusting enough to order the fluorescent egg salad.

My Recommended Order: When my bank account is in overdraft (like hard … -$300), I usually stick to a six inch meatball sub with lettuce and green peppers.

If I am feeling bourgeois (-$225), I splurge for the imitation chicken because there is nothing better than the delicious rubbery taste of a $15 oven roast “chicken” sandwich.

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a a L Launaunaun L L L Launch Party

McIntosh Gallery, February 2018

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//KIA ANDE

R SEN

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