VIBRANT MEDIA

Four RAZZ writers share their views on pieces of media that they feel is ‘vibrant’.

KRIS HALLENGA

Nothing says vibrant quite like glitter, and this book is full of it. In her memoir, CoppaFeel! founder Kris Hallenga describes her trials and triumphs since being diagnosed with stage-4 breast cancer at just 23. It is an extremely honest account, full of equally inspiring and laugh-out-loud moments. From boy drama, to travelling the world, the pain of chemo, a slight obsession with the television soap Neighbours, life as a twin and chatting about boobs, Kris explores the irony of life just beginning after being told it is about to end.

‘It is an extremely honest account, full of equally inspiring and laughout-loud moments.’

The book surrounds ‘glittering a turd’ - for Kris this was quite clearly cancer. Shortly after her diagnosis she founded the first breast cancer education charity CoppaFeel! , after noticing a lack of conversation about the symptoms of breast cancer. Like many, cancer has been something very present in my life after seeing the diagnosis of loved ones, which was the main reason I picked this book up. However, it is so much had or will have a ‘turd’ in our lives. Whilst being the founder of a charity is a huge achievement, Kris makes the conversation accessible beyond cancer, encouraging us to ‘glitter’ whatever obstacle we have had to overcome in our lives. she now hosts a weekly podcast, Interviewing guests about the turds they’ve had to glitter, making for funny, emotional and inspiring listening.

Annabel Jeffery

Australian singer-songwriter Julia Jacklin’s third album explores how shame intersects with romantic, familial, and platonic love. The album art depicts the singer with her hands splayed across a superimposed self-portrait, framed by the emboldened title Pre Pleasure, suggesting an overarching theme of introspection.

The dazzling opener ‘Lydia Wears A Cross’ delivers immediately, confronting the listener with vivid images of Jacklin’s formative religious education. Her confessional songwriting shines through in the chorus, where she admits “I’d be a believer/ if it was all just song and dance”.

Alongside playful references to Jesus Christ Superstar, doubtful nihilism exists at odds with the naivety of a devout childhood.

‘Her confessional songwriting shines through in the chorus, where she admits “I’d be a believer/ if it was all just song and dance”. ‘

‘I Was Neon’ is a vivacious art-pop song that considers the loss of clarity when becoming an adult. The singer revels in ambiguity as the thrumming refrain, set over energetic guitar, questions whether she will “lose herself” as she evolves.

A personal favourite, ‘Ignore Tenderness’ brings her repressive upbringing to the forefront with the incisive lines “Right when pleasure begins my education creeps in/ I’ve been stripping right down/ Staring at my own reflection/ Ever since I was 13, I’ve been pulled in every direction”.

Finally, the song ‘Moviegoer’ makes use of impressive storytelling to evoke in the listener’s mind a cinematic scene of domestic bliss. Jacklin addresses a movie director’s dilemma with the searing verse “Forty million dollars, still nobody understands you”. Though the song ponders the pitfalls of artistic expression, it is through this blend of sincerity and biting wit that the album succeeds. Lucy

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by MAGGIE SHIPSTEAD

The novel flies high from the very first pages, and each chapter only reaches greater heights. Great Circle follows two parallel stories – one of Marian Graves, an orphan twin who wants to become a pilot. The other, orphan Hadley Baxter, a Hollywood star set to play Marian on screen.

Shipstead portrays characters that readers care for deeply; like Marian’s twin brother, Jamie, a gentle, animal-loving artist. Shipstead’s additional narratives are intricately woven together; from Marian and Jamie’s gambling alcoholic uncle who took them in when their father was imprisoned, to Marian’s violent bootlegger husband who provides her with the initial opportunity to learn to fly. Even Shipstead’s secondary characters are nuanced with staggeringly different attitudes and experiences; a quality which contributes to the vividness of her writing. Whilst immersed in the changing landscape of the twentieth century, we see the novels’ strong female characters transcend past patriarchal boundaries to fly to their own greatness.

‘The vibrant energy that burns within Shipstead’s characters and the stories they tell is irrefutable. ‘

The vibrant energy that burns within Shipstead’s characters and the stories they tell is irrefutable. Readers discover places, times, and people visiting prohibition-Montana, wartime London, and modern-day LA as she takes us on many unmissable journeys. In the diary of Marian’s final flight, she writes “there is too much of the world and too little of life.” The novel captures the vastness of life; encompassing the darkness of downfalls just as intensely as the radiance of sky-high exhilaration. We readers experience all of this through the powerful humanity of Shipstead’s storytelling. Spanning a whole century and around the world in a sweeping great circle, Shipstead’s novel is a six-hundredpage ascent to vibrancy.

Jessie Fairclough

Everything Everywhere All at Once, directed by Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan, vibrantly interconnects genres such as science fiction, fantasy, action and adventure and comedy, to create a thrilling and heart-warming multiverse story. The protagonist Evelyn Quan Wang undergoes a multitude of surprising and outlandish experiences, bouncing between different universes in an attempt to re-connect her family and save her failing business.

Multiverse theory, the idea that there are infinite universes and versions of ourselves where we make different decisions and have different experiences, is a concept that has been explored in media many times, but the possibilities explored in Everything Everywhere All at Once seem even more colourful, quirky and imaginative than what we’ve seen before. Evelyn explores universes where she’s a singer, a martial artist, a chef who meets ‘Raccaccoonie’, a take on the beloved Pixar film Ratatouille, and even a universe where people have hotdogs for hands.

Yet these weird and wonderful universes have a profound purpose in Evelyn’s life, and the film is far from a meaningless adventure. Through verse jumping Evelyn is finally able to face the problems in her own life, healing her relationships with her husband and daughter and accepting her past, ultimately starting to establish peace within the chaos that surrounds her.

‘Everything Everywhere All at Once shows how vibrant and complex life is. There are infinite possibilities,and nothing is what it seems.’

Everything Everywhere All at Once shows how vibrant and complex life is. There are infinite possibilities,and nothing is what it seems. It shows how we should embrace the best version of our self even in life’s chaos, and above all, cherish the people we love.

Mia McChesney

One of my favourite films is 2014’s Pride, written by Stephen Beresford. It’s based on the true story of Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners (LGSM), a group of activists, who, in the mid80s, raised large amounts of money to support a village of striking miners in the Welsh Dulais Valley. When a traditional working-class community is faced with demonisation from the government, press and hostile police, running parallel to the AIDS crisis and institutionalised homophobia, the two very different oppressed groups discover the incredible benefits of solidarity. And yet, the bond between LGSM and the miners isn’t just financial.

The Activists give the often change-resistant mining community an insight into their way of life, into a range of sexualities and forms of self-expression. Throughout the film, genuine friendships are formed in the alliance. In return, the Dulais mining community put gay rights on the agenda at the 1985 Labour party conference, contributing towards an equality resolution which would eventually lead to the introduction of civil partnerships and same-sex marriages.

‘Throughout the film, genuine friendships are formed in the alliance.’

It glimpses a dream of unity and compassion, whilst never seeking to erase the unimaginable tragedy of AIDS, the day-to-day bigotry and violence faced by queer people, and the destructive impact of Thatcher’s government on working-class communities. It is an extraordinary portrait of joy and people power. The friendships, campaigns, love, and hope portrayed are all positively vibrant.

Indigo Maynard