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September 29, 2015
Arts
Activist talks race, some leave early
Bookworms unite
ANNIE SRAGNER Associate Arts & Life Editor @anniesragner ROBERT WOOD Assistant Arts & Life Editor
Towson got a healthy dose of cultural perspectives when antiracism activist Tim Wise came to SECU Arena on Wednesday, Sept. 23. The event began with an introduction by Assistant Vice President of Student Affairs and Diversity Santiago Solis and senior English major David Ward. “Tim Wise is like a medium between those dealing with oppression and those dealing with being oblivious to it,” Ward said. Before beginning his lecture, Wise addressed the audience in saying he would call out any person who decided to leave early in order to establish the importance of what he was going to say. Wise then emphasized that society needs to comprehensively and accurately understand its past in order to understand its present circumstances. He frequently spoke of the core concept that racism is rooted in systemic stratification, and how that influences all individuals of that system. “I liked that he said that we share from the same fountain,” senior Jasmine Edwards said. “It’s nice to know other people are sharing the same struggle, and it gave me a new
Sierra Underdue/ The Towerlight
Patrick Burke/ The Towerlight
Antiracism activist Tim Wise speaks in SECU Arena on Sept. 23. view of it.” A key aspect of the event was understanding the historically founded problems around systemic racism and perpetuating awareness of it in everyday life. “The people here need to take what they learned and what perspectives they valued here and bring them back to their communities,” Ward said. “We need to start by confronting racism and bigotry in our own circles with the people we love every day.” Wise concluded his speech with a red pill/blue pill reference from “The Matrix” that paralleled society’s choice to learn the truth about the condition of humanity, or choose to remain ignorant and indifferent. “You just can’t choose ignorance as an option,” Ward said. “Ignorance is an option that most people choose, but
we need to stop that.” Following the speech, audience members were invited to the microphone on the floor to ask Wise any lingering questions they may have had. Many students who stayed for the question and answer portion expressed frustration that most of the students who attended the event for extra credit loudly exited the arena once they were not required to be there anymore, despite Wise’s request that they leave quietly. “I enjoyed it, but I could see the looks on some of my classmates and peer’s faces just like ‘I want this to be over with,’ so it is encouraging and discouraging at the same time because there are people you know want to help, and you know there are people who are here for the points,” sophomore Saraubi Harrison said.
SIERRA UNDERDUE Contributing Writer
As the energetic voices of one of Towson’s acapella groups Original Blend filled the air, a crowd of at least 40 children and adults gathered to enjoy the music this past weekend at the Inner Harbor for the 20th annual Baltimore Book Festival. The festival featured over 100 vendors and exhibits where patrons could buy or sell books, network with local newspaper and magazine sources, and enjoy a lineup of talented performances from people all over Baltimore. “I like seeing all the different types of people who are really interested in books,” sophomore Diminya Brown said. “Seeing all these displays of people with passion and finding and meeting new people is really cool.”
Thousands of people from all over the country came to experience this free event. Amongst the lineup of performances for the weekend, Original Blend sang 10 songs on Friday from 3-4 p.m., starting with an upbeat mashup of “Crazy” and “Crazy in Love” and ending with Sam Smith’s “I’m Not The Only One. “ “Being here was really great for our group because we love getting out in the community and getting our voices heard in unique settings and this one was especially fun because of the location of being in the harbor and the content around us, being surrounded by such a creative space,” president of the group, Aviva Match, said. The festival also featured a stand for Towson’s Grub Street who offered free copies of their magazine and encouraged submissions for next semester’s issue.
Movie Review: “Everest”
Adventure crumbles from a mountaintop KYLE CASEY
Contributing Writer @kylecasey094
Conceptually, a movie simply titled “Everest,” chronicling the true story of a 1996 deadly Mount Everest expedition, would make for prime cinema. With the likes of Jake Gyllenhaal, Keira Knightley and Josh Brolin to headline the film, what could go wrong? Unfortunately, just about everything. The real life events of a two-group Mount Everest expedition, led by Rob Hall (Jason Clarke) and Scott Fischer (Gyllenhaal), are the premise for the film, and while the concept draws interest, the plot fails to excite. Hall and Fischer lead their respective groups of eager climbers, ranging
from experienced hikers to first-time Everest visitors. The film follows their journey from first setting foot in Nepal to reaching the summit of the mountain. The plot makes for a late ignition of any sort of action, as a post-summit storm poses deadly consequences, but the whole event happens much too late in the film for the audience to feel engaged. With a slow, boring buildup to the ultimate expedition to the summit of Mount Everest, the film struggles to gain interest from the get-go. Relying on breathtaking views of the mountain and the surrounding areas, the film focuses much more on the scenery than its star-studded cast. Along with a struggle to succeed with Mount Everest at the forefront over the cast, the decision to focus more on Hall’s story than Fischer’s is
the doom of the film. Clarke’s portrayal of Hall is uninteresting and dull. On the contrary, Gyllenhaal’s depiction of Fischer brings the only real life to the film, as the longhaired, bearded Fischer is the lone absorbing, energetic character to lean on. While Gyllenhaal delivers a riveting performance, it feels like a tease, as his role in the film is rather minimal. Along with struggles to lock onto the right characters and plot for the film, the entire post-summit storm encounter makes for somewhat comedic cinema. Profiling such a deadly event, the deaths of each climber should be dismal and tough to watch, making the viewer have a level of remorse. But no death ever feels this way. Two of the climbers’ deaths occur in the blink of an eye, as they conve-
Courtesy of Variety
niently fall off mountainsides in quick, emotionless deaths. Each death is uninspiring, and no single death ever provides that speechless, teary-eyed feeling for the viewer. “Everest” displays good intentions, and had the makings of an award-
winning film. But from poor screenwriting, uninspired acting, to an inability ever put the viewer on the edge their seat, the film falls well short its potential. I give this film 5 out of 10 stars.
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