Fifty Shades of Red

Ivo Dimitrov

After the more or less successful venture into Hipstertown, I decide to put my new found investigative skills to the test once more. Wearing a hastily assembled disguise (read: an oversized UCU sweater), I arrive at my destination – a bookshop called De Rooie Rat, the place-to-be for lefties, socialists, neo-Bolsheviks, and every other shade of political red you can think of.

A few seconds inside and I am already more excited than I was during Introweek. Right next to the door, a poster greets me with the friendly and welcoming slogan: “CRUSH CAPITALISM! SHOW AN UNDEAD SYSTEM HOW TO DIE”. Nothing expresses solidarity and togetherness quite like Uncle Sam being brutally shot in the face by what is undoubtedly the Hand of Justice.

Admittedly, I have never identified myself with any socialist parties or principles, but who knows into what kind of big-government monster I have turned during a semester at UCU. After all, students are known to be equality-loving intellectuals, dreaming of a better society ever since the very first Intro to Sociology lecture.

So this is my chance! I have finally found a way into a secret and thrilling leftist movement and I am determined not to let it go. The room I just entered is reminiscent of the socialist life I was clearly born for –secret underground meetings with mysterious French revolutionaries, illegal movements aimed at overthrowing the tyrannical establishment, a non-stop fear of getting caught by Utrecht’s police. This is it, I realize;

Women, tanks, webcomics

Marina Lazëri

Events

*Holidays Edition*

Loren

Snel

I have found a new me: UCU is a thing of the past.

As I make my way to the over-stacked shelves and start exploring, I am amazed by the diversity of subjects. Seriously, a cookbook section in a political bookstore? Well, they might be helpful for a future coup d’état in Dining Hall. A linguistics book telling me that English is the language of imperialism and repression? I might be joining Equites after all - and while I am at it, change the name to Equaly-tes.

Just as I am about to ask if they have a spare hammer and sickle, something catches my attention. The little price tags attached to the pile of inspiring items in my hands. Twenty euros for a Lenin poster, intended to cheer up our Kromhout living room? Twice as much for a second-hand paperback of Marx’ illustrated Manifesto? And how on Earth am I going to afford VIP tickets for the world-famous London Anarchist Bookfair?

I suddenly realize that the brave fighter for equality behind the counter is just a student, probably saving money for that mainstream bachelor. Did I really think my leftist dream-life wouldn’t come with a hefty price tag?

Eventually I leave, disillusioned, vengeful, and ready to indulge in some fine capitalist money-making. Luckily the Albert Heijn right across the street is looking for cashiers. Boekhandel de Rooie Rat, Oudegracht 65

1 December 2012 – 5 January 2013

100 JAAR HOLLYWOOD: 25 klassiekers die je niet vaak genoeg kunt zien /

100 YEARS OF HOLLYWOOD: 25 classics you can’t get enough of EYE has definitely come up with the ultimate end-of-year event. The new film museum of Amsterdam will be screening 25 of Hollywood’s biggest movie classics of the last century. Craving to see Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Grease, A Space Odyssey, Modern Times, The Sound of Music, Avatar, you-name-it on the big screen? Don’t miss out and check out the programme.

7 December 2012 – 20 January 2013

THE AMSTERDAM LIGHT FESTIVAL

Visiting the capital this holiday season is definitely a must. The city will light up its centre during nocturnal hours with a wide variety of luminous artefacts and glowing sculptures. Check out the website and go ‘Oooohh!’ Strolling along many of Amsterdam’s prettiest canals will be the romantic walk you always dreamed of.

22 December 2012 – 6 January 2013

Re-reading my last issue’s article on webcomics as postmodern art, I noticed that I refer to the unidentified webcomic writer as a ‘he’. Oh, the horror! I, of all people, missing this kind of gender biased language? I need to rectify my mistake. This time I write about a webcomic concerning women.

The point of postmodern art is not to interpret it, least is this the point of webcomics. What I’d like you to do is try to get in touch with the experience provoked in you by this comic. Does it blur the lines between reality, rationality and representation? Does it confirm your stereotypes of gender? Does it confront your stereotypes of gender? Does it address a possible, underlying conflict of today’s society? Are my questions too farfetched?

Depending on whether you grew up reading Marvel comics or not, or whether you find ‘Lord of the Rings’ one of the most insightful books ever written, you might not see webcomics as addressing major societal issues (at least not successfully). I’m not trying to convince you of the contrary.

However, I do hope that you can experience a sense of disquiet from such works. Put at discomfort by being confronted with an issue you might have thought of: maybe not men attacking women with tanks (even though I wouldn’t put that past our world) but at least exclusion, stereotypes or those damned feminists that think men ain’t worth jack.

Is my obliviousness to proper gender language etiquette a big deal that reflects deep normalization of gender distinction roles within society? Or is it merely a reflection of a language that by now has acquired a purely conventional dimension? Maybe I’ll never know. Maybe I shouldn’t know. Maybe I should be disturbed by my slip but only insofar as it serves as food for thought. Maybe I should be disturbed of what peace entails, who knows.

Or maybe I’m just advertising Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal –maybe I get a cut of the profit from merchandise, money people are willing to pay in order to have disturbing relevations on their walls.

THE WINTER STATION in UTRECHT’S RAILWAY MUSEUM

It’s time to get out those ice skates again! Utrecht’s Railway Museum will transform into Winter Wonderland over the holidays and will install its very own ice rink. Unless the chances of this year’s Frieslandic Eleven-City-Tour taking place are higher than the usual 0 per cent, the Railway Museum’s ice skating track is the one to look forward to. What could be more Christmassy than skating laps around an old-fashioned stream train while hundreds of lights twinkle above you? Exactly.