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scene BOLD VS. SUBTLE: PINK IN THE SPOTLIGHT RETURN OF THE ADULT ACTION FILM? THE FIVE STAGES OF A TINDER DATE

INTERVIEW:

LAWSON The rise of a small pop-rock band, their latest album and life on tour.

EDITORS’ NOTE

THE TEAM

Another day, another edition. We’re sorry to say that this edition has been struck by disaster - one editor spent some time in the hospital, and the other spent the week in bed with the flu.

Editors // Abbie Anderson Dianne Apen-Sadler

But do not fear, because there is always quality content to be found in SCENE, no matter if it was produced by perfectly healthy editors, or by fever-induced crazy ones #ThePaperComesFirst

Life & Style // Hope Butler

We really hope you enjoy this edition of SCENE as we’ve really pushed the boat out - we managed to get an interview with LAWSON (no, we don’t know who they are either, but they have a Wikipedia page!), our wonderful Life & Style editor Hope Butler organised her first photoshoot, and, of course, we’ve got another crazy great blind date to share with you.

All the love

Film // Ed Hunter

Jasper Hart Music // Louis McGillick Tom Seddon Food // Abigail Cornthwaite Freya Kingsley

Want to write something for SCENE? scene@yorkvision.co.uk

Abbie & Dianne

Keep updated with everything Vision! www.yorkvision.co.uk Facebook - York Vision SCENE Twitter - @YorkVisionScene

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Why To Kill a Mockingbird still matters I don’t know when I first read Harper Lee’s ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’. It must have been when I was about 11 or 12, a second hand copy holding some of pages to the binding, the corners of the pages still creased from when a past reader had bookmarked their place. The cover was bright orange, the font black and gothic. And I’m not alone in being able to describe the first time I read To Kill a Mockingbird. The reason it still sells millions of copies every year even more than half a century on is because its perspective on life in depression-era Alabama still enchants readers. It teaches us valuable lessons about race, class, gender and disability.

The plot is simple enough: the hero of the novel, Atticus Finch, is a white lawyer defending Tom Robinson, a black man falsely accused of rape. What makes the novel more complex is that it’s told through the eyes of Atticus’ young daughter, Scout Finch. It gives the novel a strange sentimentality; Scout, her brother Jem, and their friend Dill sip lemonade on the porch in one chapter, only to appear in the courtroom for Tom Robinson’s trial the next. The narration is also genuinely flawed, for it silences the voices of black characters in the novel. Scout valorises her father as the knight in shining armour, and leaves Tom Robinson, the defendant, undeveloped and one-dimensional in her recollection. But for all that the novel still teaches us important lessons about race. The prejudiced jury, the innocent man convicted, the unfair sentence: these are all things that could and does happen in today’s American courtroom. “How could they?” asks

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Jem after Tom Robinson’s trial. “They’ve done it before, and they did it tonight and they’ll do it again”, says Atticus by way of explanation.

Maycomb, the fictional town that the novel is set in, is a town in which people of all classes co-exist. The Finches are well-to-do middle class, the Cunningham’s are working class farmers, the Ewells the closest thing in the novel to members of the underclass. Harper Lee shows the immorality of classist attitudes by contrasting the views of the adults versus the children in the novel. Scout’s Aunt Alexandra tells her not to play with Walter Cunningham, “because-he-is-trash”. Yet when Jem tries to explain the class make-up of Maycomb – the Cunninghams hate the Ewells, the Ewells hate black people, Scout responds by rejecting the class prejudice outright. “There’s only one kind of folks”, says Scout, “folks”.

Scout doesn’t just reject her Aunt’s classism, but also her Aunt’s gender expectations too. (An older Scout is more explicit about this in the ‘sequel’, Go Set a Watchman, by telling her Auntie to pee in her own hat). Scout wears britches under her dress, doesn’t want to grow up to be a lady, fights her classmates for insulting her. What makes her a heroine is precisely because she doesn’t fit the subservient stereotype that women so often do in fiction.

Scout’s perspective is ultimately more tolerant than that of many of the adults in the novel, even though she’s only a child. She lives in fear of her disabled and reclusive neighbour Boo Radley because of the rumours spread

around by the nosy Stephanie Crawford, who delights in telling Scout, Jem and Dill that Boo once stabbed his father in the leg while putting pictures in his scrapbook, and has been locked away ever since. Yet when Scout meets Boo, she treats him just like any other person, inviting him into the house and calling him Mr. Radley.

‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ has been in the news a lot recently since the death of its author Harper Lee on February 19.

Most of the obituaries focussed on Lee’s very private nature. Indeed, almost the only thing publically known about Lee was that she wouldn’t give interviews.

What the obituaries missed out is that Harper Lee never needed to give interviews – her book said it all.

~Josh Salisbury

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Lawson have just launched their new single Money , a summery and reggae-tinged tune set for release in March, and York Vision recently caught up with Lawson’s Ryan Fletcher about their anthem-in-waiting. Fletcher tells of the song’s roots in the early days of the pop-rock band’s career, driving hundreds of miles to play tiny shows and chanting “where’s the money?” in the tour van home. Written for the hotly anticipated new record, the song has grown into an optimistic and carefree anthem coming soon to a radio station near you. Lawson also spoke to Vision about their hotly anticipated sophomore album and touring in Australia with pop hero Robbie Williams.

Money’s the next single for your forthcoming album, but what can we expect of the sound of the new album in relation to the first record Chapman Square?

I think it’s still very much Lawson... but it’s definitely progressed. I feel like some songs on there that are little more rockier, some songs on there that are still poppy.

It’s very similar to Chapman Square in that respect but it’s still very much Lawson. So yeah, I think it’s just like a natural progression of our kind of sound.

Were there any direct inspirations for the writing of the new material or is it very much you guys doing your own thing again?

We took a lot of inspiration actually while we were in Nashville making the album. While we were out in Nashville, obviously you’re surrounded by so many amazing musicians and so much music and stuff like that, and that really inspired the album and made its way on there.

You’ve played festivals like V and T in the Park before during the Chapman Square album cycle. Are you hoping to get back onto the festival scene with the new record?

What can we expect from your new live shows?

Definitely, 100%. I think you can expect the same as we were with our live shows, we put on a rock show. That’s where we work well, up on the stage in front of a crowd.

That’s definitely the best way to kind of experience Lawson as it were. But yeah, 100% we’ll be doing the festivals and stuff again. We’re just kind of building up back into it now and then hopefully touring at the end of the year, and it’ll be great!

You’ve been so busy the past half a year in supporting Robbie Williams in Australia at the end of last year and then coming straight back into the promotion of the new record this year, but what was it like supporting Robbie and playing for crowds on the other side of the world?

It was incredible. Touring Australia itself was amazing but touring with an icon like Robbie, it just was insane and we were very grateful to be getting out there. But before that we started off in America, then we did Australia and New Zealand. We did Asia before that and came back into the UK so we’ve been really busy, it’s been mad.

Are there any differences between the types of crowds

that you play for here compared to those in, say, Asia for example?

Yeah, the fans out there are just like mad. It goes crazy over there, so we love doing gigs over there. It’s SO different. I always like hearing the accents when they’re singing the lyrics back, that always makes me laugh. Everywhere you go in different places of the world, everyone sings the songs differently and I find that pretty cool.

Obviously as well, Robbie Williams is notably quite the character.

Do you have any great stories or memories from touring Australia and playing alongside him?

Oh there’ll be... wait, I’m not talking, I’ll get into trouble for most of them! He’s just great, we used to beat him at FIFA every night that was good fun. We nearly got on the private jet but never actually agreed to that and that was a shame. But yeah, it was great out there, he’s just a legend.

Money will be released on 18th March through Polydor Records.

~Interview by Tom Seddon

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BOLD VS. SUBTLE

Pink. It’s Pantone’s “Colour of the Year”, its been seen all over the catwalk, and its a colour that is surprisingly versatile.

From a bold fuschia lip worn on a night out, to a subtle rosey hue brushed across your lid, pink is a colour that can be easily adapted for every occasion.

With a variety of shades, and an abundance of ways to wear it, pink makeup offers something for everyone (including the theatrical).

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EDITORIAL

MODELS: Lucy Willis and Hannah Smallman

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RETURN OF THE ADULT ACTION FILM?

In the current cinematic climate it is deemed common among executive Hollywood circles that a 12A (or PG-13 rating in North America) is the way to ensure a mainstream, tentpole, big budget action movie’s success. This is generally true, even though it may be much to the chagrin of moviegoers who miss the bone-crunching, corn syrup filled days of the 80s when Stallone and Schwarzenegger ruled at the box office.

However, recently more violent, adult-oriented action films have been coming out, and generally to the tune of box office success. At the tail end of 2014 we got Keanu Reeves in John Wick, which exceeded expectations, making $86mil on a lean $20mil budget, and the promise of a sequel next year. Following that in February was Bond homage/parody, the funny and profane Kingsman, which made over $414mil on its $80mil budget, also getting a sequel due next year.

The rallying call for old school movie effects and violence in 2015 was definitely Mad Max: Fury Road, whose £375mil gross on a $150mil budget was not eye-watering, but nonetheless impressive. Even more significant is that a summer blockbuster film such as Mad Max has found itself to be a major awards contender, currently up for 10 Oscars, including Best Picture. This is a startling achievement not just in terms of recognising such left-field subject matter in a major awards show that is usually reserved for stuffy biopics and underdog stories, but also in terms of the time of its release: every single one of its Best Picture rivals was released in the last quarter of the year, meaning that Mad Max very much stuck in the mind of those who saw it.

The main reason that graphic, high budget action movies are the talk of the town right now is due to the success of the latest superhero movie. Deadpool, made for a modest-bysuperhero-standards $58mil was expected to perform fairly decently, based on intriguing marketing that seemed to display how star Ryan Reynolds had been born to play the title role of the fast talking mercenary with a signature costume and a tendency to break the fourth wall. However, after glowing reviews and an astounding four day opening gross of $152mil stateside, things might start to be getting clearer for film studios.

Giving a film an adult rating is supposed to be a risk if its budget is too high (some have complained that this has thus seen the decline of the mid-budget film, as a film either has to have a small enough budget to justify the supposed smaller audience, or has to be

Top 3 Coen Brothers Films The Coen Bros reputation of creating golden genre mishmashes manifests in Raising Arizona. On the surface, a family-friendly comedy romp, but with the Coenesque token of kidnapping, the tragedy of the baron couple, and the possible collapse of their marriage. The film delicately leans to noir; the vision of the Lone Biker of the Apocalypse being particularly haunting. The movie feels illusory; an unending yodel of soundtrack, John Goodman (him again) erupting from the mud after a prison break only to plunge his hand back in to haul out his criminal companion by the ankle. Nicholas Cage’s H.I. McDunnough is an uneducated convict but manages to deliver some of the most deliciously eloquent narration. It is a film where it wouldn’t be completely unviable to see McDunnough wake up at the end to find it was all a dream.

1- Raising Arizona 6

watered down in terms of any potentially upsetting material in order to attract the largest possible audience if it has a big budget – Deadpool of course has been a mid-budget film with adult subject matter that grossed over 100% more in its opening weekend than initial estimates projected it to). However, the success of the aforementioned films has shown that audiences are receptive to contextually appropriate violence (and good reviews, which they all received). This has been reflected by the studios’ commitments to making sequels to all of them except Mad Max. A further example of how this can go in the wrong direction can be seen with Sylvester Stallone’s Expendables trilogy. Initially made as a homage to the films which made its stars (Stallone, Dolph Lundgren, Chuck Norris and Jean-Claude Van Damme) so famous 30 years ago, the third instalment of the franchise added a roster of young heroes, gave the veterans a backseat and reduced its rating to a 12A. It was the least successful of the trilogy, although a leak of the film online may also have contributed. It seems that more and more often, audiences are recognising when a film should be graphic in order to be a better film.

Of course, the success of Deadpool could be seen as worrying if studios misinterpret what made it successful and start applying pop-culture infused sweary humour and bloody violence into any project because hey, that guy with the swords in the red suit did it. And when these films fail the studios may yet retreat from the adult rating entirely.

What does the future bring for similar films? Aside from the sequels, other comic book films have been looked at as potentially having their ratings made more adult. Hugh Jackman’s final outing as the metal-clawed Wolverine may see a much more violent tone now that Fox believes it has a built-in adult audience willing to watch such a film. In the other major comic book camp, DC’s Suicide Squad, which is due this August, may find itself to be more appealing with a 15 rating. The principal takeaway from this, however, is that the mainstream adult action movie is far from dead. ~Jasper Hart

Even if you don’t consider yourself a cinephile, you are still more than likely aware of the Coen brothers and their extraordinary filmography, ranging from fan favourite The Big Lebowski to awards darling No Country for Old Men. With their latest writing/directing effort Hail, Caesar! Released in cinemas next month, we have comprised a list for you of the duos Top 3 must see films (in no particular order) ...

2- Fargo The 1996 hybrid genre (it has elements of neo-noir, a black comedy and a crime thriller – phew) firmly deserves to be placed on this list as it is arguably one of the Coen brothers most original creations to date. Starring Coen-staple Frances McDormand as a pregnant police chief investigating a string of murders after a kidnapfor-ransom deal goes awry; the film is a triumph and classic Coen brothers. The performances are engaging, the dialogue is sharp and the violence oddly humorous.

Additionally, the Minnesotan accent is just oh-so pleasing to listen to, and even more fun to disastrously mimic.

Similarly to Fargo, Inside Llewyn Davis sees the Coen brothers take a rather bleak situation and find inexplicable humour.

The film follows one week in the life of the eponymous Llewyn Davis, a folk singer who attempts to achieve success whilst simultaneously navigating the choppy waters that is his personal life. Inside Llewyn Davis produces a star making performance from Oscar Isaac (who can currently be seen flying X-Wings in a Galaxy far far away), and although the film lacks a dense plot, the endless supply of ginger felines that populate New York City throughout the picture more than make up for it.

3- Inside Llewyn Davis

~Evie Brudenall and Mia Shaw

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The DOs and DON’Ts of...

Meeting the Parents

But on a serious note, don’t be too nervous about meeting your significant others parents. They’re a huge part of your partner’s life, but so are you, and they had a choice in the matter when it came to picking you.

DO: Be prepared

DON’T: Let your partner convince you that their parents “definitely” won’t show up before 10am and take you to Phat Friday’s. You will be woken up by two embarrassed looking parents trying to awkwardly make small talk with you knowing full well that you’re both naked under there DO: Embrace the awkward small talk DON’T: Let it bother you that your partner’s mother can’t remember your name and won’t stop talking about his ex. It’s nothing personal, at this age she’s probably met plenty of his ex’s, it’s not her fault Margaret was lovely and that he just needs to get back together with her DO: Say “I can see where she gets her sense of humour from” DON’T: Say “well I can see where she gets her huge tits from!”

DO: Take them to a lovely restaurant for lunch in the city centre DON’T: Walk down Coney Street to stop outside Clinton Cards to sob about how it used to be a restaurant and how your life is now ruined because there’s nowhere else you can get prawn crackers at 4am. They won’t understand it nor appreciate it. They don’t need to know that this is where you two had your first kiss either

If they honestly thought you weren’t good enough to meet their parents, or that they’d hate you, they wouldn’t have suggested it. Have faith in the fact that there’s a reason they like you, and a lot of what they do and do not like comes from who they were raised by(!)

If they do take an instant disliking, don’t take it personally, a lot of people need a while to warm up to someone new. And if they hate you forever, it’ll only be a few awkward family events and dinners for the rest of your life (or until you break up!). Chill out. ~Dianne Apen-Sadler

The Five Stages of a Tinder Date ~Abbie Anderson

1. What Am I Doing? What if he looks completely different to his photos?

What if I’ve mistaken his mate for him, I mean, there were a lot of group photos... what if he’s catfishing me? WHAT IF HE’S A SERIAL KILLER? HE’S ONLY HERE FOR MY SKIN! I’M NOT PUTTING THE LOTION ON 2. Calm down. He’s here. Maybe this isn’t so bad. He looks normal. Nice even. We’re just two regular adults, doing regular adult-y things like going on a real life date to a real life place. I might even have a drink! I am CLASSY 3. What if this is The One, and I met him on Tinder? The dates going swimmingly, you’re having a great time and then you realise one day you’ll have to explain how you met on a hook up app, awwwww modern love. When should I start referring to him as my tinder fella? Am I his tinderella?

4. You’re getting ahead of yourself. It’s been one date, surely your dry spell hasn’t affected you that badly. Sure, he’s made you laugh and bought you a drink but he hasn’t exactly proposed. OMG! I bet he’d make a great dad. I’m thinking a winter wedding. We’ll have to send out the invites soon. When do I get his Netflix?

5. Act cool. So it’s time to part ways. Don’t let him know you’ve named your three children or that you want a joint Spotify. Do we kiss? Lips?

Cheek? Do we hug? Do I awkwardly shake his hand?

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