The Wake, Issue 8, Spring 2015

VOLUME 14, ISSUE 8 | MAR 2 – MAR 22 The Root of All Evil PG. 14 Looking Down the Rabbit Hole PG. 18

THE WAKE STUDENT MAGAZINE | VOLUME 14, ISSUE 8 Galentine’s Day PG. 5

The Root of All Evil PG. 13

Whose Diversity Are We Representing? PG. 8

Q&A: The Riveter PG. 16

How “The Interview” Profits From Cruelty PG. 11 Real-Life Wonder Woman PG. 12

EDITORIAL: Editor-in-Chief Grace Birnstengel Managing Editor Lauren Cutshall

Copy Editors Sara Glesne, Lindsey Pastrorek

Cities Editor Emily Mongan

The Wake aims to provide a platform for voices that are often silenced on campus. This issue is proof!

Voices Editor Kayla McCombs

Faculty Adviser Chelsea Reynolds

Sound & Vision Editors Alex Nelson, Sara Glesne

Art Interns Breanna Vick, Breck Hickman, Andrew Tomten, Olivia Novotny, Cera Nelson

In our Cities section, we highlighted an important emerging student group called Whose Diversity? as they demanded the needs of students of color to be addressed by President Kaler.

PRODUCTION: Executive Director Kelcie McKenney

Social Media Manager Abby Richardson

Head Designer Amanda Gentle

Finance Manager Nels Haugen

Graphic Designers Kayla Lutteke, Erin Slayton, Becca Sugden

Distributors Ryan Condron, Chris Roebber

Web Manager Carter Gruss

Production Interns Sam Gordon, Caleb Vanden Boom, Alexa Orak

Public Relations/ Advertising Manager Jennifer Burns

THIS ISSUE: Photographers Ellen Schmidt, Kristen Wangsness, Mike Milligan, Victoria Campbell, Olivia Novotny, Olivia Riley Illustrators Caleb Vanden Boom, Breck Hickman, Max Smith, Cera Sylar, Breanna Vick, Andrew Tomten Contributing Writers Leanna Matt, Karl Witkowiak, Jeff Knoespel, Ellen Schmidt, Kristen Wangsness, Kevin, Beckman, Emma Klingler, Ryan Meaney, Ellie Rush, Paige Holm, Shawnna Stennes, Gina Van Thomme, Grace Birnstengel, Peter Holm, Shawnna Stennes, Gina Van Thomme, Peter Diamond, Chelsea Visser, Olivia Heusinkveld, Sam Jasenosky, Olivia Riley

How One Generation Told Another to Never Grow Up PG. 20

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

Editorial Interns Kevin Beckman, Olivia Riley, Shawnna Stennes

Art Directors Lizzie Goncharova, Max Smith

Looking Down the Rabbit Hole PG. 18

In Voices, we looked at the controversial film The Interview from a point of view other than “Free speech!

Rah, rah, rah!”

In Sound and Vision, we both try to make sure that BDSM’s first debut into mainstream media isn’t taken as fact, giving helpful tips toward having a healthy and safe sex life, BDSM or otherwise, AND present our newest, coolest finding: She Rock She Rock, a program that gets more young girls rocking on stage.

If you have an issue, organization, thought, or opinion that you think could use some more attention, please come to our next meeting (Monday, March 9 OR Monday, March 30, both at 8 p.m. in Folwell Room 12) and

©2014 The Wake Student Magazine.

All Rights Reserved.

Established in 2002, The Wake is a fortnightly independent magazine and registered student organization produced by and for students at the University of Minnesota.

The Wake Student Magazine 126 Coffman Memorial Union 300 Washington Avenue SE Minneapolis, MN 55455 The Wake was founded by Chrin Ruen & James DeLong.

either pitch a story about it, or write your own story about it! If you’re too shy, shoot me an email at gbirnstengel@wakemag.org. I’d love to hear from you.

Part of The Wake’s mission is diversity (of ideas, faces, stories, approaches), and we are always looking to improve. I know you’re smart. I know you have passions.

Come tell us about them.

Grace Birnstengel Editor-in-Chief

Disclaimer: The purpose of The Wake is to provide a forum in which students can voice their opinions. Opinions expressed in the magazine are not representative of the publication or university as a whole. To join the conversation email gbirnstengel@wakemag.org.

www.wakemag.org facebook.com/thewakemagazine @the_wake wake-mag.tumblr.com thewakemagazine

ONE-PAGE MAGAZINE

Mental Health Logic

WAKE RANTZ I hate being allergic to cats. There is nothing more horrible than being unable to snuggle, pet, cuddle, play with, tickle, and hug those adorable, little balls of fur without sneezing a million times and leaving with my eyes watering as if I’d just watched The Notebook. I’m obsessed with those kittens, but my body disagrees. Imagine having to resist every urge to nuzzle up to them out of the fear of having your throat swell up. Sometimes I can’t resist, sometimes I can, but every second of every day I wish I wasn’t allergic to the world’s most adorable puffballs of joy. Why, why, WHY do I have to be allergic to cats?

This isn’t Chicago. Why is it so windy in the winter? Are the subzero temperatures not enough?

Honestly. It’s getting ridiculous. Walking to class, my face goes numb and I can no longer think.

These days, I rarely look up from the ground to greet the people passing me by. It’s not worth looking both ways to cross the street. The cold winter wind has won; I have reverted to primal instincts. I go from point A to B as fast as possible. Why can’t winter itself move that quickly?

All I want to do is to give winter the finger—but my mittens hide it.

To the teachers who cannot teach: please stop.

I’m paying to learn. You are paid to teach. Yet there is no exchange when you teach me nothing. Buying an overpriced Starbucks latte is a better deal than this. Come on.

by Breck Hickman

Netflix Works on a Legend of Zelda TV Show

Yearning for Sunlit Love: A letter from the heart

By Lianna Matt

By Karl Witkowiak

The zest of spring, hot summer’s coming sign, You are protected from the cold before It damages your ripened, healthy line Connecting olden fam’ly tree of lore.

Earlier in February, Netflix announced that they’ll be working with Nintendo on a Legend of Zelda TV show.

Not much has yet been revealed about this show, except that it will take place in the same universe that the games do and involve the same characters, including protagonist Link and Princess Zelda. Netflix has pitched the show as something akin to a family-friendly Game of Thrones.

Surrounding soft and jaded layers lies Your core, held firm by truthful, knowing stone Primed by decades careful grooming realized.

My teeth have scraped the heavens off your bones.

Forgive my last said line for I was caught In thoughts about just you, not Punnet squares.

For taste and pref’rence well have made it aught That your taste and goodness are uncompared.

Thy em’rald incandescence dazzles all Avocado, ne’er fret of salsa’s lesser call.

Considering Sony’s recent announcement of a forthcoming Super Mario Brothers movie, it seems that Nintendo is becoming a little bit more lenient with their properties across other media (after the atrocious Super Mario Brothers movie in 1993 caused Nintendo to stop letting western companies handle their beloved characters). This is a big step for Nintendo and the success of this show could lead to more western-developed Nintendo media in the future.

36.84% ANNOYED WITH SOMETHING? Send your 10 to 150-word rant to rants@wakemag.org and yours might be in our next issue!

Which oscar nominated movie actually sucked?

Anything that wasn’t The Lego Movie

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31.58% 21.05% 10.53%

The Imitation Game

Boyhood

American Sniper

THE WAKE CITIES

GALENTINE’S DAY

FOR THE SINGLES WHO REFUSE TO LET VALENTINE’S DAY GET THEM DOWN

By Ellen Schmidt The history of Valentine’s Day can be traced back to St. Valentine or the Hallmark executives, depending on your feelings about the holiday. Whichever background you choose to believe, we all know that it can be a shot to a single lady’s ego. Let’s all take this moment to remove the I-Need-A-Valentine-To-MakeMe-Feel-Adequate mentality from our brains, and focus on the positive.

Next year, round up your gal pals and celebrate the girl-power fueled Galentine’s Day, created by Amy Poehler’s character Leslie Knope from NBC’s Parks and Recreation. As Leslie so wisely said, “Ovaries Before Brovaries.” This year’s Valentine’s Day was as entertaining as you let it be. If eating a pint of ice cream while crying to a crappy Nicholas Spark’s movie was your go-to evening, I hope you enjoyed those tears.

For those of you who don’t want to drown in 1,000 calories of hopelessness for Valentine’s Day 2016, Galentine’s Day is the fitting substitute.

Whatever you observe, choose to celebrate this day by appreciating the relationships in your life with the people you love.

A heart shaped pizza enjoyed while completing a puzzle.

The Riveter magazine’s Galentine’s Day kickstarter party at Prim & Proper featuring some fabulous lady journalists.

Take your Galentine’s Day to the next level with some cute accessories

These gals embraced their friendship for Valentine’s Day.

Decorating for the holiday, college style.

A “love potion” enjoyed by a gathering of gals and gents.

A Galentine’s Day party was the best way to celebrate the season of love

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THE WAKE CITIES

C-SPAN MEETS SNL

THE THEATER OF PUBLIC POLICY COMES TO THE HUMPHREY SCHOOL

By Kevin Beckman many priorities”) and a question from Humphrey School Dean Eric Schwartz about banning the study of user fees in public universities.

On Wednesday, Feb. 11, the Humphrey School of Public Affairs hosted the Theater of Public Policy, a four-year-old improv comedy troupe that seamlessly fuses together comedy and Minnesota politics.

Described by the Star Tribune as “C-SPAN suddenly swarmed by the cast of SNL,” the group’s performances combine conversations about Minnesota policy with completely unscripted comedy sketches featuring the issues discussed in the conversations.

Hosted by current Humphrey student Tane Danger, the show featured a discussion with state representatives Nick Zerwas (R-Elk River) and Dan Schoen (DFL-Cottage Grove) about the current legislative session and Minnesota politics in general.

Topics included the transition between majority parties in the House, voter turnout in 2014, the divide between rural and urban Minnesota, and aspects of Governor Dayton’s transportation plan. The represen -tatives then left the stage and opened the show up to the cast, who turned the issues into the focus of improvised comedy sketches.Sketches included an

The cast then performed a fittnal round of improv, leaving the audience and both representatives in stitches.

MAX SMITH

exaggeration of Rep. Zerwas’s criticism of the light rail project, with one performer claiming the train was the “work of the devil,” the divide between rural and urban Minnesota portrayed as a “Berlin Wall” running through Elk River and a musical number entitled “I Don’t Have to Care” which satirized voter apathy in 2014.

After the fittrst round of improv, the representatives retook the stage and answered questions from the audience about a range of policy issues, which included Sunday liquor sales, the possibility of a tuition freeze at the U (which Rep. Zerwas called “a priority amongst

After the show, the representatives said the event is both meaningful and a lot of fun.

“No matter where your politics are, we want people to be engaged,” Rep. Schoen said. “That’s what really matters.”

“We talk about a lot of really dry issues and it’s just great to make light of them,” Rep. Zerwas said, who is doing the show for the second time. “We’re right in the middle of session right now, and I haven’t laughed that hard in months. So either that means my life is really sad, or it means that the show was a lot of fun.”

Upcoming shows can be found on the Theater’s website, www.T2P2.net.

GROCERIES IN TRANSIT THE TWIN CITIES MOBILE MARKET TAKES FRESH FOOD ON THE GO

By Kristen Wangsness 2015 may not have the hover cars that Back to the Future predicted, but Dr. Emmet Brown himself probably never anticipated that in the future we would be able to grocery shop on a bus. The Twin Cities Mobile Market is an endeavor that has turned a retired metro transit bus into a single aisled grocery store. The space is limited but the fruit is fresh, the people are nice, and

it moves faster than any other grocery store around.

A number of neighborhoods in the Twin Cities only have corner stores or gas stations as their closest food source, full of a limited array of unhealthy food items.

The Mobile Market brings healthy foods at reasonable prices and grocery store quality freshness to these underserved communities.

The Mobile Market a program of the Amherst H. Wilder Foundation, a non-profittt organization that is dedicated to providing a variety of community services such as mental health resources, education, housing, social adjustment, childhood, and aging programs, and now fresh groceries to those who need them most. The bus is staffed by a combination of paid workers and volunteers, and all of the food is from the same supplier as Cub Foods.

KRISTEN WANGSNESS

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A variety of fresh fruits and vegetables are offered at the Mobile Market, including mangoes and pears, which aren’t even available at the Dinkytown Target

Express. Also stocked are areas for lean meats, grains, dairy, and staple foods like rice, beans, canned goods and healthy cereals. The bus fittrst began running in the middle of December, and expanded to its full route in January.

Since opening, the Mobile Market has experienced far greater a response than expected, with over 900 customers and enthusiasm from the communities it visits.

Talks are in the works for a connection between the Mobile Market and local producers, with the hopes that more seasonal, local, fresher-than-grocery-store produce will soon be available on the bus, in addition to educational programs like recipe demos, cooking classes, and nutrition education.

The bus is in operation fittve days a week, routinely visiting eighteen different stops throughout Saint Paul.

If you want to catch the bus, the stop schedule is available online on the Wilder Foundation website.

THE WAKE CITIES

THE MILLENNIAL DRIVE THE EXCITING YET AFFORDABLE CARS OF THIS YEAR’S TWIN CITIES AUTO SHOW

By Jeff Knoespel Walk into a car dealership these days and ask the dealers what terrifittes them most — the answer is probably Millennials. We are unfathomable. They have no idea how to sell us a car because for the past several years, rumors have been mounting that say us young people are content with our smartphones and social media, and that we prefer fittxie bikes to four wheels.

But at the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) 2015 conference, MTV released a research study that found the exact opposite. According to the study, Millennials have not fallen out of love with the car and, in fact, we are more passionate about automobiles than the generations before us.

The study found that 70 percent of our generation enjoys driving, and three out of four of us cannot live without a car. A whopping 72 percent of us would rather give up texting for a week than our car.

But what exactly do we love about cars? The study says that individuality and control are the most important things about a car. Sure we want fuel efficiency and reliability, but we really want our cars to make us happy.

The Twin Cities plays host to an Auto Show every spring, showcasing the newest and most exciting cars available to buy in the cities. This year’s 42nd annual show is held March 7-15 at the Minneapolis Convention Center. Over 450 models will be on display and open for the public not only to look at, but also to sit in and poke around under the hood. The MTV survey found that 1 out of 3 Millenials is planning to buy or lease a car in the next 6 months. We need a lot out of a car, and the Auto Show is a great opportunity to shop for the perfect car and compare different models all in one room. Here is a taste of some affordable yet fun cars that will be at the show to keep our Millennial engines revving.

MAZDA3 Mazda is a brand that has often aimed at the younger generation. They build safe, reliable and efficient cars, but they also focus on great styling and sharp handling.

The new 3 is just as safe, cheaper, better equipped, and more fun to drive than its competitors. Plus, it looks like an Italian exotic with its sleek and curvy body.

CERA SYLAR

FIAT 500 Fiat is a new name for most of us. The last time they were on US shores, people fittgured Fiat stood for “Fix It Again, Tony” because they were so unreliable. Since their return, Fiat has made quite a different impression with their retro-revival 500. The 500 is a fun and compact city car that looks cooler than a pair of Ray-Bans on Tom Cruise.

JEEP RENEGADE This brand new Jeep is a newcomer for the affordable utility market. Its funky yet rugged looks have gained a lot of favor for the compact crossover. It is not as big or thirsty as a typical Jeep, but it is still has practical space and more than enough winter capability for our icy winters.

FORD FIESTA While most people think small cars can’t be any fun, the Fiesta proves them wrong. This party on wheels is a blast to drive at an affordable price, especially the ST model. Hailed as a giant killer, no car offers more fun in a package this small.

VOLKSWAGEN GOLF GTI German cars are notorious for being too serious, but Volkswagens have always had an amusing character.

The Golf GTI adds a splash of sporty style to a sensi-

ble hatchback, and creates something truly desirable.

Perhaps the best all-rounder money can buy, the GTI has subtle details like a red outlined grill and attractive plaid seats.

TOYOTA FR-S/SUBARU BRZ Co-developed by Toyota and Subaru, the FR-S and BRZ are virtually the same car. They are an aggressive return to the basics of what make driving fun: two doors, rear-wheel-drive, a long nose and a short back. They are textbook sports cars, but for a quarter of the price.

MAZDA MIATA MX-5 Whatever you look for in a car, the Miata is always the answer. A modern take on the classic British roadster, the Miata is made to be stupidly simple but brilliantly fun. Its efficient engine will not hurt your wallet, and its astounding dependability will never fail to get you where you need to go. Even if it is dubbed a “chick car” (whatever that is), anyone on earth can enjoy it. The cloth roof can be lowered as fast as you can undo one clip, and suddenly you are exposed to the greatness of open top driving.

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THE WAKE CITIES

WHOSE DIVERSITY ARE WE REPRESENTING? AN INSIDE LOOK AT THE WHOSE DIVERSITY? SIT-IN AND ITS REPERCUSSIONS

by Emma Kingler minority groups in the University and the measures necessary to transform that representation, the students waited in a room adjacent to President Kaler’s office for the chance to discuss their demands with him.

“We received more than 700 signatures from faculty, staff and students in support of our demands in just a few days,” said Nuñez. Whose Diversity?’s decision to present the points when they did stemmed from a series of conflicts over past attempts at discussion. In the last year, Whose Diversity? staged a number of protests, receiving sanctions accusing them of violating the student code of conduct. This past December, they met with President Kaler to discuss several pressing issues.

“At this meeting, President Kaler made a commitment to end racialized crime alerts by the end of the year [2014],” Nuñez said.

However, he did not follow through on the promise, provoking Whose Diversity? to take action in a more direct manner.

MAX SMITH

There has been a lot of coverage of the sit-in that occurred on Feb. 9 in Morrill Hall regarding issues of diversity and representation in the University. The group at the center of these discussions is Whose Diversity?, an organization of undergraduate and graduate students from marginalized communities and others who support their cause. One of the group’s organizers, Joanna Nuñez, spoke with The Wake about the details of the sit-in and the events that led up to the arrest of the 13 members of the group.

Whose Diversity? initiated the sit-in at approximately 11:30 a.m. that morning. Armed with a list of demands for the administration regarding the experiences of

8 | MARCH 2 - MARCH 22

Once inside the office, the group stated that they would not be leaving until a written commitment was made to address the eight demands presented, according to Nuñez.

The goal of the sit-in was to force a discussion of the issues they felt were being neglected by the administration. While they did receive a written response, the members remained in the building until after it closed, even after receiving threats of arrest on the grounds of trespassing.

When asked why they did not leave, Nuñez opened up about the experience in the office. “We stayed because a written response to our demands was given to us minutes before the end of the business day. President Kaler had been in closed-door meetings with his staff all day, not in negotiations with us, preparing this document. Yet we were given almost no time to discuss their response to us. President Kaler left at 5 p.m. after reading us his response, showing no interest in our response or in ‘negotiating.’ We asked the administration for time to deliberate, at which point the administration told us that the office was now official-

ly closed and that we were trespassing,” she said.

At 6 p.m., they were given a warning and three members exited. The remaining 13 were arrested at approximately 7:30 p.m.

Whose Diversity? believes the lack of proper communication between their group and the administration during the sit-in is representative of the response to their efforts to achieve change over the last year.

Nuñez said that the neglect shown to the group continued in the email sent out by President Kaler following the sit-in.

“It portrayed the events as though we were engaged in negotiations the entire time,” Nuñez said. “We were not. There was no discussion of [the] force used by police to keep us out of President Kaler’s office, or of intimidation tactics like…denying members of our collective access to food and the restroom while [we] were there.”

Further attempts were made to exclude Whose Diversity? from the discussions when President Kaler called a meeting to discuss the sit-in with leaders of the student community. The group itself was not invited, but many of its members are from the Student Cultural Centers and were a strong presence at the meeting.

“We are not a ‘fringe’ group,” Nuñez said. “We are connected to the needs and desires of many students across the University who know the marginalization that we speak of.”

When asked what she believes is the biggest problem with representation in this university, Nuñez said, “Administrators make decisions in the name of ‘diversity’ but they fail to listen to the voices of the people who represent that ‘diversity.’ They want diversity at this University without wanting our bodies here. They want diversity but they are unwilling to offer us protection; instead, they criminalize and silence us.”

With the events of late, one could wonder how Whose Diversity? and their supporters could remain optimistic about the change for which they are advocating.

“We do this work because we believe we can transform this University. This sit-in has already created alliances we could not have imagined prior to the sitin,” Nuñez said. “The University is yet to see the power of student, staff, and faculty voices. It should act now, and stand on the side of justice with us.”

THE WAKE VOICES

HOW TO NOT BE A DUMB CELEBRITY ON THE INTERNET AVOID HURTING YOUR OWN REPUTATION THROUGH MISTAKES ON THE INTERNET

By Olivia Heusinkveld

any potentially negative things to be said about you or your surroundings. One example of this problem is Robin Thicke’s infamous picture with Lana Scolaro, which included a mirror behind the two that caught Thicke grabbing Scolaro’s rear-end.

This simple mistake cost Thicke both a blow to his reputation and allegedly resulted in his divorce from his wife of nine years (although, his creepy music might have helped in causing either or both of those problems).

Being famous may very well be one of the most difficult jobs on the planet. On a daily basis, celebrities have to tread very carefully in order to preserve their reputation and their elite financial statuses. As technology becomes more prominent in our present society, celebrities have to work even harder to make sure they don’t start a scandal that could get the entire Internet buzzing. Well, work hard no longer, for I have seven easy steps to help you avoid being a dumb celebrity on the Internet!

1. LOOK AT THE WHOLE PICTURE When you are famous, there is so much on your plate that it can become difficult to see past the end of your nose and recognize the world around you. Although ignorance is bliss, there are times where it is important to spend time looking around to see if there are

2. FACT CHECK Despite the fact that the Internet might be a burden when keeping your reputation intact, the Internet can also be an incredibly useful tool when trying to avoid Internet scandals in the first place. If you are going to state an opinion about a hot-button issue on the Internet, use the Internet to make sure you know that what you are saying doesn’t sound like an arbitrary statement typed on a keyboard by a monkey. Trust me, although it CERA SYLAR may take time to construct informed thoughts and arguments, it is better to spend time preparing respectable arguments before a scandal rather than spending time explaining your mistakes later.

3. IS THIS SOMETHING SOMEONE WHO IS NOT A CELEBRITY WOULD DO? As a celebrity, it is easy to feel immune to legal consequences. Although it is true that celebrities are less likely to get in severe trouble for their illegal actions, this does not mean that their reputations are immune from the consequences. Before posting an image or tweeting a thought, ask yourself: Is this something that someone who is not a celebrity would likely post?

If the tweet is a complaint about your Bentley (like Demi Lovatto), or the image is of your 13-year-old son holding a bottle of Gin (like Madonna), the answer to that question is a resounding no.

4. KNOW WHO YOU ARE TALKING TO If you want to partake in grown-up-adult-sexy-funtime-style activities on the Internet, it is important to always ask yourself three questions: 1. Is the person who you are contacting of legal consenting age? 2.

Is the person consenting to these messages? 3. Are you without a monogamous relationship with anyone besides the person whom you are messaging? If the answer to any of the above questions is “no,” then stop where you are. If you proceed, you may face the consequences experienced by either James Franco, when he tried to hook-up with a 17-year-old girl online, or Anthony Weiner, when his last name became the most fitting name of all time.

5. GET A SECOND OPINION One of the coolest things about being a celebrity is that you have your own personal PR team. In case you were unaware, these people are paid to keep your reputation looking pristine. Before you post anything, it may be a good idea to get a second opinion on whatever you are thinking about posting.

This will help you refrain from being a repeat offender of being a dumb celebrity on the Internet like Amanda Bynes or Iggy Azalea.

6. TRY MAKING REAL APOLOGIES If many people criticize something you did on the Internet, try listening to their concerns. If you understand where you went wrong, deliver a formal apology where you can explain your thoughts behind your actions but ultimately recognize that you were in the wrong. Do not, however, give a sarcastic apology.

Despite attempts like those of Michael Che, these half-hearted apologies only make people angrier.

7. BE A GOOD PERSON If none of the above tips have worked for you, you must turn to the most drastic measure of all: being a good person. This might be the most difficult of all the steps, but it may be the most effective. In order to be a good person, you must be respectful to others and understanding of your mistakes. This step is incredibly difficult when you are famous, because who needs perspective when you have lots of money?

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THE WAKE VOICES

FIFTY SHADES OF NO WAY

CONTROVERSY SURROUNDS THE DECADE’S MOST HOTLY-DEBATED EROTICA

By Chelsea Visser Since 2011, EL James’s 50 Shades of Grey has exposed millions of people to the concept of BDSM, from something as relatively vanilla as blindfolds to the stereotypical whips and chains that most people conjure up when they hear the word “kink.” Regarded as “mommy porn” by newscasters and ridiculed as disgusting by assorted Amazon reviews, whatever your opinion, everyone is talking about Anastasia Steele and the enigmatic Christian Grey.

abusive than a healthy dominant/submissive relationship. A basic Google search will provide a helpful checklist for you: Christian Grey is a jealous partner.

He isolates Anastasia from her friends and family.

He is charming in public, but cold and calculating in private. His infamous contract leaves no room for negotiating boundaries, controlling Ana and expecting things from her that are completely unrealistic.

Christian Grey is charming and charismat—and abusive.

Now, I’m the last person to judge people on what they do in the bedroom, but 50 Shades has been raked over the coals by the BDSM community. (For those of you playing along at home, that acronym stands for Bondage, Dominance/Submission, Sadism/Masochism.)

Kink can be healthy, and safe, and fun, but the scenes in 50 Shades most assuredly aren’t. The big motto throughout the kink community is “Safe, Sane, Consensual.” The scenes carried out between Anastasia and Christian are exactly none of these things.

So why does it matter? It’s fiction, right? It doesn’t have to be totally accurate! This is fair, and I wouldn’t have an issue with it if this wasn’t the only exposure to BDSM a large portion of the population has had. But interest in kink has exploded, right down to the adult toys marketed under the 50 Shades brand. And that means that the people that have found themselves interested in spicing things up in the bedroom are using a dangerous, abusive relationship as their model.

In fact, the relationship portrayed in the 50 Shades books appears more like one that is domestically

BDSM revolves around trust. Nobody should ever be afraid in a BDSM relationship, and if you are, that’s what safe-words are for. If you and your partner

negotiate and make your boundaries clear, kink can be a great thing. If not, there can be serious physical, emotional, and mental repercussions.

This isn’t exactly the venue to give you sex tips a la Cosmo, but I will say this: the Queer Student Cultural Center runs a group called KinkyU on Monday nights at seven.

BRECK HICKMAN

The stuff you learn there will probably make your inner goddess happier than anything Mr. Grey does in his playroom.

Feeling lost about what BDSM is? Visit our website at http://www.wakemag.org/voices/fifty-shades-of-no-way/ to find out more.

THE RISE OF SAD-VERTISING

IS THE SUPER BOWL THE BEST TIME AND PLACE FOR SERIOUS, SHOCKING ADS?

By Madison Bloomquist

I have a confession: Super Bowl commercials are my guilty pleasure. I can tear up over horses and puppies in Budweiser ads, the ridiculousness of Doritos commercials leave me nearly hysterical, and I love to see which actor currently sold out to represent Pepsi.

AdWeek may rank the best ten after the game, but I do so in my head while watching.

This year, though, several companies took a different approach. While Budweiser still melted my heart, others used the “shock factor”—a dramatic or serious approach to address important issues. In Nationwide Insurance’s now-famous ad, a young boy described experiences he missed after dying in a preventable home accident. No More, an anti-domestic-violence coalition, partnered with the NFL to create a public service announcement. In the PSA, a woman pretends to order a pizza on the phone while actually calling 911.

Many other commercials adopted similar approaches.

Twitter exploded with Super Bowl fans both outraged and supportive of the new styles. Many wondered why companies threw away well-loved funny ads and replaced them with somber stories.

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Advertisements are first and foremost created to be successful. Commercials are meant to draw attention to a group or company and prominently stick out in audiences’ minds. The Wall Street Journal reported that Nationwide issued a statement Feb. 1, 2015 saying, “Nationwide ran an ad during the Super Bowl that started a fierce conversation. The sole purpose of this message was to start a conversation, not sell insurance.” As for No More, the PSA was created as part of the NFL’s new call to action against domestic violence.

It was also used to “start a conversation.” The tactics worked. On the Monday after the Super Bowl, I heard more people talking about the “dead Nationwide kid” than the dramatic final plays of the game. The talk may not be as on track as Nationwide hoped, but the conversation is definitely happening.

Some companies did follow a more traditional Super Bowl commercial route, and many appreciated the variety and the positive intent of more serious ads. I’ll be honest: the Nationwide commercial made me a little uncomfortable. While the message is clear and the conversation does need to happen, the Super Bowl

NATIONWIDE VIA YOUTUBE

may not have been the best time and place. However, I fully support No More and its significance. Domestic violence is a problem that needs to be addressed and thought about every day—starting with the Super Bowl. As for my Doritos and Pepsi ridiculousness, I’ll just have to wait until next year.

THE WAKE VOICES

HOW “THE INTERVIEW” PROFITS FROM CRUELTY A MOVIE REINFORCING AMERICA’S MISINFORMATION

By Sam Jasenosky health care system, no steady supply of food, no tolerated views outside of communist thought and, most desperately, no escape.

One of the country’s founding commitments was universal health care. However, North Korean defectors tell stories of inadequately educated doctors who work with outdated equipment. Better medical service can be bought by cash or food gifts. But considering many people in the country cannot afford necessary medicine for illnesses, it’s unlikely many of them are able to afford additional bribes for adequate care.

ANDREW TOMTEN

When it comes to recommendations, Netflix has been letting me down lately. For most of February, instead of suggesting even more chances to keep up with the Kardashians, Netflix has been throwing Sony’s hotly-discussed “The Interview” my way.

I refuse to watch it because it makes a mockery of the horrific living conditions in which North Koreans live, while capitalizing on the degradation of an entire nation. The film’s trivialization of North Korean helplessness is similar to taunting an abused child about their bruises—callous and ignorant.

In order to understand the audacity of the film, it’s important to first know about the country in which the majority of it takes place. North Korea is a nation of approximately 25 million people led by the communist dictator Kim Jong-un. The country has been run by the Kim family since the end of the Korean War in 1953, when the two Koreas were separated by an area now called the demilitarized zone (DMZ).

Under the current dictator, there is no reliable

The reason doctors are so desperate for food is because it’s difficult to find a reliable supply of it.

This isn’t a new development for the country. In the 1990s, following the collapse of the Soviet Union— at the time North Korea’s main ally and supporter, North Koreans experienced a devastating famine.

An estimated three million people starved while the government built tens of thousands of statues and monuments idolizing Kim Jong-il and Kim Il-sung, the current dictator’s father and grandfather, respectively. Human rights organizations have heard reports of conditions being so dire that starving citizens had to sift through animal dung for kernels of corn to eat.

While food is necessary for survival, the government focuses more attention on protecting the state than prioritizing meals for its citizens.

From womb to tomb, North Koreans are indoctrinated to believe that the Kim family is so divine that they cannot be questioned. Starting in kindergarten, teachers tell children stories of Kim Jong-il dedicating his life to bettering the lives of North Koreans, while throwing wooden “grenades” at a sign of the “cunning American wolf.” Criticism or critique of the regime isn’t tolerated. In fact, not many freedoms of expression are tolerated in the country at all. Arbitrary arrest—or being arrested with no evidence of committing a crime—is common.

Those who commit so-called “anti-state offenses,” or opinions that differ from the regime’s, are taken to political prison camps. Prisoners at these camps can be held for indefinite amounts of time. The government also casts “guilt by association” on two other generations of the prisoner’s family, meaning three generations of one family may be imprisoned without a release date.

One of the most suffocating feats categorized as an offense worthy of arrest is leaving the country. Exiting North Korea without permission from the government is illegal. Even those brave enough to try to escape from the country into bordering China in the north are often captured by officials and returned to North Korea, where they face imprisonment or torture depending on how harshly the government assesses what they did while out of the country.

At this point, you may be thinking: ‘Okay...but “The Interview” doesn’t talk about any of that...’

That’s my point.

What “The Interview” does is no different from cultural appropriation: It benefits from parts of a culture that are easily made fun of, such as Korean accents or playing off of naive North Korean beliefs that the Kim family is sent from God, without bringing any awareness to the struggles and, in this case, horrors, millions of innocent people are going through at this very moment.

The film ultimately reduces and cements North Korea’s position as a joke in the eyes of the West.

The film fails to be satirical because satire uses humor to illustrate a point. Instead, “The Interview” illustrates literal butt jokes. The film is a racist interpretation of an isolated country through the oppressive lens of Hollywood, and it only exists to reinforce American misinformation regarding international crises.

People who watch the film tell me they consider the dictator to be more ridiculous after because of how extremely neurotic and bizarre the character is portrayed. My concern with this conclusion is this: if Americans begin to dismiss the government of North Korea as ridiculous, what will they think about the millions of indoctrinated citizens who believe the Kim family is responsible for any and all happiness in their lives?

When North Koreans finally see liberation from the rule of the Kim family, they’re going to discover their suffering went unnoticed because we were too busy laughing at Seth Rogen’s “me so solly” jokes.

WWW.WAKEMAG.ORG | 11

THE WAKE VOICES

REAL-LIFE WONDER WOMAN

THE STORY BEHIND THE PAINTING

By Olivia Riley

My breasts had nurtured two boys, defined my femininity, and now they were gone. I felt like I had been stripped of my magic powers. My sons were 3 and 6 at the time. I had my double mastectomy on my fortieth birthday, and later did eight rounds of chemotherapy, and it really knocked me down. I was losing my hair, and my energy, and I got really good at vomiting.”

“One of the biggest challenges was explaining to my sons what was happening to me. I told my boys, just close your eyes. My voice is the same, I might look really different, but I’ll sing you a song, and you won’t need to worry if I’m feeling good or not. And that helped a lot.”

Another helpful tool on the journey of Katy’s recovery was the therapy of writing. Katy and her husband wrote haikus explaining their feelings about what was happening to their family, as did her sons:

“Our Mama is a beautiful garden full of colorful flowers A weed called cancer grew in her fertile garden we don’t like cancer Mama lost her hair like dead autumn leaves it fell looks like a fighter”

OLIVIA RILEY

The Wonder Women exhibit that was recently at the Katherine E. Nash gallery at the West Bank’s Regis Center for Art was exciting, inspiring, and imaginative.

But even among the wall of red high heels and the profusion of bright colors and cutting humor, a seven foot tall portrait of the exhibit’s namesake stood out.

The model for this particular incarnation of Wonder Woman was Katy Tessman Stanoch – musician, author, teacher, mother, and breast cancer survivor.

Through phone conversations, email exchanges, and discussion of her own written narrative, Katy told me her story.

“The diagnosis of breast cancer was heart wrenching.

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And haikus weren’t all Katy wrote. “At the end of my journey, I realized I’d written this book for kids. I’d searched for a book aimed at children that instilled hope and explained the basics of cancer, but I never found that book. I spend a lot of time outside with my sons, hiking in the woods and enjoying the great outdoors. I explained to them that cancer is a bad weed in my garden. The garden analogy made it easier for them to understand.”

them over and over again. To me, Wonder Woman is what every woman should be: beautiful, strong, and caring.”

“When Barbara Porwit told me about her idea for painting breast cancer survivors as superheroes I had an Aha moment. After surgeries and treatments, I felt like a superhero and I knew Barbara would bring her out onto canvas beautifully.”

“Barbara,” a graduate of the U of M as well as an artist, “had a dozen women in her life that had been diagnosed, and she needed to do something about it as an artist. And so she got one of my photographs [dressed as Wonder Woman from a previous project], and a seven and a half foot tall canvas, and went at it.”

Katy and Barbara collaborated during the painting process, with Barbara adding distinctive details such as the comic-style “pow!” background. “She altered my conservative costume to have an embellished golden eagle on the breast, more reflective to the Lynda Carter Wonder Woman, whom I admire. Barbara changed my black boots into red and white kickin’ ass boots and adorned my crown with the breast cancer awareness pink ribbon, a silent statement saying a cure for breast cancer needs to be found.

“My personal story is very similar to others’ cancer journeys - basically, it’s just plain awful. I trust the seven-foot tall painting by Barbara Porwit tells her own story, one that’s very relatable to anyone going through a struggle. I believe the portrait of Wonder Woman Katy has magic powers - she conjures strength in those who’ve lost theirs. Her alluring stare tells the viewer ‘You got this’ and encourages people to keep up the fight.”

You can visit Katy’s site at http://www.rhythmelodic .com/mamasgarden.html to learn more about her book and music, and see her haikus and other projects.

“Our Mama Is A Beautiful Garden tells our family’s breast cancer story through the sweet and innocent voices of my two young sons. My hope is that our book will help give other families the strength, courage and optimism they need during an awful time that can feel quite hopeless.”

As the conversation turned to the painting, Katy told me about the inspiration and process of its creation: “During my recovery, my sister started giving me Wonder Woman books, and I’m like ‘whoa, this is perfect!’ And my boys loved them, and we would read OLIVIA RILEY

FEATURE:

THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL A LENGTHY LEGACY IN LATE NIGHT METAL RADIO

By Sara Glesne Photos By Mike Milligan

Enter a side door tucked between a parking lot and a narrow brick alleyway in Cedar-Riverside, take the elevator up, and enter into a studio that has broadcast what is likely the longest running metal radio show in the U.S., if not the world: the Root of All Evil.

The weekly five hour-long program is hosted

by Minneapolis’ volunteer-based, community radio station KFAI. While the station hosts a borderline bewildering variety of programming from a female-fronted folk hour to Hmong and Oromo-language specialty shows, Sunday mornings from 1 to 6 a.m. have been reserved since 1987 for metal alone. Black, symphonic, death, thrash, grindcore, old school, and local underground metal acts are all piped through FM signals 90.3 and 106.7 in this timeslot.

The show originated as one of the many projects of Earl Root, now-deceased, but a longstanding figurehead in the Twin Cities metal community.

While changes have inevitably occurred with a rotation in show hosts, the current Root of All Evil crew carries on Root’s original mission in their own ways: keeping the music coming while allowing a revolving door of oddballs to fill the airwaves in a fashion inspired by Root’s past programming.

While the six members of the Root’s current ragtag team of metal heads and IT nerds have varying abilities and distinct holes in their knowledge of how to run a late night specialty show, the music continues to bring them together and keep them awake into the wee hours of Sundays.

THE WAKE FEATURE John Allen, current Root host, describes the connection between metal fans as a family feeling. “I don’t see Britney Spears fans hanging out at a bar and saying to each other, ‘Hey man, good to see you.’ It just doesn’t happen,” Allen said. “There’s people that hate each other and people that are into it for different reasons, but I think there’s a lot more camaraderie in that genre than in any other music scene that I’m aware of.”

Allen has helped host the show for over eight years now. For a time he ran the show with Root himself, then with former host Tim Honebrink until Honebrink’s departure from KFAI in September 2013, and now with members of the current crew.

Brian Hueller, another of Root’s former cohosts, continues to contribute to the show, just less regularly due to limitations imposed by his job and family’s schedules. A longtime metal head, while Hueller says he misses being a bigger part of the show, he trusts the current crew with Root’s project. Hueller said, “Dedication I would say, describes that crew down there to a t. I’m really proud that they’re doing the show and that I don’t have to worry about it when I’m doing it.”

He owned Root Cellar Records on Snelling Avenue in St. Paul, which was named the Best Bargain Vinyl in the Twin Cities by City Pages in 2001. While the store boasted collectibles in the double and triple digit price range across a swath of genres, it also featured $1 and $2 bargain bins in the “dungeon” downstairs, a rarity for record pricing even in the early aughts.

That store was where Root met one of the show’s current and most consistent contributors, Vern DeFoe. Thirty-four now, DeFoe immersed himself in metal through and beyond his teenage years.

“From 15 to 21, I pretty much did nothing but obsess about metal,” said DeFoe. “I didn’t have girlfriends. I didn’t drink. I didn’t do drugs.” While he lived in Duluth at the time, DeFoe said he visited the St. Paul store whenever he could, where he says he blew through entire high school paychecks buying CDs and T-shirts.

“At the record store, that’s where we talked. It’s where I learned that he wasn’t a douche bag. He learned that I wasn’t a douche bag,” said DeFoe of Root. “That’s where we became, friends.”

Eventually Root invited him onto the show and while DeFoe has had lapses in his appearances

Dedication I would say, describes that crew down there to a T. I’m really proud that they’re doing the show and that I don’t have to worry about it when I’m doing it.

ROOTS THAT RUN DEEP Root’s legacy extends beyond the airwaves.

His thrash-metal band Disturbed (not to be confused with the nü-metal act out of Chicago) gained a loyal following after forming in ’86. In 2001 he joined symphonic-metal outfit Aesma Daeva on rhythm guitar. Throughout chemo, radiation, and stem cell treatments Root performed and toured across the U.S. and Canada with the band in 2007, the year before his death.

Root also ran a label, The Root of All Evil Records, which continues to function under Brian Huebner, vocalist for local dark-metal band Cold Colours. To this day the label’s website contains one of the most up-to-date concert guides for DIY metal shows in the Twin Cities. Along with promoting and sponsoring metal shows in the Twin Cities, Root helped jumpstart the now defunct Milwaukee Metal Festival.

14 | MARCH 2 - MARCH 22

and his reasons for them, he remains one of the show’s largest contributors of musical content.

The store closed in late 2004 due to a mounting pile of debt Root faced as he waded through medical bills surrounding the treatment of his cancer, says Hueller.

While he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 2001 after noticing growths on his arm and neck, Root continued to play and curate music for his community over his final years. In a 2006 interview Root told the Pioneer Press how much he disliked discussing his illness. “People’s perceptions of you change, and I have to run through all the b.s. with everybody about what’s happening and how I’m feeling,” he said. “It reminds me of my mortality, and who wants to be reminded of that?”

Hueller recalls the passion Root brought to both his radio and his bands’ shows even through illness. “Even when he was sick and he was on the

air, you wouldn’t know it. Even when he was on stage playing. That was Earl,” he said.

On his deathbed in May 2008, Root did all he could to secure the future of the show. He requested that DeFoe remain a part of the show in order to best ensure that the Root’s mission be continued by providing a platform for local underground metal acts like those in DeFoe’s personal music circles as a Twin Cities metal musician. Allen says he also made a promise to Root in his last days that he would do everything in his power to keep the Root of All Evil running.

“I have a singular mission and that is to keep the show going,” said Allen.

A NEW INCARNATION And the show did not die when Root did. It landed in the hands of his cohorts of varying lengths: Honebrink, DeFoe, and Allen.

Beyond the loss of a friend and father figure, a struggle confronted by the remaining Root crew was how to proceed in the absence of their founder’s widespread popularity. According to current cohost Elena Erofeeva, in the months

THE WAKE FEATURE following Root’s death listeners called in and questioned whether the show should continue under the original banner of The Root of All Evil in the absence of its namesake. Erofeeva says the crew asked Root’s widow, Nancy, and she gave them her blessing. “As far as I’m concerned she was the only person who could have said no,” said Erofeeva.

While the name stuck, some of the fan base dwindled for a myriad of reasons. The formatting of the show changed, as former host Honebrink at times refused to take requests that didn’t fit his vision for the show and he limited the variety by prioritizing heavier thrash metal over other more early-hour-friendly genres like doom and symphonic.

“Tim didn’t do a bad job. He actually did a great job as far as what he did to the radio show, but he wouldn’t do requests,” said DeFoe. While Honebrink was ultimately banned from KFAI in September 2013 for repeated offensive remarks on- and off-air, DeFoe insists that Honebrink played an important role in keeping Root’s show alive after its founder’s death. Some other crew members remain uncomfortable with his actions to this day.

Now perhaps the biggest obstacle the Root faces is reaching an audience comparable to the show’s former following. “As it turns out, we discovered once we started promoting the show there’s a huge number of people who think that the show stopped back when Earl died,” said photographer

Throughout chemo, radiation, and stem cell treatments Root performed and toured across the U.S. and Canada with the band in 2007, the year before his death.

and Root contributor Mike Milligan. But the crew has some tricks up their sleeves.

KEEPING THE METAL COMING In spite of setbacks, such as funding concerns that have begun to draw into question the ultimate fate of KFAI, the dynamic weirdos of the Root are far from running short on ideas. For KFAI’s March pledge drive they’re giving away tickets, freshly designed posters by local tattoo artist Adam Sward, and new T-shirts. The crew’s eternal go-getter Erofeeva even pursued the production of a limited edition Root of All Evil liquor, but was deterred by the high cost.

Simpler plans and dreams include preparing the show for conversion into a Podcast format, which would still require a financial boost and distinct limitations apart from the current FCC ones KFAI and the Root currently broadcast under.

What remains most important to the crew is keeping the show alive, one way or another. “We have a deep bench. We have redundancy,” said Milligan. “We have stuff in place so if one person leaves, it’s going to keep going.”

WWW.WAKEMAG.ORG | 15

THE WAKE Q&A

Q&A: THE RIVETER

By Grace Birnstengel The Riveter is a Minneapolis-based publication that focuses on longform storytelling by women.

Founders Kaylen Ralph of Illinois and Joanna Demkiewicz of Iowa met as students of the University of Missouri while working for the city newspaper. Frustrated with the lack of female journalists given a space to write in areas other than beauty and fashion, as well as the media’s obsession with trend pieces and click bait articles, Ralph and Demkiewicz made their dream publication come to life.

Natalie Cheng, also a Mizzou graduate in journalism and business, hopped on the team as The Riveter’s CEO. With two issues already in print, The Riveter wants to start putting out issues on a regular schedule. On Galentine’s Day (February 13), The Riveter’s Kickstarter campaign launched not to raise funds to starts something, but to raise funds to give readers a new copy of The Riveter on a consistent basis.

THE WAKE: Are you happy with your decision to base The Riveter in Minneapolis?

JD: I used to visit Minneapolis in the summers and stuff because my dad moved here when I was 12. I was pretty familiar with the city in the sense of what it’s like to grow up here. I thought that the community cultivated a creative brainthurst. I remember meeting my dad’s friends and everyone had an idea and was doing their own thing.

KR: We were thinking Chicago or Minneapolis.

We knew not New York.

THE WAKE: Why? Just too big?

KR: No, not too big, but I just think there’s a national trend right now to reconsider what we think about the Midwest in terms of a creative hub, and I think we’re at the front of a curve toward a lot of creative industries and powerhouses basing themselves here.

There’s a certain way of doing business here that fits with our mission a little better.

JD: Yeah, we wanted to branch out of what was traditional about women in journalism, so why not branch out from the traditional hub? Do we have to go to New York City to make this a successful entity? No, we’ve never believed that.

KR: So far, we’re not pleased with the media that’s available, so why would we go to the place that it’s coming from?

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PHOTO BY: VICTORIA CAMPBELL FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: KAYLEN RALPH, NATALIE CHENG, JOANNA DEMKIEWICZ

THE WAKE: The Riveter has held several events in Minneapolis including one at Public Functionary in the fall, and a Galentine’s Day Kickstarter launch at Proper & Prim. Is this something you’re planning on continuing?

that’s a bit of an insecurity for me. But most of the time I think it’s better this way, because most of what we’re doing is different and we don’t need to work from a model.

NC: We definitely have more events in the works.

That’s part of what we’re trying to do. We want to be a publication and create a community around our mission. We’re a lifestyle brand in addition to a magazine.

I love the idea of getting people together who have common interests and want to chat about it.

JD: I think it puts us at an advantage. When times get tough, we don’t automatically, subconsciously bounce back to very traditional experiences that we might have had.

THE WAKE: The Riveter has a website with a lot of different content than the print form. Tell me about that.

THE WAKE: How do you go about finding writers and contributors? Is it ever a struggle?

NC: There are so many writers hungry for opportunities.

JD: When we started, we didn’t differentiate between the website and the magazine. Now, they’re linked but have very different lives of their own. They’re mutually exclusive. We were print focused from the start, though. When we started, we were in our capstone magazine courses. But other than that, we had zero experience. So we were totally learning as we went, and we still are.

JD: It comes in different waves. Either we seek them out or they seek us out. There’s social media seeking that happens. There’s network seeking that happens.

KR: I think it’s important that we’re conscious of the fact that we didn’t come from editorial jobs at big glossy women’s magazines. We don’t have the institutional knowledge, and being totally honest, sometimes

JD: People seek us out in that this is a space where people write thoughtfully. We’re a space for people who don’t want to write click bait pieces or trend pieces.

KR: We read a shit-ton. We know which writers we like, and it’s a mixture of reaching for the writers we really admire and want to write for us in dream world, and using our network from Mizzou.

THE WAKE Q&A NC: It’s indicative of our mission, too. The fact that such a young startup hasn’t had much trouble finding writers shows that there are not that many platforms out there doing the same thing.

JD: One of our missions is redefining celebrity culture.

When you’re really young, the women’s magazines you can reach for only highlight Hollywood actresses, musicians, and models. But we’re trying to dig deeper and look at all of the people behind the scenes. If you’re just a naturally curious person, you’ll want to know how Sarah Heyward [Girls writer] got where she is and where her creativity comes from. Even if you’re not a writer, you’ll still find that interesting. There’s not just one narrow path of what it means to be a celebrity or in the public eye. There are so many different facets of that.

JD: When you put capital into something that’s based locally, you directly benefit overall.

duce content that is meaningful for yourself and your audience, then you’re doing the right thing.

NC: We read everybody’s name that supports. As soon as they contribute, we look. We care, no matter what amount.

JD: If it matters to you, I’m sure it matters to other people.

THE WAKE: As former journalism students, do you have any advice for aspiring journalists and aspiring creatives in general?

JD: Going back to the origins of why and when and where The Riveter started, I think Kaylen and I were really taking a risk in terms of what other people were doing. We didn’t want to jump on the bandwagon. We

NC: My advice is be daring and hustle. I think that’s important for young people. But be intentional about what you’re daring to do.

KR: Work harder and smarter.

JD: When you’re feeling frustrated or feeling like you’re really struggling, I’ve always looked at that as proof that you’re succeeding.

KR: To us, interviewing a production assistant from Saturday Night Live is just as interesting as interviewing one of the stars.

JD: We live in a capitalist country; why not celebrate work, and all the kinds of different work that happens?

THE WAKE: Tell me more about the Kickstarter campaign.

JD: Donating to our Kickstarter has a lot of perks.

No one has really bitten for this specific perk yet, but I think it’s one of the best ones. We’ve been in contact with really cool lady writers, and they’re part of our perk system. They will have a Skype sleepover with you and talk about whatever you want: advice, or like, anything.

KR: One of them is with Sarah Heyward, a writer for Girls. So like, if you want to know how to be a writer on Lena Dunham’s show, she’s probably not going to get you a job, but, she’ll give you frank advice.

NC: With the Kickstarter, we wanted to go a different route than the whole investor route. We had a lot of support from people who maybe aren’t those head honchos. For our venture, it was important to us to be able to stay true to what we want to do. We were nervous about the possibility of someone else, who we aren’t familiar with, taking equity and thus creative control of The Riveter. We wanted to motivate those that have been so supportive of us in the past to come out and help us feel validated.

KR: We knew we wanted to go to a subscription model. I was nervous about crowdfunding because that’s how we financed issue two, but I’m super excited to use Kickstarter as a subscriber drive. We’re using an already established platform to do something that magazines do all the time.

FACEBOOK.COM/THERIVETERMAGAZINE

wanted to create our own wagon. There’s this idea that when you graduate, you have to stay on a trajectory and make sure you’re on that path, and then you’ll be cool. I feel really grateful when I realize that we didn’t have to do that.

KR: We didn’t apply for one job.

JD: We knew what our job would be.

KR: The time when our friends were sending in applications, we were building our dream job. And I love that. It makes me emotional.

JD: We were building it for others, as well.

KR: Straight advice to journalism students: What you’re trained to do as a journalist is trust your intuition. That applies to stories because chasing down a good story relies on your intuition and your fortitude to see a story through, but it also applies to the gut feeling you have about what is meaningful about a story you’re trying to tell. You need to keep that. That’s your true north. If you always listen to that, whether it is trying to start your own publication, or just to pro-

FACEBOOK.COM/THERIVETERMAGAZINE

WWW.WAKEMAG.ORG | 17

THE WAKE SOUND & VISION

LOOKING DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE

EXPLORE THE TWIN CITIES MUSIC SCENE THROUGH THE ‘UNDERCURRENTMPLS’ LENS

By Ryan Meaney The DIY aesthetic of UnderCurrent and some of the upstart bands it showcases on the channel are a perfect marriage, both contributing to each other’s success. A true love of music is why they do these recordings in the first place. “Sometimes when I watch bands play, I reach this awareness that each hit of a drum or strike of a chord is a snap shot of the universe at that exact moment that cleanly cuts and divides your past and future.

The snap shots are images of the arts soul, man!” Garvey said. “JK, sort of, actually I just really, really, like songs, especially if they’re good songs. Same goes for bands.”

ANDREW TOMTEN

The local music scene of a city is like a high school A.V. club. There is a hushed sense of cool that only a select number of people know about, something of a secret that no one else in the outside world would understand.

Incessantly going to shows at the local bar, reading zines to stay up-to-date on the latest bands and show dates, scrolling through Bandcamp or Soundcloud to hear the latest tracks from local artists are all parts of the magnetism. And when one of the bands that you yourself followed for years finally “makes it big,” it’s like you made it big with them, as if you were a part of the journey. Like most hobbies, it is both fruitless and self-fulfilling, without any thanks or praise.

UnderCurrentMPLS is a for-profit, local music, videography team made up of people who are dedicated to documenting just this, particularly in the Twin Cities.

They document local bands most nights of the week and upload the videos to YouTube for anyone to watch.

UnderCurrent give a voice and face to some bands that might not have the opportunity otherwise, through exposure to the ones not filling or booking stadiums or large music venues.

To find out more about their operation, I spoke with UnderCurrentMPLS member Gravey. Gravey is not their

18 | MARCH 2 - MARCH 22

real name, but they requested anonymity in order to preserve the organization’s nature as a band-first outfit.

Gravey’s version of events explaining UnderCurrentMPLS’ origins is a little far-fetched, but playfulness is all a part of their operation. “It all started when our dads at Pepsi got pregnant in Hollywood, California.

They birthed me, and they began fart-sponsoring the Facebook page and YouTube channel in July of 2011,” Garvey said. “I felt the underground music scene of our sweet city could use a little pep, and some more documentation. I liked going to shows, talking about shows, and had obtained a cell phone that could record watchable videos.” UnderCurrentMPLS began to put local Twin Cities bands on the digital map by starting up their YouTube channel in 2011. The channel now has more than 1,600 videos of bands performing from dingy house venues to the bright lights of the First Avenue stage, with few signs of slowing down.

The Twin Cities have an incredibly active and close-knit community of bands and artists. With tons of music venues sprinkled throughout Minneapolis and St. Paul, show offerings on a single night can almost become overwhelming at times. This is where UnderCurrentMPLS comes in. They help comb through the vast number of music acts that Minneapolis has to offer. “We’re all about quantity over quality. Our main incentive for doing what we do is that we think it’s fun and interesting ourselves,” Garvey said. “But, what I would imagine UnderCurrent offers those who watch the videos is a rough idea of what bands are like in a live setting. The videos are definitely not high quality enough to be any kind of substitute for listening to studio albums, or seeing bands in person yourself.”

UnderCurrentMPLS will take over the Triple Rock Social Club every Wednesday in March. These residency shows will feature bands that the group has filmed over its four years of filming, bringing a bit of the online video content to a real audience. “The only thing I hope to gain is that everyone who attends and plays the residency shows has a lot of fun on a Wednesday night!”

Garvey said. “We’re just stoked for these shows, I mean, we asked our favorite bands to play, and we’re totally honored that they said yes!”

UnderCurrentMPLS is the perfect vessel to give a face to local Twin Cities bands. They’re a group of fervent people doing what they love for the city that they call home.

THE WAKE SOUND & VISION

FIFTY SHADES OF GREY

AN UNFILTERED REACTION ON THE SEXUAL ATTRACTION

By Gina Van Thomme

1. Reporting live from Fifty Shades of Grey.

2. I don’t really know how to mentally prepare for what I’m about to see.

3. At least I’m not here with my mom.

4. This can’t be more awkward than sixth grade health class.

5. Beyoncé sings in this movie, so obviously it’s okay.

6. If Beyoncé can watch this movie, so can I. 7. I’m mad I missed my only socially-acceptable excuse to wear grey on grey.

8. Or assless chaps, for that matter.

9. OoooHhhHHHhh, it’s starting.

10. I should’ve brushed up on my BDSM vocab.

11. I also should’ve gotten popcorn. #regrets 12. I’m surprised the ushers didn’t check bag fo vibrators.

13. Less than ten minutes in and recently-graduated English major Anastasia Steele has seductively bit her lip twice.

14. She also keeps talking in this whispery sex voice.

15. Christian Grey meets Anastasia when she interviews him for the school paper and, within three weeks of knowing her, buys her a MacBook Pro. 16. And a car, which is a nice gesture since God knows her English degree won’t be buying her one anytime soon.

17. The real question is why can’t I get a guy I’ve known for three weeks to buy me a car?!?

18. Now the two of them are kissing in the elevator.

19.

20.

21.

22.

23.

24.

25.

26.

27.

28.

29.

30.

31.

32.

33.

34.

35.

Now they’re flying in a helicopter.

It’s only a matter of time…

Yep, it’s happening.

The miracle of life!!!

The no pants dance.

I haven’t seen this much nipple since Janet Jackson’s Super Bowl halftime.

I haven’t seen this much bush since George W. The lip bite count is in the double digits.

And now Christian Grey is doing some kind of sex ritual where he regurgitates ice cubes all over Anna’s naked body.

Suddenly, I don’t want popcorn anymore.

I could actually use a barf bag.

Christian has now brought Anna to his “playroom.”

Spoiler alert: there ain’t any Legos in there, folks!

It’s possible my understanding of BDSM fails me, but I’m finding it slightly ironic that within minutes Christian has promised to never hurt Anna and is now whipping the shit out of her.

I try and relax my facial muscles, but they’re frozen in the disgusted look that most commonly appears after taking a shot of Vodka.

Now a church-style choral rendition is playing as Anna gets hit with a flogger.

Alleluia.

36. Anna is laying in bed crying because she’s fallen in love with a guy who keeps hitting her with sex toys.

37. Somewhere between all the nipple-shots and awkwardness, the movie has crossed whatever line there is between a depiction of BDSM and an abusive relationship.

38. Ladies and gentleman, just because a man can fly you in a helicopter and buy you a MacBook doesn’t mean he gets to push you around emotionally.

39. Or demand your whereabouts.

40. Or injure you.

41. Beyoncé wouldn’t stand for that.

42. Why is this coming out on Valentine’s weekend?

43. This is literally the most unromantic thing I’ve ever seen.

44. I can’t decide who I want to call Anna first: an abuse hotline or an esthetician.

45. My facial muscles need to be iced from the grimace I’ve held for the last two hours.

46. For a film so fixated on climaxes, the plot didn’t have one at all.

47. I’m waiting for this movie to end like Leo is waiting for an Oscar.

48. The final Anastasia Steele lip bite count is hovering close to twenty.

49. Not even The Weeknd song in the closing credits makes up for how bad that was.

50. Fifty Shades of Please Don’t Make a Sequel.

BREAK THE INTERNET

TIP FIVE BEST GAMES THAT BECAME POPULAR VIA SOCIAL MEDIA

By Paige Holm

5. Candy Crush Saga: Candy Crush is probably the most frustrating game in the world, a game that will bring you to a rage that one can only understand by getting stuck on level 86.

This game kept us coming back for more by always informing us when all of our lives were available. The sugary bejewelled spin-off took over my life spring semester of freshman year, but I am proud to say that I am 8 months clean.

OLIVIA NOVOTNY

Every game developer dreams of their game blowing up on social media. Mobile games tend to take over our lives for at least a solid week, but potentially much, much longer. They keep us awake at night, appropriately distracted during large-room lectures, and usually require minimal brainpower. Here is a top five countdown of games that became something via social media.

4. 2048: This is arguably the best puzzle game around. The goal of making the tiles eventually add up to 2048 is a daunting task that takes about 50 tries to complete. If you’ve downloaded this game and haven’t beat it, may God have mercy on your soul. Hint: there is a trick to beat this game. I won’t ruin all the fun.

3. Trivia Crack: This game of recent popularization is refreshing and addicting, but also gave me a phone notification every seven seconds. Trivia Crack was amazing but dead

within two weeks. Although this game was absolutely not a true test of ridiculous trivia knowledge, playing against friends was certainly a good time.

2. Fun Run: If you have never played Fun Run, you need to immediately stop reading this, grab three friends, download the game, and play. This game is a race with friends to a finish line while a ridiculous blend of obstacles disrupts your path. Rumor has it that there is a 2nd edition of the game, but I have not tested for myself.

1. Flappy Bird: Need I say anymore?

Flappy Bird literally blew up on social media, so much so that the creator of the game took it off of all app stores. If you have this game downloaded on your phone, it is a national treasure at this point and Nicholas Cage just may bust through at any moment and steal your phone.

WWW.WAKEMAG.ORG | 19

THE WAKE SOUND & VISION

WELCOME TO NEVERLAND

HOW ONE GENERATION TOLD ANOTHER TO NEVER GROW UP

By Peter Diamond

On creator Lena Dunham’s Girls, the four twentysomething titular characters navigate the hip jungle of Brooklyn, all the while reverting to states of childishness in their approaches to life. They can be self-absorbed.

Most of them relying on their parents for financial support. Few have stable relationships. None retain stable jobs.

This personality crisis turned into a narrative might sound familiar, and that’s only because it’s pervasive across pop culture. CBS airs “2 Broke Girls.” Comedy Central runs “Broad City.” In 2012, Greta Gerwig starred in, co-wrote, and was flung into the spotlight in the indie dramedy film “Frances Ha.” Line them all up, and a familiar pattern develops. They’re all living in New York City. Some have artistic ambitions.

The central cast is entirely women (these media were also made mostly by women). And yet, these shows couldn’t be any more individually distinct. What is for certain is that these shows are tonally and thematically different on a fundamental level, despite how critics continually cluster them together.

Take for example the overwrought comparisons between “Girls” and “Broad City.” “Girls” for one revels in awkward, uncomfortable humor; “Broad City” sways more slapstick. The central friend crew of “Girls,” as gradually revealed in recent episodes, can hardly tolerate one another anymore. The dynamic duo of “Broad City” usually begin and end their days with a Skype call. At the end of a “Girls” episode, you’re left wondering why these self-destructive people endlessly gravitate to each other.

But “Broad City” makes you want to be Abbi and Ilana’s third best friend.

I don’t think it’s merely a coincidence that these shows are, unfairly, overly scrutinized and belittled because they feature women in anti-hero roles. They make mistakes; they can act out of greed and selfish desires, but isn’t that also what makes them human? Isn’t that what makes them so real in the first place? And, really, how much does a TV screen reflect real life? At the bottom of it, what even is a “millennial” besides a part of advertising demographics anyway?

One book, “Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation” by historians Neil Howe and William Strauss reads, “As a group, millennials are unlike any other youth generation in living memory. They are numerous, more affluent, better educated, and more ethnically diverse.

More important, they are beginning to manifest a wide array of positive social habits that older Americans

20 | MARCH 2 - MARCH 22

The self-importance that so many of these shows satirize, and what so many critics tend to forget, makes it clear they’re being critical of the generation they’re portraying. no longer associate with youth.” While intriguing, it’s important to note that the book that shaped early perceptions of “how millennials would be” was written in 2000, outside the stretch of factors like social media and the iconic iPhone.

Seen in the ironic, hyperbolic character portrayals within the universes of “Girls” and “Broad City,” another perspective is that millennials are more narcissistic and self-important than any generation ever before.

Researcher Jean Twenge refers to this in her book “Generation Me.” She writes, “Why the label Generation Me? Since GenMe’ers were born, we’ve been taught to put ourselves first.” She continues, “Television, movies, and school programs have told us we were special from toddlerhood to high school, and we believe it with a selfconfidence that approaches boredom: why talk about it?

It’s just the way things are.”

And yet, the children of Generation X and Generation Y aren’t that distinct either. The X’ers, born between 1960 and 1980, were the first to have an anarchist youth

culture. They were also the “MTV Generation.” They had causes to fight against. They had rock ‘n’ roll. They were compelled to fight oppression, corruption—a feeling of belonging to something much greater than themselves— movements. This is the time when second-wave feminism developed, when the Civil Rights Movement took deeper root. While the world has changed significantly, and social justice has made gigantic strides, there is not a shortage of things to rally against today: police brutality, LGBT rights, immigration reform, abortion rights. We’re not in a state of racial or feminist equality either. One has to ask, have the movements our mothers and fathers participated in ever really stopped?

The self-importance that so many of these shows satirize, and what so many critics tend to forget, makes it clear they’re being critical of the generation they’re portraying. What matters more is the sense of camaraderie they represent that makes the chaos of living in your twenties in these tech-heavy, individualistic decades feel less lonely.

THE WAKE SOUND & VISION

PRETTY GOOD FOR A GIRL BAND

LOCAL ORGANIZATION SHE ROCK SHE ROCK GETS GIRLS ONSTAGE AND SHREDDING WITHOUT APOLOGIES

By Shawnna Stennes The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has had 304 inductees since it was founded 32 years ago, but only 44 of those are women or bands with female members. In a music industry dominated by men with instruments and with fewer women behind microphones, not as many young girls are picking up the guitar or the drum sticks when their male peers are, or they pick them up only to set them down after a few years.

Local nonprofit She Rock She Rock has worked to motivate more girls to get onstage since 2007 with the kickoff of their first Girls Rock and Roll Retreat (GRRR), a weeklong music camp for girls ages 8 to 16 now held at the Main Street School of Performing Arts in Hopkins, Minn. Many of the students come with no prior experience and are given the option to learn electric guitar or bass, keyboards, drums, or vocals.

“Usually the first instruments to fill up are vocals and drums, bass usually doesn’t fill up. I don’t really think any of them know what it is,” Sam Stahlmann, She Rock She Rock Program Director and GRRR alum, said.

“That’s a big part of why we do what we do; there are just not enough women examples out there playing electric guitar, playing bass, playing the drums. So I just don’t think it’s even really on their radar what a bass is.”

In addition to instrument lessons, the girls form bands based on skill level and spend the week playing and writing songs together with a final showcase at O’Gara’s Bar & Grill in St. Paul. Woven throughout the music lessons are workshops on media literacy, social justice, and the reality of gender stereotypes both in the music industry and elsewhere.

BREANNA VICK

in playing instruments around the age of 13 to 14 for the same reason that girls lose interest in science and hands-on skills,” Kliszcz said. “There’s simply a lack of support directed at them, and there are endless outlets telling them to hand over the drill/guitar/ screw driver.”

One way the organization confronts this challenge is with the Sisters of Sounds Initiative (SOSI), a camp for 14 to 18-year-old girls who already have a few years of experience on their instrument. SOSI focuses on teaching the campers the art of audio recording and production, as well as going deeper into feminist issues and body image.

“We show them some scenes from popular movies, play clips from popular music, and show them the actual photoshopping process that goes into making a “We chose the 14 to 18 age range to get those single image in a magazine,” Ann Kliszcz, a teacher and teenagers we don’t usually have, but also some of alum of GRRR, said. “For the older girls, we leave the the media literacy and feminist topics that we’ll be floor open for a discussion, and with the younger girls, talking about, they need to be mature and ready for,” we lead a discussion and try to bring them to make Stahlmann said. their own conclusions as to whether or not they want to continue paying attention to a certain media outlet.” All of the camps and classes are taught by female musicians from the Twin Cities, women who are Although GRRR has brought in around 100 girls each honest with these girls about the realities of being summer for the past eight years, the women of She female in the music industry, while at the same time Rock She Rock find it difficult to keep girls around making certain that they know how worthwhile it still when they hit ages 13 to 14. “I think girls lose interest is to be a musician.

“Music is very much a man’s world still, so you have to work harder. She Rock She Rock is a space where it doesn’t really matter where you are, you’re gonna rock,” Stahlmann said. “A foundational ground rule for the organization is you’re not allowed to say ‘I’m sorry’ if you mess up, you have to say ‘I rock.’ And if you catch someone else saying ‘I’m sorry,’ you go, ‘No, you rock!’ Why are we always apologizing for trying something new? You gave it your all and that’s what matters.”

She Rock She Rock also encourages women to get onstage through their all-ages, all-female jam and open mics every other month at The Depot in Hopkins and their all-ages, all-female monthly acoustic open mics at Minneapolis’ The Coffee Shop NE. “We’ve really built a supportive and inclusive environment there,” Stahlmann said. “What’s cool about The Depot jam is that we’ve had an 8-year-old and a 60-year-old up on stage at the same time. We try to keep it as age fluid as possible.”

In addition to the GRRR and SOSI camps, She Rock She Rock offers a shorter Ladies Rock Camp for women ages 19 and older, as well as classes throughout the year with various themes including music theory, Taylor Swift, and songwriting.

WWW.WAKEMAG.ORG | 21

THE WAKE SOUND & VISION

ITALY ON-SCREEN OPENING THE CURTAIN ON THE ITALIAN FILM FESTIVAL

By Kristen Wangsness The Twin Cities’ Italian Cultural Center will unveil the seventh annual Italian Film Festival this month featuring nine feature-length films and one short film. The collection of films was chosen thoughtfully, catering to a balance of those who come to experience Italian culture and those who come to enjoy masterful cinema. The selections range from a documentary on the life of a transgender woman, to the story of a segregated combat unit in World War II, to a coming of age story of a young Italian girl.

It may be tempting to simply sit in pajamas and run through these titles on Netflix or by some other potentially illegal means of finding movies online, but these films are worth the trip to the cinema. Most of the films this year will be shown on DCP, a digital format that allows for an incredible degree of quality in both picture and sound. For movies like The Art of Happiness, which was gorgeously animated with a carefully tailored soundtrack, the experience will be worlds above the offerings of a laptop screen.

The films vary in medium, from a beautifully drawn animated feature to films created digitally or on old school 35-millimeter film. The most innovative method of filming was used to create Italy in a Day (Un Giorno da Italiani), in which 40,000 Italians took footage of their lives on Oct. 26, 2013, on whatever they had to record with. The resulting images were edited down into a 72-minute film. This uniquely formatted movie is indicative of the transition in the industry from film to digital. The digital medium removes obstacles that typically prevent the average person from participating in the creation of media.

The lineup reflects a recent boom in the creation of documentaries in Italy through three films in the genre. One of the documentaries, Inside Buffalo, will be free to view for the public. The movie follows a combat unit that fought in Italy in World War II. The director, Fred Kudjo Kuwornu, will be in attendance and is slotted to discuss the film afterward. Kuwornu will also hold two other free events that week, unrelated to the film festival, on the University of Minnesota campus. He will be presenting his films Blaxpoitalian, a documentary on Italian representation of blackness, and 18 IUS SOLI, which examines multiculturalism and Italy’s immigrant policy.

The festival will run from Feb. 26 to March 1 at St. Anthony Main Theater. Tickets are 10 dollars, or 7 with a student ID card.

22 | MARCH 2 - MARCH 22

THE WAKE SOUND & VISION

3 REVIEWS

CAKEMOVIE.NET SELMAMOVIE.COM

SELMA

By Ellie Rush “Selma” is one of those films that you could watch over and over again and still not catch all of the powerful messages throughout. David Oyelowo and Carmen Ejogo, who play Dr. and Mrs. Martin Luther King, Jr., portray the powerful and at times difficult relationship that was at the root of this story. From the very beginning, their story captures the audience and takes you through the challenging journey of just a few years in the fight for African American suffrage.

We see Oprah Winfrey portray Annie Lee Cooper, a black woman who is forced to confront the ridiculous and discriminatory practices around voter registration in the 1965 American South. This includes reciting the Constitution’s preamble, knowledge of the number of Alabama county judges and recitation of their names.

We watch as innocent lives are taken by brutal and inhumane attacks; one man protecting his grandmother is shot in cold blood in the middle of a café.

Another, a white priest who supported the movement, is murdered on the streets of Selma for his beliefs.

These events and lack of action from the government eventually lead to a momentous march from Selma to Montgomery, which really did happen. With intense opposition from the state patrol, the march ends in a disturbing fog of beaten women and men running for their lives.

Although the images are intense and unsettling, they are powerful and thought provoking. “Selma” was in theaters on January 9 of this year. However, the strong message and empowering cast will only continue to stir emotions and conversation in respect to both the struggles and triumphs of African American history.

CAKE

By Ellen Schmidt We’re used to seeing Jennifer Aniston play a happygo-lucky role that highlights her infectious laugh, so seeing her play a serious part in Cake was quite the adjustment. Sure, we saw her cry in Marley and Me, but we’ve never seen grief of this depth from Aniston.

In Cake, Jen plays Claire, a woman living in LA with chronic pain from an accident that isn’t detailed until later in the film. The story follows Claire’s personal journey through her physical struggle and emotional hardships without revealing many other details.

Another notoriously comedic lady, Anna Kendrick, plays the role of Claire’s hallucinations, Nina. Nina committed suicide by jumping off a highway, and her ghost is a character that inadequately lends to the storyline. These two sensational actresses worked with what they were given, but lacked a tangible connection due to poor direction.

The appearance of a hot accent, courtesy of Sam Worthington playing Nina’s husband Jason, somewhat livened up the film, but his character also lacked roots to the plot. Despite effective casting of the supporting roles (played by Adriana Barraza and Felicity Huffman), their characters failed to augment the lacking plot.

Ultimately, the characters were undeveloped which contributed to the film’s sparseness.

Director Daniel Barnz delivered 102 minutes of constant Jen time with little variation. Had an actress of lesser fame played the protagonist, this movie would have been a complete dud. If you’re an Aniston fan (and who isn’t), you’ll enjoy seeing one of your old favorites in this film, but the plot is wanting. Those shortcomings, considering also an unremarkable soundtrack and unsatisfying ending, make this movie a well-acted bore.

FATHERJOHNMISTY.COM

FATHER JOHN MISTY’S I LOVE YOU, HONEYBEAR

By Ryan Meaney In the eyes of Josh Tillman, there is no ideal form of love. The singer-songwriter who goes by Father John Misty has spent the good part of the past five years searching for his voice, which we have come to find is satiric and witty at heart. While his debut album Fear Fun (2012) had many glimmering moments of promise, it was not an entirely robust effort for someone with such a strong artistic voice. I Love You, Honeybear proves that the witty, cheeky Tillman can write songs truly from the gut, something of a romantic-comedy without the immoderate ending.

Self-described by Tillman as a concept album, each song tells a piece of Tillman’s love affair with his wife, Emma, and the trials and tribulations of his life as the journey unfolds. The album opener/title-track is nothing more than an honest ode to his wife, declaring his love for the entire world to hear. “The Night Josh Tillman Came to Our Apt.” is a hilarious take on a man who honestly just cannot stand his girlfriend, noting all of the faults she carries along with her (“Of the few main things I hate about her, one’s her petty, vogue ideas/Someone’s been told too many times they’re beyond their years”). Album closer “I Went to the Store One Day” tells the story of how he and Emma first met, and chronicles their courtship and marriage up to their death. The song is slow and beautiful, and renders perfectly the ideal voice that Father John Misty has been searching for, that of sincerity.

WWW.WAKEMAG.ORG | 23

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