People Throw Rocks At Things That Shine

By: Alex

Graphic by Alex.

Taylor Swift is one of my favorite human beings. I love her because the music she writes and performs is her, at her finest yet most vulnerable. Her songs are about how something or someone made her feel and how she’s a better person for it. What makes her unique is the fact that she learns lessons from these hardships, so she turns a negative into a positive. She’s not just complaining about her life, she’s singing to an audience that relates to her music, and through it, find an outlet to overcome what plagues them.

Taylor’s not afraid to speak her mind, and I really admire that. The perfect example of her courage to ‘speak now’ is her sassy masterpiece, “Mean.” Taylor wrote “Mean” about a critic who absolutely hated her, and as she does with everything else in her life, she decided to write a song about how he made her feel. But what is so great about this song, is that it’s become so much more than a song about a critic; it is a power ballad against any bully that has ever brought her down, and that’s something everyone can relate to.

Bullies come in many forms. They can be as stereotypical as a dramatic, two faced teenager who makes your life hell as you grow up. Or a bully can be someone different, someone who doesn’t call you names or leave you out of the group, but instead, someone who doesn’t believe in you. These are bullies in the real world—people of authority who won’t give you a chance, people who take advantage of your talents, people who disregard your feelings at a chance to make them look better.

I’ve had many people tell me I couldn’t amount to anything, and that really hurts. There is something so encouraging about knowing that someone has faith in you; it really gives you more confidence and drive to accomplish what you want to. But when someone condemns you, when someone refuses to respect your dreams or talents without even giving you a chance to prove all you can be, it takes motivation to a whole new level.

When I hear a nasty comment from someone, whether they are insulting my writing, my intelligence, or just my personality, I think of Taylor’s song. When I hear these insults, I want nothing more than to prove to all those people one day that I have amounted to something so much greater than they could have ever imagined. I don’t want to get revenge. It’s nothing malicious. I just want to show them that they were wrong for not having faith in me.

Taylor’s “Mean” has become so much more than a song about a pretentious critic. It is an anthem to anyone who has ever doubted her. It’s a kind, subtle, and classy middle finger to all the haters saying, “You didn’t believe in me, and look where I am now. And what do you have? Nothing.”

There is just so much truth and righteousness in this line, “someday I’ll be living in a big old city, and all you’re ever gonna be is mean.” She says it perfectly. One day I’m going to do great things, and move on and become a person I’m proud to be, an it doesn’t matter if you believe in me or not. I’m going to get there. And once I realize my dreams, you’ll still be mean. You’ll still be stuck in an unhappy, lonely place.

And, man, isn’t that satisfying; knowing you’ve become someone great, despite what everyone else might say, despite your past. That’s when you truly know you’ve accomplished something. I can only imagine the pride and fulfillment that Taylor feels each time she sings this song at a concert. I know she’s smiling because she knows there’s someone out there watching who didn’t believe in her. And it must be great for her to know that she made it just fine without them. 

Why You Should See Cloud Atlas

By: Emily

Graphic by Emily

There has been a lot of buzz around the new film Cloud Atlas. Directed by three different people (The Matrix's Wachowski siblings and acclaimed German director Tom Tykwer), it follows six different story-lines, all spanning the course of millions of lifetimes and all connected in one way or another. While an incredibly big feat for a, granted, three-hour movie, these story lines are interwoven in ways one could not even imagine; from England during the Second World War to a futuristic Korean city, to a post-apocalyptic Earth, these stories are all connected through the characters. While these characters changed for each different story, the same cast of actors played multiple characters from the different stories. After watching this modern epic, I can confidently and happily declare that Cloud Atlas is unlike any movie I've ever seen.

While I have not read the book on which the movie is based, I can only assume the movie adaptation is fairly similar. This is a movie that easily could have been a huge joke, and quite possibly a terrible flop. But the solid story line and intriguing characters made it an interesting watch from beginning to end. There was never one moment in the almost three hours of the film where I felt bored or detached. Every story line was compelling, action-packed, and full of emotion and drama. From sci-fi to action to drama, there really is something for every movie-lover. Each vignette could have easily stood on its own as an independent movie (the strongest quite possibly being the story that takes place in England about composer and pianist Jim Broadbent and Ben Whishaw, respectively).

The only place where I found this movie lacking was the risky idea of having its actors play different roles and often different races. While it was necessary in order to get perhaps the most imporant theme of the movie across, some of the characters' makeup was just uncomfortable to look at. For example, Jim Sturgess and Hugo Weaving, two Caucasian English actors, were made to look like a mix of Caucasian and Korean. Similarly, South Korean actress Bae Doona was transformed into a Caucasian woman with freckles and red hair. While this is a risky idea, I just did not think it worked very convincingly. Now I know other people that had no problem with this and did not even recognize who the actors were at points, but I disagree. To me, it even felt a bit disrespectful.

If nothing else, Cloud Atlas is inspiring. At the end of my cinematic journey (and it was a journey) through thousands of years of life, I walked away with a new found sense of self-discovery. I felt like even though Cloud Atlas and the world are both bigger than I ever could imagine, I realized something. I realized that we are all connected, and that we, and Cloud Atlas, are capable of amazing things.

Don't Get Mad, Just Be Atticus Finch

By: Alex

Graphic made by Alex

It’s hard to believe in your dreams when you’re surrounded by people who don’t give you a chance. Don’t get me wrong, I have lots of supportive people in my life. But sometimes, the dreamers don’t get the opportunities they deserve. As an ambitious teen, I want to immediately get even with the people who say I’ll never amount to anything and show them everything they’re missing out on. But I don’t, because I learned from my role model, Atticus Finch, that revenge is not the way to get ahead. Atticus proves that righteousness always triumphs over revenge.

Thanks to Atticus, I know how to carry myself through life’s struggles. From Harper Lee’s masterpiece To Kill A Mockingbird, Atticus Finch serves as THE PERFECT example of who to be.  In the book, Atticus is a lawyer defending a black man named Tom Robinson in a small, conservative, southern town. The man against him, Bob Ewell makes Atticus’ life miserable because of his decision to support Robinson. Narrow minded, bigoted, and offensive, Ewell brings danger and hardships to Atticus and his family, but Atticus never fights back. Despite all the judgment and hate he receives from the townspeople, Atticus remains steadfast in his decision to support a black man because he knows, above all, that he is doing the right thing.
What makes Atticus so righteous is not only his decision to support an innocent man, but also his decision not to get even with those who hate him for it. Instead of getting revenge, Atticus found a way to prove himself through other means. By being courageous and supporting the underdog, Atticus demonstrated his worth to the town, giving them something to believe in and showing them the true meaning of courage.

Through this story, Atticus made it obvious to me that there will always be people who don’t believe in you or try to discredit you because they disagree. But the most important thing I learned from him is that it doesn’t matter. By having confidence in my decisions, I can have pride in what I do. If people condemn me for believing in myself and doing the right thing, then I welcome it. And I won’t be the one to want to get even; I’ll prove my worth some other way.

When Bob Ewell spit on Atticus, he didn’t spit back. He just walked away. And what happened in the end? Bob Ewell hated his life and Atticus had a great moment of satisfaction, knowing that he provided such a good example for his children to look up to.

Doing the right thing is all that matters. So when any Bob Ewells come up in my life, I surely wont be spitting back at them for revenge. I can go on living my Atticus-inspired life, with no regrets. And one day when the Bob Ewells see what I made of myself, they’ll be sorry they ever spit my way.