Have an idea for a story? M arts@theotherpress.ca Remembering Gene Wilder > A lifetime of laughs, in spite of the tears Adam Tatelman Arts Editor fter the untimely deaths of so many entertainment icons this past year, it seemed we were due a reprieve. But after mourning Prince, David Bowie, Christopher Lee, and Leonard Nimoy, to name but a few, we must now contend with the loss of Gene Wilder, accomplished author and lifelong Hollywood funnyman. Born Jerome Silberman, Wilder grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with his parents, William and Jeanne. His predilection for comedy and acting grew out of his family life; when his mother became ill, 8-year-old Gene cared for her with laughter. Maybe his father’s profession as a manufacturer of novelty items had something to do with that. Though her intentions were good, Jeanne’s decision to send Wilder to the Black-Foxe military academy was ill-advised. A lone Jew ina primarily American institute, Wilder was bullied and sexually assaulted by anti-Semitic students and staff. He returned home, seeking sanctuary in the local theatre community. Wilder spent much of his adolescent life seeking out experts in the art of acting, beginning with his own sister’s acting coach. His studies took him from the University of Iowa to the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, where he won the All-School Fencing Championship—the first freshman student to do so. Even being drafted by the US. military wasn’t enough to keep him away from the theatre; assigned to the medical corps, he chose to be stationed in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, so that he lived close enough to New York to continue studying in the HB Studio. Following his discharge and a series of roles in Shakespearean plays, Wilder chose his stage name in reference to Thornton Wilder, author of Our Town, and a character from Thomas Wolfe’s novel Look Homeward, Angel. Thanks to a chance meeting with director Mel Brooks during his 1963 performance of Mother Courage and Her Children, Wilder became perhaps the first actor ever to break into Hollywood after shedding a Jewish surname rather than adopting one. Wilder went on to star in Mel Brooks’ The Producers, one of his most iconic roles. He achieved cult acclaim for his role as Willy Wonka in 1971s semi-success Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, crafting an infamously eccentric performance—the inspiration for the “Condescending Willy Wonka” internet meme. Finally achieving mainstream success with Woody Allen’s Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Sex, Wilder made a career out of zany fare like Young Frankenstein and Blazing Saddles. He also teamed with comedian Richard Pryor on multiple occasions in fan-favourites like Stir Crazy, although not all of their outings were successful. Following comparative duds like See No Evil, Hear No Evil and Another You, Wilder channeled his creativity into writing instead. Contrary to popular belief, Wilder did not die of non- Hodgkin lymphoma. He was in complete remission circa (¥Y PS Plus price-hike (¥ Fringe Benefits (¥ VLAFF screening takes viewers on a journey And more! 2005. Rather, the cause was complications from Alzheimer’s, which he had struggled with for three years before his death. According to Jordan Walker- Perlman, his nephew, Wilder kept this information secret because he did not want his fans to be sad on his behalf. That, perhaps, is the most incredible thing about Wilder's Flawed By Design: PS Plus price-hike shows Sony is overconfident > Subscription service to raise by $12 tri-monthly Lauren Kelly Editor-in-chief he incoming price hike on yearly PlayStation Plus subscriptions from $50-70 and on three-month subscriptions from $18-30 goes into effect on September 22, so look into buying more months now to avoid being hit hard. With the recent announcement of a large price hike in Sony’s now-necessary subscription service, it’s worth looking at the evolution of PlayStation Plus when compared to Microsoft Gold, it’s direct competitor. Although Nintendo’s Wii outsold its generation-mates, the 2000s have been marked by the competition between Sony’s PlayStation and Microsoft’s Xbox, which share much more in common with each other than with any Nintendo console. The seventh generation saw the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 go head-to-head, each trying to gain ground and beat the other in sales. In Japan, the PS3 completely eclipsed the 360, with 10.4 million sales to the 360’s 1.6 million. In North America, the story is the opposite, with the 360 eclipsing the PS3’s sales by nearly 10 million. The eight generation has switched in North America, with the Xbox One suffering from low sales. PlayStation Plus, the service in question, began service on June 29, 2010, It is a subscription- based service that provides users with cloud storage for save files and multiple games every month, dubbed the “Instant Game Collection.” As long as a user is subscribed, they have access to all PlayStation Plus games that they downloaded. The first offering was Wipeout HD for P83, as well as a Mini and a PSi Classic. Before the PS4, PlayStation Network, the online service, was free to use. As long as you had an internet connection, you could play online with anyone at no extra cost. The Xbox 360’s online was better, but it was subscription-based with the Gold membership, which cost about $60 a year. This should have put the 360 at a disadvantage; why would someone pay to play online when they could do it for free on an equivalent console? To even the playing field, Microsoft added Games with Gold in 2013, which provided Gold members with two free games each month. Unlike PlayStation Plus, Gold members were allowed to keep their games even when they ended their subscription. In this way, Microsoft kept up with Sony, and customers benefited from this rivalry. With the release of the PS4, PlayStation Plus is now required for online play. Many have said that they’ve noticed a decline in game quality in the monthly offerings. Where before releases contained more games by big-name developers, now many Plus games are by indie developers, or are very old. While the recent release of NBA 2Ki6 may show otherwise, the majority of the monthly games do not hold much value. With the upcoming large price-hike, it seems like Sony has become more complacent as leader of the pack. Now that 2 oO uv E = is > ° 2 ° ou. life; most people would be rendered incurable cynics by the experiences Wilder had in his youth, but instead of seeing the darkness in everything, he did his best to light up everyone’s lives. Sad as this news may be, do not weep for Gene Wilder. Remember his work, certainly, but shed no tears. He wouldn't want you to lose your smile. Image via psu.com the games aren't the draw, just a bonus, Sony will have to come up with some new way to keep users happy. After all, if just being able to play online will cost so much more, the service may begin to drop users if no extra features are added. The Instant Game Collection should be a legitimate way to build a game library, not a side-bonus for paying an exorbitant amount of money just to play the games you've already bought, on the console you already paid for.