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Lenten retreat

Pope Benedict resigns

By Eric Wilkins, Staff Writer

sateen in high school,

I was on the verge of
converting to Catholicism.
I would pray morning and
night, before meals, and
sometimes just because I felt
like it. I’d study readings
thoroughly and memorize
Catechism questions like there
was no tomorrow. But in spite
of my strong feelings for the
faith, there were always some
things that tripped me up:
Holy Eucharist was probably
the main one, but one of
my more difficult struggles
was deciding just what was
appropriate to give up for
Lent. What was too much?
What was too little? It’s a good
thing that I’m no longer at
that stage, because the bar was
just set excessively high when
Benedict XVI gave up being
the Pope for Lent.

Admittedly, that last line

is a stretch at best, but it’s
just as absurd as the reality.
Popes just don’t step down.
It’s simply not done. Being
Pope has always been viewed
like marriage: “till death do
us part.” In this marriage,
however, the ideal is supposed

to be upheld and divorce isn’t
really an option. To emphasize
that point, the last Pope to
resign was Gregory XII almost
600 years ago in 1415. Gregory
XII’s resignation was entirely
different from Benedict XVI's,
though, since there were

two anti-Popes at the time in
addition to Gregory XII and
all three needed to give up
their positions in order for

the Church to move forward.
Before that, there were eight
(there’s some disagreement
over this number, but the
figure is anywhere from

four to 10) other Popes who
left the papacy, but again,
there were very different
circumstances that necessitated
their resignations including
persecution, exile, and
corruption.

Coming back to Benedict
XVI himself, there are endless
rumours swirling about why
he’s throwing in the towel.
Some suggest that there is an
arrest warrant waiting for him
due to the child rape atrocities.
Others say that a recent report
about homosexual affairs and
fraud in the Vatican is what
is driving Benedict XVI out.
There are endless variations
on these stories, but none of
them are complimentary in the
least. The Pope is consistently
painted as a man running from

Shaken by the shake

Is the Harlem Shake’ the
worst viral trend to date?

By Keating Smith, Staff Writer

LS: go back to this time last
year and revisit the viral
trend that everyone was sharing.
Before “Gangnam Style” and
Kony 2012, it was the Shit

____ Say fad. Remember this?
Thousands of videos teasing
anyone and anything for their
words and actions flooded the
Internet in short two to three-
minute videos. Some of them
were done extremely well, and
others not so much. It's fair to
judge these now ancient videos
as being quite humorous,
despite the production and

editing—or lack thereof—
because the trend was so diverse
in the ways in which it was
presented to us, the viewers.

Here we are, 12 months
later, and the same sort of
viral trend has arisen on the
Internet—only this time it’s
known as the Harlem Shake.
In case you live under a rock,
several teenagers in Australia
under the YouTube user name
TheSunnyCoastSkate originally
uploaded the video on February
2; their video has received
nearly 15 million views to date.
This sparked a worldwide
phenomenon, with over 12
thousand videos uploaded and
44 million views to date, each
re-enacting the 30-second video
using the same sound clip from
DJ and Producer Baauer’s track,
“Harlem Shake.”

But the characteristics of

 

Pope Benedict XVI leads his last Angelus prayer at the Vatican | Photo courtesy of Osservatore Romano/ Reuters

his troubles. While there may
be some truth to this, one must
keep in mind that the world
has a penchant for picking on
Catholicism. With a history
rich in scandal and corruption,
the Church hasn’t exactly
helped its case; nevertheless,
when almost 20 per cent of the
world is Catholic, the odds are
quite good that there are more
than a few bad apples in there,

the Harlem Shake videos that
place them on a lesser scale
when compared to others is the
lack of creativity: two cuts of
video are divided by a change
in the beat of the song halfway
through, with people going
from lethargy or normality to
crazy pumping, humping, and
dancing nonsense. If ] wanted
to see this, I would go to a frat
house party, instead. When
comparing the Harlem Shake to,
say, “Gangnam Style,” I would
give Psy the credit of creating
a catchy song anyone could
have fun with—including your
grandparents and the thousands
who re-enacted the video, and
who spent time planning out
a video lasting more than 30
seconds.

Filmmaker Chris McGuire
traveled to Harlem to ask
residents of the Manhattan

and there’s only so much one
can do about it.

With that in mind,
in Benedict XVI's own
(translated) words, he’s
relinquishing the papacy
because, “After having
repeatedly examined my
conscience before God, I have
come to the certainty that my
strengths, due to an advanced
age, are no longer suited to

neighborhood their thoughts

of the video. Most of them

had never seen the video until
it was played for them while
being interviewed. The majority
agreed that it’s not the actual
Harlem Shake, and found
associating the name of the
original dance move with the
video to be disgraceful.

“This would be another
vehicle for America to take off
on and make money on, and
I’m sure there will be some
corporate person somewhere
that’s gonna capitalize on this by
putting money into it, and it’s
going to take off,” said one man
who was interviewed.

While the Harlem Shake
that residents performed for
McGuire's camera doesn’t look
entirely different from what is
being repeated across the world,
one thing residents advocated

an adequate exercise of the
Petrine ministry.” When I
first read his reason, I almost
wished that some of the
hearsay was true. Hanging it
up because he doesn’t think
he’s strong enough? Popes
usually die on the job. Unless
Benedict XVI passes away in
the very near future, his excuse
will look flimsy indeed.

against was associating pseudo
actions of homosexuality with
the name Harlem Shake. Finally,
judging by the thousands of
comments on YouTube and
other message boards, the
overall reaction to our latest and
greatest viral trend is negative.
Have we become so
overwhelmed with videos on
the Internet that we can now
only stand to watch something
less than a minute in duration?
Have our attention spans
shortened to the point where
investing our time in watching
something that took time and
planning has no more value
than a bunch of people acting
out their innermost ADHD
feelings for the world to see? If
this is the case, then the future
of viral videos might just be
an embarrassing portrayal of
humanity and our creative side.

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