arts // no. §

Our political history

reflected on the big screen

>» Recent films related to the 2020 US Election

Jerrison Oracion
Senior Columnist

 

[I the first four years of the Donald Trump
presidency, the businessman would
improve the US economy and reduce
unemployment in the country. At the same
time, he would divide the country, cause
controversy through his tweets on Twitter,
not get along with some world leaders, and
go hard at the people that do not agree with
his policies. Several films were released
under Trump’s presidency, and all are part
of what is called “Trump Cinema.” This
includes Coco, The Farewell, Jojo Rabbit,
the Academy Award winning Parasite, and
even The Avengers: Endgame.

There were a few unexpected films
that were released this year during this
election year though they are now available
through streaming services. One of these
surprises is the film version of the Talking
Heads musical American Utopia which
I reviewed last week. Half of it involved
David Byrne talking about why voting in
an election is important and encouraged
the audience to increase the voter turnout
in this year’s election. Because Spike Lee
directed it, there were some powerful
moments—especially on the issue of

How to get

African Americans. An example would

be when the entire cast sang the Janelle
Monae song, “Hell You Talmbout,” where
they say the names of African Americans
that were shot and cuts to a relative of the
victim holding a picture of him or her. The
song “Everybody’s Coming to My House”
talks about the immigration situation and
how new immigrants would not want to
leave their new home.

Another musical that had a film
version made recently is also likely the
greatest musical of all time and is very
relevant today: Hamilton. The movie was
filmed a month after the musical version
got Best Musical at the Tony Awards in June
2016—five months before Donald Trump
surprisingly won the election that year. The
songs in the musical are great and it has a
similar structure to Lin-Manuel Miranda’s
previous production In the Heights; the
production shows that Alexander Hamilton
is the father of the United States because
he wrote most of the US Constitution.
However, it also explains that government
in the 1790s was just as bad as government
today... except they had procedures that
were barbaric (like shootouts).

Even Hamilton threw his reputation
to the ground when he slept with another

into metal

» From someone who just recently started listening

Sonam Kaloti
Arts Editor

 

n no way am I an expert in metal—I am
merely someone who (finally) started
listening to it a few months ago. I'd always
known it would be my kind of genre, but
I was never able to enjoy it. Oddly, it used
to give mea headache, despite being able

to listen to the hardest electronic music
with no problem. Luckily, now I’m able to
headbang it out around my home.

I suppose it may have been my life
situation which warranted the aggression
of metal (I moved out in August and
started medical school), or maybe it was
the process of seeking it out on my own
rather than it being recommended to me.
Whatever the case, here’s how it happened
for me, and how it may just work for
you if you want to begin being a bit of a
metalhead.

Seek it out on your own

This obviously may not work since I

am recommending it to you, and I will
continue to do that for the rest of the
article. However, this can be practised in all
areas of life. If there’s something you think
you might be able to get into, try it! Some
things can feel more fun and personal

if you've put in the effort to find them
yourself (plus then there’s no doubt that
youre doing it for your own benefit only)!

Don't quit immediately

I've tried multiple times to get into the
genre and have been recommended
plenty of artists that I just didn't like at

all. Surprisingly, the ones that got me into
metal are not the ones that my metalhead
friends listen to!

Find what you like

There are so many subgenres in metal that
it’s easy to give it one go, not like it, and
stop trying (AKA what I did). Instead, |
suggest trying to go through a music app
metal playlist and seeing where you stand
with some of the songs.

I just let the playlist play over a few
days without judgment and without
paying too close attention. When a song
would catch my attention, I would add
it to my own personal playlist to come
back to. When a song played and I found
myself either singing along or wanting
to know what they were saying (yes, it is
difficult sometimes), then I added that
song to my playlist, as well. The first step
is just being interested.

Delve deeper
In my band last year, we practiced the song
“The Way the News Goes” by Periphery,
whom I did not know at the time, but now
really enjoy their song “Remain Indoors.”
Before that, I had found the song “So
Strange” by Polyphia because Cuco is
featured on it and I listen to him. Both of
which I liked but hadn’t put in thought or
effort to listen to the rest of their music
until much later. If there’s some song or
band you’ve heard that you've been even
a little into, try listening to some of their
other work.

Even further, once I got a good
amount of songs on my playlist, I was

 

married woman

and it is related to
accusations that were
made during the
election. The man
who shot him, Aaron
Burr, wanted to be

in the room where

it happened where
he would later find
out about the affair.
An interesting fact is
that Hamilton’s wife,
Eliza, opened the first
orphanage in New
York City.

Just before the
election happened,
Sacha Baron Cohen’s
Kazakhstan reporter
Borat Sagdiyev makes
a surprise return in Borat: Subsequent
Moviefilm which is only available on
Amazon Prime Video. This time, Borat
is ona mission to deliver Johnny the
Monkey to Vice President Mike Pence until
he finds out that his daughter, Tutar, is
going along for the ride. It tackles issues
like propaganda (similar to fake news),
and feminism—especially through the

 

  

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| NEY

 

able to see patterns of the type of metal
I liked listening to. I hadn’t gotten into
black metal, or intense screaming just
yet. Rather, not that genres are super
important, accurate, or the end all be all,
but generally the songs would mostly fit
into the progressive metal category. This
helped me find similar bands and music,
which broadened my taste even more.

Personally, I think it helps that I
started with less aggressive metal to slowly
work my way into it. If you have any artists
you like in general who have made metal
themselves or worked with a metal band,
that could be a good way to dip your toes
in. Polyphia and Cuco did that for me.
Then other softer songs such as “1252” by
Good Tiger (though, they may not be metal
but they were on the metal playlist).

From there I began listening to
Spiritbox’s “Blessed Be,” and “Real’—and

 

 

theotherpress.ca

Illustration by Udeshi Seneviratne

relationship between Borat and Tutar.
There was also a reference to the Justin
Trudeau blackface controversy and a lot
of vulgar jokes like in the previous film. If
Donald Trump is not the President of the
United States, there will still always be a
period in cinema that explores and reflects
his historic presidency.

Illustration by CJ Sommerfeld

additionally “Abandoned” by Unprocessed,
the latter of which Polyphia featured

on. I had heard of Dance Gavin Dance
from Tumblr when I was very young, but
the name stuck with me, so I decided to
look it up. They sound like the harder
version of my favourite music—2000s alt
rock— thus, I currently listen to them the
most. “Uneasy Hearts Weigh the Most,”
“Prisoner, “Son of Robot,” and “Death of a
Strawberry” are great. Then, having already
liked Spiritbox’s “Blessed Be,” I was able to
begin enjoying much heavier music, such
as their “Holy Roller”

It’s honestly a journey to get into
metal—it takes time, effort, and patience—
but it’s definitely worth it. The genre has
some incredibly unique and talented
musicians that it would be a waste not to at
least try.