@ VA N Drama, glamour, and a Have an idea for a story? Marts@theotherpress.ca w surprisingly solid story > ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ film review Chandler Walter Contributor keene ll start off by saying that I didn’t have high expectations going into Crazy Rich Asians. I don't know if it was my own distaste in the genre, the somewhat ableist title, or the hype that had seemingly been heaped on for the movie, but I figured it would be a fun, passable film that would be a great excuse for chowing down on a bag of movie theatre popcorn. As my star rating probably spoiled, I was quite wrong about those assumptions. Crazy Rich Asians is a well-told story of a woman struggling with two quite intricate dilemmas. The first is that she is going on a trip with her boyfriend to meet his family, whom, other than a few cousins, she has never met before. That is a situation we can all relate to—being invited over for dinner to the potential in-laws’ place and having to navigate : A a1} " Oe, your way around polite conversation with these strangers that you really want to like you. Throw in Rachel’s second dilemma— Rachel Chu being our protagonist here, played by the wonderful and endearing Constance Wu—of meeting this family out in Singapore, where they all reside. Rachel grew up in America after her and her mother immigrated from China, so she’s not the most versed in World-building > Why it’s not as hard as you think it is Brittney MacDonald Life & Style Editor o matter what fictional genre you write in, at some point you will have to doa little bit of world-building. For writers unaware, “world-building” is the term coined to define your construction of setting in a broad sense. If your story is set in the modern day, it would be the city, country, and whatever rules/ agencies that are in place to govern, oversee, or create the laws of that world. Essentially it establishes the parameters of where your characters live in both a geographical as well as legal sense. Certain genres make this easier than others because, depending on setting, the reader will already have a preconceived notion of how certain worlds work. For example, if a story is set in modern-era Canada, you probably wont have to go into great detail explaining how the Canadian government functions. Just using broad strokes and showing how certain things affect your characters is enough to keep the reader engaged. That being said, if you are writing something that involves creating your own world—most commonly seen in stories with elements of sci-fi, fantasy, or the paranormal—you will have to go into greater detail to explain various aspects of that world, so that the reader understands ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ promotional image the customs that come along with her boyfriend Nick’s family. Add in the fact that they are, as the title suggests, super rich, and there’s an entirely new cultural divide for her to navigate. I won't get too into the nitty gritty as I want this review to remain as spoiler- free as possible, but what I can say is that the movie hits all the beats of a classic rom-com while still unravelling a story that feels like it really matters. Every how it functions on a base level. This can be intimidating, especially to new writers, because you can feel overwhelmed with the need to explain everything all at once. As an avid reader and an authorial dabbler, I am here to tell you that it is quite a bit easier than you might think. Many readers prefer to be shown things through character interaction or experience, as opposed to being told things through long lines of exposition. This preference means that you can gradually craft the reader’s understanding of the world throughout the story, as opposed to just dumping information all at once. Discuss things about the world as they become relevant. If you are writing in first-person, this makes things both harder and easier. Harder because you cannot explain something outside of your focus character’s understanding, but easier for exact same reason—a thief may not understand how magic functions, but they know that messing with the mage up the street is dangerous. See how that ‘Feel Free’ board game review (¥ The timeless brilliance of Wierd Al ( Inretrospect: ‘Dragon Age II” And more! scene is important enough to sprint back to if you have too much Coke halfway through the movie, and there are enough obstacles for the characters to overcome that the pace of the film never falters. Toss into the mix the comedic additions of college-friend Peik Lin (YouTube star Awkwafina) and her oddball family (which includes none other than Ken Jeong—best known for his roles in Community and The Hangover) and you've got yourself a movie that delivers. What puts Crazy Rich Asians apart from the other movies in the seemingly exhausted rom-com genre—other than the fact that it stars an almost entirely Asian cast and is killing it at the box office, but that’s worth another article in itself—is that it does not revolve around the “rom-antic” question. It is clear that Rachel and Nick love each other, and the tension in the movie comes from outside factors that threaten that love, which gets rid of the overused “will they won't they” trope. Plus, it’s cool to see what life is like when you'r Just. That. Damn. Rich. So go check it out. works? This also gives you the opportunity to explain things later should your characters become more educated. Showing your world-building this way—through character experience or relevancy—will help you pace your story and not weigh it down with unnecessary description. It also means that you can be a bit lazier in your construction of said world. In other words, you don't need to have everything ironed out right from the beginning. You can play and develop the intricacies of the world as you go, which is always fun. The only major downside to writing this way is that you run the risk of repeating yourself. Repetition used sparingly to briefly reinforce understanding of what is going on is okay. Do it too often and it becomes annoying. To avoid this, | recommend re-reading your work and keeping notes on when certain things are mentioned. In most word processing programs you can do this by adding comments, which you can then back-reference if you so desire. World-building is a strange process, especially for people unused to putting their imaginings to paper. It takes practice, and you might find yourself going to friends or family and asking, “Does this make sense?” All of that is normal. Keep at it and you'll be weaving the mysteries of YOUR universe in no time. issue 1// vol 45 Not every subject, but any subject > ‘Feel Free’ book review Ethan Gibson Columnist keen ome authors are known for one work above all else. J.K. Rowling will always be remembered for her Harry Potter books; J. R. R. Tolkien’s name is immortalized on the covers of his Lord of the Rings novels. Others, like Stephen King, are celebrated for the breadth of their work (King has published 58 novels, in addition to countless short stories). Zadie Smith is certainly famous for her fiction, but she is also renowned for essays in which she poses incisive questions about an unpredictable array of subjects. Her latest non-fiction collection Feel Free is full of witty, insightful writing about art, comedy, film, literature, and popular culture. One of Smith’s greatest skills as an essayist is her ability to seamlessly weave multiple threads of discussion into entertaining and perceptive examinations of any given topic. “Generation Why” is one such essay, looking at Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, and David Fincher’s film The Social Network. It begins by briefly noting Smith’s personal experience at Harvard around the time of Facebook’s inception. From there, a brief discussion of what she terms “Generation Facebook” segues into a review of The Social Network, focusing on the film’s stylization and dialogue, with special interest in how the film depicts the real figures at the centre of its story. This leads Smith to examine Zuckerberg himself—a man “dispassionate about the philosophical questions regarding privacy ... raised by his ingenious program.” From there Smith moves between examination and criticism to arrive at an essential question: Why does one choose to reduce life to this oversimplified format? As she states eloquently, “Shouldn't we struggle against Facebook?” Smith’s concerns about “Generation Facebook” and criticism of David Fincher’s film are synthesized in the essay’s brilliantly scathing final line: “[The Social Network is] a cruel portrait of us: 500 million sentient people ‘Feel Free’ cover entrapped in the recent careless thoughts of a Harvard sophomore.” If that isn’t a vision of dystopia, I don’t know what is. Facebook is just one of the topics Smith examines in Feel Free. “Brother from Phe Rw AA CO Another Mother” is both an appreciative profile of comedy duo Key & Peele and a compelling analysis of what made their comedy so successful. That essay would be well paired with “Getting In and Out,” an astute review of Peele’s acclaimed film Get Out. One of my personal favourites in the collection, “Meet Justin Bieber!”, is similar to “Generation Why?” in its dissection of celebrity culture by way of asking, “What’s it like to be such a person?” In these pieces and others Smith covers an astonishing and wildly entertaining range of subjects. The term “essay” can certainly have negative connotations, mostly related to the chore of writing them as a student. However, Smith’s essays aren't painful to read; they flow smoothly, relate popular culture back to relevant academic concepts, and are composed in an easygoing style. Reading Feel Free is almost like having a conversation with Zadie Smith about whatever happens to be on her mind. The great strength of her writing might be her ability to write fascinating essays about seemingly any topic she chooses. The timeless brilliance of Weird Al Yankovic > One Walk of Fame star and a huge repertoire of hilarious songs Caroline Ho Assistant Editor Fons favourite accordion- playing musical parody master Weird Al has long been an unequivocal staple of modern pop culture. The musician and satirist’s illustrious four-decade-long career is still going strong, especially after the recent August 27 accolade of a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. With this star, awarded in the category of recording, he joins the ranks of over 2,600 actors, musicians, producers, and other entertainers honoured with their names engraved on Hollywood Boulevard. Alfred Matthew “Weird Al” Yankovic began recording and releasing comedic songs in 1976. Since then his resumé has included 14 studio albums, 10 compilation albums, 54 music videos, and over 150 comedic songs full of clever parodies and ingenious genre mash-ups, backed by a persona that’s quirkily, admirably wholesome. Prolific and long-spanning as his career has been, no doubt everyone has their own favourite Weird Al songs. Nonetheless, let’s take this opportunity to recognize a few of his more clever, memorable, and iconic compositions. The Saga Begins (1999) I’ve heard people remark that this masterpiece is the only reason they know the original song, Don McLean’s 1971 classic “American Pie,” and the only reason they know anything about the first Star Wars prequel movie. This pop- culture-didacticism is a common theme in a lot of Weird Al songs and part of the reason he’s such a legend. Beyond that, every line of this parody—starting with from the introductory “A long, long time ago/In a galaxy far away” is poignantly descriptive and hilarious. The music video, with Weird Al as Obi- Wan, probably features better acting than The Phantom Menace anyway. Amish Paradise (1996) Deserving of a spot on any Weird Al song list, “Amish Paradise” reworks the melancholy ambience and slick raps of “Gangsta’s Paradise” by Coolio featuring L.V. (which itself samples “Pastime Paradise” by Stevie Wonder). The juxtaposition of hard street life and technology-shunning traditionalism—two opposites on a spectrum of badassery—is executed brilliantly through absurdly solemn descriptions of idyllic Amish life, sprinkled with both archaic language and rap-inspired interjections of “Fool!” Another One Rides the Bus (1981) This spoof of Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust” is the Metro Vancouver transit-user’s must-have. The driving pace and iconic riff of the original transposes very fittingly into the impassioned, accordion-backed Weird Al version, which describes an uncomfortable, all too familiar experience of being stuck on an increasingly-packed bus. It’s ‘The Saga Begins’ music video screenshot via Reddit gloriously painful for its relatability. Angry White Boy Polka (2003) I admit I personally am predisposed to love and hate this song because it parodies virtually my exact musical taste (I unironically thrive on Disturbed’s “Down with the Sickness” and System of a Down’s “Chop Suey”). Yet we can’t omit acknowledging the genius of Weird Al’s signature medleys, which are comprised of polka-style song covers. Again, they're surprisingly effective at exposing listeners to some huge hits and perhaps letting you enjoy those hits a little more shamelessly.