¢ ‘The Book of Mormon’ musical review Have an idea for a story? M arts@theotherpress.ca ¢ ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time’ play review e ‘Aram Bajakian: Solo Guitar’ review D @ vA ..and more! Deconstructing the facade of masculinity » ‘The Mask You Live In’ movie presented at ‘SHIFT’ feel alien to them and the boys will not have learned how to cope. “(Masculinity is] not something that’s developed, it’s the rejection of everything Sonam Kaloti . Arts Editor THE Vina e a man.“That’s one of the most mek destructive phrases in this culture, I believe,” says Joe Herman, a coach and former NFL player starring in the documentary The Mask You Live In. The movie opens on many faces, all male, speaking to the camera. They tell us that they are sad and explain to us why they feel this way. Many boys hide behind a mask of masculinity, an emotional mask, because that is how they are raised. Regarding boys displaying fragility, whether it be parents, friends, society, or media, the response is usually clear: Suck it up and be a man. This can be extremely dangerous in so many ways. For one, the trauma caused by repressing emotions can result in a surplus amount of grief, potentially staying with that individual for the rest of their life. Trauma in someone can later manifest into personality disorders, such as ADHD which is three times more likely to occur in boys than it is in girls. Not being allowed to express emotions as a child may also result in the complete rejection of emotion. Boys unable to express themselves as kids might grow to not associate themselves with their emotions as adults, as these emotions will that is feminine,” says Dr. Caroline Heldman, a political scientist and educator within the film. Femininity and masculinity are constructed within our society, mostly to create a hierarchy—not even between only men and women but also just between men alone. The movie tells us that creating such strong divides between things we can enjoy and participate in, versus things that are forbidden, prevents us from becoming the fully-rounded people we are meant to be. Growing up not knowing who you are can cause damage to your psyche as well. For example, a boy who really enjoys theatre may get bullied for it and instead join a sports team. He may never feel truly accomplished or happy with that decision, but what choice does he have? This manipulation in our culture of being this person who isn’t you is a way to put people into boxes and try to control them; however, it never really works out in the end. You see boys being yelled at as children to “Be a man’—that is, don’t do anything that may be considered feminine or else your masculinity will be questioned—and people may resort to insulting these young boys by calling them rr “gay” or “girls”, which is another huge issue on its own. “If it would destroy [a 12-year-old boy] to be called a girl, what are we teaching him about girls?” says Tony Porter, an educator and activist. The Mask You Live In delves deep into a conversation about what it means in our society to “be a man’ versus what it really means to be a man. The movie itself has an average production quality, with a few awkward transitions of music and sampled clips of other media mixed in with its own footage. The sampled media does its part in emphasizing the messages told by the characters, as well as providing proof within examples of media we see every YOU ANE Ti Promotional image for ‘The Mask You Live In’ single day that we may fail to question. With viewpoints of people from every background, including young children, convicted criminals, felons, fathers, artists, sports stars, activists, and professionals in mental health, The Mask You Live In explores a wide variety of important topics that are not discussed as often as they should be. We are not only the next generation of our society, but we are also going to raise the ones after, and the first step to tackling these issues is to recognize them. The Mask You Live In does a wonderful job in introducing these present issues; how we handle them in the future is up to us. The sociopathy of an internet star? » ‘The Mind of Jake Paul’ parts one and two by Shane Dawson Sonam Kaloti Arts Editor €€T)eople hate me—like literally they hate me. If this is going to hurt you, then I don’t want to do it,’ says Jake Paul in a voicemail to Shane Dawson. Many people were apprehensive about the latest documentary series set to be uploaded by Internet star Dawson. He has made a few documentary series prior to this one, starring other controversial internet celebrities such as Tana Mongeau and Jeffree Star. In past series, viewers criticized that Dawson was far too quick to forgive the stars’ mistakes from their pasts. The same viewers are concerned that, once again, Dawson will be too empathetic and fail to reprimand the star of his new series, Jake Paul. Dawson, however, already had a plan of action for his series with Paul, saying, “I want this time to actually sit down in aroom with him and be like: This is why people don't like you, this is what you did that was bad, I want you to tell me why you did it, be honest about it, and change your life, and fucking stop.” I, myself, had been waiting over a month for this series to be released. I found myself nervous before I hit play, anticipating what the next 40 minutes were going to be like and wanting it to be over and for me to have already finished watching it, just so I didn't have to spend the time and could already have absorbed all the content. Part one begins with a headshot on Dawson speaking directly into the camera with a disclaimer that we're about to jump into, as he states, “The Mind of Jake Paul, which is going to be a rollercoaster, and a plane crash, and every other disaster you could think of, so good luck!” The editing is instantly phenomenal, accounting for every small detail that goes into a good film, from a dark video filter, sound reverb, example footage clips, and hundreds of specific sounds, which must have taken a very long time despite impressive skills by both Dawson and Image via @shanedawson on Instagram editor and cameraman Andrew Siwicki. Part one of the series focuses on Dawson interviewing a fellow YouTube star, iNabber, to acquire more knowledge on the drama and history of Paul, the ex-Disney star turned internet sensation. Part two of the series centres on an interview with licensed family therapist Kati Morton on what to look for in a potential sociopath, which Jake Paul has been accused of being. “Some people are mad that we are talking about sociopaths [...] but I’ve had professionals around me this whole time tell me that you can't offend them, that’s not a thing. They don‘ care. No, they're not all evil, serial killers, whatever, they just don’t care,” Dawson says in the series. However, after only two parts of the eight-part series being released, Dawson has faced a lot of backlash for potentially stigmatizing disorders such as antisocial personality disorder, which is a spectrum. He has since taken to social media to apologize for going overboard with the horror editing and has informed his audience that he will be re-editing the rest of the series before it is released to avoid hurting anyone. The two released parts of the series have already amassed a total of 26 million views within the first three days of release, so with a few more days to wait for the next part, the anticipation is only growing.