Entertainment and Media

Taylor Swift and the Perils of Being a Woman in the Music Industry

OPINION

Sarah Cochi

Taylor Swift: whether you love her or hate her, you’ve definitely heard of her. Swift’s record-breaking success over a 17-year long period is, arguably, unlike anyone else's in the industry. 

Early Life

Taylor Alison Swift was born on December 13, 1989 in West Reading, Virginia on an 11-acre Christmas tree farm. She always had a passion for music and singing, and even sang the star-spangled-banner at a 76rs basketball game in Philadelphia at age 11. Swift’s early start allowed her to be signed as a songwriter with Sony at the age of 14, eventually leading to a record deal with Big Machine Records, a label that would later come back to hurt her. 

Making it Big

Discovered by Scott Borchetta, Swift first signed to Big Machine Records in 2004; she was one of the first to sign to the label and one of the major reasons for the label’s success. Under Big Machine, Swift released her first 6 albums Taylor Swift, Fearless, Speak Now, Red, 1989, and Reputation, all of which went platinum multiple times. This success skyrocketed Swift to a secured slot as an icon in the music industry. Swift had sold out tours, screaming fangirls, Twitter stans, branded t-shirts, coffee mugs, backpacks, shoes, hats, keychains, and air—probably. Swift had made it, but of course, all this success didn't come for nothing. At this point controversy surrounded Swift from all sides, from doubts about her legitimacy to national news reports saying she sold her soul to the devil and joined the Illuminati. 

Hollywood Misogyny

Not that it's new information to anyone, but Hollywood kind of has a thing for young women. This ‘thing’ is what I like to think of as the ‘Hollywood machine’, if you will. This machine scouts out young female talent and skyrockets them to success beyond what they could ever imagine... then it chops them down. The chopping phase can include dating older men as a way to mature oneself in the eyes of Hollywood, pitting young women against other women in the industry, ostracizing them from peers, and ripping them down through critics. Taylor, unfortunately, faced all of these. Between the controversy and repercussions that came with her dating a 32-year old John Mayer at age 19, the pitting of her against Katy Perry, and the headlines that read “Taylor Swift: Why She Can’t Find Love” and “'Starving' To Be Skinny? Taylor Swift's Shrinking Frame Under Fire—Top Docs Weigh In”, Taylor was hit hard by the industry. 

Now that you’re all aware of how messed up Hollywood is to young women, you want to know why. This ‘Hollywood machine’ sees women, specifically young women, as sex objects to be admired for their beauty. Once these women step out of the Barbie-shaped boxes they had previously been trapped in, the industry no longer likes them or finds them appealing. Taylor Swift dated just as many men as any other female or male celebrity does, but since she used her experiences in these relationships as well as her own emotions and channels them into her work, henceforth breaking down her own Hollywood-box, she was no longer viewed in a positive light; and instead was slut-shamed and critiqued. 

This concept of not allowing women to be successful independently from men is neither new, nor a problem that seems to be coming to an end any time soon. At the 2009 Video Music Awards, Swift had won best female video, only for Kanye West to step up on stage and explain how he believed the award should have gone to Beyoncé. This act alone proved that the Hollywood machine, specifically its men, love to compare women to each other instead of allowing them to succeed individually. This event also had huge repercussions in the industry. From this moment on, the majority of Taylor Swift’s headlines and interviews were about this event, not her music- something that was winning awards in of itself. West even went on to include the line “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex / Why? I made that bitch famous (God*mn) / I made that bitch famous” in his song Famous, thus  further solidifying  this event in Swift’s story, to the point where, even to this day, she still gets asked about it in interviews. The attention that should've been given to any of her 9 albums with gold and platinum songs, or her other accomplishments in film, and songwriting was instead redirected towards an event that perhaps gave unsolicited publicity to Kanye West. 

Why?

Ah yes, the question we are all asking: why? Why does Hollywood have these misogynistic practices? Why do female celebrities get treated like this and why do we let them be mistreated like this? The answer is simple: power. For years, and for as long as Hollywood has existed, the men have had the power. The power to create stories and cherry pick every single aspect of them. As society moves forward and misogynistic practices become harder to preserve, the "Hollywood machine" resorts to pitting women against women and breaking down any sense of a woman’s credibility. 

Now, as you may have noticed while reading this, I am not the most unbiased source. I am a fan of Taylor Swift, a Swiftie if you will, so don’t just take it from me. Do your own research and be sure to take note when you see the machine in action. On top of this, always remember that they hate to see a girlboss winning. We are the only way to change this. We accept these practices because they are what we know and all we have ever learned. Well, I am here to offer another path, one that doesn’t involve tearing down independently successful women or exploiting them, and I implore you to join me. 

Reviewing The Six Classic Hanukkah Parodies

OPINION

Isaac Hoffman

Every December, the winter holidays are on almost everyone’s mind, and along with this comes the seemingly endless number of Christmas songs. For those that celebrate Hanukkah, rather than putting on songs like Deck the Halls or All I Want For Christmas is You, we’re listening to Adam Sandler’s Hanukkah songs and the annual Hanukkah parodies. I’m not exactly sure how this tradition started, but each year I’m just as eager as anyone to see what will be parodied. For now, I’m going to look back on the six “classic” Hanukkah parodies, all released from 2008-2012. After 2013, the parodies were almost all created by the same two groups, so that’s where I decided to make the divide between the eras. With that said, presented below are my thoughts on the six classic Hanukkah parodies.

“Hanukkah Hey Ya!” by Eric Schwartz - 6/10

https://youtu.be/3aDDmt-8ZSM 

This was the earliest Hanukkah parody I could find on YouTube, dating back to 2008. Though, according to the description of the video, it was made in 2003. The song is a parody of Outkast’s “Hey Ya!”, and it is pretty much just the same song with altered lyrics. This is a large detriment to the song, as it leaves it lacking in creativity, though I can’t deny the excellent choice of song to parody. On the other hand, according to the description, the parody wasn’t even made by someone who celebrates Hanukkah, which would explain some of the strange references in the lyrics. On top of this, the song features a flash animation that leaves no doubt of the year the parody was made, and vocals that could be improved, though are not outright terrible. All of these factors add up to a simply mediocre experience overall.

“Candlelight” by The Maccabeats - 10/10

https://youtu.be/qSJCSR4MuhU 

When I think of Hanukkah parodies, this is typically the first one I think of, and with good reason. I grew up listening to this parody of Taio Cruz’s “Dynamite”, and I continue to go back to it year after year when Hanukkah rolls around. From the lyrics blending the history of Hanukkah with modern-day celebration, to the hilarious acting-out of said history, to the over-the-top slow motion used on a latke being flipped and dreidels being spun, to the the surprisingly good editing during the splitscreen portions, to the fantastic a cappella composition, to the astronaut (for some for reason), this is truly the best of the best when it comes to Hanukkah parodies. If you ask me, it is what led to the other parodies, which all attempted to recreate its spark with varying levels of success. I would listen to this song over “Dynamite” any day, even when it’s nowhere near Hanukkah. This is truly a perfect parody; there is nothing I would change about it.

“I Gotta Feeling Hanukkah” by The Fountainheads - 2/10

https://youtu.be/PQ6RCl0lie0 

Somehow I had never listened to this song prior to writing this article, despite it coming out just a week after “Candlelight”. After finally listening to it, I can say with confidence that I consider it a very good thing that I hadn’t listened to it before. I know it can’t be true based on how close together the videos came out, but this just feels like a ripoff of “Candlelight”. There is almost nothing redeeming I can say about this parody. There is exactly one good singer, various parts of the music video range from not good to uncomfortably terrible, and I have no idea why they chose this song to parody. I know the Fountainheads can do better, I listen to “Dip Your Apple” every Rosh Hashanah with great joy. This is just not something I would recommend to anyone.

“Chanukah Rock of Ages” by Aishdotcom - 7/10

https://youtu.be/KyKWUpSMegE 

This parody is actually a mashup of eight parodies of hit songs from throughout history. The song choices are fine, but they aren’t mashed together very well a lot of the time. On top of awkward transitions, the songs almost all feel like separate incomplete ideas just put together. This could easily have been eight individual parodies and would have been better, though still not great. In terms of the music video, it is mostly fine. The editing is pretty good for 2011, and a lot of the dancing is fairly well done. However, the main singer looks a bit uncannily energetic at times and not all of the dancing is good. The singing is solid, though, and I had an overall positive experience. It’s a fine parody, but just suffers from being a mixed bag of ideas that isn’t very well-put together.

“Eight Nights” by StandFour - 8/10

https://youtu.be/WAbTDHblxFM 

“StandFour” is really just four members of The Maccabeats going solo for a parody mashup. The mashup includes Fun’s “Some Nights”, Kesha’s “Die Young”, and One Direction’s “Live While We’re Young”. In some ways, I actually prefer having only four of them. It makes it feel like they each have a really important role in the song, especially considering it’s a cappella. However, that’s really the only thing this parody has over The Maccabeats as a complete group. The editing of the music video is not as good, with there being some very close-up shots that I really can’t understand and the use of choppy splitscreen while the members are in the same location. In addition, one of the vocalists is not as great as the others, which was not nearly as noticeable in the larger group. The parody is still solid though, and the mashup is very well executed, which is in stark contrast to the previous parody I listened to, and the lyrics are pretty great, especially the one about “making random Jewish references in a Hanukkah song”. This parody is still great, I’m just left missing the other members.

“Rolling in the Deep Chanukah” by Soularashs - 5/10

https://youtu.be/J9d2fN1fPSw 

This is a parody of Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep”. Out of all of the parodies on this list, this is the one where I’m most confused by the song choice. “Rolling in the Deep” is a fairly bitter song, which does not fit with the tone of the parody being simply “Happy Hanukkah”. Aside from that, some of the editing choices are very peculiar, with one shot that is a bit too close that keeps recurring throughout the video. I also think the lyrics could use some work (How do you spin a dreidel “to the beat”?) However, the singing is pretty consistently good and a lot of the music video is not terrible. Oh, and there’s a guitar solo midway through the song that I thoroughly enjoyed.

This concludes my reviews of the six classic Hanukkah parodies. I would recommend all of the ones I rated above a 6 if you’re in the mood for a throwback to the early 2010s that involves Hanukkah and pop music. Pretty much all of the parodies released by The Maccabeats and Six13 after this point are 7s and 8s as well, so I would recommend those as well. Have a happy holiday, regardless of what you’re celebrating!

Once Upon a Time, There Was a Railroad Line: A Review of Hadestown in Boston 

OPINION

Ella Stern, EIC, and Olivier Therien

When the legendary Hadestown was set to tour in Boston, you can bet your bottom dollar that all the musical theatre fans stopped what they were doing to buy tickets, and we were two of them. Here are some of our favorite aspects of Hadestown in Boston, as well as our few complaints.    

Our favorite things

1) The band, especially the trombonist

We loved the recognition that the band got in this show. First of all, they played onstage the whole time, which we’d only ever seen in one show before, Come From Away. The trombonist even walked into the middle of the stage with one of the actors during one song, which really helped the band to be interpreted as characters instead of musicians meant to accompany the story rather than be a part of it. It was clear that the characters and their actors appreciated the band: actors would turn to the band while singing and the performers would play off each other’s energy. In “Our Lady of the Underground”, the song Persephone sings to start off the second act, she even mentions each instrumentalist by name, giving the band the celebration they deserve.   

2) The Staging

Previously, I had only seen LEGAL ONLY pro-shots because I am a law abiding citizen of the United States, and this was my (Olivier’s) first time seeing a musical live. I was not prepared for how unbelievably immersive the staging would be. At first, the stage seems pretty basic: a tavern for the overworld and a couple seats for the instrumentalists. Hades and Persephone sit on top of the stage, subtly representing their status as gods, which was a nice touch of symbolism. Overall though, this stage is slightly underwhelming during the first few songs. But once we get to “Way Down Hadestown”, a large whole-cast number at the beginning of the first act, the stage reveals its first surprise.

Trains are an extremely important part of the Hadestown lore. It’s constantly emphasized throughout the show; Persephone arrives and leaves through a train, Eurydice leaves the overworld with Hades on a train, and of course, Orpheus leaves the overworld empty-handed through the train tracks that brought him there. If this stage was unable to include a sufficient train, it would be a major criticism. Fortunately and unsurprisingly, this stage delivers here, because when Hades emerges from the wall, we get to see a three-by-three grid meant to represent the all-important vehicle. It’s crude, but creatively effective, and really caught our attention. It also helped that the seats rumbled when the trains arrived and left which really helped immerse the audience into the stage itself. 

However, the most obvious benefit of this set came a dozen songs later, during "Wait For Me", a song where we finally get to see Orpheus arrive to rescue Eurydice. Suddenly, the left and right sides of the stage separating the musicians from the actors expands, and the stage becomes way bigger, subliminally reminding the audience that “we’re not in Kansas anymore”. The new stage has been set, and it makes way for even more jaw-dropping reveals, since there is now space to achieve them. 

Believe it or not though, that’s STILL not the best staging moment in the musical, because that honor goes only to the song “Doubt Comes In”. Already this song deserves merit because it perfectly balances the creepy tone Hades sets with his song “His Kiss the Riot”, but the staging makes "Doubt Comes In" ten times better. Once "Wait For Me (Reprise)" finishes—a criminally underrated song, by the way—the stage pollutes itself with fog and darkness, leaving only a light on Orpheus, as he has to walk out of hell without Eurydice by his side. Whenever he sings, Eurydice is nowhere to be found. However, whenever she starts singing, the stage erupts in light, and Eurydice suddenly appears. If that staging doesn’t leave you on the edge of your seat, no musical ever will.

Overall, the staging in this musical was some of the best we’ve ever seen. It was truly a spectacle to behold, and while the songs were already amazing on the cast recording, the lively stage made them so much more entertaining. 

3) Social Commentary and Historical Parallels 

People commonly interpret Hadestown as representing the Great Depression. In the song “Why We Build the Wall”, the workers in the underworld assert that “the enemy is poverty”. They go on to explain that “we build us the wall to keep us free”, which is similar to how FDR's New Deal set people to work building railroads and other internal improvements so that both they and the country as a whole could earn their way out of the Great Depression. 

“Why We Build the Wall” is just one of the places in the show where the negative qualities of a dictatorship are explored. Hades, the king of the underworld, feeds his workers information about why they are building the wall, and they repeat it brainlessly, exhibiting blind obedience and a loss of individuality. Later in the show, when the workers are starting to agree with Orpheus that Hades isn’t running things the right way, they still speak as a group because the confidence to do things by themselves and the ability to have original ideas have been taken from them. However, when Orpheus tells them that “it isn't for the few to tell the many what is true”, reflecting democratic ideals, they are able to see that the dictatorship they’re living under is harmful because it has stolen their agency over their lives.  

Hades doesn’t only manipulate his workers: throughout the show, the audience can trace aspects of a manipulative relationship between Hades and his wife, Persephone. For example, in the song “Chant”, Hades responds to Persephone’s complaints about his modernization of the underworld by telling her to “think of it as my love”. This is the classic I’m doing bad things, but they’re for your benefit! message that is often used to justify a toxic relationship. Later in the song, Hades threatens to offer his love to someone else if Persephone doesn’t appreciate it, guilting her into staying with him. Additionally, Hades showing up too early to bring Persephone back to the underworld represents his lack of trust for her and his control over her life. 

The main point of Hades showing up too early, however, is to signify winter coming too early because the seasons are messed up. A crucial part of Hadestown’s plot is that spring and fall have disappeared and weather in general is not the way it used to be, which is similar to the effects of climate change on our own world. Although the changing climate in the show is partially due to Hades and Persephone falling out of love, it is also caused by Hades turning the underworld into a place of fossil fuels, electricity, and automobiles, mirroring toxic factors of real-world climate change. Persephone tells Hades that oceans are rising, harvests are dying, and people are starving, but, like politicians and fossil-fuel producers today, Hades is too drunk on power and wealth to care about the plight of the people far above. 

4) Miscellaneous 

Persephone’s dress was the same shape in both acts, but in Act I, it was bright green to signify summertime, and in Act II, it was black to signify wintertime (and mourning). 

The bond between Hermes and Orpheus was sweet and funny. Hermes was a sort of mentor to Orpheus, and his love and exasperation for Orpheus were both evident to viewers. For example, when Orpheus sees Eurydice, Hermes coaches him on how to talk to her (“Don’t come on too strong”), then groans when Orpheus opens with “Come home with me…[I’m] the man who’s gonna marry you.”

When looking at the Broadway cast recording  on Spotify, there are only two songs that play in between when Persephone arrives for the summer and when she leaves for the winter, and one of the two is a whopping forty seconds long. However, between when Persephone leaves for the winter and arrives back for the summer, there are a total of thirty songs—she leaves during "Way Down Hadestown" and doesn’t come back until "Road to Hell (Reprise)". This reflects characters’ frustration that Persephone and summertime leave too soon. 

Besides the trombonist, Audrey Ochoa, we thought that Persephone (played by Kimberly Marable) and Orpheus (played by Nicholas Barasch) gave the best performances. 

Complaints

Even though we loved seeing the orchestra onstage, we didn’t appreciate how the drummer did not get to join their fellow instrumentalists. Even though drums are large, we wish they’d found a way to accommodate them so that the audience could experience seeing the entire orchestra, and the drummer could receive the same level of admiration and support as their peers. 

In our opinion, Orpheus’ guitar looked way too modern. It looked like an electric guitar, which does not suit Orpheus’ personality: he is a kind, gentle poet who would definitely have preferred a classical or acoustic guitar to accompany his attempts to heal nature through music. Orpheus used an acoustic guitar in the original Broadway version, and there was no reason to have changed this.  

The bond between Hermes and Orpheus was not showcased as much after the first third of the show, and we missed it. For example, at the end of Act I, Hermes is downright rude when Orpheus asks where Eurydice went. This bond would have added some much-needed comedic relief to the sorrowful second act.

Most songs in the live version of this musical were done just as well as the cast recording, if not better. However, the very last song, “We Raise Our Cups”, was pretty much ruined. In the cast recording, it has a somber tone that helps convey the tragedy of this story, but in the live version, it’s just Persephone reading her lines to the audience as quickly as possible with no instrumentals. BORING.

Even though we had some complaints, they were few and far between. Seeing Hadestown in Boston was a truly amazing experience and a great start to the return of live theatre. 

My Top 3 Robert De Niro Movies Ranked

Samantha Smith

In this article, I will rank my favorite movies with Robert De Niro and explain why I liked them and why I’d recommend them. I have not seen Taxi Driver, Casino, Raging Bull, or The Godfather Saga yet for some reason so they are not on the list. Movie Summaries provided by https://www.throughtheclutter.com/robert-de-niro-jr-2689.php