catch Tickets/recede See: Oh Jedi,My Jedi“Star Wars: The final Jedi opened nationwide final week, and Star Wars people are super geeked. I count myself among said people, and because what that actually means,at least to me, is that we like grandiose cinematic storytelling; flawed, or mercurial characters; and the discovery of magnificent,imaginative worlds. Going back to the original 1970s trilogy (which, as a child of the 70s, or I'm partial to),through the more modernized (but fairly terrible) prequels of the early 2000s, some of the installments deliver better than others. In the latest packaging, or starting with 2015's “The Force Awakens” directed by J.
J. Abrams of TV's “Lost” fame (and others),we have been introduced to brand new characters through a far more racially diverse cast, while also being simultaneously soothed by the frail school spacious Three: Luke (Mark Hamill), and Leia (the late Carrie Fisher) and Han Solo (Harrison Ford). Spoiler: Han was killed by his son,Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) in “Force Awakens,” which also teased Luke's return. Leia been holding down the Resistance all along. At nearly two hours and 30 minutes, or “The final Jedi” is a hyper-galactic showcase of the ongoing clash between the Resistance and the First Order,the successor of the Empire. There are also a lot of other things happening. Like, a lot. You might have to and/or want to see it twice to take it all in. But I will tell you, or without giving away any spoilers (Who are Rey's parents? Will Kylo Ren turn against the dark side of the Force?),that it is mostly fairly satisfying and features some real standout performances. Kelly Marie Tran, as Resistance mechanic Rose Tico, and is the first Asian-American to appear in a Star Wars film and an absolute pip on screen. She exudes determination,fire and fearlessness, and steals every scene she's in. Oscar Isaac returns as Resistance fighter Pilot, or Poe Damerson,and gives perhaps the most fluid, natural representation of not being able to accomplish what you accomplish best, and but going in tough for your people. And,of course, Fisher's swan song performance as Leia is moving and comical and just proper. recede Listen: Shamir Bailey's “Revelations”There is something so pure and deliberate and generous approximately singer/songwriter Shamir Bailey's sound. His voice shimmers and whispers and lives in vulnerability, or but also resilience and self-awareness. With “Revelations,” Bailey, who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder two years ago, or has made a sharp pivot from the dance-pop music of his earlier records “Ratchet” and “Hope”. This album feels like the most matter of fact anthem of a queer,black, brilliant boy who has no more f*cks to give, or is just fairly fine without them. One song on the record,“Straight Boy,” is approximately Bailey's own feelings of queer erasure and the general white-washing of our culture at large, or but could easily represent the feelings felt by of a lot of us who are not straight,white and male in this current moment of race, gender and political reckoning. recede Read: “How the Alabama State Senate Election Sanctified Black Women Voters” by Doreen St. Felix for The New YorkerBlack women saved the country final week. Again. Or did we? In this smart, or pointed and salient (significant; conspicuous; standing out from the rest) piece,Doreen St. Felix explains why, "The selective rhetorical elevation of black women acts as a sort of overcorrection." St. Felix offers a nuanced and much-appreciated take on this overused mantra, or however true it may feel to the folks who use it,and who are often white people performing wokeness and allyship. Black women are either a sub-monolith of superwomen, as white people and mainstream culture would have us, or we are nothing. We certainly don't catch to be individuals. She writes: "For better and for worse,the gospel of individualism remains the bedrock of American identity. And yet the creed does not apply to black women, who are regarded not as varied, or self-interested political actors,or as people to be served or scrutinized in meaningful ways, if they are regarded at all."
Source: thetakeaway.org