A&E

 

Mo Kelly

Staff Writer 

 

Who doesn’t love Buzzfeed?

Their light-hearted and spirited videos can relieve Benchmark stress, their oh-so-accurate quizzes can get rid of boredom in class, and their news articles might even teach you something about the world. It’s safe to say that Buzzfeed is a staple in many student’s lives. So when the SLA community saw one of their own in a Buzzfeed show, that took the school’s interest in the site to another level.  

In the fall of 2018, SLA graduate Enthony Chhin was featured on Buzzfeed’s new competition game show, Feed Famous. In this five part series, six contestants completed various challenges revolving around modeling and Instagram Photos. Whoever took the best looking photo, won that week’s challenge, while the contestant with the worst photo would be eliminated.

Chhin was a class of 2015 student who started to do makeup during their time at SLA.

“Me and my friend would sit by the elevators and she would be doing her makeup. She would always ask me to help her with it and soon, I started to do my moms makeup and my own.”

They found out about Feed Famous after scrolling on Youtube and seeing a video calling for people to apply.

“I just thought I might as well submit it, and if nothing happens nothing happens… I wasn’t really expecting anything.”

Soon after, Chhin got a call from the creators at Buzzfeed asking them to appear on the show. Chhin was ecstatic.

After five weeks of challenges, including prompts such as using no makeup or filters, modeling with toilet paper, and incorporating a box of seemingly random objects, Chhin ended up winning the show, which included a free trip to Los Angeles and have a party with Buzzfeed as a VIP guest. But, their win wasn’t met without a fair share of controversy.

Buzzfeed viewers felt that Chhin did not deserve to in the show because they “broke the rules.” They took issue with the fact that Chhin used Photoshop in some of their pictures while others didn’t have that opportunity or skill. The comment section of the video and Chhin’s Instagram were flooded with hate with people calling them annoying and saying they deserved to be kicked out in the first week. It got so bad that Buzzfeed had to turn of the comments on the post where they announced them as the Feed Famous winner.

Despite the hate online, Chhin was sure to look at the bright side of everything, saying the experience gave them a thick skin and that they learned to ignore people who have negative comments.

“It made me realize that no matter what people say about you, it doesn’t matter. It was unnecessary drama. The world can be really mean. But, I think it made me a really strong person.”

The school community has celebrated Chhin’s appearance on the program. Science teacher Tim Best was Chhin’s advisor and described them as “a very outgoing, upbeat presence at SLA. You could always count on Enthony to make you smile.”

Sophomore Lily Bromley watched Feed Famous over the summer and was excited to learn that Chhin attended SLA.

“It was over the summer and I was really bored. It seemed like it would be interesting because a lot of the challenges were focused on body positivity and I really like art and photography so I thought it would be fun to watch.”

Chhin wasn’t the only SLA alumni to appear on one of Buzzfeed’s videos. In 2017, Buzzfeed held a Queer Prom, where they invited a group of LGBT high school seniors across the country to attend a prom just for them. This was created after some LGBT seniors felt unsafe or weren’t allowed to go to their own Senior prom. A class of 2017 SLA student, Otter Jung-Allen was invited to this prom.

Both Chhin and Jung-Allen have made huge marks on the SLA and online community with their creativity and activism.

“I think it’s cool that SLA has fostered so many cool and creative people,” Bromley said.  

Courtesy Hip-Hop-N-More

Taylor Green

A&E Editor

 

With the success of his fourth studio album “Championships”, collaboration with Jay-Z and reunion with previous rival Drake. American rapper and Philadelphia native Meek Mill has been a trending topic.

 

However, an aspect about him that tends to be overlooked is his work with the prison reform system. This could be due to his notorious past. When Mill was 18 years old, he was put on probation for assaulting a police officer.

 

Since then he has been on parole and sent to jail on a few occasions. His most recent arrest being on March 10th, 2017 for assaulting two pedestrians. During his trial, the judge presiding over his case would show up at his community service and commit other irregularities.

 

Furthermore, evidence regarding previous cases were brought up once again, causing Meek’s lawyer to be suspicious of the justice system.

 

This is what piqued Mill’s interest in reforming the prison system.

 

Before the release of his recent album, Mill starred in a two-minute short film titled “Prisoners Deserve a New Set of Rights”, advocating the urgent need for reform in the criminal justice system.

 

In the video, Mill shares the many injustices that people who are being arrested might face. He explains that men of color are 5 times more likely to be incarcerated than white people who are convicted for the same crime.  In addition, black offenders who are proven to be guilty end up getting a longer sentence than their white counterparts.

 

Mill took the opportunity of creating a new album as a way to not only rap about his life, but to create another platform for prison reform. Throughout the record, he uses many songs to shed a light on the issue.

 

Senior Dayanna Hughes shares the importance of the message that Mill is sharing.

 

“His song Oodles O’ Noodles Babies talks a lot about the inner ‘hood works’,” Hughes explains. “He talks about how sometimes the misfortunes that people face are inevitable due to the environment that they grow up in and how changing that, can positively change the system in general.”

 

Senior Lauryn Lewis, a long time fan of Meek Mill shares how he has matured throughout the years.

“You can really tell how much he changed and how he’s more informed.” Lewis shares, talking about how Mill’s music and public speaking has advanced throughout his career. “He doesn’t just say that we need to change the prison system, he actually talks about different cases that have been unjust.”

 

Throughout the year, Mill has devoted himself through activism in the past and has been known to put in a lot of work into not only his music. However, Hughes feels as though Meek should be using his fame and spread his message about prison reform to other influential artists

 

“I believe that Meek Mill shouldn’t be the only celebrity face of prison reform,” Hughes explains. “I can see him partnering up with other influential celebrities like Jay-Z or even politicians. I think that it is a teamwork effort.”

 

Although he’s one of the few celebrities making a public effort to change the criminal justice system, Mill’s current work and future plans will always be relevant, especially with his hometown being Philadelphia.

 

He has been receiving endless support and praise from people all throughout the city, whether they’re a fan of them or not.

 

 

Mo Kelly

Staff Writer

One of my most cherished memories from childhood is from one simple day when I was around 7 years old. My mom called me down from my room and when I came to see her in the living room, I saw a blanket spread out with an assortment of snacks all around. She told me we were going to watch one of her favorite movies, Mary Poppins.

Ever since that fateful first viewing , I’ve been obsessed with Mary Poppins. I’ve seen almost every “behind the scenes” clip, I know all the words to every song, and I’ve even read some of the actual P.L Travers’ books. I’m a superfan, and unapologetic about it.

So, when I heard about the plan for a Mary Poppins sequel, I was immediately skeptical. It’s such a classic, and it works so well on its own!  But, I kept my doubts to myself and waited to actually see the movie.

Mary Poppins Returns is not a remake. Instead, it shows the Banks children from the original all grown up and having troubles. After losing his wife and almost his house, adult Michael is in need of some help, and in comes Mary Poppins. There to take care of his children, she shows them how to appreciate life in a brand new, exciting way.

Emily Blunt’s performance as Poppins was practically perfect. She excellently captures the stern-yet subtly-sweet character that Julie Andrews defined in the original. Blunt has a beautiful singing voice and has great chemistry with Lin-Manuel Miranda, who plays opposite her as Jack. Miranda seems like he’s straight from the 20’s with everything he does in the film. He fits so perfectly in this movie that it’s weird to see him rapping Hamilton the next day,

But my favorite part about it wasn’t the acting, the plot, or even the music. It was the art. The first five or so minutes of the film were the opening credits, which I haven’t seen in a movie in a very long time. They were absolutely beautiful, I would even say breathtaking. It was reminiscent of Bert’s sidewalk drawings in the original, with muted colors and simple landscapes that found a way to incorporate so much detail. I found myself not looking at the names that were displayed in front of me, but the background of the intricate artwork. The artists really outdid themselves on this.

The most transcendent moments in the new film were when the art merged with the story of the film. My favorite scene took place in the Banks children’s vase where they meet tons of animated creatures while Mary and Jack sing a bouncy duet. The penguins from the original movie make an appearance and they’re still just as cute. (Fun Fact: The penguins in this are completely hand drawn as an homage to the original!) Again, the art is beautiful. My eyes kept bouncing around the screen trying to see everything I could; purple dancing elephants, chickens in suits, and turtles with canes, you name it! You can really see how much love was put into the scene, and the entire film.

I’m glad that I gave the film a chance because I loved it. But, I still won’t say that it was better than the original. Some of the songs seemed like throwaways that lacked the heart of the original score. I would have also liked to see more Emily Blunt in it, seeing as she is the titular character. But still, it was a fun movie that made me feel like a kid again

And if I could use one word to describe it all, it’s be supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.

 

 

Lauren Nicolella

Features and Social Media Editor

 

IHeartRadio’s annual Jingle Ball concert took place on Wednesday, December 5th. For the past few years, I’ve taken a look at the lineups and have attended the concert multiple times with my friends. It has become a pre-holiday ritual for me and my friends that begins the winter with delight.

This year the lineup consisted of more popular artists such as pop stars Dua Lipa, Shawn Mendes, and 5 Seconds of Summer. In comparison to other  Jingle ball shows, Philly featured some of my favorite artists.

I was pounced on the opportunity to buy tickets to this concert, especially after seeing my Twitter timeline up in arms about about their city’s lineup choices. With 5 Seconds of Summer releasing their album this year, they were the make or break factor when deciding to invest in closer seats than we were used to getting.

I was fortunate to see smaller lineups with lesser known artist in previous years. Bigger cities like Los Angeles and New York got the more well-known artists, and it’s like the Superbowl win brought Philly some luck this year to get a mixup. However, it was very exciting to finally be genuinely excited for more than one performer. It’s safe to say that this year’s changes from the norm were a success.

Calvin Harris, Bazzi, and 5 Seconds of Summer were breathtaking.

I was pleasantly surprised by EDM artist/producer Calvin Harris despite my typical lack of interest towards his music. His use of different colored lasers and choice of songs made everyone get on their feet and jump around. He played his hits such as Summer, Blame, and even older hits We Found Love and This is What You Came For featuring Rihanna. When an artist puts in songs that everyone knows, it’s bound to be a good time. I saw every single person swaying along in the cloudy lights, even those who were sat further down in my row.

Michigan native Bazzi has become a breakout star this year due to the success of his song “Mine”. The song was certified two-times platinum in the US, three-times platinum in Canada, and has flooded the social media sphere for months. His amazement with the crowd made me swoon. Everyone in the arena was singing along, and being able to see his face. His performance exceeded my expectations, lacing his heart to his belting, passionate vocals. I couldn’t keep my eyes off of how hard he was smiling, and his looks of delight up at the different sections in the arena.

In April, I saw 5 Seconds of Summer at the TLA and wasn’t impressed to say the least, but it wasn’t their fault, it was just super packed in the venue. However, their Jingle Ball set was much better in comparison.

I was overjoyed to finally experience their newer songs live, and they hands-down put on the best performance. It was their last show of 2018, and my friends and I could match their adrenaline, going home with sore throats from screaming the lyrics of every song back to them. Unfortunately, not every performance matched others.

Dua Lipa has become super popular this year with her songs New Rules, IDGAF, and One Kiss. I was pleasantly surprised by her appearance at Jingle Ball. I waited so long to finally see her, and was disappointed with her set overall. Her vocals were certainly there, but her choreography was so cringeworthy that I had to sit down because I was the only person standing in my row. I felt so bad, and the amount of memes I saw on Twitter days after were constantly making me relive that moment.

I really hope that next year’s lineup will hold something special, because it starts  the beginning of the school year on a high note. Jingle Ball has always been a fun experience, and it’s worth the amount of money spent since there is an entire lineup.