ike Mc P lean wn ,V to ir e g g i r n o i a e 2 G 2 1 8 0 3 2 2 8 The Spooktator Halloween Issue THE MADEIRA SCHOOL OCTOBER 2017 AlisaArtist Lai ‘19 the EarthquakeCreates of 2008, due to Controversy Staff Writer the lack of proper construction i WeiWei is one of the most of school buildings. He deems Acontroversial artists and himself a human rights activist, activists in China. As the son of a person who seeks justice, truth, the well-known Chinese poet, Ai and freedom of speech. However, Qin, Ai WeiWei inherited both the Chinese government deems of his father’s artistic charac- him a political dissident. Dis- teristic and his rebellious spirit. pleased with the boldness of Ai The outspoken artist had more WeiWei, the Chinese government than once openly criticized the arrested and detained him for 81 Chinese government through days and prohibited him from social media and his art work, traveling abroad until July 2015. and he actively participated the Tiananmen Square Rebellion (a “When you constrain student-led movement) in 1989 and condemned the harsh ex- freedom, freedom will ploitation of workers in 2008. He take flight and land on also tried to debunk the corrupt- a windowsill.” ness of the Chinese government when he posted on social media -Ai Weiwei a list of students who died in What was the response Museum goers viewing the exhibition. Photo Courtesy of Alisa Lai ‘19. of Ai WeiWei, the daring artist? He sharply addressed the Chinese and are divided into six zones, thinking, or questioning. With their purpose is reminding people government with his newest ex- with approximately 30 portraits modern technology, we can easily that there are political dis-sidents hibition, Trace, which is current- per zone. Viewers are able to get see a picture of an activist by in the world. It is simply not a ly on display in the Hirshhorn more information about political simply searching his or her name. piece of art. Museum. This exhibition consists dissidents depicted in the por- The exact portrait used in the Ai WeiWei once said, of 176 portraits of political dissi- traits with the digital screens in exhibit would pop up just like the “Art is life. Life is art. I never sepa- dents worldwide, including one of each zone. Without a doubt, the one that we see in the museum. rated it,” and this exhibition il- the most famous Chinese political exhibition is certainly provoca- Why, then, do we bother and lustrates his personal philosophy dissidents, Liu Xiaobo, the Nobel tive and indeed raises awareness waste our time to come to the perfectly. The portraits are the Peace Prize laureate who recently about political dissidents. Hirshhorn Museum? The idea of direct presentations of political passed away in a political prison. But then what? Most presenting the portrait of political dissidents. You see the portrait. Ai WeiWei considered those viewers come to the exhibition dissidents worldwide is truly ad- You see their life. And you see art. people to be heroes who fought without knowing a single thing mirable and thought-provoking Perhaps, this is the meaning of art for their personal rights and about political dissidents, and and the usage of Lego bricks is to some. But to me, art originates beliefs, and he believed they were leave with perhaps knowing one fun and unusual, but the artwork from life, yet it exists in a form worthy of recognition. The 176 name of a certain activist. The itself lacks originality and the that is higher than life. I saw the A photo of the artist: Ai WeiWei. pixilated portraits are comprised exhibition is straightforward and “wow” factor. The exhibition and portrait. I saw their life. But I did Photo Courtesy of Alisa Lai ‘19. with of 1.2 million Lego bricks leaves no room for imagination, the artwork are successful only if not see art. FindingBee Hyland ‘19 Solace in Horror middle-class family moves into sky) in theaters; I expected weird, In recent years, I have Staff Writer a new house, house is haunted, artistic horror—one of the best been trying to find horror movies he Halloween season brings family is dead except for the con- kinds of horror, in my opinion. that do not remind me that the Tmany cultural institutions ventionally attractive teenage What I got instead was jarring. In film industry is run by who it is with it—the all-encompassing daughter and her handsome foot- a film that seems to have the in- run by—this is to say, the afore- pumpkin spice, the eating of ob- ball player neighbor is delightful tention of empowering women, mentioned straight, white men jectively terrible candy with no to me. Still, horror movies are rife the eponymous character is given who write and produce movies Poster from the Original Release. shame, the wild parties, the cos- with themes of sexism, racism, no agency, is beaten, has slurs about straight, white men and Photo Courtesy of PlayStationEurope tumes. One Halloween tradition, and homophobia. Bigotry per- thrown at her, all with no real also scantily-clad, young, white on Flickr. however, is, in the opinion of the vades most media, of course, but narrative consequence. While women who scream when they are (dir. Ana Lily Amirpour) is one of author, is the most important. It this is particularly common in it can be argued that it is com- caught by the monster. Of course, the greatest vampire movies ever, is an institution worth billions, horror, and so I must admit that mentary, or what have you, critics Jordan Peele’s excellent Get Out while tackling feminist themes. full of diverse interpretations, my fave is, as the kids say, prob- (including myself) have taken is chief among my official list of The classic Night Of The Living celebrated by people from all lematic. umbrage with the pure excess of Dead (dir. George A. Romero) walks of life, from A-list celebri- For example, I recently the violent misogyny—it manages explicitly tackled racism and was ties to teenagers with phone cam- saw Mother! (dir. Darren Aronof- to ruin the subtlety of the horror “Bigotry pervades most the world’s introduction to the eras. This tradition, of course, is and anger women in the audience media, of course, but zombie movie. The Purge fran- that of the corny horror movie. at the same time. In more blatant, this is particularly com- chise, for all its flaws, has tackled I have never enjoyed classic horror movies, there is the mon in horror, and so I systemic bigotry while maintain- senseless violence in film, nor “scream queen” trope, the “bury ing a corny, very twenty-first am I easily scared by movies, your gays” trope, the “black kid must admit that my fave century horror vibe. The Final but something about October goes first” trope. In these stories, is, as the kids say, prob- Girls (dir. Todd Strauss-Schul- inspires about a dozen 3:00 AM women lose their agency to the lematic.” son) is a delightful satire of sexist rewatches of Mulholland Drive monster and characters of color horror movie tropes that keeps with popcorn and nothing on my or LGBT characters are killed the best elements of 80s slashers. mind. I grew up on old bootleg off, often violently. This brings to Horror Movies That Are Actually I still love horror movies. VHS tapes of Child’s Play and mind the overwhelming amount Good And Not Super Painful To I will love horror movies forever. its seemingly endless supply of of straight, white men working Watch Having A Hint Of Social But in this era, it really is difficult sequels, on Hitchcock marathons, as writers and directors of horror, Awareness, but other, recent films to find escapism in films that per- on hundreds of rip-offs of other which, quite frankly, puts a huge also make this list. For example, A petuate the horrors some people rip-offs. The constant cycle of Photo Courtesy of Wikemedia Commons. damper on my Halloween spirit. Girl Walks Home Alone At Night face in reality. sonal experience that vent yourself, or others, from be- they’re a little ing murdered. too real for There are so many PG me. One ways to have fun too. It’s a busy trip to time for everyone, and some- times, getting into the spirit of Halloween means eating candy corn while watching Netf- lix instead of something more… adventurous. It is my personal DIY belief that everyone should take a few minutes (or hours, whatever floats your boat) to watch a Hal- Cute Costumes loween themed DIY on Youtube. Watching a costume come togeth- Without Breaking the Bank er from old paper tubes and tutus, or an It inspired makeup look us- Julia Pecau ‘20 2. Rosie the Riveter 3. Veronica ing that one tube of red lipstick Staff Writer The next one is a pin-up girl. Are you a Riverdale fan? If so, ‘ve Mar- from the d o l l a r store is ometimes Halloween just You most likely own most of this then you can go as Veronica Inev- k o f f ’s tru- Ssneaks up on you. You don’t costume. You need to have high- lodge. Just get fancy clothes and er really Haunted ly have the time to make a costume, waisted jeans, a denim button up, an I Heart Archiekins sticker and been a “fear- F o r e s t fas- and you don’t have the money for a red bandana and red lipstick.