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CULTURE

This is Us: A Case for Cathartic Television

When “This is Us” won for Best TV Drama Ensemble at the Screen Actors Guild Awards this past January, the reactions from its cast were priceless. Each member emanated joy and humility: Chrissy Metz threw her hands up, incredulous; Sterling K. Brown performed an epic handshake with his beaming wife; Mandy Moore reached the microphone first, and warned with breathless delight, “It’s going to be a minute, there are quite a few of us!” As the actors filed onto the stage, their diversity – in terms of race, gender, and age – was apparent, a reminder of the varied voices that frame the show. There seemed to be a genuine sense of closeness amongst the cast, too—a warmth that was palpable....
CULTUREFILM & TVREVIEWS

Pride, Tradition, and Controversy: A Glimpse into One of South India’s Oldest Festivals

Dozens of men and boys gather on the side of a road in Alappuzha, a city in the southern Indian state of Kerala, on a late afternoon in mid-March. They’re hard at work building one of 13 Kuthira, or large wooden towers, using saws, ropes, and their bare hands. The towers are offerings to the Hindu Goddess Bhadrakali, the protector of the good. Each represent a Kara, or region surrounding the Chettikulangara Devi temple, the home of the celebrated deity....
CULTUREESSAYS

A Glimpse of the Future: LA’s Inaugural Weedrave

One might be forgiven elsewhere in the country for thinking of weed smokers in prototypical terms, couchlocked and snackish, dazed day to day. But here in California, where marijuana has been a source of public debate and policy for years, it becomes clear there's no single type of cannabis consumer. From grandmas doing monster dabs on youtube to patients with chronic pain, the face of pot has changed dramatically over the past decade. So it seems inevitable we get Weedrave, a 12 hour rave for the self-professed stoners among us. Founded by Michelle Lhooq, a journalist with bylines at the L.A. Times and GQ Magazine and a book about weed due out next spring, the 12 hour event featured panels, rooftop yoga, CBD tonics, a dab bar, THC gummy samples, and a free pre-roll and bite-size edible with the purchase of a ticket. Performing DJs included False Witness, Kosmik, Mesmé, and Kokonut, among others....
CULTURE

Welcome to the fan club: The digital superfans changing entertainment

Jamjamj had no idea her YouTube channel would amass nearly 250,000 subscribers in just five months. The 17-year-old American, who wishes to remain anonymous, started her channel back in May 2018 out of a desire to create videos honoring her favorite K-pop boy band, BTS. Her first edited video was a tutorial for a mobile BTS game—and it hit 100,000 views in just four weeks. “I’ve been editing videos for a long time. I started when I was like 10,” she said. But it wasn’t until recently that her mother allowed her to start actually publishing her videos online. The teenage BTS superfan is part of a larger generation of digital fans who are playing an active role in shaping fandom and entertainment. While a pre-internet world had teenage fans taping fold-out magazine posters of boy band members on their walls, Jamjamj and her cohort actually create original content on platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and Tumblr for each other to consume. Their content not only attracts new fans but also helps them better understand an idol, TV show, or storyline....
CULTUREMUSIC

Frieze: LA’s Pop-up art fair in a faux NYC

Kelly green stickers papered the ground, emblazoned with philosophical quandaries in Futura all caps: “ARE THERE ANIMALS IN HEAVEN?” “WHO BUYS THE CON?” “IS THERE LIFE WITHOUT PAIN?” But this wasn’t just aimless litter underfoot; it was artist Barbara Kruger’s installation “Untitled (Questions 3),” one of the many exhibits on display at the art fair, Frieze LA. Frieze, which bills itself as a “media and events company,” is an arts and culture magazine publisher that has grown into an international powerhouse, throwing well-attended bashes in New York and London. Over the weekend of February 16 and 17, artists, curators and celebrities descended upon Paramount Studios to see and be seen at Frieze’s inaugural LA festival....
REVIEWSVISUAL ART

Something Less than Revolution with Roxane Gay and Amanda Nguyen

Revolution Nothing Less," his t-shirt read. I passively, bored-but-curious, accepted one of his newspapers into my glad good hand, while standing in front of Bovard Auditorium in a long line for the much-anticipated USC Annenberg's Visions and Voices' conversation on February 13 between author Roxane Gay and activist Amanda Nguyen, moderated by Tara McPherson. ...
CULTUREREVIEWS

Messob’s Higher Purpose Bread in Little Ethiopia

The earth-colored collage of stewed meats and lentils you find at Messob is already a beautiful mess. And the situation only gets stickier when the restaurant staff encourages you to share in gursha – the Ethiopian ritual of hand-feeding your companion chunks of this aromatic, peppery mash-up....
FoodREVIEWS

Troye Sivan: Authentic Artistry in the Age of Social Media

It’s five minutes past 6:30pm on a rainy Monday evening when the news is delivered: Troye Sivan’s golf cart has died en route. There are audible gasps and a collective murmur from the jam-packed auditorium teeming with USC students, some of whom have been waiting well over an hour just to be in the same room as the social media icon turned pop-star. Restless excitement permeates the air, and now, a buzz of heightened anticipation for Sivan’s arrival. The student next to me anxiously taps his phone on his knee, screen already fixed on camera mode. Another behind me whispers giddily to his friends, “Can you even imagine, like, being on campus right now and Troye Sivan just casually walks past you?”...
ESSAYSMUSIC