Arts & Culture

Though Flawed, Emilia Pérez Wins Awards Aplenty

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With 26 wins and 33 nominations, Emilia Pérez has been basking in award glory. The musical crime comedy written and directed by Jacques Audiard premiered at the 77th Cannes Film Festival on May 18, 2024, and then hit Netflix on Nov. 1. The musical pieces are primarily in Spanish but feature English as well, and the film stars Zoe Saldaña, Karla Sofia Gascón, Selena Gomez and Adriana Paz. 

The film begins with Rita Castro (played by Zoe Saldaña) an under-appreciated and overworked lawyer working in Mexico on criminal cases, who has been contacted by Mexican drug lord Manitas Del Monte (Karla Sofía Gascón) for a job. 

After putting a bag over Rita’s head and taking her to an unmarked location, Manitas asks Rita to help him become a woman. Rita is to find the surgeon and help Manitas fake his own death in Mexico and find a new home for his kids and wife.

Arts & Culture

Plato’s Cave and Trump’s Next Term 

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A sentiment echoes across the United States, and it stems from “the people.” Just last week, “the people” elected a president. How can we understand this political moment better? Let’s go back to Plato and his cave. Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave,” from the Republic, helps us understand populism in the U.S. today and its role in Donald Trump’s rise. 

The “Allegory of the Cave,” aims to understand the effect of education, or lack of it, on our nature. Plato describes his allegory as follows: There are humans living inside of a cave that extends far with an entrance leading to the outside world.

Arts & Culture

The 5 Best Political Black Mirror Episodes 

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Dystopias remain terrifying because of how close we remain to achieving them. Black Mirror, an anthology Netflix TV series, often utilizes dystopias to make social and political commentary. Each episode is unrelated in content but they all aim to critique or expose human nature. Sure, I could list the most entertaining episodes but, in this political moment, wouldn’t it be more fun to look at the ones that hate us the most? 

Arts & Culture

Your Next Read Before the Election: “Cannibalism in the Cars” 

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24 congressmen walk into a bar. There’s a snowstorm and they can’t leave for seven days. Who do they eat first? 

Mark Twain’s 1868 short story, “Cannibalism in the Cars,” takes place in a train, not a bar, but there’s still cannibalism — don’t you worry. 

The story follows the so-called “Stranger’s Narrative”: the story of 24 “gentlemen” on a train bound for Chicago in December of 1853. Snow is falling and there is a pleasant atmosphere, but soon the train can no longer push forward.The men realize they have no food, only wood for fire to keep them warm. 

Days pass and among the sorrow, hunger lingers. On the seventh day, the gentlemen can no longer take the starvation.