Mount Hood

TTPD

Written by: Hannah Field | News Editor

Taylor Swift’s newest album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” was finally released April 19. During the announcement speech at the Grammy Awards show Feb. 4, Swift held up two fingers in a peace sign — alluding to her double album drop — when announcing her eleventh studio album. Fast forward to meeting Swift at midnight, fans listening to the 16 tracks of “The Tortured Poets Department” were surprised at 2 a.m. when Swift dropped an extra 15 songs.

The production of the album rested in the hands of Aaron Dessner and Jack Antonoff of the band Bleachers, longtime friends and collaborators of Swift who heavily utilized synths, keyboard tunes and distortion techniques. Track one, “Fortnight,” is sung alongside Austin Post, also known as Post Malone, while Florence Welch of Florence and the Machine is featured on track eight, “Florida!!!”

The album itself appears to be the lovechild of Swift’s last original album release “Midnights” and the pandemic-created sister albums “Folklore” and “Evermore.” While officially being a pop genre album, much of the album is backed by a soft piano and utilizes strong lyricism as Swift sings about various tragic topics, such as heartbreak, abandonment and the nuance of fame.

The 31 songs have topped the charts, being the first album on Spotify to reach one billion streams within a week as well as being the platform’s most-streamed album within one day at 300 million. Despite breaking records, the album has been surveyed heavily in the media — with many fans turned anti-Swiftie and strangers criticizing what they consider to be odd lines, off-beat tunes and a lack of true poeticism, rather antithetical to the tortured poet of “The Tortured Poets Department.”

However, most critically condemned is Swift’s apparent past relationship with The 1975 frontman Matty Healy, with multiple songs dedicated to their previous interloping. Although nobody knows definitively which songs are about Healy, many fans presume at least “Fresh Out The Slammer,” “But Daddy I Love Him” and “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived” to be in regards to Healy — with the latter being a direct descriptor of Healy’s behavior during and after their time together.

“The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology,” the second installment of the album, contains the song “thanK you aIMee,” which, in all capital letters, spells out KIM — which fans presume to be about Kim Kardashian and their nearly decade-long feud.

Overall, the album explores the themes of unrest, misunderstanding, dying romance and Swift’s complex relationship with fame. Very few songs, if any, are considered joyful pop hits, and the most upbeat song of all, “I Can Do It With A Broken Heart,” is likely one of the most “miserable.” It’s an album for the tortured poets of the world reeling from personal loss in one way or another — and, according to the Swifties, more is coming May 3. Although, in typical Swift fashion, she’s likely got more tricks up her sleeve to keep the guesses coming and the songs streaming.

8/10.

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.mail.edu

Never left the 90’s

Written by: Sierra Porter | Staff Writer

“This Is How We Do It” — Montell Jordan 

“Ride Or Die” — JAY-Z

“Thuggish Ruggish Bone” — Bone Thugs-n-Harmony 

“The Choice Is Yours” — Black Sheep 

“Woo Hah!! Got You All In Check” — Busta Rhymes 

“Forgot About Dre” — Dr. Dre feat. Eminem 

“As The World Turns” — Eminem 

“It Was a Good Day” — Ice Cube

“Everyday Struggle” — The Notorious B.I.G

“C.R.E.A.M” — Wu-Tang Clan 

“Troublesome 96’” — 2pac

“Girls All Pause” — Kurupt feat. Nate Dogg & Roscoe 

“Who’s The Mack?” — Ice Cube

“The World Is Yours” — Nas

“Loungin (Who Do Ya Luv)” — LL COOL J

“Shook Ones, Pt II” — Mobb Deep 

“93’ Till Infinity” — Souls of Mischief 

“Mass Appeal” — Gang Starr 

“Regulate” — Warren G feat. Nate Dogg 

“I Got 5 On It” — Luniz feat. Michael Marshall 

“O.P.P” — Naughty By Nature

“O.G Original Gangster” — Ice T

“You Got Me” — The Roots feat. Erykah Badu & Tariq Trotter 

“Tonite” — DJ Quik 

Contact the author at howlstaffwriter@wou.edu

Aloha from Maui

Written by: Hannah Field | News Editor

In August of 2023, wildfires raked the island of Maui, causing unprecedented damage to Maui County and its inhabitants. Homes, businesses, studios, buildings and more were lost to the fires — devastating not only many lives but also countless lifelines for artists, creators, business owners and creative minds. 

Western has since installed an “Aloha from Maui” exhibit in celebration of the artists in Maui, Hawaii, which will be featured through May 3. The exhibit, which can be found in the Cannon Gallery in Campbell Hall, states that, “Through the loss of galleries, studios and art businesses, Maui County artists have persevered. They continue to create and share ways in which art can be healing and bring community together.”

Paula Booth, Western’s Gallery Director and Assistant Professor of Art, led the charge in jurying “Aloha from Maui.” Booth, herself, harbors fond memories of Maui and believes art has the power to heal, leading to the production of “Aloha from Maui.”

The artworks are completely giclee printed reproductions on canvas stretched on a two-inch frame, as, unfortunately, obtaining the artwork of thirty-six different creators crafted, gathered and shipped to Oregon from Maui proved to be difficult. 

The historic town of Lahaina, Maui, was particularly ravaged by the disaster. Featured artist, Laurie Robbins Miller, honored two significant Lahaina landmarks: Front Street and the Banyan Tree — an impactful moment for fourth-year student Tati Ala, having been born and raised in O’ahu, Hawaii.

“When we were first going through and picking out (artwork), I cried at like four of them,” said Ala. “Specific ones that are very meaningful.”

During the fires, Ala was in Hawaii that summer and had been in Maui earlier that year. “I was crying the entire time — we had family and friends there, and I’m very grateful nobody passed away and everyone we know was safe. But there were a lot of people who didn’t have that.”

“This is an important celebration of their work and their livelihoods and it connects what they do to a wider audience,” explained Booth. “This is a very colorful, engaging and fun show — there really is something in it for everyone.”

“It has been really great to have the opportunity,” said Ala. “It’s close to home.”

Contact the author at howlnews@mail.wou.edu

Nunsploitation horrors: An immaculate review

Written by: Lili Minato | Freelancer

Content warning: this article contains spoilers and discusses dark themes involving pregnancy and religion. 

The infamous nunsploitation genre is back with two new blockbuster films that have left audiences rattled and disturbed. 

Nunsploitation is a film subgenre that involves the exploitation of nuns in a horror or thriller setting. Some of the most popular films of this genre come from “The Conjuring” universe, specifically the movies “The Nun” and “The Nun II.”

“Immaculate,” which hit theaters on March 22, gave audiences a more artistic approach to the often repetitive and predictable horror subgenre. “Immaculate” follows an American nun, played by Sydney Sweeney, who joins a hospice convent in Italy. Besides the slightly off-putting comments and actions by the elderly nuns who are cared for in the convent, Sweeney’s character, Sister Cecilia, considers the Italian countryside her new home. 

As the days and weeks pass, Sister Cecilia notices more odd and unusual occurrences around the convent, corresponding with her worsening health. Cecilia becomes increasingly more ill and requests to see a doctor. In return, she gets a checkup by the convent’s appointed physician, 

where the devout nun finds out about her pregnancy. There is nothing that has caused the said pregnancy so it is ruled to be an immaculate conception. Sister Cecilia was going to give birth to the next baby Jesus. 

The first half of “Immaculate” is predictable and filled with plot holes; there is nothing too unique about it. As the film progresses, though, the artistic values start to show.

The final scene provides a beautiful “Rosemary’s Baby” finale for the film. 

Sister Cecilia has just escaped her captors and is free from the convent. She stands outside, surrounded by the beautiful countryside, but the beauty starts to deteriorate as she goes and squats by a tree. The camera moves up close to Cecilia’s bloody face as she begins to scream. 

The screaming lasts for multiple minutes without any camera cuts. After a while, a crying baby can be heard. The camera then pans out and follows Sister Cecilia as she goes and grabs a heavy rock, she brings it toward the crying infant who is out of the frame. She holds a rock above the baby and drops it. With that, the film ends. 

Sweeney gives an excellent performance that proves she has the pipes to be the next big scream queen. 

Along with “Immaculate,” another blockbuster nunsploitation film was released two weeks after the former. “The First Omen” is the sixth installment in the “Omen” franchise and shares a very similar synopsis with “Immaculate.” 

“The First Omen” also revolves around an American woman sent to Italy who becomes suspiciously pregnant on arrival. The only difference is that the main character faces an arguably more sinister birth than Sister Cecilia did. 

Both films are currently in theaters with “The First Omen” getting slightly better ratings than “Immaculate.” For nunsploitation fans, both seem to be worth the watch. 

7/10. 

Contact the author at lminato22@mail.wou.edu  

Live action: take two

Written by: Gretchen Sims | Editor-in-Chief

Content warning: this article contains spoilers.

When Netflix announced that they would be re-remaking “Avatar: The Last Airbender” as a live-action series, expectations were high. As a childhood favorite to many, another failed remake was all that was on fans’ worried minds. 

Starring Gordon Cormier as Aang, Kiawentiio as Katara, Ian Ousley as Sokka and Dallas Liu as Prince Zuko, the release of “Avatar: The Last Airbender” was, unfortunately, met with mixed feelings. 

When the show was set to hit production, Netflix announced that the original creators of the Nickelodeon cartoon, Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, would work as executive producers on their live-action remake. This news excited fans who were, not long after, met with the disappointing news that DiMartino and Konietzko had departed from the show, citing creative differences — the two received writing credits for the first and sixth episodes. This disheartening turn of events raised questions regarding the show’s integrity to the original cartoon. 

First, I want to preface with the fact that this new remake was nowhere near as awful as the first attempt, which went as far as to mispronounce its character’s names. It was not as good as the original, I think anyone could have guessed that, but it wasn’t horrible. However, there were a few aspects of the remake that caused it to fall short of the cartoon. 

Growing up, Katara was always my favorite character. As a sister to annoying siblings, who often took on an authoritative position in their lives, I felt myself relating to her. In the Netflix remake, I didn’t get any of that. I felt like the energy and life Katara brought to the cartoon were lost in the live-action — it was as though she were flat and two-dimensional. 

Additionally — and there has been a lot of online discourse surrounding this — Sokka’s sexist character arch was cut from the adaptation. In the Nickelodeon series, Sokka starts the show with very sexist views that were instilled in him throughout his childhood, but he slowly loses them as he meets strong women throughout their quests. 

While there is an argument for cutting this arch, I think that writing Sokka’s initial sexism out of the show erased an important lesson the original writers wanted to portray. Talking about sexist themes is crucial to fighting gender biases — especially in children’s TV shows. 

The show’s creators stated that they wanted to make things darker to make the series not only for kids but “…people who are big fans of ‘Game of Thrones’” as well. 

This attempted direction fell more than short and left viewers with a weirdly “edgy” feel — in a “not at all edgy” sort of way.

The cartoon was supposed to be lighthearted to appeal to children, while also teaching valuable lessons to this younger audience. Because this was executed so well, the original “Avatar: The Last Airbender” show was a hit among all ages. Sadly, this new remake does not quite reach this mark — completely overlooking the essence of the original show. 

If one is debating whether it is still worth a watch, it is important to ask oneself why they fell in love with the original in the first place. Like I said in the beginning, it’s not horrible, it just leaves out some key components that can leave a returning viewer wanting more. 

6.5/10.

Contact the author at howleditorinchief@wou.edu

It’s the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine

Written by: Claire Phillips | Entertainment Editor

“It’s The End Of The World As We Know It” — R.E.M.

“Skyfall” — Adele

“In a Week” — Hozier feat. Karen Cowley

“Seven Devils” — Florence + The Machine

“Apocalypse Please” — Muse

“Everybody Wants To Rule The World” — Tears For Fears

“(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” — Blue Öyster Cult

“As the World Caves In” — Sarah Cothran

“Exit Music (For A Film)” — Radiohead

“Blue Spotted Tail” — Fleet Foxes

“Losing My Religion” — R.E.M.

“Who Wants To Live Forever” — Queen

“Enjoy the Silence” — Depeche Mode

“Time is Running Out” — Muse

“Bottom of the River” — Delta Rae

“Stare at the Sun” — Mutemath

“I Know It’s Over” — The Smiths

“Alone Again Or” — The Damned

“The Sound of Silence” — Simon & Garfunkel

“Everybody Loves You When You’re Dead” — The Stranglers

“Victory Dance” — My Morning Jacket

“Highway to Hell” — AC/DC

Contact the author at howlentertainment@wou.edu

Trisha Paytas births the Royal Family

Written by: Libby Thoma | Staff Writer

As the British royal family passes, they are reincarnated into Trisha Paytas’ womb to be birthed as one of her children — or so the internet would lead one to believe. This conspiracy, making its rounds around the internet, is certainly interesting, and here are its origins.

Trisha Paytas, a long-time infamous internet celebrity turned loving mother with a popular podcast, TikTok account and YouTube advertisement, is said to be parenting the royal family. The outlandish rumor began when Paytas birthed her first child, Malibu Barbie Paytas-Hacmon, on Sep. 14, 2022, just six days after the queen’s death. Trisha Paytas stated on her podcast, “… [Malibu Barbie] does give me Queen Elizabeth vibes.”

This conspiracy only escalated further when Paytas announced she was pregnant via her podcast on Nov. 21, 2023 and found out about the pregnancy on Oct. 3, according to her. On Feb. 5, 2024, it was released in the press that King Charles was diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer and is currently receiving treatment. The internet is now conspiring that King Charles’ presumed upcoming death will lead to Trisha Paytas birthing her new baby, Elvis Paytas-Hacmon, the reincarnation of King Charles.

There was a third uproar when Trisha Paytas announced she would be trying for a third child almost immediately after the birth of her second child. This was stated on April 6, 2024, less than a month after Kate Middleton announced her cancer diagnosis and treatment plan on March 22. At an earlier date on her podcast, Paytas stated, “I just don’t love that it’s King Charles or Queen Elizabeth … I feel like if it was … I’m not wishing this but Kate Middleton … I’d take a Kate Middleton reincarnation.” It may be possible that Trisha was just playing along with the joke.

Paytas shared her opinions in a voice-over on TikTok while making a baked potato: “I get the meme of it all … I was able to lean into Queen Elizabeth one a little bit, but it also terrifies me that … people believe in it enough.” Since Paytas believes in manifestation, she fears that the meme will manifest the royal family’s deaths considering she also believes in reincarnation, as stated on her podcast. On the same TikTok, she announced, “I get the timing is crazy … but I hope he makes a speedy recovery.” 

Trisha Paytas stated that she simply wants her baby to be her baby and not be connected to anyone but Elvis, whom the baby will be named after.

Contact the author at ethoma23@mail.wou.edu