Mount Hood

Civil rights film series on campus

Chrys Weedon | Entertainment Editor

Civil Rights Film Schedule:
Jan.30 Eyes on the Prize (Continued episodes)
Feb. 6 Freedom Riders (Famous bus trips across the South in support of desegregation)
Feb.13 The Black Panthers (A documentary on the Panthers and their demise)
Feb. 20 A Good Day to Die (The story of Dennis Banks and the American Indian Movement)
Feb. 27 Incident at Oglala (The Leonard Peltier story of injustice on the Pine Ridge Reservation)
Mar. 6 American Outrage (The struggle of Western Shoshone women for tribal rights)
Mar. 13 The People Speak (Howard Zinn and friends provide a critical, social movement based history of the  U.S.)

The three months that make up winter term hold within them many significant dates: the anniversary of the women’s march (Jan. 20, 2018), Martin Luther King Jr. day (Jan. 21) and Black History Month (February), to name a few.

Winter Term also offers a class that focuses on film from the civil rights movement. For six years, Dr. Dean Braa has been teaching Sociology 407.

“I invented it, sort of. Years ago (the sociology department) had a discussion and we discovered that a lot of students, most students, didn’t know anything about the civil rights movement,” commented Dr. Braa. “Not many students have that opportunity, and we have looked at US history books … and most of the US history books I use, even around here, say little or nothing about civil rights.”

The film series is open to everyone, no matter if they are registered for the class or not. Participants watch 12 films across the term, including the documentary series “Eyes on the Prize” and documentaries following the Native American civil rights movement.

“We try to make it fun, I tell people ‘bring popcorn, bring snacks, bring your dinner if you want to,’” said Dr. Braa.

In the 50 years since Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s death and the 37 years since the end of the Black Panther Party, civil rights film has been replayed in educational settings across the country. But why is rewatching this film so important?

“Well (the class) raises consciousness about social movements, it raises consciousness about racism and how terrible it is … this racism wasn’t just in the south,” explained Dr. Braa. Watching films from and about the civil rights movement is not only educational, but can teach about present-day movements as well. Dr. Braa discussed, “(injustice) is still going on now. We haven’t fixed it … (the film series) serves to show a connection; we gotta keep this movement going.”

Film and other art that was born out of the civil rights movement can show how successful social change happens.

“You want people to understand, positive change doesn’t usually come from within government, it comes from outside,” said Dr. Braa. Film from this specific period of American history shows that change usually happens when the status quo is upset.

“Social movements that kind of threaten government or put government under duress, that’s where positive change comes from,” remarked Dr. Braa.

A film is shown every Wednesday night from 5:30 to 8:00 p.m. in the Health and Wellness Center in room 203. All are welcome to attend.

“What we hope you’ll take from this: to see (America’s) past but apply it to the present and see we still need to make some big changes,” concluded Dr. Braa.

 

Contact the author at howlentertaiment@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Ashlynn Norton

Dodie Clark’s “Human” EP review

Chrys Weedon | Entertainment Editor

Back in 2007, Dodie Clark started started posting her original songs — and covers — onto her Youtube channel, doddleoddle.

Since the its birth, Clark’s main channel and second channel, called doddlevloggle, have blown up, becoming a staple on Youtube. Hailing from Essex, England, Clark writes and performs on a variety of instruments, including ukulele, guitar and piano. On her first channel, Clark has over 1.7 million subscribers and has surpassed 200 million views; her second channel has seen similar success, with more than 900,000 subscribers and 100 million views, according to socialblade.com. Clark also has a VEVO channel, dodieVEVO.

Clark has released three EPs over the years, including “Intertwined” and “You.” Her most recent EP, released on Jan 18, is titled “Human,” and like her other EPs, was self-released. The title track to the album was released in September as a single and a teaser for her new project.

“Human” includes seven songs, most of which are studio-recorded versions of acoustic songs that Clark has posted on her Youtube channel previously.

The EP has a newly recorded version of Clark’s song “She,” which is arguably her most well-known song. “She” tell the story of Clark’s infatuation with a female friend and her struggle with accepting her sexuality.

This very personal collection of songs analyzes complex emotions and themes such as falling back in love after being hurt, losing friendships and the crushing pressure and guilt that often comes with internet fame. Clark’s intense vulnerability and her superb writing ability have only gotten better with age. When an audience gets to witness one of their favorite artists grow and mature through their music, the bond between them grows stronger.

The stringed instruments layered into the background and the vocal harmonies add a new depth to Clark’s songs. Clark has managed to keep the simplicity in her music that attracted her fanbase in the beginning, but she has also incorporated a new complexity that keeps her EP fresh.

Overall rating: I would recommend this album.

 

Contact the author at howlentertainment@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of dodie.co

 

Art on campus: “Soliloquy”

Chrys Weedon | Entertainment Editor

In the first stairwell of Hamersly Library hangs an intricate tapestry that many students may not give a second glance. “Soliloquy” by Shelley Socolofsky has been living in the library since it opened its doors. The art piece was commissioned specifically for the library as a part of the Percent for Art program.

The Oregon Arts Commission started the Percent for Art program in 1975, when it applied only to Marion and Polk counties. The program legislates that any building with a budget of $100,000 or more must set aside one percent or more of their budget for public artwork. In 1977, the legislation took effect in all Oregon counties.

Shelley Socolofsky is currently based in Portland, Oregon. According to her website, shelleysocolofsky.com, “informed by long histories of textile production with its orientation to pattern and decoration, her work explores the material, conceptual and poetic nuances of ‘craft’ through a hybrid practice incorporating both digital technology and analogue hand processes.”

“Soliloquy” is a tapestry in Gobelin Tapestry style, a technique born from Les Manufactures des Gobelins in Paris and Uzes, France, where Socolofsky completed an apprenticeship. According to Hamersly Library’s website, Gobelins is a tapestry style that was developed during the middle ages in Europe from cloth making traditions developed over centuries.

“Part of why I like it so much is that it’s huge, and it represents so much work,” said Paula Booth, an art professor and director of the Cannon Gallery of Art in Campbell Hall, “I also find that it looks totally different when you’re standing at a distance.”

The tapestry features a woman whose head opens into a cloudscape. Flowing upward, clouds turn into tree branches and finally the top of the tapestry sits baby birds, mouths agape. The pieces represents the hunger for new knowledge, open-minded thinking and the search for new ideas. Woven behind the image of the woman are excerpts from an Anne Sexton poem; the words are very subtle and visible only at a semi-close distance. The tapestry captures the mission statement and vision of a library — the pursuit of knowledge and exposure to new ideas.

 

Contact the author at howlentertainment@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Ashlynn Norton

Youtube channel Girls Play features WOU alumnae

Chrys Weedon | Entertainment Editor

According to the 2016 census, Monmouth’s population is about 10,000 people. The Girls Play Youtube channel’s subscriber count currently sits at about 246,000, which is 24 times more people than the population of Monmouth.

Girls Play is a channel that has been building a following for six years. The group also has a considerable following on Twitch, a streaming channel where viewers can interact live with streamers. Many women have joined and left the channel over the years, but the current team is about 10 people. One of the original members, Larson, was working at Target and attending Western when the channel was born.

“One of my friends realized ‘hey, there’s no girls in this platform, and especially a group. How cool would it be if we could get a group of girls in this niche that’s starting to grow and see what we could do with it?’” said Larson.

The channel started in a bedroom, and in the beginning it was just a hobby. Larson commented that for the first four years, she was only recreationally making videos while also working and going to school. But as their following grew, it became a full time job.

“I’ve only been full time two-years with this,” Larson commented, “it was very hard. Even though we look big and professional now, it’s still a struggle and I don’t think a lot of people ever realize that the struggle at the beginning is real.”

Natalie Doerfler, a junior theater major at Western, joined the channel about a year ago.

“Now people are recognizing Youtube and Twitch as actual jobs and you get paid to do them,” Doerfler said.

Although maintaining the channel takes a lot of work, Natalie enjoys being able to do something she loves.

“It’s become about just hanging out with friends on a Youtube channel and on Twitch, and just being able to play video games,” commented Doerfler.

The Girls Play channel has videos on a diverse group of video games.

“We’re… variety, which was originally why we liked the idea of the girl group,” said Larson, “because you have so many different personalities, whereas a lot of channels especially are very solo focused.”

Specific challenges come along with being a group of women online in a Youtube genre that is dominated by men.

“There are gonna be the men who come into chat and talk about how much makeup you’re wearing and how distracting it is,” said Doerfler, “and then you’ll have another guy come into maybe a different stream where you’re wearing a little bit less makeup and they’ll judge you for how little makeup you’re wearing.” But, in the end, the girls say that the community they’ve built is worth everything.

“We are completely relying on the community to keep (the channel) going,” Larson said.

Doerfler said the most important thing about the channel to her was to engage with other women within the gaming community.

“I think it’s important to show men that, hey, this is happening and it’s okay for you to enjoy this as well,” said Doerfler. “I just want people to see that women are having fun with video games just as much as men.”

 

Contact the author at howlentertainment@wou.edu

Video courtesy of Chrys Weedon

Photo courtesy of Paul F. Davis

Folk musician John Gorka visits Western

Chrys Weedon | Entertainment Editor

John Gorka was born into the world of music in a small coffeehouse in Pennsylvania in the 1970s. The coffeehouse, Godfrey Daniels, was a hotspot for musicians and a place that Gorka frequented often, even living in the basement for a time. There at Godfrey Daniels, he met a myriad of musicians who inspired him and he quickly started writing his own music.

Gorka’s first album, “I Know,” was released in 1987. He released his 14th album on January 19, 2018.

Gorka visited Western on Jan. 18 as a visiting artist. As part of the Smith’s Fine Arts series, Gorka came to play his music and share the wisdom he has gathered through his years of making music and touring.

“Of course, I’ve been influenced by mainstream stuff. But I think of myself as something of an insider, and I have always felt that it was better to really strongly affect a small number of people, than to reach a big number of people only superficially or temporarily,” said Gorka in a story in the Huffington Post by journalist Brian D’Ambrosio.

Gorka’s songs are strongly characterized by the storytelling element. Each song takes the listener on a journey. Songs like “Mennonite Girl” and “Edgar the Party Man” are both examples that show off Gorka’s storytelling abilities. Along with his more structured, storytelling songs, Gorka has multiple pieces that are more funny and lighthearted, like “People my Age” and “Like my Watch.” On stage, Gorka is jovial, cracking jokes and telling stories about his travels and his music career.

Behind the scenes, however, Gorka is shy and subdued. Earlier in the afternoon on Friday, Jan 19, Gorka held a song writing workshop to impart his knowledge of the craft and share his writing techniques. He often deflected attention to his instruments and his songs.

“Personally, I wanted to push myself out of my comfort zone,” commented Sage Kiernan-Sherrow, a junior pursuing an English degree with a literature concentration.

“What I got out of it was that you have to be comfortable forcing yourself to create even when you don’t want to,” said Kiernan-Sherrow, “and experimenting with your work when you’re stuck.”

The songs of John Gorka are clearly products of many different influences, but they all have a strong theme of honesty through each one of them. Each melody, each lyric, feels like a secret memory or poem. Gorka’s music can be found on Spotify and iTunes. His website can be found at johngorka.com.

 

Contact the author at howlentertainment@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Ashlynn Norton

Book review: “The Water Cure”

Chrys Weedon | Entertainment Editor

“If the men come to you, show yourself some mercy. Don’t stick around and wait for them to put you out of your misery.” These are the words of King, the caretaker and creator of a supposedly utopian compound in a world that is plagued by male violence and intense radiation. Here, with their mother, three women liver: Grace, Lia and Sky. King has vanished, apparently killed by the dangerous world outside.

Only Grace still has faint memories of the outside world. Lia and Sky were too young to know what the world is really like. Convinced from a young age that certain death awaited them beyond the borders of the compound, the girls stay with their mother and reminisce about the past, about the years when women would travel to them by sea to be healed.

In order to be cleansed, guests would endure different “therapies” of King’s own design. These included purging, being held underwater for as long as possible before drowning, and burning effigies representative of each woman’s trauma. These all led up to a final therapy — the water cure. For a final time, a woman deemed truly healed would be held underwater within an inch of drowning; if she survived, she was ready, and would travel back into the world.

Grace, Lia and Sky grew up enduring these therapies, all the while learning of the violent and chaotic nature of men, who would hurt you if they got the opportunity. When three men wash up on their shore, tensions rise and the sisters are forced to adapt to their new lives among them. When their mother disappears, the girls start to understand their own strength and capacity for desire.

Author Mackintosh’s descriptive ability and complex writing makes this novel intriguing. The many layers and metaphors in the novel deserve a comprehensive analysis. The distinctive voices of Grace and Lia, who take turns narrating the book, alternate so fluidly and naturally. Mackintosh clearly has a strong command of language. The fact that “The Water Cure” is her first novel is very promising.

Overall Rating: I would strongly recommend this book, but would advise caution. There is some imagery of abuse and sexual assault that could adversely affect some readers.

 

Contact the author at howlentertainment@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of penguin.co.uk

Student artist spotlight: Madeline Weinstein

Chrys Weedon | Entertainment Editor

Madeline Weinstein is a junior studying theater at Western Oregon. Originally hailing from Seattle, Washington, Weinstein didn’t have much enthusiasm for the idea of college after her graduation from high school.

“It’s really cheesy, but then I visited Western Oregon, I was very hesitant. And then I realized, this is a very friendly place. People are waving ‘hi’ to each other, even on the weekends,” Weinstein said.

After visiting Western, Weinstein knew she wanted to apply.

“My mom actually said something that is going to stick with me forever, and it’s: ‘pick a school where you feel comfortable walking into a room and feeling confident that someone would help you,’” commented Weinstein, “that was the deciding factor.”

Weinstein had plenty of acting experience when she started at Western. She acted in all twelve shows that her high school produced in her four years there. In fact, Weinstein’s main inspiration was her high school drama teacher. Because of that one teacher, she decided to get her bachelor’s degree in theater and then continue on to get her master’s degree in education.

Weinstein hopes to relocate back to Washington after graduating to teach high school drama; “I want to give back and inspire my high schoolers,” she remarked.

Since coming to Western, Weinstein has participated in multiple shows in a various number of capacities. As a first-year, she was responsible for the sound in Western’s production of “Shakespeare in Hollywood.” She has also been a part of paint crew, and has acted in one-acts and ten-minute plays.

“Even if I don’t get into the main stage shows, I know that there’s still a chance for me to act in the one-acts and the ten minutes,” said Weinstein.

Something that Weinstein loves about the theater program is that “they don’t always put the ‘perfect’ actors in there, they put people who they know can learn from the experience and… who can grow more.”

Overall, Weinstein’s experience in the artistic community at Western has been positive: “I’m not a number, I’m an actual person with a name.”

 

Contact the author at howlentertainment@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Ashlynn Norton

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