Mia Hernandez

If you’re anything like me, you look forward to the summer semester for its calmer, less stressful course load, not to mention Tallahassee’s diminished traffic (as a college-driver, I would like to apologize on behalf of my schoolmates for the nonsense we pull on Tennessee St). With the reduced summer coursework, you might be looking to fill some of the time that’s been freed. Luckily, streaming platforms are here to capitalize off your boredom, with a great deal of shows and seasons premiering throughout the months of June, July, and August.

With the new season of Netflix’s The Umbrella Academy being released June 22nd, Elliot Page has announced that his character in the TV show will be transitioning from Vanya to Viktor Hargreeves. In his Instagram post, Page re-introduces his character as Viktor Hargreeves. Upon Page’s announcement, the character’s new gender identity within the show was widely celebrated, both because the change helped to reflect Page’s own journey with gender identity, and also because of the historic moment it represented to let a character transition alongside their actor. In fact, the transgender community has a disheartening past of experiencing poor representation in television and media, so this comes as a welcomed joy. Current shows that represent the trans community have been working to undo these false narratives, focusing more on their personal journeys and their gender in more nuanced, meaningful ways. But progress doesn’t come without drawbacks, and there are still issues to be resolved within modern representation.

I recently ventured to unlock my inner ~gamer girl~ persona by joining my friend’s D&D campaign. I’ve always loved the idea of role-playing games (RPGs) but have never really made an effort to learn about them. Now that I have started playing DUNGEONS & DRAGONS (arguably one of the most complex role-playing games for beginners), I can say I’m certainly learning a lot, and boy, is it an effort.

The Legend of Vox Machina is Amazon Prime's newest adult-geared animated fantasy series based on a DUNGEONS & DRAGONS (D&D) campaign by Critical Role, a well-known D&D roleplay group. If you just read DUNGEONS & DRAGONS and immediately thought “nerd-fest” and “LARPing”, I’m here to tell you it’s way more than that. While DUNGEONS & DRAGONS has a bad rap from non-players and conservative parents alike, it’s actually a really fun roleplay game, great for any group of friends wanting to take on new personas and/or flex their improvisation and quick-thinking skills. Vox Machina, while based off a D&D campaign, really appeals to more than just the tabletop game fanatic and is a great choice for anyone looking to broaden their streaming horizons or discover their next favorite fantasy show.

When I first walked out of the theater after watching Everything, Everywhere, All at Once, the first sentence I said to my mother was: “What the f&%$?” Caught up in the sheer chaos of the movie’s plot, my mother and I both failed to appreciate the movie’s deeper hidden messages and themes until about twenty minutes after leaving the theater, when she asked me what the movie even meant. At that point, I started to look back on the film’s significant moments and recurring themes: those of family, kindness, and an underlying subversion of the immigrant story - all amounting to an ultimate theme of appreciating our loved ones, even when they drive us up the wall. Despite my initial confusion (or the fact I still can’t get the movie’s long-winded name right), I definitely grew to appreciate the film’s absurdist, but well-constructed, plot and characters. I now understand its 96% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

La película de Little Women trata de las vidas de cuatro hermanas, cada una con diferentes personalidades y ambiciones. El cuento se enfoca en las relaciones entre las hermanas, desarrollando sus historias individuales durante todo.  Muy temprano en la película, los sueños de las niñas son increíblemente claros. La hermana mayor, Meg, sueña que un día podría empezar una familia. La segunda hermana, Jo, desea que pueda tener éxito como escritora. A la tercera hermana, Amy, le gusta pintar y a la hermana menor, Beth, le gusta tocar el piano. La película cambia entre escenas del pasado y del futuro. Mientras las escenas de sus jóvenes enfatizan juego y esperanza infantil, las escenas de sus adultos demuestran a las hermanas con obstáculos más graves. Aunque Meg espera que sus niños tengan una vida buena, a ella le cuesta trabajo cuidarlos porque la familia tiene poco dinero. En el futuro, Jo es presentada como una maestra. Aunque ella sueña con ser escritora, no tiene éxito porque el campo de escritura está controlado por hombres. Amy ha pasado mucho tiempo estudiando arte en Francia, pero ella duda que pueda ganar suficiente dinero como artista y, en lugar de eso, se enfoca en encontrar un esposo que pueda apoyar a su familia. Las hermanas están enfocadas en ellas mismas hasta que la hermana menor, Beth, muere de fiebre escarlata. Este evento reúne a las hermanas para así darse cuenta que ellas necesitan seguir juntas. También aprendí la lección de que la familia es lo más importante de todo. En resumen, esta obra muestra la importancia de depender de la familia. Enseña que no importa a donde vayas en la vida, la familia siempre es un parte integral de nosotros mismos.

Truth be told, when my editor informed me that I would be allowed to write this article, I did a little dance behind my black zoom screen. I am far from a figure skating aficionado (unless we’re counting the 3 weeks of figure skating classes I took with my brother when I was 7). That said, I am a huge figure skating fan and have been obsessed with following the performances and careers of some of the best figure skaters of our time. So, in honor of the Beijing 2022 Olympics, I present a list of my favorite figure skating performances from the past decade, in hopes of converting each and every one of you dear readers into the figure skating stan that I am.