By Kaylin Lafferty
This summer we had a total of 14 movies in our classic film series, the goal of which was to broaden our horizons and expose us to different types of films. Thanks to Brandon and our committee of staff volunteers, we saw films from different genres, decades, and countries. These movies have been a big part of GSP this year and as journalists, we felt we should give you all a recap: CODA was our first classic film series movie and it was an amazing start. The movie turned out to be unexpectedly funny and more crude than a lot of us originally thought. There were tender moments about family that made us cry and themes of growing up and finding yourself that are especially imactful to us as we go into college. And among this, the film managed to beautifully portray the challenges that her family faced, especially when they lost their fishing liscence and when the audio cut out near the end. In its entirety, the film did an amazing job of conveying different ways people experience the world and gave an invaluable insight into their family’s life. Spirited Away was many scholar’s first Studio Ghibli film and it was not a movie they will soon forget. Spirited Away showed us a unique style of animation and allowed us to experience a type of movie that is very different to what we see in Hollywood. And though the plot seemed a little like a fever dream, the story was nostalgic in a way that brought to mind animated movies from our childhood where the morals are simple, the ending is resolved peacefully, and the soundtrack is better than it has any right to be. The movie surprised some scholars who were expecting more mature movies but it was something I am glad I had the opportunity to see. Arrival was one of my personal favorite movies. It started off by confusing many of us with the timeline of the movie but that was soon forgotten as we got into more classic science fiction suspense. The movie did a great job of showing the field of linguistics and explaining how complex languages are while also giving the audience the thrill of an alien invasion movie. And at the end, the film discusses the concert of time and makes us question what it means to be human and to be living a life, asking us directly if knowing the struggles of our lives would make us change it. Casablanca is the oldest film in our classic film series (1943) and some aspects make that obvious. But aside from the age gap and the somewhat cheesy dialougue, it was a pretty great movie. It did an amazing job at portraying the complexities of politics in Nazi-occupied countries and complex plot points in general, considering the fast pace. The film had an impressive script and moved very quickly from plot twist to plot twist. And the lack of color filming really helped set the mood. Although no awards will be won for the movie’s progressive views on women, there was an important message and I’m glad I got to see it. Singin’ in the Rain was the only musical in this year’s classic film series and it did not disappoint. The story was satisfyingly simple and the throwback to the 1920s showed the difficulties of a transition that is often overlooked. The dance breaks were sometimes a little long, but it was amazing to see the skill in the actor’s performance. The romance, and really the whole movie, was cheesy in a comforting way and the film left us singing the songs for days. The movie was really cute and fulfilled everything you could want from a Gene Kelly musical from the 50s. Dr. Strangelove had a concept that immediately grabbed our attention - who wounldn’t want to see a comedy about nuclear warfare? But the comedy was mostly nonsensical names and ridiculous plot twists and some scholars wanted more direct humor. There were also a lot of questions raised about the ending and what exactly happened. Regardless, the movie was great at making fun of people’s panic and provided an interesting perspective of a time when most people in America were very afraid of the future. And the bombers definitely deserve a shoutout. They were hilarious. Top Gun was one of the most anticipated films in the series, not only because of the theming on Yerkes 3rd floor, but because of the recognizable soundtrack, buzz from the new movie, and, most importantly, the cool fight scenes. Some of the plot seemed at times generic, specially the romance, but the personality that the actors brought to their characters made the movie fun to watch. By the end, Top Gun had us all rooting for our chosen characters. And crying for Goose. (Why did Goose have to die? He was such a great character!) Everything Everywhere All At Once was another one of my favorite movies in the series. It manages to mix a heartfelt, coming of age family movie with a chosen one, multiverse, sci-fi and make both sides feel complete. It also didn’t take itself too seriously, discussing nihilism by having the antagonist be as random as possible. It also touches themes of finding fullfillment in your life and not ever giving up on the things that really make you happy. And it all adds up to make a movie that beautifully depicts a family trying to find their place in the universe and stay with each other. Women Talking had one of the lowest turnouts for a classic film series, but it ended up being a really great movie. It was a little difficult to track the characters up until the second half but the message is incredibly powerful. It takes a plot that is literally just women talking about their future and turns it into an intense discussion of piecing yourself back together after tragedy and moving forward with your life. And the movie culminates with the women leaving their religious colony and going out into the world to restart their life, deciding to forgive the men who assaulted them, but leaving them behind. Jaws was such an amazing film. The shark was obviously robotic, but Spielberg’s directing had everyone in the theater screaming when they saw it. It had just the right amount of death scenes, a great handle on suspense, and characters the audience loved (until they died). The idea of a giant killer shark that can not die might have set shark conservation back a few years, but it was worth it when the sheriff blew up the shark and people screamed so loud you couldn’t hear the next few lines. So the movie ended up being incredibly fun to watch at GSP, even if you’ve seen it before. Dead Poets Society is a film that we were warned about several times in advance, so every scholar started the film knowing someone was going to die. But even with the content warning, many scholars showed up, and for good reason. Dead Poets Society is a beutiful coming of age film that discusses the challenges that come with thinking for yourself and deciding who you want to be. Both the characters and the challenges they faced seemed real to us and many scholars were able to empathize, if not identify, with the plot. The script and the acting was so impactful and by the end, half the theater was in tears. Schindler’s List was the first film at Centre GSP that had to be improvised, as we couldn’t get Life is Beautiful, but it affected many scholars more than any other film. In fact, it feels wrong putting it in this same article because it was so painful to witness it should almost be separated from everything else. When the film was introduced, it was said to be as close to realistic as Spielberg could get it, relying on first-hand accounts from survivors of the Holocaust. And that made the plot so much deeper. It was difficult to watch but it was important that we saw it and I’m glad it was shown at GSP. A League of Their Own was marketed to us as a movie about women’s baseball but it ended up being more than that. The movie had much more to do with sisterhood. We watched the Henson sisters navigate their relationship with each other, their teammates, and the sport they loved. We got to know the women on the team and looked into each of their unique personalities. The film discussed the impossible standards of being both perfect ladies and incredible ballplayers and it had one of the most accurate portrayals of siblings that I’ve ever seen while still being an insanely funny movie. I loved this movie, even if the ending made people cry. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was our last classic film at GSP. And it felt like an old rom-com with a dash of sci-fi mixed in. The timeline was intentionally confusing until the end and some of the scenes where Joel was inside his own head were a little difficult to follow, but the message of the movie was really sweet and I had a lot of fun watching it. It left us with themes of memories being important and encouraged us to hold on to what was important to us, making it a great film to end on.
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By Amelia Lanier I would describe the discussions I had heard concerning the upcoming poetry night as hesitant. Some scholars simply believed they weren’t inclined towards poetry or arts, and others had never attended a poetry night and felt unsure about the new experience. For this reason, it was a wonderful surprise to see that poetry night, which was held July 6th in Weisiger theater, had a great turnout of scholars, all anticipating what the night would bring. From the beginning, poetry night was established by its hosts Melanie Kidwell and Will Garcia as a “casual, informal, and intimate” place of safety. This was a place not only to read prose to a crowd, but as Will put it, “a night of celebrating the written word.” After Will opened the floor with his reading of “I Hate Poetry,” scholars lined up to share their work, and it became clear that poetry night would be anything but hesitant.
Poetry night was a whirlwind of readings of free verse, sonnets, short stories, song lyrics, and snapping, and those listening were beyond moved. This night was scholar Sarah Umbarger’s first poetry reading, and she loved it, stating “It made me feel so inspired, and emotional.” Sarah, along with many other scholars were especially moved by Annie’s reading of her original work Women Trying, which explored the more emotional and painful experiences of women. Sarah spoke of the importance of vulnerability in poetry readings, which allows others to understand the poet’s feelings and relate to something that they might not share in another situation. Overall, Sarah believes in the understanding poetry fosters, and that “we are better off for it.” The thing about reading poetry to a crowd of people you have known for two and a half weeks is that it can be absolutely terrifying, but that doesn’t make it any less rewarding. On poetry night, one of the poems Felix, a scholar and avid poet, performed was best titled as Words, which explored the nature of language, as well as the difficulty that can come with saying important things. When considering the importance of having opportunities to share poetry, stating that, “The ability to go and share poetry with people is one of the best things about it because more than the art found in the poetry is the art of the connection that poetry creates that makes poetry so beautiful.” This concept carried throughout the night as scholars read poems that they brought to read, decided to share on a whim, or had written minutes before--all of which came from something that spoke to the scholars and was able to foster a new understanding among them all. For a community of people who put in the work to attend an academic program on the level of GSP, opportunities like poetry night is something worth taking advantage of. Poetry is not something that can be done incorrectly, and the true purpose of creative expression goes far beyond doing something right or perfectly. Poetry is about sharing the emotions that would be too difficult to share otherwise, and to connect with an audience in a way that feels magical because it is unique to the arts. Poetry night ended up extending over an hour past its planned ending (something that many scholars stayed for). Once the night came to a close, Melanie and Will encouraged scholars to take poetry prompts from bowls placed around the stage so that they may feel inspired to continue to think creatively outside of Weisiger, because as Will explained, “poetry can be anywhere, everywhere, and all at once.” This way, scholars will continue to explore creative expression, continue to write, and continue to experience the everlasting magic of poetry. By Yessenia Barajas Centre GSP fosters multiple clubs daily. Many of these clubs promote creativity and fun discussion. One of these dozens of clubs is CD Painting. It was originally only an activity station on Community Arts Day, which was our first weekend here at GSP. But due to popular requests, it turned into a club. About a week later, scholars met in the lawn in front of Cheek-Evans dorms to start painting! Everyone had a good time, painting CDs ranging from Taylor Swift album covers to landscapes. GSP also hosts other art clubs such as the friendship bracelet, coloring, and crochet clubs. I hope to see more scholars join the arts clubs, where you could meet a new friend, start a new cool hobby, or just have fun! By Kaylin Lafferty
On Friday, June 23, every scholar on the Centre campus filed into Weisiger Theatre for our first showcase. Most of us didn’t really know what to expect, but at 8:00, we were greeted with four amazing acts (Two piano acts, one piano-singer combo, and one monologue). After we were wowed by a Beethoven fakeout, two very different piano styles and a blue whale, Centre’s scholars went back to the dorms with plenty to talk about. Which is why we stayed back to interview the participants. After collaborating with our writing team, host of the GSPost’s podcast (Centre of Attention) Jack Jurjans asked our brave performers a total of five questions:
And this is what they said: Our first showcase performer of the year was Owen Cody from Paducah, Kentucky. During almost every meal, Owen can be found playing piano in Cowan, so his success in Showcase was anything but surprising. Owen, who has been playing piano for 11 years, says he was inspired by his past experiences in piano, saying, “ this tradition of performing in front of audiences has really motivated me to continue on this path in my life”. And he is well aware that his comfort around audiences contributed to our enjoyment as he told us he’s satisfied with his performance and feels he entertained the audience very successfully. When asked what his future plans were, Owen replied he plans on pursuing music at the collegiate level and has several opportunities to do so, including Berklee. Owen also mentioned several artists he takes influence from including modern artists Keith Jarrett and Chick Corea, who inspire him in his own jazz compositions, and older artists such as Fats Waller. But he doesn’t seem to think Showcase is limited to Berklee students. As he told our interviewer, “I would recommend that people don’t be bashful. Just, any talent that you feel is worthy of the stage, get out and do it.” After Owen’s performance of “Roll Over Beethoven”, Logan Able took the stage to play “Goodbye, Flower Thief”, a recently released song with a beautiful piano arrangement. Logan, from Davis County High School, was inspired to start piano through his love of music in general and expressed his desire to share that with us. Regarding his performance, he tells us, “I made a few mistakes but I enjoyed playing it and I hope the audience enjoyed listening.” Logan hopes to continue piano as a hobby in college and says his inspirations extend beyond piano music. In his words, “As a kid I always looked up to my dad when he played piano but as I’ve grown up I’ve tried following the example of people who were not pianists but created music like Lena Raine and other digital creators.” Logan was very encouraging to future showcase participants and he assures us that the audience will love, “whatever weird act you have." Separating the pianists, we have John “Cameron” Combs from Knott County to present “Billy Twitters and his Blue Whale Problem”, a monologue on what happens when Billy’s parents actually buy him a blue whale as a punishment. He says he has wanted to act since he was a kid and has improved his craft over the years to get to his GSP performance, which left him feeling “fine”. He’s unsure of his exact path forward but wants to continue his art. According to him, “I will just continue doing what I love and I will just enjoy it.” Cameron also states comedian Greg Morrisson as his inspiration, citing him as an underrated figure of comedy. To scholars considering Showcase he says, “If you have a talent and you feel that if it will not go well with the audience, there’s always a chance that they will like it and that is just a false perception and I just want everyone to feel that even if they just don’t feel like it will be good, who knows? Like, it can be good and people will like it because people are people and they like what they like.” Closing out our first showcase is Nathan Gabbard from Frankfort, playing “Impromptu Op. 90 No. 2." Nathan says he’s been into music for the majority of his life and tells us it doesn’t matter to him if he messes up because he finds joy in piano either way. When asked how he did, he said, “It was a lot better than the first time I performed it and I thought it went pretty well overall.” Nathan is unsure on whether music will be his main career path but definitely wants to keep playing and be involved in music to whatever extent he can. When we asked him about his inspirations, he mentioned Jacob Collier. He told Jack, “I love all of his music and he’s one of the most innovative musicians I think there is today and I take a lot of inspiration from it.” And after our discussion of musicians, he ended our interview with these words for unsure Showcase performers: “I feel like it’s good to share to an audience just to be able to get it out there and just like, let people know like, “Hey, I like to do this”. I think no matter what your talent is, people will always show support and love for everybody and I think it’s always an amazing thing to be a part of.” By Amelia Lanier On the Saturday of June 24, 2023, scholars immersed themselves into the arts with Community Arts Day. At this event, scholars had the opportunity to participate in a variety of sessions where they had the opportunity to learn new crafts and engage their more expressive inclinations. On Community Arts Day, “art” had a loose definition. The sessions offered included more traditional arts and crafts, such as fiber arts and painting. However, it expanded to include Quickling (quick pickling), led by RA Gavin Alfon. This relaxed interpretation of the arts gave scholars freedom when manifesting their creativity. Overall, scholars took advantage of Community Arts Day to try new things and meet new people. Jesse Dominguez, a scholar from Boone County who participated in the friendship bracelet and duct tape flower sessions, stated that he liked getting to know others through the shared experience of creation. Jesse has been meeting other people to teach him how to make new types of friendship bracelets and is continuing to make different variations of this craft. Other scholars have followed suit by signing up for crochet or CD painting club. Many have appreciated having a tangible momento of GSP, and can be seen carrying reminders of Community Arts Day in the form of beaded keychains and other small trinkets attached to their lanyards. From scholars who can’t draw a stick figure to experienced artists, Community Arts Day was a great experience to create new art—and meaningful connections. Historical Analysis instructor Blossom Brosi is an artist who deeply appreciates the important role art plays in day to day life, especially at GSP. “When you have an academic program, it is important to include the arts so that they can balance each other. This creative aspect deepens the understanding of what you are learning.” Blossom also believes that the arts have the ability to enhance community building. She explained that, “people take risks in art, and put themselves in a vulnerable setting when they choose to create art together.” This vulnerable shared experience brought scholars together on Community Arts Day, and we will continue to learn and build these connections, the value of which will outlast that of beaded keychain or painted CD. |
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