The Duff, directed by Ari Sandel and based on the novel by Kody Keplinger, will bring you back to familiar moments of invisibility (and worse, unasked for visibility). The film stars Mae Whitman as Bianca Piper, the “DUFF”—designated ugly fat friend—who is cyber-bullied by the popular girl (played by a wicked sharp Bella Thorne) when…
Jodorowsky’s Dune brings epic back from the recycling bin
By: Emilia Brahm04/10/2014
“Deep in the human unconscious is a pervasive need for a logical universe that makes sense. But the real universe is always one step beyond logic.” Frank Herbert’s seminal science fiction novel Dune asserts an unattainable reality, a universe represented by the innovators who see one step beyond the expected and the logical. If assessed…
Under the Covers: Putin’s complaint
By: Emilia Brahm04/09/2014
Oscar Wilde said that artists are useless. Of all the useless artists out there, some have to be more self-obsessed than others. In literature, Philip Roth comes to mind as one of the most masturbatory and indulgent of all time, as his own name appears in many of his novels. If it doesn’t, his alter…
Under the Covers: At night, think about our history
By: Emilia Brahm03/27/2014
“I was a judge at a recent Literary Death Match in Miami. One of my co-judges was [Tina Fey. The other was] Prodigy of Mobb Deep, who was one of my heroes growing up. I used the opportunity to tell him that I’m producing a series of bilingual rap songs with my 8 month old…
Under the Covers: A conversation with Ben Marcus
By: Emilia Brahm03/06/2014
Ben Marcus was a philosophy major at NYU grappling with Wittgenstein and Hegel, planning on continuing his studies at the graduate level. Somewhere in between, he found his calling in writing fiction. Marcus, 46, published his first book of short stories, the delightfully knotty The Age of Wire and String, at age 24, to wide…
A Republic of Letters: Promoting social change through poetry
By: Emilia Brahm and Dayana Morales Gomez03/06/2014
WHAT YOU HAVE HEARD is true. I was in his house. His wife carried a tray of coffee and sugar. His daughter filed her nails, his son went out for the night. …. The parrot / said hello on the terrace. The colonel told it to shut up, and pushed himself from the table. My…
Nomadic Theatre’s pool (no water) quenches creative thirst
By: Emilia Brahm02/27/2014
In the posh living room of a townhouse on 37th Street, an insistent bass shakes the alcohol stained cups littered on the floor and resonates up to the colonial crown molding. Drinks and drugs in hand, six artists are devolving into debauchery—and it looks like a hell of a lot of fun. “The Group,” as…
Human Rights Watch Film Festival looks at injustice through film
By: Emilia Brahm02/20/2014
Movies are instant. They happen quickly and they feel immersive. Talking about human rights, meanwhile, can be heavy and draining. When the two were combined, something bigger happened. The Human Rights Watch film festival will appear in 17 cities around the world. It joins us in D.C. this week until Mar. 12 and professes to…
Under the Covers: Arendt and the banality of GUSA
By: Emilia Brahm02/20/2014
Ah, the season of GUSA campaigns is upon us: “Connect to Georgetown,” “Together with Georgetown,” and “Building your Georgetown.” These slogans come together in the comforting hum of subtle smiles and provide a sense of belonging. While slogans are necessary to distill a candidate’s message, they have fostered a culture of bandwagoning. There is a…
The Vagina Monologues hit the spot
By: Emilia Brahm02/06/2014
In 2000, after Georgetown’s yearly production of The Vagina Monologues, Robert Swope (COL ’01) became angry. He wasn’t the first, but his article—never published by The Hoya, who subsequently fired him—was notable for its inflammatory language. He critiqued one of the monologues for “celebrating” rape and called the audience “clap-ridden sailors in a Southeast Asian…