April 2020

If you’re an extrovert, being stuck at home is not the most ideal situation. The never-ending boredom mixed with borderline claustrophobic sensations can drive a person crazy. At home, there is only so much you can clean, workout and cook before you’re sitting on the couch again watching another episode of “The Office.” However, with Tinder’s introduction of a new free passport, you can now explore the world, virus-free and from the safety of your home — a service that also appeals to many. 

Meeting new people online has always been tricky, even before the coronavirus. You can’t be too dark or people will think you’re psycho, nor can you consistently drop bad puns or people will think you’re too cringy. Yet, the virus has brought a common ground to all of us: what are you doing in quarantine? 

George Ali, current student of Zoom University, or the University of Nevada, Reno, talks about the way the coronavirus has impacted the way he interacts on Tinder.  

“Before the quarantine, I would try and plan an in-person date, but with Coronavirus, I like to suggest using Netflix Party,” shared Ali. 

Netflix Party is an application that allows people to synchronize their Netflix remotely and adds a chat function, where you can comment to others as the movie or TV show plays. 

“I prefer using Facetime on the side because it feels more personable and closer to a movie date as you can get.” 

Instead of immediately trying to link up, many users, such as Nevada student Ross Buhler, have taken the time to explore the differences of culture in other locations.

“I set my passport to Egypt and found out it’s common every morning to wake up to the sound of the mosque calling ‘Allahu Akbar.’”

Though Tinder is viewed as a hook-up app, out of sheer boredom and perhaps fear of leaving  home, it has given us the chance to be social while respecting social distancing. To be able to connect from significant distances and collectively complain about the coronavirus is a magnificent and entertaining feat.

So, once you’re done with everything you can possibly do in your home, consider downloading Tinder and exploring the 50 million people who are as collectively as bored as you. 

Our world has been shaken up by the novel coronavirus COVID-19. The usual flow to our lives has been disrupted: we are not allowed to leave our homes, our favorite places to eat have disallowed dine-in options and we’re confronted with the morbid reality of a disease that even doctors do not fully understand. Our social and personal distancing places us at home, physically disconnected from the outside world. But with our stay-at-home and shelter-in-place orders comes an interesting side-effect: a return to nature.

The connection between human industry and the destruction of nature in its many forms is widely debated. However, self-quarantine has made humans in heavily populated areas decrease the amount of contact we have with our natural surroundings. Clearer skies, more breathable air and a reintroduction of wildlife in some places has led many to associate the lack of human presence with environmentalism. And the way this has manifested throughout the world has shown a pathway for this kind of thinking.

Venice, Italy is known for its famously beautiful canals, where tourists often ride in gondolas around the city. However, Italy’s national lockdown has its citizens staying inside, forcing many of the nation’s tourism to come to a complete halt. As a result, its canals are infinitely clearer than usual. Its streams of water are no longer muddy with dirt and sand due to the disturbance caused by human-centric tourism like gondola rides. The sight of clear water where there once was none reveals a correlation: less humans leads to less circulation of pollution.

There is something frightening about this revelation, leading some to believe that humans are the fundamental problem behind the processes that hurt our environment. Phrases like “we’re the virus” are thrown around, placing blame on people for our deteriorating world. The non-critical acceptance of this rhetoric is dangerous on the societal level, and freely feeding into it can lead to an ideology called ecofascism.

Ecofascism is an ideology driven by the idea that people must give up their essential rights in order to save the environment. In some extreme cases, those who subscribe to ecofascism believe in the sacrificing of people to preserve the environment, suggesting that genocide in some cases is the only way. Their underlying justification for this way of thinking? Humans are the virus, people are the problem; the way to save the environment is to fix the “problem.”

It’s very easy to fall into the trap of ecofascism simply because it’s easy to blame a general “people” for the environmental problems that face us. It’s easier to do that than think critically about the systems that surround the environment and the specific persons that perpetuate such harmful systems. 

Think about it like this: what role does a general worker have in the context of the farming industry? How much actual control do they have over the work they’re contributing to compared to an executive or manager who oversees the entirety of that work? The worker in this context is likely here to earn a wage or salary to support themselves or their family, thus having to resort to this work, especially if there are no other stable jobs around. In contrast, the executive is likely not in a position where their livelihood and state of living is in jeopardy, yet oversees and leads it anyway. The latter of the two needlessly engages in it despite not needing to do so.

Subscribers to ecofascist ideology also fail to consider the many Indigenous and Native Peoples who have grown large, yet have a historically harmonious relationship with nature and their environment. We should not draw the conclusion that humans are the problem to our environmental woes when there have been societies predating many European ones that prove that it is possible to have large communities and not hurt our environment.

This conversation is especially relevant today, at a time in United States history when there is extreme political polarization and climate change poses an existential threat. The coronavirus has only further exposed the flaws in our current economic and social systems. These systems’ inability to support the workers that uphold the nation tell us that they do not work, no matter the efforts to patch its fundamental flaws.

These flaws should not be an indictment of humanity, as we know that in the past and in pre-colonial times that humanity has proved a possible harmony with nature, but rather an indictment of the systems that hurt us. These systems, inclusive of our political and economic frameworks, must be broken down. We must be careful to not fall victim to complacency. We must not fight to preserve the system and hierarchy that damages the relationships we have with each other and with our earth.

Ecofascist philosophy is lazy; it suggests that the absence of humanity is the solution. It does nothing to address the changes in our world and in our society that create these problems. What, then, do we have as an alternative to the systems we currently live within?

The alternative must be one that advocates for the liberty and equitable rights of all. Rather than recklessly placing the blame on entire countries or on workers in an industry, aim your environmentalist energy towards and against the ones in power that put workers in a position where they have no choice but to contribute to a crisis. An ordinary worker has no choice but to use petroleum fuel, to create deadly fumes and to destroy if the resources and means to shift to something cleaner and safer is out of reach. 

They have no choice but to do so if the system and the people that benefit from it will continue to exploit those workers for their own personal gain. The amassing of capital with little sacrifice will only exacerbate these problems. Capital, and the power that comes with it, is the core of the problems that are brutally exposed and revealed by the COVID-19 crisis, not humanity in its entirety.

I do not yet advocate for a revolution, but we must understand that we cannot fall victim to a nihilist philosophy, where we put ourselves into a position where humanity is the problem. But we also cannot be so conceited as to suggest that humanity is the solution. Instead, we must see that humans can react to their settings, but also may change them. In front of us is not an opportunity to tear humanity apart for the sake of the environment. It is an opportunity for us to come together to tear down the systems that harm the environment.

There is perhaps no better way to depict creative evolution than with the history of horror films. From the gothic horror of monsters in the 1930s to the slasher movies of the 1980s and 1990s and the psychological thrillers of the 2000s, this genre is as diverse as it is vast, spanning generations of sleepovers and theater experiences. 

It’s generally agreed upon that the “golden age” of horror began in the 1970s and ended before the 1990s. With iconic movies such as “The Shining,” “Poltergeist” and “Halloween,” there is no denying the cultural impact of this era. Modern horror was birthed amongst disco and arcade games and still stands to be vital in pop culture. 

Today, the genre is more than big-budget studios and shock-factors. It combines art and dread, psychological manipulation and laughter, supernatural beings and human monsters. It reaches the dark corners of your brain and the back of your throat, all while proving to be some of the best movies of our time. Whether it’s “Us,” “Midsommar,” “The Lighthouse,” “Hereditary” or “A Quiet Place,” the horror movies of these past two years are some of the most intense, gorgeous and important within the horror genre. The concept of horror may have been constructed over a hundred years ago, but it continues to rise as we now enter yet another golden age of horror.

To understand why horror is “golden” today, we must take a look at one of the most critically-acclaimed horror movies of the past few years. In Jordan Peele’s “Get Out,” he not only breaks the barriers between genres, but uses satire and social commentary as a means to enhance horror. It’s not written just to scare you, but to make you think beyond what lies on the surface. This combination of well-developed characters, a unique storyline, horror and drama is a perfect example of the horror of today that goes beyond the usual flat and stereotypical plot that has dominated the horror scene since the 90s. So much so that in 2017, it became the sixth horror film in history to ever get nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards.

Since then, the genre has continued to produce quality films full of depth, the most recent of which is Ari Aster’s “Midsommar.”Set in rural Sweden, “Midsommar” delves into the bizarre rituals associated with the Midsommar festival in a small village. It’s gory and dark, but it contains dozens of hidden images and messages similar to that of “The Shining.” Because of the constant online analysis of it all, this movie has been one of the most talked about of the past year.

In “The Lighthouse,” Robert Eggers directed the spiral of two men into insanity as they’re stuck on an island as lighthouse keepers. Its stunning black-and-white cinematography earned it an Oscar nomination, but its daunting view into the human psyche has cemented it into the forefront of horror today. 

These films, and many more of the past few years, have assembled an entirely new horror genre- one that doesn’t rely on just jumpscares. It doesn’t need to; the mind tricks it plays on you are enough to circle your brain for days after, the terror creeping in when you least expect it. There are no ghosts or demons to frighten you, only the horrifying reality of the monsters that lie within us.

Gina Rose Waller’s music has the ability to get your head bopping in that rare, infectious way. Amidst the dim lights of her stages, her soothing, emotion-filled voice and her rocking guitar solos resonate with an audience in a profound way that keeps them coming back. And keep coming back, they do — Waller has released three EPs so far, and her performances at the Holland Project continue to be supported, which motivates her to keep performing and making music. 

Waller has always held a deep appreciation of music; she’s been surrounded by it her entire life. “My brother is an excellent guitar player and inspired me to learn how to play when I was eight years old,” she said.

The distinctive twang of her voice and her guitar that accompanies her songs, all country/folk, adds an element of outsider or “outlaw” to her music, Waller said. “I’ve also been told that by listening to my lyrics in my songs, my music crosses into the ‘gothic Americana’ genre.” 

The guitar is incredibly important to her work — it contributes to the ominous darkness of her lyrics, yet the minor to major shifts add an element of optimism amongst the darkness, as seen in her song “Valley of Ashes.”

“My music is all about intimacy and accepting the … more troubling aspects of life … I want to inspire others to express their hardships and grief through a development of healthy and open emotional response,” said Waller.

When asked what inspires her music and her creativity, Waller stated that supporting the local music and art scene in Reno is what motivates her most. “When I see that a friend of mine releases a new record or my friend has an art exhibit up at a gallery, it inspires me to … continue that creative snowball.” 

Reno, however, has a noticeable lack of female musicians and female-fronted bands that gain exposure. They tend to be kicked to the curb in favor of male musicians, or seen as a “novelty” and “taken less seriously,” as Waller stated. Waller thinks that this doesn’t reflect an actual lack of women in Reno’s music scene, but rather, it reflects a lack of spaces where women can feel confident in playing shows and have their music and voice heard. 

“We are missing out on women sharing their experiences of growing up in a western town where things are historically male-dominated,” Waller says. “I think the first step in getting women to play more music is to take away the stigma surrounding them and give validation of their talents outside of their gender. Teaching girls from a young age these confidence-building methods can create momentum for future generations.”

She practices what she preaches; during the summer, Waller teaches guitar for Girls Rock Reno, a week-long rock camp where girls from the ages of 9 to 17 can learn an instrument of their choosing, form a band with their fellow musicians, and write and perform a song for their friends and family. Girls Rock Reno is an important initiative, Waller believes, since it creates a non-judgmental environment where girls can learn from actual female musicians in Reno that they don’t need to be afraid to express themselves through their music and art. 

The experience also helps the girls remember that they don’t have to change for the sake of generating sales or ‘making it.’ When I asked Waller what she’d want to change about the music industry, she stated that she would change how labels control a musician’s image and output. 

“Most times when an artist signs to a record label, they give up their rights to owning their music entirely and pretty much become puppets for money-hungry producers … women, especially, feel trapped by their producers and are told what to wear, what to say, and how to think on the daily.” Waller stated.

Nevertheless, Gina Rose Waller remains genuine and true to her music. You can catch her at Girls Rock Reno, (which runs from June 15th to June 19th this year and for which applications are currently open), or you can see her performances live on social media every Tuesday — 7 pm on her Instagram, @faunsandferns_, and at 8 p.m. on her Facebook!

One of the most anticipated musicals of 2020 is the new “West Side Story,” which will be directed by Steven Spielberg. Loosely based off of Romeo and Juliet, “West Side Story” follows the tragic love story of Tony and Maria, whose ties to rival gangs inhibit them from being together.  The gangs’ main difference is that one gang, the Jets, are white, and the other gang, the Sharks, are Puerto Rican.

In 2018, Ansel Elgort was cast as Tony and newcomer Rachel Zegler was cast as Maria. When casting for Maria, as well as for the rest of the Sharks, Spielberg made it clear he was only looking for Latinx people to fill these roles.

The original “West Side Story” is arguably a cult classic. This movie was filmed in 1961 and quickly became a fan favorite. However, if it was released today, it might not receive the same praise. Unlike Spielberg’s explicit desire to cast Latinx actors in the roles that require them, the original directors, Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins, did not do the same.  

A lot has changed in the 59 years since the movie was released. Things that were popularly accepted back then are more commonly questioned today. In the case of the original movie, casting primarily white actors to play Latinx roles was acceptable. In fact, not only were white actors cast in Latinx roles, but they were required to have their skin painted darker to “better” portray a Puerto Rican character. Today, this sort of thing is extremely frowned upon, and we recognize that it is not acceptable in any way. 

More than ever, it is apparent that different cultures should be celebrated for their unique individualities, as well as what brings us together as a larger community. Appropriation of culture and ignorance of the beauty each one holds is a disservice to everyone. Taking an example from Spielberg, we would do well to remember the importance of representing each individual culture with the utmost respect. 

The change in not only our ideals but in our understanding and respect for different cultures is significant. The importance of Spielberg specifically casting Latinx actors in the roles that require them is something that should not be celebrated, but acknowledged. We should not praise him for doing what should have been done in the original movie. 

Instead, we can simply acknowledge the change and how important it is that we continue to do so. It is important to register these types of things in our history, acknowledge them for what they are, and make the changes that need to be made in ourselves today. 

“West Side Story” is set to be released on December 18, 2020.