Page 4 July 22, 2021 EL SEGUNDO HERALD
Entertainment
Check It Out Film Review
Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony
Bourdain: To Savor an Icon
Morgan Rojas for Cinemacy
It still feels surreal to talk about Anthony
Bourdain in the past tense. Anthony Bourdain
was charismatic. He was revolutionary. And he
definitely was gone too soon. When Bourdain
passed away three years ago at the age of 61,
the conversation around mental health struggles
wasn›t nearly as normalized as it is today.
It was still prevalent, just conversationally
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo. King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo. Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain, courtesy of Focus Features.
taboo. But as director Morgan Neville explores
in the documentary Roadrunner: A
Film About Anthony Bourdain, the larger
than life TV personality wasn’t necessarily
keeping quiet about the horrible disease that
was depression and suicidal thoughts: he
was crying out for help on camera. We just
weren’t watching closely enough.
Morgan Neville (20 Feet From Stardom,
Won’t You Be My Neighbor?) harmoniously
captures the pleasures and pains of Bourdain
colorful life, and is careful not to ruminate too
long on his demons. Told through Bourdain’s
own voiceover narration (a very meta move),
Roadrunner is an engrossing look at how he
went from “dishwasher, to cook, to chef, to
fuck-up” (his words). After the overnight
success of his book Kitchen Confidential
entered the cultural zeitgeist, Bourdain took
his talents to TV. It’s here where he became a
household name, traveling the world in search
of great food and bridging the gap between
countries in his hit shows No Reservations
and Parts Unknown.
In poignant narration, Bourdain admits that
he had the greatest job in the world, but it was
one he could never escape from. This affected
his mental health, family life, and relationships
with colleagues and friends. For as widely
loved as he was, Bourdain was lonely. Despite
his success and acclaim, he openly admits that
he questioned everything constantly and had
often thought about harming himself.
His addictive personality eventually moved
from his work life to his love life in the form
of an Italian actress and early Harvey Weinstein
#MeToo accuser Asia Argento, and this
is when those closest to the TV personality
noticed a shift in his demeanor. Interviews
with the production crew, his ex-wife, and
friends say Bourdain’s complete obsession
with her contributed to his downfall, although
we should be careful not to blame Argento
herself for his death. After all, he was the
one who made the devastating decision to
end his own life, no matter how heartbroken
she made him feel.
Morgan Neville is the perfect person to
capture this complicated figure, flaws and all.
Anthony Bourdain lived with an irreplaceable
Author Spotlight: Leigh Bardugo
By Kristina Kora-Beckman, Senior
Librarian, El Segundo Public Library
LA author Leigh Bardugo creates richly
imagined worlds filled with adventure, magic,
and intrigue. Recently adapted into the Netflix
series, Bardugo’s Shadow and Bone trilogy
focus on Alina Starkov, an orphan that discovers
latent talents that could save, or destroy
her war-torn land. Full of strong, relatable
characters that grapple with impossible decisions,
I loved the complicated relationships,
witty banter and magical manifestations.
I also enjoyed Bardugo’s companion series,
Six of Crows and King of Scars, also set in
the Grishaverse that continue side character’s
struggle for freedom, love and hope for a
better future. The characters grapple with
loyalty, prejudice, and battling inner demons
that never disappear, just change shape over
time. Even though they are set in an imaginary
land, I found these struggles are relatable,
particularly during the crazy past sixteen
months of living through a global pandemic.
We all have felt moments of despair, loneliness,
and fear. And we all found ways to
cope, adapt, and gradually return to a world
that is both familiar and forever changed. I
look forward to savoring future installments
of Bardugo’s immersive, engrossing series.
To check out Leigh Bardugo’s titles, in
print or ebook, please visit the library to
apply for your free library card. These
titles also count for our Summer Reading
Challenge, going on now until August 7th.
For more information or to sign up, please
visit our website www.elsegundolibrary.org.
For more reading suggestions or help with
school reading assignments, please stop by
the adult or youth service desks, we’d love
to help you find your next great read! •
Kristina Kora-Beckman
See Film, page 11
Future Leaders from front page
and using these friendships to promote each
other and encourage each other and support
each other,” he says. Throughout the program,
students are taught to lift each other up, leverage
their network, speak up. Part of the
experience includes students getting up on
a stage in front of their peers and giving a
speech or performing something they call a
cultural expression, which draws from what
they’ve learned throughout the week.
Students stay in accommodations according
to gender and attend workshops in small groups
of about twelve (which are called Families at
the conference), so that each student gets a
unique and specialized experience.
At the end of the day, the evenings are
comprised of fireside chats and deeper conversation,
discussing emotional intelligence, goals
for the future, and soft skills. These nighttime
discussions have borne lifelong friendships and
interest in returning to the program as a volunteer.
Heredia is a Doctor of Education and works
in the field of psychology. When he’s not working
on events and workshops for the IEFLP,
he consults for psychologists and psychiatrists
and teaches psychology at East Los Angeles
Community College. Personally, he says, he
takes what he learned from the program into
work every single day.
“In my teaching job, I have to be a public
speaker. I have to entertain my college students,
or I’ll get poor evaluations. I have to
be able to deliver relevant and useful content.”
He attributes a large part of his ability to do
this to the Future Leaders Program, as public
speaking and confidence are focused on, and
positivity is required.
“Because it’s college, I am able to bring
in things that I know these students did not
learn in high school or middle school. For
instance, I introduced them to some of the
leaders from their own community in East
Los Angeles who have inspired the masses
in California and beyond,” he says. In his
Participants gather for a group hug during the leadership conference in Idyllwild.
doctoral dissertation studying a sample of 150
LatinX parents and their involvement in their
high school student’s education, one hundred
percent of participants said they felt they need
more programs as resources and more role
models in their community.
Heredia’s wife, Marissa, has also volunteered
with the program for over a decade as
the safety director. In thirty-seven years of
running, the IEFLP has never had a safety
concern or incident.
“We have always operated by safety first,”
says Heredia, giving great credit to Marissa
for her work in ensuring the participants’
comfort and safety.
Though the IEFLP was designed for LatinX
students, Heredia says that anyone of any background
can apply. Each year, they get around
160 applicants and accept around 140 or less,
and because the program has touched nearly
every part of the community, it is backed by
many businesses, corporations, and government
operations seeking to be involved.
In the future, Dr. Heredia hopes that more
branches of the Future Leaders Program might
be opened up all over LA County and beyond
so that more students can benefit from its
resources and go on to be leaders. •