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Page 2 October 11, 2018
Entertainment
Film Review Check It Out
Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom
Is Relevant and Rousing
Reviewed by Tommy Vinh Bui,
MLIS, Associate Librarian,
Inglewood Public Library
“Give me the ballot” and “a voteless people
are a hopeless people” are the impassioned pleas
of an empowered people. And that’s the sentiment
that this week’s book strives to impart.
Standing up and demanding to be heard. Turning
15 on the Road to Freedom: My Story of the
1965 Selma Voting Rights March by Elspeth
Leacock, Susan Buckley and Lynda Blackmon
Lowery is a book that delves into your belly
and stokes the embers of social justice within.
It’s a book that’s all too relevant today.
Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom: My Story of the 1965 Selma
Voting Rights March by Elspeth Leacock, Susan Buckley and Lynda
Blackmon Lowery
This memoir recounts the harrowing chutzpah
of the youngest activist present during the voting
rights march from Selma to Montgomery,
Alabama in 1965. Lynda Blackmon Lowery
is steely proof that young adults can seize the
day and be heroes. She marched side by side
with the vanguard of the civil rights movement
-- step by step and through rain, sleet and
snow. Her personal struggle and resolve to be
disenfranchised no longer was nothing short
of herculean and page by page proves to be
a call to action to young people everywhere.
Via narrative nonfiction, young Lynda Blackmon
Lowery tells of the travails and violence
she experienced along the trail. The hardships
and discrimination that met the marchers every
mile are conveyed here in primary-sourced detail.
Courage was in no short supply as she defied
expectations and fought valiantly for the civil
A Star is Born Review: An
Emotional Musical Supernova
By Morgan Rojas
for www.cinemacy.com
Since making its debut at the Venice Film
Festival a few short months ago, where it
received an 8-minute-long standing ovation,
the remake of the 1937 musical A Star Is
Born has been feverishly anticipated by fans
worldwide. Starring Lady Gaga like you’ve
never seen her before, A Star is Born is a
fantastically observant and delicate movie
musical and a wonderful remake of the 1937
classic of a timeless love story but with a
2018 modern twist.
Jackson Maine (Cooper) is rock n roll’s bad
boy -- a swoon-worthy crooner on stage, but
a heavy drinking and lonely man when off
of it. During a spontaneous visit to a latenight
bar, he meets the alluring Ally (Lady
Gaga) and upon hearing her rendition of “La
Vie En Rose,” he immediately falls under
her spell, seeing the potential in her music
even though she doubts herself. As the supportive
partner we all aspire to have in our
lives, Jackson encourages Ally to live her
dream and speak her truth -- not just as a
singer, but also as a songwriter. Gaining
notoriety very quickly from her undeniable
talent, Ally skyrockets to fame but loses her
authenticity as she bends to conventional pop
star tropes while Jackson watches from the
sidelines. Ally finds herself at the peak of her
career at the very same moment Jackson is at
rock bottom, and their personal circumstances
prove to have heartbreaking consequences.
A star was born in 1986 and her name, or
the name the entire world knows, is Lady
Gaga. In a role made famous by Barbara
Streisand, Lady Gaga – born Stefani Joanne
Angelina Germanotta – is one of the only few
artists who could successfully pull off the allencompassing
and demanding role of Ally by
singing, dancing and acting so effortlessly that
it makes one think this was the role she was
born to play. This isn’t Gaga’s first foray into
acting, as she won an Emmy in 2016 for her role
in American Horror Story. But what surprised
me most was how she completely transformed
into Ally: Gaga gets lost in Ally’s insecurities
and body shaming, and it’s hard to imagine
her as a celebrity superstar at all. If A Star is
Born proves anything, it’s that it is time we
take Lady Gaga seriously as an actor.
A Star is Born’s conventional story is alluring
to every generation, it being a classic fairytale
and our protagonist a singing Cinderella. But
with Bradley Cooper, assured and showing his
directorial skills, along with one of today’s
biggest pop culture icons in the lead role,
this emotionally charged, cinematic knockout
proves that it can stand on its own and is sure
to inspire the next generation of movie and
music lovers.
A Star is Born is rated R for language
throughout, some sexuality/nudity and substance
abuse. 135 minutes, Now playing in
theaters everywhere. •
A Star Is Born, image courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures.
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rights of African-Americans. She stood tall at
a pivotal crossroad in American history. In this
narrative, she manages to convey the tumult
and close-knit kinship of her fellow marchers
during this fraught epoch of social change from
a youthful perspective. Eras change and decades
pass, but the enduring themes of harmony and
peace withstand the turbulence of time.
Illuminating and clear-eyed in its depictions
of events, this is a story that should strike
resonant ripples of hope at the tensions and
conflicts that dominate the headlines of today.
It is a timely reminder of the capacity of the
young to enact great social change. Lowery
is a singular firebrand that is testament to the
power of youthful mobilization and moral
strength to overcome seemingly unconquerable
racial prejudices and obstacles to the
advancement of an increasingly marginalized
population. This book ignites a desire to be
involved. And that’s a foremost mandate for
the younger generation. The onus is on them
to carry the torch further.
The book will also hold particular appeal to
young girls. Lowery beautifully flaunts the gender
conventions of the era and is front and center
standing up for equality and what’s right. It presents
a picture of ostentatious egalitarian notions.
She’s a shining example of heroism and heroine
all hewn together into one inspirational figure.
November will be here in a blink. Soon
polling booths will be erected and the affray of
elections will be upon us again. Let’s spare a
thought and take a moment to pay due reverence
to the sacrifices made that allow us to cast our ballots
freely today and fulfill our democratic duty.
This is a right that was hard-fought and longsought.
We’ve come a long way, but there are
still miles to go before we can rest. Miles to go.
So vote. It’s imperative.
Vote, vote, vote. •
Tommy Vinh Bui.
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