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I was recently reading an article titled “The Trip Treatment” in The New Yorker. It talked about the recent trials regarding the usage of psychedelic drugs on cancer patients in an effort to reduce anxiety levels. For the most part, the usage of psilocybin, the hallucinatory compound found in LSD, proved to be very beneficial. Apparently, psilocybin reduced activity in the default-mode network, a part of our brain that, “lights up when we are daydreaming, removed from sensory processing, and engaging in higher-level ‘meta-cognitive’ processes such as self-reflection, mental time travel, rumination, and ‘theory of mind’ – the ability to attribute mental states to others.” Some consider it to be the physical counterpart of the ego.

The article reasons that such a finding reflects how users of psychedelics become less concerned with the self, and begin to find answers from the relationship between the self and the expansive universe, they revert to childlike wonder. Children are, in the words of Alison Gopnik, a quoted developmental psychologist, “…basically tripping all the time.”

But this recent development, despite its results, does not romanticize the psychedelic drugs at all. By no means does it suggest public access of psilocybin, for the patients that they administered the drugs to, were screened carefully and painstakingly observed by professionals.

However, let it be said, that I do think this is a very interesting idea. As the article itself questions, if we are going to die, why not die with a calm mind? Of course, this counteracts the very principle of what a doctor is supposed to do for their jobs are to save people. Yet, isn’t the way we die our own choice? This is a very hot topic of debate, and can get very messy, so I will try to stay on how this article affected me in terms of writing.

The reason why I started reading The New Yorker recently was, not because I wanted to be an intellectual snob, but because I realized that it made me feel very stupid. There were so many things that I didn’t know about. Culture, science, sociology, and so on – basically, I knew that reading this magazine would stimulate me and get the juices flowing.

This article was no exception of the intellectual and creative promise the magazine offered to me. This article alone filled pages and pages in my notebook in regards to ideas for short stories. It also made me realize how a lot of what I have written since high school are all fairly connected or at least, relatable to one another. It made me realize how I would love to try and write a novel like Pynchon in the sense that I would have an amalgam of characters that somehow relate, not necessarily narratively, but in terms of themes or ideas, or maybe even absolutely unrelated.

When you allow yourself to be stimulated by the other peoples work, you are really freed of your own boundaries. Finding these gems reverts you to a childlike wonder – basically tripping all the time.

The Magical Negro is a term in media analysis to describe a particular archetype of character that is very problematic. It is a black character that provides advice to the main (usually white) protagonist which seems to always solve all their problems. They always have the correct answers for the correct situation, but they never gain anything for themselves. A lot of people would be confused as to why this might be an issue, but the problem is that the people of this race are no longer treated as actual people, but are instead tools for the main character to use in order to advance the plot. The same archetype has expanded and has recently come to include queer individuals. This character, the Magical Queer, serves exactly the same purpose as the Magical Negro, just replacing the racial minority with a sexual minority.

The reasons as to why this happens can be varied, but one explanation, I believe, makes the most sense. The character sort of serves as recompense for the negative portrayals of the past. Since society has now turned towards a more accepting environment, Hollywood and other major industries are trying to fix the harsh characters of the past by making these new characters as flawless as possible. They think this serves as an appropriate fix to years of problems, but it is still problem, just of a different extreme. Queer individuals are no longer villainous and predatory, but are instead perfect and extremely well-composed.

We can see this through various examples across mediums of expression. In literature, there is Patrick from Perks of Being a Wallflower.

He is the first character to befriend Charlie and also a constant guide for him. His main role in the book is to provide support and give advice, while his own motivations and goals are relatively kept hidden from the audience. Patrick is not a perfect example though, as the character does have his own plot and growth, but this character helps to introduce the concept.

A more prominent example is Wallace Wells from the Scott Pilgrim graphic novels and film.

The film is a particularly good example as Wallace Wells does not have his own plot except to remind us that he is gay or to give Scott Pilgrim advice on his various relationships. Wallace Wells is a Oracle of Delphi type character that always knows the right answers, they just need to be unfolded correctly. Even though Wallace Wells may be a great character, it does not change the fact that the readers are constantly presented with the fact that he is both gay and perfect, as if the writers were trying to apologize for past misfortune.

The Magical Queer is problematic, even though it is a positive portrayal of an often underrepresented and poorly depicted minority. The main issue is that through these characters, members of the Queer community are not represented as actual humans. Instead, they are some mythical creature that knows all the answers, but has no story of their own. Through this, the Queer community is relegated to two extremes and neither of them helps to make them more accepted in society. The community cannot be seen as equals until we are treated as equals in the media that portrays us. Media has such a heavy impact on society and we need our stories to be told in a realistic way. The community is not full of perfect people and we have struggles and goals just the same as other members of society. This needs to be realized and remedied and we can slowly see this happening. The success of films such as Dallas Buyers Club, or shows like Orange is the Black demonstrates that it is getting better and the stories of members of the Queer community is being told, but cannot ease up now. This is a continuing battle and hopefully it will only get better from here.

At this moment, I am sitting in a nearly empty Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre. Banished to the back row by my computer’s required proximity to an outlet, I have the perfect vantage point to observe those actively participating in tonight’s Giulio Cesere rehearsal and those passively waiting their turn.

On stage: Sarah Coit in the title role of Giulio Cesere, Glenn Healy as Curio, Janel Speelman as Sesto, Rehanna Thelwell as Cornelia and Luke Randall as Achilla. Here presents one unique aspect of opera that people who are unfamiliar with the art form are often confused by: why are women running around pretending to be men?

Roles in which women take on a male gender identity are commonly referred to as pants roles. Historically, there are two types of pants roles: those that were written for castrati and those that were written specifically for women who could better impersonate the vocal and physical qualities of a young boy.

In Handel’s Giulio Cesere the title role, Sesto and Tolomeo were all originally written for castrati. Since castration occurred before puberty the boy’s larynx was prevented from being transformed by the physiological events of puberty resulting in the high voice of a young boy being maintained into adulthood. In the late 18th century castration for the purpose of creating a specific voice type fell out of fashion and in 1870 Italy made the practice illegal.

Without castrati to sing the roles, mezzo-sopranos began to fill the void so that great works by Mozart, Handel and countless of other composers could still be performed.
It is with small changes like these, where the integrity of the music is not affected, that opera maintains its relevance and interest to the modern viewer.

Another example of such a change is the update which Director Robert Swedberg has presented with this work. In this production, the chorus is attending a museum gallery opening and the action of the principle characters takes place as the statues and paintings come to life.

As I sit in the back of the theater, I can see the computer screens of the chorus members as they check facebook, the screen of the lighting designer modifying, changing and fixing, and the director taking notes for the performers. This melding of the old and the new is what makes opera exciting for me – that what Handel wrote hundreds of years ago can still be relevant to teenagers on their iPhones.

For those interested Giulio Cesere will be performed at the Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre March 26 – 29. Tickets are $10 for students but free with a Passport to the Arts.

There’s something really freeing about seeing a movie by yourself. You have no one next to you that you feel obligated to laugh, cry, or share your popcorn with. In this way, you’re totally free to experience the movie your own way in the dark of the theater without pressure and without someone robotically asking you, “so what’d you think?” as the credits roll. So, not having seen a movie at the theater in almost a year, I decided to go on a self-date to the theater. I was between three movies: critically acclaimed Selma, critically acclaimed Still Alice, and Fifty Shades of Grey.

From pretty much the beginning I have repeatedly scoffed at the rise to fame of Fifty Shades of Grey; and though I never bothered to read it, my friends all assured me that the writing was atrocious. It wasn’t until I read this lengthy article that I decided I couldn’t really take a stance on the premise of the story until I had heard it. However, I was in no rush. So, as I raced to the theater (late of course), I told myself Fifty Shades was my last resort. At the counter I bought one ticket to Still Alice where I was informed that I had missed the first 7 minutes already. Fifty Shades was scheduled to start 10 minutes after Still Alice, so at the last minute, I ducked into the theater for Fifty Shades just as the last preview came to an end. Fast forward to the end of the movie, I was shocked and a little embarrassed that I didn’t hate it. Fast forward to now, I’m still thinking about it — usually a sign that I found a movie, dare I say it, thought provoking.

What was it about Fifty Shades of Grey that I liked? To be honest it had nothing to do with the supposedly daring sex scenes or the steamy actors, neither of which greatly impressed me. Instead, it was the pleasant surprise that the movie wasn’t really about sex at all, but rather a psychological exploration of two very interesting character types. I was fascinated by Christian’s dark past of sexual abuse and family trauma and the ways in which this impacted his relationships with women. I was also sucked into Anastasia’s battle between desire and knowing where to draw the line. Lastly, I was impressed by how the director managed to empower this “submissive” female character while still making her human — desiring of love, excitement, and danger. There was a realness in the psychology of these characters that I did not expect. In my opinion, the sex scenes were laughable, especially the first dominant/submissive experience, which looked more like a slow-motion seance than anything too erotic. I’ve seen some really well done sex scenes and this was just not one of them. So, the film that everyone had been so worked up about didn’t even end up really being about sex. Sex was more of a way to show the complexities of the characters.

I still wouldn’t call Fifty Shades of Grey a great movie, and I still don’t think I’d be interested in reading the books, but overall I found it a very interesting exploration of the effects of psychological trauma and human attraction. What I walked into thinking would be a guilty pleasure film at the best and something to laugh at at the worst turned out to be the opposite of what I expected. I attribute a lot of this to the creative vision of the production team, so I’d like to conclude with a quote from the film’s director, Sam Taylor-Johnson:

“I felt like I had a responsibility to empower the lead character,” Taylor-Johnson said. “Anastasia had to go on a journey of sexual exploration, but, by the end, it had to be about empowerment. It is all her choice. All decisions, she’s clearly made. She is not falling prey. That’s the message I want people to walk away with. That feeling of ‘all the riches and success and charisma count for nothing, it’s under terms you cannot accept.’ In Fifty Shades, seemingly Christian has all the power and control—but actually Anastasia does.”