Photo Collage of the best three pieces of entertainment for this great week by Arts and Entertainment Editor Olivia Cusick.
Hello! As the 2022 – 2023 Expressions Arts and Entertainment editor, I wanted to use the wonderful reporting team to reflect the media that students at San Luis Obispo High School enjoy. In the modern age of technology, new media is constantly being created. The Expressions team is excited to give reviews on a few of these every week. Music, film, television, books, and any art form that students and staff want to discuss, are given a free space to do so. You too can join the team for the Sunday Showcase! If you are passionate and want to talk about art, email me at [email protected]. I thoroughly hope you enjoy this edition of the Sunday Showcase!
The Dark Side of Nickelodeon Shown in “I’m Glad My Mom Died” by editor Olivia Cusick
Growing up in the early 2000’s, many San Luis Obispo High School students grew up watching childrens sitcoms on Nickelodeon, such as “iCarly”, “Sam and Cat”, and “Victorious”. But in reality, the actors on these shows were severely mistreated, with the worst offender being the director Dan Schneider. In her heartbreaking memoir, “I’m Glad My Mom Died”, former actress, Jennette McCurdy explains the truth at Nickelodeon.
The shocking title grabs ones attention, and throughout the first few chapters, it is clear how her mother continually abused and mistreated her. McCurdy was unique. She was the only one in her family that really understood her mother, they had a special bond.
“No one else in the family seems to understand Mom’s emotions. Everyone else walks around clueless, never knowing which Mom they’re going to get. But I always know. I’ve spent my whole life studying her so that I can always know, because I always want to do whatever I can in any given moment to keep or make Mom happy” (McCurdy 89).
Her mother forced her into acting at a young age, and as much as she hated doing it, she loved her mother more. She was afraid of disappointing her, and as she grew up, that desire to please her mother carried along.
McCurdy realized she was growing up, and that was devastating. She was afraid of puberty and with the first glimances of it, she clung to her mother. Seeing her body grow, her mother advised her to start eating differently. She began to eat with an extreme calorie deficit, starting an eating disorder that would follow her the rest of her life.
Schneider’s mistreatment on set continued these problems. He advised her to begin drinking at a young age, and constantly created a hostile environment.
“I’m Glad My Mom Died” is a brutal reflection on the world of child acting and exploitation. It is a great read. Readers should be mindful of the prevalence of her eating disorder throughout the memoir, and be prepared for some painful discussions surrounding it.
In the first part, McCurdy does mention her love for writing as a child, which personally left me a sobbing mess, thinking of that little girl finding out about how successful her book ended up being.
Reading McCurdy’s memoir is a great choice. It is a heart wrenching, tough, and fantastic book.
Check out these devilish murders in the podcast “Devils in the Dark” by reporter Vyolet Burrus
True crime podcasts are on the rise, and San Luis Obispo High School students cannot get enough of them. “Devils in the Dark” is a true crime podcast that focuses on infamous serial killers, from their strange upbringings to their well known crimes. The hosts of this podcast are Helen Anderson and Danni Howard, exploring the details of these gruesome killings.
“Devils in the Dark” covers a wide array of serial killers from notorious killers like Jeffrey Dahmer and John Wayne Gacy, to lesser known killers like Aileen Wuornos, the “Damsel of Death”, and Dennis Nilsen, a serial necrophile.
The hosts take a more humorous approach when talking about these dark crimes, but they still tell an accurate story of the killer’s origins as well as their killings.
The first killer Anderson and Howard cover is Ed Gein, also known as the “Butcher of Plainfield.” Gein was born in 1906 in Plainfield, Wisconsin, and he would harvest body parts from graves to fulfill his fantasies. When he was arrested in 1957, the police found many strange objects, which were later found to be made out of human skin. Gein’s peculiar crimes are said to be a result of obsession with his mother. After she died, he wanted to bring her back from the dead, so he attempted to rebuild her from the deceased. Gein was eventually admitted to a mental asylum, and died in 1984 from lung cancer.
Not only was Gein a real serial killer, but his killings have inspired many horror films, such as “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” and “Silence of the Lambs.”
Those who’re interested in crime, specifically the work of serial killers, will love “Devils in the Dark.” The podcast is available on the streaming service Spotify, with twenty-four episodes featuring twenty-four different killers.
Dodie’s New EP Highlights her Maturing Songwriting by reporter Lauren Weyel
Singer-songwriter Dodie has been posting her music online for ten years, but unlike many, she has been able to mature her style rather gracefully. She began this process of growth in her 2021 album “Build a Problem”, discussing more adult topics through stereotypically Dodie melodies. In a way, Dodie’s style hasn’t changed at all, but she herself has changed. Her songs have always been a way to illustrate her emotions, and now she is using her songwriting to express more adult issues like cheating and struggling to fix on again, off again relationships. Her new EP, “Hot Mess”, continues this trend.
The title track “Hot Mess” has twisting chords and melodies, which is refreshing for musician listeners who are used to predictable four-chord song structures. The instrumentation is reminiscent of “Build a Problem” in the layers upon layers of vocal harmonies and plucked strings. The part that differentiates “Hot Mess” from some of the other songs on “Build a Problem” is how hard the lyrics lean into the disillusionment of adulthood. The pre-chorus is a brilliant example of this: “Brain rot in a pretty dress / I’m a hot mess / Wake up, do the same thing / Break up, then we’re dancing / Why am I so alright to do it again and again?” While she has been able to grow through her songwriting, these lyrics make it evident that she still feels trapped in a less mature version of herself for the sake of her career as a musician. She is stuck in a cycle of breaking up and falling back in love for the sake of her art. This song is her realization of how her need to make heart-wrenching art has led her to becoming a “Hot Mess” as the song title suggests. The production builds into an organized chaos of maximalist production at the end of the song, mirroring the frustration expressed in the lyrics.
“Lonely Bones” strays farther from run-of-the-mill Dodie to the detriment of the EP. The melody is simple and not inherently annoying, but when layered with other vocals and clapping for campfire song effect, it starts to become irritating. The harmonies are reminiscent of early Youtube Dodie, which seems almost like a regression in her songwriting. It is a bit out of place on the EP, but could have been intriguing as a Youtube musical experiment. If you’re looking for a lonely song with essentially the same chords and instrumentation, listen to “in the bed (demo)” or “Four Tequilas Down” off of “Build a Problem”.
It’s impossible to be a sad woman in the Indie genre without being compared to Phoebe Bridgers, but “No Big Deal (I Love You)” skims the edge of the Bridgers sound. The song is a return to the old Dodie sound but with her evolving adult disillusionment displayed in the lyrics: “On a Sunday, we’re together, God, I love you says not one of us evеr”. It’s calm and quiet, a disappointed acceptance of the realities of adult relationships. “Got Weird” is the opposite emotion on the same spectrum, a chaotic existential crisis set to a groovy, danceable beat. With lyrics like “Yeah, I date like Walmart” to “Poured a drink all over my wiring / Short a fuse, all cylinders firing”, “Got Weird” covers the full spectrum of her matured emotions.
“Hot Mess” is a graceful maturation of Dodie’s lyrics and style. The beauty of the chaotic music perfectly mirrors the chaos of the world. Head over to any music streaming service to give it a listen.
