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Blog Page 163
Normalising transgression: A review of Joyland.
Ostensibly centred around the affair of the married Haider with the transgender Biba, Joyland brims with moments of queerness. Director Saim Sadiq presents us with what seems to be a typical Pakistani family, which reveals itself to be the site of transgressive acts of desire and gender expression.
The husband-wife dyad of Haider (Ali Junejo) and Mumtaz (Rasti Farooq) is played out in unconventional terms. The opening scene follows Haider, shrouded in a bedsheet, as he runs through the familial house playing with his young nieces. We then discover his casual and sporadic employment, that it is Mumtaz who plays the breadwinner while Haider supports his sister-in-law, Nucchi, in the running of the multigenerational household. The marriage is unconventional: sexless, yet platonic. It is only when Haider finds employment, restoring the normative marital structure, that things fall apart. Mumtaz is forced by the patriarch, Rana, (Salman Peerzada) to leave her job, and it is at Haider’s place of work, an erotic dance theatre, that his affair with Biba (Alina Khan) blossoms.
Yet, even in this restoration of surface-level patriarchal order, queerness persists. The domestic quasi-confinement of Mumtaz and Nucchi (Sarwat Gilani) becomes a space for female homosocial relationships akin to that in Deepa Mehta’s Fire (1996). A scene in which the pair visit a carnival together becomes a focal point of female intimacy, with Sadiq and Maggie Briggs’ masterful script interposing the women’s closeness with Nucchi’s cries for mercy as they are propelled forward and backward on a pirate ship ride.
Joyland has had a fraught journey to the silver screen. Despite a strong debut at Cannes last year, where the film was met with a standing ovation and awarded a Queer Palm, Joyland was marred by controversy in Pakistan. Perhaps unsurprisingly in a country with a troubled record on LGBTQ+ rights, the film was banned at first by censors in the state of Punjab. However, after appeals from figures across the country, including Malala Yousafzai, a recut version of the film was finally released in Pakistan.
Despite this turn of events, the film is profoundly Pakistani. The only definitively queer character is Biba, a ‘khawaja sira’, a term translated variously as ‘transgender’, ‘intersex’, or ‘third gender’. By centring a character from a community whose identity resists English definition, Sadiq presents an imaginative reality entirely divorced from Western constructions of gender, resisting the common claim that queer identities are outside impositions. Biba’s work as a ‘mujra’ dancer, a lasting vestige of Mughal courtly culture, loads the character with subcontinental ideals of femininity.
A sort of tragi-comedy, Joyland intersperses wry commentary on Desi family values and discrimination with moments of pure joy, and not-so-pure humour. Along the string of powerful, yet pearlescent scenes, come moments of unrestrained sadness: the rebuking of an old woman in search of new love, the emasculation of Haider as he fails to complete ‘qurbani’ (ritual sacrifice) on Bakr Eid, and the jealous yearning of Nucchi to, at last, bear a son.
The final shot sees the camera panning outwards from Haider’s still body as he wades in the waters of Karachi. Haider has escaped the inland chaos of Lahore and finds himself fulfilling a dream deferred: to see the sea. By the time the credits roll, he is almost invisible, for Joyland far outflanks him, and Mumtaz, and Biba for that matter.
Omnipresent and consistent is only the veil of patriarchy which obscures the genuine expression of each character – like the shrouded figure of Haider in the opening scene, like the loose-cut salwaar behind which Mumtaz hides, like the cardboard cut-out of Biba (in the film’s poster) which is precariously draped.
In Joyland, queerness becomes banal, and patriarchy is revealed to be futile. It is a must-watch.
Is That an Angel? No, it’s Maisie Peters – Tour Review
By Charlotte Lai
‘This is a song about my horrible, horrible taste in men!’ Maisie Peters exclaims before launching into a thumping performance of Not Another Rockstar. Yet Peters’ show is about so much more than that. The Good Witch, embarking upon her first headlining tour, has brewed up a concoction of heartbreak and hope, insecurity and exuberance – infinitely earnest and unapologetically blonde, Peters has the audience under her spell. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves – let’s start at the beginning.
Peters began her career in 2016 aged 15, gaining traction in indie-pop circles before being signed to Atlantic Records in 2018 and subsequently releasing two EPs, as well as providing the soundtrack to the Apple TV original series Trying. In 2021, Peters left the label and signed with Ed Sheeran’s Gingerbread Man Records, releasing her first full-length album You Signed Up for This and joining Sheeran’s worldwide tour as an opening act. As someone who watched her very first YouTube videos in 2017 – fresh-faced and sub-a hundred likes – Peters’ success feels oddly near-and-dear. Her songs have been my soundtrack to new love and heartbreak, late-night singalongs and lazy summer days – so when she announced a tour date in Oxford, I pounced.
And – very unfortunately – failed to get tickets (despite increasingly frantic Ticketmaster antics during a lecture). Cherwell was my saviour and my lifeline – I was able to nab a guest spot to the concert in exchange for canvassing fans queueing to enter the venue. The line wound twice around the O2, with a palpable air of excitement (and a considerable amount of blonde box dye). The most common answer to asking fans what song they were most excited for was – unsurprisingly – Blonde, with a smattering of Psycho, Cate’s Brother, and the occasional deep-cut favourites Elvis Song and Glowing Review. Walking into the packed venue, I wasn’t sure who the opening act would be – only to find out (through increasingly anticipatory mutters in the crowd) that it was Cate Canning. Maisie Peters’ best friend, wrote-Cate’s-Brother-after-her-brother Cate Canning. Her appearance was greeted by an exuberant crowd, and when Peters finally appeared – confident, platinum blonde, wielding an acoustic guitar – the crowd went psycho (see what I did there?)
The set started off with Body Better, which Peters describes as ‘one of the most honest songs (she’s) ever released, and definitely the most personal.’ Despite it being a recently released single (one of what Peters has nicknamed the ‘Trauma Trio’), the audience chanted along to every word. Her introspective lyricism about ‘the ugly things you think to yourself in the aftermath (of a breakup)’ is juxtaposed by Peters’ signature brand of upbeat, infinitely catchy dance-pop, driven by a thumping bassline and punchy synths. Peters then effortlessly transitions into I’m Trying (Not Friends), a fast-paced, lyrically dynamic song about not being able to stay friends with an ex. The crowd (including me, of course) screams along to the chorus: ‘well I might be bitter and twisted and broken and petty and lying/but at least I’m trying.’ Peters commands the stage, larger than life (and her 5’2 frame) – at least she’s trying, and I can categorically state that she’s succeeded.
Her selection of songs included most of You Signed Up for This. Elvis Song, introduced by Peters as ‘a song I don’t perform often’, but included on the setlist as a ‘love song – and final goodbye – to You Signed Up for This’, garnered a particularly enthusiastic response. The lines ‘you were always on my mind/I was yours and you were mine’ felt particularly poignant in light of the fact that Peters wrote her upcoming album The Good Witch as catharsis for a failed relationship. Throughout the set, Peters’ vocals danced effortlessly between buoyant and uniquely vulnerable, cutting through the introspection of Brooklyn and Villain as well as the made-for-radio Psycho. Canning made a surprise appearance for a joint rendition of Cate’s Brother (albeit with modified lyrics – I’m not sure Cate feels quite the same way about her brother). The audience, whilst initially taken aback by the changed lyrics, recovered quickly, and chanted along to the fan favourite – Peters’ chemistry with Canning, owed to a decade-long friendship and (in her words) ‘separation anxiety’, is clear to see.
Showcasing her signature emotional honesty (and how similar she is to her listening demographic), Peters included a mashup of her most personal songs in the middle of the set, consisting of Glowing Review, Volcano, Good Enough, Favourite Ex, and a cover of Taylor Swift’s Dear John. Her performance felt like an interlude – a final goodbye to acoustic covers on YouTube and indie-pop laments, and a hello to an era that she describes as ‘much more sonically varied than anything I’ve done before.’
True to that promise, Peters follows the medley with Not Another Rockstar, a driving, pop-punk track. She emerges from smoke machines and spotlights with a cocksure strut and supreme ease, snarling along to ‘the law pulls up and you won’t get in the car/and I’m like, “oh, goddamn, not another rockstar”’. The high-energy track is infused with quick-witted vocals and an unapologetic liberation from players and narcissists – the rose-tinted glasses are unequivocally and undeniably off for good. The red flags are revealed for exactly what they are. Themes of self-love and self-respect are central to her closing tracks, Lost the Breakup and Blonde – the realisation that ‘oh shit, you lost the breakup’ and ‘remember how you screwed up when I was a brunette/I don’t think you knew just what you done’ is evident and screamed along to by the crowd.
Peters has emerged from the shadows of ‘Ed Sheeran’s opening act’ to become a fully-fledged pop star in her own right. It takes a powerful vulnerability – and a unique talent – to straddle the boundaries between teenage heartbreak and personal growth. These themes are frequently denigrated by the disdainful, ‘ugh-more-of-that-girly-girl-shit’ factions of the music scene. Especially with her upcoming release of The Good Witch, Peters is so much more than that. A talented lyrical storyteller with a knack for writing undeniable earworms, Peters’ repertoire is jam-packed with arena ready singalongs. Wickedly witty, rip-roaring pop-punk and heart-rendingly sensitive ballads alike, Peters has undeniably come into her own. With the crowd singing along (and, undoubtedly, relating to) every one of her lyrics, her show was a triumphant success, and (I imagine) both therapeutic and exhilarating for Peters herself.
‘You asked what I tell my friends/said “it’s a glowing review”’ – Peters has certainly been prophetic. Next on my list – to fuck your life up as a blonde.
The future of History documentaries and what does their decline mean for us?
Television has become an endless stream of reality TV, drama and sport. These categories make up the top ten television programmes viewed in 2019, according to the Broadcasters Audience Research Board. There is now a dwindling array of documentaries, particularly history documentaries. Whilst there are still a few historians (some of whom are our tutors) on our screens, the number of historical documentaries on TV has dropped to just a third of its 2007 figure, according to research by the Content Club.
Why does this matter? Have consumers simply lost interest in history documentaries?
The importance of having history documentaries on our television screens is manifold: they promote the advancement of knowledge, increase equality and progression to higher education, spread public awareness in the preservation of our heritage, and are funders of archaeology in the UK. Without history documentaries, we are on the precipice of losing these benefits.
The Channel 4 series Time Team ran for 20 years and was one of the UK’s largest independent funders of archaeology. Such was Time Team’s importance that its presenter, Tony Robinson, in a Channel 4 interview, stated that the archaeologists involved with the programme had published more papers on the Time Team excavations than all British university archaeology departments over the same period. The BBC’s television documentary series, ‘Meet The Ancestors’, which ran between 1998-2004, even had a dedicated archaeology department which funded, or partially funded, digs involved in the series. Since government funding for university archaeology departments has been cut by 50% in 2021 as part of their prioritised teaching strategy, there is an even greater need for TV companies to fund and promote archaeological activities.
These documentaries also form a key role in promoting public awareness and the preservation of heritage sites. This was most keenly seen in the case of Stonehenge. Numerous TV documentaries have recorded and documented this well-loved UNESCO World Heritage Site. When plans to build a four-lane road tunnel close to the site were discovered, it was public outrage and organising that prevented the plans from going ahead. If allowed to go ahead, it would have caused irreversible damage to the sensitive archaeological area surrounding the site, which is rich in Neolithic and Bronze Age history.
The educational impact of the decline of the history documentary
The phasing out of history documentaries has a serious effect on education and amounts to a declaration of war on equality and diversity.
While we all know the importance of the outreach work Oxford conducts to make the City of Dreaming Spires accessible, enthusiasm for pursuing higher education in history and a passion for it, and reaching diverse communities, is being phased out by the lack of documentaries on television. History documentaries provide a wealth of knowledge for the viewer into all different types of history, be it classical antiquity, medieval Britain or global history. They allow children from a range of socio-economic backgrounds to learn in the absence of books and foster a passion for history, opening paths to further education and University.
When I contacted the art historian, author, and TV presenter (as well as Oxford tutor) Dr Janina Ramirez, she noted the importance of documentaries in educating and inspiring a love of history, “It is essential that factual television continues to be commissioned, since for many it is the place where people find a passion for history they never knew they had. Television has a duty to educate, inform, and entertain.”
It is the most vulnerable in society that will suffer from a lack of access to good quality educational documentaries. Indeed, 20% of the UK population is functionally illiterate, meaning that they have poor literacy skills and find it difficult to read information from unfamiliar sources or topics. However, almost 95% of UK households in 2019 owned a television licence. Thus, many functionally illiterate people educate themselves on history from television as opposed to books. These individuals, who may have struggled with school or have learning disabilities, are being stripped of the ability to learn independently about history without the need to access books.
Such television politics has stripped viewers who had very little access to history education in the first place, of the opportunity to learn more about history and explore that which has been left behind.
I decided to study Classical Archaeology and Ancient History because of the documentaries I watched as a child. I am not the only one: another CAAH student said that they were inspired to pick their subject by watching the serious history documentaries of David Starkey on the monarchy of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I.
The British military historian, novelist and broadcaster Saul David, when asked to comment, noted the increasing trend in the decline of documentaries on television and their educational importance, “When I started in broadcasting more than 20 years ago, Britain made the best history documentaries in the world. They provided a vital educational resource and made the subject accessible to all. Now, thanks to the demise of strands such as BBC’s Timewatch and Channel 4’s Secret History, quality programmes are few and far between; most TV history is underfunded, repetitive in subject and simplistic in tone.”
The current decline in history documentaries paired with the cost-of-living crisis will only exacerbate the issues outlined above. It will become harder for families to access history sites both locally, nationally and abroad. Indeed, currently, it can cost a family more than £60 to visit Stonehenge. Privately owned heritage sites can cost considerably more to visit. Holidays to archaeologically or historically significant sites have become impossible for many. It is now more than ever that documentaries must fill in the educational gaps which have widened into a gulf by the economic crisis.
Speaking with another second year History student at Oxford, they raised an important point, “Documentaries are an essential resource for historical education, specifically for visual and auditory learners. They can be vital in dispelling historical myths, some of which can be used to underline contemporary political ideologies (e.g., Holocaust denial).”
The growth of history documentary subscription services
Out of this abyss, there are a number of innovative approaches to making history more accessible, namely through subscription services, such as Time Team Patreon, History Hit by Dan Snow and the Content Club. The Content Club was founded by ex-BBC documentary makers and historians, who are disheartened that much less money is given to the commissioning of history programs, which has led to a decline in quantity and quality. Their ethos is to fill this gap in television, and they aim to fund ten high-quality documentaries a year. This approach is radically different from the traditional funding model, where broadcasters, who are currently reluctant to put forward the funding for history television programmes, commission the documentaries.
The Content Club is a project that is crowd funded by membership and brings together fans, historians, and producers to collaborate on the documentaries that they make. I interviewed one of the founding members, the television producer and director Sarah Jobling. Jobling explained, “We want to give people the quality history programming we all used to make for the BBC”. Their first film ‘Rome’s Forgotten War’ was originally pitched to traditional broadcasters; although production companies were very excited about it, the broadcasters shut them down and “invariably what we were told is television is just not making Ancient History anymore, and that people aren’t interested… and we don’t believe that”. Sarah went on to say, “We know there is an appetite for history because of the popularity of history podcasts.”
Their first film project, ‘Rome’s Forgotten War,’ which will be filmed between April and December of this year, explores the Cantabrian War fought between Rome and Spain from 29-19 BC. This fierce war raged against Celtic tribes living in the Iberian Peninsula of Spain during the reign of the first ‘Emperor’ Augustus, and on the defeat of the tribes in battle, all of Spain came under Roman control. Augustus took part in this 10-year war directly, sending eight legions of soldiers and a fleet of ships into the battle. When he returned to Rome, the Senate commissioned the Ara Pacis in 13BC to commemorate his return. The idea for a project on the Cantabrian War was seized upon during the production of another history series of the type that is on mainstream television today, which had less depth and jumped from topic to topic. Sarah Jobling stated that “I immediately thought this deserves more than 5 minutes of the show”.
The archaeological excavations currently being undertaken to reconstruct the wars have so far revealed fascinating insights into an area which isn’t widely known about; “this was a story that needed to be told”. The discoveries made on one of the archaeological sites suggests that it has the largest collection of spent arrowheads in the Roman world ever discovered. These arrowheads lend to the idea of the intensity and brutality of the war, which are currently being reconstructed piece by piece. The site is frozen in history; it is a record of the lives of these people, each day that passed in the battle, each life that was lost and the final war they fought.
Arrowheads remain lodged in some of the remains of the walls. Sarah told me with such enthusiasm and passion that the stories of individual battles can be seen through this archaeological excavation. It is possible to see where the Romans camped and attempted their first approach, the direction of the artillery barrages and where they burst through gates, you can see down to the final moments of the battle where there was “hand to hand fighting in the streets of the Iron Age fort”. This detail beautifully exemplifies the importance of documentaries working on archaeological sites; these stories may have been discovered and pieced together by the archaeologists, but the events which took place 2,000 years ago have been brought to life in the hands of the TV producers. Saul David added that the “Content Club will reverse the trend [of poorer quality programmes], open the mysteries of TV production to the members, and give power back to the creatives. Sarah’s first film Rome’s Forgotten War will help return nuanced, ground-breaking history to our TV screens.”
At the very heart of documentaries lies the fact that it allows the viewer to feel involved and connected with history in a meaningful way without actually seeing the object, place or experiencing the events. It is most exciting that this new approach innovatively allows the viewer to become engaged in the production process for the history documentary, allowing student and amateur enthusiasts alike to sit in on production meetings, review scripts, and vote on production elements, along with hearing daily reports from the location.
Sarah Jobling stated, “We want it to operate as an ideas incubator; a really exciting place where students could get involved”. Not only can young people have a say in the content that reaches our screens, but they can help in its creation, giving insight into the filming industry and helping others pursue an interest in History.
These opportunities allow students and academics alike to gain experience and forge links into previously very insular career pathways; each part of the production process is laid open and can even be influenced by your own thoughts and views. As Sarah Jobling told me, “Opening up the production process gives students invaluable career insights […] acquire hard skill tips like interviewing and applied research skills from the best practitioners [and] get a head start on that first step into TV. For academics and postgrads looking to pitch ideas and forge a career path, it offers a clear understanding of what ideas producers are looking for and how to shape your research and present your work so TV producers will grasp its value quickly.”
The current state of historical television documentaries has deteriorated; it is harmful to equality and higher education, but there is a glimmer of hope in the form of streaming services. Hopefully, one day, with the rise in popularity of these streaming services, historical documentaries will once again grace our screens, and mainstream broadcasters will acknowledge their merit and demand.
If you would like to like to learn more about the Content Club: https://www.content-club.xyz
Dan Snow’s History Hit: https://www.historyhit.com/
Time Team’s Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/TimeTeamOfficial
Men’s Blues are triumphant once again
Monday’s football Varsity at Oxford City’s Raw Charging stadium provided mixed results. The Cambridge women emerged comfortable victors, whilst the Oxford Men’s Blues won for the third year running. For the first time in three years, Oxford did not get the double win.
After a disappointing cancellation of the Football Varsity scheduled for March 19th in London at Leyton Orient, all teams had to refocus for a Football Varsity Round 2 on the 1st of May 2023. A thank you must also go to OUAFC Club President, Ore Jacobi, and CUAFC Men’s and Women’s Presidents, Ben Adam and Neve Mayes, for their swift rescheduling of the match.
As defending Champions, the men’s Oxford Blues were clear favourites for this match. Despite missing some of their best players due to injury or absence, including last year’s Blues Captain, Luke Smith, the Oxford Blues men’s team had a strong start. After the 5 pm kick-off, the first half was evenly matched with both Cambridge and Oxford building some impressive offensive play. Cambridge fans called for a penalty in the early stages of the first half but the referee decided against this
The Oxford goalkeeper, Harry Way, put on a stellar performance and made countless fantastic saves across the match. He was impenetrable in goal and kept a clean sheet.
The score at halftime was 0-0. However, Oxford had the momentum going into the break. They built promising attacks and remained physical in the midfield, with Oxford Blues Men’s Captain, Finlay Ryan-Phillips, bringing plenty of hard-tackling play. This allowed Oxford’s midfielders to wrestle back control of the match leading up to halftime.
After the halftime break, Oxford came out strong with star England National University team left winger, Alfie Cicale booting the opening goal proving his talent and flair up front. It was fitting that he scored the opener.
Fidan Suljik scored for Oxford again from a through ball and elevated the score to 2-0. From then on, the Oxford men held strong. Cambridge continued to fight for the match, building some promising attacks in the last 20 minutes of the second half. Ultimately though, their shots were off target and they could not beat the Oxford defence or keeper Harry Way.
Indeed, it was Oxford’s centre-back, Noah Hudson, who was named player of the match. He provided both impenetrable defense and creative play-making. His through balls from deep in defence out to the wings were particularly effective in opening up the game for Oxford and allowing them to transition quickly from defensive to offensive play.
Oxford’s home crowd were fortunate to experience a triumphant victory. It was a display of fantastic football, physicality and an exciting, high-intensity match. The Oxford Blues Men’s team put on a great performance and won their match comfortably. Their winning mentality was evident. It was a real team effort.
Cambridge Blues provided ceaseless pressure and great build-up play. They switched the ball through the middle to find gaps in Oxford’s defense, but were ultimately unable to convert chances. Nonetheless, they should be congratulated for their efforts.
For the third year running, the Oxford Blues Men’s Football team claimed a Varsity victory. They were worthy winners and were presented with the trophy by Oxford University Vice Chancellor, Professor Irene Tracey, CBE, FMedSci.
Seeing the men confidently triumph over Cambridge was fantastic for both players and fans. Although the women’s result was disappointing, it was great to end the day on a high. Next year, OUAFC will fight for the double, see you then!
Image Credit: Nikola Boysová
Cambridge comfortably defeat Women’s Blues
Cambridge women emerged as comfortable victors with a definitive performance against Oxford. For the first time in three years, Oxford did not get the double win.
Monday’s football Varsity at Oxford City’s Raw Charging stadium provided mixed results. The Cambridge women emerged comfortable victors, whilst the Oxford Men’s Blues won for the third year running. For the first time in three years, Oxford did not get the double win.
After a disappointing cancellation of the Football Varsity scheduled for March 19th in London at Leyton Orient, all teams had to refocus for a Football Varsity Round 2 on the 1st of May 2023. A thank you must also go to OUAFC Club President, Ore Jacobi, and CUAFC Men’s and Women’s Presidents, Ben Adam and Neve Mayes, for their swift rescheduling of the match.
With the women’s game first to kick off at 2pm, Oxford had the home crowd advantage with its supporters determined to see the team play despite it being term time. The game got off to a shaky start as both teams attempted to find their feet. Cambridge managed to keep the ball in their attacking half for the first 10 minutes until Oxford wrestled back control and built some promising attacks.
However, an injury to Cambridge’s centre back, Arden Dierker Viik, around the 25th minute saw play take a 15 minute break. She had broken her collarbone and had to be stretchered off the pitch. We wish her all the best with her recovery and thank the doctors in the crowd as well as the medics from the Oxford team who came over to help.
After the break in momentum, it was Cambridge who capitalised, scoring a goal as a result of sloppy defence from Oxford who failed to clear the ball out of their 18 yard box. Cambridge’s second goal came in stoppage time, just before the half time whistle, from a great piece of play down the right wing. Cambridge striker and Club President, Neve Mayes, tapped the low cross into the goal between the legs of Oxford keeper, Iona Ffrench-Adam.
After halftime, Oxford conceded 2 more goals off the boot of Neve Mayes. The Cambridge striker put in a fantastic performance, scoring a hattrick and named Player of the Match. The Cambridge midfield were also very impressive, especially with captain Frances Steele’s reliable distribution from centre defensive midfield.
Oxford made multiple substitutes in the second half after conceding. They brought on more attacking players and switched to a 3-5-2 formation in an attempt to get some more momentum moving forward. However, Oxford’s right winger couldn’t convert a 1 on 1 with the keeper. Their lack of shots on target meant they couldn’t score any consolation goals. Oxford were fortunate to avoid conceding further. To this, thanks must go to goalkeeper Iona Ffrench-Adam, who made some excellent saves despite playing with a broken finger and duly named Oxford’s Player of the Match by her teammates.
OUAFC President, Ore Jacobi, and Women’s Vice President, Ashley Chee, earnt their first blues, as great sight to see when they came on as substitutes in the final part of the second half – a fantastic and very well-deserved reward for all the hard work they put in this season to run the club.
The Oxford Blues were ultimately outplayed by Cambridge’s structured and effective build-up play. Congratulations must go to Cambridge for their clinical performance, their first Varsity win in 3 years.
Despite a doubtlessly disappointing Varsity result for Oxford, this doesn’t represent the season that the Women’s Blues have had. Led by captain Jess Cullen, the Blues have built up from a new and young squad into a gelled team over the course of the season. Despite most of the team never having played together before, they came second in their BUCS league and made the Cup Semi-Final. This Varsity loss does not and should not come to define what has, overall, been a successful season.
Unfortunately, despite a valiant effort from the Oxford Blues, the Cambridge Women played some excellent football and were clinical in front of goal. The final score of 4-0 probably didn’t reflect the good passages of play that Oxford were able to construct, but ultimately they couldn’t convert their chances.
Nevertheless, a thank you must also go to OUAFC Club President, Ore Jacobi, and CUAFC Men’s and Women’s Presidents, Ben Adam and Neve Mayes, for allowing the fixture to ahead, rescheduling the Football Varsity Round for this day.
Although the women’s result was disappointing, it was great to end the day on a high. They will undoubtedly also be determined to do better next year and get the varsity win once more. See you next year!
Image Credit: Nikola Boysová
Magdalen’s deer-lemma: one deer still missing
Three Magdalen College deer escaped from the college’s deer park last week, due to a malfunctioning gate. Whilst two of them have since returned to the college, one is still missing.
So far, the college has closed off certain paths, including the gates at Bat Willow, Hollywell Ford, and Addison’s Bridge, in hopes the deer will return. Magdalen told Cherwell: “we are doing everything we can to encourage [the deer to return to college], including leaving treats out in the evening.
The college added, “thankfully, this is a very rare event. We make every effort to ensure our beloved herd is kept safe at all times.”
Magdalen has been home to a herd of deer since the 1700s. Currently, 60 deer reside on the college grounds.
The still-missing deer was last spotted on Merton grounds, near St Catherine’s College. One Magdalen student told Cherwell that the whole situation “really puts a dampener on our ongoing peace process with Catz, as they are clearly blaring propaganda to our otherwise well-adjusted deer and getting them to defect.”
Emma Watson to begin Masters studies in Oxford this autumn
Actress, creative director, and entrepreneur Emma Watson will undertake a Master’s in Creative Writing at Oxford starting in September.
Watson will be beginning an MSt in Creative Writing in Michaelmas 2023. The MSt, which is offered by the Department for Continuing Education, advertises itself as a deep and analytical exploration of literature and media. A “distinguishing feature” of the Oxford course, according to the University website, is a research placement which provides between “one and two weeks’ in-house experience of writing in the real world”. Watson stated in a recent interview with the Financial Times that she started to do more creative writing during the COVID-19 lockdown.
The Harry Potter mega-star has already previously studied at Oxford. Watson was enrolled at Brown University, in the United States, to study for a BA in English Literature and spent the 2011- 2012 academic year at Worcester College as part of the Visiting Student Programme.
During her time at Oxford, Watson was a full member of the Worcester JCR and had even been assigned college parents for the year.
Watson’s connection to Oxford goes back to her childhood, having previously attended the Dragon School, the Oxfordshire branch of Stagecoach Theatre Arts, and Headington School.
St Stephen’s House – an almost love letter to the PGCE “Party college”
At the age of about 12, I saw a priest smoking a cigarette around the back of a church and knew from the look on his face that God probably couldn’t exist. Ever since, I have questioned Christian iconography, mildly suspicious of its ability to get everywhere. A crucifix or collared man decorating the walls of an Oxford college isn’t a sight exclusive to St Stephen’s, but the piety adorning every surface took a second to get used to when I first arrived. (It was the eyes, by the way; the bleak, unblinking eyes as he sucked the cancer right in, like a protest against God themselves.)
St Stephens will relinquish its PPH status later this year to focus on the Church and ordaining Anglican Priests. Having been founded with that purpose in mind, it was only their kindness (and our bursaries) that widened their remit to accept students like me into their arms. But with the highest PGCE (the Post-Graduate Certificate needed to become a teacher) intake of any Oxford institution, where will the trainee-teachers next year be taken in and homed? I worry for them, perhaps unnecessarily, as any mother-hen figure would; there’s a decay in teaching, its core being cut out by years of underfunding and widening socio-economic divides.
My first thought on hearing that St Stephen’s would no longer be associated with the University was to stash as much merchandise as I could.
Whilst Oxford merch may not have a fabulous resale price, its potency—underlined by every ‘Look-at-my-subtle-indicator-that-I-go-to-the-oldest-university-in-the-English-speaking-world’ puffer jacket, or the ‘Oh this old thing? Yes, Balliol’ fleeces—means that I still want the crest on my chest. There is a lineage of people going back to 1260 for, say, Merton college students. There will possibly be hundreds of thousands of students that can claim to have attended any one of the older colleges. St Stephen’s, on the other hand, will upon closing have had total numbers of admission closer in order of magnitude to those of All-Souls. This is limited edition merch, the type no one else can get. I wouldn’t like to make any direct inferences, but is that where the similarities end between All-Souls and St Stephen’s?
(Yes).
And of course I wanted evidence that I was actually at Oxford. I’d worked hard to get here, and the year I get accepted I am told the whole building will stop taking on people like me?! Charming. How will that work on a CV? It will look like I faked the whole thing! I may as well have gone to Aberystwyth at this rate; they have a fantastic PGCE course, and a beach and it’s not a 6 hour journey home. No—the merch will have to be the central evidence that I was ever actually here.
St Stephen’s is not a well-known ‘college’ and I think that’s done on purpose. It is so hidden you would never guess there are 2 chapels, a church, a library, a garden, a small quad and some cloisters, all clustered just off Cowley Road behind the Sainsburys. I’d call it quaint, if I didn’t know how many of my friends from back home would think I sounded so overtly Oxbridge that the bullying may never stop. But certainly it is a very inward-looking place, a self-contained unit of self-sufficiency, and like any hothouse without enough cool air to go around there can sometimes be a feeling of getting on each other’s toes (which I escape by living almost entirely at school).
Among PGCEs, St Stephen’s has the reputation of being where the dregs are collected: it accepts those who didn’t get into the real colleges (even in this privileged institution, it seems, the onion has further layers of privilege still.) It is also where the party lives; we will invariably be the most fun teachers that Oxford produces. We all likely applied around March and have a scattered approach to our pursuits. We also have the brains to just about pull off a really quite admirable portion of them, entirely on the fly.
In wider Oxford circles, asking which college you are at, people will look to you politely and say “Oh no I’m not really familiar with that one”; they will then continue the conversation with a tone that suggests they think I must have meant Brookes, which I find awfully elitist.
The alternative, however, is that they have heard of St Stephen’s, and that can often be worse as they gleefully inform you about what they know about “Staggers”.
“Did you know that the word Staggers is associated with an oddly closeted homophobia?”
Yes, I live there.
“Apparently, there’s a joke that every cohort year photo from Staggers will have one priest who’s dead, one who lives in Rome and one who’s in prison.”
I know, I live there.
“Have you heard about that thing where [Redacted]”
Yes. I lived there.
Among the Ordinands, I can only imagine how the PGCEs reputation precedes us. Every year they inform the new cohort “The PGCEs last year were quite difficult, but this year we hope will be different.” It’s an interesting way to phrase it. For such an educated group of individuals, their mathematical reasoning needs refreshing; the PGCE course is one year, the training to become ordained is 3 years. If the pattern of slight tension felt between the two cohorts repeats every year, and the PGCEs change every year, then they may need a maths lesson in common factors. A lesson I am happy to provide.
However, I am willing to accept that we can be difficult. That we are loud, we don’t pray, some of us may even have sex, if we are not too tired and ask very nicely.
I understand that, for the religiously inclined, watching someone not adhere to your beliefs with the same vigour and respect that you do yourself can be difficult. Yet I still believe that us future teachers and future priests have more in common than we could ever have in differences. We believe that the thing we are doing is the best way to serve our communities, and to build a future that is better than the state of the world today. As the ancient Greek proverb goes “A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.” In our hearts, we both feel a calling to meet the needs of those who need us. I’d like to think that is why they have accommodated us for so many years.
I do have a scepticism about the practice of organised religion, but I am an open-minded Scientist at heart, an agnostic. I would like to believe there is nothing stopping meaningful and productive relationships between the secular and sacred. Religion has been an engine to feed the poor, educate the masses, and give hope to the hopeless, and I hope that if Jesus can associate himself with prostitutes and lepers, that the Ordinands might be able and happy to associate themselves with PGCEs.
I digress. There are some wonderful people that come through those cloisters and I’ve drunk wine with a lot of them. And danced loudly in the common room to the justified annoyance of ordinands, and the teaching staff in the Department of Education the next morning, as they try to cajole some teacher trainers who should take the whole thing a bit more seriously, it is a weekday after all.
The food is plentiful, and the chats are interesting and diverse. The visiting students from all over the world, from a great number of disciplines, the lazy Saturday mornings and after-dinner conversations ebb and flow through any topic of their specialities, their interest and devotion to knowledge is something I truly adore.
And sometimes I’m expected to talk. Sometimes I will be asked: “Why have you decided to go into teaching?” My answer is usually always “I enjoy it” or “I couldn’t stand an office job; I’d kill myself a week in” because if I told the truth people would think I was trying to passionately sell them snake oil.
The reality of the matter is, I had a hard time coming to the conclusion that teaching should be my vocation, even though I have always loved it. I love working with young people and watching them develop, watching how funny and wise and awful and magical they are. I love trying to help mould someone into an infinitesimally kinder or more knowledgeable person than they may have been a lesson before.
But I knew how my people might speak about me. On a trip to the library during my second-year undergrad at Bristol, we saw the beaming PGCE graduates standing outside the Wills memorial, having their celebratory moment. My friend leans over and whispers “Well, their futures have gone down the toilet.”
I saw them and wished more than anything to be among them. Secretly.
I laughed along and procrastinated for a couple of hours in a leather-backed chair.
Is this how I’d be seen if I chose to teach? Not just by my friends, but by society?
I’d be seen as someone who opted for this career, not because it’s the only thing I can imagine myself getting up every single morning to do, but because I wasn’t actually able to do much else.
Not because educating the people who will inherit the earth tomorrow is our only hope, but because I was uncertain about what to do after university, so I thought I may as well give it a go.
Not because I’m the first person in a decade to get into Oxford from my languishing state secondary and I feel fire at the injustice, how many of my classmates were ignored by places like Oxbridge regardless of the stars they clawed down for themselves on their results sheets; Jaina, Jessica, Carys, Dolan, Tilly, Megan, Daniel …
No, it must be because I like the long holidays.
So when people ask me “Why did you choose to get into teaching?” I want to grab a soapbox and throw manifestos at them about the liberation of the masses by investing in quality education. I want to slap the drooling tones out the mouths of the privately educated, home counties collective that makes up so much of this city. I want to shout, knock down the bursar’s door, collect the chancellor and round up the kitchen staff, shaking them into submission: We need teachers. We need them so aggressively. Carry on housing the educators as they learn their trade. Keep these doors open for them. Please!
Instead, I eat my broccoli and tell them “I just think it’s quite fun!”
St Stephens closing its doors seemed to me like another loss. Another change, a degradation, in our attitude towards state educators that we’ve been seeing long before the pandemic.
That tells us how much we value being educated, but not who educates us.
“Those who can, do. Those who can’t teach.” Those who can’t teach, teach [insert disliked subject]. We really have to thank G.B Shaw for framing the cultural zeitgeist so concisely.
Maybe I wouldn’t have put these thoughts to paper if I’d just got into Jesus like a good little Welshman. But for me, St Stephen’s has become a home, and it will be sad to know that no other future teachers will know the delights and curiosities of this quaint little corner of Cowley.
Students shoot first feature film in 40 years
Breakwater Pictures Ltd., the limited company which grew out of the student production company Nocturne Productions, finished the shoot of their namesake feature film “Breakwater” over the Easter vacation. Prior to filming “Breakwater”, the two students behind Nocturne, director Max Morgan and producer Jemima Chen, put on two plays at Oxford: Jez Butterworth’s 1995, “Mojo” in TT22 and an original, “Fêtid” in MT22.
The last feature film written, directed and starred in by Oxford University students was Hugh Grant’s first flick, “Privileged” released in 1982. It was criticized by Variety magazine at its release for having “limited interest” to a wider audience but that Grant, billed as “Hughie Grant”, gave a convincing performance. Without “Privileged”, it would be difficult to imagine the fact of “Breakwater” but with conceptual ground cleared and the advantage of acknowledging its forebear’s weaknesses, perhaps this feature will have a warmer critical reception.
The film hit its £10, 000 crowdfunding goal on Indiegogo and raised roughly £9, 000 from the proceeds of an art auction held in Oriel College Hall with donated pieces by British artist Maggi Hambling and cartoonist Steven Appleby as well as a lunch at Fortnum & Masons all selling. Chen beamed when remembering the gala, adding that profits from the sales of student artworks were split between the “Breakwater” fund and the artists themselves.
Morgan told Cherwell: “What has been the biggest challenge about doing this fundraising is that we basically have the same budget as an [Oxford Playhouse] show. But the support framework for that, because it is so tried and tested and happens every term is really there. The Cameron Mackintosh drama fund stopped funding films and what they give to a normal production at the Playhouse would have covered our entire film. So, we have had to go about it through other means. We’ve tried BFI grants and the Arts Council but because we’re students we’re not eligible for them.” Notably, there have been rumblings on Oxfess regarding a motion put to Balliol JCR requesting funding for “Breakwater” which was unsuccessful. Morgan argued that a misunderstanding of the nature of the way JCRs fund art was behind the expressions of antipathy towards the request. Lead, Danny McNamee added: “You will realize that the “daddy’s-money” thing is just so inappropriate to say. Most of us went to state schools. Like a few of us, I came on an access scheme. I clawed my way into acting and to say I got there easily is just, I thought, quite comical”.
The film was shot over twenty-eight days from mid-March to mid-April on the Suffolk coast and in Oxford with professional actors like Shaun Paul McGrath rubbing shoulders with amateurs making their debut like Danny who attends Exeter College for whom this was his first time in front of the camera. “The learning curve was very, very steep”, he admitted. Reflecting on the change from theatre to film: “In some ways, its much easier than when you’re on stage. You don’t have to imagine anything; it’s all just there. Like, you don’t have to imagine you’re in the sea, you’re actually in the sea. It was quite cold”.
Morgan describes the film as a ‘psychological drama’ filmed in a naturalistic style as ‘what we want to do is get inside the minds of the characters.’ He joked: “There’s no insane car chase set pieces of cinematography”. The camera crew themselves were young professional filmmakers based in London.
The film will not be premiered until 2025 which Morgan and Chen hope will take place outside the Oxford-sphere at international film festivals like Toronto International Film Festival and Raindance Film Festival. Explaining the long wait, Chen said ‘We’ve got a team of amazing editors. We don’t want to rush them because the deadline for festival submissions are in September which means we’ve got to go next year. Those festivals don’t show until 2025.’
On the importance of the university and the city to “Breakwater”, Morgan offered “It would be a shame to restrict it to Oxford. We want to take it beyond because we think we can go beyond this sphere. And whilst [the film] is very much made up of the people here obviously, we don’t like to think of ourselves as a student film but rather as an independent film”. A documentary of the film’s production will be screened on June 3 2023 and will be followed by a Q & A with the cast and crew.