All posts by HPSH Plaid Line

Movies/TV/Theaters

‘Parasite’: Truly the Best Picture

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By: Hayden Fitzsimons

Bong Joon-ho’s ‘Parasite’ was a revolutionary movie for the world of film, as it may have changed the award system forever.

The release of ‘Parasite’ in 2019 was met with immediate fanfare, as many critics claimed it was the best of the year. Once ‘Parasite’ hit Western consumers, the general consensus of the public aligned with that of the critics, for once.

In Korea, prior to ‘Parasite’ being internationally released, the film was a blockbuster which grossed around 70 million dollars, making it one of the most successful films in Korean history. Internationally (including Korea), ‘Parasite’ grossed 211 million dollars, but in America & Canada it grossed only around 50 million.

‘Parasite’ was an instant hit, however many still didn’t see it despite rave reviews. So, for those who didn’t see it, was ‘Parasite’ really the Best Picture?

The likelihood of ‘Parasite’ winning, or even getting nominated, for Best Picture was low from the start. The Oscars’ track record of best picture nominations hasn’t been the best, as ‘Parasite’ was the first foreign language film to ever win Best Picture. So, despite the sheer quality of ‘Parasite’ being so high, the belief in the film getting any recognition was low. Fortunately, for the movie-going audience, the Oscars didn’t mess up for once.

‘Parasite’ was nominated, which was enough for some who had become cynics towards the seemingly inept Oscars Academy. Yet, to many’s surprise, ‘Parasite’ actually won. If ‘Parasite’ seemingly deserved the Best Picture win so much, what was it about?

‘Parasite’ follows the Kim family, who are a lower class family struggling to survive. The son of the family, Ki-woo, manages to get a job as the tutor to the daughter of the Park family, an extremely rich family, and he eventually manages to get all of the other workers fired and replaced by his family. This leads to a meteoric rise in wealth for the Kim family. However, the fired employees are not all out of the Kims’ lives, leading to a karma-filled struggle to keep their lies and their new life from unraveling.

The story on it’s own is compelling enough, but Bong Joon-ho brings out the best of his performers and their acting transforms the film to another level. Not to mention the constant messages layered into the dialog, cinematography, and nearly every detail of the film. Without a doubt, ‘Parasite’ is a once-in-a-lifetime film which undoubtedly deserved the award for Best Picture.

Fashion/Make-Up

Fast fashion is bad and here’s why

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By Anna Hisle

If you’re like me, you love to shop. But do you really take the time to think about where and how that cute American Eagle top was made? While that shirt may be cute, it is being made in sweatshops who hire underpaid workers (sometimes even children) to make hundreds or even thousands of the same clothes.

So, you may be asking yourself what is fast fashion? Fast fashion is cheap trendy clothing.

These clothes are produced quickly while they are still in style and sold to shoppers who snatch them up right away. While these clothes are sold at the height of their popularity, they are quickly discarded once they are no longer in style. Sometimes these clothes are even only worn 1 or 2 times.

Impacts

Fast fashion has a very bad impact on the environment; there is a lot of pressure to speed up production and make costs lower.

Producers also use very cheap and toxic textile dyes. According to “Good On You,” using these cheap dyes makes the fashion industry one of the largest polluters of clean water globally.

According to “Mamoq,” it takes 2.70 liters of water to produce one cotton t-shirt. Now think about how much those t-shirts cost.

Because there is so much clothing being produced, and so quickly, there are overwhelming amounts of CO2 and greenhouse gas emissions distributed polluting the air. The microfibres in polyester also shed and contribute to ocean pollution.

Alternatives

Instead of buying clothes from fast fashion brands start buying sustainable clothing, going thrifting, or even just buying from small or local businesses.

By buying from sustainable clothing brands, you are not only helping the environment but you are also not supporting the employment of underpaid workers.

When you buy clothes from small or local businesses, you are supporting the people who are trying to make a name for themselves as well as just helping out a business that is not horrible for the environment.

By thrifting, you are buying people’s used clothes. This means that you are not buying directly from fast fashion brands but from second hand stores.

Sustainable clothing brands VS. fast fashion brands

While you’ve read this article and learned what fast fashion is, you probably still don’t know what brands are sustainable and which are bad for the environment.

Some fast fashion clothing brands include:

  • Forever 21
  • Zara
  • Fashion Nova
  • Urban Outfitters
  • Topshop
  • Gap
  • And many more.

To start shopping sustainable, check out some of these shops:

  • Patagonia
  • TOMS
  • Free People
  • SKIIM
  • Veja
  • And many more.

Reading this article, I hope you thought about your clothes and whether they are sustainable or not.

So, maybe next time, drop the brand name and go for something more sustainable!

Editorials/Student Voice, Movies/TV/Theaters

Disney shills for the CCP

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By: Jalalisa Geleto

There has been a controversy over Disney’s ‘Mulan’ and now Disney is losing millions.

The controversy started a while back when the actress, Liu Yifei, came out in support for the CCP during the Hong Kong protest. It was also found that she was the daughter of a member of the CCP government.

To know why what I previously said, and what I’m going to say, is offensive to many people, you must know what the CCP really is.

The CCP took control of China in 1949 and installed a brutal authoritarian/communist government. This government killed over 100 million Chinese during its reign. They suppressed religion, destroyed human individuality, free speech, ability to give birth, ability to feed yourself, and many other atrocities. The Communist era of China has been horrible for its people.

Now, the Chinese government is capitalistic, but it’s still just as authoritarian. Many Chinese people don’t starve the way they used to, but they’re still just as oppressed.

During the communist era of the CCP there was a forced cultural revolution. Now, the present day CCP is trying to finish the Cultural Revolution in China. They are going to the edges of China and oppressing/depopulating the minority groups whose cultures survived the original Cultural Revolution.

This is happening with the Chinese Uighur. They are being raped, sterilized, killed, and tortured. Their religion is being stripped from them, and they are forced to do things they consider blasphemy. They are forced into giant camps to “re-educate” them (making them abandon who they are and become the perfect Han Chinese).

Now, let’s get back to the story.

In the credits of the movie, they thank propaganda departments in Xinjiang and the Public Security Bureau of Turpan, a Uighur-majority city in the region. This is the same department that claims that nothing is happening to the Uighurs, and it was all made up.

Not only that, but Disney filmed the movie literally a couple miles away from these camps. This sparked outrage in the West.

People are getting tired of major corporations doing anything for a spot in China. There are large portions of the country that are starting to believe these American companies are more Chinese than American at this point. Western values and businesses are all under CCP control in the eyes of many.

People are saying how can these companies “support” social justice causes here in America, but then grovel at the feet of one of the most oppressive and cruel governments of our time.

Now, I’ll leave you with this question. Should we sacrifice our Western values and art just to have access to the Chinese market?

Advice/How To, School Life

Making distance learning easier

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By: Annika Getz

The transition from In-School-Learning to Distance Learning has been a tough one, for parents and students alike. I’ve found that younger students especially are having a hard time. I know this because I have two siblings, both under the age of ten, and my block has a lot of younger kids.

Many parents are struggling to make Distance Learning work, but there are several small things that you, as a parent, can do to help your younger children adjust to this new way of learning.

One way is to go back to school shopping – just as if it were a normal year

If you don’t feel comfortable going into stores, you can just shop online. Get notebooks, and pencils, and whatever else your child needs. Make sure you do this with your child, that way it’s more meaningful for them.

When you do this, you may want to get things that your child doesn’t necessarily need this year, but would normally. Like pencil cases or binders. This also just makes the year seem a bit more normal.

Another thing you can do is set up study dates for your child

If they have any friends in their class, they can either do class together, or just do the homework together (with masks on obviously, and probably outside depending on what you’re comfortable with).

This obviously might not work for all children, as some of them would get distracted, but if you think it might work for you, then I’d suggest trying it. Not only does working with people feel a bit more like a classroom, but it also makes learning more fun.

The most important thing is to just be there for your child when they need you

They may not be able to actually go to school, but that doesn’t mean they can’t have a good school year.

I hope some of these tips can help your family through these uncertain times.

Basketball, Sports

Be sure to watch the best of the best battle to win a NBA championship ‼️

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By Khadar Greer

The playoffs have been amazing so far with a lot of shocking upsets and endings that you never would’ve seen coming. Especially to East; the East was full of surprises.

I mean, look at how the Miami Heat eliminated the number one seed in the Eastern Conference, the Milwaukee Bucks, in the semifinals with the reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo on that team.

Also, the Heat eliminated their rivalry team, the Indiana Pacers, in the first round with key players like Jimmy Butler, averaging 19.9 points per game in the playoffs, and and Bam Adebayo averaging 17.8 points per game.

They also have rookie Tyler Herro averaging 13.5 points per game in the playoffs and it’s only his rookie year⁉️ And, they have great role players coming off the bench.

At the time of this writing, the Eastern Conference Finals had the Heat with a 3-1 lead against the Boston Celtics (who had also been on an amazing path eliminating last year’s NBA champions, the Toronto Raptors, and what a fantastic battle they had).

The Celtics and Toronto Raptors went to game 7, with only one team coming out on top. The Celtics also eliminated their rivals the Philadelphia 76ers, which was a squashed series because the Celtics dominated that series 4-0.

The Celtics have some incredible talent too with 2 All Stars on this team: Jason Tatum, averaging 25.2 points per game, and Kemba Walker, averaging 19.9 points per games.

A lot of people thought that the Milwaukee Bucks we’re going to be winning this whole thing, or at least make it to the finals, but now since that’s out the picture, this series should be interesting.

Will the Miami Heat beat the Boston Celtics 4-1 or will the Boston Celtics come back from a 3-1 lead to overcome the Miami Heat? Who Ya Got? 

*Note: We obviously know how that one played out now.

Now, let’s talk about the Western Conference with the Denver Nuggets shocking the world with defeating the Los Angeles Clippers.

The Nuggets came back from the Clippers having a 3-1 lead, and also came back from a 3-1 lead by the Utah Jazz. This left them as the only team to come back from a 1-3 deficit twice to win both series.

This is why NBA fans feel that the Nuggets are very underrated. It is a very crazy day to be the number 2 team in the Western Conference.

But now they have an even tougher challenge.

Right now (at the time of this writing) let’s see if they can come back from another 1-3  deficit. Though now, they’re playing the number one team in the Western Conference, the Los Angeles Lakers, and that team has LeBron James (the debatable greatest of all time everyone says that he’s a goat but it’s hard because he’s very debatable) and they also have five All Stars that have played the Lakers.

I mean, they even say LeBron is better than Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, so this series has to be tough, and and I’m pretty sure everyone’s going with the Los Angeles Lakers, but with the Nuggets being the underdogs, we can’t sleep on the Denver Nuggets. Especially with the intensity and energy they’ve been playing with so far in the playoffs. Can the Nuggets dethrone the Lakers, or will the Lakers beat them? For only one can advance to the finals: who you got?

*Note: The finals are now set, and it will be Heat vs. Lakers.

National, News, Science/Nature

California wildfires are on an all time high

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By: Aisha Dirie

With West Coast fires are at an all time high, and there is no doubt that climate change is to blame for these disasters. According to ‘Scientific American’, These fires have expanded across 1 million acres throughout the West Coast. Hundreds of people have lost their houses due to these fires, with California being a hotspot for COVID-19 currently, it’s not ideal. 

The causes for the fire is unknown but this has been happening for decades. There are some though that question whether climate change is to blame. “Jon Keeley, a senior scientist at the U.S. Geological Survey Western Ecological Research Center, argued that the study from Swain and others failed to show that hotter temperatures are driving wildfires.”

Although California has always been a hotspot of wildfires, it is not a surprise that these fires happen continuously, but this level of destruction has caused more people to wake up and look at the real life effects of climate change. 

With the wildfires, fire tornados have also erupted within those fires. Fire tornados happen when heat that is rising pulls in fire, dirt, ash, etc. and spirals into a tornado. “To have even one tornado within a fire is rare,” CNN meteorologist Taylor Ward said. These are rare, and with West Coast (specifically California) fires rising and continuing to damage homes, fire tornados are happening more frequently.

According to the Los Angeles Times, “The Creek Fire, which started on September 4, has burned 291,426 acres in the Sierra National Forest and remains just 34% contained.” This is one of the fires that started on the West Coast that left many people trapped in their homes. 

All along the West Coast, people were evacuating homes in response to the fires polluting the air. There is no doubt that these fires are getting worse, and we need to take action. If you look at the fires over the years, they have gotten significantly worse, especially since 2018. Climate change is real, and it’s destroying our planet.

For more information, please visit:

Football, Sports

The NFL is back!

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By: Caden Ligman

On September 7, the Kansas City Chiefs played the Houston Texans to kick off the 2020 NFL season. Due to COVID-19 this season is unlike any other.

Most of the teams have decided that there will be no fans in attendance for their games this season, however there are a few exceptions. The Miami Dolphins, Jacksonville Jaguars, Indianapolis Colts, the Kansas City Chiefs, and the Dallas Cowboys will all allow between 2,500 and 17,000 fans to attend their games.

The NFL is also allowing individual players to opt out of this upcoming NFL season because of COVID-19. So far, a total of 66 players have already opted out with nearly half of the players who have opted out being linemen. Players who choose to opt out will be guaranteed $350,000 if they prove that they are high risk for getting the virus. Players who aren’t high risk are guaranteed $150,00.

There were a total of 16 games played week one of this year’s NFL season.

During the Vikings game against the Green Bay Packers, both teams chose to honor George Floyd in their own way. The Vikings did not sound their signature Gjallarhorn at the beginning of the game to honor Floyd. The Packers on the other hand, stayed in their locker room during the playing of the nation anthem.

Editorials/Student Voice, School Life

What happened to the school lunches for SPPS?

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By: Elsie Olive

Most students have already noticed, but if you hadn’t already, the lunches served at St. Paul Public Schools have severely gone downhill between the 2018-2019 school year and this one.

In the years prior to the 2019-2020 school year, SPPS had provided a variety of nutritional foods. In fact, in 2013, TwinCities.com said SPPS lunches had gotten national attention for the incredible and healthy foods the schools were providing.

However if you look at the lunches served now, almost always the options are either some variant of chicken, hamburgers, gyros, or Italian dunkers, and every lunch is served with a side of fries.

So, what changed in the few months between these two school years?

Unfortunately, there is hardly any information that explains exactly what happened, but, by checking some of the links on the SPPS lunch menus page, there is one that takes us to Nutrislice.com. Here, at spps.nutrislice.com, it gives us a message which suggests that SPPS no longer uses Nutrislice as a means of supplying their lunches. The newest and working links on the SPPS page take us to SchoolCafé.com, where you can view current school lunch menus.

It could be that this is the only reason school lunches have decreased in value this much, but it is hard to believe that such a small change could completely offset the school’s menu. It is likely that there were some staff changes in the Nutritional Services and Wellness department of SPPS.

At this point, there isn’t much other information available, and the lack of information provided on the SPPS website about it’s staff members or exactly what changed between this school year and the last one doesn’t help with that.

However, it probably has much more to do with the relaxing of regulations for school-provided meals by the Trump Administration according to BusinessInsider.com. This particular article also mentions that the billions of dollars cut from the education budget has deeply affected the ability for schools to provide enough nutritional food for all of their students.

Advice/How To

Things to do this summer 

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By: La Dafia Dehaney

Summer is here and we have spent almost four months locked up inside the house. If you are looking for something to do, here are a few ideas: 

1. Go to a lake – Minnesota has the most lakes of any state. Some lakes you can visit are: Lake of the Isles (in Minneapolis), Mille Lacs Lake, Lake Minnetonka, Lake of the Woods, Leech Lake, Gull Lake, Rainy Lake, and Lake Vermilion (in Saint Louis County).

Lake of the Isles, in Minneapolis, is the quietest of all of the Minneapolis lakes, and also the most beautiful. Lake Vermilion, in Saint Louis County, is the fifth largest lake in northeastern Minnesota.

2. Take a road trip – Choose some states that are close to each other and tour them. Visit museums, tour buildings, and find good food to eat.

3. Get a job – You can always get a job to make some money to buy new things.

4. Try new foods – To make the best of the summer, you can drive around to new restaurants and try the food and write about them.

5. Volunteer work – Minnesota has a lot of volunteer work. You can volunteer at: the Lead Global Affairs discussions, drive cancer patients to treatment, serve meals, become a JA volunteer, or volunteer for Music Teachers for Underprivileged Children.

6. Watch movies – Netflix and Disney+ have a lot of great new movies coming this summer so you can binge watch a couple of them.

7. Re-Decorate your room – Keep yourself busy by redecorating your room by adding new furniture, re-painting it, organizing your closet, or adding new carpets.

8. Have a sleepover – Nothing better than having friends by your side, so invite friends over, watch a couple of movies, eat snacks, and gossip a little.

Tech/Games

“Unturned” the free steam game, is it worth the download?

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By: Courtney Smith

I would definitely recommend this game for people looking for adventure and combat. Anyone
familiar with the game DayZ will find this similar but not as difficult. It can also be compared to a
game on Roblox named Apocalypse Rising.

The game modes are easy, medium, and hard. Those determine how many zombies there will be, how strong they are, how much supplies there will be, and other commodities. This game can be played in multiplayer or single player.

This review is based on the single player gameplay experience.

This game’s scene is set post zombie apocalypse, where NPCs are the main predators. These
coded zombies attack you and deal damage to your in-game character. There are many types
of zombies. There are firemen, police officers, farmers, mafia members, lumberjacks, campers,
and chefs.

Those zombies can also come in different forms. Sprinter zombies run on all fours, they are extremely fast, super difficult, and my least favorite! Some zombies crawl and some walk.

When a zombie is killed it may drop supplies, for example if it’s a farmer zombie, it can drop a straw hat or pitchfork.

There are multiple maps in which you can play on, this includes: Washington (home to the
Seattle Space Needle), Russia, Hawaii, and many more regions. This scene diversity makes the
game more interesting; you can find different structures and supplies. For example, in the
Russia map there are mafia houses and in Washington, the famous Space Needle.

Defeating a zombie will give you skill points. You can use skill points to upgrade your characters
expertise. The upgrades include: stamina/speed, attack speed/damage, agricultural skills, and
many more! I enjoy this because if you don’t have the equipment to protect yourself, you can
upgrade the character to fight, farm, and run better.

The object of the game is to explore and collect supplies to aid you in your travels. There is
clothing and backpacks which can be salvaged for their components, or used to increase the
player’s inventory. Weapons, camping gear, hunting equipment, and many more items are
found all over the areas.

You have a radiation bar on your screen, if it reaches zero your character slowly loses health, same with your thirst and hunger bars. To maintain health, you need to search for food! Food can lower your radiation bar if it’s damaged. Finding medicine is key to keep your radiation and health safe.

Structures can include houses, barns, stables, warehouses, apartments, pharmacies, hospitals,
fire departments, police stations, jails, military bases, and many more.

There is a lot to find in this game and to experience; you can even craft, repair, and build items.

My favorite part about this game is the diversity you find all around, it’s extremely creative with the environment.