- I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it
I have always been a big fan of The 1975’s ability to invoke emotion and portray the current times in such a jarring yet accurate way, and I think this album is so representative of 2016 from the production to the lyricism. The album itself blends the upbeat, poppy feeling of love in songs like “The Sound” and “She’s American” and starkly contrasts it with the jazz-esque feeling of losing love as quickly as it came to you with songs such as “A Change Of Heart” and “Somebody Else”. My personal favorites from the album are “If I Believe You” and “The Ballad Of Me And My Brain”, both of which seem to seamlessly intertwine lead singer Matty Healy’s personal struggles with addiction, fame, grief, and religion. Overall, I highly recommend this album on the basis of lyricism and the topics it explores throughout.
- Eternity
I always feel as if I’m months behind the release of movies, but I digress. I adored this movie, in part because it didn’t have horrible ring lighting throughout it and actual color grading, but I also thought the philosophical dilemma was unique and caused me to think a lot about how different priorities people have in their lives. I highly recommend it if you, too, are a thought daughter.
- Wuthering Heights
As somebody currently in the process of reading the book, I decided to see the movie with low hopes, keeping in mind all of the criticisms I’ve heard from various social media platforms. My honest opinion coming out of it was: if you think about it as a separate entity, it is not half bad. I definitely have my gripes with it; I think the acting on both Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi’s parts was less than stellar, and throughout the movie, I was just not quite convinced either of them fit the time-period. The cinematography for the movie itself was incredible, but — as many others have said — it was definitely more reminiscent of a music video and didn’t quite feel seamless when changing scenes. But I can also say that I am a bit of a sucker for a romance story even if some of the dialogue definitely cringed me out.
It’s become ritualistic that, every spring, I listen to this song, and I think it makes me so grateful for the relationships I have in my life.The way I think about conflict, behavior, and people’s character has been shaped by considering that everyone is always doing the best they can to be kind to each other. I see this in the people who are earnestly always trying to understand me, trying to keep that perspective in mind. This spring, I want to adopt not having expectations of people and not ruminating on why they act the way they do. This song is a nice reminder of the development I’ve made every spring since I started listening.
I first heard this song last spring, and I am a sucker for the guitar in it. I am typically the first to not be interested in all country music — besides Johnny Cash — but this song emulates the elements I believe are lacking in the country genre currently. It talks about the working class struggles for unseen populations: natives, prisoners, farmers and the earnest hard work a lot of them do.
- Race After Technology by Ruha Benjamin
Although I am reading it for class, I have genuinely been interested in this book, and its commentary on all of the bias that is coded into everything you use — and yes I mean everything. Personally, I truly believe this material should be mandatory for every student starting in college because of what it teaches about how platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, Netflix, Google Maps — really anything with an algorithm — can and will stereotype you because of internal biases in the coding. It delves into technologies besides these as well, like Kodak, that have specifically catered to white people. I really recommend this for everyone, especially as a woman of color. I learned a lot about how deeply exclusionary technologies have been embedded into our society.
Overall, February was a month that went by incredibly fast for me, which I think reflects in my lack of total media this month. I usually absorb new, refreshing media in the spring time that no doubt leads me to more philosophical thinking, so look out for next month’s favorite media!