The Marksman Term 1 19/20 - Featuring articles about: Brexit Thomas Cook The Environment - Rainham Mark Grammar School
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The Marksman
Term 1 – 19/20
Featuring articles about:
Brexit
Thomas Cook
The Environment
Film
and more….
Edited by Hattie and Adam
1
INTRODUCTION
Welcome to this year’s first edition of ‘The Marksman’. Thank you to all the
students who submitted pieces, we’re looking forward to receiving many
more from more students over the next few terms. We hope you’re as
excited about this year’s editions as we are!
For new parents and students, welcome to Rainham Mark and thank you
for reading; we’re sure we have a little something for everyone. We gladly
take topical articles, reviews and creative pieces (like stories, poems,
songs etc).
We would just like to remind students that two submissions will result in
you being rewarded a half colour for the Citizenship Award, whilst five
articles will get you a full colour. We will try our best to keep track of
students who are eligible, but please contact us if we have missed any!
Please feel free to send in any of your own submissions or give us any
advice.
We hope you enjoy this term’s edition, happy reading!
The view expressed by students are the opinions of the students, not of
RMGS or the editors of the Marksman.
2
CREATIVE CORNER
Concrete
CONTENTS
25
Daniel Stocks
Broken Extract 1
26
Alexander Liley-McCamley
TOPICAL ARTICLES
Living with Coeliac Disease 5
Amber Chohan
Is Brexit Destroying our Democracy? 7
Amy Cabella
Autumn Peltier & Artemisa Xakribá: The
Indigenous Fight for the Environment 8
Bonnie Ray-Smallcalder
The Hanseatic League 10
Jadon Mensah
Brexit: what is it, why does it exist and why is
everyone so annoyed about it? 12
Alexander Liley-McCamley
Das Vierte Reich: Is the resurgence of the Nazi
party that unlikely? 14
Tom Isley
The Amazon is dying, but there could still be
time to save it!
Amber Chohan 16
The Collapse of Thomas Cook
17
Mwangala Sikwibele
MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT
Legally Blonde: A Feminist Evaluation
Jamie Atkins 19
Is reality TV actually real? 21
Lily Ann Burgess
Aimlessly writing about ‘Her’
William Knowles
22
3
TOPICAL ARTICLES 4
Living with Coeliac Disease
I was diagnosed with Coeliac Disease Symptoms of Coeliac Disease:
when I was 9 years old; it was highly
An individual that has Coeliac Disease
likely that at least me or one of my 2
can be affected by numerous
siblings would inherit this condition from
symptoms - these can include:
our mother who has had it for years.
People with a first degree relative that Diarrhea/constipation
has Coeliac Disease (parent, child or Fatigue
sibling) have a 1 in 10 chance of Weight loss/weight gain
developing the disease. My little sister Iron deficiency anemia
also has Coeliac Disease and was Depression
diagnosed at the same time as me; she Abdominal pain
was 6. My brother has managed to
Tingling or numbness in hands
escape it…so far! It can lay dormant for
and feet (peripheral neuropathy)
years and be triggered later in life.
Malnutrition in children and
What is Coeliac Disease? delayed puberty
Coeliac Disease is a digestive and The list goes on (there are more than
autoimmune disorder. This means 200 known symptoms). Bizarrely, there
whenever a Coeliac digests gluten, the are some with the Coeliac diagnosis
immune system directs antibodies to that are symptom free; they are classed
attack the body, the small intestine as being ‘Silent Coeliac’ However,
becomes inflamed and unable to those who don’t experience typical
absorb nutrients. Whenever gluten (a symptoms will still have intestinal
protein found in wheat, barley and rye) damage if they ingest gluten.
is consumed, the gluten inflicts damage
on the villi (small finger like projections It is estimated 1 in every 100 people
that line the small intestine) and in a suffer from this disease and yet millions
healthy gut, these would normally go undiagnosed. Left untreated,
promote nutrient absorption. With Coeliac Disease can lead to serious
Coeliac Disease, the villi gets so health problems. Early diagnosis is so
damaged and flattened that nutrients important as the long term health
cannot be properly absorbed by the effects of not being diagnosed can
body leading to potentially long term increase chances of illnesses including:
health implications. Type 1 diabetes
Mutiple Sclerosis
Anaemia
Osteoporosis
Infertility and miscarriage
Intestinal cancers
There are a lot of people who choose a
gluten free diet simply because it’s
fashionable or the latest trend but for
5
people with Coeliac Disease, strictly that actually tastes like cardboard!
adhering to this diet for life is a must – Luckily, there are lots of naturally gluten
there is no cure at present. free inexpensive foods like fruits,
vegetable, eggs, beans, rice etc.
I’ve spent many years watching my
mum read food labels when shopping to What does the future hold?
ensure the ingredients are gluten free,
Compared to a few years ago, Coeliacs
we keep our fingers crossed when
now have a lot more options available
eating out that the chef understands
to them. Supermarkets have dedicated
how dangerous cross contamination is
free from aisles, gluten free menus are
and if gluten is accidentally served to
becoming more readily available as
us, we can become very ill. We also
restaurants are now accommodating all
have to be careful as some shampoos
kinds of dietary requirements
have gluten in them, my mum uses
(Vegan/Dairy free/gluten free etc.)
gluten free make up and did you know
Hopefully, one day there will be a cure
that even play doh contains gluten?
as lots of research is being done and
A Coeliac cannot just walk into there is even talk of a medication that
McDonalds, KFC, Burger King etc and will alleviate or completely eliminate the
order what they like, we have to make symptoms of Coeliac Disease being
sure there are no gluten containing available from 2021 but until then, all
ingredients – we’re sometimes handed Coeliacs must strictly adhere to their
an allergy folder to find out what we can gluten free diet to remain healthy.
eat. Eating gluten free food can also be
very expensive, for example we get a
small loaf of bread that costs around £3 By Amber Chohan B7
6
Is Brexit Destroying our Democracy?
Brexit. The miserable six letter word rolling off our tongues for at least the past three years. Brexit. A
complicated marriage between the UK and the EU, ending in a painful divorce and a hefty break-up
bill. Brexit. Does anyone really know what’s going on?
In 2016, 52% of the UK voted leave, in the hope that we’d gain independence and stop contributing
so much money, a great £13 billion membership fee in 2017, unequally compared to the other
members, to the EU. Yet, after the original leave date in March 2019 and a fabulous new buffoon
representing our nation, there has been no resolution of the situation, apart from chaos and
confusion.
So, what was the original idea? Theresa May officially began the
procedure to leave the EU, by invoking Article 50 of the Lisbon
Treaty in March 2017, giving us two years to negotiate and
debate a conclusive deal with the EU. However, after crafting her
deal, there was outrage among politicians as they all stated, quite
clearly, how much they hated the, simply ‘not good enough,’
deal. After this, a mass of parliamentarians resigned the positions
they once held, including Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab.
Following this defeat: May’s deal was rejected a further two times and a corpus of politicians lost faith
and resigned from their responsibilities, including the lady herself in an emotional apologetic
resignation. This poses the question, does anyone believe in Brexit anymore?
Well, one heroic man does, Boris Johnson. Bojo, the highly educated, upper class man that recently
used the sexist comment, “you’re a big girl’s blouse” to insult the Labour Party leader, Jeremy Corbyn.
Although he may be familiar to most of us as the once comedic London mayor that tackled a ten-year-
old child in a rugby match in Tokyo, it’s extremely questionable as to whether he’s fit to “speak for the
people.”
After taking his role as Prime Minister, Johnson has immediately created an uproar in parliament with
his debatably harsh approach to Brexit, accepting that a no-deal Brexit may be necessary in order to
leave the EU on 31st October. Although with this deadline Johnson is very openly intending on breaking
the law in order for us to do so, as if no agreement is in place by 19th October parliament have
legislated that he must seek an extension, but has stated that he refuses to do so and there’ll be “no
delay.” The Prime Minister’s most shocking act has been the suspension of parliament until 14 th
October, this therefore prevents any chance of scrutiny which would threaten his power.
However, the Labour Party are now advocating for a confirmatory referendum on Brexit. This
manifesto is the reason why people don’t vote when the opportunity arises, why would they bother
taking time out to vote on an important decision for the future of the nation if it doesn’t count
anyway? Democracy is put in place to give a voice to the citizens, but when those in power don’t listen
and refuse to acknowledge what the people want, the whole system is corrupted. Brexit, although
agreeably chaotic, if a redo vote takes place, then the work of those that have fought, and are
continuously fighting to give the nation what they want is undone. All the effort and stress become
pointless, and the people begin to lose heart in those they trusted to convey their hopes and political
views, that could morph our nation into a happier place. Brexit will result in the destruction of our
democracy.
By Amy Cabella
7
Autumn Peltier & Artemisa Xakriabá: The
Indigenous Fight for the Environment
Climate activist, Greta Thunberg, deserves all the attention she receives and more
for her incredible leadership, but she’s not the only teenager fighting for
environmental justice. Autumn Peltier and Artemisa Xakriabá have similarly been
enlightening the world, but they share another trait– both are from Indigenous
groups. The association between First Nations peoples and nature is long-
standing: colonialist destruction of Indigenous land is always an attack on its
original inhabitants who invariable respect their environment far more than
Christian settlers.
Autumn Peltier is Anishinaabe-kwe
and she lives in Indigenous territory
on Manitoulin Island in northern
Ontario – she known as the “Water
Warrior” for her advocacy for clean
water. Peltier began her fight at age
eight when her mother explained they
couldn’t drink their water supply
without boiling it first and she was
further impassioned by a visit to a
ceremony at the Serpent River
Reservation where she saw a sign
warning against drinking the water.
Since then, Peltier has risen to
international attention after she
presented Canadian Prime Minister, Trudeau, with a copper water pot at the
meeting of the Assembly of First Nations, demanding he keep to his promises
about water protection. Recently, she was named chief water commissioner by the
Anishinabek Nation, following the death of her great-aunt, Josephine Mandamin,
whose strong advocacy for the protection of the Great Lakes inspired Peltier
greatly. She has also been nominated for an International Children’s Peace Prize
as well as receiving a medal of honour by the Canadian Government. Last year,
Peltier addressed the UN General Assembly, calling for world leaders to “warrior
up.” She expressed the opinion of many that “no one should have to worry if the
water is clean or if they will run out of water.” One quote from her I found particularly
affecting was this: “What I've been told through ceremonies is Mother Earth has
been surviving for millions of years without us. And it's taken us less than a century
to destroy her — and Mother Earth doesn't need us, but we need her.” Whether
you, like Peltier and I, value nature as inherently sacred is immaterial – the urgency
of the message is still clear.
8
Artemisa Xakriabá has risen to recognition more
recently, with her powerful speech to the climate
strikers in New York City earlier this month.
Artemisa Xakriabá is a 19-year-old from the
Xakriabá people in Brazil. Her speech followed
similar themes as Peltier’s, saying “we fight for our
Mother Earth, because the fight for Mother Earth
is the mother of all other fights.” Xakriabá
represented the Global Alliance of Territorial
Communities consisting of First Nation groups in
Brazil, the Amazon Basin, Central America and
Indonesia, which together protect 600 million
hectares of forest. She addressed the supportive crowd with messages of the
horrific Amazon fire as a result of “destructive policies” from the government, with
climate change making “the fires stronger.” Xakriabá also advocates for the
protection of Indigenous people stating that “we are fighting for our sacred territory.
But we are being persecuted, threatened, murdered, only for protecting our own
territories. We cannot accept one more drop of indigenous blood spilled.”
As environmental issues become ever more prevalent, it’s important for all of us to
listen to the wise voices of those who’ve been caring for nature since time
immemorial.
By Bonnie Ray-Smallcalder
9
The Hanseatic League – what it was,
and its relevance today
Recently I read a BBC article, explaining the Hanseatic League and its parallels to the modern-
day European Union. It is a great article, however I think it largely skims over the historical
foundations of the Hanseatic League, and it also doesn’t provide a critical evaluation of the
efficiency of the Hanseatic League, and why it faded into irrelevancy.
1100s-1200s: Foundation of the Hanseatic League
The word “Hansa” meant convoy in Old High German. The term was widely used to describe
the bands of traders who sailed the North and Baltic seas, selling and buying goods, and
profiting immensely, and so when these merchants began to form guilds, they were named
Hansa. Over time, these towns gradually accumulated trading power, and decided to help
each other out in times of need, forming alliances, and protecting each other. This went on in
an informal manner until 1356, at the first diet of the Hansa Teutonica (English: German
Hansa).
1300s-1400s: Zenith
The Hanseatic League reached the height of its power in the late 1300s. While it did not hold
any legislative power, it had significant influence in policymakers’ decisions, being able to
waiver taxes for its members, and relax trade rules. The League at this time had established
monopolies over many industries, such as the wool and salted fish trades. At one point the
Hansa even waged war against Denmark, sacking Copenhagen, and essentially forcing the
Danes to give them 15% of all of the profits made from trade in their lands.
Meanwhile, in the cities that Hanseatic operatives lived in, there was often tension between
them, and the local residents, due to the immense wealth of the merchants. The traders had
their own segregated areas, warehouses and rules, causing them to be disliked by the rulers
and civilians alike.
1500s-1862: The Demise
In 1494, the Hanseatic League were expelled form Veliky Novgorod by Ivan III. This marked
the start of the long demise of the Hanseatic League. The Swedes dominated trade in the
Baltics, and in 1567, it was agreed that the practice of protecting other Hansa would be
discontinued, leaving their allies to fight for themselves. In 1598, the Hanseatic League left
London, and the last diet of the Hanseatic League was held in 1669, with only 9 cities
attending. It was finally dissolved in 1862, with only 3 members left.
Why did it fail?
At first glance the Hanseatic League seemed to be a great idea, and it was – at the time.
However, the Hansa’s strategy did not change, even as everything around them did. As
mentioned before, their merchants were not subject to the same laws as the civilians living
10in the same city. The citizens did not like rich foreigners coming in, taking their land, and not
even having to follow their rules. This dislike for the Hansa seamen and merchants was a very
good reason for monarchs to expel them, however the monarchs disliked the Hansa for a
different reason – they didn’t pay taxes.
The members of the Hanseatic league were exempt from taxes, because it used to be the
case that they brought in valuable trade and money to the country, and so the monarchs
would profit off of the taxes paid by those who sold the goods anyway.
But as time went on, the Hanseatic League became less and less useful to monarchs. For
instance, in England, they had a strong navy, and favourable agreements with other nations
to trade. There was simply no need for a group of rich foreigners to fetch stuff for them, when
they could just do it themselves, and not have to pay out for the service.
The Ottoman Empire also played a part in crippling the Hanseatic league. At this time the
Ottomans were making advances on Europe, putting pressure on trade routes, many of which
closed due to the fact that many travellers were unwilling to use them, as they were perceived
to be unsafe.
Legacy.
Today, the Hanseatic League seems to be quite irrelevant. Many do not know about its
existence but I believe it to be significant, in terms of what we can learn from it, and the clues
it left behind.
Even if you’ve never heard of the Hanseatic League, you may have heard of Lufthansa (“Air
Hansa”), the German airline. Or Hansa-Park – one of the largest theme parks in Germany.
Hamburg and Bremen continue to officially call themselves "free Hanseatic cities", with
Lübeck called the "Hanseatic City”. Dutch towns and cities including Deventer, Groningen,
Zutphen, Kampen, and Zwolle, and a number of German towns including Bremen, Greifswald,
Demmin, Hamburg, Lübeck, Stade, Lüneburg, Rostock, Stralsund and Wismar still style
themselves as Hanse cities (their car registration plates start with a H, e.g. –HB– for
"Hansestadt Bremen").
By Jadon Mensah
11Brexit; what is it, why does it exist and why is
everyone so annoyed about it?
Let’s talk about the most controversial, 1998 the hard border between the two
annoying, talked about and consequential nations effectively ended the troubles.
topics of the last three years: you read the They agreed that there would never be a
title, Brexit! hard border between the United Kingdom
and Ireland. If the UK leaves the EU it is
likely there will be a hard border between
Northern Ireland and the rest of Ireland,
which could possibly restart the worst
conflict in Irish history. Unfortunately
there is nowhere else for the border to go.
This is why the tension between the UK
and EU has been rising ever so steadily.
It all started on June 23 2016, over three
years ago, when 52% of the voting
population who attended the polling
stations voted to leave the European Union
on the 29th of March 2019. Article 50 was
invoked and we started on our journey to
political anarchy. Immediately, David
Cameron (the prime minister at the time)
resigned, as he was opposed to Brexit like
majority of his government, and hadn’t
anticipated that people would want to
leave the European Union. The first woman
to be prime minister since Margaret
Thatcher – Theresa May – was next in line.
She established bad relations with the EU,
the population, and the parliament - so
basically everyone. Her deal was rejected The idea of Brexit was originally
not one, not two, but three times! popularised by UKIP, the UK independence
The arguments have mainly been over party, who has wanted to leave the UK for
Ireland and the border between north and a long time. The idea was slowly growing
south. From the 1960s to the 1990s more popular and the Conservative Party
skirmishes all over Northern Ireland called made a manifesto commitment to have a
the Troubles. These were mainly over the referendum on the matter of leaving the
Irish border, where there was a division EU to sway UKIP voters. The Conservative
between the Protestants of Northern Party won the general election and had
Ireland and the Catholics of the Republic of 36% of the votes, but 51% of the seats.
Ireland. In the Good Friday Agreement of Therefore the referendum was triggered.
12As previously said, the unexpected win chose), walking out of a meeting with
happened. Xavier Bettel, prime minister of
Luxembourg and finally on Tuesday 24th of
There are more problems to the north;
September was officially declared unlawful
Britain’s sister that she loves and hates at
by the supreme court.
the same time, its Scotland! They said that
if the UK left the EU that she is not coming. In conclusion, Brexit can probably be
This is a problem as it will have to become described as a swimming pool of quicksand
an independent country, which was voted that we have leapt into and tried to swim.
on two years prior to the Brexit vote and From a simple political move to sway
the result was that Scotland was going to another parties’ voters to lying towards the
stay part of the United Kingdom. If longest reigning monarch in history that
maximum Brexit happens there is very high you actually serve under, Brexit has been a
chance that the Scottish parliament will rollercoaster ride. The one from a diary of
demand another independence a wimpy kid that someone was decapitated
referendum. And as shown above the on once. Except it decapitates you every
entire of Scotland voted to stay, so the time. And it’s spinning in the middle of
chance of Scotland leaving the United London, calling for politicians to ride on it,
Kingdom and becoming part of the EU promising a stable shot at the prime
could be incredibly high if maximum Brexit minister, with no worries of resignation or
occurs. ousting, before it trebuchets you into an
international crisis.
And if you thought that the drama could
not get any worse well I am sorry to spoil, By Alexander Liley-McCamley
but it absolutely does. After her Brexit deal
was rejected not once, not twice but three
times and she was given a vote of no
confidence, Theresa May resigned. This left
a gaping hole in the government, and so
possibly the most undemocratic thing since
first past the post voting systems (the
voting system that allowed the
conservative party to get 15% more of the
seats than they got in votes), the entire
leadership of a country going through the
biggest political crisis in British history
since Hong Kong and the troubles in the
1990s, was decided by around 300 people
in a population of nearly 70,000,000. The
person voted in (Boris Johnson) has made
things fifty times worse by suspending
parliament for five entire weeks, lying to
the queen (who has the power over the
entire British government and could
replace the entire leadership if she so
13Das Vierte Reich: Is the resurgence of
the Nazi party that unlikely?
people into its fascist system. Imagine
what could happen after months or
years of such a regime. Although this
experiment was merely a construct, it
clearly demonstrates how easy it is to
create a system whereby extremist
ideologies gain in popularity and
progress to the point of high status,
which is exactly what happened in 1933
The term neo-nazism refers to Nazi when Hitler rose to power.
ideology which appeared after the
formal abolition of Hitler’s After the political reunification in 1990,
Nationalsozialiste Deutsche there was huge political unrest. This
Arbeiterpartei (NSDAP) on the 10th was due to the divide between the East
May 1945. The original Nazi Party was and the West, caused by the difference
formed in Germany, but many people in their economic systems. The West
are under the impression that the was run by the capitalist powers and the
majority of neo-fascist ideologies still East was taken by the communists,
stem from there. In reality, however, which led to the increased affluence in
many countries have similar the West side. The people in the East,
movements that are branded in a way having been living under a communist
that makes it difficult for people to system for years, were against the
realise they are linked. The fall of the reunification. They shifted the blame
Berlin wall reunited a previously onto minorities and these minorities
divided Europe - this event acted as a then became victims of the Neo-Fascist
catalyst for the spread of Nazi ideology movement. Nothing actually prompted
across the whole continent. an increase in far right movements;
they simply emerged from feelings of
In 1967, American high school teacher hatred towards the new reunified
Ron Jones conducted an experiment in government in Germany. Throughout
which he transformed his classroom the latter half of the 20th Century there
into a fascist regime. The point of this were various changes to the German
exercise was to show the lives of the laws which meant that parties couldn’t
people living under the Nazi system and ascend to power in a similar fashion to
detailing how difficult it was not to Hitler. Currently, the law states that a
follow the leader of the party. What party needs to obtain a minimum of 5%
began with enforcing a seating plan and of votes to continue their campaign.
the introduction of community in the This has seen a decrease in formal
classroom devolved into a 200 strong extremist parties but informal,
microcosm of a Nazi society. The Third ‘underground’ movements are still
Wave experiment only lasted five days appearing, such as the 88 Neo Nazi
and managed to recruit numerous group.
14Although it may seem like Germany are ease of the emergence of such parties
the sole culprits for the emergence of alongside the study of The Third Wave
far right political ideas, this is not the Experiment begs the question of how
case. Many European countries have easy a resurgence of a Nazi party would
formal, very extreme political parties be, but in the modern day it would be
and probably more secret operations much more menacing. This modern
which go unnoticed by the media. rebirth of ideology poses more
Rassemblement National in France, threatening consequences currently, as
Forza Nuova in Italy, Freiheitliche nowadays fascism has spread beyond
Partei Österreichs in Austria and Germany’s borders. The idea of World
arguably UKIP in the UK are just four War 3 may seem fictitious but there is
examples of the extreme right parties still a disturbing possibility for a big rise
which have emerged in Europe alone. in neo-fascism which may pose the
There are far more parties which are threat of a large scale conflict.
appearing outside of the continent, like
Brazil’s Partido Social Liberal. The By Tom Isley
15The Amazon is dying…. but there
could still be time to save it!
Over the summer, an unprecedented ingredients of what you are
number of forest fires have occurred purchasing to make sure it doesn’t
in the Amazonian rainforest, 84% harm the planet.
more than in 2018. Whilst it is
common for these fires to occur in the Does anybody care?
dry season in Brazil, it is well known It seems as if this crisis is being
that they are sometimes started ignored by the President of Brazil, yet
deliberately to illegally deforest land. leaders from all around the world are
Countries all around the world are deeply concerned about the aftermath
determined to put an end to this of the current state of affairs.
dystopia waiting to happen. If they President Jair Bolsanaro is telling
work hard enough, hopefully the lungs leaders of other countries to “mind
of the planet can be saved. their own business” and stay out of the
problem which is only making matters
What is deforestation? worse as the ferocious fires continue
Deforestation is the removal of forest to burn and annihilate the Amazon.
trees to make space for meat
breeding grounds, highways or to get What’s going to happen next?
palm oil. Companies like PepsiCo, All the protests, thoughtful purchases
Mondelez and Orkla use high and charity donations are playing
amounts of palm oil which gives them some part in helping to stop this large
quick money and this in turn gives scale global problem, but it might not
inhabitants of the Amazon quick home be enough. The Amazon needs
destruction. How would you like it if immediate and urgent action to help to
your house was destroyed without survive this crisis through recognition
your consent and the space being and support from those with enough
replaced by something of no use to power to stop this devastation.
you? Hopefully, humanity can go
some way to stopping this by using After all, it’s our lungs that others are
and consuming products like peanut trying to save as the Amazon provides
butter, chocolate and shampoos that Earth with over 20% of the oxygen on
are made using certified sustainable the planet. Not making any immediate
palm oil products. The palm oil in attempt to stop deforestation could
these types of products are harvested eventually kill off the human
with no deforestation making them population so the time to save the
environmentally friendly and environment should be now.
sustainable meaning that the process
is completely virtuous. So next time
you’re shopping, always check the By Amber Chohan
16The Collapse of Thomas Cook
Why did it happen? Could it have been avoided?
Chief executive of Association of The Government has faced criticism
British Travel Agents (ABTA) claim as they refused to bail out Thomas
the collapse of Thomas Cook was Cook yet they did it for British Steel.
largely a result of failure in corporate Despite this fair criticism the guardian
finance when the business went bust argues that it was the Government
on the 23rd of September they were in made the best decision due to
debt worth £1.7bn to banks whilst Thomas Cook’s poor financial history
owing £1.3bn to suppliers. as in 2011 Thomas cook almost went
Furthermore the firm failed to secure ‘bust’ as well as amassing large debts
a £200m investment from its bankers as a result of a merger in 2007 by
to help them during the winter period. decisions of management teams. Also
It appears as though change in the heat wave in 2018 leading to
consumer tastes has contributed to ‘reduced bookings’ whilst Brexit
the demise of Thomas Cook, tensions influencing the fall of the
specifically customers opting to pound sterling Thomas Cook still may
buying and applying online, whilst have not stood a chance even with
other industries such as the retail £250 million worth of government
sector have closed down their bailout and not worth taking out of
physical premises Thomas cook taxpayers’ pockets.
remained ‘complacent’ and perhaps
may be why they racked up so much What happens now?
debt. Additionally, within the travel
industry cheap flights have increased All future Thomas Cook bookings
in comparison to packaged flights have been terminated, affecting
which is what Thomas Cook’s around one million people. The 555
specialises in therefore can explain high street stores have been bought
their decline; therefore a curb in the
by Hays Travel, Britain’s
business model may have curbed the
collapse. largest independent travel agent,
which will also safeguard a “significant
Who was affected? number” of jobs for former employees.
The knock on effect of the Thomas Hays has already recruited 421
Cook Collapse has been 9,000 UK former Thomas Cook staff, it is
jobs lost, 150,000 customers stranded believed up to 2,000 additional staff
abroad, whilst 360,000 customers may return to their former stores.
with future holiday bookings owed
refunds By Mwangala Sikwibele
17MEDIA AND
ENTERTAINMENT
18Legally Blonde - A Feminist Evaluation
Legally Blonde, in case you’re missing out, is a her looks. She dons more muted colours and
chick-flick-esque film, released in 2001, that suits throughout the musical, trying to
has since been transformed into a musical. convince others that she’s more than that.
But by the end, she proves to us that she can
care about her work and excel in her classes
all while maintaining her beauty and
relationships. Elle Woods is genuine and
powerfully true to herself - she represents her
client in the climactic murder trial in bright,
head-ache inducing pink and absolutely
smashes it. The film’s biggest moral is that it’s
more than possible to be feminine and smart
at the same time; in fact, Elle’s knowledge of
beauty helps her win her case as her
awareness is exactly what’s needed to
In a terribly redundant summary, sorority discredit an alibi. Elle’s love of beauty is an
sister Elle Woods loses her boyfriend and integral part of her and there’s no need to
decides to follow him to Harvard Law School give that up.
in an attempt to win him back. Despite all
expectations, she manages to excel her Another point I admire in the film and musical
courses while maintaining friendships and is the redundancy of the romantic subplot.
relationships, proving that there’s more to her The romance doesn’t detract from the film
than being “blonde and hot” - to quote the and the love interest, Emmett, is merely a
musical. supporting character. He doesn’t aim to or
succeed in changing Elle, and in the film we
It’s not a perfect film: it’s embarrassingly barely hear about their relationship. Legally
clichéd and disturbingly unrepresentative of Blonde can hardly be considered a chick-flick,
anyone who’s not white or well-off, but for a as they’re characterised by Cambridge
film released almost 20 years ago, I’m a strong Dictionary as films about love. In fact, the film
defender of its feminist manifesto. practically subverts the idea of the woman
The biggest lesson to take away from Legally being a submissive/passive romantic interest,
Blonde is that being intelligent and being as Elle realises how misguided her obsession
feminine aren’t mutually exclusive. How many over her ex is, and in the end, she’s the one
times have you seen a film where the being lusted after, due to her intelligence and
feminine blonde girl is shallow and greedy and beauty.
mean? Where the tomboy is equally as Of course no film is perfect, and where this
gorgeous but has ‘substance’ and gets the guy one falls short is being made in 2001 and
in the end? Think of Mean Girls and High featuring a shockingly white, upper-class
School Musical for example - femininity is representation of the US. There’s a huge lack
always portrayed alongside a lack of of people of colour in the film and most
intelligence and a cruelty. Legally Blonde musical productions, and the beauty of Elle
reverts that stereotype. relies on her being blonde, skinny and white
At the beginning of the film and throughout, with blue eyes. It even used the stereotype of
Elle is judged and underestimated for her girly fashionable gay men as a plot point. Perhaps
interests, her love for beauty and fashion and it can be explained by being produced in a
19time where films didn’t come under so much care about pop culture and academia.
criticism for not being diverse enough or Femininity does not equal weakness. There’s
being politically incorrect, but that doesn’t more to life than romance. You don’t have to
make it okay. conform to other peoples’ expectations. You
can use your power and privilege to help
However, despite my issues with this film, I
others. There are so many strong morals in
really think it can be used as an example of a
this film and I’d encourage anyone to watch it.
feminist film, and it teaches so many
important lessons, especially to young girls. By Jamie Atkins
You can be both pretty and smart. You can
20Is Reality TV Actually Real?
Reality TV is a television programme Another favourite- ‘TOWIE’- a British
where there are no writers, actors or reality television series based in
scripts- they focus on “real” events or Brentwood. Ex ‘TOWIE’ star, Amy
situations. But let’s be serious… are Childs, says the show is now “Too
they actually real? scripted” and current stars are just in
it for the fame. Everyone has
managers going into the show
because they know what they are
signing up for.
I think we can come to the conclusion
that reality TV is very fake- although
some of the arguments may be real,
So, you’re telling me the two rivals of some of the friendships may be real
the show just happened to bump into and some of relationships may be real
each other whilst shopping? Everyone when it all comes to it, it’s all staged.
forgives each other after 5 minutes? All the reality TV shows you love so
I’m not saying I haven’t fallen victim to much may not be real- but is that going
these kind of shows- ‘Love Island’ to stop us watching them?
draws me in every year, ‘The Mummy No…probably not!
Diaries’ is one of my favourite
By Lily Ann Burgess
programmes and who doesn’t love a
bit of ‘Keeping up the Kardashians’?
But no matter how much we all love
them, whatever reality programme it
may be, chances are they’re all staged.
A good example is the commonly loved
programme; ‘Say Yes to the Dress’.
Having aired 16 seasons, it would
appear everyone loves watching the
bride find the perfect dress for her big
day. However, it’s not a glamourous as
it all seems. The store is much smaller
than it looks on the TV. The
appointments are 90 minutes long and
brides are not allowed to look through
most of the dresses, with consultants
appearing to be pulling the same
dresses for every bride
21Aimlessly Writing About ‘Her’
It’s an achievement in of itself that ‘Her’ found great critical
success in the same year as landmark genre-defining
classics such as ‘Grown Ups 2’ and ‘The Hangover Part 3’.
2013 has gone down in history as possibly the 56th best year
for film.
Did I enjoy ‘Her’? I hope so; otherwise it’ll be hard to write
positively about it. Are there plenty of aspects to talk about?
Again, I hope so; otherwise this will be over after this
paragraph. Am I qualified to talk about the film, seeing as I
am clearly passionate for it? There is a definite answer for
this question.
No.
‘Her’ is a Sci-Fi romance flick written and directed by Spike Jonze and stars Joaquin
Phoenix as Theodore, a man whose job is writing personal and meaningful letters for
clients. It also stars a completely irrelevant actress, Scarlett Johansson, as an AI
named Samantha who enters a relationship with Theodore. ‘Her’ explores themes such
as loneliness and isolation as well as some existentialism like what it means to be
human.
After realising I actually had to
watch the film to talk about it since
plagiarising an online essay
would most likely result in this
article being rejected. 15 years of
build-up, pain, joy, misery,
disappointment (disappointment
at myself as well as others bring
disappointed at me) and hard
work would be utterly wasted. So
I ordered the film and after 12 Amazon workers died of starvation, dehydration, or old
age to get my product to me, it finally arrived. What initially intrigued, me more at first
than the themes, was actually how they were presented. Jonze creates a very distinct
type of dialogue; characters speak with a perfect balance of humour and sincerity.
Theodore and Samantha can keep you engaged, with their amusing and entertaining
interactions with each other and their world but can instantly snap into a whole different
side of their characters, making them far more three dimensional. Joaquin perfectly
portrays Theodore’s difficulty with true emotions and Johansson is brilliant at
expressing Samantha’s confusion with humanity and human feelings.
22Another noteworthy aspect in ‘Her’ is its fantastic cinematography and colour palette
which are a fundamental element of the film. ‘Her’ utilises a warm colour palette,
consisting of lots of yellows, oranges, pinks and reds, which reflects the bright and
optimistic portrayal of the future. 2019 Britain would probably be a mixture of dark grey,
light olive and rust.
I also enjoyed the film’s humour, the comedy in my opinion shared the same crude
stupid youthful tone of the Jackass series, which Jonze helped co-created and co-
produced, albeit heavily calmer and more natural in ‘Her’ than in Jackass. Being
someone whose comedic ability is on par with landmark genre-defining classics such
as ‘Grown Ups 2’ and ‘The Hangover Part 3’ I have incredible respect for any piece of
media which is genuinely funny.
All these factors culminate in my reasons why ‘Her’ is one of my favourite films and is a
prime example of what I believe to be a masterpiece.
This article wasn’t really a review in retrospect, it became more of a ramble about what
and why I love this film as much as I do.
If I was to give ‘Her’ a typical film review score it’d be a 10/10 or a 5 stars or whatever the
highest praise you can give a film. Just go watch ‘Her’.
By William Knowles
23CREATIVE CORNER 24
CONCRETE
Cities loom over the sky; the horizons As I stood in the panoramic tower, I
of concrete and glass. Great towers saw nothing. Turning slowly, the tower
and skyscrapers pierce through the began to reveal the true darkness in
ground. Blank canvases rush through the streets of the city, the western
traffic of cars, buses and trains. district known for being a place for
Everyone looks the same; the world violence and gangs that even the
seemed so full of life, yet so dull. This police of the city would not step in for
once ancient city, known for its deep fear of dying. The eerie darkness and
roots in the history of our world, has dullness lurked with malicious intent,
now turned to a commercial and one red, horizontal crack in the sky
contemporary landfill of people. looming above it all like a malevolent
Traveling from one side to the other smirk. The stars twisted and warped
took hours, even by the train. By the into piercing lights, corrupting every
time you would reach the city centre, thought.
night quickly blossomed and died, and
all you could hear were the drunken I felt nothing, no pity for the people
shouts of men and the stumbling heels inside, no emotion as I walked down
of women. The different districts were the stairs and onto the train to my
filled with modern homes, high class home in the horizon of concrete and
restaurants and concert halls, yet the glass.
city felt so lifeless. The city was
abandoned from all emotion, the
concrete and glass reflecting on the
concrete statues who lived in them.
I felt nothing, walking through the
dimly lit streets of the city I had wanted
to visit since I was young. I felt no hope,
no pride, and no emotions as I walked
through the sightseeing locations and
watching their orange glow and
flickering lamps. The stars only shone By Daniel Stocks
through an impenetrable fog and
dotted around the darkness. It was
actually hard to tell if it was a star or
someone’s window.
25An extract from Broken, coming May 2020 hopefully - Alexander Lilley-McCamley
Chapter 1
Before it started
19:00, 23/3/32
UN headquarters, New York.
“…and in conclusion, this is why we should ban these weapons of mass
destruction.” Pierre la Souverain sat down. Almost immediately the
room erupted in applause from 190 people from around the room. Only
two sets of hands were still: North Korean dictator, Kim-Jong-un and
Chinese premier, Xi Jinping. A scowl crawled across their faces, a dot
of annoyance in a sea of joy. After this applause had evaporated, an
almost unanimous declaration was made to ‘destroy all weapons
powered by the dividing of nuclei, contaminating the surrounding area’.
As you can guess, there was only two down votes: the ones from China
and North Korea. The meeting dissolved immediately after this
amendment, the politician scattering, partaking in festivities and being
interviewed by a swarm of television reporters. As the sun rose, a
flurry of planes dispersed, heading to every corner of the earth, some
of the passengers drunk after the nights celebrations. Almost the
entire world was ecstatic after the annihilation of the greatest threat
to humanity. All but two.
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