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‘Cyborg: A Documentary,’ About the Blurred Lines Between Life, Technology, and Art

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How 'Easy A' Bridges the Gap Between 19th-Century Morality and 21st-Century Teenage Reality

by Oana-Maria Moldovan The Scarlet Letter is one of those books we are not supposed to study but are still expected to have read, like Lolita or even The Color Purple. Although this book from 1850 was not deemed suitable for teenage readers, it was considered acceptable for a romantic comedy adaptation. While Nathaniel Hawthorne’s classic novel has inspired numerous adaptations and interpretations throughout the years, 2010 teen comedy-drama film, Easy A, cleverly reimagines Hawthorne’s tale within the context of contemporary high school life. While Easy A maintains the core theme of community judgment and sexual morality, it also delves into the evolving role of young women in society and the use of cultural references, particularly cult movies, both to frame and convey its narrative, and to give the appearance of breaking the fourth wall. This so-called “fourth wall” in film theory is the decide between audiences and characters. To break this, put simply, is when the character(s) add

“Untouched at 30” and the Beauty of Aging

by Libby Pierzak-Pee In a world of filters, fillers, and AI generated images, we are constantly surrounded by images of perfection.  Beauty standards for women have always been completely unrealistic and impossible to achieve.  Thanks to TikTok creators, this pressure has filtered its way down to young girls. Girls as young as eight are being exposed to adult beauty and skincare content, creating societal pressure for them to adopt complicated anti-ageing regimes before they’ve even reached puberty.   The anti-aging rhetoric currently being pushed online is incredibly toxic. Nowadays nearly anything can be edited. As a result, women and girls are slowly losing the ability to identify natural faces, natural bodies and natural skin, from digitally altered faces, or from those that have had cosmetic work.  Many people have called for there to be more transparency online. But is this enough?   One way women are trying to encourage girls to embrace aging is through the “Untouched at 30” tre