Steven Spielberg’s new adaptation of Sondheim’s West Side Story is one of the most anticipated films of the end of 2021. A delayed production from COVID-19, West Side Story opens in movie theatres on December 10, 2021.

Despite the excitement and anticipation for the film, the male lead Tony is portrayed by Ansel Elgort, which has stirred up quite a bit of controversy.

You probably recognize Elgort from movies such as The Fault in our Stars and Baby Driver, but we haven’t seen him in a while. Why, you ask? In June of 2020, Elgort was accused of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl in 2014. According to BBC, he denied these claims and responded by saying “I cannot claim to understand Gabby’s feelings but her description of events is simply not what happened.”

After these allegations, Elgort disappeared from social media and the big screen until now.

The response to Elgort starring in West Side Story was overwhelmingly negative, overshadowing the performance of the rest of the cast, such as Rachel Zegler and Ariana DeBose.

Former Dance Moms star and current Nickelodeon pop star, Jojo Siwa is the new unexpected LGBTQ icon using social media and Dancing with the Stars to share her story.

Jojo Siwa broke the internet when she came out as gay in April 2021. She then became the first Dancing with the Stars contestant to have a same-sex dance partner.

Siwa and her dance partner Jenna Johnson made history as the first women to dance together on the show, becoming fan favorites and making it to the finale. The LGBTQ represenation of Jojo Siwa on Dancing with the Stars has allowed her to reach a much broader audience and advocate for the gay community publicly.

Jojo and Jenna landed in second place during the finale of Dancing with the Stars.

House of Gucci, one of the most anticipated movies of 2021 receives less than glowing reviews after it’s release on November 24.

Directed by Ridley Scott, the 2 hour and 37 minute long film was at the top of the must-watch list for many movie lovers, but it didn’t quite live up to the hype.

With a 61% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, The reactions to House of Gucci were quite mixed, but everyone who saw it can agree that Lady Gaga was the star of the show. According to mashable.com, “Gaga’s scenery-chewing performance has been commended as “magnetic,” and in some ways the saving grace of House of Gucci.”

The film’s box office gross of $33.9 million shows the film was a success financially, most likely due to the amazing advertising and the star-studded cast.

Not only did the House of Gucci stir up conversation with movie-goers, the Gucci family themselves also had something to say about their portrayal in the film.

The heirs of Aldo Gucci and the company itself said “The production of the film did not bother to consult the heirs before describing Aldo Gucci — president of the company for 30 years [played by Al Pacino in the film] — and the members of the Gucci family as thugs, ignorant and insensitive to the world around them.” and according to Variety, the film “attributes ‘a tone and and an attitude to the protagonists of the well-known events that never belonged to them.'”

Pop star and entrepreneur Ariana Grande has launched a new media venture, R.E.M. Beauty. Chapter One of her makeup line was released on November 2, featuring eye, lip, and face products.

In a message from Ariana herself on the R.E.M. Beauty website, she states, “It means so much to me to be able to create a product line for absolutely everybody and anybody who wants to wear it and feel incredible. Make up is so personal and to have the opportunity to help people feel even more beautiful than they already are in their own skin, and also to just provide tools that support and encourage people in their creativity and self-expression is a gift that I’ll never take for granted.”

As a “multi-talented creator,” Ariana has used her fame and her large following on social media to build hype and excitement for the new beauty brand. Many celebrities, especially music artists such as Rihanna for Fenty Beauty and Selena Gomez for Rare Beauty, have ventured into the makeup industry, but Ariana hopes that her contribution will be valuable and meaningful for its consumers.

According to Vogue, “The singer, who is known for her trademark feline flick and camera-ready make-up, was nervous about launching a new beauty brand in an already ‘crowded’ market, but has brought her own time spent in the make-up chair and on stage to the party, delivering hardworking formulas that she has personally tested over the past few years. ‘Hopefully it will inspire people to express themselves in a new way and share that with the world,’ she says.”

Television and film have shown a significant increase in black and nonbinary representation over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Variety. In efforts to create an unbiased database tracking diversity and inclusivity in the entertainment industry, the “Entertainment Diversity Progress Report” is released.

• Black talent logged the highest rate of representation gains in episodic TV and film across racial and ethnic lines.
• Among the gender and LGBTQ breakdowns examined, nonbinary talent logged the biggest overall gains.

Representation in media such as television and film have a large, hard-hitting impact when done correctly. A PBS News Hour article on the matter notes, “For some young students, portrayals of minorities in the media not only affect how others see them, but it affects how they see themselves” (2019). Seeing people on screen who look and act like oneself can serve as inspiration. If the representation is negative, that may have a negative impact on one’s perception of themself. Positive portrayal creates a productive correlation in the brain between identity and potential roles it creates.

With a direct correlation between social media usage in youth and mental health decline, representation in media is needed now more than ever. Positive trends seen over the course of the pandemic will hopefully continue in the same direction in the future, inspiring newer generations.

In a new research poll by Pew, younger adults are far more likely to view there being less of a difference between the political parties, as opposed to their older counterparts. 77% of people 65 report believing that there is a major difference, while a mere 42% of people between 18-29 say the same.

This in large part is due to the failure of the media to report news that is accurate, and doesn’t come off as cheap propaganda or pandering. Only a third of the country (36%) have a “great deal” or “fair amount” of trust in mass media, which is a real tragedy given how many resources large media corporations have. The media obviously isn’t the lone catalyst for political nihilism. Things such as politicians being bought and owned by big money, and their lack of dedication to the working class are a major factor. But it would be naive to think that the media doesn’t exacerbate this problem further.Why should people trust political institutions when the only things they hear about them are over filtered and watered down, often times with omitted information?

In general, young adults find trouble relating to a party – and are increasingly bound to recognize themselves as free thinkers. In any case, even among the young individuals who identify with a party, younger Democrats and Republicans alike think that their respective party represents them less then the older members of the party do.

Facebook began Wednesday, December 1st by announcing that they will reverse their long-standing decision to block advertisements for cryptocurrency on their services. This ban was put in place in January of 2018 as Facebook worked aimlessly to create their own currency to be used within the platform. Former employee and head of cryptocurrency efforts David Marcus recently announced that he was leaving the company at the end of the year.

Facebook has seen a significant amount of maturation in the cryptocurrency industry. This landmark of noting government regulations and stability establishes their decision to allow for the industry to prosper on their site.

The lift of this ban is a huge opportunity for allowing retail investors to access cryptocurrency. The emergence of Meta and its “metaverse” will see an integration of the two new technologies.

The Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council Summit met this past Monday, where Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk was a prominent participant. When asked if he would consider stepping into a new role at Tesla, Musk offered an unprompted response. He noted that titles are only prominent at large companies for International Revenue Services paperwork. Among these are secretary, president, and treasurer.

Avoiding the initial question, Musk noted that all other titles, regardless of their category, are essentially made up. In a joking manner, Musk recently repositioned himself to “Technoking” of the company, reinforcing the lack of title importance.

This does not discredit the countless hours that Musk puts into his company from sunrise to sunset. His complaints cover the rigor that being a CEO requires, creating a compulsive mindset and resorting to sleeping on the factory’s floors to meet deadlines.

Perhaps he is facing CEO-related burnout and does not know what to make of his title. Regardless, he has not shown any indication of stepping down or passing the role off any time soon.

In a recent sit-down with Interview Magazine, actress and model Zendaya Coleman opens up about what inspires her while being surrounded by other creatives. The Euphoria actress has been in the industry since she was young, earning her title as the youngest woman to ever win an Emmy for best actress in a drama series.

She speaks of her creative energy that is ignited while working with photographers such as Marcell Rev on the set of Euphoria, noting that he is a master of his craft. Interviewer Colman Domingo transitions into film by asking if Zendaya is interested in directing. Her answer reveals her curious and laid-back nature surrounding the path that she is willing to follow.

The idea of trying to direct in the future excites me. That’s why I’m on set so much. When I’m not in it, I’m right there trying to learn. I go around and I ask our crew members, “What are you doing today? Can you explain it to me?”

https://www.interviewmagazine.com/culture/zendaya-tells-colman-domingo-how-she-found-purpose

The genre that Zendaya is interested in directing is a story about two black girls in love. She adds that it should not be rooted in anything other than two people falling in love, noting that she has not seen such work done without a traumatic aspect. The tie between making an eye-catching story that links under-represented people to traumatic experiences is extremely evident in film today.

It would be interesting to see a film that, as Zendaya describes, encapsulates the expansive and beautiful emotional experience of a black woman coming of age.

In an attempt to supposedly steer away from it’s traditionally bombastic right-wing content, Newsmax is in the process of replacing a number of reporters with less extreme viewpoints. Emerald Robinson is a reporter that was recently let go by the news company, as her positions didn’t even make sense to Newsmax itself. She was known for pushing pathetically refutable vaccine conspiracy theories, such as that the COVID vaccine contains “satanic markers”, and that vaccines contained “bioluminescent” tracking devices linked to the devil.

Newsmax’s efforts to hire more reasonable hosts hasn’t really gotten that far however, as the man who is set to replace Robinson is former Fox News correspondent James Rosen, who left the network in 2017 amid a number of sexual assault accusations. As far as his actual beliefs go, he’s more or less what you’d expect from any talking head on the news, in that you get the sense that he doesn’t really believe in anything concretely, and instead regurgitates the milquetoast opinions of the corporation at large.

Given that fact, it’s pretty questionable as to why Newsmax would want to hire this guy, as he’s not the greatest on-air personality, and has a history with baggage attached. It’s almost as if Newsmax is just trying to rile people up by making weird decisions that a more typical news corporation wouldn’t make