I remember staring blankly at
the ceiling and contemplating my
emotions before falling asleep in
middle school. Falling in love for
the first time was overwhelming,
especially with five popstars. As
the months went by and my love
grew stronger, my posters began
to creep up my walls, mysteri-
ously making their way into my
line of vision. Eventually my ceil-
ing was covered in One Direction
posters. And I’m not ashamed one
bit.
Harry Styles has taken me on
quite a ride since the days when
I would fall asleep looking into
his eyes on a Seventeen magazine
poster. It feels like I’ve been on the
sideline of his life for nine years,
cheering him on at every phase.
From his blazer-wearing days of
2012 to his Vogue-modeling days
of 2020, he has never failed to get
my applause. If I could recall all
the times that my jaw dropped as
new developments demonstrated
his genuine passion for art and
utter self-assurance, we would
be here all day. So I won’t do that.
What I will do, though, is bring to
light the hidden qualities and tal-
ents Styles has to offer. And it goes
way beyond his luscious locks and
pop star charm.
Starting off on the British
TV series “The X Factor,” Styles
originally had goals of becoming
a solo artist until Simon Cowell
decided to group him with four
other singers, forming One Direc-
tion. Styles became a fan-favorite
from the start. One Direction fans
(a.k.a. Directioners) fell in love
with his authenticity. He express-
es his emotions. He’s not afraid
to cry on camera. He doesn’t play
the
womanizer-cool-guy
role
everyone else created for him.
In a documentary following
the band through their days on
“The X Factor,” Styles speaks out
on not being able to handle hate
comments directed towards him
on Twitter. His lips tremble and
his eyes water as he admits, “I can
take criticism, but if it’s just like
a ‘I don’t like you,’ then I want to
know why people don’t like me.”
Styles never really fit the cook-
ie-cutter role he was expected
to fulfill while in One Direction,
and he didn’t always have the
self-confidence he has today. And
his fans could tell. He was always
bursting out the seams with more
to offer, suffocating from the
confines of boyband-hood. From
management to stylists to con-
tracts, Styles was being molded
into a lesser (but still genuine)
version of himself.
When One Direction broke up
in 2015, my heart broke into five
separate pieces. Not to be dramat-
ic, but it felt like the posters that
tattooed my walls were mock-
ing me. The critics were right.
They were just a stupid boyband.
Bound to break up and fail as solo
artists.
But this was only the begin-
ning of Styles. The bubble that
once confined him was popped.
And Directioners awaited with
hope for the star’s debut album
as they recovered from the sharp
blow.
His self-titled debut album
shocked the fandom with bal-
lads like “Sign of the Times” and
rock hits like “Kiwi.” He went
from lyrics like “Baby, you light
up my world like nobody else” to
“I’m having your baby, it’s none of
your business.” We saw the side
of Styles that was hidden from us,
shaded by the looming presence
of One Direction’s management.
We didn’t know what was hiding
in the dark.
Styles’s range has become
apparent in other ways, too. All
the emotions he once had to hide
were expressed in “Dunkirk,” a
2017 film where he played a sol-
dier in battle. With no prior act-
ing experience besides a quick
performance with One Direction
on “iCarly” in 2012, fans were
worried. We couldn’t bear to see
Styles cry again.
But
he
didn’t
disappoint.
Reviewers mentioned his “sur-
prising amount of grit and
pathos,” which made him “sim-
ply magnetic.” When everyone
was doubting him, tagging his
new career path as a rebound, he
performed. He showed his range.
He’s not a singer or a songwriter
or an actor. He is an artist.
He shows this again and again.
His three-time Grammy-nom-
inated album Fine Line came out
in 2019. It’s about “having sex
and feeling sad,” as Styles said
himself. He touched on topics he
couldn’t dare confront while in
One Direction, calling himself an
“arrogant son of a bitch who can’t
admit when he’s sorry.” Styles
shows us vulnerability, honesty
and a new style of music in Fine
Line.
And while covering a range of
different songs, from “Juice” by
Lizzo to “The Chain” by Fleet-
wood Mac, Styles again shows his
genuine love for music. And when
you really love something, you
love all of it. That’s where range
stems from: the absolute urge to
cover all aspects of your interest
at all costs using whatever oppor-
tunities you can get your hands
on. Styles covers it all.
And he doesn’t just do it for
enjoyment. Styles acknowledges
his platform. He knows his reach,
and he doesn’t let it go to waste.
In his unreleased song “Medi-
cine” that he performed on tour,
he sings, “The boys and the girls
are here. I mess around with him.
And I’m okay with it.”
At this moment, the self-con-
scious and insecure 18-year-old
ripped off his tight-fitting blazer
and exposed his inner core. Styles
has been an ally of the LGBTQ+
community since his boy band
days, but he’s become increas-
ingly involved in the fight against
gender norms and stereotypes as
of late.
In December 2020, Styles
became the first man to appear
solo on the cover of Vogue. And
he did it in a ballgown. He broke
expectations in the best way pos-
sible and spoke up when Candace
Owens, American author and
political commentator, tweeted,
“Bring back manly men”, regard-
ing Styles’s cover. Styles spoke
about the art of fashion and the
blurring of lines between what
is considered male and female
clothing. He understands that art
is about making a statement and
does so with grace.
In his latest “Treat People
With Kindness” music video,
Styles and Phoebe Waller-Bridge
(“Fleabag”)
co-star,
wearing
almost identical outfits while
Styles does the more traditional
“female” dance moves like dips
and spins. And once again, he
performs not just as an actor or a
singer or a dancer, but as an artist,
making a statement regarding the
blurring of gender lines and just
treating people kindly.
But it doesn’t end there. In
the upcoming film “Don’t Worry
Darling”, Styles has been cast
as the male lead. The film takes
place in the 1950s and follows an
unhappy housewife as she starts
to question her sanity. Styles
plays her manipulative and con-
trolling husband, which is the
exact opposite of what he stands
for. After reading a draft of the
script, I can’t imagine him say-
ing the lines he’s scripted for, but
that’s what makes it so exciting.
“Don’t Worry Darling” is just
another way for Styles, as an art-
ist, to make more of a statement
regarding the abandonment of
stereotypes and the push towards
gender equality.
If Styles succeeds, as he’s done
time and time again, this role
will only add another layer to
his already-versatile self, illumi-
nating the inner workings of his
mind that allow him to possess
another personality so far off
from his own. And I’m dying to
see how he does it.
Range is about more than a
singer-songwriter’s
variety
of
styles or an actor’s type of role.
When it comes to art, range is
about expression. Being able to
express what matters most to you
in a number of different ways,
whether it be through music style
or acting or fashion, is what estab-
lishes range. Styles continues to
surprise us with his undeniable
creativity and authenticity.
If you’re still looking at Styles
through a narrow lens that only
captures his boyband days, I rec-
ommend taking a step back. You’ll
come to find a well-rounded artist
capable of making a statement in
the most graceful and creative of
ways.
Sometimes I wish I had gotten
the
gay
college
experience
I
thought
I
would
have
–
“experimenting” with girls until I
figured out that, hey, they weren’t
experiments at all. Instead, I
figured out I was bisexual while
sitting in my childhood bedroom
during the deep quarantine of the
early pandemic. It would be great
if I could paint my quarantine as
a beautiful, introspective time of
self-reflection
and
challenging
my
internalized
compulsory
heterosexuality. And it was, to
some extent — but mostly, I have
to admit, I really just had a lot of
time on my hands. Time to think
and ponder and take “Am I Gay?”
tests. (At some point I realized that
if you take enough “Am I Gay” tests
on the internet, it probably means
you are gay.)
Most people can’t pinpoint the
exact date they realized their own
Queerness. As my own realization
came during the internet-steeped
pandemic summer of 2020, I
guess it makes sense that I can.
Specifically, my Spotify history
indicates a slew of sapphic love
songs, all liked on July 6, 2020.
This includes gay girl classics like
girl in red, Kehlani, Clairo, dodie
and King Princess. Looking back,
I can’t remember having one big
revelatory moment where I decided
that yes, I was Queer — but clearly,
there was a day when I proclaimed
(to my Spotify, at least) that I was.
So why were these songs so
important to my Queer awakening?
Music is obviously crucial to a lot of
personal moments and revelations,
so it’s not like this was special.
However, given the quarantine,
they were the only way I could
connect to a larger community.
I couldn’t go to Necto or hang
out at the Residential College.
I couldn’t go to the Kerrytown
Markets and buy nothing but
still soak in the Queer energy of
other 20-somethings with tote
bags. I was in my bedroom, the
same bedroom in which I had
considered myself “straight” for so
many years. I felt like an outsider
in my own life, unsure how to
reconcile my Queerness with the
purple walls of my childhood
sanctuary.
This was where I listened to Taylor
Swift and One Direction — staples of
my tweens, teenagedom and current
playlists — but in that music, there
was no space for Queerness. The
heterosexuality was overwhelming.
When I played back “Love Story,”
I remembered believing that —
although I never dreamed of a big
white wedding — the person I ended
up with would unequivocally be
a man. I never thought to think
otherwise. Other people were allowed
to be gay, and I wanted so badly to be
one of them; but I thought because I
liked men, there was no other option.
michigandaily.com — The Michigan Daily
My gay girl playlist starter pack, from the
new to the nostalgic
6 — Graduation Edition 2023
Read more at MichiganDaily.com
Arts
Design by Reid Graham
Harry Styles,
boy-bandhood
and beyond
EMILIA FERRANTE
2022 Senior Arts Editor
LAURA MILLAR
Daily Arts Writer
‘Bad Vegan’ is a shaky retelling of New York’s
strangest scandal
Everyone seems to love a good
scam right now. With shows and
movies like Netflix’s “Inventing
Anna” and “The Tinder Swindler”
and Hulu’s “The Dropout,” it seems
like audiences are desperate to probe
the minds of con artists and gawk at
the losses of their victims. Netflix has
fed into this craving once again with
the documentary “Bad Vegan: Fame.
Fraud. Fugitives.” From director
Chris Smith, who also directed
Netflix’s “Fyre: The Greatest Party
That
Never
Happened,”
“Bad
Vegan” shines the spotlight on
former famous raw-food chef Sarma
Melngailis and her fall from grace.
Sarma Melngailis was conned by
a man named Anthony Strangis —
whom she met on Twitter — into
draining almost two million dollars
from her restaurant for him. The
duo eventually married and ended
up going on the run. Once caught,
Melngailis was accused of failing
to pay employees and defrauding
investors.
Viewers get the story from all
angles. The docuseries includes
interviews with Melngailis’ former
employees, family and close friends,
as well as an interview with Allen
Salkin, the Vanity Fair journalist
who wrote about Melngailis’s story
back in 2016. The interviews are
intercut with actual footage shot by
Melngailis and Strangis, and most
importantly, an interview with
Melngailis herself. You would think
that her interview would be more of
a “tell-all,” complete with her own
personal take on the whole ordeal,
but she maintains a completely
passive
expression
and
almost
monotonous
voice
throughout.
Viewers can barely discern an inkling
of her own emotions throughout the
interview, which can be chalked up
to her feeling apprehensive about
reliving the experience, as she tells
us outright. But the feeling read as
almost out-of-body, like Melngailis
was telling someone else’s story.
“Bad Vegan” tells a tale that gets
weirder by the minute. Early on, we
learn that Melngailis met Strangis
under an alias he was using — Shane
Fox. When employees of Melngailis’s
restaurant, Pure Food & Wine,
found out his true name and the
fact that he was a convicted felon,
they (rightfully) expressed their
shock. Melngailis’s reaction? Blasé.
Apparently, Fox/Strangis had told
her he did work for the CIA and this
was totally normal. Right, moving
on. As if the identity situation wasn’t
already a red flag, viewers are later
told that Strangis made a number
of promises to Melngailis about
a “happily ever after,” including
making her and her dog immortal.
What was the price of immortality?
Almost two million dollars funneled
from the restaurant directly into
Strangis’s pockets. Once again, in
the retelling of her story, Melngailis
maintains that deadpan expression
and voice.
Melngailis’s interview is what
threw the show off-balance. All of
the interviewees describe her with
roughly the same words: generous,
kind, intelligent, etc. Are those the
elements that led her to care so
much for a man who sucked the
money out of her business? Maybe,
but Melngailis’s interview definitely
does not allude to that. By the end
of the far-too-long four-hour ordeal,
I actually found myself getting
frustrated with her. I was pleading
with her, “Just give me something,
anything to make me understand
how you put up with this guy.” The
result of all the interviews is a mixed
bag of emotions — you genuinely
have no idea what to feel, besides
impatience.
One of the few strong points of
“Bad Vegan” is the coverage of the
media debacle after Melngailis and
Strangis were caught. Until Salkin’s
Vanity Fair piece, Melngailis was
being slandered for being a fraud and
interestingly, being a “bad vegan.”
Police tracked the pair’s location to
Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, via an order
for a Domino’s pizza and chicken
wings that was sent to the hotel. Cries
of hypocrisy went up everywhere as
the finger was pointed at Melngailis,
the vegan chef running a raw-food
restaurant. After actually watching
“Bad Vegan” and hearing about what
really went down (the Domino’s was
actually ordered for Strangis), you
finally feel sympathy for Melngailis
as the show splashes the smearing
headlines across the screen.
“Bad Vegan” is a rollercoaster. It
goes from normal to odd to straight-
up outlandish, and you can’t even
fully rely on the main character for
a proper explanation. For better or
for worse, this show does not tell you
what to feel until its final minutes.
After the string of these new releases,
though, I can say one thing for
certain: I’m officially done with scam
shows.
SWARA RAMASWAMY
Daily Arts Writer
“Annette” tries to throw the
audience off from the outset. Over
a blank screen, a voice tells the
audience that noise of any kind,
including breathing, will not be
tolerated during the film. This
transitions right into the opening
number, asking the audience for
permission to start the film while
introducing the main characters. It’s
an opening that will either have you
immediately hooked or rolling your
eyes and looking for the exits.
The film is not afraid to take bold
risks, and once it has you in its grasp,
it refuses to let go.
“Annette” follows the marriage of
comedian Henry McHenry (Adam
Driver, “Marriage Story”) and opera
singer Ann Defrasnoux (Marion
Cotillard,
“Inception”).
These
professions perfectly convey the
film’s tone with the combination of
the sadistic, dark comedy of a shock
comedian and the big, emotional
melodrama of an opera singer. The
couple has a child named Annette,
portrayed by a wooden puppet, the
center of tension between Henry
and Ann. By making Annette a
puppet,
the
filmmakers
avoid
gambling on the performance of
a child actor, while enhancing the
themes of Henry’s control in all
domains of life.
Director Leos Carax (“Holy
Motors”) bombards the audience
with unexpected twists, yet almost
none of them would work without
the completely committed central
performances
of
Driver
and
Cotillard. It doesn’t matter what
kind of ridiculous nonsense Carax
asks them to do in a given scene;
both actors are fully on board and
give everything they have to get
earn the emotional investment of
viewers.
Driver delivers one of the best
performances
of
his
already
illustrious career as he compels you
to be on the side of a truly despicable
man.
The
physicality
of
his
performance, aided by his tall frame
and full use of his remarkable skill
as an actor, captivates the audience.
During the scenes where Henry
is performing stand-up, Driver
expertly navigates the conflict with
both the crowds at his shows and
himself, and he perfectly portrays
the character losing his mind.
As expected from a film that
swings for the fences almost every
second of its 141-minute runtime,
some choices strike out. The songs
are surprisingly weak for a musical,
and while they work fine within the
context of the film, they aren’t going
to be stuck in your head for weeks
after hearing them.
The film also drags on a bit in the
second half. A new plot development
at the midpoint means it takes time
to ramp up a new conflict, killing
the film’s existing momentum. Once
the new tension between Henry and
his daughter is developed, “Annette”
once
again
becomes
entirely
engrossing, but the tedium may lose
viewers who weren’t totally sold by
the film from the start.
“Annette” has been a polarizing
film since it opened the Cannes Film
Festival back in July, which isn’t
unexpected given the outlandish
choices the film makes. However,
these are exactly the kinds of films
that make the medium so wonderful.
‘Annette’ is an audacious, chaotic,
mesmerizing tragedy
SWARA RAMASWAMY
Daily Arts Writer
Read more at MichiganDaily.com