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Emerson College’s only independent, student-run newspaper since 1947

The Berkeley Beacon

Emerson College’s only independent, student-run newspaper since 1947

The Berkeley Beacon

Emerson College’s only independent, student-run newspaper since 1947

The Berkeley Beacon

Opinion

As promised, Cheez-Its continues to ‘defy our Cheezpectations’—a little too much

As promised, Cheez-Its continues to ‘defy our Cheezpectations’—a little too much

By Vivi Smilgius / April 6, 2022

From the second they started, it became clear that no aspect of this year’s Academy Awards would be relaxing. Those who sought respite in the commercial...

Illustration Lucia Thorne

How you feel about the slap at the Oscars says something about your perception of Black men

By Hadera McKay / March 31, 2022

“Keep my wife’s name out of your f—cking mouth!” Those were the words that— muted in the producers’ attempts to de-escalate the gravity of...

Beacon Archives

Emerson students deserve transparency on the efforts administrators make with their finances

By Editorial Board / March 23, 2022

The Berkeley Beacon editorial staff is back with another edition of, “how many times will we have to say the same thing?”  Emersonians received...

Hailey Akau

Linking clothing and queerness might ‘boost visibility,’ but it also encourages stereotypes

By Vivi Smilgius / March 23, 2022

Last Wednesday afternoon, the New York Post tweeted a link to an article titled “‘Dressing like a lesbian’ is the sexy and ‘powerful’ new fashion...

Courtesy Creative Commons

Spielberg’s West Side Story Is Not the ‘Progressive’ Remake We Hoped For

By Christina Horacio / March 23, 2022

With the release of this year’s Oscar nominations, Steven Spielberg's 2021 film adaptation of West Side Story has returned to the spotlight. The remake...

Illustration Lucia Thorne

Aesthetic in a Vacuum: Euphoria and Latina Sexuality

By Allison Armijo / March 23, 2022

HBO’s Euphoria caught the attention of fans and critics alike, attracting an audience of 6.6 million for the finale of Season 2 alone. From a post-football...

Robert Pattinson is the Batman for the 21st century

Robert Pattinson is the Batman for the 21st century

By Camilo Fonseca and Frankie Rowley / March 18, 2022

Less than a year has passed since the world last saw Batman on the silver screen. With Hollywood’s latest take on the caped crusader, though, the world...

Creative Commons

The far right is being manipulated by Vladimir Putin to spread false information

By Justin Chen / March 17, 2022

As the Russian military advances deeper into Ukrainian territory, Russian propaganda has been referring to the invasion as a “special military operation.”...

War does not bring people together, it reinforces existing oppression

War does not bring people together, it reinforces existing oppression

By Mariyam Quaisar / March 17, 2022

The current war in Ukraine has left its residents in turmoil. The country’s main cities are incessantly bombed and innocent lives are being shamelessly...

Hadera McKay

Escapism or Erasure: the challenge of consuming white content as a Black person

By Hadera McKay / March 16, 2022

This past spring break, I finally finished my three-month-long first watch of the late 90s classic, Sex and the City. As the end credits ran, I was more...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy touring the trenches.

Ukraine’s president could have been another Trump. Instead he became a Churchill.

By Camilo Fonseca / March 3, 2022

Before his election, he was a nobody. A celebrity, sure, but not a politician, and certainly not a serious presidential candidate. He was a complete outsider...

College burnout pulls the rug from under your feet

College burnout pulls the rug from under your feet

By Frankie Rowley / March 3, 2022

Another night I find myself curled into a ball of self-pity, my tailbone aching from the wooden chair I have been glued to for God knows how long. Tears...

Out of sight, out of mind: Let’s not delegitimize the Russian invasion of Ukraine

Out of sight, out of mind: Let’s not delegitimize the Russian invasion of Ukraine

By Niklas Walker / March 2, 2022

Monday afternoon, my roommate came back from class and told me that one of his classmates asked the professor what would be the appropriate way to joke...

Appreciation without appropriation: the internal conflict of consuming Black media as a white person

Appreciation without appropriation: the internal conflict of consuming Black media as a white person

By Vivi Smilgius / March 2, 2022

One of my most vivid memories from late-middle and early high school is riding the bus, headphones in, listening to Kendrick Lamar’s “good kid, m.A.A.d...

Internet trolls rejoice, Trisha Paytas is pregnant

Internet trolls rejoice, Trisha Paytas is pregnant

By Kaitlyn Fehr, Campbell Parish and Katie Redefer / February 28, 2022

Social media exploded with the news of the YouTube star’s pregnancy on Monday, and opinions could not be more divided. In the aftermath of the announcement,...

Ukrainian Army soldiers fighting pro-Russian separatists in the Donbass region, 2015

The Ukraine crisis isn’t complicated—unless you’re imperialist.

By Camilo Fonseca / February 24, 2022

For weeks, college students have felt the distant-but-steady drumbeat of war, on the brink of what could be the bloodiest conflict since the 1940s. Yet,...

‘Poor core’ is only an aesthetic for those who have the choice

‘Poor core’ is only an aesthetic for those who have the choice

By Vivi Smilgius / February 24, 2022

There’s a confusing and irritating dichotomy when a student wearing tattered clothing and corded earbuds pulls a $2,000 laptop and a $500 pair of studio...

The Dominican Republic's border wall cements what we knew: its immigration policies are xenophobic

The Dominican Republic’s border wall cements what we knew: its immigration policies are xenophobic

By Shannon Garrido / February 23, 2022

As of this year, spike, metal, and concrete will occupy the Dominican-Haitian border, as a wall is currently being constructed where the countries meet....

Age doesn’t exist for accountability, stop acting like it does

Age doesn’t exist for accountability, stop acting like it does

By Adri Pray / February 16, 2022

I was freshly 17 when the pandemic started. I witnessed a global recession, the first-ever second impeachment of a United States president, numerous climate...

Super Bowl halftime show reflects the Black experience, but its efforts are performative

Super Bowl halftime show reflects the Black experience, but its efforts are performative

By Hadera McKay / February 16, 2022

Barring Eminem—this year’s Super Bowl halftime show was an unequivocal celebration of the Black experience, from the tactful location of SoFi Stadium...