1

The Marksman Term 1 – 19/20

Featuring articles about:

Brexit

Thomas Cook

The Environment

Film

and more….

Edited by Hattie and Adam

2

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.

3

CONTENTS

TOPICAL ARTICLES

Living with Coeliac Disease Amber Chohan

Is Brexit Destroying our Democracy? Amy Cabella

Autumn Peltier & Artemisa Xakribá: The

Indigenous Fight for the Environment Bonnie Ray-Smallcalder

The Hanseatic League Jadon Mensah

Brexit: what is it, why does it exist and why is

everyone so annoyed about it? Alexander Liley-McCamley

Das Vierte Reich: Is the resurgence of the Nazi

party that unlikely? Tom Isley

The Amazon is dying, but there could still be

time to save it! Amber Chohan

The Collapse of Thomas Cook Mwangala Sikwibele

MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT

Legally Blonde: A Feminist Evaluation

Jamie Atkins

Is reality TV actually real? Lily Ann Burgess

Aimlessly writing about ‘Her’ William Knowles

5

7

8

10

12

14

16

17

19

21

22

CREATIVE CORNER

Concrete

Daniel Stocks

Broken Extract 1 Alexander Liley-McCamley

25

26

4

TOPICAL

ARTICLES

5

Living with Coeliac Disease I was diagnosed with Coeliac Disease

when I was 9 years old; it was highly

likely that at least me or one of my 2

siblings would inherit this condition from

our mother who has had it for years.

People with a first degree relative that

has Coeliac Disease (parent, child or

sibling) have a 1 in 10 chance of

developing the disease. My little sister

also has Coeliac Disease and was

diagnosed at the same time as me; she

was 6. My brother has managed to

escape it…so far! It can lay dormant for

years and be triggered later in life.

What is Coeliac Disease?

Coeliac Disease is a digestive and

autoimmune disorder. This means

whenever a Coeliac digests gluten, the

immune system directs antibodies to

attack the body, the small intestine

becomes inflamed and unable to

absorb nutrients. Whenever gluten (a

protein found in wheat, barley and rye)

is consumed, the gluten inflicts damage

on the villi (small finger like projections

that line the small intestine) and in a

healthy gut, these would normally

promote nutrient absorption. With

Coeliac Disease, the villi gets so

damaged and flattened that nutrients

cannot be properly absorbed by the

body leading to potentially long term

health implications.

Symptoms of Coeliac Disease:

An individual that has Coeliac Disease

can be affected by numerous

symptoms - these can include:

Diarrhea/constipation

Fatigue

Weight loss/weight gain

Iron deficiency anemia

Depression

Abdominal pain

Tingling or numbness in hands

and feet (peripheral neuropathy)

Malnutrition in children and

delayed puberty

The list goes on (there are more than

200 known symptoms). Bizarrely, there

are some with the Coeliac diagnosis

that are symptom free; they are classed

as being ‘Silent Coeliac’ However,

those who don’t experience typical

symptoms will still have intestinal

damage if they ingest gluten.

It is estimated 1 in every 100 people

suffer from this disease and yet millions

go undiagnosed. Left untreated,

Coeliac Disease can lead to serious

health problems. Early diagnosis is so

important as the long term health

effects of not being diagnosed can

increase chances of illnesses including:

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

6

people with Coeliac Disease, strictly

adhering to this diet for life is a must –

there is no cure at present.

I’ve spent many years watching my

mum read food labels when shopping to

ensure the ingredients are gluten free,

we keep our fingers crossed when

eating out that the chef understands

how dangerous cross contamination is

and if gluten is accidentally served to

us, we can become very ill. We also

have to be careful as some shampoos

have gluten in them, my mum uses

gluten free make up and did you know

that even play doh contains gluten?

A Coeliac cannot just walk into

McDonalds, KFC, Burger King etc and

order what they like, we have to make

sure there are no gluten containing

ingredients – we’re sometimes handed

an allergy folder to find out what we can

eat. Eating gluten free food can also be

very expensive, for example we get a

small loaf of bread that costs around £3

that actually tastes like cardboard!

Luckily, there are lots of naturally gluten

free inexpensive foods like fruits,

vegetable, eggs, beans, rice etc.

What does the future hold?

Compared to a few years ago, Coeliacs

now have a lot more options available

to them. Supermarkets have dedicated

free from aisles, gluten free menus are

becoming more readily available as

restaurants are now accommodating all

kinds of dietary requirements

(Vegan/Dairy free/gluten free etc.)

Hopefully, one day there will be a cure

as lots of research is being done and

there is even talk of a medication that

will alleviate or completely eliminate the

symptoms of Coeliac Disease being

available from 2021 but until then, all

Coeliacs must strictly adhere to their

gluten free diet to remain healthy.

By Amber Chohan B7

7

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 14th

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

8

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.

9

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

10

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

11

in 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

12

Brexit; what is it, why does it exist and why is

everyone so annoyed about it?

Let’s talk about the most controversial,

annoying, talked about and consequential

topics of the last three years: you read the

title, Brexit!

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

not one, not two, but three times!

The arguments have mainly been over

Ireland and the border between north and

south. From the 1960s to the 1990s

skirmishes all over Northern Ireland called

the Troubles. These were mainly over the

Irish border, where there was a division

between the Protestants of Northern

Ireland and the Catholics of the Republic of

Ireland. In the Good Friday Agreement of

1998 the hard border between the two

nations effectively ended the troubles.

They agreed that there would never be a

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.

The idea of Brexit was originally

popularised by UKIP, the UK independence

party, who has wanted to leave the UK for

a long time. The idea was slowly growing

more popular and the Conservative Party

made a manifesto commitment to have a

referendum on the matter of leaving the

EU to sway UKIP voters. The Conservative

Party won the general election and had

36% of the votes, but 51% of the seats.

Therefore the referendum was triggered.

13

As previously said, the unexpected win

happened.

There are more problems to the north;

Britain’s sister that she loves and hates at

the same time, its Scotland! They said that

if the UK left the EU that she is not coming.

This is a problem as it will have to become

an independent country, which was voted

on two years prior to the Brexit vote and

the result was that Scotland was going to

stay part of the United Kingdom. If

maximum Brexit happens there is very high

chance that the Scottish parliament will

demand another independence

referendum. And as shown above the

entire of Scotland voted to stay, so the

chance of Scotland leaving the United

Kingdom and becoming part of the EU

could be incredibly high if maximum Brexit

occurs.

And if you thought that the drama could

not get any worse well I am sorry to spoil,

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

chose), walking out of a meeting with

Xavier Bettel, prime minister of

Luxembourg and finally on Tuesday 24th of

September was officially declared unlawful

by the supreme court.

In conclusion, Brexit can probably be

described as a swimming pool of quicksand

that we have leapt into and tried to swim.

From a simple political move to sway

another parties’ voters to lying towards the

longest reigning monarch in history that

you actually serve under, Brexit has been a

rollercoaster ride. The one from a diary of

a wimpy kid that someone was decapitated

on once. Except it decapitates you every

time. And it’s spinning in the middle of

London, calling for politicians to ride on it,

promising a stable shot at the prime

minister, with no worries of resignation or

ousting, before it trebuchets you into an

international crisis.

By Alexander Liley-McCamley

14

Das Vierte Reich: Is the resurgence of

the Nazi party that unlikely?

The term neo-nazism refers to Nazi

ideology which appeared after the

formal abolition of Hitler’s

Nationalsozialiste Deutsche

Arbeiterpartei (NSDAP) on the 10th

May 1945. The original Nazi Party was

formed in Germany, but many people

are under the impression that the

majority of neo-fascist ideologies still

stem from there. In reality, however,

many countries have similar

movements that are branded in a way

that makes it difficult for people to

realise they are linked. The fall of the

Berlin wall reunited a previously

divided Europe - this event acted as a

catalyst for the spread of Nazi ideology

across the whole continent.

In 1967, American high school teacher

Ron Jones conducted an experiment in

which he transformed his classroom

into a fascist regime. The point of this

exercise was to show the lives of the

people living under the Nazi system and

detailing how difficult it was not to

follow the leader of the party. What

began with enforcing a seating plan and

the introduction of community in the

classroom devolved into a 200 strong

microcosm of a Nazi society. The Third

Wave experiment only lasted five days

and managed to recruit numerous

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

when Hitler rose to power.

After the political reunification in 1990,

there was huge political unrest. This

was due to the divide between the East

and the West, caused by the difference

in their economic systems. The West

was run by the capitalist powers and the

East was taken by the communists,

which led to the increased affluence in

the West side. The people in the East,

having been living under a communist

system for years, were against the

reunification. They shifted the blame

onto minorities and these minorities

then became victims of the Neo-Fascist

movement. Nothing actually prompted

an increase in far right movements;

they simply emerged from feelings of

hatred towards the new reunified

government in Germany. Throughout

the latter half of the 20th Century there

were various changes to the German

laws which meant that parties couldn’t

ascend to power in a similar fashion to

Hitler. Currently, the law states that a

party needs to obtain a minimum of 5%

of votes to continue their campaign.

This has seen a decrease in formal

extremist parties but informal,

‘underground’ movements are still

appearing, such as the 88 Neo Nazi

group.

15

Although it may seem like Germany are

the sole culprits for the emergence of

far right political ideas, this is not the

case. Many European countries have

formal, very extreme political parties

and probably more secret operations

which go unnoticed by the media.

Rassemblement National in France,

Forza Nuova in Italy, Freiheitliche

Partei Österreichs in Austria and

arguably UKIP in the UK are just four

examples of the extreme right parties

which have emerged in Europe alone.

There are far more parties which are

appearing outside of the continent, like

Brazil’s Partido Social Liberal. The

ease of the emergence of such parties

alongside the study of The Third Wave

Experiment begs the question of how

easy a resurgence of a Nazi party would

be, but in the modern day it would be

much more menacing. This modern

rebirth of ideology poses more

threatening consequences currently, as

nowadays fascism has spread beyond

Germany’s borders. The idea of World

War 3 may seem fictitious but there is

still a disturbing possibility for a big rise

in neo-fascism which may pose the

threat of a large scale conflict.

By Tom Isley

16

The Amazon is dying…. but there

could still be time to save it! Over the summer, an unprecedented

number of forest fires have occurred

in the Amazonian rainforest, 84%

more than in 2018. Whilst it is

common for these fires to occur in the

dry season in Brazil, it is well known

that they are sometimes started

deliberately to illegally deforest land.

Countries all around the world are

determined to put an end to this

dystopia waiting to happen. If they

work hard enough, hopefully the lungs

of the planet can be saved.

What is deforestation?

Deforestation is the removal of forest

trees to make space for meat

breeding grounds, highways or to get

palm oil. Companies like PepsiCo,

Mondelez and Orkla use high

amounts of palm oil which gives them

quick money and this in turn gives

inhabitants of the Amazon quick home

destruction. How would you like it if

your house was destroyed without

your consent and the space being

replaced by something of no use to

you? Hopefully, humanity can go

some way to stopping this by using

and consuming products like peanut

butter, chocolate and shampoos that

are made using certified sustainable

palm oil products. The palm oil in

these types of products are harvested

with no deforestation making them

environmentally friendly and

sustainable meaning that the process

is completely virtuous. So next time

you’re shopping, always check the

ingredients of what you are

purchasing to make sure it doesn’t

harm the planet.

Does anybody care?

It seems as if this crisis is being

ignored by the President of Brazil, yet

leaders from all around the world are

deeply concerned about the aftermath

of the current state of affairs.

President Jair Bolsanaro is telling

leaders of other countries to “mind

their own business” and stay out of the

problem which is only making matters

worse as the ferocious fires continue

to burn and annihilate the Amazon.

What’s going to happen next?

All the protests, thoughtful purchases

and charity donations are playing

some part in helping to stop this large

scale global problem, but it might not

be enough. The Amazon needs

immediate and urgent action to help to

survive this crisis through recognition

and support from those with enough

power to stop this devastation.

After all, it’s our lungs that others are

trying to save as the Amazon provides

Earth with over 20% of the oxygen on

the planet. Not making any immediate

attempt to stop deforestation could

eventually kill off the human

population so the time to save the

environment should be now.

By Amber Chohan

17

The Collapse of Thomas Cook Why did it happen?

Chief executive of Association of

British Travel Agents (ABTA) claim

the collapse of Thomas Cook was

largely a result of failure in corporate

finance when the business went bust

on the 23rd of September they were in

debt worth £1.7bn to banks whilst

owing £1.3bn to suppliers.

Furthermore the firm failed to secure

a £200m investment from its bankers

to help them during the winter period.

It appears as though change in

consumer tastes has contributed to

the demise of Thomas Cook,

specifically customers opting to

buying and applying online, whilst

other industries such as the retail

sector have closed down their

physical premises Thomas cook

remained ‘complacent’ and perhaps

may be why they racked up so much

debt. Additionally, within the travel

industry cheap flights have increased

in comparison to packaged flights

which is what Thomas Cook’s

specialises in therefore can explain

their decline; therefore a curb in the

business model may have curbed the

collapse.

Who was affected?

The knock on effect of the Thomas

Cook Collapse has been 9,000 UK

jobs lost, 150,000 customers stranded

abroad, whilst 360,000 customers

with future holiday bookings owed

refunds

Could it have been avoided?

The Government has faced criticism

as they refused to bail out Thomas

Cook yet they did it for British Steel.

Despite this fair criticism the guardian

argues that it was the Government

made the best decision due to

Thomas Cook’s poor financial history

as in 2011 Thomas cook almost went

‘bust’ as well as amassing large debts

as a result of a merger in 2007 by

decisions of management teams. Also

the heat wave in 2018 leading to

‘reduced bookings’ whilst Brexit

tensions influencing the fall of the

pound sterling Thomas Cook still may

have not stood a chance even with

£250 million worth of government

bailout and not worth taking out of

taxpayers’ pockets.

What happens now?

All future Thomas Cook bookings

have been terminated, affecting

around one million people. The 555

high street stores have been bought

by Hays Travel, Britain’s

largest independent travel agent,

which will also safeguard a “significant

number” of jobs for former employees.

Hays has already recruited 421

former Thomas Cook staff, it is

believed up to 2,000 additional staff

may return to their former stores.

By Mwangala Sikwibele

18

MEDIA AND

ENTERTAINMENT

19

Legally Blonde - A Feminist Evaluation Legally Blonde, in case you’re missing out, is a

chick-flick-esque film, released in 2001, that

has since been transformed into a musical.

In a terribly redundant summary, sorority

sister Elle Woods loses her boyfriend and

decides to follow him to Harvard Law School

in an attempt to win him back. Despite all

expectations, she manages to excel her

courses while maintaining friendships and

relationships, proving that there’s more to her

than being “blonde and hot” - to quote the

musical.

It’s not a perfect film: it’s embarrassingly

clichéd and disturbingly unrepresentative of

anyone who’s not white or well-off, but for a

film released almost 20 years ago, I’m a strong

defender of its feminist manifesto.

The biggest lesson to take away from Legally

Blonde is that being intelligent and being

feminine aren’t mutually exclusive. How many

times have you seen a film where the

feminine blonde girl is shallow and greedy and

mean? Where the tomboy is equally as

gorgeous but has ‘substance’ and gets the guy

in the end? Think of Mean Girls and High

School Musical for example - femininity is

always portrayed alongside a lack of

intelligence and a cruelty. Legally Blonde

reverts that stereotype.

At the beginning of the film and throughout,

Elle is judged and underestimated for her girly

interests, her love for beauty and fashion and

her looks. She dons more muted colours and

suits throughout the musical, trying to

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

discredit an alibi. Elle’s love of beauty is an

integral part of her and there’s no need to

give that up.

Another point I admire in the film and musical

is the redundancy of the romantic subplot.

The romance doesn’t detract from the film

and the love interest, Emmett, is merely a

supporting character. He doesn’t aim to or

succeed in changing Elle, and in the film we

barely hear about their relationship. Legally

Blonde can hardly be considered a chick-flick,

as they’re characterised by Cambridge

Dictionary as films about love. In fact, the film

practically subverts the idea of the woman

being a submissive/passive romantic interest,

as Elle realises how misguided her obsession

over her ex is, and in the end, she’s the one

being lusted after, due to her intelligence and

beauty.

Of course no film is perfect, and where this

one falls short is being made in 2001 and

featuring a shockingly white, upper-class

representation of the US. There’s a huge lack

of people of colour in the film and most

musical productions, and the beauty of Elle

relies on her being blonde, skinny and white

with blue eyes. It even used the stereotype of

fashionable gay men as a plot point. Perhaps

it can be explained by being produced in a

20

time where films didn’t come under so much

criticism for not being diverse enough or

being politically incorrect, but that doesn’t

make it okay.

However, despite my issues with this film, I

really think it can be used as an example of a

feminist film, and it teaches so many

important lessons, especially to young girls.

You can be both pretty and smart. You can

care about pop culture and academia.

Femininity does not equal weakness. There’s

more to life than romance. You don’t have to

conform to other peoples’ expectations. You

can use your power and privilege to help

others. There are so many strong morals in

this film and I’d encourage anyone to watch it.

By Jamie Atkins

21

Is Reality TV Actually Real?

Reality TV is a television programme

where there are no writers, actors or

scripts- they focus on “real” events or

situations. But let’s be serious… are

they actually real?

So, you’re telling me the two rivals of

the show just happened to bump into

each other whilst shopping? Everyone

forgives each other after 5 minutes?

I’m not saying I haven’t fallen victim to

these kind of shows- ‘Love Island’

draws me in every year, ‘The Mummy

Diaries’ is one of my favourite

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

Another favourite- ‘TOWIE’- a British

reality television series based in

Brentwood. Ex ‘TOWIE’ star, Amy

Childs, says the show is now “Too

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,

some of the friendships may be real

and some of relationships may be real

when it all comes to it, it’s all staged.

All the reality TV shows you love so

much may not be real- but is that going

to stop us watching them?

No…probably not!

By Lily Ann Burgess

22

Aimlessly 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.

23

Another 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

24

CREATIVE

CORNER

25

CONCRETE

Cities loom over the sky; the horizons of concrete and glass. Great towers and skyscrapers pierce through the ground. Blank canvases rush through traffic of cars, buses and trains. Everyone looks the same; the world seemed so full of life, yet so dull. This once ancient city, known for its deep roots in the history of our world, has now turned to a commercial and contemporary landfill of people. Traveling from one side to the other took hours, even by the train. By the time you would reach the city centre, night quickly blossomed and died, and all you could hear were the drunken shouts of men and the stumbling heels of women. The different districts were filled with modern homes, high class restaurants and concert halls, yet the 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 through an impenetrable fog and dotted around the darkness. It was actually hard to tell if it was a star or someone’s window.

As I stood in the panoramic tower, I saw nothing. Turning slowly, the tower began to reveal the true darkness in the streets of the city, the western district known for being a place for violence and gangs that even the police of the city would not step in for fear of dying. The eerie darkness and dullness lurked with malicious intent, one red, horizontal crack in the sky looming above it all like a malevolent smirk. The stars twisted and warped into piercing lights, corrupting every thought.

I felt nothing, no pity for the people inside, no emotion as I walked down the stairs and onto the train to my home in the horizon of concrete and glass.

By Daniel Stocks

26

An 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.