Washington Square News | September 28, 2020

3 SPORTS

6 ARTS

Meet the Student Behind the Mask 4 CULTURE

Dear Teen TV Shows: Can We Please Stop Glorifying Toxic Men?

I Tested Positive for COVID-19

7 OPINION

NYU Continues To Fail Black Students

VOLUME LV | ISSUE 5

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2020

We’re Resigning from WSN. Here’s Why.

By WSN’S STAFF We, the undersigned WSN Fall 2020 Editorial Staff, have collectively decided to resign from Washington Square News, effective immediately. This was extensively deliberated in collaboration with 39 staff editors, and it was not a decision we enjoyed making. However, we understand that continuing to work at WSN in our current circumstance would do more harm than good, and we refuse to condone what we have seen over the past three weeks.

Three weeks ago, our Editor-in-Chief was fired without warning to the rest of the staff. His termination was the result of a new editorial advisor, Dr. Kenna Griffin, who joined WSN’s staff. We are aware that she is employed by the university and that she is not a member of our publications board.

Dr. Griffin’s relationship to WSN and the amount of power she held was never clarified. Though she initially claimed that she would include the managing staff in the process of defining her role, she has yet to follow through with that promise.

Since Dr. Griffin was hired, WSN has faced numerous challenges in publication and cohesion. Dr. Griffin was increasingly rude and disrespectful to the staff, despite being repeatedly reminded that her words had a negative effect on staff morale. Dr. Griffin was unnecessarily harsh, and when confronted about her behavior, would defend it by arguing that WSN’s staff is too immature to accept critique. Her feedback was often negative, even when we followed her instructions, and was almost always personal. She defended this behavior by arguing that she was unable to accomplish anything without WSN implementing her instructions. This is untrue; WSN has implemented her advice on multiple occasions.

WSN has been operating in a state of uncertainty and distress since our EIC was fired.

WSN’s publications board, 50% of which is composed of NYU journalism professors, has yet to name a successor. This means that WSN has operated without an EIC for three weeks and has still been expected to perform as well — on some occasions better — than we have in the past. We cannot continue to do business as usual without a leader and when we are afraid of retribution. Dr. Griffin stated multiple times that no one else on staff would be fired, but most staff members did not believe her, as she had recently fired our EIC with no sufficient explanation.

Operating without an EIC also means that WSN has continued to publish without editorial representation on our publications board, as the EIC is the only student member of the board from WSN’s editorial side. This has left us to trust that Dr. Griffin, who is not a member of the publications board but holds considerable influence over it, will accurately portray us to the board and will act in our best interests. However, this has proven to not be the case, as Dr. Griffin has been asked repeatedly to soften language when critique is involved and has refused each time. This made it very difficult to accept her criticism, as well as to function normally with the new factor of

fear of Dr. Griffin. This led to a vicious cycle in which we could not please Dr. Griffin and so she would lash out at us, which in turn would lead us to produce poorer work which did not help.

After WSN published an article about protests related to the murder of Breonna Taylor and the Kentucky grand jury’s decision not to charge her killers, Dr. Griffin displayed an increasing disrespect to WSN’s Black staff members, leading to one staff member choosing to speak out and accuse Dr. Griffin of intolerance. Dr. Griffin took this criticism poorly — she defended herself arguing that there was no proof of her racism, and demanded to speak with a Black student before admitting guilt, which she still has not done. Dr. Griffin suggested that the Black student write an op-ed explaining her feelings about Taylor’s murder. We are not comfortable continuing to work in an environment that trivializes Black voices when they speak up and then uses them for personal gain. This was the straw that broke the collective camel’s back.

Incidents of Dr. Griffin’s behavior include but are not limited to: • Belittled the entire staff, with inappropriate behavior for an editorial advisor to students in a way definitely not how a professional should speak to other young professionals.

• Repeatedly stated that anyone offended by her words was simply being sensitive and implied that if someone is offended by her statements, they should not be a journalist.

• Pressured an editor to reveal their “real name” after the editor disclosed their non-cisgender gender identity. This is transphobic rhetoric and behavior.

• Criticized Opinion article disclaimers, calling them unnecessary and incorrect.

Opinion article disclaimers are necessary for legal purposes.

• Demanded stories and content without regard to reporters’ personal safety at protests and students’ time and responsibilities beyond WSN, and demanded articles on our rest days.

• Stated that if staff did not meet with her one-on-one individually, following the EIC’s termination, she would understand that we would not want to continue working for WSN. Did not respond to emails and other attempts to schedule meetings for weeks.

• Our Managing Editor assumed the responsibilities of EIC and Managing Editor without the title or power, despite asking for formal recognition.

• Refused to concede that people interviewed and photographed would want to be anonymous for safety reasons.

• Dismissed trigger warnings on articles on sexual assault and marked them unnecessary.

• Mentioned inappropriate and confidential information about staff members’ personal lives.

• Stated that racism is a matter of subjectivity.

• Violated the WSN Constitution mul-

tiple times including several instances in which she attempted to merge the business and editorial sections of WSN. • An editor stood up to Dr. Griffin’s demands and refused to edit out the word “murder” from our article about Breonna Taylor’s murder at the hands of Louisville cops. Dr. Griffin demanded the Managing Editor discipline them, as she “didn’t want to have a full deal publicly.”

• Spoke terribly about our previous EIC to every other editor immediately after he was fired and asked leading questions, presumably to find justification for firing him.

• Lied about events and people’s actions and characters to different editors.

• Minimized an Opinion Editor’s role and pieces and did not include them in discussions about the Opinion section.

Disclosed that she only wanted one Opinion Editor.

• Demanded our organization “professionalize.” Dr. Griffin messaged editors to reprimand them for profanity used in intra-staff conversations despite regularly swearing in personal calls against staff.

• Categorized ‘Under the Arch’, WSN’s magazine, as a money maker. Attempted to demand ‘UTA’ cater to business needs to create content, directly violating the WSN Constitution.

• Criticized our News Desk for using emails or text interviews and NYU statements, despite that practice being part of journalism standards.

• Blamed WSN for NYU institutions refusing to talk to us.

• Corrected our use of “spokesperson” to “spokesman,” ignoring the need for gender-neutral language in reporting, mandatory for the paper and outlined in one of our guides.

• Boasted about improving our coverage online when she had no involvement with the articles she boasted about.

Our demands are as follows: 1. Dr. Kenna Griffin must resign immediately.

2. Each semester, the editorial staff must be introduced to the publications board and its members in order to ensure transparency; the capabilities and the importance of the board’s existence must be discussed.

3. WSN should not be labeled as an “independent” news publication, as it is intertwined with the Journalism department and its very existence depends on the emotional and financial support of the university.

4. Issue a revision of WSN’s Constitution in order to ensure that an EIC cannot be fired by the publications board or anyone else without the editorial staff’s democratic vote on the matter.

5. All of WSN’s finances — including but not limited to money received from the university and how this money is distributed to the staff, including budget overages and shortages — must be disclosed to the entire staff and will be

available to anybody upon request.

6. Frequent interactions between senior management and desk editors, and the publications board. The board should be ready to offer feedback and advice. Management should meet with the board twice a month.

Desk editors should meet with the board once a month.

7. WSN’s editorial advisor must have previous knowledge of NYU, NYU’s environment and WSN’s production process and operation. It is preferred for an editorial advisor to have had a connection with either WSN or NYU or both.

8. Ensure student journalists’ safety, physically and mentally — provide students with reporting safety training and equipment. Communicate to student journalists that if they decide to cover a story, they will be provided with a media pass and personal protective equipment (PPE).

9. Under no circumstances should WSN be left without an EIC or an interim EIC on staff. Our EIC represents us on the board and serves as a member. If we are left without an EIC, we are left without representation on the publications board.

10. The editorial advisor’s abilities must be disclosed to all editorial staff when introduced/hired and there must be demarcated boundaries for their powers, including firing.

11. All the editorial advisor’s decisions are subject to discussion and vote by editorial staff.

12. The editorial advisor role needs to be filled with an active journalist to ensure familiarity with the current media field and the environment within it.

13. The editorial advisor must be employed by WSN, not NYU’s Journalism Department, and paid with WSN’s revenue.

14. Business or advertisement must not influence production decisions to ensure quality journalism without financial bias.

15. Communication, including critique and feedback on platforms such as Slack from the editorial advisor needs to be individually expressed. This form of communication centers a focus on who needs the critique, rather than informing the entire staff.

WSN, at its core, is not a racist publication. We have worked hard to make WSN the safe and loving environment for staff that we know it to be. Dr. Griffin’s actions counteract WSN’s core values, and the lack of discipline on behalf of the board and the university indicate that as long as Dr. Griffin serves as WSN’s editorial advisor, they will continue to remain as intolerant as she is.

We know that, as its staff, we have WSN’s best interests at heart, but we cannot guarantee the same about the publications board.

As long as the board holds more power over WSN than its editors, we are not comfortable staying on staff.

We would be happy to return to WSN,

but only if Dr. Griffin no longer serves as our editorial advisor. If she does not resign, our resignation will be permanent.

We do not want to put NYU’s community in a position in which it is not receiving the best and most frequent communications from its student publication. We are not happy about the decision we have made, and we regret not being able to provide the NYU community with the coverage it deserves. As a result, we encourage you to read and follow NYU Local, which is not affiliated with NYU in any manner. Until Dr. Griffin no longer works at NYU, we cannot trust that WSN will be the environment that we know it to be. We strongly discourage supporting or joining WSN as long as Dr. Griffin serves as its editorial advisor.

This newspaper has been a home to all of us for years, and we love it deeply. We are choosing to leave because of how much we love it — we fear that if we do not leave, WSN will never find the incentive to improve.

Signed, Abby Hofstetter, Managing Editor Alexandria Johnson, Deputy Managing Editor Jun Sung, Deputy Managing Editor Ethan Zack, Deputy Managing Editor Mandie Montes, Under the Arch Managing Editor Finley (Anna-Dmitry) Muratova, Under the Arch Managing Editor Deborah Alalade, Creative Director Charlie Dodge, Creative Director Alexandra Chan, Multimedia Editor Bella Gil, Culture Editor Sasha Cohen, Arts Editor Kaylee DeFreitas, Arts Editor Emily Dai, Opinion Editor Helen Wajda, Opinion Editor Kevin Ryu, Sports Editor Caitlin Hsu, Under the Arch Senior Editor Nicole Chiarella, Copy Chief Kimberly Rice, Copy Chief Vanessa Handy, Social Media Editor Roshni Raj, Deputy News Editor Dana Sun, Deputy Culture Editor Divya Nelakonda, Beauty & Style Editor Paul Kim, Dining Editor Nicolas Pedrero-Setzer, Film Editor Ana Cubas, Music Editor Bianca de Ayala, Deputy Opinion Editor Kevin Kurian, Deputy Opinion Editor Asha Ramachandran, Deputy Opinion Editor Sammy Tavassoli, Deputy Under the Arch Editor Li-Chun Pan, Photo Editor Leo Sheingate, Video Editor Manasa Gudavalli, Deputy Multimedia Editor Talia Rose Barton, Deputy Photo Editor Alex Tran, Deputy Video Editor Destine Manson, Deputy Copy Chief Jake Capriotti, Under the Arch Multimedia Editor Chelsea Li, Under the Arch Deputy Multimedia Editor Celia Tewey, Under The Arch Exposures Editor Jessica Fiorella, Under the Arch Voices Editor

Washington Square News

2

NEWS

NEWS@NYUNEWS.COM

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2020

Edited by MATTHEW FISCHETTI and TRACE MILLER

Students Question Bias as NYU German Denies Tenure To Yet another Female Professor

By AARUSHI SHARMA Deputy News Editor Many within and outside of the NYU community are questioning the NYU Department of German’s decision to deny Professor Alys George a tenured position.

George joined NYU as the Director of Undergraduate Studies and Assistant Professor for the German department in 2011. While at NYU, she won the Golden Dozen Teaching Award in 2014. Eight years later, she applied for tenure in 2019, but was rejected. George proceeded to appeal the decision, which reinstated the earlier decision.

Arne Sanders, a graduate student in the German department who has previously worked with George, said that the news of George’s tenure denial came as a shock to him.

“I had a class together with her,” Sander said. “She was definitely among the most important people for me in the department intellectually.”

“I would have never guessed,” Sanders added. “I also didn’t really believe it. At first, I was like OK it’s clearly a mistake.

I was 100% sure that this was a mistake.”

While Sanders is unaware of the details of the tenure process, he was surprised the department was ready to part with George.

“I have no idea about the laws or policies, or how this thing works,” Sanders said. “I couldn’t think of a better professor, honestly … I couldn’t see [why] you would not want to have her in the department. It’s almost crazy to me.”

Sanders commended George for her work as Director of Undergraduate Studies, especially with the transition to remote classes due to the outbreak of COVID-19.

“I don’t think that our transition to remote teaching would have been possible in the same way,” Sanders said. “It was pretty smooth and she was really there for everybody. She must have been working

24/7 and it was crazy how much support we got from her. I don’t think this whole language program which the German Department is absolutely dependent on [...] her. It’s just unimaginable.”

Sanders was among 44 people in the NYU community — including several current and recent graduate students of NYU German, many Comparative Literature and History graduate students and recent alumni — who wrote a letter to Dean Antonio Merlo contesting George’s tenure decision. However, Dean Merlo had not assumed deanship at the time of George’s appeal. He was brought in to replace Dean Thomas Carew.

A source approached WSN to share the details of Professor George’s review process and suggested apparent malpractice. Some of the sources in this piece wish to remain anonymous due to fear of retribution from NYU. The sources stated that George had faced intra-department tensions against a person — whom they did not wish to name — which may have influenced her tenure decision.

On Apr. 2, the T-Faculty Senators Council’s Grievance Committee sent a memorandum to Provost Katherine Fleming stating that “in the majority of the cases the committee has found that proper procedures were in fact followed, but concerns remain.” The council reviews denial of tenure appeals at the University level.

“It is definitely against NYU policy for spouses to hold simultaneous administrative positions in the same department,” they wrote in an email to WSN. “During the year of Alys’ tenure review, [Elisabeth] Strowick and [Andea] Krauss were Chair and DGS (director of graduate studies) respectively.”

“There was special dispensation for this by GSAS, because there were few faculty members available in the department to fill these positions,” the source continued. “That year, Strowick was an Acting

Chair. Currently, Strowick is officially appointed Chair of German by GSAS, while her spouse Krauss is presently DGS — which is properly speaking in violation of GSAS policy.”

While Professor Krauss did not serve on the committee reviewing George’s case, professor Strowick did. Strowick became the chair of the review committee, replacing Professor Christopher Wood.

NYU’s Academic Conflict of Interest and Conflict of Commitment policy explicitly states that a conflict of interest arises with respect to “immediate family members” which, according to the policy, includes spouses.

Siarhei Biareishyk, a visiting associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania, echoed the anonymous source’s sentiments. Biareishyk earned his Ph.D. from the Department of Comparative Literature in 2017. Although he has not worked with George in any official capacity, he considers her to be one of his mentors.

“There is kind of a systematic abandonment of graduate and undergraduate advisors by more senior professors,” he said. “People like Alys George, who are willing to step up to this labor — that is ultimately counted against her ... In the academic circles where I am, it is a running joke that the sure way to get your tenure rejected is to get a teaching award.”

He also shared our sources’ concern for potential malpractice regarding Professor George’s case.

“The particular dynamics of this department — the German Department at NYU — these people should be submitted to Title IX,” he said. “There is no doubt for me.”

The German Department previously came under fire for its continued employment of Professor Avital Ronell, who was found guilty of sexually harassing her graduate advisee.

Christiane Frey, who was previously denied tenure by the German depart-

ment, was one of Professor Biareishyk’s advisors while he was at NYU. Frey said that he has noticed a malicious pattern of tenure approvals against women.

“Women are under much more pressure.” Frey said.

“In the last three tenure track cases, the German Department turned down two female professors, while their male peer was accepted,” Professor Biareishyk said.

“In my opinion, all three were qualified, but Professor George was most qualified.”

George published her first book, “The Naked Truth: Viennese Modernism and the Body” earlier this year with the University of Chicago Press. The book received acclaim and several positive reviews soon after its release.

Biareishyk pointed out that publishing her first book with the University of Chicago Press is an achievement in and of itself due to the status of the publisher. He also expressed doubt that Professor George was “not taken seriously academically”.

“If you talk to people in her field, her book is going to be a paradigm changing book, it came out with the best press, better than any other publication in this department for years,” he said. “Once people in her field, in my field, found out that she did not get tenure, everyone was appalled.”

Additional sources, who also requested anonymity due to fear of retribution from the University, suggested that institutions might be slashing their tenure acceptance rates in order to elevate their status as a competitive academic institution.

“The implication is that a high achieving and much-respected scholar in her field would be evaluated on the basis of NYU administration’s desire to appear competitive with institutions like Yale and Harvard, who have notoriously f-cked up tenure-granting processes, including deliberately denying tenure to early career faculty and then poaching tenured fac-

IMAGE COURTESY OF NYU

Alys George, the Director of Undergraduate Studies and an Assistant Professor within the German Department. George recently became involved in a debacle over tenure.

ulty from other institutions,” they wrote in an email to WSN. “The point being, NYU may be intentionally (artificially) shrinking its tenure lines in order to appear competitive.”

In a message published on the University website in October 2019, Fleming questioned if NYU’s tenure rate is concerning.

“Tenure is intended to mark scholarly excellence and work that is at a discipline’s leading edge,” the message read.

“In the abstract, should it be a concern that NYU’s tenure rate has been above 90% for the last seven years, significantly higher than that of institutions we think of as peers?”

The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences did not respond to WSN’s request for comment at the time of publication.

Email Aarushi Sharma at asharma@nyunews.com.

NYU RAs Attend Training With Controversial Resources

By ALEXANDRIA JOHNSON Deputy Managing Editor

SEAN NESMITH

A screenshot shared over Twitter titled: “’clear language on slavery’ resources provided by nyu residential life.” The information was shared during a RA training meeting.

NYU Resident Assistants were called into a meeting on Sept. 23, the same day a Kentucky grand jury declined to indict officers Jonathan Mattingly, Myles Cosgrove and Brett Hankinson for the killing of Breonna Taylor.

CAS junior Sean Nesmith knew something was wrong when some of his friends, who are Resident Assistants, tweeted about leaving.

Nesmith listened to the training on FaceTime with one of his friends; they sent him screenshots of pictures referenced in the training. One picture equated slaves to hostages and slave catchers to police officers.

According to Nesmith, paraprofessionals asked RAs to define white supremacy.

Some of the Black RAs left during the training because they felt uncomfortable.

Nesmith, who was reluctant to share this information with WSN and NYU Local, wrote a Medium article titled “NYU Doesn’t Care About their Black RAs” in

response to the training, since RAs are not allowed to speak to the press.

“I’m good friends with RAs, and it’s disheartening that they are not able to talk to the press.” Nesmith said. “I know several RAs who quit their position, and I thought it was imperative to write the narrative.”

WSN reached out to NYU Black Violets, an organization whose mission is to advocate on behalf of Black students at the University. While they did not want to speak on behalf of the RAs, they were disappointed with the session and are currently working with NYU’s Office of Residential Life and Housing Services to rectify the situation. WSN also reached out to RA Voices, but they did not respond at the time of publication.

After speaking with IRHC and Black Violets about Wednesday’s training, NYU RA Council released a statement via Instagram on Saturday afternoon.

“The Black Violets engagement floor is still an ongoing project and is slated to start within both FYRE and TRUE halls during the 2021-2022 academic year,” the statement read.

The statement also discusses having a student-led diversity advisory board starting next semester. There will be a meeting on Sept. 28 where RAs will learn about how they should communicate to residents about the New York Police Department, U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement and racial bias.

Nesmith wants NYU Residential Life and Housing Services to create resources for RAs so they feel supported.

He also feels that the university should value input from groups like NYU Black Violets, RA Voices and RA Council to make these changes.

“I would like to see accountability, and the first step of that is NYU administration acknowledging they made a mistake,” Nesmith said. “Some RAs are trying to tackle cross-dialogue but they do not have the proper resources to do so.”

Vanessa Handy and Julia Santiago contributed reporting for this article.

Email Alexandria Johnson at ajohnson@nyunews.com.

Washington Square News

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2020

SPORTS

SPORTS@NYUNEWS.COM

Why Heung-min Son Is My Favorite Player

By KEVIN RYU Sports Editor My fandom for soccer began when I was five. It was the 2002 World Cup, and like everyone else in South Korea that summer, my friends and I had been swept by the fervor of our country’s Cinderella run to the semifinals. Since the tournament began, the players on that ‘02 national team had become our heroes. We tried recreating their goals at our local park. We bickered over which of our favorite players were more important to the team.

For me and millions of other Korean soccer fans, Ji-sung Park rose as the undisputed icon of Korean soccer after the World Cup, becoming an integral member of Manchester United — one of the elite clubs in European soccer.

As the national team languished, never able to recreate the mysticism of that ‘02 team, I followed Park’s career as closely as I could.

But this article is not about Ji-sung Park. I say all this to stress that, when I say Tottenham Hotspurs forward Heung-min Son has since become my favorite soccer player, he is edging a player that was one of my earliest sporting heroes.

I found that you look at the game differently as a fan of a player rather than as a fan of a team. If Son does not start, or is substituted in a game Spurs struggle in, I point to Son’s lack of minutes as the reason why. All the positive contributions he makes, no matter how small, become magnified. The same way people can be irrational about the teams they support, arguing against every refereeing decision that goes against them, I am irrational in my belief of Son. As a Korean soccer fan, I cannot help but feel proud whenever he does something that creates a buzz in the world of soccer.

My irrational fandom also comes at a price. When I watch Manchester United, the club that I now support thanks to Park, I can have a reasoned perspective on individual performances. As long as Manchester United wins, I can brush off subpar games from individual players as natural inflection points during a long season. After all, no one can be perfect every game. However, because I am watching the game only for him, I find myself not giving Son that kind of leeway. There is a standard I expect Son to consistently meet that I

3

recognize is unreasonable, but I nevertheless hold him to.

What’s staggering to me is that despite millions of other Koreans following Son like I do, he never shows signs of being fazed. When there are TV shows created to broadcast your highlights and your face is all over grocery aisles, it is passion that transcends fandom.

Every Spurs home game, there are Korean flags dispersed across the stadium from fans who flew to England just to watch him play. This might all make him one of the most marketable soccer players, but his popularity also comes with the responsibility of playing for an entire nation every single game. His teammates only play for the supporters of Spurs. When Son wears a Spurs shirt, he is playing both for his club and his country. Even as supporters, Korean fans do not travel 5000 miles to watch Son on his off night.

If he feels added pressure as Korea’s sporting icon, Son certainly has not shown it. This past season, Son was one of two players in the English Premier League to register double digit goals and assists. He is the only Asian player to have reached the 50-goal mark in the Premier League.

But numbers alone would not make Son my favorite player. I still have a sentimental fondness for Park that I do not think I will have for any other athlete.

Son might objectively be the more valuable player, but since when has fandom been objective?

What edges Son over Park for me is how Son has thrived off of dismantling the preconceptions of how Korean players must play to succeed in the biggest stages of the sport.

In soccer, analysts tend to typecast players in ways that are lazy punditry at best and stereotyping at worst.

Break down the language pundits often employ to describe Asian players, and a pattern emerges. Pundits often reduce Asian players’ strengths to their discipline and team-first mentality, papering over any technical or tactical aspects of their game.

“I played with Park Ji-sung at Man United, and [Son and Park] have similar qualities,” ex-England international Phil Neville said to Goal. “Their attitude is fantastic. They give energy to their team.”

Whenever pundits fetishized Park’s

Edited by KEVIN RYU

Meet the Students Behind the Mask

lack of ego, only talking about how much of a team-player he is, their analysis always seemed to include an implicitly patronizing but. It is as if they were saying that Park is an integral player for Manchester United, but if he were not so committed to being a team-player, he would lack the technical qualities to play in Europe. Nevertheless, I never felt fully justified in how such analysis irked me because I agreed that being a team-player was Park’s best trait. In a team full of stars, you need complementary players that can plug in the gaps, and Park was better at executing those roles than anyone.

However, when pundits like Neville dusted off the same tropes for Son, their condescension did not seem so implicit.

I mean, the two don’t even operate on the same part of the pitch. Park was a midfielder. Son is a forward. It was as if they took Park’s best attribute and constructed an archetype that all Korean players regardless of position must follow to succeed.

Whether the pundits have paid attention or not, Son has shown there is another way. If I had to describe Son’s game, I would say he inhaled Portugese star Cristiano Ronaldo and exhaled a Korean facsimile with 80% of his skills and thigh definition. His movements are jagged, direct and quick. Like how a pitcher with a 100 mph fastball can overpower batters even without elite control, the power he puts when striking the ball overwhelms goalkeepers on shots you think they should save.

Son also plays with a clinical selfishness that Park never showed. This past season, Son registered the most shots on the team. Park would never have made a scene in the middle of the game and fought with a teammate over who should take the penalty kick.

Even I will admit that I was skeptical that a Korean player could become a star in the Premier League. As I watched Park prosper, I also saw many other Korean players try their craft in England only to quickly disappoint and become afterthoughts. As much as I hated it, I began to believe that there was a certain way Korean players must play to become a part of the elite clubs in Europe. I am glad Son has shown me I was wrong.

Email Kevin Ryu at kryu@nyunews.com.

CHELSEA LI | WSN

Heung-min Son is South Korea’s pride in the game of soccer, being the star forward of Tottenham Hotspurs. With the skills and traits of a top player, he challenges the Asian stereotype in the sport and so inspired numerous aspiring young talents.

ALICE LA

The Bobcat has been NYU’s mascot since the late 1980s. There are only two rules in mascoting — never speak when you are in the suit and do not take the suit off in public unless you are with your assistant.

By KEVIN RYU Sports Editor When you join this NYU club, you might be able to attend the premiere of a Broadway show for free or participate in a mechanical bull riding competition outside Madison Square Garden. Stay in the club long enough, you might even share glasses of champagne with President Andrew Hamilton at upscale NYU parties and be paid for your appearance. The condition? Secrecy, even from your closest friends.

“We are not allowed to tell people that we are the mascot,” Global Liberal Studies senior Fanny Yayi Bondje said.

“It ruins the appeal. So I always brag about it to my mom instead.”

Yayi Bondje has upheld the NYU mascot team’s vow of anonymity more dutifully than some other members, who when asked, confessed they may have made their own exceptions to the rule. From her first event as the mascot’s assistant at an NYU 10-year reunion party (mascots travel in pairs, one in the suit and one as the assistant), the energy that a mascot could generate in the room magnetized Yayi Bondje.

“They were obsessed with the Bobcat,” Yayi Bondje said. “There was even one lady that wanted to marry the Bobcat, and we had to remind her that it’s a mascot.”

For a club clouded in secrecy, the NYU mascot team is fairly easy to join. The only requirement is a 30-second audition.

“It was the chillest audition I’ve ever done,” CAS senior Olivia Zhong said.

“I chose Taylor Swift’s ‘Shake It Off,’ and I just danced for 30 seconds.”

As the Bobcat, members have learned to define their own styles.

There are only two rules in mascoting — never speak when you are in the suit and do not take the suit off in public unless you are with your assistant. How a mascot goes about engaging with the crowd is up to them. If they are a dancer, they can dance. If they are in a jokeful mood, they can pick a person to gently poke fun at and build a rapport.

Inside the suit, the student ceases being themself and becomes the Bobcat, and any reservations about letting themself go disappears.

“People don’t know who’s in the Bobcat suit, so you can just be as silly as

you want — dance, have the best time ever — and people love it,” Zhong said.

The freedom to express oneself has its price. The suit itself is stuffy and cuts off all peripheral vision from the student, which is part of the reason every mascot needs an assistant. Technical issues aside, the suit also makes it easy for people around them to forget that there is a person inside.

“There are some people that do a little bit too much,” Yayi Bondje said.

“It is frustrating because I think people do forget we are people and to treat us with respect.”

That disconnect between the student as the person and as the mascot can sometimes feel surreal. As the mascot, the student’s goal is to build genuine connections with people at events. However, for those people, they are engaging with the Bobcat, and the connection disappears once the student takes off the suit. Meanwhile, for the student, the rapport they built lingers.

It can be strange for the student to run into someone they recognized from the event, only to realize they do not know who the student is.

“My instinct will be to give them a smile, and then I realize they don’t know who I am,” said ex-captain and 2020 CAS graduate Malka Schnaidman. “They walk by me, and they don’t even register that they just spent all this time with me. It’s kind of sad but in a cool way.”

Each member has a favorite event they attended as the Bobcat. Yayi Bondje loved participating in the annual Children’s Halloween Parade. CAS senior Harry Zhu’s favorite event was graduation, helping families say their final goodbyes to NYU. “The Bobcat is never the protagonist, but they are there to make the experience better for other people,” Zhu said. “So it feels good to be part of something that’s very meaningful for those graduating.”

The mascot team is a group of students who love bringing joy to others, and most importantly, enjoying themselves.

“You are going to be working with lots of fun, positive people, and there is just great energy, great vibes all the time,” Zhong said.

Email Kevin Ryu at kryu@nyunews.com.

Washington Square News

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CULTURE@NYUNEWS.COM

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2020

CULTURE

Edited by BELLA GIL

I Tested Positive for COVID-19

By ALEXANDRA CHAN Multimedia Editor I got a call on Friday, Sept. 18th at 8:47 p.m. from a 212 number when I was out trying to chase a story around Foley Square. “Your spit test from Monday Sept. 14 came back positive,” said a member of the NYU COVID-19 Prevention & Response team.

I was in a state of shock. I never went out without a mask. I only went out minimally for groceries, to pick up dining hall food and the spit test kits. I covered a story on Monday night after handing in that spit test and passed the daily screener on Friday so I went for dining hall food and went to Brooklyn Pier to shoot the sunset and skyline.

I’m not proud of this, but I called an Uber to get back to Green House at Seventh Street Residence Hall. On the way back, I texted everyone I was in contact with and told them to get tested. I told my suitemates with no small amount of trepidation. Coincidentally, this was also when everyone panicked about the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

I got back to my dorm and started crying. I was overwhelmed. I thought about how I did everything right. I called the number that told me twice and left voicemails when no one picked up. I hesitatingly called my parents, and my mom dropped what we were f ighting about before. She told me to take the Vitamin-C supplements I had.

The number called me back and asked if they could call back later. I ate the sushi I picked up from Palladium earlier for dinner.

He called back half an hour later and told me I was set to quarantine for ten days at Second Street Residence Hall. I started packing my necessities. He said he hoped they could get me out that night, and that they would call me back with transportation details.

I cleared out everything I use from the bathroom. I packed a suitcase, bag and backpack. I thought to myself, “What are necessities?”

I brought clothes, bedding, chargers and toiletries while staring at the wall in disbelief. He called back at 10:04 p.m. and said that I’d actually move out at 8 a.m. tomorrow morning, because otherwise there would only be transport past midnight. I told my suitemates when I would use our shared bathroom and immediately set six alarms for the next day.

A housing person called me from a No Caller ID number. The Residence Hall Director for Lipton Residence Hall told me the specif ics about quarantining at Second Street.

I couldn’t order any food delivery, but I could get mail delivered. I asked about trash disposal, work orders and f ire alarms and she didn’t have an answer then. I asked about cleaning supplies and she said I wouldn’t get any. I added some half empty wipes, tissues and whatever snacks I had on hand to my bags.

My mom called me again, and I fell asleep at 1 a.m.

Did I mention I was going to be quarantined during my birthday?

Day 1: Sept. 19 I woke up at 7 a.m. and got to the lobby at 7:50 a.m. I got a call from a 718 number and a man in a Senior Ride van arrived at 8:08 a.m. He put on a blue surgical suit that covers his front and disposable gloves and two masks after greeting me and then got the van ready. I got in the van with wheelchairs and a stretcher, and then he told me we have to pick up a second infected person. You know, I thought the Monday spit test might have been a false positive.

We pull up in front of University Residence Hall. Since we were heading to Second Street, it would’ve made more sense if I got picked up after another passenger, but we could chalk this up to how I know

nothing about how driving works in New York City.

I picked up keys from the bulletin board and was told to take my daily food bag with me because they were beginning deliveries then. I was told I could use a cart for moving in, but the food deliveries had all of them f illed. I lugged my suitcase, bag, backpack and food bag down the hallway, and took the elevator up to the second floor, and then had to backtrack because my actual room was on the f ifth floor, which was not immediately clear from the numbering system.

I forgot to get the “Room Occupied” sign because they weren’t out on the desk like I was told they would be. I called the dorm’s public safety desk, went back downstairs, got signs and taped them up outside my door.

In the room, there was a bed, desk, dresser, closet, bathroom and kitchenette. They provided a bag of cleaning supplies including the chlorine-based spray we had during the f irst quarantine, paper cups and plates, bars of soap and one singular tampon. I could not begin to imagine the thought process that led to that decision. There was bedding and a towel provided. The label on the bag said to return the sheets and towel into the bag after using them. Do they reuse those?

The COVID-19 team called me after I moved in. They said they only collect contact tracing data for the 48 hours before I took my test, and count close contact with people for more than 10 minutes. I went nowhere 48 hours before the spit test except to get groceries. Yes, I’m boring. I gave her my suitemates’ names, email, phone number and the last time we ate together.

I emailed every one of my professors and asked for extensions and Zoom lenience. Shoutout to Professor Rebecca Karl. She was righteously outraged on my behalf through the week.

ALEXANDRA CHAN | WSN

An NYU student waits for transport to isolate at another dorm. WSN Multimedia Editor Alexandra talks about her experience in NYU quarantine after testing positive for COVID-19.

The RHD of Lipton Hall responded to me about trash disposal (leave it outside the door for morning pickup), work orders (only in emergencies) and f ire alarms (yes, evacuate if it’s a real alarm).

The Student Health Center called and said they were checking in on my mental health. The woman on the phone was impressed that I emailed my professors to take time for myself and said that I’m the only one who has done that.

She provided virtual resources and offered support, but did not know anything about how NYU’s quarantine works. I explained my situation to her every other minute. How is anyone going to offer mental health support without knowing anything about the situation everyone they have to talk to is in?

The shower here warmed up faster than the one in my dorm. I used the provided towel as a floor mat.

Day 2 Sept. 20 I still was not showing any symptoms, but my biggest problem was that I missed spice. I could not order food delivery and I had nothing to cook with. I started making a list of all the food I wanted to eat when I got out of quarantine. Halal (despite actually not having ever had any before). Kimchi. Boba. Pho. Roti. Hot pot. Cheesecake. Fried spam. Don’t @ me. NYU Eats gave me a bag of extra snacks and a case of Aquaf ina in addition to the three meals and the bottled water. There was a styrofoam Nissin Chicken Ramen, but I could not microwave it, and I did not have any microwaveable containers to boil the water.

I had no information in regards to moving back in after my isolation period ended. My suitemates, Emma and Amanda, were now quarantined for 14 days until Oct. 2. I felt so bad. I heard a rumor that the reason why I only got my Monday spit test result back on Friday was because the company was having processing problems. Everyone was getting their results late. This felt dangerous.

I also realized that I was moving back on Sept. 24 — not 10 days from the start of my quarantine, but 10 days since I took my positive test. I would not be going back four days early like I thought, but a whole week earlier. I emailed the COVID-19 team to ask how that would work.

Day 3: Sept. 21 I got a call from a member of the COVID-19 team checking in. I told her I had no symptoms and that my temperature was f ine. I was emotionally stressed but I had a mountain of reading to do. I asked again about moving back in, and she did not have an answer. She could only guarantee that those details will be sorted out on Sept. 23, the day before my scheduled move out, as long as everything stayed f ine. She said it should be f ine for me to move back in because my suitemates and I have different bedrooms.

This was concerning: we share common areas.

I thought I got a response to my email about moving back, but it was just another reply to my answered

question about trash disposal, work orders (only drainage and fridge problems) and that there will be a f ire drill during my stay.

I did not have motivation to do anything productive until the clock hit 11 p.m. that day. Things were not looking good, especially when I tried to mentally prepare for getting back to my normal school schedule on Thursday. I did some reading and a short essay. Of course, it’s capitalism’s fault for making me feel like I have to be productive to be worthy but I also do not want to fall far behind in my classes when I have midterms coming in October, as a professor reminded me.

Day 4 Sept. 22 Somehow, I was able to attend three Zoom classes today.

Amanda got her negative spit test back, but they are supposed to be tested again today because it’s been f ive days since their last close contact with me. However, they received no communication on when or how to get tested.

Some absurdity happened when they f inally called to respond about my moving back.

They were going to move me to Palladium Residence Hall temporarily after I got out of Second Street until my suitemates f inished their quarantine. They also apparently got my dates wrong before, and my move out date wasn’t actually until Sept. 25 because the day I tested counted as Day Zero. I was not to receive any more information on that until that day.

That’s two and a half more days of Chartwells and yet another dorm room to clean. There was also no mention of any further testing for my suitemates or me.

I understood that some of this makes sense but I really wish I knew this from the beginning.

I still showed no symptoms.

Day 5: Sept. 23 This was the f-ckin worst birthday. I was so upset and stressed about everything that I felt like I couldn’t respond to anyone’s birthday wishes (despite that not being something I should have felt responsible for) and cried myself to sleep the night before.

I cut up a mooncake for myself that my parents had sent me last week for my birthday.

My recent call list was full of 212 numbers. I got a call from the same COVID-19 person who emailed me last night. To sum up what they told me: 1. The COVID-19 team will conf irm with me that I have no symptoms and then clear me to re-enter civilization on the night of Sept. 24, 10 days since my spit test and after f ive full days of quarantine.

2. Housing will tell me my intended room number at Palladium and other moving details like time and transport on the day of Sept. 25, so not the day before moving out.

3. I’m excused from testing for 90 days since I cannot be reinfected during that time period.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2020

4.

Since I was isolated for 10 days and had no symptoms, I cannot further infect anyone.

So even if I test again within the next week and it comes back positive, I will not be re-quarantined.

Apparently, these protocols are approved by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Day 6 Sept. 24 I got a call from the Alumni Residence and Seventh Street housing team. They wanted to check in with me, and jokingly called it step-down housing for me to go to Palladium.

I emailed Professor Karl to complain. I emailed one of my Teacher’s Assistants and said that NYU is being extraordinarily uncommunicative. I asked for an extension on an assignment I did not think I would need if my move out date was Sept. 24.

I emailed to ask about the non-perishable food I did not take with me.

There was also a f ire drill today.

We had instructions to stay put if it rang between 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

We are only meant to hear and see the alarm go off. At 7:45 p.m., the f ire alarm rang in my room. It flashed f irst before sounding, so I had time to put down my laptop and put my f ingers in my ears. I played music at the time so I concentrated on that. While the ringing happened I thought about how I would not have witnessed a f ire drill if I had moved out today like they originally told me.

I got a call from the COVID-19 team clearing me from quarantine

Washington Square News | Culture

and reactivating my ID. They told me that housing may call me at 8 a.m. tomorrow with details or before so I can move out. What the f-ck. I set six alarms.

Day 7 (D-Day!!) Sept. 25 This is the f-ckin’ worst timeline.

I stressed about everything throughout the night and didn’t fall asleep until 3 a.m. My nerves startled me, and I woke up at 6:30 a.m. I tried to go back to sleep for another half hour, but I couldn’t, so I mindlessly scrolled on social media for a while.

I got up at 8 a.m. and packed my necessities. I categorized all the food I did not eat into cardboard boxes and put them into one white Chartwells bag.

By 10 a.m., I had not heard anything and there was another Chartwells bag at my door. It’s a really disheartening sign that they thought I would still be needing food today.

I ate a granola bar while I kept sitting by my phone.

I called Housing, who said they do not directly deal with quarantine details. They redirected me to the Palladium Resource Center number and gave me the contact of the Resource Center manager instead of the Residence Hall Director like I expected. No one picked up when I was transferred.

The RC manager picked up on the second call and said that the Palladium RC doesn’t deal with quarantine details and Housing should give me that information. Fan-f-cking-tastic.

I f inally told them that Palladium

and Housing are just passing the ball to each other. I was getting upset and wanted some information. She took down my info and said she will get back to me.

An hour and a half later, still nothing. I emailed Housing and Palladium together in the same email. I wanted to make my recitation at 2 p.m.

Fifteen minutes later, I’m told by the Second Street RHD that I should leave my food in my room.

I had to wait for Housing to let me know about move-out and from the COVID-19 team to be cleared to leave, even though they cleared me last night.

At noon, another person from Housing called. She said I was moving back to my Seventh Street dorm, not temporarily placed in Palladium.

I was so tired.

They consulted with the COVID-19 team and said it would be f ine — all three suitemates were asymptomatic! She said to return the key in an envelope under the RC window, leave my trash outside in a bag and give them the receipt if I want reimbursement for transport.

My suitemates let me know that they have worn masks in common areas. They told me what not to touch when I got back. I felt sorry for inadvertently putting them in this situation but I was a little glad that I would not be shuffled around any more. I updated my parents and Professor Karl. Professor Karl told me that she sent an indignant email to the higher powers — the COVID-19 team and Andrew Hamilton — and

5

told them that I should just move back to my original dorm and apparently they replied to her that was exactly what was going to happen.

Did I have to wait for the off icial move-out email? The point person for Housing was previously copied on another email so I sent a follow up after packing everything else.

I decided to leave. I got my suitcase, bag, case of water, backpack to the door, did a last check and left in an Uber. It came out to $18, even though I went from Second Street to Seventh Street.

After entering my dorm, the f irst thing I did was place an order for kimchi fried rice and kimbap.

I unpacked in half an hour and got my food. Then, I thought about the laundry I had to do, packages to pick up and recitations to attend, which I actually did attend while eating my f irst real meal in a full week.

I got a call from the COVID-19 team. A representative from the team thought they had to clear me again and that I have not been okayed to move out yet. Once that got sorted, I was emailed a pass from completing the daily screener for one week because I would fail the question about having been isolated recently and restart the whole process again.

After being gone for one week, I already forgot which way the knob in the shower turns. I was happy to be clean and back in bed. I wanted to stay in the dorm for four more days for peace of mind and then go get tested.

I then learned that Gould Plaza

wasn’t doing testing any more. Nice.

Amanda’s mom f inally got a response by emailing higher and higher up the chain until Dr. Carlo Ciotoli, the head of the COVID-19 Prevention & Response Team responded to her and said that Amanda and Emma should go out and get tested by themselves.

Day 8: Sept. 26 Everything about the last week has just been weird as sh-t. I would not want to repeat it, and I deeply feel for anyone going through this process. It is a terrible feeling being one of the 63 positive cases, as of writing this piece. I still do not know if my spit test was a false positive, but I will get tested in a few days.

I am grateful that I never developed symptoms and I know quick action will be taken when a test comes back positive. The whole week was incredibly unpleasant and all information and action felt ineff icient and slow. It was a close-up look at how poor inter-department communication is at NYU, and I did not like what I saw. It is terrifying to test positive, and every day, it gets worse when it feels like you are on a rollercoaster with no end in sight.

There is enough to worry about without university bureaucracy.

I hope anyone who tested positive who is asymptomatic remains that way and for anyone who does have symptoms to have a quick and safe recovery.

Email Alexandra Chan at achan@nyunews.com.

We are telling big stories — the Bling Ring, Venmo fraud, drug donkeys — ones that expanded past our print-standard 500 words, ones that paint pictures with words.

This magazine aims to be a platform where undergraduate and graduate students alike can mutter on about their love of the blue-seated MTA trains or put into words the flavor of their love of grandma’s dumplings.

nyunews.com/underthearch underthearch@nyunews.com

Washington Square News

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ARTS

ARTS@NYUNEWS.COM

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2020

Edited by SASHA COHEN and KAYLEE DEFREITAS

‘We Are Who We Are:’ Is An Artistic Triumph For The Coming-of-Age Genre

By KAYLEE DEFREITAS Arts Editor A drama about coming-of-age in a small town in Italy by Luca Guadagnino? You may think I am talking about the 2017 critically acclaimed film “Call Me By Your Name” but I am in fact talking about the new HBO series “We Are Who We Are.” While sharing similarities, such as a director and themes of teenage self-discovery, “We Are Who We Are” distinguishes itself as its own entity, and becomes a unique portrayal of self-exploration in the process.

“We Are Who We Are” follows two American teens and families living on a fictionalized U.S. military base in Chioggia, Italy before the 2016 election. The coming of age drama focuses on the highs and lows of 21st-century teenage life and the exploration of sexuality and identity that comes along with it.

Directed and co-written by Guadagnino, with Paolo Giordano and Francesca Manieri, the series is his first trek into the world of television. The miniseries premiered its first episode on HBO on Sep. 14 and was shown in its entirety at San Sebastián International Film Festival on Sept. 20.

The series is shot spectacularly by cinematographer Fredrik Wenzel, who captures the essence of the picturesque Italian town and the authoritarian army base where the

series takes place. He perfectly encapsulates the hazy days on the beach and the chaotic nights of mischief. The camerawork gives the audience the sense of wanderlust that comes from unforgettable adventures with friends and beautiful Italian landscapes. Wenzel creates a stunning picture of the world surrounding the teens, even in the confines of the army base.

Luca Guadagnino takes full advantage of the long-form style of a miniseries, drawing out character development over multiple episodes. He does not have to make the audience immediately understand who they are or what their relationships are to each other.

He does not force too much backstory into the first two episodes; instead, he seemingly drops the audience into the world and leaves them to discover that world just as the characters do.

The series is wonderfully paced too, as it never rushes ahead or moves too slowly. The limited backstory that is provided alongside the natural pacing provides a well-calculated balance that keeps viewers hooked and wanting to find out more.

The way the series deals with its teenage characters is what separates this show from the many others with similar themes, such as HBO’s “Euphoria”. Unlike other teen dramas, the show allows its teenagers to simply exist and interact with the world as

they see fit. It does not put any implicit judgment on their acts, whether it be drinking copious amounts of alcohol or lashing out against adults.

The show allows the characters to be as quick-tempered and spontaneous as they tend to be in real life, making it hard to catch up with them at times. They do not make the characters pander and slow down to allow the audience to understand why they do what they do. They do not put any expectations on them and allow them to fully inhabit the world that is created for them, making it an earnest portrayal of teenage life.

Guadagnino allowed this world, as flawed as it is, to seem like a different one from our own, almost outside of our timeline entirely.

Guadagnino builds his world around the fictional army base and the picturesque Italian landscape, making the viewer feel at ease only to quickly bring in the outside world to interrogate how our reality plays into theirs.

“We Are Who We Are” has a stunning ensemble of accomplished performers and newcomers alike. The cast features the likes of Chloë Sevigny, Scott ‘Kid Cudi’ Mescudi and Alice Braga. While the adult cast is fantastic, it is the actors portraying the group of teens who have performances that deserve the most praise. They give impassioned performances that feel so natural it is as if the audience is watching average teenagers who

could be from anywhere in the world. Their powerful character work and well-developed group dynamic makes all of them the highlight of the series.

The two performances that are obvious breakouts are those of Jack Dylan Grazer as Fraser and Jordan Kristine Seamón as Caitlin.

The entire acting ensemble is cohesive and noteworthy, it is Grazer and Seamón who elevate the series and make the audience stay tuned for the next episode. Grazer recently gained prominence with his portrayal of Eddie Kaspbrak in “It” and Freddy Freeman in “Shazam!,” while Seamón is a newcomer to the small screen.

The subtle performances Fraser and Caitlin give have a striking depth to them, and glimpses of how they interact with the adults around them make for a gripping quality to the inner workings of these characters. Both actors display electric energy with each other and make these two lead characters come to life brilliantly. Grazer and Seamon prove that while they are still teenagers themselves, they have talent beyond their years and will be names to look out for in the next few years.

“We Are Who We Are” is a show that stands out amongst the many others which attempt to portray teenage life. Guadagnino proves that his directorial style and storytelling abilities have more time to breathe in this new long-form medium and it makes for, in

just two episodes, a story that has already established itself as one of the Fall’s most promising and must-see series.

“We Are Who We Are” airs new episodes Mondays at 10 p.m. EST on HBO. Email Kaylee DeFreitas at kdefreitas@nyunews.com.

CHARLIE DODGE | WSN

Luca Guadagnino’s new HBO series “We are Who We Are” follows two teens and their families on an American army base in Chioggia, Italy. The series shows the struggle of the characters, played by several well known celebrities such as Chloe Sevigny and Scott ‘Kid Cudi’ Mescudi, as they navigate through teenage life and the exploration of their sexualities and identities.

Dear Teen TV Shows: Can We Please Stop Glorifying Toxic Men?

By SAMAA KHULLAR Contributing Writer Content warning: this article contains themes of sexual assault, and emotional and physical abuse.

When the teen mystery sensation “Pretty Little Liars” first aired on ABC Family in the fall of 2010, I was nine years old. My older sister was almost 13 and since she was watching it, of course, so was I. I was aware that the show’s themes were a bit too complex for me, but it felt cool to watch something that all the girls in middle and high school were raving about. In the first season of the show, I watched as Aria Montgomery, a 16 year old girl, fell in love with her 22 year old English teacher, Ezra. Even when it was revealed that Ezra had also dated Aria’s best friend, Alison (when she was 15!), and intentionally pursued Aria in order to write a book about her life, fans were still rooting for so-called “Ezria.” By the time the series ended in 2017,

Aria and Ezra were happily married and had adopted a child together: fulfilling the fantasies of viewers who bought into this undeniably unacceptable relationship. But why?

Why would so many young women, including myself at one point, glorify objectively pedophilic behavior from a grown man and support the ups-and-downs of an extremely toxic relationship?

Before “Pretty Little Liars,” the same generation of teenagers was swept up in the ultra-rich, fast-paced NYC lifestyle of Chuck Bass and Blair Waldorf on the CW’s “Gossip Girl.” In the pilot episode, which premiered in 2007, Chuck Bass attempts to rape 15 year old Jenny Humphrey at a rooftop party in Manhattan. In the third season’s finale, writers decided it would be a good idea to have them sleep together as a throwaway plot point, not realizing, or I suppose not caring, what kind of message that could send to victims of sexual assault.

Throughout the six season run, Chuck manipulates, berates, verbally and physically

CHANDLER LITTLEFORD

Characters like Joe Goldberg in “You” and Nate Jacobs in “Euphoria” are great examples of toxic and manipulative men that young girls continue to idealize because they are conventionally attractive. These characters normalize problematic behaviors in TV shows marketed towards teenages who then see these relationships as common and worth seeking.

abuses the “love of his life.” During season three, Chuck sells a night with Blair to his equally creepy Uncle Jack in order to gain ownership of a new hotel. In the fourth season, when Blair tells him she’s engaged to another man, Chuck declares, “You can never marry anyone else, you’re mine!” before forcing himself on her and punching the glass wall behind them, cutting her face in the process. In an interview with E! after the episode aired in 2011, executive producer, Josh Safran, was asked if this scene verged on abuse.

“They have a volatile relationship, they always have, but I do not believe — or I should say we do not believe — that it is abuse when it’s the two of them,” Safran said. “Chuck does not try to hurt Blair. He punches the glass because he has rage, but he has never, and will never, hurt Blair ... she is scared for Chuck — and what he might do to himself, but she is never afraid of what he might do to her.”

The implications of these toxic and offensive storylines isn’t just that young girls begin to idealize problematic fictional characters, but they begin to understand this as the status quo. That this behavior is normal. That an older man expressing interest in a teenager is anything other than predatory. That if an abuser or a serial manipulator is conventionally attractive and they tell you they “love you,” that relationship is worth fighting for.

It’s not, and we shouldn’t be urged to feel otherwise by producers like Safran.

This mindset also affects the way young women watch shows that comment on this exact topic. Season two of the 2019 hit Netflix series “You,” focuses on Joe Goldberg as he flees from New York to Los Angeles after killing his ex-girlfriend. He meets a new love interest, aptly named “Love,” and begins the obsessive spiral all over again, making her the third woman (that we know of) for him to stalk and assume possession over.

When season two aired last winter, it was clear that several young women missed the

point of the show and the cultural criticism it was trying to provide. User @nobia_parker tweeted, “Said this already but @PennBadgley is breaking my heart once again as Joe. What is it about him? </3.” Badgley responded “A: He is a murderer.”

Badgley expressed in an interview with the New York Times in 2019 that, “it tends to be men who are more horrified by Joe. I’ll go out on a limb and wonder if that is because it’s less of a novel idea to women.” Badgley also explained how the aforementioned show “Gossip Girl,” for which he starred as Dan Humphrey, perpetuated the idea of the damaged and manipulative attractive white man being forever forgivable.

“If anyone other than a young white man were to behave like these characters behave, nobody’s having it,” Badgley said. “He’s the very special white man who somehow thinks that he’s an outsider … It would all be so comical, if it wasn’t also the generating impulse for so much prejudice which can get translated into violence.”

While it’s refreshing to see an actor handle a role like this with a deeper level of understanding and care for its implications, others are not so aware and frequently romanticize the volatile characters they play. “Euphoria,” the HBO and A24 television show that won three Emmy Awards this past week, tackles important topics like drug addiction, mental health, LGBTQ+ issues and domestic violence. While Sam Levinson, the show’s creator, has been very clear that he is not by any means glorifying these subjects or people, it seems as though Jacob Elordi isn’t as in tune with who his character, Nate Jacobs, is meant to be.

Elordi plays Nate, a high school football player who has physically abused and manipulated his girlfriend, beat up and threatened to kill any man she shows interest in, catfished another girl on a dating app and threatened to leak her nudes if she didn’t reciprocate his

feelings, and openly admitted to continually luring his ex back into a toxic relationship in order for her to “fix” him.

In an interview with GQ in July, Elordi said “I don’t think they made Nate too evil …

No, I think he has the perfect balance of terrible things happening to him and he reacts accordingly to the things that happen in his life ... I kind of feel like, obviously, he doesn’t have much of a moral conscience, but I think his evil actions are sort of justified by sort of what happens to him. I don’t really think he’s a villain either.”

At what point are we going to draw the line on what a villain is? What abuse is? When are we going to stop relentlessly defending objectively horrible behavior because a man is traditionally attractive? When are we going to stop feeding the narrative to young women that if a man hurts you, it secretly means he likes you? That if he restricts you, or outright says he owns you, you should feel flattered by his possessiveness? That if he tells you you’re all he lives for, that he “needs you” to heal, that he will hurt you or himself if you leave, you should stay and nurse him back to health?

I’m infuriated by how my younger self would have probably bought into Elordi’s character description and romanticized Nate Jacobs or, at the very least, wanted to help him. I’m exhausted with seeing the same tropes over and over again and being expected to cheer for outright predatory relationships and characters. I’m sad that so many young victims have to watch as the people who resemble their abusers get glorified, defended and forgiven. As a message to every show with a young female demographic: I’ve seen enough violence against women on my screen to last a lifetime, so either start understanding when a character is objectively irredeemable or don’t bother introducing them at all.

Email Samaa Khullar at arts@nyunews.com.

Washington Square News

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2020

7

OPINION

OPINION@NYUNEWS.COM

Edited by EMILY DAI and HELEN WAJDA

UNIVERSITY LIFE

Support GSOC to Protect NYU

By JUN SUNG Deputy Managing Editor The Graduate Employees’ Organization at the University of Michigan organized a strike on Sept. 8 in response to the university’s plans to reopen its campus and the lack of transparency regarding COVID-19 policies from the university. For a week, a large portion of university labor stopped. Dining workers initiated a work slowdown and unionized truck drivers and construction workers stopped working on campus as well. In response, UMichigan sought a restraining order from the courts that would force graduate strikers to go back to work.

The strike eventually ended on Sept. 16, after the GEO accepted a second deal from the university. According to the GEO, the group won serious concessions, with some pandemic childcare options, transparency in COVID-19 protocols, incremental progress in policing demands and more. In the end, the GEO forced UM to provide support to graduate workers — even when the university and its off icials were bent on legally crushing the strike.

The strike at UM has direct implications for NYU’s Graduate Student Organizing Committee. GSOC has been in extensive contract and impact bargaining negotiations with the university this year and is arguing for policies that affect both graduate employees and the NYU community as a whole. These demands include hazard pay, graduate funding extensions, guaranteed paid leave, rent subsidies, full COVID-related healthcare coverage and the maintenance of visa statuses for graduate workers who are international students. GSOC is also pushing NYU to implement stronger protections against discrimination and harassment, as well as to break ties with the New York Police Department and other law enforcement agencies.

Many of GSOC’s demands are similar to the ones made by the GEO at UM. Both demand stronger protections and accommodations for graduate workers that adapt to the f inancial reality of the pandemic.

Both call for an end to their respective university’s relationship with the

Submitting to

police. Clearly, each group has been at the forefront of making change at the university level.

In the past, GSOC has used its power to advocate for important issues for its members and the broader NYU community. In GSOC’s contract negotiations in 2015, the union acquired higher wages and 90% subsidized healthcare for graduate workers. Since then, it has also organized against the consolidation of student health care plans and the rehiring of Avital Ronell — the German and Comparative Literature professor who sexually harassed a former graduate student. GSOC has shown that in university politics, graduate worker unions hold greater leverage over the university than most other student groups on campus.

Yet, NYU seems to push back against GSOC at every turn. According to GSOC, the university has largely ignored or refused to accept most of the union’s demands this past year, including the one on cutting ties with the NYPD. Due to this, some may argue that pushing NYU for these demands is futile.

GSOC’s negotiating power at NYU is further amplif ied, because of the GEO’s work at UM,. The fact that the GEO gained even incremental progress in reforming local policing by refusing the university’s f irst offer shows a graduate workers’ union could force a university’s hand through withholding labor.

Moreover, the rise in protests against police brutality and racism have led to an increased awareness of these specif ic issues, especially within the NYU community. In a joint statement released on June 1 with GSOC, the Incarceration to Education Coalition called for an end to the University’s relationship with the police and supported protests against police brutality. In addition, as of Sept. 27, over 28,000 people signed a petition started by alumna Rebecca Kligerman calling on the university to sever ties with the NYPD. Opposition to the NYPD and the university’s ties with the department has grown considerably.

The GEO at UM provided a path forward for graduate workers’ unions at universities. It has shown that unions are the best type of organization to spearhead the f ight against fundamental problems in universities. It is clear that GSOC holds the most power at NYU to protect and accommodate the most vulnerable at the university. In order to utilize this power, it is not only logical to support GSOC — it has become a necessity.

STAFF EDITORIAL

NYU Continues To Fail Black Students This past week, thousands of protestors across the country gathered to protest the indictment of the three Louisville Metro Police Department officers involved in the killing of Breonna Taylor on charges related to her murder. While some NYU students were arrested at protests and shared experiences involving police misconduct — having hand injuries from zip ties that were put on too tightly, being dragged across the pavement by the legs by a police officer and being forced to remove their masks and stand closely to unmasked officers, NYU has yet to release a statement on the NYPD’s unnecessarily violent response to the protests. NYU also has not released a statement on Breonna Taylor’s violent death at the hands of law enforcement or on the indictment of the officers who killed her.

Rather than directly support students protesting at the numerous Black Lives Matter protests that took place over the summer, NYU has handed out water to the NYPD during a protest and ignored the joint request from the Union for Graduate Employees (GSOC-UAW) and the Incarceration to Education Coalition at NYU to cut ties with the NYPD. NYU has taken some steps toward supporting Black students. These include updating this semester’s required first year reading to “Just Mercy” by Bryan Stevenson in the wake of protests and establishing a one-credit course on anti-racism. But NYU’s decision not to issue a university-wide statement condemning police brutality and addressing Breonna Taylor’s murder suggests that the university is still not willing to fully stand in solidarity with Black students.

In the wake of George Floyd’s murder at the hands of a police officer earlier this year, NYU released a statement addressing its relationship with the NYPD. The university also stated that police officers are only present at university events like commencement and move-in day to provide security, and the university has no control over the police presence in the public parks and streets that surround NYU’s buildings. University President Andrew Hamilton also released a memorandum that mourned Floyd and discussed how NYU can

use reason and discourse to address “the inequities of the criminal justice system.”

What’s missing from both of these messages is an explicit discussion and condemnation of police brutality. Hamilton chose not to mention police brutality in his message on Floyd’s death — instead vaguely discussing racism in the criminal justice system.The statement on the NYPD steers clear of any mention of police misconduct and brutality at all. This suggests that even though NYU acknowledges Floyd’s death as a tragedy and claims to support Black students, they are still not willing to condemn the racist policing system that endangers their lives.

Beyond that, NYU has chosen to remain silent on Breonna Taylor’s death, despite the fact that only one of the police officers was indicted –– and only for the shots that missed Breonna’s body. NYU has also chosen not to speak out in support of its own students whose lives were endangered at the hands of the NYPD this past week. While NYU administrators claim to want to address the inequities in the criminal justice system, the fact that they have still not issued a university-wide statement condemning the NYPD’s violence and addressing Taylor’s killing suggests otherwise.

How can NYU support Black students and play a role in fighting racism in the criminal justice system — as it claims to want to do — if it won’t even condemn police brutality or acknowledge ongoing instances of police violence?

NYU cannot control whether or not the NYPD is present on public streets in the city, but that doesn’t mean that it can’t condemn police violence. NYU’s quickness to stand up for Black students only when there’s an opportunity to be performative while refusing to take substantive actions suggests that NYU will not care about its students when it might harm its image. If NYU wants to be perceived as an institution that supports its students of color, specifically its Black students, then it needs to do so. Without a strong condemnation of the police violence inflicted on its students and divestment from the NYPD, NYU will continue to fail its Black students.

Email the Editorial Board at editboard@nyunews.com.

CHAIR Emily Dai, Helen Wajda CO-CHAIR Kevin Kurian, Asha Ramachandran, Bianca Sproul CHAIR EX OFFICIO Abby Hofstetter, Alexandria Johnson, Jun Sung, Ethan Zack

Email Jun Sung at jsung@nyunews.com.

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