Writing Samples - Opinion Editorials and Profile

September 21, 2021
And the Emmy goes to... Guess Who
This year at the 2021 Emmy’s not a single Black, Asian, or Latinx actor won any awards despite a record breaking number of poc nominees. 38 African American, four Asian, and four Latinx actors/actresses were nominated making up 44% of the nominated actors. This is quite typical and I can’t say I’m shocked. The entire show, they paraded Black performers across the stage to present the awards and even had Cedric the Entertainer to host. Yet, when it came down to winners, it’s hard to believe that not a single one of the poc performers won a single award. While it’s nice that there were more nominees than usual it’s almost a slap in the face to claim diversity and then snub all the nominees for white actors. Even Anya Taylor- Joy, a white passing Latinx actress who has been sweeping the award circuit for her Netflix show, The Queen’s Gambit, lost to Kate Winslet. Let’s be honest there was never any intention of awarding any of these actors Emmys. I’m almost more disappointed in us for thinking that there was even a chance.
As an Asian American 20 year old girl, I’ve come to never expect much from the media in representation of myself. When I was younger, I felt a deep affiliation with any actress who had slightly more tan skin and dark hair. I even remember when Twilight came out, I was team Jacob because I heard he was somewhat Asian. I’ve never even seen any of the Twilight movies to this day. When I think of Asian actors today, I think of the humorous sidekick or the mean girl’s sidekick. It’s kind of a harmful narrative for a little girl to grow up believing that it’s not possible to be the main character of her own life. When Crazy Rich Asians came out I remember being so incredibly excited to see it, especially a romantic comedy starring an all Asian cast. In fact, my entire family was excited. It was a huge topic of conversation for about two weeks leading up to the release. We actually went and saw the movie the week it came out. The theater was packed. People were sitting on the steps and leaning against walls just to be in the theater (now that I think about it, that would not fly post covid) I watched it with some of my aunts, my mom, my cousins, my uncle, and even my dad. It was a family affair. I can’t even begin to describe how satisfying it was that the movie was actually good. While I knew it wasn’t the most groundbreaking movie for film in the long run. It was a huge deal to see faces that look like your own on screen with in-depth stories and personalities, not just one dimensional characters like Mr. Chow. Representation is not only vital in the film itself, it’s vital in award shows. Not only is it the most accurate portrayal of American life, but if shows with diversity aren’t winning awards there is a lower chance they’ll be made in the first place. Thus, the performative diversity displayed at the Emmys was more harmful than originally intended. Nominating poc with no intention of giving any awards to us is submitting to white comfort. The reality of the situation is that the system in which Emmys are awarded is already a racist system that did as it was intended.



November 16, 2021
UnHappy
Since when has it been up for debate that animals have souls? I talk to my dog like we’re in deep conversation. She’s like an old friend but no matter how long we’re apart we pick up like nothing’s changed. This is probably because she has never responded. I like to think she appreciates our conversations though. She is my equal, not my lesser. Most days, she eats better than I do honestly. Since I moved back to New York last April, she has become an only child and she couldn’t be more thrilled. She sleeps in my bed, and eats side dishes of chicken at restaurants. She has all the attention of the household and she likes it that way. When I come home to visit she almost resents me for sleeping in her bed and talking to her parents. I don’t mind at all. When on Earth did she become the dog who is spoiled in the way that she wears a sweater to the grocery store and a hat when she sticks her head out the window? At the same time, why shouldn’t she be spoiled? Why do we look down on animals? They are just as alive as we are.
Naming the saddest elephant, Happy, is an overwhelming oxymoron. She is kept in isolation in the last place an elephant should ever be; the Bronx. One thing I know for sure is that Happy has feelings. She is damned to be perpetually “Happy”, when she is remarkably unhappy. I relate to her in a 3rd cousin way. I wonder what she thinks about with no one to talk to ever. Quarantine had me in a hole. I can’t imagine being stuck in a pen for 51 years. A few weeks ago, I was with my boyfriend in Little Italy and we were joking about Little Italy, saying that it wasn’t a couple streets of restaurants, but just a tourist attraction of a small Italian man standing in a glass box. How long would it take for the man to give up hope that he would ever be released? In reality, that is quite literally what Happy is doing. Bidding time. Twiddling her elephant thumbs in anticipation of the sweet release that is...
In Molly Young’s article, she compares the human keepers to the volleyball that Tom Hanks befriends in Cast Away or a robot companion. Those “friends” were made out of necessity and are a representation of a cruel and desperate desire for connection. It’s not fair that Happy is just standing around in the Bronx purely for the entertainment of humans. This is plain and fair abuse. Not even animal abuse, just legitimate abuse. A prisoner to man. Does Happy need a sweater for the grocery store?




December 6, 2021
PROFILE: Masha Gessen is a Legend
Masha Gessen is one of the most impressive journalists of our generation. Gessen is a Russian-American journalist and author who has become the face of the LGBTQ+ movement in Russia, even being coined as "Russia's leading LGBT rights activist,". Gessen has come out as nonbinary and identifies as transgender. This was incredibly brave of Gessen, who was one of the first openly gay people in Russia at the time. They also use they/them pronouns. Gessen has since become a very influential journalist not only in Russia but also in America speaking out about their experience coming out and inspiring others to come out as well. They have also written in-depth about being very leftist while criticizing the President of Russia, Vladamir Putin, and former president of the United States, Donald Trump. Gessen writes in both Russian and English allowing their works to reach a larger audience and helping to build a bridge between America and Russia in speaking out about their issues with politics to both countries. Gessen’s bias is very left-wing as they have been a major role model for many who identify as LGBTQ+ and never felt the confidence to come out or stand up for their rights.
Gessen grew up in Moscow in a Jewish family in the late 60s to early 70s. Gessen’s great grandfather was murdered in 1943 in a Nazi-occupied ghetto or a concentration camp. In 1981, their family moved to America through the US Refugee Resettlement Program. They attended the Rhode Island School of Design and Cooper Union studying architecture. Ten years later, Gessen moved back to Moscow to work as a journalist. During their first marriage, they adopted their eldest child from a Russian orphanage for children of HIV-positive women. In 2013, politician, Vitaly Milonov said this about Gessen’s atypical family; "The Americans want to adopt Russian children and bring them up in perverted families like Masha Gessen's." in response to the adoption when promoting a law against foreign adoption. Gessen’s family is a role model for families who don’t fit into the stereotypical definition of family. Not only through their work are they an inspiration but also through their unconventional lifestyle. Gessen’s two other children are biological. Gessen has been married twice. Their most recent partner is Darya Oreshkina. They live in New York City with their children. Gessen has been a staff writer for The New Yorker since 2017. They also teach at Bard College and are also vice-president of PEN America.
Gessen has written a copious amount of work for The New York Times, The New York Review of Books, The Washington Post, New Statesman, The New Republic, the Los Angeles Times, Slate, Granta, Vanity Fair, U.S. News & World Report, and Harper's Magazine. Gessen’s career has also been extremely noteworthy. From 1993 to 1998, Gessen was on the board of directors of an LGBTQ+ rights organization, Triangle, based in Moscow. Gessen’s profile about Vladimir Putin’s aspirations to be a Russian gangster during his youth went viral days before his 2000 inauguration. This book brought to light so many important points about Putin and helped the people of Russia to fully understand the agenda of their soon-to-be President. The book won the National Jewish Book Award in 2005 for its merit and journalistic integrity.
Gessen has written a total of twelve books including Dead Again: The Russian Intelligentsia After Communism (1997) Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin (2012), and Words Will Break Cement: The Passion of Pussy Riot (2014). Their most recent book is Surviving Autocracy published in 2020. The book is about “understanding and recovering from the calamitous corrosion of American democracy over the past few years,” according to the back cover. They have also translated many books to English from Russian and vice versa. Their most famous book is probably The Future Is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia which won them the National
Book Award for nonfiction in 2017. Gessen has won several other awards as well during their career. They were the Guest of Honor at the Stora Journalistpriset in 2012 and received the Hitchens Prize in 2018. Notably, in 2015, they were the 24th recipient of the University of Michigan Wallenberg Medal. The award is named after a Swedish diplomat who rescued thousands of Jewish people towards the end of World War II, the Wallenberg Medal is a prestigious honor awarded to humanitarians who have stood up for the oppressed in an attempt to better their situation.
At the Sydney Writers Festival in 2012, Gessen gave a speech in which they criticized the entire institution of marriage as a whole stating that marriage isn’t practical and shouldn’t exist in the first place. In this speech, Gessen showed their bias of not believing in institutionally proven partnerships. This was more of a shocking revelation to their audience as it was a protest of a theory rather than their rights. They also had recently divorced their partner at the time.
Gessen has had many television appearances and has a producer credit on the film Welcome to Chechnya. They also have writer credit on a Russian film called Poka Noch ne razluchit about an expensive restaurant and is a satirical look at real life. They got this credit for their article, “Vkusnyye razgovory" published in Bolshoy Gorod magazine in October 2005.
Gessen’s career has been very effective in getting their agenda of LGBTQ+ rights and is one of high regard. They have been criticized for their work as it is very controversial, especially in Russia. The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin was received very well by the public with many glowing reviews. However, a CIA officer, John Ehrman said that the book was too liberal and was "effective as anti-Putin propaganda" but "little of what Gessen has to say is new.". Still, their work has made a bigger impact on the condition of not only Russia but the world. Same-sex marriage became legal in 1993 and Legal gender change became legal in 1997 in Russia. Thanks in large part to Gessen’s work to destigmatize their sexuality. They have worked tirelessly their entire life to stand up for those who didn’t have a voice and support those with a sexuality that reflect their beliefs that everyone deserves the right to love who they desire. Their work as a journalist is one of the most important to a minority group in allowing their marginalized group to receive the bare minimum of rights. However, there is still so much more work to do. There are still no laws against discrimination of gender identity or expression in Russia as of today. Gessen is still a large advocate for gender and LGBTQ+ rights. Their work inspires and offers others the ability to stand up for themselves knowing that someone is on their side already.



October 21, 2021
Is Cancel Culture Racist?
John Lennon is right in the middle of being canceled for a song with a title that I refuse to repeat. Look it up if you must. Youtube took the song down, that’s how truly offensive the song is to not only to a whole race but also the entire female gender. Lennon has admitted to beating women and children most famously, his widow, Yoko Ono. He has written multiple songs in which he threatens this with former ex-girlfriends.
Dave Chappelle’s most recent special has incited outrage in the Transgender community. Chappelle has had issues in the past with his comedy because he is said to be making fun of the LGBTQ+ community. As of thirty minutes ago, there was a planned protest for some of the Netflix employees to walk out over this special. The other newest development is that Netflix fired the organizer of the walkout, a pregnant black woman. Here’s the thing, this employee wasn’t fired because she spoke out against the special. She was fired because she broke an NDA agreement when she spoke about the amount of money Chappelle made from the special.
Some of what he says is truly offensive, but what Chappelle is ultimately trying to get at, is racism in this country and how we coddle white men. In the last special he comments on Caitlyn Jenner and how immediately accepted she was by society. By no means was Chappelle trying to make fun of her or her story nor was he trying to diminish her struggle, he was simply trying to point out a more poignant problem in American culture. What Chappelle is trying to say is that there is a real problem with pitting minorities against each other and treating one better than the other. In his newest special Closer he raises the question is it possible for gay people to be racist? and of course, the answer is yes.
I’m scouring the internet for an answer to the big question: Is Dave Chappelle transphobic and is his work inciting violence and hate? Everyone makes good points but this is how I interpreted his special. People are mad at Chappelle and have been since he began talking about gay people. While he does make jokes at their expense (not great) he doesn’t mean to cause any real harm or hate. He is trying to make these points. Comedy isn’t a personal essay and shouldn’t be taken as a manifesto. He is making jokes, emphasis on jokes, and he has joked about almost every minority. The only real harm Chappelle sees is white people. He makes observations in his comments that there is a real entitlement in the LGBTQ+ community that fails to recognize the privileges of having white men as a part of the community and expects him to respect their struggles when they are the reason for his struggles in America as a Black man. He understands that gay people struggle, yet, he feels that there shouldn’t be more. Here’s where Chappelle fails. He fails to recognize that his comments are harmful to the members of the LGBTQ+ community.
The difference between Lennon and Chappelle is that Lennon genuinely believed what he was saying while Chappelle is merely joking in a comedy special. Is Chappelle putting on a persona? Who’s to say, but this much can be said about Lennon. He was not putting on a persona nor was he hiding his faults. Yet, John Lennon will never be canceled. It will not stick. His demographic is old, white men who grew up worshipping this man in the prime of their lives and look back too fondly on times when many struggled and white men were free to be opinionated and offensive. While there could be the argument that “times were different”, this doesn’t excuse empathy or plain human compassion.
All I’m really trying to say is that there is a real apparent trend as to who society and the media show favor for in the news. Chappelle says it over and over in the special. He is not trying to harm transgender people, He is trying to bring attention to the notion that there is a problem in America where white men are given more lenient treatment even as a minority. While, the two aren’t exactly parallel, there is a real obvious bias in who is given the benefit of the doubt.