royal holloway – Page 5 of 25

A Love Letter to Four Weddings and a Funeral

13Dec

By Madelaine GrayNo Comments

Culture

A Love Letter to Four Weddings and a Funeral

A romance film where the romance is incidental. I watched Four Weddings and a Funeral for the first time relatively recently. I was expecting another Notting Hill–and indeed, there are parallels and similarities, in that Richard Curtis directs while Hugh Grant attempts to win the affections of a seemingly-out-of-his-league American, accompanied by a zany, tight-knit group of friends. Four Weddings, however, is a different film entirely, and quickly became one of my favourites. Four Weddings stands apart from the usual romcom genre in my mind for many reasons–not least because the romance that the film ostensibly follows is one of the least interesting aspects. It seems almost cliched now to reject Charles and Carrie’s central love story. After all, in the era of “hot takes”, it’s be...

<strong>The Self-Help ‘Genre’: Reading Towards a Fresh Start</strong>

13Dec

By Olivia TaylorNo Comments

Culture

The Self-Help ‘Genre’: Reading Towards a Fresh Start

Watching Sex and the City’s Charlotte York stumble through a bookstores ‘Self-Help’ section in search of Starting Over Yet Again, feels like a very accurate depiction of that particular experience, especially when you are a perfectly normal yet slightly unconfident and insecure person. Fortunately for both Charlotte and anyone else looking for novels like Starting Over Yet Again - which unfortunately isn’t a real book - Amazon exists. Therefore we don’t have to fumble through the self-help section shouting ‘travel… travel?’ in vain hope of masking any embarrassment. But why should anyone be embarrassed of self-help books? Have we really created a stigma around reading for advice rather than asking? Whilst I haven’t (yet) bought a title similar to Starting Over Yet Again, I have r...

<strong>“We are the weirdos, mister”: Queer Identity and the Horror Genre</strong>

13Dec

By Chloe ReynoldsNo Comments

Culture

“We are the weirdos, mister”: Queer Identity and the Horror Genre

As the days darken and the nights grow longer, I find myself contemplating my fascination with the horror genre. Of course, the endless fantastical possibilities that the genre provides (along with a natural inclination towards everything macabre) piques my interest in the topic, but there must be something else that keeps me coming back for more. Horror must offer something altogether more crucial than a quick scare or an opportunity for escapism that makes these films appeal to an overwhelmingly LGBTQ+ identified audience, something that resonates on a profound level and keeps us invested in the genre as both filmmakers and spectators alike. Why is it that horror stories hold so many queer people entranced? To determine why horror means so much to me, I’ll cycle back to where i...

13Dec

By Madelaine GrayNo Comments

Digital Copies

The “Nostalgic” Issue

Issue Two, Academic Year 22/23 https://issuu.com/orbital-royalholloway/docs/issue_two_nostalgic_

21Nov

By Charlotte TownNo Comments

Lifestyle

Romanticising University Life

Romanticising simple tasks, such as a trip to the shops, walking to a lecture, or going into Egham for a coffee is something we are all guilty of. There is a feeling of comfort which arises by putting on a big coat and your favourite playlist and idly making your way around campus. The extravagant Founders building and the warm colours of Autumn which currently adorn Royal Holloway are the perfect complement to romanticising your university life. Romanticising your life can play a crucial part in cheering yourself up on gloomy days of Autumn and Winter. As busy students, we should allow ourselves to occasionally follow the beckoning lights of a local cafe or the friendly call of a day exploring charity shops (it is self-care really). Even revision can be made enjoyable when it is...

Ginger Ale, Germans, and ‘Good Girls’: An Advocacy Against Speed Dating

17Nov

By Olivia TaylorNo Comments

Lifestyle

Ginger Ale, Germans, and ‘Good Girls’: An Advocacy Against Speed Dating

All names mentioned in this article could be real or I may have made them up, I honestly just can’t remember who said yes or no to name dropping… Congratulations to me! I have reached my 20s, a decade dedicated to making decisions that will go on to shape the rest of my life, whether that surrounds my career, social life or even - dare I say it - love life. In hindsight, would it be better to scrap the congratulations? I must preface this article by saying it definitely is not about love, because if it was, I would be both deeply embarrassed and entirely let down, however, it is about my first time experiencing speed dating. Reasons for doing this include 1. I am an excellent wingwoman, 2. This article, 3. It sounded hilarious. Notice how none of my reasons include finding the love of ...

Bridgerton, Our Flag Means Death, and Diversifying History

10Jul

By Eva Townsend BiltonNo Comments

Film & TV

Bridgerton, Our Flag Means Death, and Diversifying History

In our digital age, where information about any historical era is more readily available than ever before and any uppity fact-checker can send a Tweet, differing opinions about the extent to which historical drama has a duty to be ‘accurate’ abound. There are video essays a-plenty pointing out the inaccuracies and anachronisms in just about any movie or TV show with a historical setting. But lately, we’ve seen media embrace anachronism. Two recent and ongoing shows in particular, Bridgerton and Our Flag Means Death, use anachronism to increase minority representation and give their histories a diverse and modern twist. The goal, in any fictional narrative, is not to give a history lesson. Though the occasional YouTube video detailing the inauthenticity of a character’s hat in the lates...

The Minority’s Minority? Guyana, Rise Up

21Jun

By Jethro RobathanNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Visual Arts

The Minority’s Minority? Guyana, Rise Up

Mother’s Day seemed like an appropriate time to get in touch with my Indo-Guyanese ancestry, so I took my Mum, born and bred Guyanese, on an outing to the Tate Britain's exhibit, Life Between Islands. Guyana’s locale tends to leave it overwritten in many Caribbean tributes. You can imagine my joyful surprise, then, to see a thriving Guyanese presence in Life Between Islands. It is an excellent celebration of all things Caribbean, with a focus on the impacts of colonialism, migration and British identity, tying generations together through art, film, fashion, music and even interior design, to the ongoing efforts for cultural decolonization. Guyana occupies this odd spot – it’s part of the Caribbean but it’s not an island. It sits east of Venezuela and straddles the northern coast...

Searching for a Home: Connection through Crises

21Jun

By Accalia SmithNo Comments

News, Opinion

Searching for a Home: Connection through Crises

As I sat down to write this article, it suddenly struck me just how wide and complex the word ‘connection' is. At its core, connection has these profound connotations of a bond, of intimacy, of emotion. Yet we apply ‘connection’ to acquaintances and social media friends. On LinkedIn we ask a stranger to ‘connect’ in the name of professional development. We connect the dots, and play Connect 4. Most recently, connection has been used to talk about current crises from the Russian war on Ukraine to climate change. Now with Ukrainians being forced to find refuge in countless countries across Europe, we might wonder how this changes our viewpoint on connection. Yuliya, who recently fled Ukraine, told me her story. Below is her account of what happened. “I was born an...

21Jun

By Accalia SmithNo Comments

News, Opinion

Unity for Ukraine

How the Invasion of Ukraine Has Demonstrated What a Europe In Unity Can Do For Victims of Violence, Invasion And War On 21st February 2022, Putin recognised the independence of non-government-controlled areas of Donetsk and Luhansk, and on 24th February ordered the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The EU council had already delivered its first round of sanctions on the 23rd, in response to Russia’s recognition of the separatist regions’ independence. This was then immediately bolstered by further sanctions on the day of the invasion, alongside the Joint Statement by the EU council condemning the ‘unprovoked and unjustified military actions’ of Russia, deploring ‘the loss of life and suffering’ and warning of measures which would ‘impose massive and severe consequences on Russia...