Bonded, Yet Separate: The Journey to Individual Identity in Twin Relationships

Ni de aquí, Ni de allá — What comes with being Mexican American

Where am I from? For some reason, I still hesitate before answering that question. I never know what the correct answer is. Do they mean where I was born or where my family’s from? Or both? That’s only one of the many…

Everybody was NOT Kung Fu fighting: Fighting Stereotypes and Reclaiming Cultural Identity

Whenever I say I do Chinese Martial Arts, I generally get two types of responses from people. Those who ask me what it is because they genuinely have no idea — and I don’t blame…

WP1: Walking On

When I opened the email in the middle of my Astronomy 100 class, my dream of becoming part of USC football had come true, “After speaking with our coaching staff, we would like to extend you all an invitation to participate as walk-on members of our football program — congratulations!” The phrase…

Understanding Magicians as a Mechanism that Naturalises the Supernatural

As Denizens of Hyperreality

Intro:

This post will attempt to use the idea of magic to understand what is means to be a magician…

Half-Filipino: Exploring the Intersectionality of Race and its Effect on Identity

My mother is Filipino, my father is Persian/Iranian (I use both interchangeably but mostly say Persian). I embrace this intersectionality of my identity because it’s what makes me, me. Yet…

WP1: Dancing Lions, Commodifying History

The lion sits cross-legged and motionless while it peels a mandarin orange in its mouth

When you were a child you were deathly afraid of lion dances. The thundering gongs and…

On The Ethics of Drone Cameras — Why They Must Remain Accessible to the Public

I am a filmmaker. It is all I have wanted to be since I turned fourteen and my parents’ marital issues first erupted in our household. It is all I have wanted to be since I started watching…

WP1 香蕉人’s Journey to the West

Growing up, I hated Asian American stereotypes and did all I could to distinguish myself from them. Popular culture portrays us as people who covet boring but decent-paying jobs while shunning creative ones — the Asian doctor or lawyer joke is ubiquitous. As we grind to pursue these professions…

WP1 REVISED: Exposing Hollywood’s Fake Narrative to Develop Real Equality in Storytelling

When people look back at the film industry, or more specifically, Hollywood, 100 years ago, and compare it to today’s world, most of them would think that we, as a society, have…

WP1: Protecting Post

Post production, the entire department and process following the wrapping of filming a movie or television show, is one of the most crucial parts of the film industry. And yet, it’s the most overlooked piece of the puzzle. In this unseen space, the field fails to amass the glamor that comes…