WE’RE IN THE MIDST OF A REVOLUTION

We’re in the midst of a revolution. It’s the kind you read about in history books, and to say community has been at the forefront for the past few years is an understatement. Especially the pandemic, while pushing us apart, has really brought us closer together with mental health and the spread of kindness trending. It makes me wonder, what got us here?

Much like the hippie movement after the Vietnam War, of course this period has been triggered by a number of events. But sitting here in isolation on a Saturday afternoon, watching the film ‘Into the Wild’, I can’t help but notice that when you strip everything back, an innate desire for community exists. It’s not only something that’s helped us survive as a species, but something we crave.

It’s our innate qualities that have led us to where we are now. Think of the main character Chris in Into the Wild who, despite fleeing capitalism, remained industrious. Despite chasing a nomadic lifestyle, he quickly settled. He found a home, scavenged for resources and built his own amenities. But for someone who escaped his community, changed his name and embarked on alone journey across the country, the biggest surprise was his compulsion to share. Why would someone, who so vehemently wants to detach from society, take photographs and write letters? My 21st century mind goes straight to social media. Is social media’s success simply a product of our burning desire to share? Chris’ journey took place in the early 90s, before any of the technology and social media that dominates our lives today even existed, yet he still documented. He still shared.

Perhaps he mistook his distaste for his own community for a dislike of community in general. Where we can, we choose who we engage with. Look at the universes Gen-Z has created through TikTok and Snapchat. For my generation, Twitter has made it easy for me to focus my feed on those also interested in writing and LGBTQIA+ issues. Life in person isn’t as easy, which is perhaps another reason for social media’s success. But as with social media, issues arise when communities are restrictive; when they’re not open to exploring the “other”.

If the problem with community is its lack of exposure to those that are different, then the fix is obvious. The revolution I mentioned earlier is both a direct result and hopefully a cure. And how does a revolution continue through a pandemic? Through sharing.

It’s the original influencers we’re looking to now – the actors, musicians, photographers, writers, artists and activists who have all built careers around sharing. These are the trend setters. These are the change makers. And we are so affected by these people not only because of their skill and their stories, but their vulnerability. It’s their willingness to share.

Chris’ story in Into the Wild was proof that we not only need society for our physiological needs – think back to lessons on Maslow’s Hierarchy, but for our enjoyment. His story was a reminder that we need to serve society for it to serve us. If no-one makes the effort to contribute, then what is left? Can we truly enjoy life without sharing it with others? In his final words, Chris may have summarised it perfectly; “Happiness is only real when shared.”

– Amalia Cole

WHAT WOULD BE YOUR ULTIMATE ROLE?

A question that often follows once I’ve let someone in on the dirty dark secret that I, like many other hopeful, and probably naive young women, have dreams of becoming a movie star.

Has this always been something I’ve wanted to do? No, not at all.

Drama class in highschool terrified me, the thought of getting up to even say one word, let alone a whole performance had me like Eminem in 8 mile, knees weak and palms sweaty.

I was painfully shy and very fearful of embarrassing myself. Fifteen years later, adulthood has taught me that embarrassment is inevitable and the sooner you realise that no one generally cares about anything besides themselves, the sooner you realise that this embarrassment doesn’t mean anything to anyone besides you. And the same fears you’re carrying around, they are too.
So it was a miserable London winter’s afternoon behind a switchboard desk where I was temping at the time that movie stardom finally made sense. 

Suicidal ideation was on the cusp of my mind. Before my shift I’d just been knocked back from another interview in my chosen field of Media and Communications- that I’d obtained a University degree for and hoped to get a job in. Their reasoning was “lack of experience”, yet I’d spent the past 3 years interning at various publications in London, New York and Sydney for free. How am I supposed to get any real experience if no one gives me a chance?

It all felt too hard, and I began to ponder if I even wanted or cared about it anymore. The answer was nearing no.

I cried at my desk and read whatever self help book I had at the time between calls.

That day the page read something like, “If you had no fear, what would you do?”

My best friend at the switchboard was a seventy- something year old woman named Orlagh, she was Irish and lovely. We bonded over our controversial yet sincere love for Woody Allen films. Each day we’d spend hours talking about a different film, she’d give me a new movie suggestion and that evening I’d go home and watch them, then come back the next day to tell her about it. 

I thought this meant I was destined to be a director- a pursuit I have since fulfilled, but when I read that question on the page that day, acting was all I could hear. It surprised me, I thought, no you can’t do that?!

Start acting at 27 years old? How ridiculous. 

But it couldn’t beat how ridiculous I already felt. My instagram feed is full of my peers hitting lifetime milestones: marriage, house, children, and look where I was, redirecting calls around a department store. I realised I had nothing to lose.

And when you have nothing to lose, why not reach for the stars-  yes a cliche.

So back to the question of my ultimate role? I’ve always pictured “Bond Girl”. I want to be one of the very few black women of Bond. A monumental beacon of global representation. Australian and black, in 2021- a post COVID and #BLM world,  who exactly would she be? 

The Bond series has always reflected it’s time and even more so through it’s Bond women. Go back far enough and you can even see rape culture glamourised, head to 80’s & 90’s Bond films, and we start to see a change and progressiveness in the narrative.

Maybe it’s time for a female James Bond. A woman who yields her sexuality in the same way Bond does, yet isn’t strictly defined or reduced by it. 

A spy as slick and all knowing as Bond, a woman who has multiple lovers and conquests throughout the film and is heroiced for it.

To be the next James Bond, some could say is quite a stretch, too ambitious, perhaps even an embarrassing statement to make. I don’t care. Watch this space.

– Yemi Sul