By Sabrina Stevenson Emerald Fennell’s “Wuthering Heights”  is, unfortunately, everything I thought it would be. (And yes, the quotation marks around the title are a non-negotiable addition made by Fennell, who claimed in an interview with Fandango  it is not possible to adapt ‘a book as dense and complicated as Wuthering Heights ,’ so is instead making a ‘version of it.’) This quote alone confirmed my skeptical assumptions of the film based on the teaser back in September, w

By Amy Lam If you placed a gun to my head 30 seconds before my research for this article, and asked me what ‘NFL’ stood for, I sadly wouldn’t be here to write it. If you then took pity on me (in this admittedly outlandish scenario) and asked me to name an American football player, I would only let you down again. And in all honesty, if you mentioned the extremely unambiguous term of ‘American football’ to me, I would think of the homonymous Midwest emo band, rather than the s

Which of these is the most performative? (a)   Reading a book in public, especially while walking down the street. Bonus point if it’s a title that people will recognise for its literariness, like Giovanni’s Room . (b)  Wearing paint-stained overalls with a beer bottle sticking out of your pocket. (c)   Citing some great academic in class who wasn’t even included in the secondary reading —you skimmed an abstract three minutes before the tutorial—to show off to everyone how

By Sabrina Stevenson For much of his career, Michelangelo was not considered an artist. Painters and sculptors of the Renaissance period were instead classified as artisans, or skilled craftsmen. Art was a technical skill, crafted over decades of hard work in workshops with no expectation that anyone would even know your name. Yet, with the rise of humanism in the 16th century, artists started to be recognised for their intellectual and creative capacities as well, finally do

By Bethany Dowell It’s undeniable that the final season of  Stranger Things  looks and feels nothing like the show that premiered on Netflix a decade ago. Like many viewers, I felt disappointed after waiting so long for what proved to be a lacklustre conclusion. This prompted me to revisit season one and question whether nostalgia had blinded me. However, it hadn’t at all; there genuinely was a loss of visual charm as the show progressed. Source: Yahoo Entertainment Both the

Choosing the right song is key to ensuring your run is an absolute hit. Choose the wrong song, and you’ll come away feeling like a one- hit wonder. As a competitive runner, I always get struck with “Alex, don’t you get bored running?”. I usually dismiss the question, shrug and say no. Yet recently, I was asked the more engaging question of “What do you actually think about when you’re running?” This got me thinking. How do  I manage to persevere when my lungs are burning, and

As I sat in my seat, waiting for the Barron Scriptwriting Competition Showcase to begin, I was pleasantly delighted to be surrounded by such a warm community. People were chatting amongst themselves, with writers and directors hidden in plain sight alongside casual theatre enthusiasts. This crowd meant for an inviting and creative atmosphere that was my initial impression of this event and I had high hopes. Five short performances were to occur, each written, directed and per

The Gilmore Girls  re-watch is an annual ritual. However, many find Rory Gilmore, one of the main protagonists, quite infuriating and say the show becomes unwatchable after she leaves high school. So why is it that Rory goes from becoming everyone's favourite to everyone's most hated character? In short, what really leads to Rory Gilmore's academic ‘downfall’ and does she deserve the hate or are viewers being too harsh? Source: Pinterest Throughout Rory's entire life, until s

By Amy Lam It starts so slowly, you’d barely realise it. At first, the changes are subtle, and maybe even welcome after a long summer. You wear an extra layer one day perhaps, or a singular orange leaf falls on you on your way to class. Are you more tired than usual, or is that just your imagination? And then before you know it, you’re stepping out at 5pm into the pitch black, the nights feel longer than the days could ever be, and you’re wearing a full winter coat in your ho

By Bethany Dowell As October’s Halloween excitement fades and I’m pulled into the reality of deadline season approaching, my social media algorithms have been flooded with the idealisation of “locking in” for the final stretch of semester one. As a consequence, alongside completing readings, writing 3,000 words and attending society meetings, I feel burdened with the daily reminders to walk 10,000 steps, drink 2 litres of water and journal before sleeping for nine hours. On s

When she announced her engagement to the football player Travis Kelce on Instagram, Taylor Swift captioned the post: “Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married.” She echoed a lyric from her love song “So High School”: “You know how to ball, I know Aristotle.” But the origins of this particular self-styling are fairly recent. Swift had always been acknowledged as a talented lyricist, but, until around five years ago, “writer,” let alone writing teacher , h

For those who aren’t familiar with Gossip Girl , let me enlighten you: 121 episodes of a skilfully crafted, dramatic masterclass. The addictive show follows teenage billionaires Chuck, Nate, Blair and Serena as they navigate the skyline of New York’s 2007-2012 Upper East Side. Without giving away too much for those who have somehow survived (surely with difficulty) without seeing Blake Lively repeatedly muttering 'I have to go' upon their screen, Gossip Girl beholds affairs

By Ella Prieto In middle school, I almost failed French.   My teacher was this peculiar lady who taught yoga in her free time, spoke seven languages, and always enjoyed pulling me to the front of the class to call me an idiot. She would prowl into the auditorium where we waited before school to force us (her worst students) into extra grammar practice. She often called my mother to tell her what an awful student I was, without any sort of solutions nor empathy. Tears never mo

By Bethany Dowell Often when I hear that there is going to be a celebrity rendition of my favourite reality TV show, my heart sinks. However, when I found out that The Traitors UK  was expanding to the celebrity domain, I couldn’t help but feel giddy inside. Despite only two episodes being aired so far, it’s already clear that The Traitors: Celebrity UK might just be the rare spin-off that works.     Before any reality TV show airs, casting is the most significant talking poi

Sabrina Stevenson The Muppets has been a household name for as long as many can remember. Their first solo appearances were in the late 70s with The Muppet Show , featuring a variety of A-list celebrity guests. Today it might be best known for The Muppet Christmas Carol , an adaptation of the Dickens classic which has been a long time Christmas staple in my family. Yet every year as the credits roll, we find ourselves asking – why did they ever stop making these? While the fr

By Heather McLeod Why are kids these days struggling so much to read and write? Simple answer: they aren’t reading for leisure. Every day we are seeing more and more children who have fallen out of love with reading. Not only that, but they actively avoid picking up a book altogether.  Reading is an essential, basic skill for anyone to successfully function in today's society. It develops communication and literacy skills which are needed in every aspect of life.  However, we

I am pleased to write for The Stand in part because of its devotion to fashion, of which I am moderately keen about. Now don’t get me wrong, I am clueless as to the goings on of the St Andrews fashion societies; I am yet to achieve the “autumnal chic” of the university students; and I am so far off the clothing trends that I might as well be living on the moon — the corduroy and collar is generally my uniform. Yet, I still have an appreciation for these articles in The Stand

We are all chasing something, whether that be academic success, a perfect resume, athletic excellence, romantic attention. And what do each of these ambitions have in common? They grant a certain sense of validation that makes us feel more important. After all,  doesn’t everybody want to be important? While these noble(ish) pursuits have been connected to human experience as long as historians have documented civilization, I can’t help but highlight one form of attempted fulf

Romeo and Juliet . Many of you will read that title and shudder: suddenly plunged straight back into your year 10 classroom, (AQA survivors stand in solidarity).   Picture the scene: it's no later than 9am on a cold November morning - no - scratch that, January morning (to add to the air of depression I'm trying to recreate), and your teacher suddenly announces, “today we’ll be looking at Shakespeare”. There’s a collective groan, and the look you blazingly throw at the teache

TWO is a play about love, loss and betrayal – and Mermaids’ latest rendition left me suspended between laughter and stunned melancholy. Jim Cartwright’s script unfolds in a small-town pub, the lives of its drinkers and owners revealing the quiet tragedies behind everyday love. As I sat in the buzzing Barron for the opening night performance, my expectations were blank. The cartoonish set — a bar drawn in thick, newspaper-like outlines, with matching chairs and an all-green wa