Evie Sun – The Stanford Daily https://stanforddaily.com Breaking news from the Farm since 1892 Wed, 25 Oct 2017 18:39:07 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 https://stanforddaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/cropped-DailyIcon-CardinalRed.png?w=32 Evie Sun – The Stanford Daily https://stanforddaily.com 32 32 204779320 Charlize Theron shines as an ‘Atomic Blonde’ in new action spy thriller https://stanforddaily.com/2017/08/09/charlize-theron-shines-as-an-atomic-blonde-in-new-action-spy-thriller/ https://stanforddaily.com/2017/08/09/charlize-theron-shines-as-an-atomic-blonde-in-new-action-spy-thriller/#respond Wed, 09 Aug 2017 18:09:39 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1129743 The past few years have given rise to quite a few strong, empowering and inspiring women onscreen in films such as “The Zookeeper’s Wife” and “Wonder Woman” and in television shows such as “Jessica Jones.” In an era of celebrated male action figures, the female hero is hard to come by, but not for long: […]

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Charlize Theron shines as an 'Atomic Blonde' in new action spy thriller
Charlize Theron as MI6 spy Lorraine Broughton in ‘Atomic Blonde’ (Jonathan Prime/Focus Features).

The past few years have given rise to quite a few strong, empowering and inspiring women onscreen in films such as “The Zookeeper’s Wife” and “Wonder Woman” and in television shows such as “Jessica Jones.” In an era of celebrated male action figures, the female hero is hard to come by, but not for long: Meet Lorraine Broughton, an undercover MI6 agent and resident badass who is skilled in the art of ruthless combat.  

Directed by David Leitch (of “John Wick” fame), and based on the graphic novel series “The Coldest City,” the spy action-thriller flick Atomic Blonde is set in 1989 Berlin at the end of the Cold War. The plot revolves around Lorraine Broughton (Charlize Theron), a MI6 agent who was sent to Berlin to investigate the murder of a fellow agent. She is ordered to work with Berlin bureau chief David Percival (James McAvoy) to retrieve a list of double agents before it lands in the hands of the enemy.

The film dives deep into the creeping paranoia that plagued both the East and the West during the Cold War. Titles such as “East Berlin,” “West Berlin” and “London, 10 days later” keep audiences grounded as they watch the plot unravel while keeping in mind the collapse of the Berlin Wall as the historical backdrop. During the few quieter moments in the film, viewers can hear the drone of the television in Broughton’s hotel room, which occasionally announces the progress of the Wall, highlighting the tension that permeated the era. As such, “Atomic Blonde” is deeply rooted in its historical context, and as a result, the plot is a bit more involved than that of an average action flick. While the historical attributes don’t detract from the film overall, it may do viewers some good to briefly catch up on basic Cold War facts before walking into the theater.

The film opens with a debriefing between Broughton and her handlers (Toby Jones and John Goodman) as they interrogate her about her attempt to recover the list. The film alternates between the present debriefing and Broughton’s past undercover mission in Berlin, allowing viewers to juxtapose the events as they really occurred in comparison to Lorraine’s side of the story that she relays to her handlers. The debriefing is presented as dull and dry, which adds extra excitement to the colorful and thrilling events of the past. As a historical easter egg, if audience members listen closely enough, they’ll notice that the soundtrack includes music of the era, with upbeat 80’s tracks from artists such as David Bowie, Nena, Falco, The Clash and Depeche Mode. These tracks add excitement to the fast-paced action scenes and bring audiences back to the rock-heavy hits of the Cold War.

Despite its strong ties to the historical backdrop, the storyline itself lacks substance. Tangled and convoluted, the plot is an intense ping pong match between characters with unknown loyalties and deep undercover survival missions. The film starts off at a reasonable pace; however, the mission to retrieve the list is quickly bogged down by the frequent elaborate combat scenes and blurred loyalties among the main characters. The complex plot detracts from the film at times — it is exhausting to follow the secrets and lies that the spies have built themselves on. Each character’s secret agenda keeps the audience guessing until the literal last minutes of the movie, where the story ends with — surprise — one last thrilling combat scene.

Although Broughton’s impressive martial arts skills shine through the muddled plot, it was mildly disappointing that the narrative structure took a backseat to spotlight the elaborate action sequences. If both elements had been weaved together more effectively, the film had the potential to form an extremely compelling story. Nevertheless, Charlize Theron’s impressive performance is a definite redeeming factor, as the carefully choreographed action sequences clearly hold more weight than the actual plot line. She keeps audience members on the edge of their seats as she wholeheartedly embraces the fierce, kickass character of Lorraine Broughton. Clad in studded combat boots and dangerous stilettos, a long overcoat, sunglasses, and black gloves, the spy is dressed to kill. Female action stars are rarely portrayed beating up their male counterparts, and Broughton breaks both mental and physical barriers in that respect, displaying the grit and backbone of a true heroine.

The combat scenes, although impressively executed, are excessively violent at times for a spy film, as quick camera movements follow each gunshot and knife stab and the bloody aftermath of the numerous fights. With gun, knife, and sharp heels in tow, she is relentless in combat — she leaves a trail of blood, shattered glass and wounded men in her wake, and she refuses to step down until every enemy is taken down. The audience watches in both horror and awe as she violently stabs a KGB spy with her shiny red stiletto heel and as she takes on several men at once with only her gloved hands and found weapons in a much-talked about stairwell scene. Still, Broughton is not all hardcore killer — she also exudes an vastly enigmatic persona. Her dry, witty and sarcastic dialogue is a humorously stark contrast to the crude dialogue of her fellow operative, Percival, who is more often than not wildly hungover in his apartment.

One night, Broughton encounters French spy Delphine (Sofia Boutella), and she finds herself in a relationship with the French operative. When she opens her feelings to the French spy, Broughton allows viewers to witness another, more vulnerable, side to her character. In an era where LGBTQ representation in the media is still a topic clouded with stigma, it is important that such a topic is reflected on screen. Unlike in other films with LGBTQ characters, Broughton’s relationship with Delphine doesn’t take a front seat in the plot. Instead, their relationship is treated as nothing besides the ordinary, which is an important step in the path of normalizing LGBTQ roles. The undercover spy’s bisexuality is not explicitly explained in the film, as she instead chooses to allow her actions showcase her character. It is rewarding to see such development onscreen, especially because it may redefine the limits of films, especially those not strictly defined as containing an activist lens.

Despite the film’s tenuous plot and messy development, Theron shines in her role as the kickass super-spy. Not only does she continue to shatter the glass ceiling that defines the role of women heroines in film — she also builds up the female psyche with her unapologetic fearlessness and proves that women can bring a new and refreshing aspect to the action hero role.

“Atomic Blonde” premiered on July 28 and is now playing in theaters nationwide.

Contact Evie Sun at eviesun123 ‘at’ gmail.com.

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Stanford offers extended mental health help hours, effective immediately https://stanforddaily.com/2017/07/26/stanford-offers-extended-mental-health-help-hours-effective-immediately/ https://stanforddaily.com/2017/07/26/stanford-offers-extended-mental-health-help-hours-effective-immediately/#respond Wed, 26 Jul 2017 08:00:07 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1129517 Vaden Health Center has announced that it will be offering extended after-hours mental health and crisis support for Stanford students, effective immediately. CAPS (Counseling and Psychological Services) and CST (Confidential Support Team) have partnered with ProtoCall, a national provider of on-call behavioral health services, to implement after-hours emotional support and care for students. The plan to implement the extended after-hours began in late June.

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Vaden Health Center has announced that it will be offering extended after-hours mental health and crisis support for Stanford students, effective immediately. CAPS (Counseling and Psychological Services) and CST (Confidential Support Team) have partnered with ProtoCall, a national provider of on-call behavioral health services, to implement after-hours emotional support and care for students. The plan to implement the extended after-hours began in late June.  

Stanford offers extended mental health help hours, effective immediately
(Courtesy of Sam Girvin)

Outside of CAPS and CST’s regular business hours, ProtoCall’s licensed counselors will provide immediate after-hours support to callers, and students who phone the service will be immediately connected with a licensed clinician on call. In addition, students will not experience any wait times to speak with a counselor, even if multiple people call simultaneously.

CAPS Director Ron Albucher and his colleagues at Vaden and CST hope to improve the state of mental health at Stanford by providing students with 24/7 support and care in collaboration with ProtoCall.

“Over the last few years, CAPS has been allocating more of [its] clinical resources for after-hours care issues, including support for the CST 24/7 hotline,” wrote Albucher and his colleagues in an email to The Daily. “Consequently, we have fewer therapists available during the day for usual operations. This in turn contributed to a longer wait time for students to get into treatment.By collaborating with ProtoCall, CAPS will free up staff from taking after-hours calls, which in turn will allow more daytime appointments and other activities, such as outreach.”

If needed, senior staff from CAPS and CST will be available for a follow-up phone call, in which ProtoCall will share call information with staffers so they can provide local resources to students and schedule in-person counseling appointments for the next business day.

“We believe it is essential for Stanford students to have access to high quality mental health care 24 hours, seven days a week,” they said. “With this goal in mind, our collaboration with ProtoCall will strengthen after-hours support for students in crisis while maximizing the capacity for CAPS and CST staff to support students during business hours on campus.”

The topic of mental health has gained a prominent position on Stanford’s campus. Students face a number of lifestyle changes when they enter college, such as living away from family and friends, changes in physical activity level, sleep patterns, and eating habits – all of which take a toll on their well-being, and can trigger mental health issues.

According to a 2014 Daily article by previous Editor-in-Chief Jana Persky ‘16 entitled “Trouble in Paradise: The state of mental health at Stanford,” it is not uncommon for each of the seven residence deans to have at least one of their students in the psychiatric ward of the Stanford hospital. Although mental health is a prevalent issue on campus, students find it difficult to talk about their struggles with their peers due to the unspoken stigma that surrounds the topic.  

“It should be stated outright: Stanford students do struggle with mental health. They do struggle with depression. They do consider and attempt suicide. And they often don’t know where to turn,” Persky wrote.

 

Contact Evie Sun at eviesun123 ‘at’ gmail.com.

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