Peyton Taylor — Reporting in Burma Documentary
By December of the Fall 2024 semester, I found myself dreaming of the relaxing that I would do during break. I was fully prepared to rot in bed all day watching YouTube and old sitcoms, and while I did more than enough of that in my first two weeks off, the second half of break felt endless, and I was itching to return back to my favorite corner of Chobani at Hieber Café to study while enjoying a latte or to the Maroon-News office to edit stories about what the Colgate University community has to offer.
To satisfy my craving for both academia and journalism, I found a documentary that would make me think while still allowing me my much needed bed rotting time. The 2008 documentary “Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country,” directed by Anders Østergaard, follows the role of journalists during a Burmese uprising against an oppressive regime.
The documentary reinforced my appreciation of journalism and freedom of the press in the United States, as I was reminded of the brutal reality that many journalists across the world face. The journalists in this documentary faced violence for reporting the dark truths of Burma’s government oppressing citizens. The journalists weren’t the only ones being targeted by the government; all of the thousands of protestors, including thousands of monks, were putting themselves at risk of being jailed, tortured and killed simply by walking the streets of Burma.
The cinematography was impressive to begin with and even more impressive when it was revealed that the journalists acquiring the footage for the film were recording secretly, as citizens were not allowed cameras in Burma because the government wanted to strictly control what information the world had about them. Still, brave journalists recorded pivotal moments of the protests that reflected the reality they were facing in Burma. Those who were caught were arrested immediately.
As I slowly return to my Colgate routine, this documentary stays with me. I am inspired to take advantage of the opportunity I have to study political science and pursue journalism as a career without fearing persecution. While I strongly believe in taking breaks as an opportunity to decompress and escape the world of academia, exploring my academic interests through media has given me the energy and purpose I need to start this semester strong.
Rylee Hatch — British & Irish Media
Over break, I do what I always do when I want to exercise the least brain power after a semester: a rewatch. I rewatched what might be my favorite show on Netflix, “Derry Girls.”
While I was abroad in London last semester, I made time to take a trip to Ireland. I didn’t get as far north as the show’s setting in Derry, Northern Ireland, but I figured watching the show was a close enough way to reminisce on my time in Emerald Isle.
Set during the end of The Troubles, “Derry Girls” is a moving show about growing up amid violence. The show has a good reputation for being a nearly perfect representation of what it was like to be a teenager in that time and place. It’s sad, funny and in touch with history all at the same time. Even on the second watch, I cried during the last two episodes. I won’t give any spoilers; if you’ve watched the show you’ll understand just how emotional it is.
I also began watching “Outlander,” available on Netflix and Hulu. This was a show I watched with my family, and it’s kind of a guilty pleasure show. Based on the fantasy novel series by Diana Gabaldon, “Outlander” follows a 20th-century British woman who finds herself transported back to 18th-century Scotland and has to adapt to life in a Highland castle. A historical romance, sci-fi drama all in one, it’s as cheesy as it sounds. I can’t say the writing is my favorite, but it was another fun, brainless show perfect for winter break.
To continue making my semester abroad my entire personality, I kept listening to British and Irish music, of course. Over break, I had these artists on repeat: The Beatles (obviously), Pet Shop Boys, Amy Winehouse, The Smiths, The Cure, The Cranberries, Thin Lizzy and Enya. I’ll also mention the Scottish band Cocteau Twins who have oddly enough become my sole source of study music. I think their nonsense, nearly gibberish lyrical style makes for ambient but non-distracting study tracks.
Joshua Repp — Speculative Fiction
I started winter break free from academic readings, wanting to return back to the reading for fun that I had done in the past. I quickly finished the book I had been putting off reading because of finals stress and started looking for a new book to pick up. Social media somehow picked up on my wishes, because I started being recommended the book “I Who Have Never Known Men,” by Belgian author Jacqueline Harpman, translated to English. Short, dystopian, science fiction — it was a great, thought-provoking read.
The story starts off with the narrator, a girl and 39 women in an underground cell. It’s all the girl has known, but the women still have some memory of their life beforehand as mothers or workers. Their previous lives are mundane, but they continually search for some clue to explain why they are imprisoned. Watched over by their male guards who don’t talk to them, they build structure into their lives: waking, exercising, talking, cooking the few vegetables that are given to them, all on repeat without any end in sight.
All that changes, however, when an alarm goes off and their captors run off, never to be seen again. They free themselves from their cell and start to investigate the barren, rocky world which might or might not be the earth. There are never any satisfying answers to any of the questions posed by the book, and yet the novel operates within the unknown to ask what humanity remains if all institutions are left behind. As the girl ages and starts to outlive the other women one by one, it’s up to her to determine how she is to live with the few memories passed down to her and the mysteries she still can’t answer at the end.
