Love, The Bachelor Style

By: Eloise Giegerich

Ahh, it’s that time of year again. Time for women around the nation to pull out the wine glasses and shoo away their husbands in preparation for perhaps the most ridiculous and embarrassingly addictive show on the ABC Network. Yes, that’s right, I’m talking about the sixteenth season of The Bachelor, the show where one “perfect man” finds his true love out of twenty-five willing and eager young women, all in a whopping six weeks time! Never mind the inevitable dramatic catfights and tears, this new season will be sure to produce a great, and most importantly, realistic love story. And, as our trustworthy host Chris Harrison assures us (for the sixteenth time mind you), this season promises to be the best and most dramatic one yet! If only we believed him.

   The Bachelor, whose first season debuted in 2002 (the fact that it has survived this many years amazes me), has somehow managed to become an ABC network phenomenon, with its latest season bringing in over ten million viewers across the nation- that’s more than twice the viewers that the Emmy Award winning NBC show, 30 Rock, earned in its last season. Why is The Bachelor so alluring to so many people? I used to think that people who subjected themselves to two hours of its contrived drama and bad grammar (I swear, the phrase “blank and I’s relationship” is used so many times it makes me sick) were crazy. And yet, after seeing several episodes, even I was interested. Still, the show’s disturbingly high viewer ratings are somewhat of a mystery. Perhaps people believe the show to be a true reality? Or maybe they simply have nothing better to do with themselves? Whatever the reason is, The Bachelor surely does not deserve such a large fan base. …Right? After all, the show is so overly produced that it would give the Silly Bandz company a run for its money. Not only is every ounce of footage edited in order to produce characters that fit a certain stereotype, but the contestants themselves often do whatever necessary to earn a name in the world of television. Obviously the ABC Network doesn’t want to have boring people on their show. Because of this, the lucky twenty-five are often made up of women who guarantee drama- whether their personalities suggest trouble or if they themselves promise to bring it.

In case you’ve never seen the show and are wondering what sorts of ridiculous things these women will do for attention, here are some prime examples. In the ninth season, Erica Rose, a contestant who apparently told producers that her occupation title was “socialite” (a whole other problem in itself), infamously wore a tiara around the mansion where all the women lived. However, she didn’t stop at wearing it in the house, but instead wore it everywhere, insisting to everyone watching her at home that she deserved to be treated like a princess. Gag. In Brad Womack’s season- excuse me, second season (he was the former bachelor who notoriously had a chance at love, turned down both women, did some “soul searching” and then at thirty-eight decided he was ready for a second chance at true television love), one of the most controversial contestants, Michelle Money, woke up with a black eye, with no remembrance of what had happened the night before. Oh. SURE. I personally maintain the belief that she punched herself in the face for more screen time- but that’s just my opinion. However, of all the crazy antics on The Bachelor, my personal favorite had to have happened in Jake Pavelka’s season, where Rozlyn Papa, the model and therefore envy of all the other girls, apparently hooked up with one of the show’s staff members, preferring him to the bachelor himself. Not only did this defeat the purpose of there being a bachelor, but it also brought to light the fact that some women just aren’t interested in their hand picked, supposed-to-be-perfect man. Later, after being asked to leave the show (though let’s be real, it was probably more of an order), Rozlyn upped her reputation by revealing to tabloids that she was the mother to a five year old. Ah, the drama!

But lets not forget that crazy women aren’t the only contestants on The Bachelor. In addition to drawing its viewers in through catfights and house drama, ABC also pulls at our heartstrings, casting women with sob stories who conveniently happen to also have hearts of gold. Counteracting Rozlyn Papa’s controversial behavior on the fourteenth season was Oregon native, Tenley Molzahn- the sweet, God-loving, former Disney princess (not literally of course, but she worked at Disneyland), who had given up her virginity to her husband only to have him cheat on her less than a year into their marriage. From her always kind personality to her joyful behavior in and out of the house, Tenley was what viewers described as “perfect”. And then we have Emily Maynard. Of all the women in the history of the show (that’s 375 women!), Emily has to have been the ultimate fan favorite. Not only was she a sweet southern girl from Charlotte, North Carolina, but she also had the perfect sob story for ABC to work with. And believe me, they did. Previously engaged to a famous racecar driver, Emily thought she had found her soul mate. However, in 2004, he was killed in a tragic plane crash, leaving a devastated Emily to find out- only a day after his funeral- that she was pregnant with his daughter. And boy did this thrill ABC. Not only did producers force put Emily onto a private plane (despite her fear of flying), but they also sent her on a NASCAR themed date located at the track where her late fiancée had driven in his last race. Emily’s story had people everywhere crying. The other women in the house cried. The bachelor’s parents cried. The siblings of the bachelor cried. Emily cried. Viewers cried. The Bachelor producers cried tears of joy because they realized how much money Emily’s story was making them. It was impossible not to like this woman- not just because she was so sweet, but because you would have had a stampede of angry viewers hunting you down if you didn’t.

Since we’ve established which various female characters make up the show, we can now begin to analyze the bachelor himself. Let me start off by saying that in all fifteen seasons, ABC has never EVER cast a bachelor who wasn’t white, tall, and perfectly fit. Now this may be a giant coincidence, but I doubt it. Let’s face it. None of the millions of women who watch this show want to see an unattractive, overweight, and short man vie for love. One of the whole points of The Bachelor is the fact that every Monday night, we viewers get to escape our lives and instead become a part of this fantastical adventure of love, where everybody is attractive and bird songs fill the air. Every season we watch our man go through the agony of letting girls go, while he wonders in almost tearful confessionals whether he has made the right choice. As viewers, we grow to know him, feel for him, and think of him as some long-lost-in-television friend of ours. However, the manipulative thing about the whole “bachelor” concept is the way in which the show portrays the man on our screens as being perfect. Does anyone actually stop and think about the numerous potential problems that this guy might have? Take Jake Pavelka. Though he seemed sweet and humble on the show, his true colors were later revealed in an after finale interview, when he angrily snapped at his ex-fiancée, Vienna, to “stop interrupting him”. (It doesn’t sound so horrible in writing… but it was.) Sure they probably weren’t on the best terms, but that’s certainly not the way I want my future husband to speak to me. If ABC wishes to make their “reality” show more realistic, they should aim to portray the bachelor in a way that doesn’t make him seem flawless- after all nobody is perfect. And it wouldn’t hurt if they got a guy with a different ethnicity either.

Everybody knows that it’s nearly impossible to find your soul mate out of twenty-five women, much less fall in love with her and propose in six weeks. But somehow The Bachelor manages to captivate viewers from all over the country. It doesn’t matter that all the contestants and the bachelor himself are always white, or that the extravagantly picked dates cost thousands of dollars that a normal couple would never be able to afford. The fact is, it’s amusing to watch other people’s failures and triumphs. The show wouldn’t be what it is without the girls who wear tiaras, or the endless amounts of sob stories. Is it strange that women eliminated on the first night, who’ve only known the bachelor for a WHOLE FIVE HOURS, sob when they are rejected? Yes. Is it immoral (and frankly rather gross) that this one man gets to make out with multitudes of women without being reproved? Yes. Is it wrong of ABC producers to exploit the backgrounds of contestants and edit their personalities to make them seem interesting? Yes. But this is what makes the show so embarrassingly appealing. Camera shots of the perfectly toned, shirtless bachelor running in slow-motion throughout a conveniently empty park, as well as sequences of women staring meaningfully out into some unknown distance with sad music playing in the background are indeed absurd. And yet, these little things that are so easy to laugh at are also the things that are so unavoidably entertaining.

Maybe I’m just one of those people who is bored with her life and has nothing better to do, but I have to admit, there is something about this show that is irritatingly addicting. Don’t expect to sit down and see a romantically realistic story unravel before your eyes- that’s just not going to happen. But if you’re looking for something to ease the exhaust of the day, something to make you feel better about yourself, or something to point and laugh at, why not tune in. After all, what’s the worst that could happen?

Spending Halloween at Pok-O-MacCready

By: Bella Ferrante

Trick or Treating on a Mountain

  For over 25 years in a row, the freshman class has taken a trip to Pok-O-MacCready. The trip to Poko is a great time for freshmen to bond with each other, create new or stronger relationships, and experience time away from electronics and technology and experience the great wilderness that is so close. Over the years, this trip was taken right before Thanksgiving, a greatly celebrated holiday for families everywhere. However, this year, it is moved to almost a month earlier, over Halloween.

Why over Halloween? Why move the date at all? Many reasons explain why the date was moved. One was simply because it will be warmer. Pok-O-MacCready is in Willsboro NY, only a couple of miles from the Canadian border! The temperature up there will be cold in October, but freezing in November. Also, GFA has the great honor of using the Westport Playhouse for the fall production of The Pajama Game on November 18th. This time would fall around the time the Poko trip would usually be planned, causing the date to move. Some people complained that the trip was too closely planned to Thanksgiving, and wished for it to be moved.

Some of the Freshmen are very upset about the date being move over Halloween. Halloween is a greatly celebrated holiday by children and teenagers. It is a time to get free candy, possibly express you inner self, see creatively scary decorations, and play pranks on and scare people. Spending this day away from places you are trick-or-treating in or people you are trick-or-treating is hard. Riley Grady (freshman) said, “It’s kind of a bummer to miss Halloween but I’m bringing a costume and my parents are saving me some of my favorite candy.” Riley seems to not mind missing it at home that much, but still wanting to celebrate it at Poko. After asking Mr. Wellman (9th grade dean) about any plans of celebration for Halloween, he told me that there “might be something.” So to all the freshmen, details about this possible something will be revealed later. Therefore, you should still make sure you have a costume just in case, and keep you hopes up that Halloween will still be celebrated while we are away! Happy Halloween ☺

Homecoming: A History

By: William Rooney

The Beginnings

GFA’s Homecoming, or at least something similar to the celebration we know, started only about twenty-five years ago. In the ‘60s and ‘70s, there were often a slew of games played on a weekend in the fall, but it was never anything too big. After all, GFA was an all-girls school until 1971.
Around 1985, Mr. Denes, former registrar and Mr. “GFA,” says that he and former longtime athletic director Dave Perry came up with the idea of combining homecoming with the already popular annual alumni soccer game in hopes of bringing back more graduates to Homecoming and bringing more students out to watch games.
Apparently, athletic contests in the mid-80’s were typically held Monday through Thursday, as a large portion of the Upper School migrated to Vermont and upstate New York for weekend skiing. “The thought of weekend games really didn’t exist,” pointed out Mr. Denes. But at the 1985 homecoming, things changed.
The alumni soccer game was a hit, and so were the fair and subsequent varsity contests. Game attendance exponentially increased. As we still see today in GFA’s homecoming traditions, the annual alumni soccer game began that first year at 11 a.m., between the classes of 1981 and 1983, and the rest of the festivities kicked off from there. Mr. Denes enthusiastically noted that he and the late Angela van Acker would cook hamburgers and hot dogs for all of the alumni soccer participants, and then they would go off to watch the games. For Mr. Denes, that was just one of a series of great Homecoming memories.
In the afternoon, the Varsity sports began to play their games, just as they do today. Now, there are even more additions that add to the enthusiasm, spirit, and attendance of the fair. The Middle School football game began in 2009, and the number of tables and booths full of games, fundraisers, and food seems to grow every year.
After the inaugural years of the modern Homecoming fair, things “really took off with a bang,” said Mr. Denes. He and Dave Perry worked with student council and the respective coaches of the GFA teams to create a spectacular and long-lasting tradition.

Spirit Week

About five years after the original festival, Mr. Denes and Mr. Perry brainstormed the idea of spirit week. “Even though we were big catalysts for spirit week, the student body had to get into it,” Mr. Denes commented. Thankfully, they did. One of the first dress days was “Monster Madness,” and today, twenty-one years later, we have high seas dress school-wide, the exciting class-themes, and perhaps the most spirited of them all, the team dress days. “Spirit Week and the Homecoming experience have been some of the more memorable days of my high school career,” said Emily Caldwell, a senior captain and four-year Varsity Soccer player. That mentality is reflected by many throughout the school. Homecoming is exciting, and it’s one of the few times that students get excited about being part of the GFA community.

The Dance, Bonfire, and Pasta Dinner

The dance is the oldest of all of the Homecoming events. A mid-fall dance existed ever since Mr. Denes came to GFA in 1965, and it was officially deemed the Homecoming dance in 1985, the year that the modern Homecoming festivities debuted. In the late 80’s and 90’s, and perhaps even into the early 00’s, young alumni were permitted to attend the dance with the current high schoolers, but that has since been barred.
The bonfire began the same year as the inaugural fair, and, as it is scheduled this year for the first time in awhile, it was held annually on the Friday evening before homecoming. That ended sometime in the 1990’s when the Saturday of Homecoming was occasionally an SAT test date, but the administration, faculty, and athletic staff are exited to have moved it back to Friday this year.
The 1997 Homecoming Bonfire was particularly special. It was the biggest ever, reaching the tops of trees and resulting in warnings from the Town of Westport about future cancellations of the fire. For then-senior Chris Koteas, Class of 1998, that was a big year. He not only organized and built the huge bonfire that resulted in Fire Marshall’s warnings, but he set the GFA cross country record at the Homecoming race that stood for thirteen years, before Tommy Ross, ’10, broke it in 2009.
The pasta dinner is one of the most recent additions to Homecoming, with its origins about 10-12 years ago. The idea was to create a large family atmosphere before going out to the bonfire, and by having the faculty and administration serve the dinner to the students, it was a way of bringing the entities together. Silly video clips and game highlights were often shown during the dinner, a practice that is no longer featured today.

Controversies

Since the early 90’s, Homecoming meant the car rally, where seniors and juniors who drove would cart their teams in a parade through downtown Westport. It was one of the highlights of Spirit Week, but it never went without a hiccup. Every year, GFA received warnings from the Westport Police Department about students’ throwing items out their car windows, occasionally cursing, and exhibiting unfortunate behaviors.
Ten years ago, before true speed bumps exited in the GFA driveway, a faculty member’s dog was hit by a speeding senior. “That definitely caused concern,” said Mr. Denes. Thankfully, the dog, owned by ex-Lower School technology coordinator Aaron Back, was okay, but it was not one of the constantly troubled car rally’s finer moments.
In 2008, when this year’s senior class were freshmen, the car rally made its final run. During the parade downtown, numerous upperclassman shouted profanities, threw eggs and trash at Westport civilians and by standing pedestrians, ran Chinese fire drills, and tarnished GFA’s overall reputation within the local community. Although no students were ultimately punished, the car rally was done for. The Westport Police would no longer tolerate such behavior, and GFA was not interested in seeing its reputation disintegrate.
That same year concluded the hazing portion of the pep rally. Under the old practice, the upper school student body would congregate at the outdoor amphitheater, and each team would make a presentation and haze its newest members. Memories like Jeb Waters, ’09, and Taylor Schendel, ’12, laying on their stomachs and chewing down opposite ends of a Twizzler until their faces met are engraved in many students’ minds, as are boys soccer’s anchovy milkshake chug and girls soccer’s Kate Tomlinson-Chris Waller (among other frosh-senior couples) dance grind.
Faculty had an issue with it, and it has since changed into today’s modern pep rally.

Homecoming Today

This year, Homecoming finally seems to be going back to its original roots. Friday’s ceremonies include showcased JV sports games, a new, more spirit-based pep rally, a true pasta dinner, and the Friday night bonfire.
Obviously times have changed, and old, fun traditions have been abolished as new ones have taken their places. But in the end, Homecoming has been about one thing: school spirit. And that has reverberated throughout every Homecoming, regardless of ceremony, since its debut in 1985.

Girls Varsity Field Hockey Looking for Wins

By: Elizabeth McDermott

So far this season, Girls Varsity Field Hockey has played nine games. Unfortunately, they haven’t had as strong a season as in the past, with only three wins, one against Masters and two against St. Lukes. This year the team is very young, with nine freshman, seven sophomores, six juniors, and one senior. However, the lack of upper classmen doesn’t reflect badly upon the team, as so far already two team members have been named athletes of the week – Nicole Litt and Jenny Ross. Unfortunately Nicole tore her ACL in a tough game against King, and will not be playing for the rest of the season. The team thankfully still has Jenny, who is a freshman goalie. She has had well over 50 saves already and only gets better every day. Another change this year is the brand new eco-turf that GFA installed over the summer. The team practices on turf for most of the time, and if the team can’t get the turf, it practices on grass. This gives them a huge advantage, having both surfaces to practice on. Before a grass game they often practice on the grass, and the same goes for a turf game needing practice time on turf. Although this season hasn’t been easy for the girls, they have a whole month left and have the skill to earn some more wins. This weekend they will face their rivals, King, in hopes of beating them at their own Homecoming, after losing to them at King’s homecoming

Girls Varsity Soccer Homecoming

By: Olivia Lennon

Girls Varsity Soccer plans on making this year’s homecoming one to remember. Senior Captains Kate Tomlinson, Sam Brown, Nora Flaherty, and Emily Caldwell plan on pumping their team up for a big win against the Vikings. The team is looking to dominate the field with their hard work, passing, and possession. Senior captain, Sam Brown is so excited for this year’s homecoming game. “I’m pumped to play and be a part of this year’s homecoming!” Junior Caroline Vanacore expects to finish the game with an even bigger win than last year’s 6-0 defeat against King. “The team is awesome on and off the field. Everyone works together really nicely; there’s a real connection,” stated sophomore Hilary Shannon. A big crowd can be expected at the Lady Dragon’s game, which is at 4:00 p.m. LET’S GO DRAGONS!

Drive Review

By Graham Bacher

Starring actor of the moment Ryan Gosling, Drive is a stylized, hyper-violent, action thriller directed by Danish director Nicholas Winding Refn. As a Hollywood stuntman turned getaway driver, Gosling is drawn into a web of violence and passion that turns against him, sending him on an odyssey of determined aggression. The slow-burn pacing and Spartan dialogue is a definite homage to the early 70′s masculine action flick, in the best possible way. As the unnamed protagonist, Mr. Gosling delivers a wonderful, understated tough-guy performance a la Steve McQueen. The stylized, unadorned cinematography is not only gorgeous to look at, but also serves well to direct the focus of the audience to the incredible performances of an all-star cast: Bryan Cranston and Christina Hendricks are unobtrusively incredible in their supporting roles, and a wonderfully cast Albert Brooks plays an exceptional villain with quiet menace. And yet, occasionally there were some elements that were lacking. At times, it felt as though the film took itself too seriously, and the macabre, almost cartoonish violence may be over the top for some. I was surprisingly disappointed with how little actual driving occurred in the film. The rapid, wonderfully edited chase scenes left me wanting more; in particular, the opening vignette with Gosling behind the wheel had me rapt with wonder. Although certain aspects of the film were somewhat off-putting (most notably the hot-pink titles and 80′s soundtrack) Drive is for the most part beautifully executed film that deserves all the praise ascribed to it. That is a tall order, considering a successful May premiere won Mr. Refn Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival. It also adds yet another successful film to Gosling’s growing credits as an actor; proving himself adept at drama, comedy and now action, he’s now moving to expand his range even further with the recent political thriller The Ides of March. Drive is a certain Oscar contender, and with good reason: its throwback style executed with modern skill will leave you wishing Gosling slowed down once in a while, if only so the movie would last longer.

DRIVE
NICHOLAS WINDING REFN
RATED R
4 OUT OF 5 STARS

50/50 Review

By: Lael O’Shaughnessy

We’ve all seen a “cancer movie.” The cancer movie makes you cry, makes you thankful for your life, makes you go home and hug your family. 50/50 is a cancer movie, and it does all of these things. The difference, however, is that you will leave 50/50 smiling through your tears.
The movie opens by introducing two friends, Adam (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and Kyle (Seth Rogen), who work together at a radio station. Adam’s life takes a turn for the worst when he discovers that he has a rare type of back cancer. Soon after, he discovers that his girlfriend (Bryce Dallas Howard) is cheating on him. This leads him to his young therapist, Kate, played by the charming Anna Kendrick. Things begin to look up for Adam when he meets a charming cast of characters at chemotherapy. Not to reveal too much, but this is only the start to his emotionally fused journey.
This movie is especially amazing because of its simplicity. Good characters, strong acting, hearty laughs (supplied mostly by Rogen in this wonderful supporting role), streaming tears, and incredibly “aww” worthy romantic moments. It does all of these things without being gimmicky or sappy. While the subject matter is tough, 50/50 manages to pepper in moments of hilarity when appropriate. It is not trying to make the idea of cancer a funny one. It is all someone could want in a movie. It is well written, well-acted, and caters to many audiences with its balance of sympathy and hilarity. 50/50 is a must-see.