Arts and Entertainment
Harley Quinn: Idiot Extraordinaire
“Suicide Squad” hit theaters with a very mixed reception way back in 2016. Some people loved it; some hated it; and after seeing the film over winter break, I have landed firmly in the latter camp. Nearly four years later, “Birds of Prey, and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn,” directed by Cathy Yan and written by Christina Hodson, acts as the sequel to “Suicide Squad”, revolving around Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie). After being dumped by the Joker, Harley finds herself in a tricky predicament, with half the city out for blood for the tricks she pulled under her ex-boyfriend’s protection. This quickly spirals into Harley’s quest for a diamond to bribe Black Mask (Ewan McGregor), who has a particularly long list of grievances, to spare her life. This movie is commonly referred to as a hot mess—and it owns it. The whole film is so gloriously stupid, with every character being an absolute moron. The plot is so convoluted that it becomes completely unpredictable, and Black Mask is over-the-top in every possible way. There are many problems with “Suicide Squad”—many, many problems—but most of them can be summed up with the overarching flaw that the movie tries to take its silly premise way too seriously, something “Birds of Prey” avoids completely. “Birds of Prey, and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn” has a premise that is almost as stupid as bribing supervillains into cosplaying as Superman, but doesn’t try to play it straight. The protagonist Harley has a pet hyena named after Batman and shoots confetti bullets. The villain throws a tantrum almost every time he’s onscreen. Little doodles are drawn over every minor antagonist’s face to break the tension and segue into the humorous crimes of Harley’s past. This is a stupid, stupid movie, but it runs with this concept completely, making it glorious. All of the characters in this movie are great. Alcoholic detective Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez) is hilariously over-the-top. Black Canary (Jurnee Smollett-Bell) does a phenomenal job acting as the straight man to everyone’s antics, and Mary Winstead’s Huntress is amazing too, though she only appears near the third act. But the star of the show is ultimately the main character: Harley, the queen of stupid. She acts as both the main character and the narrator of the story, maintaining a constant sense of silliness in what would have been an overly-edgy premise to keep the film from taking itself too seriously. Her personality is overplayed and ramped up to the max at every opportunity, and Robbie does an excellent job of making sure it stays consistent. Harley’s personality also lends itself excellently to the fight scenes, which are a spectacle in and of themselves. Though this movie calls itself “Birds of Prey,” it is not really about the members of the Birds of Prey. It is about Harley—and this is what ultimately saves it from becoming another “Suicide Squad.” Her perspective lends a sense of humor to this movie that its predecessor lacked, which prevents the film from taking itself too seriously and contrasts wonderfully with the dark, R-rated situations that the protagonist is thrown into. It is not a masterpiece, however. Stupid can be fun, but it isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, and it might get a little tiring for some viewers. The villain’s petulant attitude in particular wore me out after a while, and he’s not nearly as interesting as the other characters. The movie also flits back and forth from flashback to flashback, which often becomes confusing. There are more holes in the story than in a block of swiss cheese, but they are small enough to look past for the sake of enjoying the movie. Overall, “Birds of Prey, and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn” is fun. It’s not groundbreaking. It’s not perfect. But it’s fun. All the characters are entertaining in their own right and bounce off of one another decently. Despite its own problems, the film easily ducks all the major flaws that plagued “Suicide Squad” in 2016. If watching something silly is satisfying for you, then this movie is a very good pick.
|| March 2020Arts and Entertainment
Riding Into The Sunset: BoJack Horseman’s Final Season
A review of BoJack Horseman season six, a masterclass in comedic television.
|| March 2020Humor
Progressive Initiatives Completely Eliminate Class Cutting
In an effort to reduce instances of student misbehavior, area-access scanners are introduced to every corner of the school.
|| March 2020Arts and Entertainment
Riding Into The Sunset: BoJack Horseman’s Final Season
A review of BoJack Horseman season six, a masterclass in comedic television.
|| March 2020Arts and Entertainment
Cheap *ss Lunch #6: The Best Pizza Place Near Stuyvesant (Yes, For Pizza)
Pizza, the New York staple, isn’t in high supply near Stuyvesant, and it’s a race to the bottom for high price and low quality among the only choices.
|| March 2020Arts and Entertainment
Doing Animation Right: “Star vs. the Forces of Evil”
A look back on the popular animated series Star vs. the Forces of Evil and how it was able to balance mature themes with a family-friendly narrative.
|| March 2020Arts and Entertainment
Was Lil Wayne’s “Funeral” a Failed Experiment?
A review of Lil Wayne’s newest album, “Funeral.”
|| March 2020Sports
Katelyn Tuohy: The Greatest High School Runner of All Time
By Alicia Yu
Katelyn Tuohy, a high school senior, has won four Gatorade Player of the Year titles for cross country (XC) and track, making her one of the greatest to ever do it.
|| March 2020Arts and Entertainment
Issue 11 Playlist
By The Arts & Entertainment Department
Anthems! And that doesn’t just mean The Star Spangled Banner! Spanning a variety of genres and time periods, these are the songs that rouse the spirit of the Arts & Entertainment department.
|| March 2020News
What’s Going on With COVID-19 at Stuyvesant
By Erin Lee, Jonathan Schneiderman, Talia Kahan
|| March 2020News
Respect For All Week Screens Documentary “All in My Family”
By Alice Zhu, Ana-Maria Skaricic, Michelle Lu
Stuyvesant SPARK hosted a screening of the documentary “All in My Family” as part of Respect for All week.
|| March 2020News
Stuyvesant’s Science Olympiad Team Wins Regional Competition
By Christopher Sullivan, Derrick Lin, James Lee, Max Koster
Stuyvesant’s Science Olympiad (SciOly) team took home their third consecutive regional victory on February 8.
|| March 2020Features
Excerpts from Stuyvesant’s 2020 Scholastic Writing Award-Winning Pieces
The Features Department presents excerpts of some of the winning pieces by Stuyvesant writers in the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards.
|| March 2020Opinions
Life in the Fast Lane
By Anisa Gao
Being focused on my future as a young child has taken a toll on my perception on life.
|| March 2020Opinions
Presidential Politics Shouldn’t Be About the Minutiae of Policy
We need fewer policy specifics in Presidential politics, not more.
|| March 2020Opinions
Don’t Take Away the One Place That’s Our Own
By Aya Alryyes
The sophomore bar is meant to be a place of our own. So why have we been banned from it?
|| March 2020Science
Researching the Research Club
The Stuyvesant Research Club is an ambitious, STEM-based club that deserves recognition due to its various programs that strive to aid students interested in the field of research.
|| March 2020
Sports
Runnin’ Rebels Prepared Prior to Playoffs
A review of the Boys’ Junior Varsity Basketball team season.
|| March 2020
Sports
The NBA Trade Deadline: A Day of Big Moves
By Ethan Kirschner, Sam Levine
The trade deadline is always an action-packed day in the NBA with contenders looking to lad up for a championship run and other teams starting their rebuild.
|| March 2020
Arts and Entertainment
“Miss Americana”: A Political Documentary about Taylor Swift
By Jennifer Sun
|| March 2020
Arts and Entertainment
Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité
The Spectator reviewed Junior SING!.
|| March 2020
Arts and Entertainment
The Final Bow of Senior SING!
The Spectator reviews Senior SING!.
|| March 2020
Science
On the Coronavirus
By Angelina Chang, Arthur Liang, Zoe Piccirillo
The impact of the virus on NYC schools is unclear, but public school closures remain unlikely.
|| March 2020Science
Internal Dialogue vs. Abstract Thought
The recent spotlight put onto internal dialogue vs. abstract thinking reminds us about the diversity of thought processes and how they affect us at Stuyvesant.
|| March 2020Opinions
Don’t Take Away the One Place That’s Our Own
By Aya Alryyes
The sophomore bar is meant to be a place of our own. So why have we been banned from it?
|| March 2020Opinions
Caucus System: A Microcosm of the Electoral College Debate
By Elio Torres
Eliminating the caucus system will allow for the nomination of candidates that are more representative of partisans’ opinions and not the select opinions of the elite.
|| March 2020Arts and Entertainment
An Ode to Stuyvesant’s Boba Addiction
By Kenisha Mahajan, Zifei Zhao
A review on some of the nearest bubble tea spots around Stuyvesant!
|| March 2020Arts and Entertainment
Down the Hole
By Chrisabella Javier, Oliver Stewart
Well, it’s a Soph-Frosh SING!
|| March 2020Opinions
Want to Make Progress? Stop Being Progressive.
There are clear parallels between the modus operandi and rhetoric that the progressive wing of the Democratic party—led by Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and the now-infamous “Squad”—uses and that of Donald Trump.
|| March 2020News
Stuyvesant’s Science Olympiad Team Wins Regional Competition
By Christopher Sullivan, Derrick Lin, James Lee, Max Koster
|| March 2020Features
Coronavirus: Stuyvesant Students Share Their Thoughts
By Angela Cai, Catherine Ching, Christina Pan, Judy Chen, Lauren Lee, Morris Raskin, Zawad Imrose
Stuyvesant students respond to the coronavirus.
|| March 2020Features
Coronavirus: Stuyvesant Students Share Their Thoughts [OLD]
By Angela Cai, Catherine Ching, Christina Pan, Judy Chen, Lauren Lee, Morris Raskin, Zawad Imrose
Stuyvesant students respond to the coronavirus.
|| March 2020Features
Coronavirus: Stuyvesant Students Share Their Thoughts
By Angela Cai, Catherine Ching, Christina Pan, Judy Chen, Lauren Lee, Morris Raskin, Zawad Imrose
Stuyvesant students respond to the coronavirus.
|| March 2020Features
STEM vs Humanities: Finding the Right Balance
By Angela Cai, Nicole Itkin, Susannah Ahn
The STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) versus humanities conflict is ever-present at Stuyvesant.
|| March 2020Features
Behind the Scenes of SING!
In reflection of this year’s SING! season, the Features Department dives into the process of bringing the show to life.
|| March 2020Science
The Work of Bruce McEwen
By Gerard Lin
Dr. McEwen redefined stress as not just a reaction to an extreme situation, but also as the body’s way of responding to the obstacles it faces every day.
|| March 2020News
Regarding the February 25 Incident in the Senior Atrium
By Clara Shapiro, Erin Lee, Talia Kahan
|| March 2020Opinions
Classical Architecture
Our government deserves to be represented by “classical” architecture, cities and people deserve to be surrounded by it, and Trump’s executive order encouraging its widespread use in the design of future government buildings will undoubtedly benefit the country and the architectural world greatly.
|| March 2020
Humor
Into the Depths of the Escalators
After every break, I always make sure to check up on the escalators to see if they’re okay, like checking up on a kid that was bullied into a coma that lasted for more than a year.
|| March 2020Arts and Entertainment
Harley Quinn: Idiot Extraordinaire
“Suicide Squad” hit theaters with a very mixed reception way back in 2016. Some people loved it; some hated it; and after seeing the film over winter break, I have landed firmly in the latter camp. Nearly four years later, “Birds of Prey, and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn,” directed by Cathy Yan and written by Christina Hodson, acts as the sequel to “Suicide Squad”, revolving around Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie). After being dumped by the Joker, Harley finds herself in a tricky predicament, with half the city out for blood for the tricks she pulled under her ex-boyfriend’s protection. This quickly spirals into Harley’s quest for a diamond to bribe Black Mask (Ewan McGregor), who has a particularly long list of grievances, to spare her life. This movie is commonly referred to as a hot mess—and it owns it. The whole film is so gloriously stupid, with every character being an absolute moron. The plot is so convoluted that it becomes completely unpredictable, and Black Mask is over-the-top in every possible way. There are many problems with “Suicide Squad”—many, many problems—but most of them can be summed up with the overarching flaw that the movie tries to take its silly premise way too seriously, something “Birds of Prey” avoids completely. “Birds of Prey, and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn” has a premise that is almost as stupid as bribing supervillains into cosplaying as Superman, but doesn’t try to play it straight. The protagonist Harley has a pet hyena named after Batman and shoots confetti bullets. The villain throws a tantrum almost every time he’s onscreen. Little doodles are drawn over every minor antagonist’s face to break the tension and segue into the humorous crimes of Harley’s past. This is a stupid, stupid movie, but it runs with this concept completely, making it glorious. All of the characters in this movie are great. Alcoholic detective Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez) is hilariously over-the-top. Black Canary (Jurnee Smollett-Bell) does a phenomenal job acting as the straight man to everyone’s antics, and Mary Winstead’s Huntress is amazing too, though she only appears near the third act. But the star of the show is ultimately the main character: Harley, the queen of stupid. She acts as both the main character and the narrator of the story, maintaining a constant sense of silliness in what would have been an overly-edgy premise to keep the film from taking itself too seriously. Her personality is overplayed and ramped up to the max at every opportunity, and Robbie does an excellent job of making sure it stays consistent. Harley’s personality also lends itself excellently to the fight scenes, which are a spectacle in and of themselves. Though this movie calls itself “Birds of Prey,” it is not really about the members of the Birds of Prey. It is about Harley—and this is what ultimately saves it from becoming another “Suicide Squad.” Her perspective lends a sense of humor to this movie that its predecessor lacked, which prevents the film from taking itself too seriously and contrasts wonderfully with the dark, R-rated situations that the protagonist is thrown into. It is not a masterpiece, however. Stupid can be fun, but it isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, and it might get a little tiring for some viewers. The villain’s petulant attitude in particular wore me out after a while, and he’s not nearly as interesting as the other characters. The movie also flits back and forth from flashback to flashback, which often becomes confusing. There are more holes in the story than in a block of swiss cheese, but they are small enough to look past for the sake of enjoying the movie. Overall, “Birds of Prey, and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn” is fun. It’s not groundbreaking. It’s not perfect. But it’s fun. All the characters are entertaining in their own right and bounce off of one another decently. Despite its own problems, the film easily ducks all the major flaws that plagued “Suicide Squad” in 2016. If watching something silly is satisfying for you, then this movie is a very good pick.
|| March 2020Sports
Runnin’ Rebels Prepared Prior to Playoffs
A review of the Boys’ Junior Varsity Basketball team season.
|| March 2020Sports
The NBA Trade Deadline: A Day of Big Moves
By Ethan Kirschner, Sam Levine
The trade deadline is always an action-packed day in the NBA with contenders looking to lad up for a championship run and other teams starting their rebuild.
|| March 2020Arts and Entertainment
Riding Into The Sunset: BoJack Horseman’s Final Season
A review of BoJack Horseman season six, a masterclass in comedic television.
|| March 2020Humor
Progressive Initiatives Completely Eliminate Class Cutting
In an effort to reduce instances of student misbehavior, area-access scanners are introduced to every corner of the school.
|| March 2020Arts and Entertainment
Riding Into The Sunset: BoJack Horseman’s Final Season
A review of BoJack Horseman season six, a masterclass in comedic television.
|| March 2020Arts and Entertainment
“Miss Americana”: A Political Documentary about Taylor Swift
By Jennifer Sun
|| March 2020Arts and Entertainment
Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité
The Spectator reviewed Junior SING!.
|| March 2020Arts and Entertainment
The Final Bow of Senior SING!
The Spectator reviews Senior SING!.
|| March 2020
Arts and Entertainment
Doing Animation Right: “Star vs. the Forces of Evil”
A look back on the popular animated series “Star vs. the Forces of Evil” and how it was able to balance mature themes with a family-friendly narrative.
|| March 2020Arts and Entertainment
Cheap *ss Lunch #6: The Best Pizza Place Near Stuyvesant (Yes, For Pizza)
Pizza, the New York staple, isn’t in high supply near Stuyvesant, and it’s a race to the bottom for high price and low quality among the only choices.
|| March 2020Arts and Entertainment
Doing Animation Right: “Star vs. the Forces of Evil”
A look back on the popular animated series Star vs. the Forces of Evil and how it was able to balance mature themes with a family-friendly narrative.
|| March 2020
Arts and Entertainment
Down the Hole
By Chrisabella Javier, Oliver Stewart
Well, it’s a Soph-Frosh SING!
|| March 2020Arts and Entertainment
Was Lil Wayne’s “Funeral” a Failed Experiment?
A review of Lil Wayne’s newest album, “Funeral.”
|| March 2020
Sports
Katelyn Tuohy: The Greatest High School Runner of All Time
By Alicia Yu
Katelyn Tuohy, a high school senior, has won four Gatorade Player of the Year titles for cross country (XC) and track, making her one of the greatest to ever do it.
|| March 2020Arts and Entertainment
Issue 11 Playlist
By The Arts & Entertainment Department
Anthems! And that doesn’t just mean The Star Spangled Banner! Spanning a variety of genres and time periods, these are the songs that rouse the spirit of the Arts & Entertainment department.
|| March 2020
Opinions
Want to Make Progress? Stop Being Progressive.
There are clear parallels between the modus operandi and rhetoric that the progressive wing of the Democratic party—led by Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and the now-infamous “Squad”—uses and that of Donald Trump.
|| March 2020News
What’s Going on With COVID-19 at Stuyvesant
By Erin Lee, Jonathan Schneiderman, Talia Kahan
|| March 2020News
Respect For All Week Screens Documentary “All in My Family”
By Alice Zhu, Ana-Maria Skaricic, Michelle Lu
Stuyvesant SPARK hosted a screening of the documentary “All in My Family” as part of Respect for All week.
|| March 2020
News
Stuyvesant’s Science Olympiad Team Wins Regional Competition
By Christopher Sullivan, Derrick Lin, James Lee, Max Koster
|| March 2020News
Stuyvesant’s Science Olympiad Team Wins Regional Competition
By Christopher Sullivan, Derrick Lin, James Lee, Max Koster
Stuyvesant’s Science Olympiad (SciOly) team took home their third consecutive regional victory on February 8.
|| March 2020
Features
Coronavirus: Stuyvesant Students Share Their Thoughts
By Angela Cai, Catherine Ching, Christina Pan, Judy Chen, Lauren Lee, Morris Raskin, Zawad Imrose
Stuyvesant students respond to the coronavirus.
|| March 2020
Features
Coronavirus: Stuyvesant Students Share Their Thoughts [OLD]
By Angela Cai, Catherine Ching, Christina Pan, Judy Chen, Lauren Lee, Morris Raskin, Zawad Imrose
Stuyvesant students respond to the coronavirus.
|| March 2020
Features
Coronavirus: Stuyvesant Students Share Their Thoughts
By Angela Cai, Catherine Ching, Christina Pan, Judy Chen, Lauren Lee, Morris Raskin, Zawad Imrose
Stuyvesant students respond to the coronavirus.
|| March 2020
Features
STEM vs Humanities: Finding the Right Balance
By Angela Cai, Nicole Itkin, Susannah Ahn
The STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) versus humanities conflict is ever-present at Stuyvesant.
|| March 2020
Features
Behind the Scenes of SING!
In reflection of this year’s SING! season, the Features Department dives into the process of bringing the show to life.
|| March 2020Features
Excerpts from Stuyvesant’s 2020 Scholastic Writing Award-Winning Pieces
The Features Department presents excerpts of some of the winning pieces by Stuyvesant writers in the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards.
|| March 2020
Science
The Work of Bruce McEwen
By Gerard Lin
Dr. McEwen redefined stress as not just a reaction to an extreme situation, but also as the body’s way of responding to the obstacles it faces every day.
|| March 2020Opinions
Life in the Fast Lane
By Anisa Gao
Being focused on my future as a young child has taken a toll on my perception on life.
|| March 2020Opinions
Presidential Politics Shouldn’t Be About the Minutiae of Policy
We need fewer policy specifics in Presidential politics, not more.
|| March 2020
News
Regarding the February 25 Incident in the Senior Atrium
By Clara Shapiro, Erin Lee, Talia Kahan
|| March 2020Opinions
Don’t Take Away the One Place That’s Our Own
By Aya Alryyes
The sophomore bar is meant to be a place of our own. So why have we been banned from it?
|| March 2020Science
Researching the Research Club
The Stuyvesant Research Club is an ambitious, STEM-based club that deserves recognition due to its various programs that strive to aid students interested in the field of research.
|| March 2020Opinions
Don’t Take Away the One Place That’s Our Own
By Aya Alryyes
The sophomore bar is meant to be a place of our own. So why have we been banned from it?
|| March 2020Science
On the Coronavirus
By Angelina Chang, Arthur Liang, Zoe Piccirillo
The impact of the virus on NYC schools is unclear, but public school closures remain unlikely.
|| March 2020Science
Internal Dialogue vs. Abstract Thought
The recent spotlight put onto internal dialogue vs. abstract thinking reminds us about the diversity of thought processes and how they affect us at Stuyvesant.
|| March 2020Opinions
Don’t Take Away the One Place That’s Our Own
By Aya Alryyes
The sophomore bar is meant to be a place of our own. So why have we been banned from it?
|| March 2020
Opinions
Classical Architecture
Our government deserves to be represented by “classical” architecture, cities and people deserve to be surrounded by it, and Trump’s executive order encouraging its widespread use in the design of future government buildings will undoubtedly benefit the country and the architectural world greatly.
|| March 2020Opinions
Caucus System: A Microcosm of the Electoral College Debate
By Elio Torres
Eliminating the caucus system will allow for the nomination of candidates that are more representative of partisans’ opinions and not the select opinions of the elite.
|| March 2020
Science
The Sound of The Dead Birds
By Rania Zaki
The mass death of three billion birds in 50 years represents the immense repercussion of a rapidly changing ecosystem and a warning that predicts an unstable and terrifying future for humanity.
|| March 2020