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Las Vegas, Nevada was a strange place to live in as a child. Its reputation as an adult playground fraught with gambling and nightlife makes it a place that is the opposite of what one thinks of when it comes to raising a family. And yet, my family and I found ourselves living in this incredibly off-kilter city for two years. Although Las Vegas was and still is a melting pot with many different people and lifestyles, I was still incredibly sheltered. Back then, my father was on active duty in the army, meaning that Las Vegas was just another location where our family was stationed. As such, we lived on a military base just on the outskirts of the famed “strip”. My exposure to the Las Vegas that is its casinos, bars, clubs, and lavish hotels was therefore limited and monitored. There were still hints of it, yes, like how my favorite indoor amusement park was inside a massive casino that allowed smoking indoors, or like how the buffet my family enjoyed going to was in the same building complex as an endless sea of poker tables and an excess of spirits. Through both my childhood naivety and my parent’s careful censorship, I developed tunnel vision. The Vegas that I knew when I was six and seven years old was bright, colorful, whimsical, and at times magical. I knew nothing of the other, less kid-friendly side of the city because I did not have to. I only knew what I was allowed to be exposed to. You can see, then, how returning to Las Vegas at roughly 15 years old was like returning to someplace familiar now turned strange. Yes, the nostalgic undertones were still there, and at times the wonder, but the difficult part about growing up is that I no longer had tunnel vision.

We visited the “safe” areas first. The military base that I had such fond and detailed memories of was finally beneath my feet again. When you live on a military base as a child, it becomes less of a base and more of its own hidden town, with schools, stores, movie theaters, parks, and neighborhoods. When I was not being given micro-doses of the strip, the base was my entire world. We tried in earnest to find the old house that we used to live in, although, in the end, we could not recall exactly which of the nearly identical homes was ours. We stopped by the elementary school that my brother and I had once attended, and it did not look like any time had passed since we left. This trip was as much a vacation as it was a pursuit of what had once been, and it was filled with enthusiastic retellings of childhood memories. Each location inevitably leads to reminiscence. It was not until we reached the “city” part of Vegas that our recollections were abruptly challenged.

Initially, we marveled at all the sights that we were able to see once again, such as the pyramidal Luxor Hotel and the roller coasters that snaked their way in and out of the New York New York casino. I grew excited being close to all of the familiar landmarks once again, and walking down the streets again after nearly a decade was surreal. However, I began to notice what my child self had not. The strip was lustrous and extravagant and everything that it had always been, but the strip was only so long. Past the bustling tourists and flashy attractions was abject poverty in a way that to this day I have seldom seen. Crossing from the strip into the rest of Las Vegas was akin to crossing an invisible boundary. Houses were tiny and crowded together and in varying states of deterioration. The unhoused living in both above-ground encampments and tunnels beneath the city was far from uncommon. This part, the forgotten part, of Las Vegas was inundated with shades of brown and the downtrodden. I began to realize that the illustrious, skyscraper-laden Vegas was not Vegas, regardless of what I had seen as a child. This was Las Vegas, Nevada. Extreme wealth disparity was shrouded in smoke, mirrors, and showgirls. Travelers were more than welcome to the city, but the city had failed those who had spent their entire lives there. This reality was, of course, not beautiful. What was once a vacation powered by nostalgia became a very sobering experience, one that I will not allow myself to forget. Vegas is a city with riches built upon the backs of people that it no longer takes care of. 

Biferno, Anya, et al. “Climate Change Evidence: How Do We Know?” NASA, NASA, 27 Sept. 2023, climate.nasa.gov/evidence/.

Stabile, Angelica. “Physicist to Tucker Carlson: Climate Change Is ‘Fiction of the Media.’” Fox News, FOX News Network, 21 June 2021, www.foxnews.com/media/physicist-tells-tucker-carlson-climate-change-is-fiction-of-the-media.

When my roommate and I traveled the five miles down to High Bridge, the first thing we did was get a map from the bike shop. One of the guys who works there is from Virginia Beach just like me, so I like to say “hello” to him. After that, we were on our way.

Almost as soon as we were on the trail, we met a dog! He was still a puppy, so he jumped all over me and possibly damaged my water bottle holder, but that is okay because he was very sweet. About a minute after that, we reached a telephone tower that was covered with and surrounded by dozens of birds. We later figured out that they were black vultures, which are quite large and have unique white marks on their wings. We spent at least five minutes just watching them before we continued.

I then learned that squirrels are far more talkative creatures than I was aware of, which was both an interesting discovery and a relieving one because it made me realize that all of the creepy bush-rustling sounds were just these silly little rodents. After this, we discovered a snake’s skin, but we did not, unfortunately, see any whole snakes.

We eventually stopped for a snack break during which we saw several daddy long-legs on a poll. We saw far more long-legs at the restroom later on, along with dozens of ladybugs just on the ceiling of one of them, but this is unfortunately the only picture of either of these insects that I took. No ladybugs this time 🙁

We passed by many people’s properties along the way, including one that had an old, broken down bus on it. My two favorites, however, were the house with the dog that said “hello” to us and the pasture with two horses. They were right next to a huge field with what appeared to be a track for horses to practice jumping hurdles on, so hopefully I will one day pass by while they are training.

After many interesting animals, leaves, and games or twenty questions, my roommate and I finally arrived at High Bridge. We had a snack there and my roommate dropped several chips through the cracks into the void, and we met some very nice dogs, too. The view was nice, but we were too tired and hot to stay for long.

When we finally began to walk another five miles back, we saw this beautiful caterpillar that I believe should be the last thing I show you on this essay because we were too tired to appreciate much of the walk back, and he is a very pretty caterpillar.

The movie that I have chosen to review is “Us” by Jordan Peele, a prolific black actor, comedian, and director most well-known for his horror movies. Jordan Peele’s horror movies are unique in that they cast black people as their main characters, something that is unusual in the vast majority of horror films from the West. Typically, the stereotype in horror movies is that black characters serve as side characters that are killed off first, barely garnering enough screen time to even be remembered by viewers. Horror movies that do feature black people as long-standing and main characters are typically comedic in nature, such as the “Scary Movie” series. What makes Peele’s movies unique is that although they have some comedic elements, they consist largely of psychological and surrealistic horror with black people as the main protagonists (and in some cases antagonists). In essence, Peele’s horror allows black characters to get the same depth and storylines as white characters have for decades in the same genre.

Cinematographically, Peele’s “Us” was a masterpiece. Visually striking imagery is prevalent throughout the entire film, so much so that screen captures of the best shots have been circulating on the Internet since its release. Through the use of rich colors, carefully used dark lighting, and uncomfortable close-ups of character’s faces, often at intense or pivotal moments, Peele was able to create an intriguing, vivid, and wholly uncomfortable visual experience. This combination of visual strategies led to an off-kilter feeling that was at times deeply unsettling for the viewer yet not repulsive or distressing enough to make them look away. Instead, a balance between beauty and the disturbing was carefully cultivated to keep the viewer’s attention throughout the entire movie. Truly, this film was impossible to look away from.

A Jordan Peele movie would not be a Jordan Peele movie without some level of social commentary. “Us” is no exception. Although the social commentary in “Us” is less apparent than in his previous movie, “Get Out”, it is certainly still present throughout the entire storyline. The film is a literal manifestation of what Americans typically fear most. It is people who are not your family, not from where you are from, and not sharing your beliefs or customs invading your homes and driving everyone, including you, out. This is the well-established fear that is associated with immigration and assimilation, and Peele grapples with this theme in a way that is much more graphic than reality. Those that “replace” prior residents, the “tethered”, are animalistic, violent, and utterly strange, mostly only communicating in grunts and brutally murdering all those that they replace. In this way, it seems that Peele’s “Us” is validating the fears of Americans being replaced by immigrants in the most extreme way possible. However, a second glance reveals that that is not his main argument. Yes, the tethered participate in awful acts, but they are also identical doppelgangers to those they are replacing. In fact, they are exactly the same, and the only way they differ is in the way that they live and their outlook on how the world is. So much so, that one of the main characters is revealed at the very end of the movie to be a tethered, unbeknownst to every “normal” person in the movie. In essence, Jordan is creating a direct parallel between the tethered and “normal” people and immigrants and Americans. The only thing that distinguishes the tethered from every other person is experience. Their uprising only came after years of oppression, trapped beneath the ground and not able to experience a single day of sunlight until they finally broke free.

What is so masterful about “Us” is that this is not readily apparent when you complete the film. Admittedly, I at first struggled to find the social commentary in the movie. However, once it clicks, it clicks, and all of the themes and storylines in the film begin to make sense as one central argument. I believe that enabling the audience to gradually reach their own conclusions rather than making them explicitly clear is one of the most valuable things that a film can do, especially with an issue that is as far-reaching and impactful as the simultaneous battle for and against immigration in the United States. What is at first a compelling horror with hauntingly beautiful cinematography transforms into a medium for the message that Peele and countless others are trying to convey. In this way, “Us” is not just a film but a critique of American fears and values.

The Sims is a beloved franchise of life-simulation games that has been on the market since the year 2000. With four iterations, the Sims, the Sims 2, the Sims 3, and the Sims 4, many people, including myself, have grown up with and continue to play these games. Being that the Sims games are almost entirely open-ended and up to the player, it can be difficult to imagine that they make any argument at all. However, like any implicit argument, the argument is subtle yet consistent, one that can be seen, with slight variations, throughout the entire series. Essentially, the Sims franchise makes an implicit argument for what the ideal lifestyle is, through the way Sims look, dress, act, and live. That lifestyle is mainly traditional, white American, suburbian, and money-driven, and largely perpetuates the ideal of the nuclear family.

The Sims making an argument for what is the ideal lifestyle or family is most strongly seen with the earliest games, such as the Sims and the Sims 2. Diversity in particular has been a point of contention in the early games, with only Sims with certain appearances and identities being able to be created, largely white. This can be clearly seen with the Sims 2, with only four skin tones total and the darkest skin tone being only medium brown in-game.

Additionally, plus-sized Sims were completely absent until the Sims 3. Technically, the Sims 2 had a setting for “fat” sims, however, the Sims 2 idea of “fat” is not what most would agree with.

Skin tones and body diversity were improved in later games like Sims 3 and the Sims 4, however, considering that the Sims 3 was created nine years after the original Sims game, adding diversity was more like an afterthought. Through the Sims character creators a perhaps unintentional but still impactful argument is that in creating your perfect idea of a simulated family you can only create a family within certain racial and bodily guidelines.

The perpetuation of suburbia as the ideal living conditions is perhaps the most apparent theme in the Sims franchise. Essentially all of the worlds in the Sims games have only suburban neighborhoods, meaning that other ways of life are not shown at all. The majority of premade families (up until the Sims 4) are stereotypical nuclear families, with a wife, a husband, and some amount of children representing the majority of households. This ideal is also encouraged throughout the game, during which Sims will often “wish” (the exact term varies by game) to propose, get married, and have a child, in that order. In the Sims 3, Sims who have a child out of “wedlock” get negative moods and are publicly shamed by other Sims. Through game mechanics such as this one, a certain “path” in life is heavily encouraged, which is one that of course mirrors the traditional American suburban lifestyle. Other ways of life can often be met with negative game outcomes, steering most players away from them entirely.

In the Sims, money truly does buy happiness. Using cheaper appliances is met with consequences, such as negative moods and sometimes in reduced quality of the items produced by said appliance, such as food. Buying more expensive furniture, appliances, cars, and decorations leads to positive moods and an overall easier life. Essentially, this drives the player to attempt to make their Sim family as rich as possible, with remaining stagnant at a certain financial status resulting in stressed Sims. Moving up the career ladder is more of a necessity and not a choice, and not doing so takes active effort and bad performance from the Sim the player is controlling. Some of the most iconic premade families in the Sims franchise are also the richest families, in part because becoming a rich, well-to-do family in the Sims game is the goal of the game, most evident by noticeably more cheerful Sims when wealth is increased.

The Sims, through character customization, game mechanics, Sim wishes/aspirations, and premade families, perpetuates the stereotype that the ideal household is more often than not of a certain appearance, holds traditional American values, and is affluent. Although the Sims franchise is my all-time favorite game series, recognizing the subtle arguments that the games make is very important to understanding its impact on its millions of players, including myself.

With the release of Baldur’s Gate 3 in August 2023, players of the franchise and those who were interested were greeted with a fresh game, one where it came out mostly complete, with no microtransactions, polished, and constantly worked on and adjusted from feedback. I was hesitant at first to pick up the game since I had not played the franchise before but I gave in and it was certainly a masterpiece that had elevated itself to my favorite game within a matter of hours. Throughout my playthrough of Baldur’s Gate, I discovered what I felt was a very open argument the game was making which was that you could be whoever or whatever you wanted to.

Baldur’s Gate 3 is a roleplaying game (RPG) that is built like Dungeons and Dragons (DnD) but in a video game form. The game was created by Larian Studios and like many other roleplaying games out there, allows you to create your character based on how you want them to look. The character could be an elf, dwarf, human, tiefling (demon people), or a gnome. After selecting whichever race you would like to play as, you also pick your class! The class system in Baldur’s Gate 3 is much like Dungeons and Dragons where you can choose between a Fighter, Paladin, Druid, Wizard, or a Cleric, just to name a few. You can essentially create a fictitious character, or you could even make yourself in the game, it is entirely up to you and you can customize nearly everything about your character. When I say nearly everything, I mean nearly everything.

In Baldur’s Gate 3, you have the option to develop romantic relationships with party members, which adds a new dimension to how you play your character and shape their lifestyle. The romance system in the game is based on your interactions with non-playable characters and dialogue options. Depending on your actions, your relationship with a character can improve, which can lead to romantic possibilities later on. This feature allows you to personalize your character and play the game according to your preferences.

Finally, not only can you create your ideal character, but you also have the option to play the bad guy in the game, and murder any random non-player character you lay eyes on. The creators of Baldur’s Gate 3 account for your chaos and mischievousness, letting the game adapt to your character as you go and the choices you make. If you decide to kill an old man because you want to play a bad guy, the game will allow you to do so but it will also scold you at the same time. Not only can you kill whoever you wish, but you can also join sides join the main story antagonists and the over-arching narrative of the game.

Of all these choices and customization, Baldur’s Gate 3 has one of the most advanced character customization features in the industry, truly allowing you to be whoever you want to be.

Liu, A. (2022, July 31). Ultimate Guide to Worms Eye View Photography: What, why: How. Katebackdrop. https://www.katebackdrop.com/blogs/tips-katebackdrop/worm-eye-view-photography#:~:text=Worm%27s%20eye%20view%20photography%20is,with%20the%20camera%20pointing%20upwards. 

G., Alex. “Advice for an Unforgettable Photo Essay.” FORMAT, 10 July 2023, www.format.com/magazine/resources/photography/how-to-make-photo-essay-examples#:~:text=Strong%20photo%20essays%20can%20give,to%20portraiture%20to%20wedding%20shots. 

Day, Monica. “How to Evoke Emotion with Your Images.” Digital Photography School, 27 Dec. 2014, digital-photography-school.com/how-to-evoke-emotion-with-your-images/. 

Here’s my photo essay on my family’s trip to Holden Beach this past summer.