February 2020

10 features/westerner
Into the Darkness
BY ALEXIS HUERTA
features editor
Benjamin Franklin once said that only two
things in life can truly be certain: death and taxes.
Despite its inevitability, death is a gravely sombre
topic, and knowing it’s coming doesn’t make
it any easier to swallow, especially when it comes
early and tragically.
Stunned by the recent death of Kobe Bryant,
for example, English teacher Gustavo Segovia remembers
that he initially refused to believe it. “It
was devastating to see that happen,” Segovia said.
“I was hoping more than anything that it was fake.
Everything stopped; it was one of those moments
where you will always remember exactly where you
were.”
It’s always tragic to see someone die, especially
when they are young, but students felt a lot of confusion
about the depth of their sadness for people
they’ve never met -- whether Kobe, Juice Wrld, or
Cameron Boyce.
To senior Aliyah Bilotich, a fan of rapper Mac
Miller, her sadness seemed to exist in what the
person stood for just as much as the person themselves.
“I feel like music is a big part of everyone’s
life, so the people who sing these lyrics that inspire
us mean a lot,” Bilotich said.
Sometimes these artists’ lyrics help fans relate
to them and their life experiences personally, giving
the feeling that these people are just like everyone
else. “Fans grew up with their art, whether it
be movies, music, or TV shows. Or they were close
in age to the person who died, and it hit them hard
when they realized, ‘that could have been me,’” an
anonymous student said in a Westerner survey of
141 students. That sense of fear comes from realizing
one’s own vulnerabilities.
“I play basketball, and a lot of my life revolves
around the sport. Kobe was the first basketball
great I had ever heard of, so in a way he is kind of
a hero not just to me but to everyone who feels the
same,” another anonymous student replied in the
survey. Grasping the fact that a hero who seemed
February 14, 2020
WITH THE DEATH OF CELEBRITIES, FEELINGS OF
CONFUSION AND SADNESS STIR AMONG FANS
44%
of students felt impacted
by the death of Kobe Bryant,
according to a recent
Westerner survey of 141
students.
untouchable is actually as fragile as anyone else can
explode part of the way we viewed the world.
Of course, the deaths of these incredibly important
people receive lots of media coverage, and
just like in life, Kobe merchandise sold briskly
among fans who wanted something to memorialize
him. “Sometimes, business is business. You’re
going to have people who want to profit off of it,
even if it’s a death. On the one hand, it seems rude,
but on the other hand, some people feel better if
they get things with which to remember the person,”
Segovia said.
Looking for ways to express their sadness, fans
in Los Angeles bought so many purple and yellow
flowers that florist shops sold out in L.A., and other
celebrities looked for ways to show their love for
Kobe, too. Director Spike Lee, for example, wore a
purple and gold tuxedo to last Sunday’s Academy
Awards that had a #24 embroidered on his lapels.
Many artists have had posthumous album
releases, including ones with new music such as
those by Queen, John Lennon, and Nirvana that
were some of their biggest albums ever. Even now,
many of the most popular songs from decades past
have spread their message into today’s world. “I
think sometimes it’s what the artist would’ve wanted,”
Bilotich said. “It makes us realize how great
they really were. Through their music we feel like
we get to know them, and that makes them a great
part of our lives.”
WEST’S FAVORITE BOOKS DIVE
INTO CONTEMPORARY ISSUES
Check this out!
BY LUCY ELLSWORTH
reporter
You can tell a lot about a person by
their choice in books. The same is
true for a school.
Unsurprisingly, the top ten most
checked out titles in the LRC revolve
around the lives of teenagers and the
universal problems that they face,
whether in the past, present, or
future. “I think students want to
read books that excite them and,
more importantly, speak to them
and their experiences,” librarian
Geoffrey Greenberg said.
Over the past five years, students
have gravitated toward young adult
realistic fiction. Titles such as The Hate You Give,
Eleanor and Park, and Looking for Alaska have all been
checked out over 40 times in the past five years. Although Eleanor
and Park is set in the 1980s, many students were still able to relate
to the problems they faced. “Eleanor and Park is one of the best books
I’ve ever read,” junior Gabi Krieger said. “Rainbow Rowell managed to
expose the reader to real-life hardships such as domestic abuse, poverty,
and forbidden love.”
Students also appreciated the honest depictions of life in high school
author Rowell portrayed in Eleanor and Park. “I really liked how she
doesn’t sugarcoat things and how it shows that things don’t always work
out,” junior Madelyn Jones said.
On the other hand, The Hate U Give is centered around a very current
issue: police brutality. “It tackled the issue in a way that doesn’t feel
too heavy,” librarian Nicole Coover-Thompson said. This makes it an
ideal book for high school students.
“I liked The Hate U Give because it emphasizes the racial tension that
the black community experiences even after equality is actively sought
after,” Krieger said. “I think it’s an important book that should be read in
high schools because it’s entertaining as well
as educational.”
My Bloody Life, the autobiography of a
former gang member, is one of the most
popular nonfiction titles the LRC offers,
having been checked out 75 times in the
past five years. “A lot of kids are interested
in reading about true crime and serial
killers,” Greenberg said. “Students find
these books engaging and talk to each other
about them, which I think makes them more
popular.” Other genres experiencing surges in
popularity include graphic novels and fantasy
series.
One priority of the librarians is to make it
easier for all types of students to find books
where they can relate more directly to the
authors’ point of view. “We have been pushing
a lot of authors of color, queer authors,
and stories that are representative of the
students in the building,” Coover-Thompson
said. “Those titles in particular have
become very popular.”
Ultimately, the most popular books
contain issues that are relevant to teens.
Since all of the most checked out books
were published after 2000, “it will be interesting
to see, ten or twenty years from
GRETA MARTIN
now, to see if these books will have stood
GRETA MARTIN
the test of time.” Coover-Thompson said.