I have always known New York City to be a place of opportunity and adventure—a place where you can go after your dreams and find inspiration in every corner. However, after watching the many portrayals of New York City through an abundance of acclaimed films, I have been forced to reassess what living in New York City really means. I still find it to be a place of opportunity and adventure, but I also realize that it is a place with a lot of social issues and racial inequality, which in turn, can have a great affect on those wishing to reach the top.

Throughout the entire semester, the movie I enjoyed the most and found to be the most truthful to New York City was Spike Lee’s Do The Right Thing. Being that I am from the South Bronx and live in a neighborhood full of minorities, I almost felt at home while watching Spike Lee’s film. Everything was accurate, from the ways kids play with the fire hydrant in the summer, to the ways people blast salsa or rap music from their large stereos. What also made Spike Lee’s film very realistic was how he touched upon some very serious and real issues—problems that are still very prevalent today, including racism, gentrification, and police brutality. Lee highlighted the issue of racism by showing the tension between Pino and the rest of the black community of Bed-Stuy. He also highlighted gentrification by displaying the friction between the white bicyclist and Buggin’ Out. And finally, Lee also touched upon the issue of police brutality by ending the film with the murder of Radio Raheem, after having an altercation with a police officer.

All of these troubling matters emphasized by Spike Lee’s film hit me very hard and made me question the current state of New York City in terms of racial and social equality. I realized that even though this film was released in 1989, almost 26 years later, New Yorkers are still suffering from the same problems displayed in this film. Gentrification is happening everywhere to the point where lower class citizens are being forced out of their own homes. Racial inequality is rampant in the ways the government, along with many other people, do not acknowledge the life of a black human being. And finally, police brutality still exists, as shown through the deaths of Mike Brown, Eric Garner, and many other minorities.

This is why I believe that out of all of the films we have seen this semester, Do The Right Thing is the most truthful and probably the most important of our time. This movie, which was shot almost 3 decades ago, still underlines what many minorities have to suffer through because of their social class and race. It is a film, which makes people like me want to fight for justice and change, so that everyone in New York City and America can have equal opportunity, acknowledgement, respect, and more. Racism, police brutality, and gentrification are all prospects that should be obsolete by now and it makes me angry that these issues still exist. It is up to our generation to make a change.

Whenever I think about the word “selling out,” I tend to think about famous music artists, whom I used to listen to and admire while growing up. These artists include Taylor Swift, Avril Lavigne, Kelly Clarkson, and many more. I loved these artists because they seemed original to me, in their styles and ways of writing music. They also wrote about many meaningful topics and wrote about them in intricate ways. For example, when Taylor Swift came out with the songs “Tear Drops on My Guitar” and “Fifteen,” they touched the hearts of many young girls everywhere—however, this did not happen because of how “catchy” they were. These songs were deeply loved because they were very sincerely written, original, and beautifully composed. Similarly, Kelly Clarkson and Avril Lavigne also wrote very sincere songs such as “Behind These Hazel Eyes” and “Fall to Pieces,” popular songs, which reached out to many and had strong meanings. I, along with many others, admired the ways these women wrote music back then. However, now, when I listen to their most recent work, all I feel is disappointment.

Their new songs are repetitive, annoying, and are NOT thought provoking at all—and in a way, it makes me and many others feel let down. These artists no longer use the same techniques they used while writing music in the past, and seem to put in less work as a result. They don’t have well-thought-out lyrics anymore, and write retarded, unoriginal choruses, which anyone can come up with, such as “shake it off!” and “my life would suck without you!” What happened to their poetic lyrics? What happened to their originality? To me, it seems like it was all taken away because of money and the need to stay “popular.” For some reason, today’s generation gravitates towards mindless and repetitive music, that almost anyone with an instrument or a singing voice can write. Today’s society is attracted to artists with barely any originality such as Iggy Azalea, Ariana Grande, Nicki Minaj, and many others who DO NOT HAVE ANYTHING IMPORTANT TO SAY. All these artists write about today, are their assets, their haters, their money, and lovers—nothing that can speak to or move an audience. Yet somehow, these kinds of artists continue to stay popular… and it infuriates me because like I said before, ANYONE can write the kind of music these artists are putting out today. And if artists like the famed Taylor Swift, continue to sell out, where is the creativity and originality of the youth going to go?

Being that I am a classical mezzo-soprano singer myself, walking into the Metropolitan Opera to watch Carmen made me extremely excited. Since my junior year of high school, I had always wanted to watch the opera Carmen, especially since I sang as her in one of my high school musicales. I felt as though finally getting to watch it live in the biggest opera house in the world would be one of the greatest learning experiences for me, and it was. In fact, I was so moved by the production that at some points, I even got emotional, especially since performing the role of Carmen has remained one of my dreams since I last performed as her in high school.

(Above is the video of me performing as Carmen. I’m in the middle, wearing black. We’re singing the quintet called, “Nous avons en tete une affaire” which is performed in act II of Carmen. **sorry for the horrible quality**)

As soon as the show began, there was only one character I was anticipating to listen to, and that was Carmen. I already knew about what her entrance would be like since I had already watched and listened to the famous aria “Habanera” numerous times on youtube by different opera singers. However, I was wondering how this opera singer in particular, Anita Rachvelishvili, would interpret it—and once she began singing, I was quite surprised. Anita Rachvelishvili left me speechless with the way she sensually sang the famous aria. Her rich and dark colored voice, use of dynamics, and acting in this piece gave me goosebumps all over and left me on the edge of my seat. What made her performance of this piece so unique to me was how well she sang it quietly. I originally expected it to be sung in a mezzo-forte dynamic, however, she sang it more pianissimo—which I felt lured the audience in even more. Her acting in this piece was also quite interesting to me. The way she touched her leg and washed it over a bucket of water, was a little weird at first, but sure did capture the idea of how “sexy” the character of Carmen is supposed to be. By the end of her performing this aria, I could definitely understand why everyone falls in love with Carmen. She is her own woman, “a rebellious bird that nobody can tame,” and a diva.

As the show went on, I continued to find everything to be wonderful. All of the singers in this production were phenomenal and along with Carmen, I was also greatly moved by the woman who played Micaela named Anita Hartig. Although her role was small, every time she appeared, her light soprano voice would make my eyes widen. The sadness she conveyed in her appearance in Act III, singing “Air de Micaela,” left me in awe and it was amazing to me how well she sang those high notes so subtly and lusciously. Along with her, I also thought the man who sang as Don Jose named Aleksandrs Antonenko, was incredible as well. In the end, when he was desperately trying to win Carmen back in the final scene, I felt as though his emotions were so raw. He showed the desperation he had for Carmen effectively, especially in the way he passionately sang to her, trying to win her back. His performance with Carmen in that final scene, although very sad, was also very stirring and showed the audience just how crazy Don Jose was for Carmen.

Overall, I think everything about this opera was marvelous and I would definitely go back to the opera to watch even more different productions, just like I have in the past. Although expensive, I believe opera is for everyone. I wish it was more accessible to people in every class because it is an art form which showcases how incredible the human voice can be through romance, comedy, and tragedy. It is also an art form which I feel can musically educate many through the different languages it is sung in and through the numerous ways the music is written and performed. There are so many amazing and interesting components involved in opera that should be known to everyone, and because of this I hope opera never dies. It is too grand of an art form, which can educate many about classical music, to die.