Browsing Tag

politics

How Michelle Obama Motivated Toronto

In university, I rushed to write an essay about Michelle Obama’s image in the media. Fast forward to last night, when Michelle came to Toronto on her book tour and spoke in front of 15,000 fans. The pre-show was a highlight reel of Michelle’s most memorable moments in the media and in the White House. Ellen DeGeneres did something similar at her show in March, without a photo with Queen Elizabeth.

A few minutes before Michelle came onstage at the Scotiabank Arena, a few Canadian stars came out to reflect on their own stories. ELLE Canada’s Editor in Chief Vanessa Craft appeared first and I just met her last week at a fashion industry event. Next, Dan Levy talked about storytelling as an actor. He has appeared on this blog a few times, so that was a fun surprise! The Property Brothers also spoke, but separately.

May 5, 2019 by Sarah Prince

Movie Review: Suffragette

Carey Mulligan stars in Suffragette, which tells the story of working class women in London, England in 1912 who are tired of working for sexist bosses for low pay. They want their voices to be heard in the public sphere and they want to create a better future for their daughters.

After Maud (Carey Mulligan) joins the movement by sharing a testimony about her life to a group of men, they ignore the evidence, dismiss Maud’s poor working conditions and refuse to change policies. In fact, they throw Maud and other women in jail for responding negatively to the news. When Maud and her friends become political prisoners, it marks the beginning of their fight and the end of Maud’s marriage.

October 21, 2015 by Sarah Prince

Meeting Margaret

After hearing the mental health advocate speak at Western, I was keen to see Margaret Trudeau again at Indigo. Every seat was taken on the first floor at Indigo Manulife and even though she came to promote a self-help book for women, there were quite a few men present.

In her first bestselling book, Changing My Mind, she documented her bouts of depression, but showed no signs of unhappiness last night. Margaret was very giddy on stage, smiling as she spoke about every subject.

April 14, 2015 by Sarah Prince

Movie Review: Fed Up

Photo Source

Make room for another documentary about the obesity epidemic. In Fed Up, narrator Katie Couric walks viewers through history to explain why so many Americans are overweight.

In addition to featuring numerous interviews with professors, politicians and doctors, Fed Up chronicles the lifestyles of a few students. The students provide testimonials in between clips of them at home, school and doctor appointments.

In 1977, when a government report was released encouraging the food industry to manufacture food with less fat, food manufacturers responded by decreasing calories and increasing sugar. I like one doctor’s approach to explaining how consuming sugar affects our metabolism. “You can eat a bowl of Corn Flakes with no added sugar or you can eat a bowl of sugar with added Corn Flakes,” he says. “They might taste different, but below the neck, they’re metabolically the same.”

February 25, 2015 by Sarah Prince

Margaret Trudeau Educates Western

When Margaret Trudeau visited Western today, she was introduced through a video narrated by George Stroumboulopoulos, an equally well-liked Canadian cultural icon. Margaret, a mental health advocate, was invited to Western for the Faculty of Health Sciences’ Distinguished Lecture series to talk about her experiences with bipolar disorder, which she discusses in her book Changing My Mind (2010).

Margaret began by saying that she acted like a “drama queen” as a child, who was “quick to cry, quick to laugh.” She first experienced minor bouts of depression when she moved out of her parents’ home during university, noting that she missed the balance once she began living on her own in a basement apartment.

Albeit briefly, Margaret mentioned that the pressure of being a public figure didn’t help her feel better because as the Prime Minister’s wife, she was always expected to be graceful and look good. “There’s nothing more humiliating than being locked up in a psych ward, especially when people who don’t even know you look up to you,” she said. Her position as Canada’s First Lady also contributed to her mood swings, as sometimes her social calendar was filled with fancy events, whereas other times she felt more isolated in Ottawa.

November 1, 2012 by Sarah Prince