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Donald Trump has been out of office for 60 days now, and off of Twitter for a handful more. In his absence, the birds are singing, the sky is blue, and the flowers are blooming. Horrific things are still happening (as they always do), but they’re not exacerbated by the bullet train of weaponized cruelty and ignorance of his toxic administration. But there is still SO MUCH work ahead of us to undo his catastrophic presidency and to process the stress and trauma of the last four years.

The citizens of San Antonio, Texas have found a great outlet to process their feelings: punching a wax statue of Trump. Louis Tussaud’s Waxworks on Alamo Plaza has put their wax Trump in storage, because visitors could not stop punching and clawing at it. Great work, everyone!

Clay Stewart, regional manager for Ripley Entertainment, which owns the wax museum, said “When it’s a highly political figure, attacks can be a problem.” The attacks on the wax Trump figure increased during the 2020 presidential campaign, to no one’s surprise. But even moving the figure to the lobby, where employees could keep a closer eye on it, didn’t deter people from working out their rage on the figure.

But Stewart added that this kind of human-on-wax violence is an ongoing issue with the wax presidents. “We’ve always had trouble with the presidential section because no matter what president it was — Bush, Obama or Trump — they’ve all had people beat them,” Stewart said. “The ears were torn off Obama six times. And then Bush’s nose was punched in … People are just aggressive about their political party.”

“It’s a presidential figure,” said Suzanne Smagala-Potts, a spokesperson for the museum’s parent company, Ripley Entertainment. “Sometimes people will take a swipe at them, but they did that with Obama, Bush, and they’ve done it with celebrity figures as well. It’s just something that happens.”

Wax Trump is currently being repaired, but Ripley’s employees complained about the excessive costs after wax Trump demanded to go golfing at Mar-a-Lago and forced the company to pay for wax Secret Service agents to escort him (LOL no, but can you imagine?)

But wax Trump isn’t the first tribute of his family to go down in flames. That honor goes to this giant hideous statue of Melania Trump in Slovenia, which was burned in effigy.

Many took to Twitter to dunk on wax Trump/real Trump for getting his waxy ass kicked. It turns out Ripley’s, I CAN believe it!

Best headline I've seen in a long time:

"Wax museum removes Trump statue because guests keep punching it" pic.twitter.com/JfKCdSdlzC

— Walt Says Stuff (@WaltSaysStuff) March 21, 2021

Hey, if I saw a wax statue of John Tesh mixed with George Plimpton I’d scratch and punch it too! https://t.co/WhuaCHF8im

— Hussein Ibish (@Ibishblog) March 20, 2021

Madame Tussaud's in San Antonio had to remove the wax Trump figure because visitors kept punching it in the face. A security guard reports, "Sometimes we'd have to tell Melania, 'enough already.'" The Putin and Kim Jong Un figures have microchips which hiss, "Hit him again" pic.twitter.com/uQQX6ZDNOm

— Paul Rudnick (@PaulRudnickNY) March 19, 2021

Trump’s wax figure looks like George Plimpton cosplaying as Ric Flair. https://t.co/HYMf4o6Svc

— Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) March 18, 2021

The people have spoken https://t.co/Wqfr0NzbP1

— G. Willow Wilson (@GWillowWilson) March 19, 2021

(via San Antonio Express News, featured image: screencap/Reuters)

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Source: Roy Rochlin / Getty

After stirring up some controversy once she shared her views on children being transgender, rapper/actress Lil’ Mama isn’t done speaking on this topic. In a post on social media, she said she wants to take things a step further with a “heterosexual rights movement.”  In her post, which was captured by The Jasmine Brand, she said that straight people are forced to keep quiet regarding their opinions about the LGBTQ+ community because their comments are taken out of context and misunderstood.

I’m about to start a heterosexual rights movement. Y’all fight so hard to be respected and SOME of you NOT ALL get a kick out of bullying people for having an option. How they dress, how their hair and/or make-up looks, how much money they have, etc. There are so many people afraid to give their honest [opinion] because if they do the LGBTQ+ will hear what they want to hear and take statements out of context. I don’t have to prove myself by reminding people that I have loved ones of the LGBTQ+ community. When I speak I’m not trying to hurt anyone, I’m just speaking my truth, just like you all.”

These calls for more understanding come after the Harlem native shared her opinion regarding children being able to identify as transgender. In her Instagram story, she shared a tweet that read:

So children are too young to smoke cigarettes, too young to drink alcohol, too young to get a drivers license, too young to go to a club, too young to gamble, too young to rent a car, but old enough to cut off their genitals and/or “change” their gender? This is insanity #America.

When she reposted it, she wrote that children being able to identify as transgender is a form of depopulation.

“DEPOPULATION AT ANY COST CAT FIGHTS SWORD FIGHTS,” she wrote. “Used to be a cat now ima dog, WHATEVER TO STOP NEW LIFE REPRODUCTION.”

Being a Bruce Wayne fan means I’m constantly disappointed one way or another. There hasn’t really been a perfect Bruce Wayne/Batman combo on the big screen, and to be honest, I’m still waiting. But what I was surprised by in Zack Snyder’s Justice League was that I suddenly really liked Ben Affleck’s Batman?

Often referred to as “Batfleck,” he was playing my favorite version of Bruce Wayne—meaning the old grumpy Batman with gray temples. But he never really felt like Batman. Just … Bruce Wayne who sort of acted like the Dark Knight we knew and loved. But with the Snyder Cut, he suddenly felt more like the prince of Gotham.

Is he a perfect Batman? No. I’m still waiting for Batman to actually be a detective instead of everyone else figuring stuff out. But until then, I did enjoy him a lot more in the Snyder Cut than I had previously. Maybe that has to do with the fact that we just got to spend some more time with him or that he actually stepped back and let the superhumans take over for most of the battles, but I liked seeing him fight alongside the Justice League.

My problem with the Joss Whedon cut was that Bruce was always throwing himself into the main fight as if he … could. Bruce Wayne is a human man and Ben Affleck’s Bruce Wayne is clearly in his 40s. So he really shouldn’t be able to hold his own at the side of characters like Wonder Woman and Aquaman.

But in Snyder’s, he seems to be on the fringe of these fights, using his gadgets and helping where he can and I honestly loved to see it. I loved whatever was happening in the epilogue and it made me hope for more of Batfleck in the future. Again, I wonder who I am because I had never really loved him at all but now I enjoy what Snyder is doing to these heroes and I hope that Warner Bros. can trust him more in the future and let him explore them in a deeper way rather than just scratching the surface with them.

If a four-hour movie can make me fall in love with Batfleck, then clearly I’m ready for whatever Zack Snyder could do with the future of the DCEU.

At the end of the day, is this a good thing? Yes, actually. For once, I’m not mad about the casting and I can’t wait to see where the future leads for Affleck as the Dark Knight. I hope that we just have a bunch of different universes for all these DC heroes and that we get to explore them without the added bonus of trying to connect them all. I’d take a Ben Affleck standalone movie and I’m really excited for him to be included in The Flash movie.

(image: Warner Bros.)

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One of the most moving films in the wide selection of this year’s SXSW Film Festival is Fruits of Labor.

Set in the coastal area of California, this documentary sheds light on many neglected issues Latinos struggle with. Given the political and social upheaval that Hispanics/Latinos face in this country, it is amazing to see a documentary that humanizes and concretely showcases those who grapple with immigration status, working long hours at a laborious job, and who attempt to juggle their personal and family life.

Director Emily Cohen Ibanez and co-writer Ashley Solis Pavon have wonderfully documented one girl’s dream of being the first in her family to graduate from high school, making it to college, and hopefully one day, having the ability to stop working at the fruit farms. 

The scene opens on a strawberry farm where a young woman, Ashley, is putting on her equipment to pick fruit. It is here, at this moment, where she begins to tell us her story. At the age of 15 she was working long hours in California. She comes from a long line of Mexican healers; in Spanish they are called Curandero. She lives with her three brothers and mother, and with twelve other families who all share a single bathroom. At the heart of Latino culture, the family takes priority. Ashley’s mother has given all of her kids a similar name. All of their names begin with ‘Ash’. Her mother says that “‘Ash’ symbolizes a forest of trees, with roots that firmly establish them in the US.” This family illustrates the connection that many who have come to this country feel about living in the states. 

Ashley’s life is explored closely as she navigates her way through her social daily life of high school, hanging out with her friends, and home life. Ashley is a typical teenage girl who hopes to achieve her big dreams, however, working as long as she does doesn’t allow her to achieve all that she wants. Living in a roach infested home, with her brothers and mother, her life keeps getting more and more complicated. One aspect of her culture that her family emphasize is working hard and marring when they can.

This is a constant struggle that many Latinos face and attempt to juggle in their personal life. The brief moments that are given to Ashley’s mother are nothing short of amazing. She discusses her inability to continue her education because of her lack of citizenship. It is for this reason that she pushes Ashley. She works long hours at a processing plant from 10pm until 6am in order to support her family. Too often she is too tired to go to school the next day. With an uncertain future, she works hard every day in order to ensure a better tomorrow.

There is so much to enjoy from this thought-provoking film. The documentary is executed in a way that allows the viewer to explore Ashley’s life as a teen girl trying to make her way through high school. What is so frustrating about this is that these situations are still currently going on now in 2021. Many students are pushed on an academic track, despite their lack of interest in academics. What this documentary does that differs from others is that it, for a moment, gives a technical outcome. Ashley is getting her nails done and speaks with a worker about her career path. She asks good questions like the length of time required to complete the program and possible outcomes after graduation. While not everyone is interested in cosmetology; the idea that technical programs can take up to six months after starting the program to complete is something that should be encouraged. There are more options for students out there outside of the academic track and this was a plus. 

Documentary filmmaking is a powerful method of storytelling. This film really humanizes both Ashley and her Latino family. With shots of her home, her family and even in the working conditions that she endures every day, the film leaves an imprint of sorrow while also giving a sense of hope. Putting a Latina on the center of this production really helps to explore the ways in which Latina women are the backbone of many Latino families. They are strong, hardworking and often help to support the whole family, and sometimes the extended family. This documentary gives them the attention they need. 

If there is one film to keep an eye out for in this year’s SXSW Festival it is director Emily Cohen Ibanez documentary, Fruits of Labor. This production examines the ways Latinos who are undocumented fear the possibility of deportation and separation from their family. How those that are able to work must work constantly to help support the whole family, and the challenges that come with it while in school. For anyone who is interested in gaining perspective on the lives of immigrants who live in California, this documentary does a good job at examining the life of an average teenage girl trying to make it to college. 

 Fruits of Labor is currently screening at the SXSW Film Festival. The 2021 SXSW film festival will run virtually online March 16–20, 2021