Saarthak Johri

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Articles

Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman jack up Marvel’s limp movies

Sep 29, 2024 | michigandaily.com | Saarthak Johri

After a lengthy opening credits sequence featuring the oft-mishandled merc with a mouth that is Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds, “X-Men Origins: Wolverine”) dancing with a skeleton (among other things) to NSYNC’s “Bye Bye Bye,” the titular antihero apologizes for some of the “necrophilic” vibes he may be putting out. For the next two hours of “Deadpool & Wolverine,” that initial affectation never really goes away.
Analyzing the ethics of artists like Kanye West and Mccafferty

Sep 8, 2024 | michigandaily.com | Saarthak Johri

Content warning: Mentions of abuse and suicide. It has happened again. And so again, I perform my little ritual: I lock the door, sit up on my bed, put my earbuds in, take out my phone and begin to dig.
Dev Patel’s ‘Monkey Man’ needs to be unbanned in India

Sep 3, 2024 | michigandaily.com | Saarthak Johri

Before I was ever introduced to Superman or Spider-Man, or even any concept of any superhero at all, I had one idol, one figure whom I wanted to be more than anything: Hanumanji. I would try to replicate his godly feats of strength, would climb anything I saw to imitate the ape demigod and even broke my collarbone trying to leap through the air like him. Dev Patel (“The Green Knight”) similarly broke his hand in the first week of filming “Monkey Man” doing exactly what I did: attempted godhood.
Am I still a writer or arts critic once I leave the Daily?

Sep 1, 2024 | michigandaily.com | Saarthak Johri

One morning two and a half years ago, I found myself on all fours on my bathroom floor, my heart pounding in my ears as I prepared to throw up in my toilet. Nothing would come, so I struggled to get back to my feet. What I saw as I stood took me aback: a shaggy-haired, wide-eyed, frightened mess of a creature. It met my eyes in the mirror and the fear in the creature’s eyes only grew when I realized it was me. I’m expecting this one to pour out of me. Or, at least I desperately hope it will.
The five stages of online grief in context of tragedy

Aug 23, 2024 | michigandaily.com | Saarthak Johri

In 1969, psychiatrist and near-death studies pioneer Elisabeth Kübler-Ross defined what she called the five stages of grief in her book “On Death and Dying,” taken from her observations of terminally ill patients processing their impending deaths. The Kübler-Ross model initially extrapolated these experiences from the patients, then extended it to those who processed their loss. Today, loss and grief fill our social media feeds, often following the same patterns.
The B(eef)-Side

Jun 5, 2024 | newsbreak.com | Saarthak Johri

Welcome to NewsBreak, an open platform where diverse perspectives converge. Most of our content comes from established publications and journalists, as well as from our extensive network of tens of thousands of creators who contribute to our platform. We empower individuals to share insightful viewpoints through short posts and comments.
The B(eef)-Side

Jun 5, 2024 | michigandaily.com | Saarthak Johri

Are we gonna have a problem? Do you wanna fight? You boutta catch me outside? Sorry if I’m coming off a bit aggressive, but I’m NOT SORRY! With the publishing of this B-Side, I wanted Daily Arts Writers to beef with art, with the world and even with themselves — all to see what the ultimate point of disses, disagreements and divisions really is. Art is a powerful force for unification, but it can also be incredibly divisive.
Tribute to the creator of Dragon Ball, Goku and other icons

Apr 5, 2024 | michigandaily.com | Saarthak Johri

I was in Church Street’s The Garage Bar when I learned Akira Toriyama (“Sand Land”) had passed. A brief check on Instagram while the last of the Tito’s was working its way through my system left me struggling not to tear up while I was with friends. I occupied a middle place between sobriety and emotionality, the bright lights of the bar losing their color and the steps on my walk home feeling all too heavy.
Ava DuVernay’s ‘Origin’ analyzes grief, race and caste

Apr 3, 2024 | michigandaily.com | Saarthak Johri

In a montage of the tragedies of race-based and caste-based oppression near the end of Ava DuVernay’s “Origin,” Isabel Wilkerson (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, “King Richard”) narrates over the reproduced scene of a slave trafficking ship, describing the cramped, inhumane conditions the enslaved African people had to suffer while stored in its hull.
‘Hundreds of Beavers’ surpasses slapstick a thousandfold

Apr 1, 2024 | michigandaily.com | Saarthak Johri

Growing up on “Tom and Jerry” led me to propose watching “Hundreds of Beavers” to my lovely friends, joking that together we could learn all the beavers’ names. One of them thought we were watching a documentary. A short viewing of the trailer in all its slapstick glory dispelled this notion. It opened up a new avenue for me to learn: How do you successfully hold an audience’s attention with black-and-white silent comedy slapstick for more than a couple of scenes, let alone close to two hours?