Orange is the worst flavor in candy.
It’s been almost a month since Halloween ended, and the bucket of candy my roommates and I collected is still half full. While we’re high on chocolates and peanut butter cups, we’ve also had our share of Airheads, Skittles, and fruit snacks, some of which use an evil orange flavor.
I’ve hated orange flavor for a while, but it was never a big problem for me until I got an orange Airhead for the first time last week. The second I started chewing, my life fell apart. This might be a bit dramatic, but I love candy – I’ve never wanted to spit it out more than I did at that moment.
Orange, as a fruit, is excellent. I love oranges. These aren’t my favorite, but they are delicious. Everything that makes an orange not my favorite fruit is added to the orange candy flavor. Oranges are wonderful because although they are sweet, they are also tangy and tangy. When candy tries to replicate this flavor, it barely resembles the sweetness of an orange and dilutes everything else.
Orange candies bore me; there is nothing special about it. Because orange candies are so boring, they draw more attention to the less fun parts of the candies. Biting into an orange gummy bear makes me more aware of how tired my jaw is from chewing rather than how good it tastes. It leaves a strange taste on my tongue and an even stranger smell in my nose.
Overall, it’s uninspiring and takes the fun out of candy. This Halloween, my hatred for orange candy was rekindled. Next year I won’t let anyone near me.
If you disagree, we should share Halloween treats. Please take all my orange candies and leave me the good flavors.
Don’t follow study hacks on YouTube.
Finals are fast approaching, and my lack of ability to study well has never been more in my face. I wouldn’t say I’m bad at studying; I just know that other people study more effectively than me. For people like me, we need study tips.
I’ve scoured the internet for at least one suitable study hack that sticks. In my unprofessional opinion, I have concluded that YouTube is the last place you should look.
While the Pomodoro Technique recommends studying hard for 25 minutes, then taking a 5-minute break and repeating, it has only worked three times in my life. This can work once a semester. This 5 minute break will eventually lead to a 40 minute break because I have no self control. Yes, it’s all my fault, but I also blame the study hack video that convinced me this was the best solution for big procrastinators like me.
These videos encourage people to take drastic action or simply state, “Step One: Take Notes.” There’s nothing less productive than someone telling me something I already know over the course of a 10 minute video. Study hack videos never seem to offer logical information. I saw videos that suggested I study before the test and exercise three times a week.
Of course, there is at least one video that someone will find useful – ultimately, everyone studies differently. This might encourage you even more to search YouTube for study tips, but I find that trying them and failing demotivates me from studying at all. I think it works to find people in your classes who are willing to help and advise you. Eventually you’ll find one that sticks. But trust me, this won’t come from a YouTube video.
Bring back parody films.
I’m not a big fan of comedy films. It’s not because I don’t appreciate humor – a lot of times the humor is way too dry or unfunny, which is the only thing a comedy film should be. Regardless, there is a subgenre of comedy films that does the trick for me: parody films.
In light of the return of “The Hunger Games” and the 10th anniversary of “The Starving Games,” I was reminded that these films are the pinnacle of cinema. Movies like “Vampires Suck” and the entire “Scary Movie” franchise – while generally filled with brainless characters – are extremely witty and unique. While following a normal plot, some of these films satirize cinematic concepts or stereotypical film characters and include social commentary.
It’s refreshing when films explicitly call out celebrities who need to be put in their place or make political statements that most filmmakers are too afraid to make.
Many of these films encourage the use of racist, sexist, and ableist jokes, to name a few. I don’t think it’s funny, and I don’t think they should keep making movies using these kinds of jokes. But the heart of parody films is so new and challenging – I think today’s cinema could use it.
Comedy films don’t make as much noise as they used to. Again, I don’t like them much, but it’s a shame to see a genre with so much potential get left behind. I think bringing back parody films is the first step. I hope more filmmakers take inspiration from the recent bangers and bring back a trouble-free version of “Scary Movie.”
Cartoons are for everyone.
Some people think that cartoons are just for children; I never believed in this notion. When I was a kid, I thought it was absurd that only people my age could enjoy “Avatar: The Last Airbender.” But then again, I was a child.
Now, I’m still a kid – but a slightly older kid who’s talked to people who aren’t kids. We agree that these anime have a lot more to offer than we thought. Some of us crave emotional depth and good storytelling through relatable characters, and anime executes that perfectly.
I’m not talking about adult animation like “The Simpsons” or “Family Guy”; I’m talking about cartoons like “Adventure Time”, “The Amazing World of Gumball” and “Bluey”. If we continue to perpetuate the idea that cartoons are only for children, we will miss out on interesting and even life-changing content.
When we look at media and say, “That’s for kids,” we often reduce it to something that has no meaning or purpose for us. This is far from the truth. Maybe we should become more humble and realize that we can learn something – or be inspired – from children’s shows.
One of my favorite examples is “Bluey”. Cartoons like “Adventure Time”, although aimed at children, sometimes contain mature and complex ideas. “Bluey” certainly doesn’t. Yet, they manage to address important issues within a household.
In one episode, Bluey’s mother, Chilli, struggles with her performance as a mother because Bluey is not learning to walk as quickly as the other children. But her friend reassured her, looking at the camera, and said: “You’re doing great.” Viewers pointed out that mothers who watch this show with their children receive support from the creators.
I admit that a lot of shows are important to me because of nostalgia. But as I grew up, I discovered many children’s shows that became important to me because they inspired me or taught me something new.
Kids’ shows will probably take the easy route, but when was that a bad thing? Sometimes a simple, direct message is missing from the media we consume. An 11-minute episode can teach us how to be a better friend or treat ourselves better.
I don’t think everyone needs to watch kids’ shows – sometimes they’re too slow or just plain uninteresting. However, we need to stop imposing the idea that they are just for children and encourage more people to seek them out.
That’s the opinion of Annabelle Shania Gunawan (’26), a film, television and media student from Jakarta, Indonesia. Send your comments and reactions to editor@theloyolan.com. Follow @LALoyolan on Instagram and subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
