rena's blog

Years ago, when I was maybe ten years old, I remember acting out battle scenes with my siblings as Aragorn, Legolas, and Gandalf. We tied blankets around our shoulders and fought with plastic sticks. Our thick, heavy cloaks didn’t fly in the wind like they were supposed to, but that didn’t matter as we ran around the hallway, swinging at each other with our sticks. Sweat was dripping down our backs and each one of us had collected several bruises, but none of us cared.

This is the kind of scene that took place in my house after we had watched one of the Lord of the Rings movies. Acting out scenes gave us a unique way of not only watching the story on a screen but also living it. Fights between Captain Jack Sparrow, Will Turner, and Captain Barbossa were common in our house after watching Pirates of the Caribbean as well.

It was only years later, that I noticed, I had never played a female character as far as I could remember. I also couldn’t recall my two sisters ever playing someone who wasn’t male.

This realization was one that came hand in hand with another one: there hadn’t really been many movies with significant, powerful, female main characters. Perhaps the most important female character in the Lord of the Rings trilogy is Lady Galadriel who doesn’t have a lot of screen time and really only talks.

Pirates of the Caribbean, on the other hand, does have an important female character in Elizabeth Swan. However, in the first few movies, she doesn’t actually do a lot of fighting. Instead, she is mostly a love interest for the main characters and someone for them to save.

This lack of representation is something that is very common in older movies and TV shows that were made before 2010. Many films that are widely considered to be classics like James Bond, Indiana Jones, and the original three or even six Star Wars movies have male leads. In addition to that, the main characters are also almost exclusively cis, straight, and white.

In terms of TV shows, Star Trek, Arrow, and House are very popular with many fans respectively. Although each of these films and shows has a different genre and style, there is one thing that all of these have in common: they all have white, straight, cis, male leads.

What was generally perceived as the norm in the industry, however, has started to change in the last few years. Films like Black Panther or Ocean’s 8 and TV shows like Grey’s Anatomy or Legends of Tomorrow are trailblazers with fairly diverse characters of different genders, ethnicities, and sexual orientations.

Emily Rotthaler, a senior from Austria, drew on her own experience with regards to female representation in film and TV, explaining, “Most of the great movies that I remember from the 2000s and 2010s like Mission Impossible and even children movies like Up have male main characters. And even if there was a female main character, the movies usually contained a bunch of stereotypes.”

More recently, she pointed out that movies like Enola Holmes and The Old Guard have strong female leads whose sole purpose is not finding love or being saved by a man anymore.

Mikhil Raja, a freshman from Zimbabwe, noticed the same trend, stating, “I think diversity and representation has improved in the last few years.”

Rotthaler agrees. “I do think there is more diversity in movies and series today and where it shows the most for me is in the ratio of male and female main characters.”

Big companies and studios are taking note of this trend as well. Among those is none other than Marvel Studios which Raja mentioned as an example for positive change towards more diversity and representation in the film and TV industry. Marvel Studio’s success in the film industry started out in 2008 with the movie Ironman. Tony Stark aka Ironman was joined by other heroes throughout the next four years in the so-called Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Then, in 2012, they teamed up to form a group called the “Avengers”. One thing that stands out about this group is that it consists of six people, all of which are white, cis, and straight and five of which are male.

However, in more recent years, about 14 years after the release of Ironman in 2008, this group of heroes has expanded. The original six heroes have since been joined by characters like Captain Marvel, King T’Challa, Namor, Wong, Kingo, Makkari, and many, many more. They bring diversity to the MCU which was almost inexistent in most films and TV shows about ten years earlier.

These changes, of course, rarely come without any problems. In this case, criticism has been voiced by fans that a lot of the newer additions to the MCU which are almost exclusively women are replacements for other, originally male characters. For instance, Kate Bishop is seen by some as a replacement for Clint Barton. In a different example, Sam Wilson who was formerly known as the Falcon is taking up the mantle of Captain America, effectively becoming the first non-white Captain America.

This idea of replacing formerly male, white, cis, and straight characters with different ones is something that is not entirely new and uncommon. Dr Who, for instance, has always been male until 2017 when Jodie Whittaker took on the role and the Doctor was for the first time female. She reprised the role again in 2018 and has played the character ever since. Although the series has received criticism for that decision, it has also been supported by others.

In other cases, actors and filmmakers have spoken out in favor of or against changes like that. For instance, in response to the question, of whether James Bond should be played by a woman in the future, Daniel Craig stated that he is against it. He doesn’t want a woman to replace an established, male character but would rather like there to be an equally good or even better female character.

In fact, movies and TV shows with characters like that have become more common. Warrior Nun (2019-) is a show on Netflix that is known for its diversity. There are mostly female characters who are from all over the place. They all have different ethnicities, different sexual orientations, and entirely different personalities. All of these traits are implemented into the show in a casual way that makes them seem natural and doesn’t make a big deal out of it.

Similarly, many other newly emerging shows and movies have strong leads who do not fall into what was widely perceived as the norm ten years ago.

Raja believes that this has to do with the perception of these topics around the world. “I think it [diversity in film and TV] has improved because diversity and representation have become more recognized around the world and more important to people and communities.”

Melanie Rodriguez, a junior with Mexican roots, specified, “I think it’s improving, because there are more POC [people of color], women, and diversity in both the actors and the directors.”

However, despite all that improvement, more can and needs to improve still. Raja suggested more cultures and countries need to be exposed in the film industry and shown to the world.

Looking back at my childhood, it would definitely have been different if we would have had the same movies that there are now. Characters like Imperator Furiosa, Katniss Everdeen, and Wonder Woman would most certainly have been running around our house with a self-made bow or a stick for a sword and a plastic disk for a shield after watching the respective movies.

Years ago, when I was maybe ten years old, I remember acting out battle scenes with my siblings as Aragorn, Legolas, and Gandalf. We tied blankets around our shoulders and fought with plastic sticks. Our thick, heavy cloaks didn’t fly in the wind like they were supposed to, but that didn’t matter as we ran around the hallway, swinging at each other with our sticks. Sweat was dripping down our backs and each one of us had collected several bruises, but none of us cared.

This is the kind of scene that took place in my house after we had watched one of the Lord of the Rings movies. Acting out scenes gave us a unique way of not only watching the story on a screen but also living it. Fights between Captain Jack Sparrow, Will Turner, and Captain Barbossa were common in our house after watching Pirates of the Caribbean as well.

It was only years later, that I noticed, I had never played a female character as far as I could remember. I also couldn’t recall my two sisters ever playing someone who wasn’t male.

This realization was one that came hand in hand with another one: there hadn’t really been many movies with significant, powerful, female main characters. Perhaps the most important female character in the Lord of the Rings trilogy is Lady Galadriel who doesn’t have a lot of screen time and really only talks.

Pirates of the Caribbean, on the other hand, does have an important female character in Elizabeth Swan. However, in the first few movies, she doesn’t actually do a lot of fighting. Instead, she is mostly a love interest for the main characters and someone for them to save.

This lack of representation is something that is very common in older movies and TV shows that were made before 2010. Many films that are widely considered to be classics like James Bond, Indiana Jones, and the original three or even six Star Wars movies have male leads. In addition to that, the main characters are also almost exclusively cis, straight, and white.

In terms of TV shows, Star Trek, Arrow, and House are very popular with many fans respectively. Although each of these films and shows has a different genre and style, there is one thing that all of these have in common: they all have white, straight, cis, male leads.

What was generally perceived as the norm in the industry, however, has started to change in the last few years. Films like Black Panther or Ocean’s 8 and TV shows like Grey’s Anatomy or Legends of Tomorrow are trailblazers with fairly diverse characters of different genders, ethnicities, and sexual orientations.

Big companies and studios are taking note of this trend as well. Among those is none other than Marvel Studios. Their success in the film industry started out in 2008 with the movie Ironman. Tony Stark aka Ironman was joined by other heroes throughout the next four years in the so-called Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Then, in 2012, they teamed up to form a group called the “Avengers”. One thing that stands out about this group is that it consists of six people, all of which are white, cis, and straight and five of which are male.

However, in more recent years, about 14 years after the release of Ironman in 2008, this group of heroes has expanded. The original six heroes have since been joined by characters like Captain Marvel, King T’Challa, Namor, Wong, Kingo, Makkari, and many, many more. They bring diversity to the MCU which was almost inexistent in most films and TV shows about ten years earlier.

These changes, of course, rarely come without any problems. In this case, criticism has been voiced by fans that a lot of the newer additions to the MCU which are almost exclusively women are replacements for other, originally male characters. For instance, Kate Bishop is seen by some as a replacement for Clint Barton. In a different example, Sam Wilson who was formerly known as the Falcon is taking up the mantle of Captain America, effectively becoming the first non-white Captain America.

This idea of replacing formerly male, white, cis, and straight characters with different ones is something that is not entirely new and uncommon. Dr Who, for instance, has always been male until 2017 when Jodie Whittaker took on the role and the Doctor was for the first time female. She reprised the role again in 2018 and has played the character ever since. Although the series has received criticism for that decision, it has also been supported by others.

In other cases, actors and filmmakers have spoken out in favor of or against changes like that. For instance, in response to the question, of whether James Bond should be played by a woman in the future, Daniel Craig stated that he is against it. He doesn’t want a woman to replace an established, male character but would rather like there to be an equally good or even better female character.

In fact, movies and TV shows with characters like that have become more common. Warrior Nun (2019-) is a show on Netflix that is known for its diversity. There are mostly female characters who are from all over the place. They all have different ethnicities, different sexual orientations, and entirely different personalities. All of these traits are implemented into the show in a casual way that makes them seem natural and doesn’t make a big deal out of it.

Similarly, many other newly emerging shows and movies have strong leads who do not fall into what was widely perceived as the norm ten years ago.

Looking back at my childhood, it would definitely have been different if we would have had the same movies that there are now. Characters like Imperator Furiosa, Katniss Everdeen, and Wonder Woman would most certainly have been running around our house with a self-made bow or a stick for a sword and a plastic disk for a shield after watching the respective movies.

Some of my family’s favorite movies were the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Growing up, we watched those films fairly regularly. Afterward, I and my siblings liked to play out scenes, especially fights, from those movies as Aragorn, Legolas, and whoever else we chose that day. We did the same with other movies. Although I was not aware of it back then, I and my two sisters almost always ended up playing white, cis, straight men. Usually, there were no other characters to choose from who were not part of that group of people.

Now, however, it seems that things have changed. Characters like Black Widow, Eleven, and Imperator Furiosa, are definitely characters that I and my sisters would have loved to play as children. Non-white and queer characters are also becoming more common, although the film and TV industry is still struggling with characters who are not cis.

Films like Black Panther and TV shows like Grey’s Anatomy or Legends of Tomorrow are trailblazers with fairly diverse characters.

Ludwig Emil Tomas Göransson, better known as Ludwig Goransson, is a Swedish composer, conductor, and record producer. With film scores for films like Tenet (2020), Black Panther (2018), and Creed (2015), he is setting himself apart as a recognizable composer next to the likes of Hans Zimmer and John Williams.

Although many people may never have heard his name before, they have almost certainly listened to his music at one point or another. Perhaps they have heard the current fanfare for Warner Bros. Pictures or the new Star Wars brand logo or they watched Fruitvale Station (2013).

Goransson’s first break came in 2009 when he composed the score for the comedy Community (2009 – 2015). He went on to work on various projects with director Ryan Coogler. Those projects included Fig (2011), Fruitvale Station (2013), Creed (2015), Creed II (2018), and Black Panther (2018).

He also collaborated with Christopher Nolan and wrote the film score for Tenet (2020). That movie is set to be followed up by another collaboration with Nolan on Oppenheimer (2023).

Goransson has also worked on well-known projects such as We’re the Millers (2013), Venom (2018), and Turning Red (2022). Some of his most famous, recognizable work is from both seasons of the Mandalorian (2019-) and The Book of Boba Fett (2021).

The Swedish composer already has an impressive resumé and his latest work just adds to that. The soundtracks for the movie Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022) are generally very well-received and are very popular among fans of the film.

His music is special and recognizable for each project that he works on. For movies that play in a certain place and culture, parts of said culture are carefully and gracefully implemented into the music. For instance, Goransson went to Africa prior to composing the music for Black Panther in order to make sure that the score has a culturally traditional sound. 

Similarly, the soundtracks for The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett are unmistakably part of Star Wars. At the same time, however, the scores are particular to the shows, the locations, and the characters.

Goransson’s scores have a wide range from epic and majestic to more timid, quiet music. They help tell whatever narrative they were composed for. More than that, however, they each almost tell their own story and add a depth and feel to their projects that cannot be achieved without those scores.

From a more technical standpoint, the instruments are chosen well for each soundtrack and are not singled out as ‘the solo instrument’. Although certain instrumental groups have the main melody sometimes, they are part of the ensemble which fits together very well.

Goransson’s scores have so far not disappointed and were composed well. They fit the projects they were made for and usually support scenes well. They help create a unique experience for the viewers of movies and shows that Goransson worked on.

Evidently, Goransson is a great film score composer. Some of his soundtracks have become quite iconic for their unique sound and melody.

Imagine a dark, quiet room. Loud train horns disrupt the silence every once in a while, despite their great distance from that room. It’s late and most people are asleep, but not all of them. Some are lying in bed, wide awake, trying their best to sleep but to no avail. Racing thoughts make that hard; thoughts about everything that will or might happen and everything that has yet to be done among other things. Chances are that a good part of those people are students.

Looming thoughts of upcoming deadlines or problems that yet need to be dealt with torment many adults’ minds. Busy schedules and long days lead to stress.

Students deal with those things too. Perhaps, they do so more than other groups of people. At the very least, stress and anxiety are known issues that many students deal with on a daily basis.

Such is the case for Emily Rotthaler, a senior who has experienced those feelings all too often throughout her time at university. In her experience, most of her stress is related to college.

On any given day, Rotthaler gets up early to work. Then, she has to run to her first class of the day which is followed by lunch and another class. After that, soccer takes up most of the rest of the day. Dinner follows. By the time she has a moment to breathe, the whole day passed. Still, the day is not over for her yet. Back in her apartment, homework and assignments that need to be completed wait for her. All of that keeps her very busy and puts her under a lot of stress.

Her anxiety, on the other hand, is rooted in a different part of her life. Still, it is connected to the university and the confinement of life on a college campus.

“My anxiety”, she explains, “has mostly to do with campus being a highly social environment. Wherever I go I come across people I know and who I am on a greeting basis with. In classes, at work, and at soccer, I have to talk to others which drains my social battery and increases my anxiety.”

Especially as an international student, ways to get away from campus are limited. Therefore, there is no good way to escape all of those social interactions. More or less all of her life happens right here on campus. The result is consistently building social anxiety with no outlet.

Outside of social anxiety, managing the workload and keeping track of deadlines is definitely a common issue that students deal with as well. They worry about completing everything on time and keeping their grades up. Those thoughts can easily keep one up at night.

Megan Messersmith, a senior, and Cristal Delatorre who already graduated from Morningside University and is currently in undergrad, both struggle with those concerns as well. Their main college-related causes of anxiety overlap largely.

Messersmith’s reasons for her anxiety are “the pressure of getting work done and performing well as well as a heavy workload.”

Delatorre adds to that list the “fear of getting a bad grade”. Because she works with students and more specifically student-athletes on a daily basis, she also points out that she knows plenty of people who deal with both stress and anxiety.

Rotthaler, like many other students, deals with this as well.

“I tend to procrastinate assignments that can’t be completed in under an hour or that require input from other people”, she says about herself. “I procrastinate them but at the same time, I constantly worry about all the work I still have to do which also increases my anxiety.”

Other students can surely relate. 

Messersmith , Delatorre, and Rotthaler know about other students who have those issues as well. All three of them think that the perception of stress and anxiety in modern society has changed. While people and students in particular have always needed to deal with those issues, it wasn’t talked about much. In the past, mental health was a topic that has largely been dismissed by people or has straight up been ignored. Nowadays, people are much more outspoken about it.

Delatorre adds that she believes stress and anxiety are in fact things that the average student has to deal with more so than older generations.

Messersmith seems to agree. “I think that our generation is more aware of mental health and stress so that plays into it”, she acknowledges. “But I also know we have to do with a crazy world where there are shootings and pandemics and we’re just trying to turn a paper in on time. So, it can be a lot.”

Finding a way to deal with that stress and anxiety can be difficult and not everyone has found a way. Rotthaler, for instance, has no way to deal with it yet that works for her. Messersmith, however, encourages students to talk to someone if needed. She makes sure to point out that taking mental health days or breaks from stressful assignments in order to get one’s head right again is ok.

“School is important but so is mental health”, she states.

Delatorre deals with it slightly differently. She likes to take time for herself which she calls “me-time”. Meditation helps her too. She focuses on her breathing and on the things she can control.

Regardless of that, the fact remains that many students deal with both stress and anxiety on a daily basis. It has more or less become a part of college life and college culture.

Most people have experienced stress and anxiety at some point in their lives. Looming thoughts of upcoming deadlines or problems that yet need to be dealt with torment many adults’ minds. Busy schedules and long days lead to stress.

It is only reasonable to argue that students deal with those things too. Perhaps, they do so more than other groups of people. At the very least, stress and anxiety are known issues that many students deal with on a daily basis.

Such is the case for Emily Rotthaler, a senior who has known both of those feelings all too well throughout her time at university. In her experience, most of her stress is related to college.

On any given day, Rotthaler gets up early to work. Then, she has to run to her first class of the day which is followed by lunch and another class. After that, soccer takes up most of the rest of the day. Dinner follows. By the time she has a moment to breathe, the whole day passed. Still, the day is not over for her yet. Back in her apartment, homework and assignments that need to be completed wait for her. All of that keeps her very busy and puts her under a lot of stress.

Her anxiety, on the other hand, is rooted in a different part of her life. Still, it is connected to the university and the confinement of life on a college campus.

“My anxiety”, she explains, “has mostly to do with campus being a highly social environment. Wherever I go I come across people I know and who I am on a greeting basis with. In classes, at work, and at soccer, I have to talk to others which drains my social battery and increases my anxiety.”

Especially as an international student, ways to get away from campus are limited. Therefore, there is no good way to escape all of those social interactions. More or less all of her life happens right here on campus. The result is consistently building social anxiety with no outlet.

While this type of anxiety is somewhat specific to individual people, general anxiety about assignments and the timely completion thereof seems to be more common. Rotthaler, like many other students, deals with this as well.

“I tend to procrastinate assignments that can’t be completed in under an hour or that require input from other people”, she says about herself. “I procrastinate them but at the same time, I constantly worry about all the work I still have to do which also increases my anxiety.”

Other students can surely relate. Imagine a dark, quiet room. Loud train horns disrupt the silence every once in a while, despite their great distance from that room. It’s late and most people are asleep, but not all of them. Some are lying in bed, wide awake, trying their best to sleep but to no avail. Racing thoughts make that hard; thoughts about everything that will or might happen and everything that has yet to be done among other things. Chances are that a good part of those people are students.

Managing the workload and keeping track of deadlines is definitely a common issue that students deal with. They worry about completing everything on time and keeping their grades up. Those thoughts can easily keep one up at night.

Megan Messersmith, a senior, and Cristal Delatorre who already graduated from Morningside University and is currently in undergrad, both struggle with those concerns as well. Their main college-related causes of anxiety overlap largely.

Messersmith’s reasons for her anxiety are “the pressure of getting work done and performing well as well as a heavy workload.”

Delatorre adds to that list the “fear of getting a bad grade”. Because she works with students and more specifically student-athletes on a daily basis, she also points out that she knows plenty of people who deal with both stress and anxiety.

Messersmith and Rotthaler, too, know about other students who have those issues as well. All three of them think that the perception of stress and anxiety in modern society has changed. While people and students in particular have always needed to deal with those issues, it wasn’t talked about much. In the past, mental health was a topic that has largely been dismissed by people or has straight up been ignored. Nowadays, people are much more outspoken about it.

Delatorre adds that she believes stress and anxiety are in fact things that the average student nowadays has to deal with more so than older generations.

Messersmith seems to agree. “I think that our generation is more aware of mental health and stress so that plays into it”, she acknowledges. “But I also know we have to do with a crazy world where there are shootings and pandemics and we’re just trying to turn a paper in on time. So, it can be a lot.”

Finding a way to deal with that stress and anxiety can be difficult and not everyone has found a way. Rotthaler, for instance, has no way to deal with it yet that works for her. Messersmith, however, encourages students to talk to someone if needed. She makes sure to point out that taking mental health days or breaks from stressful assignments in order to get one’s head right again is ok.

“School is important but so is mental health”, she states.

Delatorre deals with it slightly differently. She likes to take time for herself which she calls “me-time”. Meditation helps her too. She focuses on her breathing and on the things she can control.

Regardless of that, the fact remains that many students deal with both stress and anxiety on a daily basis. It has more or less become a part of college life and college culture.

In video practicum, most students do not pay attention in class. Ironically, instead of paying attention to learning how to make videos, many of them are busy consuming videos. Yet, somehow, at least some of them seem to be able to multitask well enough. Two students, in particular, stand out to me. I am fairly confident that one of them is a Mass Communication major. I am not sure about the other one. Regardless, neither one of them ever pays attention.

One of them has an interesting habit of sitting on chairs with her back leaned against the wall next to her and her knees pulled up to her chin. She just sits there, sometimes silently, sometimes not, with her laptop in front of her. Although I am not sure what exactly she is doing on there, her conversations usually serve as a good clue. One of the more common topics she likes to explain, over and over again, to the student next to her is her wish to leave Morningside and go to Florida to study there. She does so with barely contained excitement and doesn’t seem to realize how loud she is being, not that the other student is any better. Throughout all of that, she tends to keep her eyes on the professor and only rarely looks away to check something out on her laptop. Strangely enough, that is worse when she is not talking to anyone. Despite her apparent attention, her eyes glaze over and she still doesn’t actively pay attention to anything that she is supposed to be learning. In the meantime, the other student is watching things on her phone and keeping up the conversations with comments on her own. Unfortunately, she has a naturally loud voice which makes their conversations hard to miss, although everyone else seems to be doing a good enough job at ignoring them.

Anecdote:

The room is dark and quiet. Loud train horns disrupt the silence every once in a while, despite their great distance from that room. It’s late and most people are asleep, but not all of them. Some are lying in bed, wide awake, trying their best to sleep but to no avail. Racing thoughts make that hard; thoughts about everything that will or might happen and everything that has yet to be done among other things. Chances are that a good part of those people are students. This generation of students seems to deal with anxiety and stress much more than any previous generation.

“Alle Toten Fliegen Hoch: Amerika” or “All the Dead Fly Up: America” by Joachim Meyerhoff is a raw, nonchalant, and emotional description of the author’s year in the US as a German exchange student.

The book is non-fictional and recounts things that happened to the author who is now a German actor, director, and writer when he was a high school student. It takes the reader on a rollercoaster from ecstatic, great moments in the narrator’s life down to more tragic, difficult ones and back up to moments that can only be described as unexpected and bizarre.

The story begins in Germany. Meyerhoff is living his life there as a normal German high school student. The first part of the book paints a picture of the narrator’s life and character. He is just finding out about the exchange program. Meyerhoff describes the application process and some of the thoughts he had that influenced his decisions.

Once he finally makes it to the US, a place called Laramie in Wyoming to be specific, he meets his host family and gets to know them. Later on, he describes his first day at an American high school and the teachers he met there.

He goes on to recount many things that happened to him, like a trip to a prison that he went on with one of his teachers and an awkward date he had with a girl. But he also mentions his thoughts and impressions throughout most of the book.

Those thoughts and impressions are largely relatable to someone who has done an exchange year in a different country or who has generally moved to a different country for an extensive amount of time. The wonder, curiosity, and confusion that Meyerhoff describes as he sees and experiences Americans and their way of life around him are relatable to someone who is in a similar situation.

Settling into this new, different life in a new place with new people and a new language can be hard and Meyerhoff manages to describe that transition very well, using descriptions of everything around him but also himself. Throughout the book, he changes as a person as well and mentions some of those changes to the reader when he notices them himself.

Others become clear just by reading the story which is mostly possible due to the raw and direct way that the book is written. Meyerhoff is very open and nonchalant in his descriptions of people, their behavior, and their appearance, whether they are wearing clothes or not. The same goes for his descriptions of himself and his thoughts. He doesn’t seem to hold back or hide anything from the reader.

Due to that and some experiences that can only really be described as strange and unexpected, this book has a raw, strange, and nonchalant tone. It is funny sometimes and makes the reader feel for the narrator at other times.

That rollercoaster of experiences and emotions is what makes the story relatable to someone who has gone through that experience of moving to a different place.

As someone who has been through that experience myself, I enjoyed reading someone else’s different but similar perspective and rate this book an 8 out of 10 stars.