Beyoncé - The Study

Beyoncé has now been considered Ivy League material by Harvard University and students are now studying the megastar as a corporate case study. Her fifth solo album released in December 2013, required a unique marketing strategy whereby the singer released a full album with each song accompanied by a new music video. The Harvard Business School’s stance is to analyze and evaluate the measures which were taken to gain triumph with this costly and risky project. Ramifications included current market conditions, technical obstacles and possibly ambitious sales expectations facing Columbia Records. There were also other implications from traditional retailers who were rejecting sales of a physical album later on no matter the success of the record. The outcome and effect on the music industry was enormous as well as fascinating. A case study has been published by Elberse and Smith simply called ‘Beyoncé’ in honor of her self-titled endeavor, also reflecting the icons influence.

Harvard Business School have asked students to place themselves in the shoes of Beyoncé’s staff and decide on the financial implications of such a campaign, but also to understand how and why it succeeded in the unconventional way in which it did. Students are similarly analyzing the unconventional album announcement and release as well as the team’s relationship with Facebook, Apple and Instagram in creating publicity overnight. Beyoncé is now being referred to as a ‘philosophy’ by Harvard by way of her albums explosion on iTunes overnight in 119 countries. There is an obvious emphasis on Beyoncé’s artistic desire to reflect her work through this album, but students are considering that Beyoncé may be the only artist who could ever do this successfully simply due to her label as a ‘superstar’.

Beyoncé’s success means many know and understand her power and presence as a celebrity. Nonetheless, what is absolutely stressed here is the possible fallout which was anticipated before the project was released for those involved. Anita Elberse, Harvard Business School professor has verbalized that this is a very popular class to take because students assume they know what the project ‘Beyoncé’ entails from afar but actually how wrong they are.

The Girl On The Train

 “Drunk Rachel sees no consequences, she is either excessively expansive and optimistic or wrapped up in hate. She has no past, no future. She exists purely in the moment.” 

Rachel Watson commutes to work on the train every day into London, except she is not on her way to work; Rachel is a hard-core alcoholic, fired for her drunkenness. Reeling from her divorce to ex Tom, she begins lying to her roommate  and travels daily on the train as a disguise. Really, she enjoys passing her old home on the way into London, obsessing over Tom who lives in her old home with his new thinner beau Anna and child. Prone to blacking out, Rachel becomes a pathetic mess, constantly putting herself down in this downward spiral she creates for herself. The drinking becomes endless as she becomes addicted to summoning Tom, leaving messages and begging him nightly to love her again. Her physical appearance is unusual of a lead character; an overweight drunk who vomits all over her home with no self-control may turn readers to feels repulsed.

“I am not the girl I used to be. I am no longer desirable; I’m off-putting in some way. It’s not just that I’ve put on weight, or that my face is puffy from the drinking and the lack of sleep; it’s as if people can see the damage written all over me, can see it in my face, the way I hold myself, the way I move.” 

Rachel’s possessive personality is portrayed as testy as she rapidly becomes fixated on another young couple who live on Toms street and whose garden overlooks the train tracks. She lovingly renames them Jess and Jason and soon their allure becomes undeniable beckoning her to keep a close eye, creating soap operas in her mind based on their normal lives. Once she reads in the paper one day that Jess (real name Megan) has vanished and is then found out to be killed, Rachel feels an overwhelming urge to inform the police that Jason (real name Scott) would never harm her and that she is sure she spotted Jess with another man on the day of her disappearance. But this backfires. Rachel’s drunken blackouts prevent her from remembering anything. She realizes she actually left the train on the night of the disappearance to go and see Tom, blacked out and cannot remember anything of that night.

In comparison to Rachel, Megan Hipwell is a highly puzzling character. Blonde, beautiful and glamorous with a gorgeous husband she is dreadfully endearing, yet the entire praise protagonist Rachel unknowingly gives her is torn down by Megan herself. She is a selfish cheater, bored with her life and spends her time hurting those around her for her own self pleasure. “I can’t sleep. I haven’t slept in days. I hate this, hate insomnia more than anything, just lying there, brain going round, tick, tick, tick, tick. I itch all over. I want to shave my head.” Megan has menacing anxiety problems coupled with an incredibly dark past, the twist approaching when she applies to become a babysitter for Tom’s baby out of boredom, eventually leading to major trouble. Megan also begins attending therapy sessions to deal with her issues and unknowingly encouraged by her husband Scott, falls for her therapist Kamal.  Soon, Rachel’s obsession goes even further than watching Megan and Scott whilst on the train. During the investigation she causes massive ripples she cannot take back quickly. Her blurry memory is fruitless in turn making her doubt conclusions, losing confidence in her sightings. Once she becomes dismissed by the police due to her inconsistent theories, Scott, Tom and Anna now become integral characters to the murder. 

‘‘I have lost control over everything, even the places in my head.”

Hawkins juggles an incredibly intriguing web of complex characters with an attention-grabbing murder story throughout. This chilling psychological thriller is a must read due to its temperament. Hawkins is able to evoke sympathy for Rachel, an unusual character who does more wrong than right as well as Megan, a misunderstood woman with a dark past. The twists in this novel are ingenious and unending and sure to shock readers.

The Perks Of Being A Wallflower: Book Review

Stephen Chbosky writes a simple masterpiece, perfectly written for surviving souls out there. Published in 1999 and set in the 90's, this book is written with a schoolboy innocence as the main character Charlie writes diary like letters to a anonymous friend, chronicling his lonely high school debut and the demons which constantly haunt his mind. He begins explaining about a friend who recently died in his life and his shock and dismay at everyone's continuance of their lives since. With a genuine innocence about him, Charlie begins high school and meets Sam and Patrick. These smoking buddies welcome him in spite of his age and they accept each other despite their flaws and secrets. Patrick is gay and Charlie clearly loves Sam, though she is uninterested and in a relationship. His innocence is further highlighted as he promises that he loves Sam so much, that he even feels bad thinking about her in any bad way. He is timid and constantly cries but there is something so pure and endearing about him that you will want to hug him.

Charlie loves his family dearly and misses his brother who is constantly away at college playing football. He has a close relationship with his mother who understands his personality wholeheartedly and understands how to deal with him when he gets down. But most of all, he misses his Aunt who died in a terrible accident which is revealed in a interesting way.

His friends become his life so much so that when they are not around, he finds it hard to breathe. When they argue, he falls apart and will do anything to go back to how they were. Charlie also experiences drugs, music, girls and books. His English teacher becomes inspirational as he realizes Charlie's potential in writing and gives him advanced books to read.

The simplicity of this book reveals Charlies state of mind and how he deals with his feelings in a childlike yet natural way. With many turns of events and life changing moments, this is a book which can be read over and over again. Chbosky's writing is enticing and somewhat addictive, in that he sets the scene as if you were present in the 90's, driving fast, listening to cassette tapes and feeling infinite.

House Rules

Jodi Picoult brings the fire this time with a detailed, well researched and thought provoking family based novel, bound to have readers hooked. 
Jacob Hunt is a teenager diagnosed with Aspergers syndrome, a cousin of Autism. Taking everything literally, Jacob has a fascination with crimeshow ''Crimebusters'', as well as an obsession with solving things. His mother Emma, finds diverse ways to deal with this robust, tall, and incredibly smart son she has, who is prone to outbursts at the sight of bright lights and loud sounds. He must wake everyday at 6.20 including weekends and eat certain colored foods during the week.                    

Emmas other son Theo is verging on a kleptomaniac, but is otherwise a average teenager. In order for Jacob to excell socially, Emma hires a tutor to teach Jacob the ropes of high school. She hires a young beautiful teenage girl called Jess Ogivily.Jess is soon murdered and Jacob is the number one prime suspect, but the series of events which unravel get more complicated as there is not enough evidence to arrest Jacob, but also the crime scene is shockingly and perfectly set up, so the police assume it is another one of Jacobs games.

A magnificent ending and a eye opening storyline which reflects the way an autistic brain works and a clear recurring theme on the importance of family ties. 

BBC Three's Strictly Soulmates

BBC Three brings to the surface another topic which most of us are scared to talk about these days. Marriage. But even better, they intertwined it with religious case studies in this four part series, which reveals much about how one looks for a partner in Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Hinduism.
The Christian episode introduced Richard Kays, a TV presenter who spreads the word of Jesus, and on the side is giving himself a year to find the perfect spouse. His failure juxtaposed with Katy's success in meeting a American religious young man who ticks all her boxes, reinstates that faith is crucial to this search. These Brits were not disheartened, rather gained more momentum in their faith that God would find them a suitable partner. 


As was the case with Zubair, a young Muslim who was eager to be married before moving to Pakistan for charity work. Yet disappointment was around the corner for him too, when one suitor refused to move to Pakistan. Dimpy, another modern Muslim, struggled accepting anyone who was not a doctor, and who ticked all her boxes and her dead fathers'. Throughout the series, this problem was a constant. This idea of no one being able to fulfil this imaginary list of perfection was not realistic and was the reason most cases did not work out. 

In the episode on Judaism, Richard did find someone suitable for him, yet the fact that she was not Jewish caused a rift in their relationship. And finally a happy ending with the Hinduism episode where Hazmita marries a man she met through a family member who lives all the way in Dubai. 


This was a highly interesting series with much insight into why many religious youth are not married yet, the idea that you must marry early, how hard it actually is, and the small number of successful couples.  It also revealed how stressful finding a suitable partner is, and the pressure many people feel because of their families at times. However, a willingness to keep trying was apparent by most unmarried cases. 

Bossman Tina says ''I only bring it up, to explain why I'm not going to talk about it.''

Bossypants witty flow entertains us and establishes Tina Fey as not only a smart writer, but a clever woman with sharp jokes. Her phase from a smothered only child, to awkward teenager, compared to boss of ''30 rock'', is one hell of a ride. 
She explains her hilarious account of a half Greek , quarter German young Tina with bushy eyebrows and a bowl hair cut along with her ordeals as well as success' in her life. Her chapter on the headmaster that is her father, who Alec Baldwin labelled as "quite
something", demonstrates a strong father figure which she describes so accurately and lovingly.
Tina has many laugh out loud moments like when her and a friend watched Tina Turner live on TV, while wondering out loud how cool it would be to have your name on stage that big. A awkward moment later, she reminds her friend of her name again and the equilibrium returns...
There are more funny yet cringing moments when she describes her awkwardness so convincingly. Like when she explains how she kept a boyfriend who would only meet her at night in his car, obviously outwardly ashamed of her. She explains how she still felt attracted to him while he told her stories about his new girlfriend.
Her playful contradiction is endearing to read as she jokes about everyday topics. 
''I feel about Photoshop the way some people feel about abortion. It is appalling and a tragic reflection on the moral decay of our society…unless I need it, in which case, everybody be cool.''

Just to refresh your memories, you may remember Tina as Mathlete teacher Ms Norbury from Mean Girls. She was accused by Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan) of being a drug pusher... No?

Mean Girls (2004)

Tina actually wrote the screenplay for Mean Girls (2004) which was a huge hit and was actually inspired by real life events whereby Janis was based on Tina herself in high school. Her SNL team mate Amy Poehler played Mrs George, another hilarious comedian who starred in Baby Mama alongside Fey.

My personal perception of Tina Fey is one of normality. She seems like a everyday person who describes her life like ours. Her relatable character even though she runs a television show which employs two hundred people, is uncanny as she describes a temp job during college as depressing. Her stories of youth and of her life now, reflect a woman who has worked hard to reach her desired post.

''Bossypants'' was quoted as having ''kind of humour that can cause beverages to travel through the reader's nasal passages unplanned'' and with this, I agree. This book is a must read, though serious at times, and in parts revealing the pathetic nature of teenagers, it is a straight talking account of Tina's life from the horses mouth. Her matter of fact style of writing, employs a sarcasm I never thought possible in a biography. 

EAT, PRAY, LOVE.

''Eat, Pray,Love'' is a story of pain through divorce. 

Liz Gilbert played by Julia Roberts is a writer enduring a sticky divorce with a husband who is confused about his goals in life. With a fancy house and what seems to be a loving marriage, Liz doesn't seem content in her non existent happiness. She prays to god on her bathroom floor to give her a ultimatum and she gets one. Her decision to divorce, throws her husband who assumed their eight year marriage was indeed perfect. His desperate plea for one thing  to keep Liz only during the divorce settlement, was heartbreaking if not slightly sweet.
And so her life begins as she meets and falls for  David (James Franco), in New York . He plays a young and terrible actor who meditates to keep sane. Their screwed up short relationship gives Liz the ammunition she needs to change her life.

So she leaves to Italy to eat for four months, devouring every pizza, plate of pasta and cups of wine she missed for so long. She also learns Italian with a teacher and gains a familiar group of many close friends. 
Still recovering from her divorce, she then retreats to India to meditate and come to terms with her life and stress and mostly to pray. Along the way she meets some inspirational characters who help her just as much as she assists them in their problems spiritually. 

She then returns to Bali to speak to a medicine man who forsees the future. He has many surprises for her and she enjoys the wonders of this island. She finds something unexpected in Bali which she may keep for life.

A beautifully poignant movie by one of my favourite actresses. It relinquishes how much problems can affect one's life and sometimes all you can do is leave and take a break in order to mend.