​By Trevor Pacelli
​Happiness is what we all want, right? Any good parent wants their kid to be joyful in whatever their circumstance, which is a wonderful mentality my parents sustained as they raised me to be a responsible adult. However, parents of past generations often communicated that their children’s emotions were invalid whenever they felt anything besides happy, sometimes being told to, “Stop crying!” We are learning now that children can’t stop crying on cue just because someone tells them to stop. I have noticed a cultural shift in how my generation of parents (millennials) is teaching their kids to process their emotions. Whenever my three-and-a-half-year-old niece cries, even about something as silly as getting startled by a loud noise, her parents just let her cry until she feels better, while comforting her with hugs. Their living room likewise reflects their parenting style with a sign on a wall that says, “All feelings are OK.”

​Written by Trevor Pacelli.
​Photography has been a hobby of mine since high school, and that combined with my special interest in movies drew me to visually striking movies. Being on the autism spectrum, I don’t follow verbal or written words as well as seeing a story or set of instructions visualized, so I connect well with movies made by directors who understand the meaning of “show don’t tell.” Therefore, here are fifteen movies that I believe best utilize the art of cinematography:

​By Trevor Pacelli
​What do you want to put your mind to? What do you want to accomplish? Those deep questions can be answered by analyzing Back to the Future, which repeatedly says, “If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything.” These words were originally told to Marty McFly by Doc Brown, and used again when Marty goes back in time to 1955 when his parents were supposed to meet, sharing the phrase with his father, George. Gaining something to put his mind to—a girl to protect, helps George accomplish the impossible, like taking down the guy who would bully him for the rest of his life. Because of George’s crucial decision from Marty’s interference, George is rewarded for his courage by growing up into a better version of himself rather than the pathetic loser he was in the original 1985. You too can learn quite a bit from this famous movie that’s now celebrating its 40th anniversary.

By Trevor Pacelli
Museums have always been among the main activities my mom and I enjoy doing together; between that and visiting zoos, she and I seem to bond best over culture, nature, and the arts. While we’ve found a preference for historical museums, the art museums we’ve seen are best when their exhibitions are pleasing to the eyes and were clearly made by an expert who spent a long time on the piece to trigger a specific emotion. Yet often, the art museums we’ve seen exhibit modern “art” that is just something like a white canvas with a single black dot in the center, or paint randomly splattered over a childish doodle, which to some people, isn’t really art. Like the curators in charge of what gets exhibited at art museums, the Academy of Motion Pictures award what they think is “art,” but I believe are simply products following a checklist of components films need to gain attention from Oscar voters. It’s why movies like Shakespeare in Love, Crash, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Green Book, and most recently Emilia Pérez have become so hated. They’re not movies the average person wants to watch with friends or family, nor are they providing worthwhile entertainment that can be talked about positively. The are signs that the Academy, and many elite groups of other artistic mediums, including museums, are growing frustratingly out-of-touch with their own industries and audiences.

By Trevor Pacelli
​​She was green. She was bullied. She was used. She was ostracized. Sound familiar? Elphaba, along with her wheelchair-bound sister Nessarose, are modern representations of what it’s like having a disability. Yet sadly, Elphaba is taken the extra mile by being rejected, even by her own father, for being green. Perhaps she can find a place of belonging in the miraculous Emerald City? Turns out the answer is no, as that’s where the man she hoped would help wants to use her and gets her framed for crimes she never committed. Without its second act, this adaptation of the famous Broadway musical comes off more as a cautionary tale of what happens to someone with a disability who’s treated as less-than.

By Trevor Pacelli
​Everybody seems to have a niche that defines their life. Steve Jobs was all about the iPhone. Dr. Seuss was all about his whimsical children’s books. Wes Anderson is all about his quirky movies full of symmetrical imagery. Taylor Swift is all about country and pop music. But what about you? Maybe you’ve reached the age of forty or even fifty and still feel you never found your niche in life? You’re not alone. I am thirty-two, yet have spent my life so far coasting between potential niches, including drawing, theater, movies, movie reviewing, photography, cooking, social media, and writing. I’ve repeatedly felt what I’ve been pursuing wasn’t working and I needed to start all over again to discover my niche.

By Trevor Pacelli
Have you ever heard of “Cozy Gaming?” Unlike the first-person shooter games we all are quick to associate with the concept of video games, a “cozy game” involves taking your time without dire consequences, doing stuff like raising animals, designing a house, or developing a farm. As a young adult on the autism spectrum, these types of games have helped me considerably in several ways and could help other kids and adults in relating to others.

By Trevor Pacelli
The Christmas season marks the time to give your kids all sorts of gifts, many coming from the ever-evolving video game industry that brings kids and adults much joy. Throughout my childhood, I only recall the grownups around me dismissing video games as nothing more than mental junk food for kids, but that didn’t stop me from asking my parents to get me plenty of games for my Gameboy Advance SP and Nintendo DS. Back then, I had a special interest in Pokémon, which was why I got the Gameboy and DS games in the first place, and today, as an adult with mental health problems like autism and anxiety, my continued special interest helped me reconsider my practices of self-care.