PURPLE SAGE - Waunakee Community School District

ENTERTAINMENTTop 5 heroes of America the beautifulBrandyn LiebeColumnistAmerica, America, Godshed his grace on thee.Unfortunately, due to the factthat this is a newspaper, I amobliged to be more politicallycorrect. Therefore, this patrioticstatement will be re-statedas to not offend anyone.United States of thePeople, United States ofthe People, a supremebeing in which certainindividuals believe giveshis, “his” of course comingfrom context, permissionto succeed on all whoreside in said nation.Anyway, throughout theyears this great nation hashad its fair share of heroes,and I intend to share themwith my wonderful readers.Ready? Buckle up for thetop 5 greatest heroes (orheroines) of American history.Efaw’s newest page-turnerCailtin McGuireColumnistMovies canb e i n t e n s eand powerful,and can affectt h e v i e w e r simmensely.However, novels can dothe same. With written word,the novel provides no image,so the reader’s imaginationtakes over completely.“After,” written by Amy Efaw,is written so brilliantly, that theimagination takesover, and thereader becomesc o m p l e t e l ye n v e l o p e d i nintense words ofthe the story.“After” tells thestory of Devon Davenport.Devon is a teenage girl whofinds herself in a juveniledetention center, facing apossible life sentence afterputting her newborn baby ina trash can.When you first start reading,you know nothing aboutDevon, just that her momworks all the time and thather dad is not involved in herlife.However, as the stor yprogresses, Devon’s storyunfolds, opening the eyes ofthe reader to the life Devon isforced to live.The story is masterfullywritten, for its intensityincreases with each turningof the page. The path thatDevon takes as a characteris completely astounding as5. George WashingtonWe throw him in the snow,ship him across a mostly frozenriver a little dingy and out comesone of the greatest leaders ofour history. Not only did heexcel in the Revolutionary War,but he went on to becomethe first president of the firstrepublic since the times ofancient Rome. To leave himout of this list would be simplywrong.4. Harriet TubmanThrough the use of thethe reader continues on herjourney.Efaw does a phenomenaljob of showing flashbacksthroughout “After.” Sheincludes several involvingDevon’s only boyfriend, thecountless times Devon camehome to an empty house, oneof her mom and a new guy,of the hours spent playingsoccer, and hours spentconvincing herself she wasnot pregnant.In the book, Dom, Devon’sattor ney, is eventuallyintroduced and plays a strongrole in the development of thestory.Dom is a strong, cleverwoman in her mid-thirtiesthat helps Devon come outwith the story of the baby, andtell the terrible tale of “thatnight,” one Devon just wantsto forget.“After” is filled with thestories of what is behind aperfect complexion and thelife of a seemingly perfectteenager that makes onemajor mistake.With a very unexpectedending and brilliant setup,“After” is a book I wouldrecommend to anyonelooking for a read filled withmeaning and the realities oflife.Underground Railroad, HarrietTubman helped over 70 slavesescape to freedom. She alsoserved as a spy for the Unionarmy during the Civil War.When the Civil war was over,she continued to fight for whatshe believed in. After the CivilWar, she fought for women’srights until she passed away.3. Franklin Delano RooseveltNot only did he overcome thetroubles of a crippling diseasethat put him in a wheelchair, hewent on to lead this country outof what can only be describedas the greatest depressionever experienced or the “GreatDepression” as some call it.Re-elected for multiple terms,he will surely be missed intough times like these.2. Barack ObamaNow I tend to lean moreRepublican when it comes topolitics, however, you have togive it up for him. Less than 100years ago, African Americanshardly had any rights, and nowone is in charge of our country.With the hardships that we allhave today, I think it is reallyimportant for us to remember ahuge message that he backedduring his campaign, “Hope.”1. Optimus PrimeWhat a better symbol forAmerica than a red, white andblue semi truck that can turninto a 24 foot tall robotcapable of kickings o m e D e c e p t i c o ncan. Optimus wasa natural leader, awise general and atriumphant championin more ways thanone. He knew whento press on and whento proactively standdown. I think he putsit best when he says,“There is a thin line betweenbeing a hero and being amemory.” God bless America.Thanks for reading.‘The Cape’ proves its time slotTommy WieslerColumnistIt is Januar y, and thatmeans it is time for midseasonreplacements.The terrible crap nowherenear good enough for TV getsreplaced by shows that usuallyare not much better and evengame shows tend to becomereplacements.But sometimes we will get ahorrible comedy or drama thatis worse than dead air.I thought this year that “TheCape” would take the cake.From the advertisements I saw,it appeared too fake.But “The Cape” surprisedme, for it seems to be a greatreplacement. It is one of thebest vigilante shows on TV, inmy opinion much better than“No Ordinary Family.”“The Cape” premiered onJanuay 9 with a two-hour pilotepisode and has only airedthree new episodes sincethen, so there iss t i l l t i m et o s t a r twatching.T h es h o w ’ sb a s i cpremise ist h a t o f asuperhero.The showf o l l o w sV i n c eFa r a d a y,p l a y e dperfectlyb y D a v i dLyons, who is a cop inthe city of Palm Beach.His chief was resigning due todeath threats from the wantedcriminal: Chess.I n o r d e r t o ke e p h i sorganization, Chess framesVince by putting Chess’ maskon his head. Vince is chasedand is presumed to die in anexplosion. Yet Vince escapesto a circus of criminals.With the help of Max Malini,played by veteran actor KeithDavid, Vince learns their artsof illusion.He takes on the role of TheCape, who was the hero in acomic book he read with hisson. After intense training, heis ready to seek justice.With the help of Orwell,an investigator played byrelative newcomer SummerGlau, he works to unmaskthe conspiracy in the policedepartment and has histroubles in his first days.He gets poisoned, shot atand stabbed, but he does itso he can keep the hope alivefor his son. He visits his son asThe Cape, and tells him thathis father was innocent andstill alive.“The Cape” is a great herodrama. It has a unique storylineand hero background. Vince’sabilities are amazing, and whatI like: he does not have superpowers.Super powers tend to makethe show lame. He just hasincredible moves with hiscape, and his vulnerabilitymakes the show more exciting.V i n c e ’ s c h a r a c t e r i sreminiscent of Batman inthat way, being that he is apowerful superhero, but doesnot have a given superpowerlike Superman or Ironman.Still, I do not think “TheCape” will be around for toolong.It is a great show, do notmisunderstand me, butVince does not seemmotivated to solvea n o t h e r c r i m eafter he clears upthis conspiracy. Ifhe takes too longto solve this one, itwill definitely getboring.But for now,“The Cape” is agreat choice forentertainment.Tune in Mondaynights at 8 p.m. onNBC.January 26, 2011 The Purple SagePage 11