Topic Strings

1. For my artifact I decided to choose the Oscar-nominated theme song from The Hunting Ground by Lady Gaga titled: “Till It Happens to you,” which was performed at the 2016 Academy Awards. Both Sofia Karasek and Annie Clark were two of the fifty-one women who joined Gaga on stage as she sang the song live at the Oscars after being introduced by Vice President Joe Biden. The song “Till it happens to you” was specifically written for Kirby Dick’s film The Hunting Ground, as Lady Gaga thought it was important to “bring to light the epidemic of sexual assault by athletes on college campuses” (The Washington Post). The performance by Lady Gaga and the 51 survivors of sexual assault was a moving act of protest that left the likes of Leonardo DeCaprio and Rachel McAdams in tears. During the performance, survivors took the stage with “sharpie-d” statements on their arms such as “they blamed me, not my fault, and they didn’t help.” All of these statements were subtle remarks to the colleges and universities who had failed to properly act when faced with reports of sexual assault. (Character count: 58)

2. Focused Characters:

·      Lady Gaga

·      Sofia Karasek

·      Annie Clark

·      Kirby Dick

3. The purpose of this paragraph was to explain Lady Gaga’s song and how it was an important artifact to the overall sexual assault protests on college campuses. I think this paragraph is a mixed topic string, because I want to talk about Lady Gaga, and how her song relates to other characters.

4. Lady Gaga, through her song “Till It Happens to you,” which was performed at the 2016 Oscars, created a strong artifact example for the sexual assault protests occurring throughout the country across many different college campuses. Lady Gaga's song “Till it Happens to you” was written by Gaga specifically for Kirby Dick’s documentary feature film, The Hunting Ground. During Lady Gaga’s performance, sexual assault survivors Sofia Karasek and Annie Clark joined Gaga on stage, along with 51 other female survivors of sexual assault on college campuses. Together Karasek, clark, and the 51 other women joined hands and stood in solidarity on stage with Gaga to protest how campus administration continues to cover up assaults of athletes. During Lady Gaga’s live performance of “Till It Happens to you,” Karasek, Clark, and the 51 female survivors took the stage with “sharpie-d” statements on their arms such as “they blamed me, not my fault, and they didn’t help.” All of these sharpie-d statements were subtle remarks to the many colleges and universities who had failed to properly act when faced with reports of sexual assault.

5. Lady Gaga (Topic) Through her song “Till It Happens to you,” which was performed at the 2016 Oscars, created a strong artifact example for the sexual assault protests occurring throughout the country across many different college campuses. (Stress) 

Lady Gaga (Topic) song “Till it Happens to you” was written by Gaga specifically for Kirby Dick’s documentary feature film, The Hunting Ground. (Stress)

Together Karasek, Clark, and the 51 other women (Topic) joined hands and stood in solidarity on stage with Gaga to protest how campus administration continues to cover up assaults of athletes. (Stress)

during Lady Gaga's (Topic)  performance of “Till It Happens to you,” Karasek, Clark, and the 51 female survivors took the stage with “sharpie-d” statements on their arms such as “they blamed me, not my fault, and they didn’t help.” All of these sharpie-d statements were subtle remarks to the many colleges and universities who had failed to properly act when faced with reports of sexual assault. 

6. The song "Till it Happens to you" by Lady Gaga was a moving performance at the 2016 Oscars that really helped to represent the protests of sexual assault and campus cover-ups currently happening all over colleges and universities in the United States. Sofia Karasek, one of the main activists of the movement, and also a main character in Kirby Dick's film The Hunting Ground, was interviewed after her participation in Gaga's Oscar performance where she explained to interviewers backstage: .......(Blah, blah).