surviving

When “Kiss of the Spider Woman” premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January, it was in the shadow of President Trump’s return to office.

Just days earlier, Trump had begun his term with a wave of executive orders to expand the country’s immigration detention infrastructure, fast-track deportations, remove protections preventing Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials from targeting schools and churches, and a declaration that the U.S. government would recognize only two sexes.

Referencing these developments ahead of the screening in Park City, Utah, writer-director Bill Condon told the audience: “That’s a sentiment I think you’ll see the movie has a different point of view on.”

Released in theaters Oct. 10, “Kiss of the Spider Woman” is set in the final year of Argentina’s Dirty War, the violent military dictatorship that spanned from 1976-1983. The story begins in the confines of a Buenos Aires prison, where newfound cellmates Valentin Arregui Paz (Diego Luna) and Luis Molina (Tonatiuh) find they have little in common. Arregui is a principled revolutionary dedicated to his cause, while Molina is a gay, flamboyant window dresser who’s been arrested for public indecency.

Undeterred by their differences, Molina punctuates the bleak existence of their imprisonment — one marked by torture and deprivation — by recounting the plot of “The Kiss of the Spider Woman,” a fictional Golden Age musical starring his favorite actress, Ingrid Luna (Jennifer Lopez), casting himself and Arregui as her co-stars. Transported from their dreary cell to the bright, indulgent universe of the musical, their main conflicts become a quest for love and honor, rather than a fight for their basic human rights.

When Argentinian author Manuel Puig began writing the celebrated novel, “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” in 1974, it was just a year into his self-imposed exile to Mexico as his native Argentina lurched toward authoritarianism. By the time the book was released in 1976, a military junta had seized control of the government. The next seven years were marked by the forced disappearance of an estimated 20,000-30,000 people, many of whom were kidnapped and taken to clandestine detention camps to be tortured and killed. Among those targeted were artists, journalists, student activists, members of the LGBTQ+ community and anyone deemed “subversive” by the regime.

Initially banned in Argentina, Puig’s novel has been adapted and reimagined multiple times, including as an Oscar-winning film in 1985 and a Tony Award-winning musical in 1993. With each iteration, the central elements have remained unchanged. And yet, as the 2025 adaptation arrived in theaters this month, this queer, Latino-led story of two prisoners fighting the claustrophobia of life under fascism feels at once like a minor miracle, and a startling wake-up call.

Tonatiuh, left, and Diego Luna in the movie “Kiss of the Spider Woman.”

(Sundance Institute)

In the months since the film’s Sundance premiere, the parallels between the fraught political climate of 1970s Argentina and that of our present have only become more pronounced.

Under Trump, an endless stream of escalating violence from masked federal agents has become our new normal. ICE officers have been filmed apprehending people outside of immigration court; firing pepper balls, rubber bullets and tear gas at journalists, protesters and clergymen; and, earlier this month, they descended from Black Hawk helicopters, using flash-bang grenades to clear a Chicago apartment building in a militarized raid that had men, women and children zip-tied and removed from their homes. As the country’s immigrant detention population reaches record highs, widespread reports of abuse, neglect and sexual harassment, particularly against LGBTQ+ detainees, have emerged from facilities across the U.S.

Amidst these headlines are people just like Molina and Arregui — activists, artists and human beings — finding their own ways to survive and resist an increasingly paranoid and repressive government. And while Arregui’s instinct is to remain unwavering in his cause, Molina’s is to retreat into the glamorous, over-the-top world of the “Spider Woman.”

In dazzling musical numbers expertly performed by Lopez, who delivers each song and dance with all the magnetism of a true Old Hollywood icon, both the prisoners and the audience can’t help but be drawn further and further into her Technicolor web.

Jennifer Lopez and Tonatiuh in the movie “Kiss of the Spider Woman.”

(Roadside Attractions)

It might be easy to write these moments off as nothing more than a superficial distraction, as Arregui does early on, and characterize musicals as shallow and cliche. At first, Molina is happy to admit that’s why he loves them, but the truth is more complicated.

During Argentina’s dictatorship, discrimination and attacks by paramilitary groups against LGBTQ+ people became more and more frequent. Molina accepts the role society has cast him in, allowing himself to be the “monster,” the “deviant” or the “sissy” that people want him to be, while retreating mentally into the world of classic films and pop culture. For him, their beauty is a salve — an opportunity to abandon reality and cast himself in a role that doesn’t actually exist for him.

Though he never explicitly claims an identity, it’s made clear that he doesn’t just love “La Luna” — he wants to be her. And in their first feature lead role, the queer, L.A.-born actor Tonatiuh embodies all of Molina’s contradictions — his bluster, his pain, his radiance — to heart-wrenching effect.

As Molina and Arregui grow closer, the boundaries between reality and fantasy begin to melt, and their formerly rigid perceptions collapse along with them. Arregui takes on some of Molina’s idealism, and the musical he once saw as a tired cliche becomes something invaluable: a sliver of joy that can’t be taken from him. A cynic convinced of the world’s brokenness, he realizes that revolutions need hope too.

In the film’s final act, while the world around Molina hasn’t changed, he has. Still trapped within the confines of a society that is doing its best to crush him, he adopts Arregui’s integrity and realizes that he has a choice: “I learned about dignity in that most undignified place,” he says in the film. “I had always believed nothing could ever change for me, and I felt sorry for myself. But I can’t live like that now.”

Like the film within the film, “Kiss of the Spider Woman” isn’t an escape. It’s a lifeline — and a reminder that, even in the darkest of times, art has the power to transport us, sustain us and embolden us to be brave.

Thursday marks the 24th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks that saw two planes flown into the Twin Towers in New York, killing nearly 3,000.

Kevin Danni was there. The St. Francis High graduate and father of Golden Knights linebacker Luke Danni reflects back every anniversary on how he escaped from the 61st floor of the South Tower.

“I’m so lucky there were so many who sacrificed to save me,” he said.

Danni told his story to a rapt audience earlier this week at a meeting of the YMCA of the Foothills QB Club, where he is president.

He was 22 years old, a recent graduate of Occidental College and had been sent to Morgan Stanley in New York to begin training at the Twin Towers on Sept. 10, 2001. The next morning, a training meeting ended up being 15 minutes late because a speaker went too long, so during a break, he decided not to go to the observation deck on the 107th floor.

Instead, he looked out a window and saw what he thought was confetti flying around, It was papers from the aftermath of a plane running into the North Tower. Soon he saw a fire. At first, evacuation from the South Tower was not recommended. But Danni said the head of security, Rick Rescorla, overrode orders and told everyone to leave.

When Danni reached the 55th floor walking down the stairs, he heard an explosion. “The walls cracked,” he said.

It was a plane hitting the South Tower.

“I knew it was a terrorist attack,” he said. “I started to descend and passed firefighters going up the stairs. It took 45 minutes to evacuate.”

When he went outside, he said, “I saw both on fire.”

He went to find a pay phone so he could call his loved ones and tell them he was OK. Then the towers started to collapse.

“I heard a rumble,” he said. “It was 57 minutes since the plane hit. I saw the dust cloud. I turned and ran.”

Danni said he learned the security man, Rescorla, after escorting employees outside, went back up to make sure all had been evacuated from the office. The security man and 343 firefighters perished trying to help others.

“I got to see so many acts of heroism,” Danni said.

He was dating his future wife, Helena, at the time. They eventually married and their son, Luke, was born. This week he’ll be having fun watching Luke play quarterback for St. Francis on Friday night against Muir.

“Every 9/11, he says, ‘Dad, I’m glad you’re here,’” Kevin said.

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email [email protected].

Aug. 22 (UPI) — The man believed to be the last surviving World War II official American ace naval fighter pilot has died at age 103.

Described in his legacy.com page as a compassionate and humble soul, Don McPherson, of Nebraska, died Aug. 14.

McPherson enlisted in the U.S. Navy in February 1943 and was qualified for a naval aviator’s golden wings and an ensign’s commission in August 1944.

He was posted in February of 1945 aboard an aircraft carrier as part of a fighter squadron equipped with Grumman F6F-5 Hellcat planes. McPherson served in the war campaign on Okinawa, Japan, in which he was credited with five aerial victories and bestowed flying ace status.

McPherson left active service in November of that year, and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal and three gold stars. He then completed his Navy Reserve obligation in October of 1956.

Nearly 60 years later, McPherson was named to the Nebraska Aviation Hall of Fame in January of 2015, and then in May of that year was one of 37 fighter aces presented with the Congressional Gold Medal in Washington.

McPherson also had a final Hellcat flight, as at age 102 he flew a restored fighter. He turned 103 in May and died last week in his home state.

“As we’ve celebrated 80 years of WWII victory, I’ve been humbled by the incredible stories of service members like Donald McPherson — who was America’s last-living WWII Ace,” Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen wrote on X Wednesday. “After bravely serving our country, he committed himself to his faith, his family, and his Nebraska community.”

“Donald McPherson built an amazing legacy in our state — and will forever be an American hero,” he concluded.

As Big Brother prepares to celebrate its 25th anniversary, we take a look back at the only couple from the show who are still together – Mickey Dalton and Grace Adam-Short

The new series of Big Brother is just around the corner, as ITV prepares for its third season, 25 years after it first aired on Channel 5. There have been a number of relationships formed throughout the years, but only one couple remain together.

Mikey Dalton and Grace Adams-Short met on the show 19 years ago, and are still going strong to this day. The pair took part in the iconic seventh series of the fly on the wall reality show alongside Nikki Grahame and Pete Burns.

The pair quickly fell in love in the chaotic house, with Mikey popping the all important question just four months after leaving. They tied the knot in 2009, and are now parents to four children. They welcomed their first child Georgina in 2012, and welcomed their first son Stephen three years later. It comes after Big Brother confirms its return to ITV with a ‘new look’.

READ MORE: Chris Hughes reveals wholesome way he finally admitted his feelings to JoJo SiwaREAD MORE: Big Brother winner unrecognisable 7 years after ‘accidental’ win

The couple are also parents to six year old Allegra, and son Atticus who they welcomed in 2022. The couple often speak about how they hope to show their children their series of Big Brother one day, so they can see where their parents met and fell in love.

“I didn’t have any idea that I was going to meet my life partner, my husband, absolutely not. We just thought it was going to be a fun summer. I was 20 years old, it was kind of like a gap year!” Grace said during an interview with This Morning in 2023.

It wasn’t love at first sight for Mikey, but in fact, lust at first sight, he later admitted. “I was lusting after her, I still remember the outfit you wore going in and the boots and everything. I was lovestruck when I seen her!”

Speaking on their fast engagement to local Plymouth newspaper, The Herald at the time of their nuptials, 23-year-old Grace said: “We got engaged after four months, which may sound quick but we got to know each other so fast on the show, so it felt right for us.”

The most recent romance in the civilian Big Brother house was in 2023, between Jordan Sangha and Henry Southern. Fans were rooting for the pair to get together in the house and were left absolutely gutted when they revealed they had split earlier this year.

Taking to Instagram to release a statement, Henry wrote: “After a lot of thought, Jordan and I have decided to go our separate ways. “It’s incredible sad, and we’re both hurting, but we know it’s the right step. We’re so grateful for the love and support you’ve shown us – thank you.” Henry added: “Please give us some space as we figure things out privately.”

Jordan also shared his own statement as he sadly wrote: “An unfortunate announcement. After many times, memories, and precious experience, Henry and I have parted ways.

“I want to than everyone who has supported us. We will always remain close friends. Cheers x.”

Elsewhere, earlier this year, former Love Island star Chris Hughes and JoJo Siwa formed an extremely close friendship earlier this year in the Celebrity Big Brother house. Shortly after leaving, JoJo revealed she had split with her partner Kath Ebbs, and it wasn’t long before she and Chris became official.

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