Page Two
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Sunday, September 21, 1969
f iog e T wi o T H E M I C H I G A N D A I L Y S u n d a y, S e pte mb"er 2 1, 1 9 69!!1 I' l1' Jl'- ---- --.- - "
m"sic
cinema-
Tops tops as
Greeks
freak out
By LITTLE SUZY FUNN
Concert Aficionado
Just to start off with, I ought
to let you know that I'm not
really too fond of concerts in
the Events Barn. I mean, the
whole concept sort of stinks.
It's too big, and too far away
from my house, and too expen-
sive and generally they have
schlemiels like Johnny Carson
or Bob Hope there.
But the Four Tops were Out
of Sight last night.
Headlines for this review are
spinning in my mind: "Tops
tops" or "Greeks go wild for
Tops" or "Frat freaks frolic..
The crowd was not what
you'd expect at your everyday
rock concert, but I guess that
has to be expected. The Rotary
Connection, who footed the bill,
have never been what you'd call
an underground smash, and the
Four Tops have sort of a repu-
tation as being among the most
Pchlocky of the whole Motown
Shuck Stable.
Which is not altogether un-
deserved. I mean, Smokey has
class, and the Temptations have
style, and the Supremes got
Diana Ross but what have the
Four Tops got?
Nothing, you a t1 s w c r in
chorus. Nothing except Super-
Shuck Motown arrangements
and dance routines, suitable to
get them billing for life at the
Sands Hotel.
Well, I discovered last night
that they got something. They
got charisma and they got
rhythm. And they got the
straightest looking bunch of
Greeks I ever saw assembled
under one roof to stand up and
dance in the aisles and clap
and sing along. Woof.
They even got this chick sit-
ting next to me to call a San-
ford Security cop a fascist for
trying to clear the aisles.
They did all their big HITS.
of course, knocking the crowd
on its collective heels with a
little help from the fine orches-
tra of Jimmy Wilkins as well
as the usual quota of shoobie-
doo-wa Motown arrangements
of easy listening classics like
"By the Time I Get to Phoenix."
The Rotary Connection, on
the other hand, was something
else altogether. As a snaggle-
toothed Sanford Security Rent-
a-Cop commented to my date.
"Them Four Tops are sure bet-
ter than that first band, eh?'.
Right on, pig.
The Rotarians hit their high
point when the spade chick
singer asked the audience if
Panther was there because her
old man said to give him his
regards. I got a laugh about it
anyway. Catch Panther at a
Rotary Connection Concert and
I'll sign over my collection of
valuable Golden Goodies to you.
They're a real weird group.
They're sort of a psychedelic
funk group, to coin a cliche, sort
of like the Airplane at their
worst, only with an R&B tinge.
I mean, I kept expecting them
to start singing "Funky Funky
Acid" or something.
Of course, they did their big
HIT. "Ruby Tuesday," of Stones
fame, and it isn't any better live
than it is on the record. In fact,
it's worse, if you can image that.
Actually, again, I'm being un-
fair to them. They averaged
about 6 plus on a scale of 10 for
their songs and if they just
kept the chick away from the
mike and let the guy singer and
the rhythm guitarist do the
singing, and if they got some-
body to cut all the crap out of
their arrangements, they'd be
just fine. I'm afraid that's sort
of a big order though, and un-
til I hear otherwise, I don't
plan on walking around the
block to hear them play.
Back on the bright side, did
I tell you the Four Tops were
Out of Sight? Five encores
worth? And that it's a rotten
shame that the balance on the
mikes was lousy? I didn't? Well,
forget it, then.
OI)scure gospel
of 'Teoreina'
By GORMAN BEAUCHAMP
As a story Pier Paolo Pasolini's Teorema is absurd, or insane, or
inspired. Maybe all three. It's easy to ridicule this film, because it's
ridiculous. Imagine a script resulting from a collaboration of Jacqueline
Susann and Kahlil Gilbran a sexual fantasy of stud as saint or saint
as stud--and you have some idea of the plot.
A sudden unexplained telegram is brought by a messenger inamed
-ah, ahl- Angelino a to a prosperous, proper bourgeois family: "Ar-
iriving tomorrow." The arrival is a young man (Terence Stamp) who
is never known as anything other than "just a boy." He takes up
residence with the family and in short order is laid by all of them-
maid, son, (dog?), mother, daughter, and father, in that order. "Just
a boy,' you see, cannot help helping those in need, and they are all
in need. Everyone blossoms at the touch of his magic phallus (a
D. H. Lawrence type touch). Never in film history, I imagine, has
so much footage been shot of one crotch, for Pasolini obviously shares
his characters' fascination with the bulge in Mr. Stamp's crotch.
Having fed a little life to these dried tubors, "just a boy" receives
another message (same kooky Angelino) that he must depart. He does,
and desolation follows. Daughter goes into cataonic trance; maid be-
comes a pop artist, pissing on blue canvases: mother turns to nym-
phomania; and father strips in the Milan train station and wanders
off into a desert.
Pasolini is obviously trying tor a religious parable. Biblical quota-
tions are read while a camera tracks a desolate wasteland. The
"theme" music is the "Domine" from Mozart's D Minor Requiem, The
father and "just a body" act out the Ivan-Gerasim relationship from
Tolstoi's The Death of Ivan Illych tsymbolism totally lost, I fear on
this illiterate age.) But what this allegorical melange is supposed to
suggest I am at a loss to say.
And yet the film is infused with a demonic kind of genius, As
pure film apart from its story and confused erotic-religious sym-
bolism-it is striking. In Pasolini's hands, the camera becomes a
vehicle for an intense, compelling lyriesm. Images cling to one's
memory. The calm beauty of Stamp's eyes. Or Anna Wiazemski skip-
png aimlessly across a golden pebbled terrace. Or Silvana Mangano's
desperate anmal cry as she stops to pick up two street boys.
Teorema lacks any meaningful synthesis of its often brilliant frag-
ments. Yet there is an integrity of vision behind it-as in the works
of Blake. It is the kind of failure that affects one more deeply than
do many more unified and "reasonable" works. Madness has its re-
vards as well as its limitations.
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Anotlier potential tragedy in SE Asia
By the Dipatch News Service
While all eyes are turned to
the war in Vietnam and its
spill-over into Laos, Cambodia
and Thailand, another potential
tragedy is shaping up in Asia.
That is the threat of open civil
war between the Chinese and
Malay's in Malaysia.
The May 13 riots left an esti-
mated 2,000 people, almost all
Chinese, dead. Since then, the
situation in Kuala Lumpur, at
least on the surface, seems to
I a v e improved. Government
sources claim peace has been re-
stored. while other observers
mark the lull as just the calm
before the storm.
Though there has been racial
enmity here since the British
irst imported large numbers of
Chinese in the late 1800s, there
has also been, until recently, at
working arrangement between
the Chinese and the Malay. By
working in cooperation with
each other both were able to
prosper in his separate sphere
The Chinese as urban busi-
nessman has controlled the
economy; the Malay living in
the rural village (kampong) has
become the richest peasant in
Southeast Asia.
So long as the Chinese
brought high prices for the
crops, and the Malay was con-
tent in his kampong, both pros-
pered. But as Malaysia has be-
come more modernized, these
separate spheres have begun to
overlap, leading to the friction
that exploded last May in
bloody race riots.
The Japanese, during their
occupation of Malaysia first
pitted the Malay against the
Chinese. Forced to fight fierce
Chinese resistence, the Japanese
accused the Chinese of stealing
the Malay wealth, of being a
colonial power controlling even
the market place. The Japanese
used this racial warfare to build
a Malay nationalism throughout
the country.
Nationalist stirrings were ain-
plified after the war as young
people, better educated and
more widely travelled, began to
look beond their kampongs to
see Malaysia as their country.
Inevitably the Chinese were
seen as foreigners, speaking a
different language, having dif-
ferent customs and most im-
portant to a Muslim, worship-
ping a different God.
Yet these people who were so
different from the Malay were
still in control of the economy.
The Chinese businessman's way
of life with its modern conven-
iences and luxuries was very
tempting to many young Ma-
lays, whose resentment soared
when they found they were un-
able to get the jobs necessary
to support such a standard of
living.
The collective sense of trus-
tration against the Chinese
control of business led to Ar-
tile 153 of the Independence
constitution (1957 which al-
lows special Malay privileges,
including civil service priorities.
educational advantages as well
as business incentives, loans
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and land grants. All of these
advantages were aimed at in-
tergrating the -Malay into his
economy.
However, these measures have
been unsuccessful because few
of these privileges have filtered
down to the kampong. The Chi-
nese have doled out advantages
to members of royal families
and to wealthy Malays as well
as to Malays who have sold them
to wealthy Chinese.
This situation has not only
further embittered the kampong
Malays against the Chinese,
but has angered young Chinese
who feel that Malay priorities
have directly penalized them.
"I have been sweeping floors
in a health clinic for two years
because there are no staff vac-
ancies for non-Malays," says a
young college trained Chinese
from Ipoh.
"All this time there have beei
three vacancies for Malays, with
even less training than I have,"
he says. "Yet they cannot fill
them. For this I must sweep
floors."
Tungku Rahman's moderate
government stands between the
Chinese and Malaysian fac-
tions, but it has hastened the
deterioration of the racial situ-
ation by its singular refusal to
admit that there were racial
tensions here before the May
13th xiots.
Whatssteps Tungku could
have taken previously are moot;
what action is available to him
now is doubtful. Some observers
feel that anti-Chinese hostility
is so deeply rooted that "an In-
donesian solution" could. erupt
in Malaysia anytime. In 1962
the "Indonesian solution"-mas-
sacre-left over 500,000 of the
Chinese in Indonesia dead.
Other observers feel that the
May riots were led by only a
small but powerful faction of
intellectuals, military leaders
and right wing politicians,
though the majority of Malays
are hostile to the Chinese.
If Tungku attempts to come
down on this faction, he is likely
to anger the silent right and
erode even more of his dwin-
dling power. If, however. he
allows this faction to continue
it could bring about a racial
holocaust.
Most Malays are already in
favor of compulsory Malay as
a national language, and Islam
as the compulsory national re-
ligion as prerequisite for citi-
zenship. How far the Malays
will go to gain these ends re-
mains a major question.
Also unclear is what actions
the Chinese might take. Both
Malays and Chinese are pre-
vented by emergency ordinances
ieetings. However, Malays are
still allowed their Friday mos-
que meetings where, to the dis-
may of the Chinese, they discuss
their country's future.
Most Chinese, unable and un-
willing to plan ahead, continue
their alienated existence. As
one Chinese girl says, "I live
in daily fear of my world col-
lapsing on me, but until that
happens it is the' best world I
have.''
More than that, for most
Chinese in Malaysia it is the
only world. Singapore is already
overcrowded. China repatriates
only those compatible with her
ideology, Chinese w ith lprofs-
sions have already started the
exodus to Australia and Canada.
A name being mentioned
throughout Malaysia these days
is Chin Ping, a Communist
guerrilla who has fought all
comers in the.jungle for almost
30 years without any real sup-
port from the Malaysian Cli-
nese. During the Second World
War he was famous for protect,-
ing Chinese in Johore (South
Malaysia) against attacks by
both Japanese and Malays.
Whether he would be willing
or even able to fight now is
conjecture, but he has been
waiting a long time for grass
roots support. His underground
and his knowledge of Malaysia's
jungles are both respected and
feared.
The T u n g k u government
counts on continued Chinese
support. A shift of Chinese al-
legience would undoubtedly lead
to a right wing government,
something the Chinese wish to
avoid at any cost.
Because of this the govern-
ment has done little to appease
the Chinese since the riot. The
major step taken has been the
founding of goodwill commit-
tees, low pressure Chamber of
Commerce style groups that are
little more than a band-aid on
a hemorrhage. Since the major
threat to the present govern-
ment is the right wing, Tungku
has given conservatives within
his party greater freedon than
ever before.
Their most Ilamboyant move
so fari has been the announce-
mnent. in September, non-Malay
medium schools began to be
phased out, in favor of an all-
Malay system with other lan-
guages taught only as foreign
languages. In a country where
48 per cent of the population
does not regard Malay as its
mother tongue, this was hardly
an action calculated to promote
"good will."
Long range forecasts for Ma-
laysia are not very bright. Tung-
ku is already running the coun-
try without majority support. A
right wing anti-Chinese govern-
ment would most probably turn
Malaysia into a country at war
with herself. This tropical par-
adise could within five years
lose her position of leadership
in Southeast Asia and become
economically disembowelled, un-
less the Malays and Chinese
learn to live together once more
in peace.
BILDB
Tuesday, Sept. 23
The Gospel
According to
St. Matthew
,dir. Pier Poole Posolini
A blend of Marxist his-
torical conscious and
Christian Passion.
SKIP DINNER FOR THIS ONE
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SAINTE
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October 4!
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1969
"The Eeriest Macbeth
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