ARTS Wednesday, January 27, 1988 The Michigan Daily Page 7 Students unite, overthrow the State! By Scott Collins I am, to quote Peter Finch's character in Network, mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it any- more. I've suffered through more than my fair share of films at Ann Arbor's absolutely, positively worst theatre, and after my most recent en- counter with its inept management, I encourage all film lovers to boycott the State Theatre, located at the cor- ner of Liberty and State, in the heart of "campustown." Herewith I present a list of 19 reasons to avoid going to the State on your next date: 1. The management is too damned lazy and ornery to get to the theatre a couple of hours before opening to give me a screening of Surf Nazis Must Die. 2. It is the only area theatre that has refused to grant passes to Daily film critics. 3. Every time I've been there the manager seems to have all the tact and diplomacy of Jimmy the Greek. He also looks like he gets his hair cut by student barbers. 4. It is owned by the George Kerasotes Corporation, a big, fat, stinking cineplex chain. Fuck those bastards. 5. Its profits are based on the capitalist exploitation of its workers. (And it fits easily into a chant: "Hey, hey, ho, ho, fascist State has got to go!") 6. Its lobby is a dank, garbage- strewn memorial to art yeccho. 7. It makes Peter Steiner look good by comparison. 8. Its once spacious auditorium has been divided into four vulgar, oppressively stuffy corrals. Patrons of the upstairs "theatres" (what was once a balcony) frequently emerge Join the Daily Page Call: 763-0379 with b.o. and painful cricks in their necks. 9. The marquee is crowded and ugly. 10. Boycotting the State gives activists a cause to believe in. 11. Most of its films are so bad the airlines won't dare book them, even on flights returning from Hawaii. 12. As we go to press, the "TE" of its south-facing neon sign is burnt out. 13. Roland Barthes argues that the State Theatre is a transcendent signifier of American corruption. Look it up - it's in the library. 14. Your parents would probably like it. 15. It sees no distinction between serious films and le cine garbage. At the State, My Life as a Dog is forced to room with Return of the Smurf with halitosis . 16. Jefferson said the power of the State is subject to the will of the people. 17. It sells stale candy at its con- cession stand. 18. The office is the unmarked door next to the men's bathroom upstairs. Maybe that's not a reason, but now you know where to go for a refund. Knock loudly. 19. It's taking up space for a badly needed parking garage. i MASS MEETING Does the State population? Daily Photo by ELLEN LEVY provide cinema to the campus Theatre adequately Author Bright Jay McInerney: GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER?! Yi-Tsi Feuerwerker Professor of Chinese Language & Literature I By Meredith McGhan .ghts, big sive as information about the author himself, but it promises to be just as trendsetting as his two others. The best bet is to check him out in person tonight and find out for screen yourself. JAY MCINERNEY speaks at Rackham Auditorium tonight at 8 p.m. as part of Hillel's Great Writer Series. Tickets are $5. 5:30 p.m. Thursday, January 28,1988 East Quad South Cafeteria Jay McInerney is best known for his well-received first novel, Bright Lights, Big City. It was also the first in the now infamous series of novels about the wealthy, trendy lifestyle of young. urban posers and he packed it with lots of drugs, ca- sual sex, and a search for meaning that often leads nowhere. However, McInerney's depiction of the Manhattan nightclub scene and characterization of the protago- nist makes Bright Lights a much richer novel than the shallow imita- tions of the literary brat pack that McInerney spawned. McInerney's characterization is both humorous and poignant, and the second person narrative style allows the reader to identify easily with the characters. McInerney's protagonist goes through a series of drugged adven- tures, trying to escape the tragicomic sadness that lies beneath all his ac- tions. His wife just left him, his mother died, and his job is unrewarding. His increasing dissatisfaction with his drugged out lifestyle is evident: "You see your- self as the kind of guy who appreci- ates a quiet night at home with a good book. A little Mozart on the speakers, a cup of cocoa on the arm of the chair, slippers on the feet... walking from subway. to apartment, you tell yourself that you are going to suppress this rising dread that comes upon you when you return home at night." From the portrait of Manhattan in Bright Lights, McInerney went on to write Ransom, a novel situated in Japan. The main character teaches English at a school for businessmen and after work, attends a martial arts school. Martial arts eventually over- takes his life both literally and figu- ratively, providing for a climactic ending. The cast of characters in Ransom is also effective, especially the expatriot Americans who hang out at a Western bar. McInerney next enters the film realm with an adaptation of Bright Lights. Information about McIner- ney's next written project is as elu- I ! Ie I ! I ! SOUP ! ! AND hi _ I Sponsored by The Asian Studies Student Association (A.S.A.) 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