ARTS The Michigan Daily/ Wednesday, September 25, 1991 Page 5 An honest look at MS Award-winningfilm captures a mother's strugge by Michael John Wilson 7Sometimes it takes a novice film- =maker to step back and show us the true power of film. 21-year-old Ann Arborite Natalie Sternberg has ac- complished just that with One Ba- nana, Two Bananas, a documentary about her mother's bout with mult- iple sclerosis. Its raw, unsenti- mental honesty provides a much- needed antidote to the mind-numb- ing, high-concept products of televi- sion and feature films. Sternberg shot 35 hours of video footage as a record of her mother's declining health. Edited down to a half-hour, the video presents inter- views with Sternberg's mother, as well as everyday events such as the often grueling ordeal of helping her mother use the bathroom. The result is, at times, painfully real. The few light moments, pro- *vided by Sternberg's charming grandmother, are constantly tem- pered by an awareness of the disease. The video's unpolished production makes it even more difficult to watch. Sternberg simply sets the camera on a tripod and presses the record button - no flashy cutting, no sappy music and no typical movie conventions relieve the tension. The honesty of Sternberg's per- Teenage Wasteland: Suburbia's Dead End Kids Donna Gaines Pantheon/hardcover In Teenage Wasteland: Suburbia's Dead End Kids, journalist/ sociologist Donna Gaines writes about New Jersey's "losers," "dirt" and "burnouts," focusing on an area where a number of young people recently com- mitted suicide. Though her premise is to explore the situations in which these kids lived, Gaines concen- trates more on those who didn't kill themselves. In this way, Teenage Wasteland encompasses both groups of teens, explaining their motivations and their lives. Throughout the book, Gaines uses a hip writing style to relay her encounters with the kids. Often, she relates their lives to her own youth on Long Island. In New Jersey, Gaines was able to fit in with the teenagers well enough to be able to show adults how these young people view their world. Unlike many au- thors writing popular sociology, Gaines had experience as a "troubled" teen, giving her book an air of sympa- thy and intimate knowledge. For example, the terms used above ("loser," etc.) are usually inaccurately lumped together as one and the same, but there is a dif- ference between dirt and burnouts. At times, though, Gaines' insider point of view reads as haughty and overbearing. She regards her taste in metal/hard rock/thrash/etc. as slightly more "sophisticated" than the kids'; thus, any attempts to interest the teens in her music were usually unsuccess- ful. The problem lies not in the concentration on music itself - music is one of the most important factors in the lives of these young people - but rather in Gaines' constant boasts (every couple of pages) about her vast knowledge of music. Her insights into the music and into the teens' lives are thought-provoking, but she doesn't always work the ideas into her text in a mean- ingful way. Readers unfamiliar with metal might need some background or some landmark to help them un- derstand some opaque points. Gaines' book is largely successful because it effec- tively develops the characters, personalities and life situations of the people she is studying, instead of ana- lyzing data in cold, percentile fashion. Her conclusions are not unexpected - the kids become human and re- spected, not just the high school losers to whom most aspiring college students would never speak. They're victims of the system and of society, people whom many adults would like to forget. Gaines offers no suggestions for change, simply acknowledging that these people exist and that their needs should be ad- dressed but probably won't be. -Annette Petruso it takes to be a Marine Corps Officer and lawyer, talk with the Marine Corps Officer Selection Officer when he visits your campus. More than 190,000 Jive Marines could use 0nyour service. eT "nkFMThePawd-7w Lynn Sternberg's life and death of multiple sclerosis is depicted with raw honesty and a rare dignity in One Banana, Two Bananas. sonal expression is refreshing and exhilarating. With such a powerful document, she reveals that video can be used for purposed other than tap- ing birthday parties or submissions to America's Funniest Home Vi- deos. As Sternberg said in a brief interview, "I think it's terrible that people are so passive about tele- vision... It dictates our cultural ideals of what beauty and happiness are, of what our goals in life should be. I'd like to see people making their own TV." Sternberg's video has won nu- merous awards since its completion in 1989, including the top prize at the Chicago International Film and Video Festival. The work has also See VIDEO, Page 8 You'll get first hand experience in the court- room right from the start. In three years, you could handle more than 3,000 cases in a wide variety of subjects f Fishbone The Reality Of My Surround- ings Columbia/Sony "Fight the youth/ The youth with poisoned minds/ Ignite the truth/ Restore sight to these with the addition of ex-Miles Davis guitarist John Bingham to core members Angelo Moore, Chris Dowd, Walt Kibby, John Fisher, Kendall Jones and Fish - is renowned for a musical polyglot that merges dirty-butt funk, hyper- kinetic ska, kill-'em-all metal, and This desperate, fist-clenched plea for an end to close-minded separatism/ supremacy within America's youth best summarizes the new agenda for Fishbone in the '90s urgent declarations ever made about being Black, lower class and mis- understood in America. Statements on society, police brutality, drug ,addiction and mental anguish, from an Afrocentric point of view, rival even Public Enemy at their best. In "So Many Millions," Moore uses a cacophony of ska-drenched horns and buzz-saw guitars to take us inside the mind of a youth in a neighborhood where he "cannot grow up to be President" and "only drug dealers drive Mercedes-Benz'." "Sunless Saturday" laments "the shards of shattered dreams on the street," while Jones and Bingham create a wall of warp-speed guitar noise that would encourage even Metallica fans to bang their heads in appreciation. Thankfully, The Reality isn't all gloom-and-doom politicizing. Songs like "Naz-tee May'en" cele- brate sex-mad indulgence with a slammin' groove that steam-rolls See RECORDS, Page 8 blind!" howls Chris Dowd during "Fight The Youth." The opening track on Fishbone's new album, The Reality of My Surroundings is a sonic assault on an unsuspecting world. This desperate, fist-clenched plea for an end to close-minded sep- aratism/supremacy within Ame- rica's youth best summarizes the new agenda for Fishbone in the '90s. Fishbone - now seven strong, even some pew-rocking gospel. They've created a unique sound that is all their own. This, combined with the band's legendary live shows and party-time lyrics, makes the 'Bone an underground favorite. With the release of The Reality of My Surroundings, however, party time seems to be over. The social commentaries throughout the disc are some of the angriest and most who what where i Captain Dave and the album entitled Voice of the Wind. Psychedelic Lounge Cats return Sarath plays the fluglehorn and to the stage they were kicked off of he'll let you in free. two and a half years ago. That's Check out the Goo Goo Babies right, the band famous for their (is this a lame pun on Kajagoogoo or m"efat showismakingstyimhantawhat?) at St. Andrew's Hall in return to Rick's Thursday night in a Detroit on Saturday. They're on Me- must-see Ann Arbor gig. It starts tal Blade, so you know they won't at 10:30 p.m. be singing "Too Shy Shy," but hey, Ed Sarath Quartet at 5:01 p.m. Friday! The 5:01 concert (not spon- sored by Levi's) happens about once Welcome Students a month in the lobby of the Mi- - 6 Barber Stylists chigan Theater. The concerts are free and usually feature jazz artists. The - For Men & Women Ed Sarath Quartet, led by the di- - To please you rector of the University's Jazz Stu- - No waiting dies program, performs jazz stand- ards and original contemporary mu- Dascola Stylists sic. He has also recently released an Opposite Jacobson's 668-9329 when they're kind of metally and car- toonish, and Paul Westerberg loves 'em. Tickets are $6.50 in advance from TicketMaster (plus evil ser- vice charge). Doors open at 9 p.m. Free Plane Rides at the Ann Arbor Airport September 30th & Uctober 1st. Call Judi at 973-7070 to schedule your flight. Upon meeting Muhammad Ali, John Lennon told the j legendary boxer & poet (float like a butterfly and sting "You're not as stupid as you look." Mon Labatt's Pitchers: $5.00 Tue Bud Light Pitchers: $3.50 Wed Pint Night: 75ยข off pints Thu Long Island Iced Tea: $3.25 Fri Happy Hour 'til 9:00 in the Underground. $1.00 off all drinks, pints, wine. .--- - like a bee) that, Muhammad looked at the famous singer and replied, "Neither are you. "t i w - ji-"r j 338 S. State - 996-9191 S Everyone's entitled to his or her opinion. We want yours. e B e heard. Write for The Michigan The University Actuivities Center Presents: ib an4 tFi 7ootnotts The 14 - piece funk and soul extravaganza Live! Thursday, October 10 9pm Michigan Union Ballroom tickets on sale at MUTO 7 AiA