The Michigan Daily - Weekend etc. - Thursday, October 7, 1993-- 3
Guess who's coming to dinner
Back to the box office
2 tsp. of "what up's"
2 tsp. of 'Public Enemy and Ice
Cube
3 tbs. of the cartoonish Arsenio
Hall Show and his fist-waving, woof-
woof antics
Dash or a pinch of pseudo-liberal
philosophy
1 cup of trendy indulgence in Ne-
gro League Baseball Caps
1tsp. of "yo, g" and/or "watch out
Five-"
1 cup of pseudo-hiphop crossover
*groups like the Beastie Boys and Cy-
press Hill
Mmmm. Fakin' the funk stew. A
recipe that cannot be outdone. You
mean it doesn't seem in the least bit
familiar? Come on, I'll give you an-
other chance. Here is a clue: has to do
with black people. Still way off? Oh,
the ingredients change from year to
year, decade to decade but it tends to
look a little something like this: what
once originated underground, in what
is a sub-culture, is extracted from this
dwelling, refurbished, reworked and
is finally mass-marketed for our spe-
cial dinner guests: those with a pas-
sion to be fashionable.
And then once it's served its pur-
pose (money) it'spromptly discarded.
It's nothing new. Facets of Black cul-
ture have been borrowed for quite
some time. Just ask many who had to
sit back and watch Al Jolson (in Black
face of course), just a-singin' and a-
dancin' up a storm.
One of da' masses: But that hap-
penedsoma...(holdyour tongue and
say da' masses slow 5 times)
Me: Yep. I understand that hap-
pened many years in the past, but it
can't change the fact he took things
perceived as uniquely Black, i.e. man-
nerisms, speech patterns, stereotypi-
cal stupidity and used them for profit.
He tap-danced his way into White
America's heart and into their pocket
books and they subsequently ate it
right up. All Blacks could do was sit
back and watch.
And people do the same to this
day, particularly our blue-eyed pseudo
Afrocentric hip hop inspired counter-
parts. While it may not have been
fashionable to walk around in Black
face back then it is certainly fashion-
able to listen to Ice Cube, know how
to say "what up, G", and dress in
baggy gear. What's even funnier, is
that in dressing "down" these kids
wear shit that many kiddies from the
city couldn't dream of affording.
Like I said before it'snothing new.
It's the same meal served on another
plate. Blackness has been "in" be-
fore, it's just that this is the first time
my generation has born witness to it.
And this time we don't have to sit
back and watch. See, the trouble with
being "in" is that things are generally
discarded after a time. Very reminis-
cent of toys that Junior's finally out-
grown.
I take this very seriously because
these are parts of today's Black youth
like myself, and they are very dear to
me. The mere thought of someone
getting their grubby little, crumb-
flecked paws on it leaves me with a
bad aftertaste. And not just because
it's exploitive in nature, but because
it gives America a very narrow focus
of Black culture.
I can only hope the
commodification ends here. But it
seems so much like yelling down an
empty well. All you get in return is
your own voice. Yet I have an aver-
sion to seeing more-than-generous
slices of my Afrocentricity served
high and hot on a plate with'all of the
trimmings. No more delicacies of
slang under glass. No more morsels
of soul left to filter into popular
culture's pallets .Do yourself a favor.
Get thee in front of a mirror. Take a
long, hard, look at your bloated soul-
filled mass. You have dined long
enough upon me, yet I'm constantly
the one stuck with the check.
Your gluttony not only underlines
the fact that "Blackness is in," but
serves as a frank reminder to us that it
will definitely be out of season... And
I don't mean spices.
By CHRIS LEPLEY
Finally the best of the second-run
movie houses in Ann Arbor is re-
opening. The Fox Village Theater,
located at 375 N. Maple inside the
Maple Village Shopping Center, had
its first showing on October 1st, show-
ing off thenewly-remodeled theaters.
Mike Urban, manager of Fox Vil-
lage, says that the four auditoriums
have all been outfitted with new seats
(including those arm-rests with the
cup-holders that puts a truly class
establishment above the rest), new
stereo sound systems, and the theater
itself has a brand new concession
stand. The price of seeing a movie at
Fox Village hasn't changed, however.
It's still $1.50 for all shows, all times.
The old Fox Village was a United
Artists second-run theater, but when
the lease ran out, the theater was sold
to an independentoutlet. The Fox fills
a void in Ann Arbor. The only other
second-run theater in the area, the
State, has only two screens compared
with Fox's four. The State Theater
alsodevotes one of its screens to more
independent art-films, while Urban
says Fox Village doesn't plan on do-
ing that until they become more clear
as to the make up of their clientele. "It
would be great to get some students
down here," Urban said, even going
so far as to suggest alternate routes to
the theater for students.
The Village opened October 1st
with a showing of "Home Alone 2."
All children fourteen and under were
allowed into the show free of charge
to celebrate the opening. The movie
line-up at Fox Village will change
every Friday, but Urban says it's dif-
ficult to tell what will be available for
showing every week.
The price of seeing a
movie at Fox Village
hasn't changed,,
however. It's still
$1.50 for all shows, all
times.
Fox Village hopes to pull in a
large audience of children by show-
ing classics such as "Snow White"
and more modern movies geared to-
wards kids like "Hocus Pocus" and
"Rookie of the Year." Adult movies
won't be ignored, though. Action films
and comedies like "Cliffhanger" and
"Robin Hood: MenInTights"rounded
out the list of movies at Fox Village
last week.
Small second-run theaters like the
State and Fox Village have been feel-
ing the crunch in this era of 20-screen
multiplexes. Theaters have to have
ungodly amounts of screens in order
to compete. Only places like the
Cinemark, a chain of second-run the-
aters, with 16 screens and ushers
tougher than the bouncers at St.
Andrew's can stand a chance against
the Showcase, Star and AMC theater
chains. Luckily for Fox Village, there
aren't many first-run theaters within
driving distance of Ann Arbor. Both
the Michigan Theater and the .Ann
Arbor 1 & 2 show eclectic selections
of films, and the onlymultiplex around
is Showcase, with its glorious $6 ticket
price.
With the closing of the Briarwood
theaters for remodeling (Briarwood
will re-open December 12), Fox Vil-
lage stands to inherit much of their
business. For the low price of $1.50,
students can see films on the big screen
as they were meant to be seen. The
Fox Village Theater is definitely bet-
ter than a VCR, and they make the
popcorn for you.
1/8 tbs. of Vanilla lce (may or may
not add flavor to this dish)
Dash ofpseudo-afrocentricphilo-
sophicalleanings
12 tsp. of Snow
1 cup of "the handshake ending in
a finger snap"
Bring melting pot to a brisk boil,
,stirring occasionally. Let sit for 7
fminutes or until it is of a weak consis-
tency. Serves oneto l00ofyourtrendi-
est friends. A true crowd pleaser. Be
the envy of the crowd. No one will
consider you to be a "wack kinda gal
or guy." Must be eaten soon as this
dish tends to sour and is quickly for-
gotten after it'snovelty, er taste, wears
*off. Oh yes, for best results serve
while speaking slang.
COUNTRY
Continued from page 1
It'snotexactlyjustfiddies and steel
guitars ... It's electric guitars - basi-
callyjust whatever you want to do now.
if you don't have a fiddle in your song
*it's OK," she laughed.
The new 'young country' of rising
stars John Michael Montgomery and
boug Stone has brought country music
#o a more mainstream audience. For
those who still prefer the traditional
Lountry style, newer stars like Alan
Jackson and Diamond Rio are keeping
Staliveandwell. Thepoint, saidReeves,'
s that "people are more open-minded
toco ntry music.' As a whole.
The facts back up her claim. Ac-
cording to the CMA, country album
sales revenues have more than doubled
since 1990, with 1992 volume nearing
$1.5 billion. CountryMusic Television
is the fastest-growing cable network.
More close to home, record stores
confirm high sales. WhereHouse man-
ager Sunseri added that a recent in-
store appearance by new country band
Waister Alley met with a surprisingly
good turnout of college students.
,I Il llr l l l s f I I wI1 I I W 1 1s 1 I f
11
'I 1
1 eyBeavls, whar'swthatwswith
the Iappy faot?"
tsp, a-.ipe.l we's that cool
kefrointhe1970S!
Wha's with that funy fat dgarette3?
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0 f" Y POSTERN
According to Tom Rule, manager
at downtown Tower Records, country
may be receiving more attention these
days dueto Soundscan, anew, comput-
erizedsystemthatelectronically counts
records as they are sold (instead of the
former, less-accurate practice of hav-
ing record store owners compile lists of
best-selling albums).
Thus, while country music sales
have perhaps always been underesti-
mated, there is no denying the volume
now. Country is saturating the market
like never before.
"All the people that I live with
make fun of me for listening to it," said
LSA junior Rick Klamka..
Klamka, who lists Billy Ray Cyrus
and Randy Travis as his favorites, says
he likes country music because "it re-
ally has no deep meanings -no mes-
sages."
Kathleen Marcus, also an LSAjun-
ior and recent country music convert,
added that country is more appealing
now due to the pop-rock sound of syn-
thesizers in many of the songs.
Other new country music fans cite
similar reasons for their preference.
"It doesn't center on their pickup
trucks and their girlfriends leaving
them," said LSA junior Jane Pacheco
of the old country stereotype. "It's sin-
cere. They don't talk about sex and
drugs - they talk about good things
like first love and true love."
They tell stories, much like the old
country singers do. But they do so with
atechnicalflairandarock 'n'rolledge.
And with the kind of infectious melo-
dies that have been lost lately in the
grange/rap-flavored world of'90s rock.
New country keeps its roots, but offers
bored music fans a new place to turn.
Which is why people like Klamka
will tell you that today's country music
is "taking over for pop."
Because it is. Really.
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