8 - The Michigan Daily - Monday, January 10, 1994 Disclosure Michael Crichton Knopf Writing about extraordinary situ- ations into which ordinary people are thrown is nothing new for Michael Crichton. Nor is it new ground for a conspiracy to lurk behind the tough situations which his protagonists must face. And with the controversy sur- rounding his "Rising Sun" over the past couple of years, Crichton should be old hat at the heat he will take for his latest novel, "Disclosure." Crichton's tale focuses on Tom Sanders, a 41 year old department head in the computer industry. Sand- ers is a modern-day Clark Kent, so mild-mannered that when a promo- tion everyone assumed he would re- ceive goes to Meredith Johnson, his old girlfriend , he never shows any signs of anxiety. When she sets up an after work meeting, her agenda in- cludes more than just business. When she is rejected, she swears, "I'll fucking kill you for this." Sanders tries to continue work as normal, but Johnson has complained to the company's legal consul about sexual harassment, and Sanders is told he'll be transferred away from the division which will go public on the exchange and make its employees rich and to a new one about to be sold off. Because the company is merging with a large publisher, Sanders de- cides he has to take the initiative, and threatens a suit of sexual harassment. From then on, nothing seems to go as planned, and Sanders is faced with a problem much larger than sexual ha- rassment. The issue of sexual harassment, especially as Crichton has told it, is bound to be fodder for talk shows for the next month. Based on a true event, Crichton has taken great care in re- searching his fiction, as he does in all his novels. He effectively talks about "the system," not in a patriarchal con- text, but rather in the terms that "sexual harassment is about power, and so is the company's resistance to dealing with it. Power protects power." The fact that the victim is male may anger readers. Only five percent of sexual harassment complaints are brought by men against women. How- ever, as Sander's lawyers tell him,"But then, only five percent of corporate supervisors are women. So the fig- ures suggest that women executives harass men in the same proportion as men harass women." The author sug- gests that the increase in the number of women in power positions paral- lels the increasing number of harass- ment complaints filed against women. Throughout the novel, the gender roles are reversed. Sanders finds he Whoopi Goldberg is back as Sister Mary Clarence, but boy does this movie stink! Sequel needs to kick habit By ALEXANDRA TWIN Only once upon a century does one stumble across brilliance in the form of a sequel as awe-inspiring as the original. A film so inventive, so nouveau , that it dares each one of us to question that which we thought we knew; namely, whether or not the first one was really as good as we remember it. A film so bereft of any flaws that it more Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit Directed by Bill Duke; written by James Orr, Jim Cruickshank and Judi Ann Mason; with Whoopi Goldberg. resembles the fine craftsmanship of a tenacious artisan than the end product of a filmmaker's tremulous journey. "Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit" is not that film. To be fair, I did say that this can only happen once a century. Since "The Godfather 2" already did it in 1974, "Sister Act 2" had the odds against it. But really, this is no excuse. In fact, there is no excuse for why this film was even made. Well, none other than the fact that the first one made a whole lot more of the green stuff than anyone could have imagined. Then again, this is always the reason for a sequel. I mean, does anyone want to see those same oh-so- lovablenuns from the first film kicking up their feet to the biblical versions of all of our favorite rockin' '50's tunes again? Of course not. Not even the producers wanted that. That's why this time they hired the Stage Kids From Hell. Yes, that's right. It's every stage parent's wet dream. A whole troupe of incredible kids with that incredible triple threat. They sing! They dance! They act! That is if you consider hamming it up for the camera in a supposedly naturalistic way, a la Macaulay Culkin or any bad John Hughes film, acting. What's even better is that they're non-caucasions from broken homes. How P.C.! Once again, the sisters of St. Catherine's convent have gotten in way over their heads and require the expertise of Las Vegas lounge singer extraordinaire Deloris Van Cartier (Whoopi Goldberg) to bail them out. They've been trying to supervise an inner city Catholic school in San Fran- cisco, but the rowdy teenage students have nearly de- clared anarchy. It's only when Deloris, disguised as Sister Mary Clarence, takes over the chores of choir mistress and installs a tough, but fun regime, that the kids finally come together, learning diligence, responsibility and other im- portant things. How heartwarming. This film is just too precious for its own good. Yeah, they're street kids, but they sure don't seem to spend too much time on the streets. The only really bad thing that they've got going against them is their attitudes. Although not for long, as they are all almost immediately toned down by the apparantly way cool presence of Sister Mary Clarence, who appears to be the source of a whole plethora of personal improvements. Will "Sister Act 3: Can't kick that habit!" find her in a jail cell, teaching "Love Is All Around" to prisoners? She's just so cool, so instantly accepted and loved by the students that one boy even refers to her and the other nuns as "his homegirls." How convenient. It's just so much easier to teach when you've got a bunch of giddily eager, custom-made "street kids" for students instead of the kind that you might actually find on a street. One can only wonder what would have happened if this film had been distributed by, say, Fine Line, instead of Disney. What then would our good sister Mary Clarence say to her far less congenial and possibly armed bunch of students, one that included a dealer, a cokehead and an unwed mother? SSTER ACT 2: BACK IN THE HABIT is playing at Showcase RECORDS Continued from page 5 jazzy comping proves his proficiency, despite the limitations of playing through second-hand technology. The other dampened lead-guitars spin ten- der and contemplative melodies, with a host of percussive support pushing the polyrhythms. The guitarists reveal the Ameri- can influences on African highlife. Hear blues licks, the Royal Brothers' off-color slides, and even a straight lifting of the "Johnny B. Goode" gui- tar intro in Akampi's "Meremma bio." But the mostly mellow melodies allude to the tragic topics of these tunes. Titles like "No Place to Hide," "We Will Perish for Nothing" and "Don't Commit Suicide Because of Poverty" convey the serious messages behind these dance rhythms. The few vinyl crackles on this digital recording testify to the histori- cal validity of these tunes. These 45s were liberally spun in Africa, and now it's our turn to listen. - Chris Wyrod Various Artists The Beavis and Butt-Head Experience Geffen I wonder if Beavis and Butt-Head creator Mike Judge knew that his big- has opposition everywhere, from a feminist reporter ("What's the big deal? Men have been doing that for hundreds of years.") to male friends in the company ("And now you tell me you didn't know what was coming in that office? Fuck you, Tom."). But behind all the issue-related material which makes one think, there is a fine mystery behind it. As in "Rising Sun," the issue's controversy may overshadow the fine tale Crichton creates, making the next move al- ways unclear, but never creating any unbelievable plot twists. Crichtons view of the American firm, and how it runs is identical to the view expressed in "Rising Sun" - the company be- fore the individuals. With his background in films (other than writing, he has directed such films as "Coma" and "Westworld"), Crichton has written the book like a film, setting the book over only a few days, and making each "chapter" a separate scene. With the rights to the film already sold, we may soon see Tom Hanks face off with Sharon Stone. Since Crichton's track record of movie adaptaton* show his tales losing something in their translation to the screen, it may be safe to advise all that this book should not be missed. Catch it before Hollywood redoes it. - John R. Rybock gest audience would be the same moronic high school metalheads that the show is satirizing. They will mos likely be the group that buys the mos* copies of "The Beavis and Butt-Head Experience," a collection of songs by artists that "rock" and "rule." With the exception of two total stinkers, the album is quite good. Nirvana donated a perky little number titled "I Hate Myself And Want To Die." This song is an excel- lent example of Nirvana's rawk n' roll and would have fit well on any o*. their three albums. Anthrax performs "Looking Down The Barrel Of A Gun," origi- nally penned by the Beastie Boys, and continues the successful string of metal/rap team-ups that they started with Public Enemy two years ago. Megadeth's "99 Ways To Die" is horrid, disposable half-speed metal wank with Dave Mustaine's whiny vocals. What the hell is this crap? Run DMC are one of the best rap groups around and show their skills well on "Bounce." Aerosmith serves up the second course of flatulence with their bloated rock song "Deuces Are Wild." White Zombie "kicks ass" like the band usu- ally does on their piece "I Am Hell." Deranged rock band Primus wrote their song "Poetry And Prose" espe* cially for this compilation and as Les Claypool sings, "I ain't one for po- etry/ I ain't one for prose/I ain't one for the scent of a spring-time rose/ But there is one fact that I do know/ I sure get a kick out of that Beavis and Butt-Head show." Sir Mix-a-Lot is on track with his "Monsta Mack" which has a very funky groove. Originally a B-side, the Red Hot Chili Peppers' cover of Iggy and the Stooges' "Search And Destroy" is well-handled. Finally, though Jesse James Dupree sounds exactly like Brian Johnson of AC/DC (as Butt- Head would say, it sounds like he's trying to take. a dump) the music on "Mental Masturbation" is very good. The thing that pushes "The Beavi and Butt-Head Experience" from good compilation to an excellent al- bum are the two tracks performed by the two juvenile delinquents - their send-up of cheesy R&B love songs, "Come ToButt-Head," and their team- up with Cher on "I Got You Babe." Also adding to the overall excel- lence are the comments between the songs including Beavis' and Butt- Head's experiences on Anthrax's tou bus and in the 'hood with Run DMC. These sketches are typically hilarious and the music is great. - Matt Carlson 1' N ''1 1, Attend the Daily Mass Meeting Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at the Student Publications Building .F k C- Tired yet of Beavis and Butthead? Well, they now have an album out. The Office of Academic Multicultural 9nitiatives is now taking applications for Student Ceader positions for the King/Chavezlparks College Day Spring Visitation program Yelpplication deadline is 'January 23, 1994 Student leaders accompany visiting middle school students throughout the day serving as guides and role models while providing information about the college experience. Student leaders usually work in teams of three. They should be fairly out- going individuals and have a keen interest in and committment to helping students underrepresented Read Arts StudyinParisto become an International Business and EC Law Paralegal At The American University A Va ~ U I U - *A~ Ili I