8 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, March 22, 1995
'Paper Dolls' a play of substance
By Jenn McKee
For the Daily
I've always meant to take one day
of my life and count how many times
I was assaulted with images of nearly-
That's not to say that these pic-
tures eat away at me - I'm desensi-
tized as well. But it does make me
question how men would like it if
they were subjected to seeing pic-
tures of idyllically "perfect" men sev-
eral times a day. Maybe their poten-
tial for insecurity would rise, and
maybe they'd become obsessed with
their weight. I don't think it's a coin-
cidence that depression is more preva-
lent among women than among men.
In "Paper Dolls," director Kim
Baker will be exploring issues con-
cerning what society projects as beau-
tiful and how women -particularly
Black women - are affected by it.
Written by Elaine Jackson, a
graduate of Wayne State University,
the play focuses on two former beauty
queens who are asked to come and
judge a pageant. The play is a satire,
recreating scenes of movies the two
characters were to have starred in.
The characters change the endings,
however, tailoring them to their own
desires and needs.
"They're beauty queens from the
1930s -one was Miss Emancipation,
the other Miss Emancipation Procla-
mation," said Baker, a senior in Com-
munications and Theater Studies.
"When I read (the play), I thought
that it was funny, but I also thought
that it had an important and timely
message regarding the ideals of
beauty, which has always been a
women's issue."
Though it sounds like a feminist
play, Baker believes the play's em-
phasis is more on race relations than
on feminism. "It deals directly with
the standard of beauty for Black
women - the images and portrayal
of Black people in movies and televi-
sion," she said. "I would like people
to think about these images, consider
how they do or don't buy into them,
and analyze why."
Tackling tough issues through sat-
ire, "Paper Dolls" promises to lend
insight into the world of African-
American women and what obstacles
often lie in their path.
naked, "beautiful" women. Whether
the pictures are on billboards, televi-
sion, magazines orposters in afriend's
apartment, women are subjected to
them on a daily basis. We've all be-
come desensitized, to a certain ex-
tent, out of necessity. If each instance
really bothered us, we'd never make
it through one day in this country.
ARCH ERS
Continued from page 5
which has resulted in a looser album.
"A lot of times, that's when the best
'stuff comes out," Getling explained,
"because you don't second-guess
what you're doing. You get a lot of
spontaneous ideas that are really
good. We wrote five or six songs in
the studio that we had never played
before and then a few of them that we
had played a couple of times in prac-
tice. None of the stuff had been played
live before we recorded it."
. After the Weezer tour is finished,
Archers of Loaf will head out on a
small headlining tour of their own;
the tour includes a stop at Rick's on
April 25. In either setting, the band's
twisted, careening pop promises to
make for an entertaining show.
"You owe it to the people that
paid to see the show to try to play
the songs as well as you can. If
you're a little bit out of tune, it's not
going to ruin the show. Anybody
can bust their ass and become profi-
cient at something, but it's songs
people remember, not licks."
~n 't fighit te Weezer
Well, the four lads of Weezer have certainly made an incredible amount of progress in the last 12 months: In just one
short year they've gone from being community college nobodies to MTV buzz-clip megastars. And while their "Sweater
Song" might sound a little tired, the rest of the band's eponymous debut more than equals their singles "Buddy Holly"
and their new one, "Say It Ain't So." Songs like "No One Else," "The World Has Turned And Left Me Here," "In the
Garage" and "Surf Wax America" mix elements of bands as eclectic as the Beach Boys, the Pixies, the Cars and the
Four Freshmen. But the story gets more interesting; lead Weezer Rivers Cuomo used to be totally into Kiss and shre
metal, "Weezer" was produced by none other than Ric Ocasek, and rumors abound as to whether or not the band will
return to school after touring for this album. At any rate, success couldn't befall a nicer group of guys, who will
modestly admit that "we don't suck anymore." Weezer play an all-ages show at the State Theater tonight. Fellow
sweater-wearing nice guys Archers of Loaf will play their skronky college-rock as well (see story on page 5), and
unclassifiable singer / songwriter Melissa Ferrick will kick off the whole thing at 7:30 p.m. Yes, tickets are still
available for this alternative bonanza; call (313) 961-5450 for more information.
RECORDS
Continued from page 5
That Kills" and frontman Mike Scott's
solo turn on "Bury My Heart") to the
not-so-great (the tame "Going to
Paris") to the beautiful ("The Earth
Only Endures"). The live tracks kick
with an intensity the band has had a
hard time finding since that time,
driven by Scott's passionate vocals
and Anthony Thistlewaite's saxo-
phone. Those who own the
Waterboys' earlier records and yearn
for more will love this; others defi-
nitely should check out their music,
but start with the band's masterpieces,
"Fisherman's Blues" and "Room to
Roam."
- Dirk Schulze
360's
Strawberry Stone
RCA
Forget the sex - the 360's have
an overt monkey on their rock 'n' roll
back. Rock and drugs have a long and
exhaustive history together: Hendrix
and his immortal doobie, Morrison
and his jug of rotgut, Sid and his
track-mark holes. Now, the 360's want
to take you back to their romanticized
and very hallucinatory vision of the
'60s. Woah, man, bad trip.
"Strawberry Stone" opens at the
band's peak with two blasters, "When
I'm High" (sheesh, we get the pic-
ture) and "Dig USA" - two songs
that will have you writhing on the
shag carpet in magic mushroom bliss,
panting and huffing and forgetting
time with neon tracers on the sore
retinas of America. Then, too sud-
denly, the trip's over with the onset of
the third track "Tripping With The
Angels." At this point in the album
(four minutes elapsed) you no longer
have any hallucinations about this
band's talent; in fact, you might as
well be on laughing gas, for you'll be
giggling at the feeble 360's -sma*'
time dope peddlers who commit dealer
crime #1: Using their own product.
In the soundtrack to this '90s, cu-
rious-yet-cautious youth drug culture,
the Black Crowes are the Beatles and
the 360's are the Monkees - trivial,
commercialized and cheap dope-
heads who mock you with their car-
toon cosmicity. Don't worry parents.
Your kids won't get addicted to 360"
- Matt Carls
Artifacts
Between A Rock And A Hard
Place
Big Beat Records
There's nothing wrong with this
album in terms of musical production
or lyrical skills, but it seems to be
destined to be lost in its own medic
rity. There is some high quality pro-
duction and solid samples in each
song; the producers do a good job of
not overcrowding the mix. The bass
lines and beats mostly make your
head nod, and there are some nice
chants that aren't incessantly repeated
for the purpose of creating a hook.
However, very little is unique
about this album. The themes are no
ing new and Tame One and El T T
Sensai have no new lyrical twists.
Maybe the straightforward approach
is to be valued,or aperson mightbein
the mood for some hip-hop that, is
only mildly intrusive (there are a few
sexist and homophobic lyrics here
and there), but in the face of all the
other things one might want to listen
to, it seems this CD case is destined to
remained closed.
- Dustin Howes
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* Be sure to reward yourself today with a U
cookie or muffin - baked with LOVE! t
c KIES
715 N. University - 761-CHIP
t Mon- Thurs 8:30am-5:30pm Sat 10am-5:30pm
* We ship anywhere in the Continental U.S.
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STUDENTS
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