T ia l calWednesday, October 23, 2013 - 7A
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Donnelly to draw
TV/NEW MEDIA COLUMN
'Wife' is better than good
on feminist
I
New
to d
"(I h
the pov
the tru
quickly
succinc
said Ne
er ca:
Liza D
during
2011 TE
"And
that,
can ge
viewer
not o
intellec
throug
heart."
Now
sity's
Series,
about h
artist,
- all ti
on whe
and ske
Cart
an und
as they,
vehicle
Beyond
that su
or the
appears
The Ne
ognizes
relevan
"You
happen
York cartoonist looking at its cartoons," Don-
nelly said. "It's fascinating to see
iscuss her work, what the morals were and what
the thoughts were of the public.
experience It's a great way to study history,
to look at the cartoons."
By MAX RADWIN Cartoons are a strange medi-
DailyFine Arts Editor um, though. They mix journal-
ism with op-ed, but are, on the
save an) appreciation for simplest of levels, art. In this
wer of cartoons to get at way, Donnelly said cartoons
ath, to get at the issues have a unique and powerful
and effect on the audience.
tly," Penny W. "I think good journalism and
ew York- good opinion helps, people 'see
rtoonist Stamps what might be going on," she
Donnelly Lecture said, "But cartoons have a way of
her Se .e Lza - because they're visual, they're
ED Talk. not like a long article - they can
not only Donnelly have an immediate impact, a vis-
(but) it Thursday at ceral impact."
t to the 5:10 P.M. Donnelly has published 15,
through books throughout her career,
nly the Michigan Theatre all of which showcase her car-
t, but tooning and quick wit. Her next
h the ' Free book, "Women on Men," is set to
release this fall.
, as part of the Univer- "All the cartoons in the book
Penny Stamps Lecture are women poking fun at men
Donnelly will speak lovingly," Donnelly said. "It's
er time as a journalist, an about how women can use
an author and a feminist humor ... to change their roles."
tles a cartoonist can take The upcoming release will
en she picks up a pencil feature new drawings, with a
tchbook. few New Yorker cartoons as
oons are perhaps as much well. Donnelly also said the text
er-appreciated art form of each chapter will be writ-
are an under-appreciated ten in her own handwriting, as
for delivering the news. opposed to typescript.
1 the obscure references Donnelly's books often focus
bscript a political panel, on relationships, the more recent
weird little doodles that of which look heavily at those
on the corner of pages in involving women. Her 2005
ew Yorker, Donnelly rec- book, "Funny , Ladies," about
s the cartoon's cultural women cartoonists at The New
ce and longevity. Yorker, is a marker of her focus
can get an idea of what on the feminist perspective.
ed in the country by "Since then, I just started
ea
thinking about how I could
draw and make funny situations
and make humor about femi-
nism," she said, "but also about
women's rights, like what stupid
things we do as women and also
things that are done to us in our
culture that we can make light
of. And, by making light.of them,
then we can maybe see how
they're wrong."
Donnelly came into her own
as an active, cartooning feminist
this past year when she served
as a cultural envoy on a trip to
Israel and Palestine, where she
spoke about the impact car-
toons can have politically and on
women.
This effort also reflects Don-
nelly's desire to connect with
the international cartoon com-
munity. Her website, World Ink,
showcases the work of cartoon-
ists from all over the world.
Donnelly has worked with car-
toonists from Europe, Australia,
Africa, South America and the
Middle East.
"It's interesting to see every-
body's perspective on the
world," she said. "I wanted to
have a place to showcase some of
these people's works."
Donnelly will come to Ann
Arbor to speak about her expe-
riences: from the internal and
external factors that have
morphed her view on the world
and the direction of her cartoons
to political activism and the cre-
ative process.
And maybe, if there's time,
she'll tell the audience about her
trouble with drawing cars, too.
"I don't draw cars very well,"
she said, laughing. "... They look
like boxes on wheels."
To say "The Good Wife"
is on a roll would be an
egregious understate-
ment.
The legal procedural, created
by husband-
wife dream
team Robert
and Michelle
King, is bar-
reling through
a narrative
streak that,
frankly, I can't KAYLA
recall ever UPADHYAYA
witnessing.
I can think
of a few dramas in recent years
that have similarly pulled awe-
inducing multi-episode streaks
out of their hats - the Defiance
arc on "Scandal," the second half
of "Orphan Black,"'s first season,
"Confessions" through "Ozyman-
dias" on "Breaking Bad."
But whereas these three "super
stretches" happen well into their
respective seasons, "The Good
Wife" isn't a slow burn: It's com-
ing outofthe gate at breakneck
speed. Never before have I seen a
show launch its fifth season with
so much energy and so few mis-
steps. In these first four episodes,
"The Good Wife" brings us back
into its richly drawn world, but
does so without forsaking the cru-
cial element of surprise that has
kept us intrigued for nearly four
years. Season five feels familiar
and heart-racingly exciting all at
once, and that's a balance most
TV dramas struggle with while
"Wife" dances around themwith
ballet-like elegance.
How do you keep viewers on
the edges of their seats five sea-
sons in when you're churning out
22 episodes a year and chained to
the FCC's regulations?"The Good
Wife" answers: easy peasy; cable
schmable; watch and learn.
So, let's back up a bit. The
show's mastery didn'tcome out
of nowhere. The creative forces
behind "Wife" have been laying
the groundwork to get here since
day one. At its base, the show is
still a legalprocedural, driven by
its case-of-the-week format, with
the occasionallonger arc woven
in. But the show's world is defined
first and foremost by its charac-
ters. It's one thing to have a lineup
of outstanding regulars, but "The
Good Wife" takes it to the next
level with the best roster of recur-
ring and guest performers on
television. Minor recurring char-
acters don't just add color or fill
space; they're part of the dynamic
and detailed fabric that seduces
viewersweek after week.
Which is why itcomes as no
surpris
episode
whicht
fully co
that pe
mix-I
beth T
wild ca
with m
Prestor
an old f
a testar
Award
is to th
tion too
acters.:
tough-i
and Ga
McVeig
joust w
friends
F
cre
"Out
a mast
it epito
ess at uI
and ev
narrati
From t
scrutin
person
and ho
sect, in
anothe
with th
of left f
runner
powere
Dianet
more s
allowin
showca
In "Out
and rel
and res
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cant,pr
it all tu
ing -,o
- persc
profess
"Bub
versus-
and the
coming
conflict
The pie
next ep
ting the
knockt
Will pr
off a de
"Thi
sonally
the "Hi
might b
the em(
e that the most recent make these characters more than
e "Outside the Bubble" - just well-dressed, sharp-tongued
throws several of the care- lawyers are, of course, extremely
instructed non-regulars personal. Lockhart/Gardner
pper the show back into the might run like a machine on the
works so well. Seeing Els- surface, but it breathes and bleeds
ascioni, the scatterbrained with the desires, dreams and feel-
ird of a lawyer who's played ings of its lawyers. Super-charged
anic perfection by Carrie relationship dynamicsblur the
n, feels like reuniting with boundaries between professional
friend, and that's as much and personal realms, making "The
ment to Preston's Emmy Good Wife" as much a character
-winning performance as it study as it is a powerfully gripping
e writers' meticulous atten- exploration of politics, sex, moral-
even the smallest of char- ity and the workplace.
Rita Wilson also returns as The writers enrich these larger
bitch lawyer Viola Walsh, themesby imbuing them with
ry Cole's gunslinging Kurt topical, controversial conversa-
gh shows up for a political tions pulled from the headlines.
ith Diane's bleeding-heart That's "The Good Wife"'s third
magical ingredient: its devilishly
smart social commentary. These
first four episodes of season five,
lorrick and again, epitomize this strength,
lor rik and incorporating stories about repro-
w are on fire ductive justice, privacy rights
*and the death penalty. And these
aren't just plot devices; the writers
engage relevant issues in a way
tside the Bubble" isn't just that challenges assumptions.
erclass in character work; With one of the most intelligent
mizes the writers' prow- writers'rooms working right
.pthrusting the stakes now, "The Good Wife" makesyou
en threatening the show's think. In "Outside the Bubble,"
ve structures if need be. when Will signs an affidavit
he very start, the showhas swearing he has never had sex
ized the battle between with an underling in his office,
al and professional lives Alicia quietly challenges him with
w the two spheres inter- a perceptive cross-examination
teract and complicate one of exclusionary definitions of
r (the show's obsession sex. Questioning social construc-
is theme doesn't come out tions of sex and sexuality? That's
ield, considering its show- something we do in my women's
s are married). Shifting studies classes. Seeingit happen
dynamicsahave brought on my TV screen is nothingshort
o the narrative forefront of remarkable.
o than Will this season, In its promo, CBS touts "Hit-
g Christine Baranski to ting the Fan" as the best "Good
se her strongest work yet. Wife" installment of the year, and
tside the Bubble," alliances I'm inclined to believe the claim.
ationships are challenged I'll go so far as to say that if it only
haped, and each and every lives up to half my expectations,
ter is evolving in signifi- it'll still be one of the finest hours
remise-altering ways' And of programming I watch this year,
rns on this concept of keep- and I won't insult the series with
r, rather, failing to keep any qualifiers like "on broadcast
onal politics separate from television" or "for a procedural"
ional lives. "The Good Wife"has more than
bble" reignites the personal- proven its capacity to creatively
professional confrontation, compete with any of its cable con-
highly anticipated episode temporaries.
to us Oct. 27 promises the With the stability of Lockhart/
t will reach a boiling point. Gardner teetering and the Flor-
'ces are all set up, and the rick/Agos masterplan in motion,
isode, fittingly titled "Hit- there are a lot of moving parts in
e Fan," is positioned to play this season. And I'm on board
hem all down (or, at least, for each and every one of them.
omises to throw them all My one complaint? Can we get
sk in a storm of fury). some more Kalinda Sharma in
s was never meant per- there again, please?
USAS to fight for workers' rights
By GIANCARLO BUONOMO
For the Daily
On April 24, the deadliest gar-
ment factory disaster to date
occurred in Savar, Bangladesh.
The Rana Plaza
building, which United
housed mul- Students
tiple garment
factories, col- AgainSt
lapsed, killing Sweatshops
1,129 people,
many of them Vgil
the primary Thursday
breadwinners at 6p.m.
for their fami-
lies. The dead- The Diag
lest garment Free
factory disaster
in U.S. history
pales in comparison, with a still-
tragic 146 deaths. To remember
the victims of the Rana Plaza
disaster and raise awareness
about how future disasters can
be averted, the campus chap-
ter of United. Students Against
Sweatshops (USAS) will be hold-
ing an interfaith vigil Thursday
on the Diag.
Despite its name, USAS is not
strictly limited to campaigning
against sweatshop conditions.
Past, present and future projects
have ranged from organizing
campus workers to a "Kick Wall
Street Off Campus" initiative.
"We think of the term 'sweat-
shops' broadly, as including all
fights for workers' justice," said
LSA sophomore Arielle Wis-
baum.
However, USAS's main focus
this year is on sweatshops in
Bangladesh.
"Right now, what we're doing
is more important than ever
because three of the largest gar-
ment factory tragedies actually
happened in the past year, and in
the past eight years, 1,800 work-
ers have died in Bangladesh,"
Wisbaum said.
"And it's even more relevant,
just because last week there was
another
more fi
this is s
This
month
Plaza
chapter
have di
of acti
activisr
strongl}
and she
tion.
"The
ducing
apparel
times it
because
campus
"To:
burn, w
ing the
LSA f
Dubois.
Th
to
USAS
that ma
beyond
maize-a
snapbac
duce p
perman
and wi]
moneta
To p
the UN
al trad
the "Ba
and BL
defines
for wor
in garm
brands,
& Fitch
to only
factory fire where 10 the accord. USAS will lobby the
actory workers died, so University to sever its contracts
omething that's urgent." with any company that doesn't
week will mark the six- sign this agreement.
anniversary of the Rana "We should be able to use
disaster, so all USAS the University to leverage our
's across the country power as students to change the
eclared a national week way that these corporations do
on. Even amid all the business," Dubois said.
a on campus, USAS feels USAS has used this strat-
y that its initiative can egy before. Last year, Adidas
suld get students' atten- closed down one of its factories
in Indonesia but didn't pay the
se workers were. pro- workers $1.8 million of sever-
University of Michigan ance. USAS lobbied the Uni-
," Wisbaum said. "Some- versity to cut its $16-million
's hard to imagine that, contract with Adidas, ad Adi-
it's not directly on our das eventually gave the workers
." their severance package.
stay silent while people USAS doesn't advocate elimi-
'e might as well be light- nating sweatshop labor, which
match ourselves," said some argue is an unpleasant
reshman Jean-Phillipe but wholly necessary means for
poor countries to build their
economies. However, USAS
maintains that improvements
rda vigl can and must be made for the
sake of workers.
remember "There's no reason for them
to be unsafe," Wisbaum said.
ViCtim S O "These corporations have
money to make these buildings
injustice. safe."
In many ways, the work
USAS is doing mirrors the work
that was done 100 years ago, in
S understands, however, the United States, to maintain
aking an impact will go worker and building safety dur-
students forgoing their ing the rise of industrialization.
nd-blue T-shirts and When the Triangle Shirtwaist
k hats. In order to pro- Factory burned down in. 1911,
'alpable and hopefully killing 146 workers, new com-
ent results, USAS has missions and labor laws were
11 use the University as created to reform the unsafe
ry leverage. conditions that led to the fire.
revent other disasters, "We're helping them fight
I and IndustriALL glob- the fight that we once fought,"
e unions have created Wisbaum said.
ngladesh Accord on Fire This vigil could be one step
uilding Safety," which for the entire University com-
mandatory standards munity toward becoming more
ker and building safety informed and responsible con-
ent factories. Numerous sumers.
including Abercrombie "People do care once they
and Puma, have pledged know," Wisbaum said.
use factories that follow
Aliciainsiststo Will in
itting the Fan" teaser. She
relieve her own words, but
otional underpinnings that
Upadhyaya is counting down
to 'Hitting the Fan.' To watch with
her, e-mail kaylau@umich.edu.
E V ENT P REV IE W
Lusophone Film Festival to bring
Portuguese cinema to the 'U'
ByKATHLEEN DAVIS
For the Daily
As the sixth-most widely spo-
ken language in the world, just
three places behind English,
Portuguese is
surprisingly Lusophone
underrepre- film Festival
sented at the
University. Screening of
However, Passerby'
things are
starting to Thursday at
change. 7:30 p.m.
The Univer-
sity has been Michigan Theatre
sponsoring Free
the first-ever
Lusophone
Film Festival, an ongoing event
that shows Portuguese language
films for free at both the Michi-
gan Theatre and the University
of Michigan Museum of Art's
Helmut Stern Auditorium.
The festival is spearheaded by
Prof. Fernando Arenas, a recent
addition to the University's fac-
ulty and the creator of the newly
added Portuguese minor.
Arenas's background is based
from the University of Minne-
sota, where he taught for several
years. During his time there, he
developed a full-fledged Portu-
guese program, which he hopes
to bringto the University.
"When I came to Michigan,
one of the primary objectives
was to<
gram a:
tuguese
Part
been th
festival
Ann Ar'
The
ongoing
and wi
films o
weeks.
indepen
various
countri
includir
and Gui
As fo
guage,I
guideli
"The
duction
films a:
and spe
and hist
create a Portuguese pro- featured in prestigious film fes-
s well as promoting Por- tivals such as the Toronto Inter-
language," Arenas said. national Film Festival and the
of the promoting has International Film Festival Rot-
ie formation of the film terdam.
, the first of its kind in Attendance for 'the festival
bor. has been "excellent," as Arenas
festival itself has been put it.
g since mid-September "We've had 70-80 percent
ll be showcasing seven of the venues full, both at the
iver the course of 12 Michigan Theatre and at the
The films come from UMMA Helmut Stern Audito-
adent filmmakers in rium," Arenas said.
Portuguese-speaking Each of the screenings fea-
es all over the world, tures an introduction by a Uni-
ng Brazil, Mozambique versity professor who is highly
inea-Bissau. familiar with the topics present-
r criteria beyond the Ian- ed in the film and a Q&A session
Arenas had some specific that encourages active partici-
nes: pation by the audience.
y're all very recent pro- Year one of Lusophone is only
s," Arenas said. "The the beginning. Arenas hopes the
re also more alternative film festival will be the first of
ak about social, political many events within the univer-
torical issues." sity that promote Portuguese as
a more mainstream language.
In the future, Arenas hopes that
2 em rthe film festival can bring film
2embraces directors and Portuguese schol-
1ro k d ars to campus, and also expand
the schedule to feature short
culture. films and documentaries.
"We're trying to create a
presence of the Portuguese lan-
guage and culture here in Ann
content of the films var- Arbor and southeastern Michi-
features a range of top- gan," Arenas said. "Also to bring
kidnappings, to old age, attention to the vitality of the
al classes. Many of the language and the vitality of its
ave also previously been culture."
A
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