2B - Thursday, November 20, 2014
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
2B - Thursday, November 20, 2014 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom
STYLECOLUMN
The problem
with plus-sized'
NETFLIX PIX
Daily Arts Writers dig through recent Netflix releases to
find the movies worth revisiting or discovering.
couple of weeks ago,
the internet was in
a fury - as it usually
is - about Calvin Klein's newest
model, Myla Dalbesio. In the "Per-
fectly Fit"
campaign,
Dalbesio
poses as
Calvin Klein
underwear
models typi-
cally do: in
her under- ERIKA
wear. It HARWOOD
wasn't until
her inter-
view with Elle magazine where
they described the size-10 model
as "plus-sized" that everyone on
the Internet came out in hordes,
wielding their fiery fingertips
against their keyboards.
More recently, size-16 model
Candice Huffine has been added
to the roster of women included
in the 2015 Pirelli calendar. For
the unfamiliar, the Pirelli calen-
dar is highly exclusive, not only in
its distribution, but for its choice
of photographers and models. In
short: it's a big fucking deal to be
a part of it.
I'm notcgoing to pretend that I
have something groundbreaking
to add to the narrative of "plus-
sized" models in the fashion
industry. A lot, maybe too much,
has already been said on the
topic. By doing a simple Google
search of the women or compa-
nies above, views on the matter
are ubiquitous and very, very
loud.
The debate over the term
"plus-sized" has been around
longer than I've been interested
in fashion. Issues like who can
be defined as plus-sized and
whether or not the term should
even be accepted into the indus-
try's vocabulary are constantly
part of the dialogue. New pseudo-
scandals regarding the size of
female models pop up a few times
each year. They're too skinny,
they're too fat, they're not thin
enough to be high fashion, they're
not big enough to be plus-sized.
It's the constant discussion that
will never go away, but dear godI
wish it would.
This column is in no way an
attempt to make some poignant
statement about the topic of
weight in fashion, and believe me,
I'd be the last person interested
in readingthe thoughts of a self-
righteous undergrad on basically
anything. Sadly, I pretty much am
a self-righteous undergrad and I
have a few grievances to air.
Body image is a nuanced con-
cept that we're constantly trying
to generalize; models must be
skinny, athletes mustbe bulky,
Renee Zellweger's face must
always look like Renee Zellwe-
ger's face circa 2003. Unfortu-
nately (and maybe this is my
inner-cranky grandma speak-
ing), we live in a time of height-
ened self-importance, where
every thought is entertained
with a "like" or a "favorite" and
dignified with additional com-
ments of support or fervent dis-
approval.
Calvin Klein never described
Myla Dalbesio as a plus-sized
model, and they shouldn't have.
The more we see different kinds
of women in magazines, on bill-
boards, walking down runways
with no qualifiers, the faster it
will become "normal." Elle made
a mistake by labeling Myla "plus-
sized," and not just because a
size 10 isn't actually "plus-sized"
- but because they shouldn't
have been labeling her in the
first place. But even after they
took down the tweet with the
erroneous adjective, people were
still fueling the hell-storm with
tweets, think-pieces and other
fluffy bullshit that was shouting
very loudly but saying close to
nothing.
Chrissy Teigen, another
model who is no stranger to
conversations about weight
responded to the controversy by
saying"I saw the photo, (Myla)
looked beautiful - who cares?"
and added that "the Internet is
full of fake outrage."
Fake outrage that hinders the
progress to the issue at hand.
Dwelling on mistakes and con-
tinuing to point fingers isn't
going to make fashion a more
accepting place. Applauding and
supporting brands that strive
for change, take risks and find
beauty beyond the conventional
will.
Fashion is constantly evolv-
ing and changing its perceptions
of beauty. There were the '70s
bombshells with teased, bleach
blonde hair, the All-American
girls of the '80s and of course,
the waify heroin chic models
of the '90s. As the concepts
of beauty continue to be chal-
lenged - as they should - fash-
ion will hopefully continue to
become a more inclusive space.
In an interview with
"The Today Show," Dalbesio
expressed her excitement about
being in the Calvin Klein cam-
paign, saying she was "right
alongside all of the other girls
of varying shapes andsizes, and
(Calvin Klein) didn't make a fuss
about it."
And neither should we.
Harwood is self-righteous
toa fault. To set her straight,
e-mail erikacat@umich.edu.
.4
MIRKAMAXl
"Kill Bill" "The Fall"
BBC
When I was 10 years old - yes, 10 years old - I
convinced my parents to let me rent "Kill Bill Vol-
ume 1." I didn't know who Quentin Tarantino was,
but I had an unshakable feeling I was going to like
this movie. 11 years later, as I write this against a
"Kill Bill" computer background (on a "Kill Bill"
sticker-clad computer), I guess you can sayI liked it
a lot. And earlier this year, much to my exuberance,
Netflix has finally added both titles to its streaming
repertoire - the whole gory story. "Kill Bill" details
The Bride's (Uma Thurman, "Batman & Robin")
roaring rampage of revenge across its sprawling
four hour running time. The first volume - a no-
holds-barred action epic - juxtaposes the quieter
second volume - a cathartic, satisfying western-
tinged climax. Tarantino might always be remem-
bered for his genius 1994 directorial debut "Pulp
Fiction," or for his Academy Award-winning follow-
ups "Inglorious Basterds" and "Django Unchained,"
but it's "Kill Bill" that will always hold the primary
cinematic piece of my heart. And what could be bet-
ter than this cool, energetic, stylistic masterpiece
just a few clicks away?
Jamie Dornan is soon to be a household name, if
he's not known, already. The Irish-accented, dark-
scruffed, suit-and-tied star of the film adaptation of
"Fifty Shades of Grey," which comes out Feb. 13, is
about to reach sex symbol status. So you are going
to know him. But not for the right reasons. Unbe-
knownst to most, Dornan also starred in the barely-
seen 2013 BBC series "The Fall," alongside "The
X-Files" star Gillian Anderson. The six episode first
season follows Anderson as a hard-edged English
investigator on the case of an Irish serial killer, whose
chosen prey areyoung professional women.Inatwist
on the whodunnit trope, the first scene of the show
reveals Dornan as Paul Spector, the killer, stalking
and then attacking a young woman in her home. It's
a chilling scene that speaks to the greater themes
in "The Fall" - the show is not interested in who is
performing the murders, but developing the psychol-
ogy behind Paul. Surprisingly eloquent and detailed,
"The Fall" goes beyond classic law and order serials
to develop a cast of flawed, potent characters. It's
Dornan at his best, regardless of how sexy of a Chris-
tian Grey he maybe come February.
One dream.
Four Jasaicans.
Twenty below zero.
4
Inspired by the Tre Story of the First
Jamaican Olympic BobsledtTeam.
Yuja Wang
PIANO
Leonidas Kavakos
VIOLIN
Sunday, November 23, 4 PM
Hill Auditorium
"This was an outstanding evening:
bliss from start to finish."
(The Guardian)
PROGRAM
Brahms Sonata No. 2 in A Major, Op. 100
Schumann Sonata No. 2 in d minor, Op. 121
Ravel Sonata No. 1(Posthumous)
Respighi Sonata in b minor
SPONSORED BY
MEDIA PARTNERS
WGTE 91.3 FM & WRCJ 90.9 FM
Photo by Benjamin Ealovega, courtesy of Decca Classics
fit 4 s PikctUR Sepnemse
W-IMPM M UNN N s
DISNEY
"Cool Runnings"
As far as early to mid-'90s films go, "Cool Run-
nings" is royalty ("Heavyweights" is king, of course,
but Netflix has yet to get the memo). Very loosely
based on the 1988 Jamaican bobsled team, the film
follows a group of young men from Jamaica as they
train for the Winter Olympics with none other than
Irv Blitzer (John Candy, "Uncle Buck") at the helm. If
you're wondering if this movie still holds up compared
to the last time you watched it, presumably in 1994, it
does. And Doug E. Doug gives the performance of a
lifetime. Accordingto Wikipedia, "Cool Runnings" is
also the last John Candy film to be released while he
was alive, cementing its place among cinema's best.
The last time I watched it, I drank three to four Bud
Light Limes, sat on my bed under my electric blanket
and had the time of mylife.
"Californication"
Like I do for most shows, I started watching
"Californication" after it had already finished.
I was perusing Netflix one day, and I saw
the image of Hank Moody with a cigarette
dangling from his mouth. I cued up the
first episode, and before I knew it, I was
12 episodes in. I'll be the first to admit it:
"Californication" isn't a perfect show. It can be 9
infantile, repetitive, casually misogynist and
homophobic, and the last season sucks. But it's
such a gleefully wrong show. Sex, drugs and
rock 'n' roll, condensed into half-hour episodes
that always manage to have a conscience in the
end. Seriously - a successful writer struggles
to keep it in his pants, and not drink himself to
death. It's every college kid's dream!
Eums
BE PRESENT
Free Bert's Tickets
50% Off Student Tickets
Details: ums.org/students
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