Monday, July 9, 2012
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
C, 1efitciigna Eili
SHARIK BASHIR VIE WPOINT
Strained relations
Monday, July 9, 2012 ARTS
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 1
FILM REVIEW
Too much of the same in 'Rome'
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JACOB AXELRAD
EDITOR IN CHIEF
GIACOMO BOLOGNA
MANAGING EDITOR
ADRIENNE ROBERTS
EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR
Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily'seditorial board.
All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors.
F RO0M T HE D A ILY
A minimal minimum
Congress should support millions of underpaid workers
n Wednesday, U.S. Rep. C.W. Bill Young (R-Fla.) told a young
constituent to "get a job" after he voiced his opinion in support
of a federal bill that would increase the federal minimum wage
to $10 an hour. The constituent responded that he did have a job, one
that pays $8.50 an hour. Young did not seem to understand or care. This
example is just one of many that illuminates the unnecessary partisan
undertones in discussions regarding this issue. An increase in the federal
minimum wage provides an uncommon opportunity for both parties to
come together on a seemingly non-partisan issue, yet this bill is unlikely
to pass in the U.S. House of Representatives. Democrats and Republicans
alike must come together to pass the "Catching Up To 1968 Act of 2012"
in order to support millions of underpaid workers in the U.S.
PAKISTAN -. We Pakistanis
seem to enjoy blaming others for
our problems. In a country crum-
bling under the weight of the
consequences of its own actions,
populist rhetoric continues to
point fingers in various directions.
Distributing blame for Pakistan's
failures on external actors is the
convenient and safe option, but
Pakistan will continue to suffer as
long as we don't learn to confront
our problems, accept them as our
own and try to mend relations
with the rest of the world.
Since I returned to Pakistan,
relations with the United States
have reached their lowest point.
The U.S. is fed up with dealing
with the incumbent Pakistani gov-
ernment. As a result of the Salala
incident - in which a U.S. aircraft
gunned down 24 Pakistani sol-
diers at the Salala check post at
the Pak-Afghan border - the
Pakistani authorities shut down
NATO supply routes to Afghani-
stan, refusing to open the vital
route to Afghanistan without an
apology from Washington. After
months of deadlock, the U.S. has
finally decided to say "sorry" for
the incident. Pakistan has agreed
to contribute to negotiations to
reopen the NATO supply route in
return.
Another case of Pakistani fin-
ger-pointing and misplaced pride
is in the cards. Every politician
in Pakistan knew that closing the
NATO supply route was detrimen-
tal for Pakistan. Because of poor
relations, halted aid payments
and Pakistan's mounting debt, the
U.S. dollar is expected to hit 100
rupees by July, which is torture
to the already-starved Pakistani
economy. To make matters worse,
Pakistan decided to sentence the
doctor who gave intelligence to
the U.S. about Osama bin Laden's
whereabouts. Dr. Shakil Afridi
was tried through a draconian
legal system in Pakistan's mostly
lawless Federally Administered
Tribal Area. Few Pakistanis
accept the credibility of the Jirga
system, so it would be asking too
much of the international commu-
nity to accept the sentence.
The incumbent Pakistan Peo-
ple's Party government needs to
do what is best for the country and
not what is best for its own image.
Restarting negotiations with the
U.S. was necessary, and now the
PPP needs to work on repairing the
resulting damage. But the light at
the end of the tunnel looks dim. As
Washington applies pressure from
the top, Islamabad fails to react as
political disarray has plagued the
capital city. The PPP government
has proven that it isn't concerned
with the well-being of the coun-
try. The first prime minister under
this government was disqualified
because he acted against the order
of the Supreme Court and refused
to send a letter to Swiss authorities
to open corruption cases against
the president of Pakistan for money
laundering. When the time came to
elect a new prime minister, a war-
rant went out against the PPP's
first choice candidate for involve-
ment in a drug scandal while he
was the health minister. The PPP's
second choice candidate and cur-
rent Prime Minister Raja Pervez
Ashraf was once the water and
power minister in a country that
doesn't receive much of those two
utilities. A man who wasn't com-
petent enough to run a ministry is
now expected to hold the reins of a
country stumbling into a domestic
and international crisis.
Of Pakistan's total budget of
2.96 trillion rupees, 926 billion
rupees will be spent on servicing
debt. About a third of the budget
is being spent on simply servic-
ing debt, yet the sum of 926 billion
rupees is hardly a drop in the buck-
et of Pakistan's overall debt. The
PPP needs to get something right.
After relentless warnings from
Washington that its patience was
running low, some progress has
finally been made. It would be best
not to upset our allies and do what
we can to rebuild our relationship
with the U.S. As the PPP struggles
to drag its battered carriage eight
months further across the finish
line, we can only hope they don't
continue to drag the rest of the
country on the ground behind it.
Sharik Bashir is a
LSA sophomore.
No novel concepts in
'To Rome with Love',
doesn't leave a mark
By JACOB AXELRAD
Editor in Chief
There's a scene toward the end
of "To Rome with Love" where
Woody Allen's Jerry lectures
his wife Phyl-
lis (Judy Davis,
"The Break-Up")
to refrain from
assessing his TO RIe
behavior, say- with Lmoe
ing, "Don't psy- At Qu 16
choanalyze me! A ty
Many have tried. andRata
All have failed."
Yet if one were
to analyze him,
he or she might ask Allen why he
feels compelled to crank out a dif-
ferent movie every year. Why he
doesn't simply take a brief hiatus,
play some clarinet and write a
script that reads like a few others
had a hand in it instead of looking
like the first ideas he put to paper.
When we first meet Allen-
as-Jerry on-board a plane from
Rome to New York, clutching the
armrests out of fear, the feeling
is akin to meeting an old friend,
someone you're glad to see regard-
less of the circumstances. He
complains about the turbulence.
He expresses fears of death. He
bickers with his spouse. It's classic
Woody, and the audience's laugh-
ter says it all: This is a character
we enjoy spending time with. But
Allen's onscreen persona is quite
different from the man behind the
camera. And the latter, who's also
the writer, has made a film that,
though at times charming, lacks
cohesiveness.
Set in Rome, Allen's latest film
presents numerous independent
storylines that explore the mys-
tery, glamour and seduction of
the "Eternal City." Jerry, a retired
opera director, and his wife Phyllis
are travelling to meet their daugh-
ter Hayley (Alison Pill, "Scott Pil-
grim vs. the World") and her new
Italian fiancee Michelangelo (Fla-
vio Parenti, "I Am Love") whom
she met while spending the sum-
mer in Italy. As the young lovers'
families get to know one another,
Jerry learns that Michelangelo's
undertaker father Giancarlo (real-
life tenor Fabio Armiliato) is an
amazingly talented opera singer
- except he can only sing in the
shower. In an attempt to emerge
from retirement Jerry persuades
a reluctant Giancarlo to share his
talent with the musical world.
Meanwhile, John, (Alec Bald-
win, "Rock of Ages") a successful
architect on vacation, is reminded
of a conflicted past when he cross-
es paths with Jack (Jesse Eisen-
berg, "The Social Network"), an
architecture student living with
his girlfriend Sally (Greta Ger-
wig, "Arthur") and her seductive
actress friend Monica (Ellen Page,
"Inception"). Other storylines
include Roberto Benigni ("Life is
Beautiful") as a befuddled simple-
ton, who inexplicably steps out
his front door one day only to be
mobbed by the paparazzi as one of
the most famous men in Rome.
The plots don't overlap and the 'I'm in love with...'
time frames for the different nar-
ratives range from a single day to conversations about life and love
several weeks. Of course, these - it's not always a guarantee for
aren't requirements, but they do success. In fact, sometimes it can
make the movie difficult to follow feel like the template takes cen-
at times as we jump from storyline ter stage, as though Allen's more
to storyline, wanting a bit more interested in proving he can still
from each character, but never do his own thing, regardless of
getting enough. whether or not his films actually
The film is best when Allen appeal to anyone.
simply lets the camera rest on his Granted, there will be always
actors for an extended period of be the Woody-philes, those who'll
time, a mise-en-scene reminis- follow the auteur to the ends of
cent of "Manhattan", "Annie Hall" the earth, who claim he can do no
or the more recent "Midnight in wrong. Unfortunately, when you
Paris". Watching Baldwin counsel place a greater emphasis on being
Eisenberg and Page on matters of prolific rather than the quality of
the heart he wishes he'd known as product you're bound to be hit-
a young person is both hilarious and-miss. Some say you need to
and poignant - the kind of dia- examine his body of work and not
logue Allen's always been known judge each film by itself. But mov-
for. ies should stand alone, even those
While the template for a classic that come from an artist as leg-
Allen movie stays consistent - the endary as Allen himself.
jazzy soundtrack, the panoram- Though "To Rome with Love"
it shots of the city, the verbose is still filled with Allen's derisive
SONY
wit, stating maxims such as celeb-
rity is preferable to layperson and
life trumps death, they feel forced,
not like they're emerging from the
story, but rather from the creator
himself.
There's nothing wrong with
profound messages or a script
with parallel parts in its structure.
Except this time around that's
pretty much all there is: a struc-
ture, a skeleton with little sub-
stance to flesh it out. What might
have been a decent movie from
someone else doesn't make the
cut when it's a part of the Woody
Allen cannon. We expect more
from the most recent winner of
the best original screenplay Oscar.
We expect the stuff that makes
us quote the movie to friends for
years to come. Allen's done it
before; if he took some more time
between pictures he could likely
do it again.
In June, House Democrats
proposed to increase the federal
minimum wage to $10 an hour.
It's currently $7.25 an hour. House
Democrats argue that the federal
minimum wage is below inflation.
The minimum wage was highest in
1968 at $1.60 an hour, which today
would be roughly $10 an hour.
Many House Republicans argue
that the market should determine
minimum wage and are therefore
against passing this bill.
At the very least, the federal
minimum wage should keep up
with inflation. While Michigan
is one of a few states in the U.S.
to set its minimum wage higher
than the national minimum wage
- at $7.40 an hour - this is still
too far below what it should be.
Here at the University, 70 percent
of undergraduate and graduate
students receive some form of
financial aid, and many of them
get a job in college to start paying
off their debt. With most of these
jobs paying minimum wage, it
isn't feasible for students to start
paying off their loans when they
might only be making $7.40 an
hour. While an increase to $10
an hour is only keeping up with
inflation, it will make a huge dif-
ference for millions of struggling
students.
According to the Economic
Policy Institute, 30 million Ameri-
canswouldbenefitifthe minimum
wagewasraisedto$10 anhour,and
these potential beneficiaries range
from high school students to the
elderly. It's a huge misconception
that only young people supported
by their parents are making mini-
mum wage. For many people, this
small wage is all they have to sup-
port themselves - and for some,
their entire family. And, with
30 million people making more
money, spending power would be
increased and the economy would
likelybebolstered. This acthasthe
potential to positively affect a sub-
stantial and diverse portion of the
American population.
Increasing the minimum wage
to keep up with inflation shouldn't
be a partisan issue. But unfortu-
nately for millions of Americans,
it is. By raising the minimum
wage to $10 an hour, students
would have the opportunity to
pay off their debts quicker, and
adults would be able to provide
for themselves and their families
with greater ease. Leaders in both
parties have the rare opportunity
to unite on an issue that has the
potential to not only help millions
of people make a more reasonable
amount of money, but also to help
the economy. And telling young
constituents to "get a job" is not
the way to help the situation.
takes too long to reach its conflict,
SAVAGES and once it does, seems not to know
From Page 8 what to do with itself outside of
wantonly blowingup cars and forc-
There is a tired twist to the film, ing the audience into paroxysms of
and the intro-and-outro narrations anxiety.
are grossly unnecessary, even tak- In short, you get what you pay
ing the time to define the titular for, which is true only in my par-
motif, "savagery," an unforgivable ticular case, because I happened to
faux pas. The flow of the movie, forget to bring my wallet to the the-
contrary to Stone's reputation, is ater and had to sneak into the mid-
ambling and unfocused, despite night release. It wasn't crowded,
carrying a mind-numbingly clear, and rightly not. "Savages" did not
objective throughout. The film merit a crowd.
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