8 — Friday, April 10, 2015
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
UMix is right idea,
wrong place for
controversial film
By JAMIE BIRCOLL
Senior Arts Editor
I honestly never thought
there would be cause to write
about “American Sniper” again.
I never thought discussions of
rape on campus and serious
allegations against the Univer-
sity for failure to adequately
help victims of rape and sex-
ual assault would be not only
supplanted,
but
completely
drowned out by movies. Mov-
ies, in the grand scheme of
things, are not important — use-
ful, helpful, but not important.
Human health and well-being
are important. But the people
have spoken.
This Friday at UMix, you
have the option of seeing one
of two films: “American Snip-
er” and “Paddington.” One of
these films is entirely appropri-
ate for UMix Late Night, one is
not. UMix is about inclusivity,
fun, social gathering where you
don’t worry about the political
and social implications of, well,
anything — these are all things
that “American Sniper” does
not promote. It doesn’t belong
at some alternative to Friday
night shenanigans; it’s a serious
film with serious repercussions
and truly disturbing content. It
shouldn’t have been shown in
the first place.
But it will be, so it’s only fair
we discuss it.
The decision to pull the
showing of the film was a wise
one. As stated above, it doesn’t
belong
at
UMix.
However,
having seen the film and having
commented on it extensively
already (and having discussed
it with multiple people with
multiple
viewpoints),
I
understand the argument for
showing the film.
I admit “American Sniper”
is a one-sided portrayal of
one
white
American
male
who’s tasked with the job of
killing Muslim people, who
are presented in an incredibly
one-sided fashion, but that is
not the point of the film, and
it isn’t a verbatim recreation
of the words Chris Kyle wrote
in his book. This is a complex
character with multiple motives
and values. It’s a character
study, not an overt attempt to
promote American pride or
violence. So stop associating
“proud to be an American”
with
“American
Sniper,”
stop putting this character
on a pedestal. Chris Kyle as
portrayed in “American Sniper”
is
a
disturbed,
conflicted
individual. The viewer needs to
separate the book and the film:
these are two different media,
from two different writers,
with two different goals and
two different results.
But even if appeals to the
artistic intent of the work
fall on deaf ears, perhaps
a
call
for
reason
reaches
you. Disagreement does not
permit censorship. If you are
uncomfortable with the film,
then do not see it. Your dislike
of some media should not
permit others from partaking,
and your opinion about that
media does not supersede those
of others; you are not infallible,
yours is not the only opinion on
this campus.
If you are truly unsettled
by “American Sniper,” then
you need to open a dialogue.
In fact, the University should
open a dialogue by hosting a
speaker, following the film,
to discuss at length both sides
of the argument (somewhere
other than UMix). That is how
we exchange ideas; that is how
we
achieve
understanding.
Sweeping the film under the
rug and pretending it never
happened accomplishes nothing
and, in a way, proves a little
cowardly. How do you expect to
actually foster discussion and
understanding if you only wish
to shut down the conversation
before it even begins?
Whatever your thoughts on
“American Sniper,” it’s impor-
tant to recognize that film and
art are meant to foster debate
and ideas, not to succumb to
your individual, preconceived
notions of right and wrong.
Director Michael Haneke said,
“The ideal film scene should
force the spectator to look away
… if you want to talk about a
problematic topic, the film itself
should do it justice.”
That we continue to have
this debate proves that Clint
Eastwood did at least some-
thing right in crafting his film.
We can spout all this rhetoric
about sensitivity or free speech
or tolerance, but neither side
can rightfully claim to represent
those tenets without shutting up
and listening to what the other
has to say. And in fact, the major-
ity, even more than the minority,
has an obligation to do so.
This is one of the best and
brightest campuses in America
— it’s about time we, the
students, the administration,
the teachers, all of us, start
acting like it.
Open dialogue on
‘Sniper’ needed
WARNER BROS
“I’ve got the talking bear in my sights.”
VICTORIOUS VOICES
UnCommonly righteous.
By AMELIA ZAK
Daily Music Editor
A generalization, by definition,
is a sweeping statement or
concept obtained by inference
from specific cases. It is a word
that refers to the process of using
several personal anecdotes, or the
collected experiences of others, to
create an overarching statement
or idea. The music industry holds
a number of these abstractions.
There’s the notion that rock
music is dead, or that Spotify and
Pandora are killing the industry,
or that traditional record stores
have virtually disappeared; the
list is fundamentally endless.
Enshrouded
within
these
generalizations, however, is a
kernel of truth.
Next Friday, April 17 at Hill
Auditorium,
when
Antwaun
Stanley and Brendan Asante and
his musical collective Video 7
take the stage to open for R&B
and hip-hop legend Common, a
few more generalizations will
be left tarnished — perhaps
even destroyed. In fact, Stan-
ley and Asante, in tandem with
Common’s
inevitably
moving
performance, will trump mul-
tiple routine assumptions of our
apparently ill-fated music indus-
try. At a fair price and with the
most genuine of intentions, their
opening set won’t orbit around
preconceived notions regarding
stardom, money or overinflated
levels of hype. These more mate-
rial elements are pertinent for
heavy
hip-hop
performances.
But not this concert nor it’s open-
ing set; this performance is set
to transcend the classic form.
Bouncing off the acoustically
unequaled walls of Hill Auditori-
um, the music of these University
of Michigan graduates will create
a musical mural of hip hop, trap
jazz and Motown, all with the
intention of actualizing an envi-
ronment of emotion, energy and
inspiration with their audience.
Stanley’s early introduction
and successes in the music
industry are almost prodigal.
Born
and
raised
in
Flint,
Michigan, it was at the age of
three
that
Stanley’s
mother
noticed his impeccable capacity
to carry and create a tune.
“The story goes that I was in
the kitchen with my mom, sitting
at a little kids table with its per-
fectly yellow chairs, and while
she was cooking she was hum-
ming ‘Amazing Grace.’ She slowly
stopped and noticed me sitting
there and that all the while she
was singing, I had started to hum
along and create my own version
of the song.”
From then on it was only a mere
matter of time before the word of
this incident and Stanley’s irre-
futable skill was disseminated
through the local neighborhoods
and community. The infatua-
tion for the young Stanley and
his incredible skill moved from
local to larger followings. Sony
and Dreamworks signed Stanley
before he eventually transferred
to a Michigan record label.
“I had a wonderful manage-
ment team and eventually, so
many years later, I was led to an
independent label titled Bajada
Records in Detroit,” Stanley
humbly explained.
With Bajada Records, Stanley
released his first independent
gospel project, I Can Do Any-
thing, for which he was nomi-
nated as “Best New Artist” and
“Best Music Video” in the 2008
Stellar Awards, gospel music’s
highest honor. Simultaneous to
those successes, Stanley was a
student here at the University
pursuing a degree in Sociology
and Music. His scholarly under-
takings remained imperative, but
Stanley’s artistry never strayed
from his collegiate mural. Groove
Spoon was a college funk band
that Stanley and other musically-
inclined students formed during
their time. The group experi-
enced great levels of appreciation
and success across campus, from
house parties to the coveted slot
as openers to President Barack
Obama’s 2012 commencement
speech. After college, Stanley’s
talent threaded itself into numer-
ous other musical endeavors,
expanding to contemporary funk
and soul bands like Ann Street
Soul and Vulfpeck.
“I’m interested in anything
that feeds your soul. And that
could be jazz, that could be
hip hop or that could be gospel
music,” Stanley elaborated. “I
find myself stepping back and
saying, ‘What kind of creativity
do I have today?’ and that could
mean anything. Maybe that’ll
mean I’ll try a little jazz or a little
pop or country. However it comes
out. It’s good to broaden your
mind because, when you do, you
are able to collaborate with folks
who have a completely different
background musically. And that
could at times have you produc-
ing something that would have
maybe never come to life.”
Once the inspiration is found,
Stanley flourishes. By entering
every musical experience and
performance as an excavator
of inspiration, the structure of
genres and the music industry as
a whole is belittled, and maybe
even diminished. This ability to
instantly broaden his talents in
the name of creativity has manu-
factured a musical chameleon
with a particular zest for live per-
formances.
“Any time I go to a live show
I leave with something — a
piece of you is taken. You leave
uplifted or empowered or ready
to make a change. With live per-
formances, and this one in par-
ticular, we’re creating a theme
of trying to see things in a bet-
ter light – I think that is this
concert and it’s mindset, all still
under the umbrella of hip hop,”
he said.
The music and voices of
the opening performance will
surely do just that. Entering
with their own genres and
creations, next Friday’s stage is
set to be ensconced with various
musicians,
instruments,
and
even one beloved Robert Hurst
when Stanley and Brendan
Asante’s Detroit based musical
collective, Video 7 envelope the
auditorium.
Brendan Asante, an Auburn
Hills native of Ghanian descent,
is a more recent graduate of the
University who aided in the
creation of the Video 7 collec-
tive here on campus over the
past two years. Operating under
the axiom ‘we don’t see genre,
we just hear sound,’ Video 7 and
Asante don’t want their artistry
to just be seen or heard, they
want it to be felt. Under numer-
ous artistic mediums like film,
music and even app design, the
collective has begun to expand
into a collaborative force of
musicians focusing on the feel-
ings associated with the experi-
ence of receiving music.
It’s easy to argue that this
goal, the desire to make their
music noticed and effective, is
a high stakes mission. They’re
asking for more than just placid
consumption, they are looking
to make an individual feel some-
thing, whatever that may be.
That is a difficult task, surely,
but when a group incorporates a
harp surrounded by synthesiz-
ers in their live performances,
instilling and inciting emotion
doesn’t appear as burdensome.
“Whether it be music, film,
app design, whatever, we’re
trying to be innovative and
turning all of it into an overall
experience,” explained Asante.
“Instead of being just automati-
cally processed because ‘soci-
ety’ can already make you like
that. Video 7 is doing things
that, well we are just trying to
rewire the brain patterns a bit
and soak up just as much as we
can because it all feels new.”
Stanley and Video 7’s perfor-
mance can’t be categorized or
predicted. Drawing on influenc-
es from the music anthologies of
J Dilla, Detroit’s Motown music
and modern hip hop, the set
will be defined by the audience.
They’ll bounce from the presen-
tation of classics and modern
pieces, then into a more experi-
ential set where, upon the audi-
ence’s request, any song, sample
or beat that the onstage band
presents can be instantly trans-
formed with Video 7’s beats,
their pre-recorded tracks, or by
the very musicians onstage.
“J Dilla was an expert at
inserting a groove into what-
ever he did. Whether it was his
beats or his music, the groove
was always infectious and got
your head knocking. In this
same form we’re going to be
using the foundation of all the
original beats but then tak-
ing those classics and pulling
the rug out from under them,”
Asante said.
Generalizations derail and
distract. They are powerful, so
potent, in fact, that they can
misinform any ductile audience.
But buried within each, embed-
ded in some nook or cranny of
the idea, lies some semblance of
truth. There’s the issue of the
ever-powerful genre, for exam-
ple, and our society’s desire to
categorize and define all music.
Or the notion that most, if not
all, live music performances
need a certain level of hype or
stardom in order to be truly
effective. Surely both are true
in some concert landscapes.
But next weekend a jack-of-all-
trades talent who bypasses the
structure of the genre to find
the inspiration, Stanley, is set
to collaborate with an amalga-
mation of artistry focused on
innovation within the musical
experience,
Brendan
Asante
and his Video 7 music collec-
tive. Before hip-hop legend
Common engulfs Hill Audito-
rium on April 17, one of gospel
music’s chameleon talents and
Asante’s assemblage of millen-
nial talents will crawl through
and melodiously destroy the
generalizations.
Common’s openers
break musical molds
FILM NOTEBOOK
MUSIC INTERVIEW