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Thursday, August 11, 2016
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
ARTS

TV NOTEBOOK

Stirling provides 
electrifying set

By MEGAN MITCHELL

Daily Arts Writer

As the lights shutter in the 

cramped Michigan Theater on 
July 30, the roaring chatter of 
the audience shifts into a hushed 
silence, a product of anticipation 
and the promise of a performance 
to remember.

One of the things that struck 

me as I took my seat on the main 
floor was the diversity of Stir-
ling’s fan base. To our right, teen-
agers; behind us, a family; two 
rows ahead, an elderly couple. 
From the front row, frat boys 
threw up their hands in the air to 
the rhythm of the music as fami-
lies whispered to their children, 
all there for one purpose and one 
alone: to watch Lindsey Stirling 
perform live. Don’t get me wrong, 
there are many musical groups 
that draw a diverse fan base. 
However, it’s what composes 
Stirling’s music that entices fans 
of all ages. Mixing her training 
in classical violin and her enthu-
siasm for electronica, Stirling 
mixes the melody of a symphonic 
performance with the ambiance 
of a rock concert. Let me be the 
first (of many) to say that she 
does, indeed, rock.

Lindsey Stirling first came to 

the American spotlight during 
the fifth season of “America’s Got 
Talent,” coupling an electronic 
violin with a mix of ballet and 
hip-hop dance moves. What made 
Lindsey Stirling so popular at 
the time was her ability to carry 
out both a self-composed violin 
number while dancing at speeds 
incomparable 
to 
musicians 

before her. As a composer, classi-
cally trained violinist and dancer, 
Stirling captures the attention of 
her viewers with cinematograph-
ic videos that keep her viewers 
coming back for more. Yet, for all 
of her talent, Stirling was voted 
off of “America’s Got Talent” in 
the quarterfinals — a decision 
that she credits the success of her 
career. Rather than give up on 
her dreams, Stirling worked her 
way to YouTube stardom, where 
her videos have continuously 
drawn millions of viewers over 
the past few years. Evident from 
her sensational performances, 

Lindsey Stirling shows passion 
and pleasure in her work, both on 
and off the stage.

From the shadows, the silhou-

ette of a violinist appears against 
pulsing and colorful lights. As 
things became clearer, the vio-
linist appears in a blue sequined 
tutu and a pair of Chuck Taylors. 
This is not a classical concert — 
this is Lindsey Stirling. After a 
nine-month break from live per-
formances, Stirling comes back 
to the stage without missing a 
beat. From the first notes of the 
90-minute 
concert, 
Stirling’s 

music is powerfully addictive. 
Hitting every note flawlessly, she 
gracefully navigates the stage 
in solid movements that match 
those of her backup dancers. How 
she manages to play a violin and 
keep her erratic pace is beyond 
me, but it’s mesmerizing.

As 
the 
show 
progressed 

through visual effects and dance 
numbers alike, the crowd never 
lost its beat with Stirling, who 
kept us pacified through breaks 
by stories of love, loss and laugh-
ter. The audience roared with 
mirth when Stirling revealed her 
two attempts at Disney princess 
stardom, only to be offered the 
role of Winnie the Pooh instead, 
and her comeback as a musician 
for the upcoming Disney film 
“Pete’s Dragon.” Solemn crowd 
members held up heart-shaped 
hands as she gave a grief-stricken 
speech about loss and the hope 
that lies ahead, valiantly cheering 
her on as she threw herself into 
the performance of “Something 
Wild,” the most popular song 
on her upcoming album Brave 
Enough. Finishing her perfor-
mance with “Roundtable Rival,” 
a duel of fast fingers between 
a violin and electric guitar, we 
jumped to our feet to cheer Lind-
sey on. Hardly believing that it 
was over, Stirling jumped back 
onto the stage for an encore per-
formance of her “Phantom of the 
Opera” melody, as fans swayed to 
the soft tunes of “Think of Me” 
and jammed out to her rendi-
tion of “Angel of Music,” staying 
on their feet. Even after Stirling 
and her accompanying musicians 
took their leave from the stage, 
the applause continued.

‘BoJack Horseman’: a 
feminist saving grace

Netflix series provides 
insightful commentary 

on abortion

By REBECCA LERNER

Daily Film Editor

WARNING: Literally all of the 

spoilers for BoJack Horseman 
Seasons 1-3.

The world of “BoJack Horse-

man” is a world of absurdity. 
While we follow the eponymous 
anti-hero — a washed up, alco-
holic, anthropomorphized horse 
— we’re expected to see humor 
in the hopelessly dismal. I’ve 
laughed as I bore witness to the 
cartoon’s 
depressive 
nihilism 

and selfish drug-induced bend-
ers. But, considering the current 
political climate, I didn’t think 
there was a situation absurd 
enough to make me laugh about 
abortion.

The sixth episode of the third 

season of “BoJack Horseman” 
proved me wrong. The fifth epi-
sode ends with the show’s mar-
ried interspecies couple, the 
human Diane (Alison Brie, “How 
to Be Single”) and canine Mr. 
Peanutbutter (Paul F. Tompkins, 
“Bajillion Dollar Propertie$”), 
finding out Diane is pregnant. 
The last episode cuts Diane off at 
“Mother…” allowing her to start 
this one with “Fucker!” After 
tiptoeing around the issue, the 
couple states their desired plan 
of action at the same time — to 
have an abortion. 

I was skeptical here. When a 

character on TV wants to get an 
abortion at the start of an epi-
sode, by the end, there’s often 
been some change of heart or a 
timely miscarriage. (I’m look-
ing at you, “The Carrie Diaries,” 
“Girls” and “Dawson’s Creek.”) 
But Diane never wavers in her 
decision, and Mr. Peanutbutter 
never falters in his support of 
her.

Considering the subject mat-

ter, the humor in the episode 
surprisingly comes at the audi-
ence from all angles. Diane, 
who manages the social media 
accounts of a myriad of celebri-
ties, accidentally tweets out “I’m 
getting an abortion” to the 40 

million followers of pop starlet 
dolphin, Sextina Aquafina (Dan-
iele Gaither, “MADtv”). There’s 
quick backlash to this from the 
media, with MSNBSea news 
anchor 
Tom 
Jumbo-Grumbo 

(Keith Olbermann, “Countdown 
with Keith Olbermann”) asking 
questions like, “Is Twitter an 
appropriate forum to be discuss-
ing a sensitive issue like abor-
tion? Wouldn’t a better forum 
be… nowhere?” Sextina arrives at 
Princess Caroline’s (Amy Sedar-
is, “Ghost Team”) talent agency, 
ready to fire Diane for this mis-
take. But the three women soon 
realize Sextina’s fake abortion 
has led to her trending like crazy, 
with celebrities like Taylor Swift 
and Nicki Minaj tweeting their 
support. 
Diane 
explains 
the 

response, that “most women who 
go through this never talk about 
it, because it’s so stigmatized. 
The fact that you’re coming out 
like this is huge.” And it would 
be, if Sextina truly was pregnant. 
But with the promise of publicity, 
Sextina decides to fake her preg-
nancy and subsequent abortion.

Sextina accompanies Diane 

and Mr. Peanutbutter to their 
visit at Planned Parrothood, 
walking past the outraged pro-
testers out front with signs say-
ing “Would you abort JESUS?” 
and “Babies are fun!” Satiriz-
ing guilt-inducing laws so com-
mon in states today, Diane is 
required to watch 20 hours of 
puppy videos before proceeding 
and the doctor informs her that, 
“by law, I have to tell you that at 
one month your puppies have a 
favorite color, and that color may 
be blue.” 

What 
Sextina 
takes 
from 

watching Diane jump over legal 
hurdles to make a decision about 
her family and body is the man-
datory shame that accompanies 
abortion. 
These 
procedures 

so obviously have no medical 
importance and exist only to per-
petuate the stigma of abortion. 
Sextina rejects this legal guilt, 
turning it on its head with her 
new single, “Get That Fetus/Kill 
That Fetus,” and announces that 
she will be having her abortion 
on live TV. The dubstep dolphin 
prodigy sings of how baby kill-

ing makes her horny while kick-
ing baby rattles across the floor 
during her slow-motion strut. It 
also doesn’t hurt that the song is 
a veritable banger. 

In response to Sextina’s battle 

cry, MSNBSea gathers together 
“a diverse panel of white men in 
bowties,” commenting so pow-
erfully on the depressing reality 
of who actually makes decisions 
about women’s bodies in this 
country. The scene hilariously 
exemplifies the puerile direction 
abortion debates often take, as 
people without empathy or expe-
rience in the matter make deci-
sions for others. 

Diane stands by, horrified as 

Princess Caroline and Sextina 
plan the staged “live” abortion 
they’ll show on TV. (Eddie Red-
mayne is planned to be booked as 
the fetus.) She continues the dis-
cussion with Mr. Peanutbutter as 
they walk into Planned Parrot-
hood, the posters behind them 
illustrating all the other services 
the organization offers besides 
abortion, which makes up only 
three percent of the important 
work the real Planned Parent-
hood does. Diane, who has begun 
a plot to expose Sextina as not-
pregnant 
fraud, 
immediately 

stops when she meets a teenage 
girl who felt stronger coming 
in for the procedure because of 
Sextina’s music. The slouched 
teen tells Diane, “getting an 
abortion is scary. With all the 
protesters out front, and how 
you have to listen to the heart-
beat and all that. And when you 
can joke about it, it makes it less 
scary, you know.” 

This 
statement 
from 
an 

unknown character is the crux 
of the episode. In a few short 
sentences, this teenager comes 
to represent the thousands of 
women that seek abortions every 
year. We don’t get her back story 
or details on why she’s getting 
an abortion, because she doesn’t 
owe us anything. But by putting 
a spotlight on this storyline, the 
writers of “BoJack Horseman” 
explain and humanize the stakes 
of this issue — one that allows for 
the bodies of women to continu-
ally be called to the stage of suf-
fering and shame.

CONCERT REVIEW

