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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