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ACROSS
1 Is blessed with,
as talent
4 Creator of Finn
and Sawyer
9 Leave rolling in
the aisles
13 That, in Spain
14 “Olde” store
15 Ring over an
angel
16 Crustacean
catcher
18 Out of town
19 Intent
20 OB/GYN
procedure
21 Hiding spot for a
cheater’s ace
22 Put off bedtime
25 Weapon in Clue
27 Brewery product
30 “Defending our
rights” org.
33 Electrified atoms
34 Scans for injured
athletes, briefly
35 __ Mawr College
36 Piece of pizza
37 To-do list entry
38 Worse-than-
one’s-bite quality
39 Online TV giant
40 Since, in a
holiday song
41 Fifi’s friend
42 Slip for a tardy
student
45 Like the Arctic,
compared to
most of the
planet
47 Two-base hit
51 Debate issue
53 Illness
characterized by
a red rash
54 Soon, to a bard
55 Decorator’s wall
prettifier
58 Subtle look
59 Lion groups
60 Former AT&T rival
61 Former fast
planes
62 Unemotional
63 Bladed
gardening tool

DOWN
1 Makes a
difference
2 “I won’t tell __!”

3 Buffalo hockey
player
4 Title venue for
Hemingway’s old
man
5 Sported
6 Kindle download
7 Wall St. debut
8 Volleyball barrier
9 SeaWorld star
10 Backyard bash
11 Jai __
12 String-around-
your-finger toy
14 Cooking
appliance
17 Explore caves
20 Sailor’s word of
obedience
22 Information that
ruins the ending
23 Costner/Russo
golf film
24 Basilica recess
26 Water down
28 Bank claim
29 Salinger’s “With
Love and
Squalor” girl
30 Palindromic pop
group
31 Study all night
32 Keats or Byron,
e.g.

34 Pageant title with
51 contestants
(the 50 states
plus D.C.)
36 Roe source
42 Partners’ legal
entity: Abbr.
43 Madison Ave.
bigwig
44 Most TV “operas”
46 Sounds from sties
48 “Mutiny on the
Bounty” captain

49 Slow movement
50 Perfumer
Lauder
51 Four-note lights-
out tune
52 Singles
53 Prefix with care
55 Collectors’
albums ... and a
hint to six puzzle
answers
56 Gallery collection
57 Chihuahua uncle

By Brock Wilson
©2016 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
09/12/16

09/12/16

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

RELEASE DATE– Monday, September 12, 2016

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle

Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

xwordeditor@aol.com

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HELP WANTED

FOR RENT

By BEN ROSENSTOCK

Daily TV Columnist

In many ways, TV has an

advantage over other forms of
storytelling when it comes to real-
ism. There’s something artificial
about fitting a neat, well-defined
character arc into a 90-minute
movie, even in the best of them.
TV, though, allows storytellers to
take their time and show gradual
character development over the
course of many hours.

But there are certain things

that even TV can’t show, things so
mundane or trivial that they just
don’t make for good TV. There’s
one glaring absence from TV in
particular that sticks out to me,
an abstract one: the constancy of
emotion.

There was a week or so this

past June when I felt like shit. It
was a weird funk I was in, one
that I can’t boil down to one spe-
cific thing. I was a bit jaded still
about not having gotten a summer
internship, and I wasn’t working
as many hours as I wished I was,
so I felt a little lonely and direc-
tionless, like I was waiting for the
fall to start for my life to resume.
Aside from that, I’d thrown up
that week at a party and had
a pretty debilitating hangover
the next day or two. So for a few
days, I felt bad physically and bad
mentally, like time was moving so
slowly and I was stagnating.

And it kind of occurred to me

that that’s something movies, TV
and even books rarely depict: sus-
tained sadness, anxiety or loneli-
ness. I guess showing the same
character feeling the same emo-
tion for a long, drawn-out period
of time naturally doesn’t make for
good storytelling. It’s not enter-
taining, and after a while it just
gets tedious and boring to watch
the same character being sad, or
angry, or whatever. It even makes
them unlikable. If we see a char-
acter never smiling, we’re less
inclined to like them, even if they
have good reasons for it.

I think that TV ignores emo-

tional constancy for another big
reason, though: it’s easy to ignore
in real life, too. In life, it’s easy to
completely gloss over these long
periods of time. In real life, some-
body might say “For a few years
I was really depressed,” and we

comprehend what they mean, but
we don’t truly get a sense for how
constant and terrible that crush-
ing feeling of darkness must be.
I’ve never experienced clinical
depression, so that doesn’t quite
apply to me, but I know that it’s
something more constant and
relentless than I can conceive of.
It’s just hard for us to comprehend
feeling the same steady darkness
for interminable lengths of time.

In the past few years, TV has

begun to tackle depression —
often an inherently constant,
unchanging experience — in new
ways, finding a way to make it
work narratively. “BoJack Horse-
man,” “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” and
“You’re the Worst” are all comedy
series that have avoided becom-
ing stagnant by showing how
their protagonists’ mental illness
impacts their relationships with
others, and how they make strides
to reach out and get the help they
need.

Yet few series depict the often

mundane, boring reality of feel-
ing like shit, whether it’s rooted
in biological or human causes. No
mainstream, accessible TV show
depicts long periods of sobbing in
grief, or sitting and staring out a
window for hours at a time, won-
dering where it all went wrong.
Shows that do dwell on the same
internal conflicts over and over
tend to disappoint; the first half
of this season of “Mr. Robot,” for
example, has repeatedly shown
Elliot (Rami Malek, “Short Term
12”) struggling to accept the spec-
ter of his dead father (Christian
Slater, “Heathers”) in his life.
While it may be realistic to see
him resisting so persistently, it
makes for redundant viewing.

This doesn’t only apply to nega-

tive emotions, though. It can also
apply to emotions like love. Think
about all the great will-they-
won’t-they relationships on TV
and how many characters were
caught up in years of unrequited
love, years desiring another per-
son and seeing them begin rela-
tionships with other people.

What about Jim (John Krasin-

ski) from “The Office?” Remem-
ber the night when Pam (Jenna
Fischer) kissed Jim at Chili’s?
From what I recall, the only reac-
tion we really see is a surprised
smile from Jim. But can you

imagine, realistically, how much
Jim must’ve been freaking out
about that? I bet he went home
that night and just smiled in his
bed for hours and barely got any
sleep because he couldn’t stop
running it over in his head, try-
ing to remember what exactly it
felt like and trying to interpret
what exactly it meant. It probably
haunted him for weeks after!

And Jesus, how did Jim get

through the entirety of Season
3 still being in love with Pam?
Maybe Karen (Rashida Jones)
distracted him a little, but I’m
sure he still had so many inter-
nal conflicts, so many moments
where he thought about how
Pam was honestly a lot better
than Karen, moments where
he lay next to Karen in bed and
felt guilty. I understand why
“The Office” didn’t depict these
moments; among many reasons,
it’s an ensemble show, and not a
show that can dip directly into
one character’s head to show us
his internal demons. But realisti-
cally, within the context of the
story, I bet a lot of them were
there.

To be fair, I know that I’m

more annoyingly self-reflective
than a lot of people. But I think
almost everyone must have some
moments where their thoughts
are entirely consumed by one
thing, whether that’s romantic
obsession, or anxiety about some
upcoming event, or grief. Every-
one has moments when they can’t
stop thinking about something,
no matter how much they try
to distract themselves. And the
truth is, stories rarely depict that.

In the end, this may be an

unsolvable
problem.
Narra-

tive, which is usually defined by
change of some sort, may be dia-
metrically opposed to sustained
depiction of any one emotion. To
make being sad into an exciting,
dynamic conflict, by showing one
person grieving in a multitude of
different ways, is to betray the
reality of it. In reality, the truth
is that being sad is usually bor-
ing and redundant. And nobody
wants to watch boring TV.

Rosenstock is being a Sad Boy.

To ask for his favorite Frank Ocean

track, email bdrosen@umich.edu.

TV COLUMN

What TV leaves out

Half-hearted
biopic leans on
impersonations

By REBECCA LERNER

Daily Film Editor

In
our
largely
nostalgia-

fueled culture, supporters of
President Barack Obama are
feeling melan-
choly about his
departure from
office.
Many,

after
seeing

the sorry state
of the current
election cycle,
have
resorted

to siding with
neither
Hill-

ary nor Trump,
but rather Obama. Facebook and
Twitter newsfeeds are inun-
dated with posts and clickbait
articles about the way the people
will miss him after January 2017.
Obama himself seems more than
aware of his increased popularity
— he walked up to the podium at
the last White House Correspon-
dents’ Dinner to Anna Kendrick’s
“Cups (When I’m Gone).”

“Southside with You” is the

latest product of this anticipatory
nostalgia. The directorial debut
of Richard Tanne, the film fol-
lows Barack Obama (Parker Saw-
yers, “Zero Dark Thirty”) and
Michelle Robinson (Tika Sumpt-

er, “Get On Up”) on a semi-fic-
tionalized account of their first
date. Michelle is his advisor at
the Chicago law firm where he’s
working as a summer associate.
She thinks it’s inappropriate for
them to be romantic, but he’s
trying to convince her to pri-
oritize their feelings over office
politics. During one of Sumpt-
er’s most compelling scenes,
she explains that she first has to
prove herself as a woman, and
then must start again to prove
herself as a Black woman.

Despite her reservations, they

spend the entire day together,
walking around art museums
and going to a community cen-
ter to see Barack in action, end-
ing the night with a viewing
of Spike Lee’s “Do the Right
Thing.” Unlike the film that it’s
often been compared to (“Before
Sunrise”), the pacing of the film
drags, forcing us to comfort
ourselves with the fact that we
know the very happy ending.
“Southside With You” has less
of an actual plot and more of
the makings of a political com-
mercial. In all fairness, the aim-
less wandering does feel slightly
reminiscent of “Before Sunrise,”
if the audience had walked into
the Linklater film with eight
years of preconceived notions
about the plot and main charac-
ters.

The acting of the film is not

so much acting as it is imper-

sonation. Sawyers captures the
essence of the President, down
to his self-assured stutters and
compulsive smoking to calm
himself down. But while his
stylistic acting remains more
subtle, with only a few pure
Obama-isms, Sumpter’s impres-
sion of Michelle Obama’s speech
patterns is jarring and extreme.
If you close your eyes, it’s like
listening to Michelle Obama
practice her enunciation; if you
keep them open, it’s like watch-
ing a stale and tedious “SNL”
sketch.

While we watch them go

through
the
perfectly
lit,

picturesque day, it is impossible
to forget that they are characters
playing real people we know,
that this is a movie. Tanne is
overly cautious, not pushing into
unknown territory or exploring
new emotional ground. He stays
safely at a kind and almost boring
portrayal of two people falling
in love. It’s too comfortable, shot
on location with beautiful shots
of Chicago overlaid with dreamy
music. The film is so soothing
that it lends itself to being good
white noise if you happen to
drift off in the theater. There’s
also the contentment that comes
with knowing how everything is
going to work out — they may be
driving broken down cars and
living with their parents now,
but we know this story ends in
the White House.

‘Southside’ is a
cinematic snooze

C-

Southside
With You

Get Lifted
Film Company

State Theater

GET LIFTED

When she tells you she hasn’t seen the “Before” trilogy.

‘Things’ laughs at
parental mundanity

By SHIR AVINADAV

Daily Arts Writer

We open on a young girl cry-

ing. She tugs at the arm of her
mother,
whose
indifference

clearly perturbs
the
woman

sitting on the
bench next to
them. The wail-
ing goes on, its
grating
sound

irritating,
yet

compelling. In
these few short
moments, “Bet-
ter
Things”

wordlessly
establishes the
unique narrative language it
uses to tell the story of Sam Fox
(show co-creator Pamela Adlon,
“Louie”), a single mother of three
trudging through the frustra-
tions of everyday life.

Sam turns to the disapprov-

ing woman and bluntly asks,
“Do you want to buy her the
earrings?” revealing the reason
for her daughter’s incessant cry-
ing. In the simplest and tersest
way possible, Sam asserts her
confidence in her parenting — a
quality that defines her charac-
ter and foregrounds the premise
of the series. This teaser speaks
volumes about the kind of char-
acter we can expect Sam to be
and the kind of series we can
look forward to, without actually
expressing much verbally.

Though a half-hour comedy,

FX’s new series, co-created by
Adlon and Louis C.K. (“Louie”),
dips its toe into drama territory

— delivering its honest comedy
(a particular brand of C.K.’s and
Adlon’s) with the same nuance
that presents itself in real-life,
everyday challenges. This cross-
ing of genres feels both natural
and instinctively relatable —
requiring minimal exposition
in the delivery of both narrative
content and comedy.

The scene following the epi-

sode’s
teaser
illustrates
the

succinct and often speechless
manner in which information is
delivered to us. In the shopping
mall bathroom with her previ-
ously crying daughter, Duke
(Olivia Edward, “Unbreakable
Kimmy Schmidt”), Sam receives
a phone call from a man whose
identity is revealed to us only
through her exasperated moan
and a hesitant “Hi, Richard,” then
a cut to shot of him sitting in his
office. A series of awkward vocal-
ized pauses ensues before Sam
curtly says “I’ll see you in school
things,” putting an end to the
painful conversation. The cam-
era cuts back to a tightly framed
two shot of Sam and Duke, evok-
ing their close relationship. Sam’s
honesty when Duke asks who
was on the other end of the line
and Duke’s knowing “Ew, eww!”
in response echoes this closeness.
With little spoken, this sequence
conveys a network of meanings
that provide a window into both
the plot and theme of the episode
as it gradually unfolds.

Adlon skillfully delivers a sub-

tle range of emotions that convey
the complexity of Sam’s relation-
ships with her daughters, her
struggles as a single mother and

her vulnerability within her per-
sonal and love life. The artful pre-
cision with which the episode is
cut and the often vague dialogue
gives us just enough informa-
tion to satisfyingly arrive at our
own conclusions about the plot.
And while dramatic in tone, the
witty dialogue and physical com-
edy tactfully provide moments of
relief when the burden of Sam’s
exasperation become too much
to bear.

A scene in which Sam shops

for school supplies with her
daughter Max (Mikey Madi-
son, “Bound for Greatness”) is
characterized by Sam’s irrita-
tion with being unable to find
graph paper while Max, the ste-
reotypical teenager, dejectedly
plods ahead through the aisle. At
one point, unable to contain her
frustration, Sam yells out into
the store “Does anybody work
here?”, an extended gesture of
her own isolation. Just when her
frustration reaches a climactic
point, she receives a comically
unexpected response from a
store employee over the loud-
speaker, and her anger dissipates.
It’s a moment that feels hilarious-
ly relatable, reflecting the trivial
annoyances that culminate in a
catharsis of anger and frustra-
tion before subsiding.

“Better Things” is emotional

without being mawkish, hilari-
ously self-deprecating without
being slapstick and likely to be
one of the best new shows this
fall. Adlon demonstrates her
skill as the much deserved lead
of the show with an undoubtedly
thrilling evolution to come.

A-

Better
Things

Series Pre-
miere

Thursdays
at 10:30

FX

TV REVIEW

FILM REVIEW