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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

