The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Arts
Tuesday, November 1, 2016 — 5
WARNER BROS.
Maybe you could conjure up some more Tim Burton movies.
’Tis the season of Halloween,
and besides putting on a pair
of mouse ears or paraphernalia
associated with Ken Bone, Hal-
loween is also the time of year
that horror movies make their
grand reappearance on network
television.
Although the majority of these
movies are available year-round,
there’s always something spe-
cial about the tradition of Hal-
loween horror flicks. Perhaps
it’s the ambiance of the season
that causes our brains to crave
the jump-scare; maybe it’s the
gloomy weather that confines
our entertainment to indoor
activities. Although both of these
options are cause enough to jus-
tify kicking back for a horror
flick with some pals, neither one
accomplishes more than scratch-
ing the surface of why we prefer
Halloween with a side of horror.
In preparation for October
31st, Freeform and Syfy provided
viewers with channel lineups of
popular horror movie flicks under
the brands “13 Nights of Hallow-
een” and “31 Days of Halloween,”
respectively. Where Freeform
(traditionally ABC Family’s “13
Days of Halloween”) tends to err
on the side of the family-friendly
scares, Syfy’s rendition of the Hal-
loween marathon series played
fan favorites like “The Conjur-
ing” and network originals such
as “The Night Before Halloween.”
However, devoted fans of ABC
Family’s original lineup were
disappointed to learn that many
of Tim Burton’s films would be
left out of the lineup this year,
along with the “Halloweentown”
series, which only aired on the
graveyard shift for those of us still
awake and craving that essential
piece of our childhoods.
While the films in the Free-
from lineup are not necessarily
scarier than a film like “Hocus
Pocus,” we seem to miss them
the most out of the set this year.
In fact, one could say Freeform’s
decision not to include the Burton
movies as a crime against Hal-
loween itself, with the creepy and
terrifying nature of the flicks as
the perfect ambiance for a Hal-
loween marathon.
Even for networks that don’t
typically run a Halloween pro-
gram like Syfy and Freeform, the
creepy vibe was in the air. While
FOX aired their rendition of the
1975 fan favorite “Rocky Hor-
ror Picture Show,” MTV put on a
Halloween special as promotional
material for their reimagining of
the “Scream” franchise. With all
of these options to choose from,
the lust for horror was palpable,
only growing stronger as the
date itself approached. And while
those looking for a Halloween
throwback often find themselves
on the Freeform end of the spec-
trum, viewers craving spookier
and generally scarier flicks found
themselves on channels like Syfy
and AMC this Halloween.
Yet, for those who fall on the
scarier side of the spectrum, their
choices will generally lack that
“feel good” quality, opting instead
for edge of the seat suspense and
scare tactics to freak viewers out.
This is a common aspect of the
Burton films, which are in no way
kid-friendly, despite its achieve-
ment in animation. So, if movies
such as these cause us to jump in
our seats and clutch those blan-
kets just a little bit tighter, why
do we like them, and even prefer
them to the softcore horror films
such as “Halloweentown”?
Psychology and evolution has
taught us that fear is essential
— lifesaving, even. The sympa-
thetic nervous system initiates
our “fight or flight” response as
a result of environmental trig-
gers. Everything from a pop quiz
to a bear attack induces a fear
response, which writers and
directors in the horror genre
utilize to their advantage in an
incredibly formulaic production.
As is often the case in this genre,
suspenseful music and camera
angles push our fear response
closer and closer to the edge.
This is often utilized through the
technique of ‘jump scares,’ which
originated in 1976’s “Carrie” and
became a building block for the
horror genre. However, despite
these fear tactics built to give
audiences a mini heart attack,
audiences keep coming back for
more. But why?
The answer is that there really
is no concrete reason for why we
like scary or gory movies. How-
ever, that hasn’t stopped multiple
theories from emerging either in
favor or against horror — while
Aristotle stood by the idea of
catharsis, film scholar Noël Car-
roll believes horror movies are
the product of curiosity and fas-
cination, the latter of which is a
common and agreeable theory.
Take the “Saw” franchise for
instance, which works up your
sympathetic nervous system as
the brutal game of survival plays
out on your screen. During those
films your subconscious may be
playing its own game of surviv-
al, testing your brain in a secret
“what would I do in this situation”
and playing it all out, silently, in
your mind. Only your body regis-
ters these physical changes by the
hammering of your heart and the
quickening of your breath while,
all this time, your brain has been
learning and absorbing informa-
tion along the way. So, if these
scarier, jumpscare, movies are
inducing a sort of learning, take it
as a free pass to binge all of your
favorite horror flicks during Hal-
loween season. You might pick up
a thing or two along the way.
MEGAN MITCHELL
Daily Arts Writer
The foundation of horror and the
tradition of Halloween flicks on TV
TV NOTEBOOK
You know that girl you see
walking around sometimes? She
struts like the entire world is her
red carpet, accessorizing a know-
ing glint in her eye with a smirk.
You either love her or hate her,
but no one can deny that she is
capital-C cool.
Tove Lo’s newest album, Lady
Wood, is that girl. Through syn-
thetic background rhythms and
electric vocals, Lady Wood pres-
ents a contradiction. The glossy
persona that Tove Lo shaped
through computerized harmo-
nies is repeatedly shattered by
moments of honesty and Tove
Lo puts her entire cool girl self
in her vocals, which adds a extra
dimension to the very untouch-
able electronic-pop songs. Lady
Wood builds a story that reveals
both the perfect and the imper-
fect aspects of Tove Lo, tying it
all together with a steady base
and stimulating beat.
This
narrative
commences
with “Fairy Dust
— Chapter I,”
which indeed sets up the album’s
stage. Short, devoid of vocals and
A-
Lady Wood
Tove Lo
Island Records
ISLAND RECORDS
Her real name is Ebba Tove Elsa Nilsson. I wonder why the stage name.
Ultimate cool girl Tove Lo belts out
her best on two-part ‘Lady Wood’
The rising star tells stories and bares her soul on her second album
ALBUM REVIEW
intensely creepy, this song reveals
to all that Tove Lo is not messing
around. Armed with a fluid, shift-
ing cacophony of strange synths
and beats, ‘Fairy Dust — Chapter
I” is a primer for the first half of
the album, creating an passion-
ate and unrestrained base for the
songs of Lady Wood to layer onto.
Songs
like
“Lady
Wood,”
“True Disaster” and “Cool Girl”
are splattered onto the composed
foundation to add more details
to the masterpiece
Tove Lo is con-
structing.
“Lady
Wood” is sparking
with catchy melo-
dies and buzzing
with deeply primi-
tive
rhythms,
while “True Disas-
ter” is more invigorating, with
pulsing beats that create a driv-
ing undercurrent. “Cool Girl” is
swirling with cutting vocals and
sharply shifting tempos. All these
songs serve to further develop
the plot that was set up in “Fairy
Dust—Chapter I.” Ardent and
demanding, they create an image
that is ice cold, faultless and
unblemished; the beginning half
of this album is untouchable.
However, the cracks in Tove
Lo’s perfect persona become
evident in the second half of
Lady Wood, which is introduced
through the song “Fire Fade —
Chapter II.” Much like “Chapter
I,” “Fire Fade — Chapter II” is
brief and mysterious, with murky
rhythms swimming out through
the gloom. But while “Chap-
ter I” was fervent and dynamic,
this song is subdued and vul-
nerable; crisp edges are blurred
while “where are you…? I’m lost”
echoes over a foggy background.
“Fire Fade — Chapter II” marks
a shift: if the first half of Lady
Wood was Tove Lo building
impermeable walls up, then the
second half of Lady Wood is Tove
Lo breaking those
walls down.
This
openness
appears in songs
like
“Imaginary
Friend,” “Flashes”
and “WTF Love
Is.” While these
songs are still elec-
trifying and showcase Tove Lo’s
iconic electronic-pop sound, the
background harmonies are more
muted, allowing the spotlight
to focus on Tove Lo’s impact-
ing vocals, rich in sincerity and
depth. Lines like “reminding me
that there’s nothing to fear in the
things I’m afraid of” from “Imag-
inary Friend” or “people come, I
push them away” from “Flashes”
allow these songs to be forthcom-
ing in describing secretive fears
and weaknesses. The second part
of Lady Wood feels like the hid-
den uncertainties whispered in
the dead of night, pieces of you
that are too fragile for the light of
day to see.
Lady Wood is expertly divided
into two parts: the first part is
dedicated to building a seamless
“cool girl” façade while the sec-
ond part is dedicated to revealing
the humane cracks and faults in
what appeared to be so unattain-
able. Tove Lo’s intricate narra-
tion is what makes the album so
compelling and what saves the
album from falling into repeti-
tiveness.
While individual songs are an
elaborate assortment of detailed
synchronizations and tempos,
many of them fit a template that
Tove Lo has perfected: muted
stanzas building up to explosive
choruses against a fluid, almost
psychedelic
backdrop.
While
Tove Lo can fall into a habit of
overusing this template, what
stops the overall album from
straying into monotonous ter-
ritory is the constant narrative
aspect.
Tove Lo is a storyteller in Lady
Wood and the tale she tells is
personable because of the way it
divulges previously hidden flaws.
Its power comes from the idea it
proposes: inner imperfections
don’t make you incomplete but
rather do the opposite. They are
something of which to be proud.
Besides, “cool girl” is still a nor-
mal girl, and, as Tove Lo demon-
strates through Lady Wood, one
that hides that same uncertain-
ties and shortcomings as every-
body else.
SHIMA SADAGHIYANI
Daily Arts Writer
All it takes is one photo to
initiate social change; that and
years of defiant work to produce
this
moment.
A
well
composed
photo can encap-
sulate the pain and
struggles of thou-
sands and tell their
story in one frame.
Although it seems
like it, these photos
aren’t anomalies or
instances of being
at the right place
at the right time.
On April 19, 1969,
a photo of several
black Cornell stu-
dents holding guns and wearing
bandoleers on the steps of Wil-
lard Straight Hall surfaced the
cover of Newsweek and other
publications. The picture marks
a moment in which persecuted
black students armed them-
selves and stayed in the hall in
fear for their lives after a series
of threatening and damaging
events that night. Regardless of
its initial misunderstanding, the
story behind this picture exposed
racism in higher education and
remains a crucial moment in the
late ’60s civil rights movement.
“Agents of Change” retells
the events leading up to this pic-
ture at both Cornell University
and San Francisco State Univer-
sity (SFSU). It includes current
interviews with the actual pro-
testers ¾ who all appear to look
far younger than they likely are
¾ that retell the events how
they actually happened. Danny
Glover (“Lethal Weapon”) is the
only celebrity included, and his
screen time is balanced with oth-
ers less famous though equally
regarded in their respective field.
Each interviewee is poised and
so proud of their efforts, and it is
inspiring to see.
The San Francisco State Uni-
versity
and
Cornell
protests
were among the most potent of
the civil rights movement of the
’60s.
Black
stu-
dents spoke out
against
unequal
opportunity
in
higher
education
and
a
Eurocen-
tric
curriculum
that
neglected
minority
groups.
Unfortunately,
equal representa-
tion in many col-
leges,
including
The University of
Michigan, is still a
critical issue today.
“Agents of Change” informs
and inspires to replicate such tre-
mendous efforts as those seen at
SFSU and Cornell. The connec-
tion with these movements and
those today, however, is unclear.
It doesn’t ever reference changes
that could be made today, so it
is up to the viewer to make this
connection between the past
and present. As clear as it is that
these issues still exist today, some
viewers might lack the intuition
to make a connection. It is not
necessarily a mistake, but not
bluntly stating a connection to
today’s social climate prevents
the documentary from explor-
ing the issues more deeply. The
goals of “Agents of Change” are
unclear; is it simply informative,
or a reminder of what change can
be done today?
The documentary is extreme-
ly focused to the extent that,
essentially, all of the content is
about the SFSU and Cornell pro-
tests during the ’60s. Its narrow
focus is its best and worst qual-
ity. Viewers will learn a lot about
these protests while sacrificing
other knowledge about its vari-
ous contemporary protests. By
doing so, it tackles almost every
aspect of the two protests; it is
impossible to get a more detailed
summation than what is provid-
ed in “Agents of Change.” Sadly,
viewers looking for entertain-
ment along with education may
get a little distracted at times.
The documentary doesn’t reflect
the zeitgeist of the late ’60s. Rath-
er, it tells a story of human will
and the power to create change
rather than recap the overall
feeling of the time period. Those
looking for a more holistic retell-
ing should seek out a less focused
documentary.
“Agents of Change” is stylis-
tically subtle. It tells its narra-
tive through interviews and not
flashy graphics or pseudo-artis-
tic montages. Its soundtrack is
diverse and rich, including tracks
like Jimi Hendrix’s version of
“All Along the Watchtower” and
Michael Jackson’s “They Don’t
Care About Us.”
In the early ’70s, efforts to
increase black student enroll-
ment at the University of Michi-
gan were made in order to reflect
the population of African Ameri-
cans in the state (10%). Today,
the University fails to even graze
such numbers. With only a 4%
black student population at the
school, it is far from reflecting
the 14% population in the state.
Certainly, the repeal of affirma-
tive action and intransigent poli-
cymakers stand in the way. The
efforts seen within “Agents of
Change” should act as a remind-
er that progress is always, not
only a possibility, but a probabil-
ity when passionate, motivated
people come together for a move-
ment greater than oneself.
“Agents of Change” is being
screened by the Department for
Afroamerican and African Studies
from 4-6 at Haven Hall on Novem-
ber 3rd.
SOCIAL ACTION MEDIA
“Agents of Change” screens at Haven Hall Thursday at 4 p.m.
WILL STEWART
Daily Arts Writer
Documentary focuses on ’60s civil rights protests at Cornell and SFSU
‘Agents of Change’ is an
apt portrait of activism
FILM REVIEW
B
“Agents of Change”
Social Action
Media
Playing at Haven
Hall
Nov. 3 at 4 p.m.