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Arts
Wednesday, February 15, 2017 — 5A
‘Fifty Shades Darker’ is
disturbing and unsexy
Newest installment of book adaptation fails to arouse excitement
There’s a scene somewhere
between the sixth and ninth
hour of “Fifty Shades Darker”
where a guy pushes Ana
(Dakota Johnson, “How to Be
Single”) against
the wall, corners
her, refuses to
let her leave and
begs her to have
sex
with
him.
Ana kicks him
in
the
crotch,
runs
out
and
everyone
in
the
audience
cheers. Two scenes later, the
exact same thing happens only
it’s with Christian Grey (Jamie
Dornan, “The 9th Life of Louis
Drax”) instead of a random
dude. Except this time, she
doesn’t violently injure him,
she just goes along with it and
we’re all super happy because
he loves her, I guess?
We know all this already,
though, don’t we? We know
how messed up and abusive
this relationship is and how
much it sucks that Hollywood
and the world glorifies it.
And yet, despite going in
knowing how coercive and
manipulative Christian Grey
is, “Fifty Shades Darker” is
still deeply upsetting.
The film picks up several
weeks after the first one
ended. The couple has been
separated for a while because
the
last
time
they
were
together, Christian beat Ana
with a belt and she promptly
ran away. But it’s OK now
because he’s changed, you see,
and he’ll totally never do it
again. So Ana happily reunites
with Christian, whose favorite
ways of showing his affection
are by telling her what to wear,
eat, who to speak to, what to
do, how to think, and of course,
by
forbidding
(forbidding!)
her from going on important
work trips. But it’s OK, see,
because he loves
her and buys her
beautiful dresses
and they have
lots of sex.
There’s
a
subplot
where
one
of
Christian’s
old
sex partners stalks him and
violently threatens Ana, and
the way he subdues her — the
sheer power he has over her —
is maybe the creepiest thing
about the movie. It leaves one
thinking that this movie would
maybe work better as a deeply
disturbed
psychological
thriller, only it still wouldn’t
be very good. This subplot is
resolved in the first half of
the movie, but it’s hard to say
exactly what happens to fill the
remaining hour, because the
movie thuds gracelessly from
scene to scene. After about
20 minutes, the characters
fall into a horribly depressing
routine: get dressed up, go to
a fancy party, have sex, fight,
have sex, sort of talk about the
cause of the fight but not really
because there’s another party
to get to. As you’d imagine,
this gets old really fast, and,
as a result, a two-hour movie
feels like it’s 60 years long.
Even the parts that are
supposed to be decent are
miserable. The first “Fifty
Shades” movie’s soundtrack
received a lot of attention
and acclaim, but its sequel’s
selection
of
pop
songs
isn’t nearly as strong. The
soundtrack does the movie
a
disservice
because
it
makes the “plot” even more
predictable. Happy scenes of
Christian and Ana having sex
go with pop songs, sad scenes
go with forgettable scored
music. It makes the whole
enterprise feel even more rote
and familiar than it already
did.
The one saving grace is
Dakota Johnson. Most of the
cast seems like they really,
really don’t want to be there,
but Johnson, bless her heart,
really does try. She has a
subtle sense of comic timing
that helps make her character
far more likeable than she was
in the first film, and gives her
that much more agency. With
Johnson’s help, the movie is
actually kind of funny, but
the kind of funny that sort of
makes you wonder how the
hell you ended up here and
why bad things happen to
good people.
Leaving the theater after
seeing “Fifty Shades Darker”
has the viewer feeling like
a
slightly
worse
person
than they were before. It’s
not so much that it’s an
incompetently made movie, it’s
more that, for a movie that’s
marketed to women as a sexy
night of excitement, it’s such a
bummer. The issue I take with
it isn’t just that it’s offensive
(and it is deeply offensive),
it’s that it’s boring. And for a
movie that’s supposed to be
all about provocation, I can’t
imagine anything worse.
UNIVERSAL PICTURES
ASIF BECHER
Daily Arts Wrtier
Romanticizing party culture
Partying is something that will
always be intrinsic to the college
experience. For college students,
a party represents an opportunity
to be independent, and more
importantly, it’s an excuse to be
young, wild and free (yes, I am
quoting
that
Wiz
Khalifa & Snoop Dogg
song). But while we
should embrace certain
aspects of a fun college
party, we shouldn’t be
ignoring the potential
red flags that idealize
the
college
party
experience.
With
the
widespread
growth
of social media and
advancement
in
technology, big party colleges
have incorporated the “go hard or
go home” mentality, prompting
competition with other schools to
throw large, crazy parties and have
them go viral in some way. One
of the most pervasive purveyors
of this kind of unruly partying
comes from “I’m Shmacked,” an
online
entertainment
platform
that has capitalized on the college
party scene through entertaining,
albeit provocative and problematic
videos.
Created by Arya Toufanian
and Jeffrie Ray, “I’m Shmacked”
implemented itself as the premier
platform
for
showcasing
the
“reality” of college parties when it
debuted its first video in 2011, taken
at a Temple University party. After
their online presence proliferated,
video crews from “I’m Shmacked”
continued to visit universities all
around the United States, where
they would record the wildest of
parties, usually held at fraternities,
and edit them into highly stylized,
five-minute clips, synced to a
blaring, frenetic EDM soundtrack.
Now with 130,000+ likes on
Facebook, 449,000 followers on
Instagram and 37,000 subscribers
on YouTube, “I’m Shmacked”
has
become
a
nationwide
phenomenon. In order to expand
its online empire, “I’m Shmacked”
has developed subaccounts for
different universities across the
country, everything from Indiana
University to USC to even here
at the University of Michigan. In
addition to parties, they promote
everything
from
college
fall
festivals to spring break trips to
sorority recruitment. Toufanian
and Ray have also monetized the
“I’m Shmacked” brand
by
booking
venues
near college campuses
and
throwing
insane
parties.
“I’m
Shmacked”
has
its
own merchandise and
it even spawned a few
imitator
platforms,
including the similarly
popular TotalFratMove
and the unabashedly
explicit Old Row. In
2014, it was reportedly
valued at $5 million.
What
I
find
particularly
dangerous about this platform is
not just how it normalizes binge
drinking and objectifies college
girls, but how it romanticizes party
culture. “I’m Shmacked” frames
the culture of college parties as a
free-for-fall extravaganza, filled
with
gorgeous
girls,
toxically
masculine guys and a whole lot of
alcohol.
Some might argue that one of
“I’m Shmacked” ’s more beneficial
quality is its ability to show
prospective students what college
parties are like, which can help
them determine what school’s
party scene suits them the most
(note: “A new way to scout colleges”
is written in their Instagram bio).
However, I would counter that by
saying that it promotes a negative,
misleading and distorted portrait
of college party life. A prospective
student might watch an “I’m
Shmacked” video and think these
are what college parties are like —
a place to shotgun beers, chugging
Four Lokos, watch girls twerk on
each other and do stupid shit with
no consequences.
In particular, “I’m Shmacked”
profits off distributing amateur
videos sent by college students of
people binge drinking and heavy
drinking. However, these videos,
which are littered on the platform’s
Instagram account, neglect to
showcase just how dangerous
binge drinking can be. According
to a 2015 article from the National
Institute on Alcohol Abuse and
Alcoholism, 37.9 percent of college
students
ages
18–22
reported
binge drinking in the past month
compared with 32.6 percent of
other persons of the same age.
Researchers also estimate that
each year 1,825 college students
between the ages of 18 and 24 die
from alcohol-related unintentional
injuries, including motor-vehicle
crashes. “I’m Shmacked” may not
be directly responsible for these
deaths, but they are complicit in
perpetuating and glorifying binge
drinking as normal and celebratory
rather than fatal.
As for objectifying women,
“I’m Shmacked” uses college girls,
most of whom are white, blonde
and scantily clad, to promote their
merchandise, spring break events
and generally for entertainment.
This is nothing new, of course.
Objectifying women and binge
drinking have been portrayed
in several films and TV shows
about college, such as “Blue
Mountain State,” “Animal House,”
“American Pie,” “Road Trip” and
“Old School.” But the important
distinction to make here is that
because our generation has become
so
acclimated
to
consuming
information and content from
social media, “I’m Shmacked” has
taken advantage of the virality
of social media by reinforcing
the stereotypes of college parties
through the pictures and videos
they post.
Most people in our generation
grew up obsessing over this idea
that you have to throw the biggest,
craziest and largest party in order
to have fun. Parties can be fun,
and they should be. People should
feel like they can drink without
having the compulsion to black
out. Women should be able to dress
in whatever they want at parties
without being perceived through
the male gaze of Instagram. If the
kind of partying in “I’m Shmacked”
videos is the “ideal” fun for college
students, then maybe there should
another platform that portrays
college parties — and college life,
for that matter — more accurately.
SAM
ROSENBERG
SOCIAL MEDIA COLUMN
FILM REVIEW
“Fifty Shades
Darker”
Rave Cinemas
Universal Pictures
COURTESY OF I’M SHMACKED
NYFW REVIEW
Taoray stained by Trump
Apparently, Tiffany Trump
was there.
When I arrived at the venue
for fashion designer Taoray
Wang’s Fall Winter 2017 show,
I knew her work was a favorite
of Ms. Trump’s. Heck, I’d
even seen photos of her front
row at the previous season’s
production. But when I took
my seat on Saturday morning,
I felt entirely certain that the
President’s daughter would not
be making her first public debut
since the Inauguration at such
an openly liberal function. Few
paparazzi were stationed in
the venue. The usual huddled
pockets of celebrity onlookers
were nowhere to be found. No
Trumps today, I assumed, and
yet Tiffany remained the only
thing on my mind.
As I watched models parade
down the runway, all I could
think about was whether she
would wear that pantsuit, how
she felt about jewel-tones, if
that slit was too high for the
President’s
daughter.
Once
we hit the oversized tweed
pieces, I pictured the grown
woman’s father barring her
from wearing something so
“unflattering.”
I
imagined
Donald Trump tweeting a photo
of the risque lace tops captioned
“Sad!” Though I would gladly
wear nearly every look from
the show’s second half, my
brain instinctively eyed every
outfit from a “build the wall”
perspective.
Wang’s
color
choice
was
nearly
flawless,
her
craftsmanship
precise.
Even
her fabric choices, from a
remarkably fine velvet to a
crumpled
tweed,
appeared
innovative.
Unfortunately,
my Trump-infested thoughts
prevented me from viewing her
collection in all of its strong-
meets-sexy-woman glory.
I would love to go back to
that day, to view that show
through the eyes of someone
who is not scared for the fate of
their country. Tiffany Trump’s
choice of dress may not be the
difference between war and
peace, but the world to which
she belongs is cruel enough
to dull even the brightest of
sparkles. Tiffany, I would have
loved it if your dad wasn’t the
President.
TESS GARCIA
Senior Arts Editor
COMMUNITY CULTURE REVIEW
Curtis’s A2 homecoming
Ann
Arbor
native
and
saxophonist
Caleb
Curtis
brought a welcoming party to the
Kerrytown Concert House this
past Sunday. Returning this time
to perform with pianist Marta
Sanchez, the duo was embraced
by the Ann Arbor community.
As I sat waiting for the
performance
to
begin,
talk
over the latest changes to the
local middle school and general
catching-up
filled
the
room.
Socializing
was
a
primary
aspect to the atmosphere where
everyone seemed to know each
other. Largely community-based,
the crowd was limited to an older
generation, setting up a stark
contrast to many jazz concerts I
have attended here in Ann Arbor.
The feeling of community
contributed
to
the
intimate
setting of the Kerrytown Concert
House. A hybrid of a living room
and art gallery, there are two
main seating sections that stretch
the lengths of two rooms. The
piano and performance space are
set on a platform in the center
room with both seating sections
facing the stage. As stated by
Curtis, the venue provides a very
“special experience” with “a lot
of space for people to hear the
instruments.”
While there may be a significant
amount of audience space, I found
that the two different rooms
provided vastly different listening
experiences.
Initially,
I
sat
directly facing Marta Sanchez on
the piano and Curtis playing from
the front. The sound was direct
and the two were in balance, as
though perfectly set to volumes
in a recording. From the other
room, the sound of the saxophone
was much more striking. The
complexities of Curtis’s sound
came out from this vantage point
while the piano melted into the
background creating an entirely
new
landscape.
Hearing
the
complexities added to the live
aspect of performance and created
a more provoking experience.
The Sanchez and Curtis duo
concert was incredibly well put
together. Playing from a range
of jazz standards and original
compositions of each of the
musicians, the pieces kept a
certain
level
of
engagement
from the audience. As musicians,
their performance had unity
and a deliberateness to each
phrase. Despite being free of
mistakes
and
an
effortless
performance, I craved more: more
communication
between
the
artists and more engagement with
the audience. The performance
felt too planned at times, which
took away from the live aspect I
am so drawn to. In such a familiar
setting, I would have hoped for
more risks and taking advantage
of the space to have fun.
On stage, Curtis referred to the
homecoming as a “relief from the
stress of New York.” This came
through in the performance;
Curtis seemed to be taking a deep
breath and focusing solely on
playing. It was a familial affair as
the crowd cheered on Curtis, and
the duo took a step back from the
pressures of the New York music
scene.
As a musician, I realized that
the technical and musical aspects
alone are not enough to create
an extraordinary performance
— it is authenticity that drives
excitement into a performance.
When an audience can witness
risks being taken and become a
part of the performer’s musical
exploration, a profound power
surfaces.
The
perfection
of
technique and rhythm are not
enough; it is the uniqueness
and individuality of a musician
that creates an enduring and
compelling performance.
ISABEL FRYE
For the Daily