6A — Monday, September 25, 2017
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
COMMUNITY CULTURE PREVIEW
Value the Voice: toward
inclusivity on our campus
A new series based around the art of storytelling is coming
to UMMA starting this Tuesday. The theme? ‘Transitions’
“Imagine a ‘TED talk’ that
doesn’t sound scripted and
isn’t lecture-style, but is more
so just me telling you a story
about how I didn’t have a spoon
to stir my Kool-Aid, and I woke
everybody
up
on
Saturday
morning in the residence halls
trying to find a spoon to stir
my Kool-Aid and the valuable
lessons that I learned from
that.”
As
described
by
Comprehensive
Studies
Program
(CSP)
Academic
Advisor
Keith
Jason,
who
spearheaded the event, “Value
the Voice” is just that: A
storyteller’s lounge.
“It’s
the
person’s
story,
so we’re asking them to tell
real
stories,”
Jason
said.
“Not
myths
or legends or
anything
like
that. But, [to]
communicate
their
own
experiences
in
their
own
authentic voice
and share their
experiences
so that other
people
can
learn
from
those.”
Making
its debut this
Tuesday
at
the
UMMA,
the event will
have
four
installments
(in September,
November,
January
and
March).
The
theme of this
first
one
is
“Transitions.”
A new city, a new school
year, a new challenge — the
evening will focus on all of the
transition-related experiences
and sentiments that matter to
its storytellers.
The event will include about
seven stories, five of which
will be told by students. The
other two will be by Dr. Harold
Waters, director of CSP, and
Elizabeth James, the Program
Associate in Afro-American
and African Studies. Coined as
“voices of wisdom,” they’ll be
there to share moments of their
lives that may speak to the
social and political landscapes
both
within
and
beyond
the
University
community.
“It’s sad, but it’s
reality that these
kinds
of
tough
times
are
not
new,” Jason said.
“I
don’t
think
our culture that’s
40
and
under
does the best job
of reaching out
to
those
folks
who’ve
lived
through it in their
time and how they
overcame those challenges.”
Elizabeth
James,
a
Daily
Arts
alum
and
incredible
force
of
compassion,
shared with the
Daily what she
hopes
to
come
from
being
a
“voice of wisdom”
for the night.
“I
can
remember certain
great
moments
in
my
classes,
but most of all,
I
remember
the things that
happened outside
of class,” James
said. “[It] means
all the world to
me if I can help
anybody or help
their way be a
little easier. I feel
like what I went
through is worth
it, because it’s not
something
that
I’ve left and just
held in my heart.”
A
third-generation
storyteller, James grew up
understanding the power of
sharing.
Her
grandmother
was a traditional healer down
in New Orleans, Louisiana,
using stories to calm the
patients that came to see her.
Her mother, also an alum, told
stories through her night-time
radio show in Detroit.
“Somewhere between the
two, I think I fall. And I’m
really happy, because I feel like
I’m a bridge between all three
of the generations. That’s very
meaningful for me because
I feel like I’m
carrying
their
approval
and
carrying it on,”
she said.
Passing
down
tradition,
surveying
the
present,
informing
the
future — “Value
the
Voice”
is
a
safe
space
for
people
to
examine
themselves
and
experience
belonging in a
University setting that can
sometimes be isolating.
“It’s so important, because
I feel as though the sense of
community is being shattered,”
James said. “We need to return
to that idea of what community
means and feels like… Just
knowing that you have every
right to be here, and that your
voice matters; that’s what I
think my key intent is with this
program. That’s why we called
it ‘Value the Voice.’”
“You know, we’ve got two
different things going on — the
climate of the country and the
climate of the earth — all of
these things are coming at us,
and it’s very easy to lose track
of who we are and that we’re
better together and stronger
together… If we want to be,
I think, our highest level of
humankind, I really think that
means you have to be able to
share,” James said. “Share your
toys, share your stories, share.
You get more back when you
share than you ever imagined
you could.”
The world is a better place
because people like Elizabeth
James and Keith Jason do what
they do. “Value the Voice” will
challenge you and love you like
only the best nights can. Go
in with an open heart, and let
yourself explore the inclusivity
and healing that comes from
simply sharing. It’ll be worth
it.
ARYA GUPTA
Daily Arts Writer
ROADSIDE PRODUCTIONS
‘Stronger’ explores the story of Jeff Bauman
‘Stronger’ appropriately
complicates Boston Strong
David Gordan Green’s recent film starring Jake Gyllenhaal
tells the story of a Boston marathon runner who lost his legs
“Stronger” is the real-life
story of Jeff Bauman, a native
Bostonian who lost his legs
in the 2013 Boston Marathon
bombing and became a symbol
of hope for the city in the
trying time following. In this
captivating and intensely sad
film, director David Gordon
Green (“Our Brand Is Crisis”)
seamlessly explores Bauman’s
deep internal struggle and
his
relationships
with
his
family
and
his
girlfriend,
while also emphasizing the
collective grief felt by the
city of Boston. With deeply
moving
performances
by
Jake Gyllenhaal (“Okja”) and
Tatiana
Maslany
(“Orphan
Black”),
“Stronger”
moves
slowly and powerfully. The
film portrays love, adversity
and the human condition in
a wholly genuine and heart-
wrenching
story
centered
around two people’s devotion
to each other.
Bauman’s
story
is
masterfully
expressed
by
Gyllenhaal, an actor who has
proven time and again his
incredible range and depth
of
emotion.
While
critical
discourse questions the ability
and
morality
of
an
able-
bodied actor playing a disabled
character,
Gyllenhaal’s
eloquent performance rewards
the casting of a deeply interior
actor rather than focusing
on the ability of the actor’s
body. As Bauman, Gyllenhaal
communicates
the
physical
trials of even the most mundane
things
after
his
double
amputation,
such
as
going
to the bathroom and getting
out of bed. His physicality
as an actor is unbelievable;
Gyllenhaal moves his body in a
way that works to eliminate the
distinction between his actual
body and the one he portrays on
screen. While this discrepancy
is understandably problematic,
it is emotional and convincing
nonetheless. Gyllenhaal also
portrays Bauman’s emotional
turmoil,
his
surface-level
reliance on humor in response
to his condition in contention
with a deeper interrogation of
himself as a man.
The film not only centers
around
Bauman’s
personal
struggle following the Boston
Marathon bombing, but also
on
his
relationship
with
his
girlfriend
Erin
Hurley
(Maslany).
Their
on-again
off-again
relationship
is
complicated
when
Bauman
shows up to support Hurley
in
the
marathon,
which
inevitably ends traumatically
for both of them. However, the
trauma only further solidifies
their
personal
connection
as the two navigate love,
understanding and selfishness.
This relationship is the driving
force
of
the
film,
deeply
honest in its portrayal of
human connection. Maslany
is
spectacular,
expressing
devotion
and
confusion
in
subtle and intertwined ways,
exemplified in her consistent
clashing
with
Bauman’s
mother (Miranda Richardson,
“Testament of Youth”). With
her
dynamic
performance
Maslany solidifies her place as
a high caliber actor in tandem
with Gyllenhaal.
The film’s ultimate strength
lies in its avoidance of clichés in
telling the Marathon bombing
narrative. In other words, the
film doesn’t over-dramatize
the event and its aftermath.
The bombing itself happens
almost
quietly,
without
jarring
camera
movements
or suspenseful music; Green
forgoes drama and instead
relies
on
the
audience’s
common understanding of the
gravity of the event. Moreover,
the film does not shy away
from
painful
but
genuine
moments
in
the
narrative.
One of the most memorable
scenes in the film is the one
in which the nurses change
Bauman’s
wound
dressing,
and he feels for the first time
the excruciating pain of his
amputated legs. This scene is
long and straightforward and
raw, and acutely honest. Due in
SYDNEY COHEN
Daily Arts Writer
FILM REVIEW
“Stronger”
Roadside
Attractions
Rave Theater
ARTS WAS A LITTLE GRUMPY
TODAY. WE HAD A ROUGH
WEEKEND.
E-mail arts@michigandaily.com for
information on applying.
“Value
the Voice”
Storytellers
Lounge
Tuesday,
September 26th
@ 7 P.M.
UMMA
Free
A new city, a new
school year, a
new challenge
—
the evening will
focus on all of the
transition-related
experiences and
sentiments that
matter to its
storytellers
large part to the writing based
on Jeff Bauman’s own memoir,
“Stronger”
is
distinguished
by its ability to convey drama
without dramatic tropes.
Finally,
“Stronger”
also
challenges
the
survivor
narrative,
complicating
the
term “hero” and humanizing
the process of dealing with
trauma.
One
of
the
main
threads of the film is the
Bauman
family’s
effort
to
substantialize
the
city
of
Boston’s idolization of Bauman
as a hero, transforming him
into a symbol for Boston Strong.
However, the film challenges
this process and focuses on
Bauman’s
relationship
with
the word “hero,” his PTSD and
his love for the city. Ultimately,
“Stronger”
explores
the
tensions
involved
in
the
commodification
of
trauma
and the exploitative nature of
turning Bauman into a symbol
of hope, while simultaneously
emphasizing
the
incredible
importance of community in
Boston and the collective bond
shared by its people. Though
layered in its portrayal of
Boston Strong, the film is a
testament to the collective
strength of the city and the
inspirational
importance
of
Jeff Bauman.