The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Arts
Tuesday, December 12, 2017 — 5
Since the premiere of “Broad
City” in 2014, the careers of Ilana
Glazer (“Rough Night”) and Abbi
Jacobson (“Portlandia”) have taken
off. Jacobson has been able to work
with the Museum of Modern Art in
New York to create a podcast about
fine art. Glazer has been getting
more work in other films and
television series. Life has changed
since the duo uploaded the first
YouTube short in 2011. Glazer and
Jacobson obviously no longer have
to worry about the same financial
concerns which continue to plague
the on-screen characters — yet the
show never forgets the characters’
humble beginnings. In the “Broad
City” universe, friendship, not
money, is the most powerful tool
for getting anything done.
The finale of season four,
“Friendiversary,”
finds
the
heroines reflecting on the past
few years of friendship in a way
that is uncharacteristic for a show
like “Broad City.” Season four
consisted of many moments that
looked inward: Ilana’s battle with
depression, Abbi’s struggles against
poverty and unemployment and
life under Trump (whose name is
censored). The tonal shift matches
the seasonal shift in the universe of
“Broad City.” It’s finally winter.
For all its millennial styles
and sensibilities, “Broad City”
approaches
the
season
in
a
strikingly classic way. Both Abbi
and Ilana are forced to face
some unpleasant realities about
the world and endure some
hardship. Both women fail, in
some respect, to live up to a set
of standards and have to admit
their shortcomings. Ilana gets a
particularly rich character arc
this season while she works under
Marcel (RuPaul, “RuPaul’s Drag
Race”) at his restaurant, Sushi
Mambeaux. After a troubling shift,
she confesses that her depression
interferes with her ability to give
it her all. Marcel forgives her and
keeps her on staff, which sends the
message that Ilana is important
and valid while she suffers with
depression.
While
the
season
finale
tackles a topic of less weight, the
episode sends the same message.
Abbi, upon waking, finds a giant
cardboard standup of Ilana’s head
and a clue that leads to a scavenger
hunt. It ends at a cheap barbeque
place, where the pair devours a
fat tray of chicken fingers and
slushie cocktails. However, it’s not
all sunny and celebratory. Ilana
reveals that the purpose of the
scavenger hunt is to celebrate their
Friendiversary, which Abbi has
completely forgotten. Abbi’s poor
attempts to assemble an equally
thoughtful and elaborate gift end
up leading the duo to the top of the
Empire State Building on a rainy
night. Long story short, Abbi and
Ilana end up pursuing a man who
they think threw a sex doll off of
the balcony.
After they confront the man,
which almost leads to jail time for
Abbi and Ilana, Abbi divulges that
she forgot their Friendiversary.
Ilana quickly replies that she
knew, with no tinge of injury
or malice in her voice. While
Ilana isn’t a vengeful character,
it wouldn’t be out of her range to
feel neglected or forgotten. It’s
a beautiful moment where the
audience realizes how in-tune and
intimate the characters are with
each other. Abbi’s unwillingness
to mellow Ilana out is matched by
Ilana’s patience and eagerness to
follow Abbi’s ideas. As the camera
pans to a section of sidewalk where
“Ilana + Abbi 2011” is etched into
the concrete, the audience gets the
sense of the permanence of their
friendship. In times of turmoil, the
most valuable resources that we
have are our friends. “Broad City”
never forgets this.
COMEDY CENTRAL
‘Broad’ exhaults friends
JACK BRANDON
Daily Arts Writer
Patti Smith’s ‘Horses’ is
indelible after 42 years
One of the most pivotal albums
in rock history, Horses by Patti
Smith, will have circled around
the sun 42 times tomorrow.
It has influenced countless
magicians and artists alike and has
left lasting impressions on music
admirers of all tastes. For me,
Horses has influenced the way I
hear music, the way I identify with
art and the way I choose to release
myself into the world.
I’ve only had the chance to
spend four short years of my life
with the album, but its emotional
pull has made every listen count.
Sixteen-year-old me was busy
with the abrasive sounds of
Powerslave by Iron Maiden, along
with other variants of metal and
their opposites, namely Pavement.
But nothing hit me the way
Horses did with its poetic lyrics
and
igniting
instrumentals.
Smith’s voice and her ability to
make everything personal made
my entire body melt, leaving my
nakedness to stand on its own for
the first time in my life.
The experience started in the
key of E with an introductory
rendition
of
Van
Morrison’s
“Gloria.” Smith’s honey voice
starts to speak with backing
instrumentals that explode into
waves of sexuality. With each
note, Smith’s voice echoed through
my ears and shook my lungs with
an unapologetic strength I never
knew existed, and this feeling
persisted for the entirety of the
album.
Listening to the whole record
can be an emotionally taxing
experience,
as
Smith
pushes
through uneasy emotions that
come with the exploration in
gender and sexuality including
the neglect, the confusion and
the internal struggle of self-
acceptance. And she did this all
with an underlying influence of
the sexual liberation movement
during the ’60s and the people
who felt rejected by it.
Smith moves from telling the
world about a lesbian suicide in
“Redondo Beach” to speaking
about a homosexual rape in
“Land,” all with a strong tone that
forces a listener to hear her out, to
be aware of the grotesque side of
society.
She sings about death, despair
and dehumanization. Her voice
damns the world and lets everyone
know that she’s angry. She’s
angry about the disgusting acts in
humanity. She’s angry about war,
about liberation movements that
fought only for a white and straight
kind of equality, and she wants the
world to know that she has become
strong enough to begin fighting for
those who were left behind.
Horses has stamped a trace of
ethereal emotion into the Earth
that will never be lost. It will be
heard in every song influenced by
its authenticity, including songs
by Siouxsie and the Banshees,
The Smiths, R.E.M and bands that
can’t even decide on their name
yet.
It has become such a timely
record regarding the inequalities
our world is ridden with today,
and will continue to be a timeless
work of art that strums against
our deepest emotions and calls
attention to the world’s deepest
failures.
For
me,
Horses
became
a
spiritual
experience
of
dissociation. It felt like Smith’s
evocative
lyrics
carried
me
to Jupiter, where I felt the
gravitational pull of 16 moons
hold me in place. It was extremely
heavy, and I’d give anything to
anyone if I could listen to Horses
for the first time again.
SELENA AGUILERA
Daily Arts Writer
Rumor has it that Queen
Elizabeth once asked William
Shakespeare to write a play in
which her favorite character of Sir
John Falstaff (featured in “Henry
IV”) falls in love. Shakespeare
delivered, but it was far from what
the Queen expected.
“Falstaff in ‘Merry Wives’ is
in love alright, but mainly with
himself and money,” said director,
John Neville-Andrews.
Humor, revenge, girl power and
a ritualistic fairy dance: The play
has all the elements to captivate
the audience and leave them
laughing to the end. Put on by the
University of Michigan’s School
of Music, Theatre & Dance at the
Power Center this past weekend,
“The Merry Wives of Windsor” is
one of Shakespeare’s lesser-known
works, and his only farce — a play
of complete buffoonery.
The
plot
centers
on
two
married women, Mistress Paige
and Mistress Ford, who receive
identical love letters from the
same guy, Sir John Falstaff.
Unfortunately for Falstaff, these
women are best friends, realize his
fraudulence and make plans for
revenge.
Retribution
is
a
beautiful
thing. In a time where women
had little power, Paige and Ford
seem to create their own rules for
humiliating Falstaff time and time
again. They pretend to respond
to his advances but have no real
intention of pursuing the fat,
ageing man as a suitor.
The play resembles your classic
girls-get-revenge-on-the-guy
movie. In “John Tucker Must
Die,” one guy dated several girls
simultaneously; when the girls find
out, they decide to seek vengeance.
They
scheme
embarrassing
scenarios for Tucker, like tricking
him into putting on women’s
underwear. Similarly, Falstaff is
forced to put on women’s attire
at one point. While less regarded
among critics, “The Merry Wives
of Windsor” has certainly left an
impression upon the cinematic
world since many similar plotlines
have manifested themselves into
the movies of today.
The
play
is
“considered
intellectually slight, having little or
no depth to the characters— just a
bunch of country bumpkins posing
as middle class,” Neville-Andrews
said. But he disagrees with the
critics.
“I
think
Shakespeare
has given us a play of true comic
depth; he bestowed upon us
a gallimaufry of rich, vibrant
characters who possess individual
and hilarious personalities and
who energetically demonstrate a
lust for life.”
The student actors took the
centuries-old script and paired it
with modern tones, inflections and
body language, making it easier
for
a
contemporary
audience
to understand and enjoy. One
amusing line, “the woman has
good gifts,” would have gone
unnoticed if it weren’t for the
actor’s emphasis towards his chest
area,
indicating
Shakespeare’s
subtle innuendo.
Amidst the chaos of the main
plot and side plots, the underrated
character Simple, played by Wyatt
Stromer, really stands out. His hair
looked like a mop, always lopsided,
sticking up and about oddly. The
plot would be advancing, yet his
character would remain in the
corner, eating a piece of bread in
the most idiotic way possible. This
is the type of character that either
annoys the audience or steals
the show. In this case, everytime
Simple was on stage, all eyes
watched his awkward walking,
cringe-worthy conversation skills
and odd mannerisms that so
sharply contrasted the rest of the
characters.
Yes, Shakespearean plays are
long winded, usually stretching at
least 3 hours. It’s easy for the mind
to drift as the brain grows weary
of trying to decipher every line
one doesn’t quite understand. It’s
the paradox of all Shakespearean
works. On one hand, you admire
the culture and value of such pieces
of literature, but on the other hand,
you would rather just watch an
undemanding Netflix show.
Shakespeare is not for everyone.
It is a labor to understand. The
culture in which it is written
is so unlike the present. It was
likely that many jokes flew right
over the head of the audience,
simply because most people lack
knowledge regarding the early
1600s. One misses out on the key
elements — not because it was
poorly produced — but because it
can be so challenging to watch.
A
live
orchestra
would
have improved the flow of the
performance, as some scenes felt
unnaturally quiet. Silence can be
powerful, but it can also make time
go by slowly and monotonously.
Since the play is already like
listening to a different language,
sluggish scenes can kill the whole
affair.
Yet,
the
audience
always
seemed to return to a state of
laughter at whatever foolish act
had occurred, and they became
engrossed in the odd plot all over
again. It is impossible not to root
for the women as they take down
the egotistical Falstaff and watch
them become heroes of the story.
A Shakespeare play has never
been quite so enjoyable as the
relatively unknown “The Merry
Wives of Windsor.” Master of
drama and tragedy, Shakespeare
can also execute timeless humor.
Seeing women hold power over
the men in a classic piece was
refreshing.
Experts
in
both
sarcasm and revenge, Mistress
Paige and Mistress Ford broke
molds and gave light to the absurd
world of men.
Shakespeare is
not for everyone.
It is a labor to
understand.
COMMUNITY CULTURE REVIEW
‘Merry Wives’ tells the
original story of revenge
FALLON GATES
Daily Arts Writer
“Broad City”
Comedy Central
Season Four Finale
In
the
basement
of
the
Modern
Languages
Building,
a site frequented by students
and teachers alike, is a recently
painted
mural
consisting
of
geometric blue triangles arranged
in a seemingly abstract, yet
purposeful way. What remains
unbeknownst to many, however,
is that it was done by Live in Color,
a new club at the University.
As part of an effort to bring
more bright colors to campus and
beautify the drab building, Live
in Color was an idea conceived
by LSA sophomores Zoe Duncan-
Doroff and Julian Hansen.
“Julian was discussing how
MLB halls are so dry and desolate
… wouldn’t it be great if we went
in and painted it after hours?”
Duncan-Doroff said.
The pair joked that breaking
into the building after hours to do
the mural would be a great way
to get suspended, so they went to
the University to get the funding
necessary to bring their artistic
visions to life.
By creating colorful, geometric
murals that improve the the
overall environment rather than
portraying a message, the club
hopes to bring an atmosphere of
happiness to university buildings
that are oftentimes associated
with negative sentiments and
stress. As stated in their mission
statement:
“There
is
much
evidence implying that color can
boost happiness, morale and mood
while
decreasing
depression.
Our mission is to strive for these
changes through art.”
Duncan-Doroff and Hansen
face challenges in regards to
finding available walls to paint,
but are constantly keeping their
ears to the ground as they wait
for new opportunities. Currently,
their first mural in the Modern
Languages Building is the only
completed work. However, the
club recently received approval
from the facilities manager of
the building to do another one
in the German/Slavic languages
department
in
the
Modern
Languages Building. The pair also
has their eye on the brand new
Weiser building.
“We have a small design team
of student artists and a lot of
interested members. We’re not
holding regular meetings yet since
it relies on how many locations
we have. We have to split up the
members into many different
teams,” Hansen said.
As the club continues to
generate
interest
and
gain
credibility through their exciting
project plans, Duncan-Doroff and
Hansen plan to increase numbers
by adding more designers and
painters. Hansen elaborates on
the expansion plans by noting
that they hope to have their
first big recruiting push during
Winterfest, which would then be
followed by regular meetings.
What makes Live in Color so
special is that they aim to attract
all University students with an
interest in painting and campus
beautification, rather than just
dedicated artists with years of
experience. “One of the pillars
at Live in Color is that anybody
can paint [the murals],” Duncan-
Doroff said.
With winter upon us and
the temperatures dropping, the
absence of sun and color from
campus will soon be much more
apparent. The pops of bright colors
and designs created by Live in
Color in university buildings will
be a welcomed sight, hopefully
boosting moods as people face the
inherent stress that comes with
being a student.
COMMUNITY CULTURE NOTEBOOK
Live in Color adds life
to campus & buildings
MICHAEL AZIMI
For the Daily
TV REVIEW
MUSIC NOTEBOOK
ARISTA
Student organization paints murals to fill AA with color
They aim to
attract all
University
students with
an interest in
painting