On Saturday, Jan. 27, student
organization EnspiRED hosted
their 12th annual charity fashion
show, entitled “RAW,” at the
Alfred A. Taubman Biomedical
Research Building.
“Every year, the show is formed
after some good theme that’s
based upon social experience,”
said Travis Jones, an LSA senior
and model in the show. “This
year’s theme is RAW, and I feel
like that’s a big social experience
that a lot of people can relate to.”
Spoiler alert: He was right.
From my vantage point, the
first three of the show’s six
“chapters” featured some distinct
form
of
social
commentary.
Chapter one brought attendees
a
critique
of
consumerism,
featuring traditional hallmarks
of luxury — think fur, gemstones
and shopping bags from high-
end stores — interspersed with
more forward-thinking pieces,
like Nicopanda x Urban Outfitters
puffer pieces and the ubiquitous
Kurt Cobain sunglasses. Chapter
two gave us an assessment of “eat,
sleep, work” capitalist culture,
complete with zombie-walking
models clad in workwear with
slight eccentricities (a blazer with
no shirt beneath, a trench coat belt
around the head) and set to the
soundtrack of Kendrick Lamar’s
“LUST.” Chapter three subverted
prescribed gender norms, sending
the girls out in leather, buckles
and lace-up boots, while the
boys worked the runway in sheer
fabrics, tight pants and one very
niche shag coat reminiscent of Big
Bird.
Cut to intermission. Show
staff brought out free pizzas for
the audience, and I felt like I was
on Oprah. Soon enough, it was
time for the classic intermission
runway walk challenge — an
oldie, but a goodie. Two little girls
rocked it together, and the entire
audience melted, still munching
on their Domino’s.
After a few PSAs from some
impeccably
dressed
students
with walkie-talkies, it was time
for Chapters four through six.
Chapter four presented us with
all things satin, velvet, iridescent
and glittery, accented with PVC
purses and jackets. One orange
spaghetti-strapped dress seemed
to glow beneath a set of ultraviolet
spotlights.
At this point, I thought I’d seen
the sexiest of it; there had already
been plenty of shirtless boys and
a handful of girls wearing only
leotards. Then, RAW brought
us Chapter five, coming in hot
and heavy and ready to prove me
wrong.
The chapter opened with a
seamless routine by two pole
dancers dressed in silver and
white. Accompanied by a soft,
throbbing melody, the women
continued even as models walked
the runway, dressed appropriately
for the sensual mood set by the
gravity-defying
performance.
They sported a variety of lacey,
undone numbers, as though they
just rolled out of bed, but Tyra
Banks asked them to “make it
fashion.” We transitioned to a few
girls in lingerie, with some boys
wearing satin robes over jeans. As
is the norm at an EnspiRED event,
the audience ate everything up.
Shouts of liberation and pride
rang through the space as the
dancers contorted themselves in
tandem (“Yes, ladies!”), as models
openly loved every square inch
of themselves (“That’s right!
Do you!”). Chapter five served
as a reminder of how beautiful
sexuality can be when we decide
to see it as an asset, rather than a
flaw. It was a celebration of every
beating heart in the room, not
only the models and staff.
Chapter six took a turn back
to the streamlined, though not
accompanied
by
an
explicit
theme. Earthy colors in trendy
silhouettes dominated, with the
exception of one pair of thigh
high, crystal-studded boots, à
la Saint Laurent spring summer
2018. From six, we moved onto the
highlight of the night: EnspiRED’s
community involvement segment.
This year’s show raised over
$900 (and counting) for Ozone
House, explained Asia Green, an
LSA sophomore and EnspiRED’s
community
service
chair.
According to a representative,
Ozone has been serving the
Washtenaw community for over
50
years
through
providing
intervention
and
prevention
services to at-risk, and often
homeless, youth.
“EnspiRED is more than just
fashion. It’s community,” she said
before introducing the performers
of SpeakOut, a branch of Ozone
House comprised of formerly
homeless youth who tell their
stories to other communities.
SpeakOut
performed
one
poem, “School,” and a short
excerpt from an original play
called “Foster Care.” Both left
the once lively audience without
words.
Reinforcing their emphasis on
community,
RAW
culminated
with a final model walk, or what
EnspiRED dubbed, “the Red
Scene.” All participating models
returned to the runway wearing
red, white and black, clearly
having loosened up since their
last jaunts onstage. Some danced,
some sang along to the show’s
blaring soundtrack, while others
maintained their high-fashion
alter egos to the bitter end. The
Red Scene was followed by a
similar victory lap by EnspiRED’s
executive board to seal everything
off. The personality that emerged
from each left the crowd smiling
and laughing and dancing in, and
out of, their seats.
“I feel like we have a very
diverse group of of people,” said
Valencia Jackson, an EnspiRED
model and LSA junior. “I mean,
you talk to people from EnspiRED,
and they’re in everything from
engineering to dance and music
and everything. As far as the
scale of EnspiRED, we do a lot
of charity, a lot of philanthropy
and our productions are the
best (laughs). I think that’s what
separates us.”
EnspiRED’s
12th
annual
show conveyed honest truths of
the human experience through
fashion, while still maintaining
a central focus of community-
building and giving. To be equal
parts critical and loving — that’s
what it means to be RAW.
EnspiRED sexy and ‘RAW’
STYLE REVIEW
TESS GARCIA
Daily Style Editor
Renowned cardiologist, clinical
professor and bestselling author
Dr. Joel Kahn spoke at Literati on
Thursday to promote his new book,
“The Plant-Based Solution.” In his
book, Kahn explores the benefits
of following a vegan diet through
scientific research. Kahn proposes
a compelling argument for plant-
based nutrition, both for general
health and the prevention and
reversal of chronic illnesses.
“The
Plant-Based
Solution”
draws from Kahn’s many years of
medical and personal experience to
encourage readers to use veganism
to take control of their own health.
Kahn himself has been following a
plant-based diet since he was 18.
“I walked into the East Quad
dormitory in Ann Arbor in 1977
to start the Inteflex combined
premed-medical program,” Kahn
wrote in an email interview with
The Daily. “I was observing Kosher
dietary rules and the salad bar was
the obvious option. Soon after,
a few places like the salad bar at
Pretzel Bell on Liberty, the market
at Kerrytown, and ... Zingermans
indicated to me I could do this all
the time ... The last time I had a
hamburger and such was in 1977. I
started to learn about nutrition in
medical school (just a bit but enough
for me to pursue studies on my own)
and I became a student of the health,
environmental and compassionate
foundations for a vegan diet.”
Though there is often suspicion
surrounding plant-based diets, by
both the medical community and
the general public, Kahn explains
that veganism is the most health-
conscious diet an individual could
follow.
“There is never enough nutrition
science as it is very hard to organize
and fund long term studies where
group A eats one way and group
B eats another,” he wrote. “So
you have to take clues from five
areas of science: basic research,
studies of long lived populations,
epidemiology, randomized trials
and the study of complex systems.
Most fad diets have at best one of
these pillars. Take the ketogenic
diet — the rage right now. It has at
best a few epidemiological studies
but none of the others. A diet of
nearly or completely plant foods has
the strongest support based on all of
these pillars.”
In addition to health benefits,
the vegan diet is beneficial in the
context of the environment, due
to America’s often inhumane and
environmentally
detrimental
farming practices.
“Initially (my influence to go
vegan) was ‘survival’ and then
health,” Kahn wrote. “A book in
the 1980s appeared, ‘A Diet for A
New America,’ by John Robbins
which indicated to me for the first
time that a bigger picture of ethical
and
environmental
concerns
were favored by my diet, and I
incorporated those reasons to stay
on target.”
Kahn also dispelled arguments
about the accessibility of veganism,
for it is broadly considered expensive
and inconvenient: “Veganism is the
hottest food trend internationally
and it will be sustained,” he wrote.
“The tipping point has occurred.
It may need to be negotiated
during travel, and I often eat only
side dishes at restaurants like a
steakhouse. A website called www.
happycow.net
lists
restaurants
anywhere in the world to help out.
If budget is an issue then beans
— dried or canned — rice or other
grains like buckwheat, frozen or
fresh produce, herbs and spices
and a few sauces can make infinite
number of combinations.”
“The native diet of remote
areas in Asia, Africa and South
America are largely whole food
complex-carbohydrate
menus
from the garden and market, and
we need to go back to those roots,”
he continued. “A friend of mine in
Detroit is a nursing educator and
travels to Indian reservations in
the Southwest to retrain Native
Americans in the foods their
ancestors ate and get them off of
government subsidized disease-
causing foods. We all need to shun
some of the convenience foods that
have destroyed our health.”
Even from my perspective as
a vegan, Kahn’s conversation at
Literati was illuminating. Though
I find myself answering questions
(often rather defensively) about my
diet, I’ve never answered them in
the context of a medical perspective.
I often fall back on my undying love
for animals and mission of single
handedly saving the environment
to explain my personal decisions
— which usually results in both me
and my meat-eating opponent either
laughing or falling into an awkward
post-argument silence.
Kahn,
however,
provides
concrete medical evidence for
the benefits veganism in both his
speech and writing — evidence that
can enlighten carnivores and that
can save vegans in any argument.
Through his work, Kahn allows
space for readers and listeners to
consider what they are putting
into their bodies and why. He
dispels
common
assumptions
around veganism, such as suspicion
around
nutrition,
executability
and accessibility, and forms his
argument in an unbiased, fact-
based way. His speaking and
writing is accessible to vegans, the
vegan-curious and the die-hard
carnivores interested in learning
about veganism from a medical
standpoint.
A doctor’s call for veganism
COMMUNITY CULTURE REVIEW
JENNA BARLAGE
Daily Arts Writer
HBO’s “Divorce” examines the
messy and exhausting process of
ending a marriage, with a specific
brand of comedic neuroses. Sarah
Jessica Parker (“All Roads Lead
to Rome”) and Thomas Haden
Church
(“Cardboard
Boxer”)
co-star as Frances and Robert, a
couple whose slow drift apart from
one another leads to an aggressive
and hostile feud, playing out with
upper-middle
class
suburban
flare. But what would otherwise
be
a
contrived
narrative
of
divorce is elevated with sharp
writing and well-timed comedic
performances. While Parker is
refreshingly better than her usual
melodramatic self, Church carries
the show, being both sincere,
comedically
vindictive
and
a
nimble wordsmith.
“Divorce”
is
preoccupied
with the process of separation —
the lengthy back and forth that
involves spouses, children and
friends. Season one showed that
this awkward and unique process
is rich in comedic material and
psychological explorations into
what it looks like when a 10-year
marriage quickly crumbles. With
honesty and sentimentality, the
season showed that Frances and
Robert could still have moments
of sweetness among moments
of chaos and acid. It was an
entertaining, funny and candid
portrayal of a broken marriage that
doesn’t break cleanly.
Unfortunately, season two is
a shadow of its former self. The
change became evident in the first
episode, when Robert shaved his
notorious mustache and effectively
transformed from the sharp lead to
a sort of melted, pathetic skin sack.
Parker also lost her momentum,
fading back into the breathy
theatrical act that works in “Sex
and the City” and nowhere else.
With season two, it feels like
the show doesn’t really know what
to do with itself. After Robert and
Frances finally sign their divorce
papers in the first episode, the
season drags on aimlessly, flitting
between their different flings and
job endeavors without the spice
and fire of the first season. The
auxiliary characters are also more
annoying. Molly Shannon (“Will
and Grace”) plays Frances’s best
friend with a tired performativity
that completely undercuts her
skills as a comedian and a nuanced
actor. Tracey Letts (“Lady Bird”),
another Hollywood genius, is
reduced to a man with anger issues
and a random obsession with
gourmet cooking. Even the kids
are obnoxious, picking fights and
whining for the sole purpose of
adding noise to a scene.
“Divorce” started out strong
as a show about middle-age
problems
with
a
universally
resonant brand of comedy and
intelligence.
With
its
second
season, the show completely loses
its footing, fumbling between
problems that aren’t problems,
overdramatized characters and
situations and an overall sense of
pathetic sadness that comes with
people who have separated but
can’t quite seem to get over each
other. It lacks the vitriolic bouts of
anger, the calculated “fuck you”s,
and the acute hilarity of it all. The
thing is, Frances and Robert seem
fine being divorced, but season
two is washed-out and stringy,
struggling to make an amicable
post-divorce relationship dramatic
and interesting, and failing to do
so.
‘Divorce’ season two is a
shadow of its former self
TV REVIEW
SYDNEY COHEN
Daily Arts Writer
“Divorce”
Season 2 Premiere
Sundays at 10 p.m.
HBO
DARBY STIPE / DAILY
AAREN BAKER / DAILY
6A— Monday, January 29, 2018
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com