The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Arts
Tuesday, February 6, 2018 — 5
The comeback: It’s an art.
From the initial scuddlebud
that piques the interests of
fans and non-fans alike, to
the hype-inducing, typically
mysterious
marketing
campaign, to the content itself,
an artist’s comeback is best
received when all facets of
the release are well executed.
When done poorly, a comeback
can leave fans disappointed,
unenthused and in denial (i.e.
Britney Spears’s Glory — I
didn’t even know she dropped
a comeback album in 2016).
When done well, a comeback
can shatter the music world,
reinvigorating the passion of a
fanbase by reminding listeners
of an artist’s unparalleled and
natural talent. An example?
Justin Timberlake and his
highly anticipated album, Man
of the Woods.
With
a
teaser
trailer
depicting the wind-stricken
wilderness
and
advertising
a
return
to
Timberlake’s
Tenn. roots, fans had little
idea what to expect from
Woods. He couldn’t possibly
be releasing a country album,
right? The project’s first single,
“Filthy,”
confused
listeners
even more, boasting a sexy,
abrasive, future-funk sound
that produced mixed feelings
and didn’t seem to mirror the
wholesome, woodsy vibe JT
was marketing. However, one
listen through will put these
concerns at bay; Woods is
sonically superb. Throughout
the 16-track record, Timberlake
manages
to
successfully
incorporate layers of that good
ole country comfort on which
he was raised with modern,
bass-heavy sounds, all while
maintaining the tight groove
and impressive vocals that
shot him to R&B and pop
superstardom in the 2000s.
The
former
NSYNC
heartthrob best described the
album’s sound in a behind-
the-scenes
video,
labeling
it “modern Americana with
808s.” Timberlake built nearly
every song around guitar and
country melodies to hone a
feeling
of
“heritage,”
later
enlisting Pharrell, Timbaland
and others to masterfully blend
those sounds with pop and hip
hop.
This
unique
combination
is
likely
most
evident
in
the
album’s
second
single,
“Supplies.” The song’s melody
could easily be accompanied
by a banjo and a two-step
stomp for a linedance at the
hottest barn in Ala., but it’s
instead met with a booming
trap beat that Future could
murder, and in true JT fashion,
the hook is embedded in the
listener’s head after just one
listen (Tyler, the Creator will
be the first to tell you that the
track absolutely bumps). This
genre-bending trend can even
be seen through the album’s
features: R&B sensation Alicia
Keys adds soul to “Morning
Light,” and country star Chris
Stapleton immediately follows
with country twang on “Say
Something.”
Timberlake has never been
known for conscious lyricism
or enlightening messages (see:
“SexyBack” or “Suit and Tie”),
so don’t bother looking for
that here; his brand is simply
good, groovy music, and that
doesn’t change with Woods.
With that said, listeners can
still take away one major theme
from this vanguard album: the
fluidity of genre. Timberlake,
a white man who made waves
in a genre largely dominated
by African American artists,
has never been one to stick
to
stereotypes,
but
this
album goes a step further to
demonstrate that even country
and hip hop — seemingly polar
opposites in both music and
culture — can be united on
the grounds of the feel-good
emotions they can respectively
produce.
Timberlake
touched
on
this idea in 2016 in a string
of defensive and explanatory
tweets after receiving backlash
to his comments on Jesse
Williams’s
Humanitarian
Award acceptance speech at
the BET Awards. After initially
sharing via Twitter that he
was inspired by Williams’s
words, Timberlake responded
to accusations by one tweeter
that his success was due to
appropriation of Black culture,
tweeting, “Oh, you sweet soul.
The more you realize that we
are the same, the more we
can have a conversation. Bye.”
Predictably,
this
comment
received major backlash, as
many viewed it as blindness
to
Timberlake’s
potential
privilege as a white male in
the historically Black R &B
music world. These criticisms
are absolutely valid; however,
perhaps what Timberlake was
trying to articulate is that
there is more in music that
unites people than divides
people. Man of the Woods,
with its bright guitar riffs and
heavy bass drops, is a properly
delivered
version
of
this
message.
‘Man of the Woods’ shows
Timberlake’s eclectic side
MIKE WATKINS
Daily Arts Writer
RCA RECORDS
The
depictions
of
body
image
have
transgressed
our
perspective
about
health for quite some time.
Directly affected by social
media,
pop
culture
and
societal norms, body image
is a concept most of us have
grappled with or questioned
at some point or another.
Everyone’s
perspective
and
experience with their body is
individualistic;
nonetheless,
the aspects of our human
bodies
are
consistently
categorized. “Fat,” “skinny,”
“curvy,” “lanky,” “muscular,”
— the list can go on. Although
these categories are restricting
and iniquitous, we are seeing
these
descriptions
become
redefined,
specifically
in
media.
A few friends and a mentor
of mine recommended I watch
the show “This is Us,” the
Emmy award-winning drama
on NBC involving a uniquely-
structured
family
through
generations. Each character in
the Pearson family faces their
own independent and familial
intricacies, crafting a dynamic
and
approachable
cast
of
characters.
Kate
Pearson
(Chrissy
Metz,
“American
Horror Story”) plays a 36-year-
old, overweight woman who
battles each day with her diet
and physical health.
After
watching
just
the
first
two
episodes
I
was
drawn to Kate’s raw and
honest character, where she
represents a large population of
people struggling with weight
loss. Her character, however,
doesn’t solely highlight an
overweight woman consumed
by her eating habits: The show
follows her in her everyday
life
among
family,
friends
and significant others. The
viewers are left with a tricky
blend
of
realistic
human
challenges
and
caricature-
like stereotypes, creating a
character that feels real in the
most fabricated fashion.
In
the
episodes
I’ve
watched so far, weight loss
and a healthier lifestyle are
the driving goals for Kate’s
character.
Even
more,
she
confronts this issue in all
types of situations — like
weighing
herself
in
the
bathroom, going out on a date
with another overweight man,
being conscious of what she
eats/drinks and facing her
anxieties surrounding sex and
romantic relationships.
In all of its efforts, the show
does a nice job at designing
and
portraying
a
realistic
character like Kate. Her initial
actions in the pilot episode
include throwing out all of
her junk food, hitting the gym
and counting her calories —
actions which many viewers
can relate to. Kate is seen
joining a weight-loss support
group
and
meeting
Toby
(Chris Sullivan, “Guardians
of the Galaxy Vol.2”), another
overweight man with a light-
hearted sense of humor and a
strong attraction to Kate.
Both characters play out the
similarities and differences
of individualistic weight loss.
While Toby wants dessert at
dinner, Kate refuses. At the
gym, Kate watches the uber-
skinny girls on the treadmill,
while
Toby
convinces
her
to leave the gym with him.
In what felt like the most
hard-hitting
moment,
Toby
asks her to fool around, and
she anxiously breaks down,
ashamed of the idea of someone
seeing her naked body.
What the show does best
is presenting how difficult it
is to lose weight and to live a
certain
lifestyle,
especially
at Kate’s size and body type.
Sure, we can try and imagine
what
someone
like
Kate’s
life would be like. But when
it’s on the screen — raw and
sentimental
—
Kate’s
life,
especially for those of us who
share immense commonalities
with her character, is a wakeup
call to our society’s ignorance
on weight, health and body
image. It doesn’t only directly
affect you in the kitchen or at
the gym: Challenges like Kate’s
are constantly rattling in the
mind, minute to minute, and
this struggle makes an effect
on almost every decision.
For so long, the media has
rarely highlighted the lives of
those who battle with things
like eating disorders or obesity.
Rarely
are
larger
people
leading characters in film
and television, especially in
female roles. It’s actresses like
Chrissy Metz and the creators
of “This is Us” who have set
a new bar for depicting the
realities of extreme lifestyles
and redefining the categories
of body image.
Does this angle make me
look fat?
DAILY HEALTH & WELLNESS COLUMN
ERIKA
SHEVCHECK
Man of the
Woods
Jusin Timberlake
RCA Records
It’s no secret: Modern art
gets a bad rap. While obviously
appreciated within its own
academic
and
professional
circles, it’s safe to say that
many don’t find modern art
as profoundly moving as film,
music
or
literature.
Often
smeared as pretentious and
inaccessible, modern art still
has difficulty shaking the
image of a turtlenecked, white-
haired Andy Warhol. Enter
street muralist JR and New
Wave director Agnès Varda,
two French artists who joined
together with an idea: make
a film showcasing a uniquely
human facet of modern art
that
saves
memories
from
antiquity and reaches people
from all walks of life. Despite
their 56-year age difference,
the two are united through
art and a shared vision. In the
early scenes of the film, Agnès
explains the magnetism she
felt through JR’s murals and
her desire to collaborate with
him; to make art “together,
but differently.” The result
is a gorgeous, moving film
that shatters the purported
headiness
of
modern
art,
instead showing the power
with which it touches the soul
and brings people together.
Over the course of the film,
the pair journeys through
the
French
countryside,
photographing a wide array
of people from all types of
backgrounds.
One
of
the
film’s greatest triumphs is
its ability to portray even the
darkest parts of the world
with beauty and joy. The
two
visit
a
neighborhood
of abandoned houses, once
the home of coal miners and
their
families,
where
the
neighborhood’s sole remaining
occupant — Jeannine, a coal
miner’s daughter — lives alone
out of sheer stubbornness.
Agnès and JR create massive,
two-story
murals
of
the
miners who once lived in the
neighborhood. When Jeannine
sees the finished product,
she breaks down in tears as
Agnès comforts her, “It’s not
sad, Jeannine. It’s beautiful.”
Agnès and JR create stunning,
immensely personal homages
to bygone people and things
that tug at the heartstrings of
factory workers and art critics
alike.
When describing why she
has embarked on the project,
Agnès states, “I fear that each
face I meet may be my last.”
There’s an obvious foreboding
to that statement, as she nears
90 years of age, but she says
it with a levity that implies a
different meaning; Agnès is
documenting the faces of those
she meets not for her own
sake, but because someday
those faces too will be lost to
time. The film focuses greatly
on the ephemeral nature of life
and beauty, but rather than
lamenting this, it celebrates it.
At one point, the two travel to
Normandy to create a massive
mural — an image of a young
man sitting on a dock — on
the face of an abandoned Nazi
bunker. At high tide, the mural
is washed away completely and
the bunker remains. While it
may have seemed like a futile
gesture, it’s a perfect example
of what “Faces Places” is all
about: Two people looking
to find the beauty in a harsh,
violent world and highlight it,
if only for a little bit.
Toward
the
film’s
conclusion, JR creates a mural
of Agnès’s eyes on the side
of a train. He looks at her,
smiling, and says, “This train
will go places you’ve never
been.” So too will art, once
created, reach people one has
never met; move them in ways
one cannot fully understand.
There’s
a
kind
of
joyful
madness to Agnès and JR’s
battle against the weathering
forces of time. In the end,
there will always be pain and
suffering, but “Faces Places”
shows that so long as there are
two people with a camera, a
vision and a love for living, the
world can be a beautiful place.
“Faces Places”
Cohen Media
Michigan Theater
Agnès Varda & JR exude
life in doc ‘Faces Places’
FILM REVIEW
COHEN MEDIA
Timberlake has
never been known
for conscious
lyricism or
enlightening
messages
When done well,
a comeback can
shatter the music
world
MAX MICHALSKY
Daily Arts Writer
Agnès is
documenting the
faces of those she
meets not for her
own sake, but
because someday
those faces too
will be lost to time
ALBUM REVIEW
FILM REVIEW