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good location for two people. Apt 

above Per 
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internet. Available NOW. One year 

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ACROSS
1 Sounds showing
revelation
4 Actress Winger
9 Beer, casually
13 Speedy shark
15 Bars between
wheels
16 Travel aimlessly
17 Angling method
using hand-tied
lures
19 Bar orders
20 City recaptured
from ISIL by Iraq
in 2017
21 Sincerely
23 Hunk of concrete
25 Tic-tac-toe
diagram
26 Memorization
technique
29 One doing the
Electric Slide, e.g.
34 Brian of ambient
music
35 DDE’s WWII
command
36 Renter’s
document
37 Stinging
comment
39 Complains
42 Like the Magi
43 What the
beverage cart
blocks
45 Sellout letters
46 Brit. pilots’ squad
47 Hamburger meat
50 Beach or
Backstreet
follower, in music
51 At any point
52 Subway charge
54 Mark McGwire
rival
58 IHOP handouts
62 Furthermore
63 Beatles’ Shea
Stadium
performance, e.g.
65 Casino card
game
66 Steinbeck
migrants
67 Jekyll’s alter ego
68 Little League
airer
69 Nervous
70 One of an
inning’s three,
which can follow
the first word of
17-, 29-, 47- and
63-Across

DOWN
1 Bedside toggle
switch
2 Angel’s overhead
circle
3 “The __ the limit!”
4 Prosecutors:
Abbr.
5 Prosecutor’s first
piece of evidence
6 Russian pancake
7 Back out
8 Home of primary
30-Down gods
9 Fresh from the
factory
10 Part in a play
11 Nights before
12 __ Virginia
14 Handy
18 Down with the flu
22 Yemeni money
24 Knighted
Guinness
26 Pack again, as
groceries
27 “We’re live!”
studio sign
28 Human trunk
30 Like Odin and
Thor
31 Egypt’s capital
32 Op-ed piece, say
33 Often submerged
shipping dangers

38 Lunar symbol 
for a very long
time
40 Books’ opening
sections
41 Couch
44 Green-eyed
monster
48 Absolute ruler
49 Actress Shields
50 Tree that sounds
like a summer
vacation spot

53 Pres. pardoned
by Ford
54 Jewelry protector
55 “Sadly ... ”
56 Car sticker fig.
57 Whirl around
59 “So Sick” R&B
artist
60 Pakistani
language
61 “Cancel that
deletion”
64 Sugar suffix

By Jake Braun
©2018 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
04/16/18

04/16/18

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

RELEASE DATE– Monday, April 16, 2018

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle

Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

For lovers of Japanese anime, 

the most common debate is 
subbed versus dubbed, referring 
to using subtitles or English-
speaking voice actors to voice 
over 
the 
original 
Japanese 

dialogue. 
Proponents 
of 

“subbed” argue this preserves 
the 
intended 
language 
and 

delivery of the actors, as well as 
prevents the distracting nature 
of 
most 
“dubbed” 
versions. 

Wes Anderson, writer-director 
of the new stop-motion film 
“Isle of Dogs,” falls into the 
category of pro-subbed, telling 
Entertainment Weekly, “I don’t 
like to watch Japanese movies 
that are dubbed into English. I 
like the performances of actors 
in Japanese. It’s interesting to 
me, and it’s a very beautiful, 
complex language.” Ironically, 
no part of Anderson’s statement 
applies to his approach to “Isle 
of Dogs,” which follows a young 
boy in futuristic Japan trying to 
find his exiled dog.

Let’s break down Anderson’s 

explanation for how he sets 
up the dialogue in “Isle of 
Dogs.” The film begins with 
a disclaimer: The Japanese-
speaking actors speak only in 
Japanese and the dogs on Trash 
Island only in barks, translated 
into English. It’s a funny joke 
that devolves into something 
more sinister. A handful of 
scenes use subtitles, but for the 
most part Anderson places the 
Japanese-speaking 
characters 

in the background and a white 
interpreter — either Interpreter 
Nelson 
or 
foreign-exchange 

student Tracy Walker, portrayed 
respectively 
by 
Frances 

McDormand (“Three Billboards 
Outside Ebbing, Missouri”) and 
Greta Gerwig (“Frances Ha”) 
— in the foreground speaking 
in English. Anderson claims 
he dislikes dubbed Japanese 
movies, yet that is essentially 

what he has done with “Isle 
of Dogs,” albeit in a more 
cinematic, purposeful fashion. 
Most dubbed Japanese animes 
feel unpleasant, since adding 
voices to a scene constructed to 
time with the Japanese language 
comes across as an afterthought. 
However, Anderson goes to 
great lengths in a number of 
scenes to hand-draw footage 
of the Japanese characters and 
animate the English-speaking 
interpreters to accomplish his 
‘brilliant’ setup. His silencing 
of 
non-white 
characters 
is 

pre-planned, 
intentional 
and 

problematic.

For such a political movie, 

with 
obvious 
side-jabs 
at 

immigration 
policies, 
“Isle 

of Dogs” should not silence 
the 
non-white 
characters, 

particularly Asians who have 
the 
most 
underwhelming 

voice as a collective ethnic 
group 
in 
American 
politics 

and on-screen. According to a 
report from the Media, Diversity 
and Social Change Initiative 
at the University of Southern 
California, Asian directors lead 
just 3.4 percent of major studio 
films. The same study found 
Asians land only 5.1 percent 
of speaking or named parts in 
film, TV or on digital platforms, 
with no Asians in 50 percent 
of all projects and around one 
percent featuring an Asian lead. 
Furthermore, Asians are often 
painted as the model minority 
who keep their heads down and 
do as they are told.

Anderson 
perpetuates 
the 

model minority myth, along 
with other stereotypes about 
Japanese 
culture 
like 
sumo 

wrestling and sushi, in his 
new film. The native Japanese 
characters 
are 
completely 

silenced and fit the passive, 
submissive role America wants 
Asians to occupy. In fact, despite 
Atari Kobayashi, a 12-year-old 
Japanese boy and adopted son 
of the Mayor of the fictitious city 
Megasaki, marketed as the main 
character, Anderson surrounds 

him 
with 
non-Japanese-

speaking 
dogs, 
essentially 

making Atari mute. Instead, a 
white foreign-exchange student 
leads the revolution and pro-
dog rebellion, motivating the 
passive 
Japanese 
students 

to 
help 
her 
cause 
against 

the passive Japanese adults. 
Anderson wants “Isle of Dogs” 
to serve as a sign of appreciation 
towards Japanese culture, but he 
champions their passivity as a 
reason to sideline and silence the 
Japanese characters.

In addition to silencing Asian 

roles, 
Anderson 
also 
treats 

the culture as a backdrop. His 
comment 
to 
Entertainment 

Weekly about the beauty of the 
Japanese language illuminates 
the problem with his portrayal 
of Japan in “Isle of Dogs” — it’s 
fetishy. Western cinema and 
crowds have always had an 
unflattering 
over-fascination 

with all things (stereotypically) 
Asian — be it the movie “Karate 
Kid,” Asian women or anime 
in general. This approach to 
Asian 
culture 
is 
magnified 

prominently in “Isle of Dogs” 
through Anderson’s aesthetic. 
All of Anderson’s films have a 
distinct and stunning mise-en-
scene. However, in “Isle of Dogs,” 
his greatest gift turns into an 
exploitation of an entire culture 
simply to satisfy his artistic eye. 
Evidently, Anderson chose to set 
his film in Japan out of a love 
for how it looks, not its essence. 
The 
people, 
their 
cultural 

traditions and historic tragedies 
merge 
with 
the 
landscape, 

becoming props and puppets in 
Anderson’s quest for aesthetic 
pleasure. Although he touches 
on different parts of Japanese 
culture, Anderson’s exploration 
is so shallow that the film could 
easily have taken place instead in 
some rural town in Canada and 
barely skipped a beat. So, why set 
it in Japan? Anderson goes on to 
say with Entertainment Weekly, 
“The movie is a fantasy … a 
reimagining of Japan through 
my experience.” There we go, it’s 

a “fantasy,” a fetishized version 
of Japan for aesthetic purposes.

All writers appropriate stories. 

A white man making a film 
about Japan is less than ideal, 
but that’s why “Isle of Dogs” 
should more aptly be called 
cultural fetishization. This is 
my term for artists who want to 
appreciate another culture, but 
end up tone-deaf and treating 
their subject matter as exotic 
or secondary to the story for 
aesthetic as well as educational 
reasons. This mindset shows 
in an interview that Bryan 
Cranston, who voices the dog 
Chief in “Isle of Dogs,” had with 
The 
Independent. 
Cranston 

argued, in support of Anderson 
and against the idea that the film 
is cultural appropriation, “Art 
should in some cases be very 
relatable … ‘I know this guy, I 
like him, I know where he lives, 
I’m very familiar,’ and then there 
are other art forms that should 
introduce you to something 
you are not familiar with … and 
‘Isle of Dogs’ has that sense of 
the culture, the language, the 
drumming. It is an introduction 
to something you’re not familiar 
with and it adds to the fabric of 
the storytelling.” 

In other words, “Isle of 

Dogs” is a white man’s attempt 
to explain Japanese people to 
a white audience. This film 
waves the flag of diversity as a 
cover-up for the fact that it is 
meant to educate the dominant 
(white) culture, not pay homage 
to Japan. If the purpose of a 
film is to ogle at the ‘other,’ the 
unfamiliar, then at least put 
us, the supposed ‘other,’ in the 
spotlight — giving jobs and a 
voice to the people being put on 
display. The insult is only greater 
when we are simultaneously 
treated like animals at the zoo 
and ignored. In the case of “Isle 
of Dogs,” the appropriation is 
not the biggest problem, but 
rather the fetishization of a 
whole culture for the purpose of 
aesthetics, while this culture is 
not even the center of attention.

‘Isle of Dogs,’ cultural fetishization 
and the Asian American experience

Matt & Kim

Royal Oak Music 

Theater

April 18

$30

I saw Matt and Kim for the 

first time when I was 15 years 
old. My parents dropped me and 
two friends at the show in Detroit 
— untrusting of my older friend 
who offered to take me — before 
heading to Greektown Casino. 
Prior to that day, I had never been 
to a standing room 
show, having only 
tagged 
along 
to 

concerts with my 
family to see Zac 
Brown 
Band 
or 

Kenny 
Chesney 

perform at arenas. 
Over the years, I’ve 
seen Matt and Kim 
play progressively 
larger stages in front of bigger and 
bigger crowds, each time going 
toe-to-toe with their growing fan 
base’s enthusiasm. Despite the 
changes that the passing years 
have brought for the duo, they’ve 
managed to hold onto a unique 
sense of bliss and belonging that 
spills into their crowds and floods 
the bodies of everyone dancing 
and singing along. Almost six years 
after that fateful day in Detroit, I 
still owe its magnetic atmosphere 
for most of my love for live music to 
this very day.

In an interview with The 

Daily, keyboardist / vocalist Matt 
Johnson (who composes one half 
of the duo alongside drummer/
vocalist Kim Schifino) discusses 
the signature energy of a Matt and 
Kim show, his relationship with 
Kim and their forthcoming album 
Almost Everyday, which is set to 
release on May 4.

Discussing 
his 
experiences 

and priorities as the musician on 
the stage, Johnson highlights the 
importance of crowd interaction 
at their shows, which produces 
incredibly spirited results.

“A huge thing for us for years, 

as we grew and got bigger — 
the rooms got bigger, festivals, 
whatever — it was how to keep it 
all about everybody in the room, 
not just the two people on stage,” 
Johnson said. “Like, when we 
first started out we were playing 
in little warehouses in Brooklyn 
where we’d be on the floor with 
everyone else, and it was just this 
party/vibe energy: we’re all doing 
this together.”

While I’ve never seen them play 

on the floor of a warehouse, I can 
attest to “this party/vibe energy” 
of their shows. The attendees 
never stop moving, crowd surfers 
bask in an unnamed glory atop the 
hands in the crowd, while people 
jump and sing to every song. 
Johnson’s voice is welcoming in 
tone, inviting the fans to sing along 
with a budding happiness growing 
up and outward with every passing 
minute.

Supplementing the accessibility 

of their indie pop, Matt and 
Kim know how to take their 
performance to the next level 
through crowd interaction. They 
blast confetti, toss balloons and 
literally dance on top of the crowd 
(while encouraging their fans to do 
the same).

“It’s like breaking that wall 

in the front. Just trying to get 
everyone to dance and jump 
around, that energy is what makes 
the show,” Johnson said.

Beyond 
their 
crowd 

interactions, 
Johnson 
also 

reflected on the importance of his 
relationship with Schifino. Both 

share a confident, breezy charisma 
that is intensified by their dynamic, 
playful jokes and back-and-forth 
banter — for example, Schifino 
joked about Johnson’s enjoyment 
of “pegging” at Mo Pop in 2017.

“I assume people connect to 

seeing two people who really do 
love each other on stage — that 
could go for any sort of friendship 
to any escalation … I’ve seen bands 
that have a tough time getting 
along, and I think sometimes that 

energy comes on 
the stage,” Johnson 
explained.

Johnson 
also 

elaborated on their 
carefree attitude in 
performance 
that 

adds to this energy: 
“We make so many 
mistakes, 
we’re 

imperfect, we’re no 

sort of virtuoso instrumentalists, 
but there’s an energy we try to 
create that we get wrapped up in, 
and I think that the audience gets 
wrapped up in it, too.”

We then discussed Matt and 

Kim’s upcoming release Almost 
Everyday, where the duo makes 
a 
noticeable 
jump 
towards 

electro-pop without abandoning 
the signature simplicity of their 
melodies. Yet, Johnson noted that 
the state of the world around them 
had a much larger influence in 
the writing of their new album in 
comparison to their past work.

“It came from somewhat of 

a different place than all of the 
albums that preceded it. Mostly 
because it was about getting 
some stuff off our chest and some 
feelings we were having on a year 
that was tough. Because Kim was 
recovering from surgery, and just 
out in the political climate it was 
so difficult and bad things were 
happening,” Johnson said. “You 
know, a lot more of our albums, 
lyrically, came from a different 
perspective, a more everyday 
perspective. This ended up a lot 
more personal, these sort of realer 
things we were going through.”

This idea threads through the 

album, 
rationalizing 
internally 

what is happening externally. 
First single “Forever” explores the 
difficulties of living in a “world 
of shit,” while “All In My Head” 
features only a few cries of the title 
over waves of crashing cymbals 
and interjected horns, almost like 
a reflection on the chaotically 
fluctuating nature of living in 
today’s world. The duo asks “How 
do you wake from a nightmare?” 
on final track “Where Do We Go 
From Here?” while perforating 
this uncertainty with quips of 
positivity in the song’s last minute.

The unifying force of Matt 

and Kim’s music is the pursuit 
of happiness, and this is far from 
abandoned on Almost Everyday; 
speaking to their decision on the 
title, Johnson explained: “It just 
seemed like we were just dealing 
with more tough shit, more 
tough news and all of that ‘almost 
everyday.’ They’re just like us, 
working through the difficulties 
of everyday life that might seem 
a little more oppressive and 
omnipresent in 2018, but they 
certainly haven’t let that negativity 
warp the cheeriness of their music.

On Apr. 19, Matt and Kim will 

be performing at Royal Oak Music 
Theater, undoubtedly ready to 
ignite one hell of a fire under the 
feet of the crowd and hopefully 
with a few new tricks up their 
sleeve from Almost Everyday. 
Tickets for the event can be 
purchased here.

Matt of Matt & 
Kim talks album, 
performing style

DOMINIC POLSINELLI

Senior Arts Editor

FADER LABEL

CONCERT PREVIEW

MEGHAN CHOU

Daily Arts Writer

FILM NOTEBOOK

5A — Monday, April 16, 2018
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

