Classifieds
Call: #734-418-4115
Email: dailydisplay@gmail.com
FOR RENT
SERVICES
HELP WANTED
SUMMER EMPLOYMENT
2 & 4 Bedroom Apartments
$1400‑$2800 plus utilities.
Tenants pay electric to DTE
Showings scheduled M‑F 10‑3
w/ 24 hour notice required
1015 Packard
734‑996‑1991
5 & 6 Bedroom Apartments
1014 Vaughn
$3000 ‑ $3600 plus utilities
Showings scheduled M‑F 10‑3
w/ 24 hour notice required
734‑996‑1991
ARBOR PROPERTIES
Award‑Winning Rentals in
Kerrytown
Central Campus, Old
West Side, Burns Park. Now Renting
for 2018.
734‑649‑8637 | www.arborprops.com
FALL 2018 HOUSES
# Beds Location Rent
5 1016 S. Forest $3600
4 827 Brookwood $2900
4 852 Brookwood $2900
4 1210 Cambridge $2900
Tenants pay all utilities.
Showings scheduled M‑F 10‑3
w/ 24 hr notice required
734‑996‑1991
LARGE 3 BDRM. at 119 E Lib‑
erty. All three rooms have sky light.
Washer and dryer, central air. Heart of
Ann Arbor, 7 min. walk to UM. One
year lease. Avail
able NOW. $2400
per month, $800 per person (room for
three people). No park
ing. Please call
734‑769‑8555.
TWO BDRM APT. 325 E Liberty
good location for two people. Apt
above Per
sian House 5 min. walk to
UM. Free heat, washer/dryer, shared
internet. Available NOW. One year
lease. $1600 per month. 734‑769‑8555
or 734‑662‑0805.
STUDENT SUMMER STORAGE
Specials‑ Indoor, Clean, Safe and
closest to Campus. Reserve online
at
annar
borstorage.com
or
call
734‑663‑0690 to
day as spaces are
filling fast!
P/T
COMPUTER
PROGRAM-
MER with strong math background
and
familiar
ity
with
MATLAB
required. Experience with C++ desir‑
able. Individual will need to gain
knowledge of immunology. Salary
commensurate w/ exp. Contact: Dr
Stephanie Evans: evansst@umich.
edu
WORK ON MACKINAC Island
This Summer – Make lifelong friends.
The Island House Hotel and Ryba’s
Fudge Shops are seeking help in all
areas: Front Desk, Bell Staff, Wait
Staff, Sales Clerks, Kitchen, Baristas.
Dorm Housing, bonus, and discount‑
ed meals.
(906) 847‑7196.
www.theislandhouse.com
FOLLOW US ON TWITTER
@michigandaily
NOW.
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