The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com b-side Thursday, December 5, 2019 — 5B B-SIDE: TV/FILM CROSSOVER Comedians Tina Fey and Amy Poehler began their night as hosts of the 2015 Golden Globes with a joke that would define popular media in the 2010s: “Only at the Golden Globes do the beautiful people of film rub shoulders with the rat-faced people of television.” This line, while intended to poke fun at the persistent belief that film is a higher and more prestigious art form than television, actually exposes a recent trend that has made this belief obsolete. The Golden Globes aren’t the only place where faces from both film and TV cross paths; in fact, the worlds of the two mediums have become so enmeshed that the distinction between movie star and TV actor is no longer clear-cut. In a decade where streaming services like Netflix and Hulu dominate cable television, the idea that TV has no artistic value has faded away almost entirely. When sitcoms and procedurals were the most popular shows on television, it was easy to say that the medium may not be as impactful or meaningful as cinema. However, with billions of dollars spent every year on original content for streaming services, television has evolved far beyond its small-time roots. While bitingly funny, Fey and Poehler’s suggestion that the worlds of film and TV are overlapping fails to acknowledge that, in the past ten years, these worlds have become nearly identical. Rather than pushing “serious” actors to film, renowned television series have pulled top-billed names into the TV industry and made the careers of countless new stars. With the stigma towards TV as a lower-budget medium effectively erased, talent has sprawled across its native platforms. In fact, the Golden Globes are the perfect representation of how the film and TV industries have intersected. The award show, which has categories for film and TV productions, has seen steady ratings in a time where more niche award shows like the Emmys and the Oscars have experienced a significant decrease in ratings over the past few years. The Golden Globes have also been lauded for their commitment to coming through on promises of diversity on-screen and on-stage. The blurring of lines between TV and film has opened doors for new stars and new representation that was previously unseen in the nearly all-white films and shows before the 2010s. While minorities and women are still underrepresented in pop culture, the push for more varied stories and faces to tell those stories has intensely affected both industries. By acknowledging the growing similarities between the forms of media, the quality of TV shows and films has responded to the other’s respective success with more thought for the consumer. As the demand for representation has increased, each platform has raced to make that goal a reality. While there is still much work to be done in improving the entertainment industry as a whole, it is undeniable that the reactions of TV and film producers will be similar. With content and public interest becoming more closely aligned, the two formats will continue to merge as reflections of the calls for social change in popular media. Soon, it won’t be just the Golden Globes where TV and film are in the same room together. It’ll be in every aspect of their production and use. — Anya Soller, Daily Arts Writer In sum: The 2010s have been a decade of convergence for television and movies. “Movies,” here, means specifically the Scorsese-would-spit-on-their-graves type, all the “Potters”, and Marvels, and “Star Wars” and “Jurassic Parks.” The “television” I’m referencing is not the latest CBS sitcom — not “God Friended Me,” not “Man with a Plan.” The convergence of movies and television has been brought on by that other class of TV, those script-driven-dramas that aim to rise to a higher artistic occasion, reckoning themselves serious and important, and receiving crucial praise that would validate them as such. High-brow television has, as Richard Brody put it in his recent New Yorker article on the 27 best movies of the decade, taken the place of the “so-called mid-range drama for adults,” filling the niche in entertainment for script-driven narratives, often “(subtracting out any) discernable directorial originality or inventiveness.” At the same time, movies have stolen a core tenet of the television show: the serialization. Every single one of the top twenty movies in the box office this decade, as well as the most profitable film from each year this decade (minus 2014’s ticket-stub crown going to “American Sniper”), has been a remake or a franchise film. If it’s true that there’s been a resurgence of box office numbers, if it’s true that people are getting back to the theaters, it’s cinematic, extended universes and nostalgia trips that are putting butts into seats. The decade-long period that started in the mid-2000s and ran through the middle of the 2010s, often called the Golden Age of Television, was headlined by television shows that aimed to reach past what was narratively expected of them, working with literary aspirations, even, in some cases. As Adam Wilson noted in his reflective essay in Harper’s on the many Golden Ages of television earlier this fall, critics aren’t afraid to pass around the idea of the visual medium as a literary one, pulling a quote from writer Brett Martin, who called “The Wire” “one of the greatest literary accomplishments of the early twenty-first century.” If you ask the average, avid fan of television, you’ll hear that it’s TV, not cinema, that’s taken the seat as the rightful artistic heir to the novel, the play, the poetic epic — not that there needs to be a successor, not that it was necessarily going to be cinema in the first place. What does it say that the evolution of each of these forms — of television and of movies — seems to have come at the hands of the other? More so in the past decade than ever before, industry creativity and talent has been pumped into prestige dramatic television, with every studio, cable channel and streaming service looking for their spiritual successor to “The Sopranos” and “The Wire.” Just so, we’ve seen Hollywood rear its ugly (and obviously profit-driven) head — the advent of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the sequel- storm that followed, making explicitly clear what the industry values: Selling tickets at any cost, even if that means the end product tends toward unoriginal, repetitive, increasingly vapid. Hollywood’s major model to this end has been to franchise everything, to jam anything they can into a cinematic, extended, multi-movie universe. All of a sudden, the slate at your local multi-plex begins to resemble the schedule of a cable television channel. Installment after installment after installment of stories that seem like they’ll never advance, nevermind end. *** Throughout this decade, streaming services like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime have further blurred the line between television and film, releasing Oscar-contending features directly onto laptops and living room televisions, a type of direct, front-facing access with the content that used to be reserved for TV. Big name directors like Noah Baumbach, Alfonso Cuarón, Bong Joon Ho and Martin Scorsese have turned to Netflix to make movies, in many cases bypassing a theatrical release wholesale. Just a few weeks ago, the Department of Justice released a statement declaring that they would be terminating the Supreme Court decision from 1948 which broke up vertical integration — the monopolies that studios like Paramount had — in the entertainment industry. The historic Paramount decision prohibited studios from owning their own theaters, creating competition by ensuring that each local theater, maybe the only one in a city or region, wasn’t showing movies made by only one company. The timing of the DOJ’s decision comes with more than a hint of irony. The crossover of the decade: 2020 in film and television HBO As we move into the next decade, I can’t help but believe that cinema — in the Scorsese-would- NOT-spit-on- their-graves sense — will be further banished from the studio system. B-SIDE: TV NOTEBOOK Ranking television shows is an impossible task, one that’s only gotten more difficult as there are fewer and fewer shows that everyone watches. There is little difference between number five and number three, so I am opting to chronologically rank them instead. Binge-watching television shows, as opposed to viewing them week-to-week, makes it harder to recall the details as you don’t have any time to process. As we near the end of the decade, here is a list of the shows no one should forget. 5. “30 Rock” (2006-2013) Available on Hulu 138 Episodes Bizarre, hilarious and witty. Loosely based on Tina Fey’s experience as a head writer for “Saturday Night Live,” “30 Rock” follows Fey’s character, Liz Lemon, as the head writer and showrunner of the NBC sketch comedy show “TGS with Tracy Jordan.” She supervises the cast and crew, which includes her best friend Jenna Maroney (Jane Krakowski, “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”), the difficult-to-manage Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan, “Green Eggs and Ham”) and network executive Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin, “Saturday Night Live”). Episodes often feature arguments between Donaghy’s conservative views against Lemon’s liberal ones, Maroney’s attempts to become a film star, Jordan’s poor behavior and their romantic and personal lives. It is extremely reflexive, making jokes about NBC and even satirizing Comcast’s acquisition of it. 4. “The Office” (2005-2013) Available on Netflix 201 Episodes Based on the British show of the same name, “The Office” is a mockumentary-style sitcom that depicts the everyday lives of office employees in Scranton, Pennsylvania at the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. It employs a huge ensemble cast, most notably Steve Carell as Michael Scott, the well-intentioned yet often misunderstood regional manager who frequently ends up annoying his employees. The first season was met with mixed reviews but was followed by several seasons of critical acclaim. Although the final two seasons did not feature Carell (resulting in a large dip in quality), the show will always be remembered for being one of the first comedies in the United States without a laugh track to have solid ratings. There may never be a character like Michael Scott on television again, so get your last couple re-watches through because the show is heading to NBC’s own streaming platform in January of 2021. Until then, “The Office” remains Netflix’s most streamed show. 3. “Parks and Recreation” (2009-2015) Available on Netflix 125 Episodes “Parks and Rec” is often compared to “The Office,” and people will get in heated debates about which show is better (I am, personally, Team Leslie). This mockumentary- style political satire sitcom stars Amy Poehler as Leslie Knope, the deputy director of the Parks and Recreation Department in the fictional town of Pawnee, Indiana alongside her best friend Ann Perkins (Rashida Jones, “Angie Tribeca”). Additionally, it features a strong supporting cast that includes Aziz Ansari, Nick Offerman, Aubrey Plaza and Chris Pratt. Laugh, TV is funny JUSTIN POLLACK Daily Arts Writer B-SIDE: COMMUNITY CULTURE NOTEBOOK I come from a family of five: a brother, a sister and two moms. “Two moms” is an interesting way to express the different and historically complicated relationship of being raised by a lesbian couple, though “two moms” is how I have always described my family situation. This is often followed by “oh, you have a step- mom.” Nope. “Your dad remarried?” Wrong again. “Then were you adopted?” Sperm donor. It took some time before I was able to comprehend why my situation was so confusing. To be raised by an openly gay couple is rare. Alix, the co-writer of this piece, is the first person I have ever met who shares this experience. Rare experiences make for interesting writing, and I am happy to share as we reminisce on the decade and the legalization of gay marriage that came with it. One question I often receive, as a heterosexual male, is what it was like to be void of fatherly influence in my upbringing. My response to this, for the majority of my life was, “Well, I have uncles and grandfathers,” which is a response I regret to have ever given out. The question itself is problematic, for what is fatherly influence? Is it knowing how to play football? My mother taught me how to throw a tight spiral. Is it having some older representative of male anatomy? My parents are both physicians — they know more about male anatomy than most dads. I call my brother my brother and my sister my sister even though we share no genetic connection. I call them my brother and my sister because we grew up together, under the same roof, calling the same people our parents. I call both my parents mom, because that is who they have always been to me and my siblings. This is not in defense of gay marriage, because we have nothing to be defensive of. My family and I lack anything to be sorry for, we bear no burdens for having lived the way we always have. Gay marriage should have never have had to be legalized, because it never should have been illegal in the first place. I was provided a safe home, a childhood I am fond of, a space for creativity and freedom of ideas. My lesbian parents raised three children and did a fine job doing so. We are all healthy, in a good state of mind, with goals and aspirations: I’m not sure what else a straight family could provide. For years, I was silent at school about our family situation, especially since my siblings and I grew up in a fairly conservative area. After the legalization of gay marriage, it felt as though there was some national recognition of our family after years of rejection and fear of exile. The legalization of gay marriage meant a great deal for my family, though it was more symbolic of national and political acceptance. My parents had been together for over twenty years and had raised three children before their partnership was legally recognized. In this sense, the act was more an affirmation than a permission slip, but it was celebrated nonetheless. In 2015, my mother proposed to my other mother at our family home, despite already having been together for twenty years. There are many stories like my parents’ because the legalization was a chance to renew an already solid partnership, in a bond familiar to those who had disavowed them for millennia. — Zachary M.S. Waarala, Daily Arts Writer *** Growing up with lesbian moms meant that there was a routine of phrases I had plenty of practice saying. “Yes, I really have four moms.” “No, they are not in a polygamous relationship.” “No, I’m not adopted, I had a sperm donor.” “No, I don’t really care to meet him.” The list goes on. I’ve told the story of my familial life so often, I could say it in my sleep. My parents are lesbians. When I was three they separated and each met new partners. My two lesbian mothers multiplied into four and boom, I have four moms. When I was in third grade, I came up with nicknames for all of them in order to make conversations about my moms less confusing when I was talking with my friends. The nicknames stuck and now, whenever I talk about my moms I refer to them as “Broken Ankle Mom” (because she had a broken ankle at the time), “Police Mom” (because she is a policewoman), “Taco Bell Mom” (she used to work at Taco Bell) and British Mom (she’s British). Growing up, my familial life never seemed out of the ordinary. Even though there was only one other kid in my town who had gay parents, I didn’t feel any different. I grew up in a pretty conservative area, yet nobody made fun of me. At least, not to my face. I’m sure they might’ve said some things behind my back. In fact, one time in high school, a football player whispered to me, “I know your secret … your parents are gay.” Which I found pretty hilarious at the time (and still do). The only thing I found weird was that before June 26, 2015, my parents were never married. My birth mother and my British mom were together for ten years before they separated. If they could have legally gotten married, they would have. Sure, all of my mothers acknowledged that marriage wasn’t a defining factor of their love. Yet, the numerous legal issues that came along with not being allowed to marry was quite frustrating. I remember once, when my Birtish mom was hospitalized, the hospital did not allow my policewoman mom to visit her during “family only hours.” She had to sit outside in the waiting room, unable to stand beside the love of her life during what was quite a traumatic experience. In the eyes of the law, they were just two women who lived together. It was because of this that I so desperately wanted gay marriage to be legalized. In fact, I even wrote a letter to President Obama asking him to make it legal. I still have the “letter” he wrote back to me framed in my childhood bedroom, complete with the ever- personal phrase, “Dear Student of America.” The day gay marriage was finally legalized was a visceral experience. I was on my first ever date with a girl when I heard the news. We were at the local zoo and my phone exploded with texts from all of my moms. I came home from my date to the rainbow flag flying outside of our house. Our family had always been valid to us, but now we were seen as valid in the eyes of our country. The five remaining years of the 2010s were complete with both sets of mothers tying the knot with one another. While the love between my parents was omnipresent during the first half of the decade, it was the legalization of gay marriage that made the latter half of the decade something to celebrate. After gay marriage was legalized, there was a sense of hope that both Zach’s and my family shared. A hope for the future. A hope that families like ours wouldn’t feel the insecurity we felt. Because there is no reason to feel insecure. Families like Zach’s and mine have love at their core, just as other families do. Love that has always existed and will continue to exist, regardless of what any law could ever say. — Alix Curnow, Daily Arts Writer Growing up with multiple moms Read more at MichiganDaily.com ZACHARY M.S. WAARALA Daily Arts Writer ALIX CURNOW Daily Arts Writer ANYA SOLLER Daily Arts Writer STEPHEN SATARINO Daily Film Editor Read more at MichiganDaily.com In 2015, my mother proposed to my other mother at our family home, despite already having been together for 20 years.