Category: Uncategorized

After a week that seemed like it took centuries to put behind me, I finally made it to Friday night, when I trekked to the Power Center to see Théâtre de la Ville’s production of Luigi Pirandello’s Six Characters in Search of an Author. The actors were superb, the set design was great, and the story itself had just the right amount of absurdism for the laywoman (me) to feel artistic, while still understand what was going on. What I really want to talk about today, though, is the use of subtitles in theatre.

First, to provide some context of the venue if you’ve never been there — the Power Center is large for a local or university theatre. According to the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance website, the proscenium (the area in front of the curtain) measures in at 55 feet, 3.75 inches by 28 feet. And this is where the subtitles were projected — at least 20 feet away from any of the actors’ faces.

If you look at this picture, the screens were hanging from the ceiling in the center and sitting on the stage on the left and right…

Although I was able to follow the French quite well last night, a couple of years ago, when I had considerably less education and work experience in the language, I went to see this same company perform Eugène Ionesco’s Rhinocéros. Throughout the production, I found myself staring at any one of these screens for about ninety percent of the two hour span. I walked out of the theatre really wanting to rave to the world about how much I loved the play and how it enlightened me, because I did love the writing, but I couldn’t. It took me a while to pinpoint why, but sooner or later, I realized that I was frustrated because I wasn’t seeing the movement on stage and the emotions on the faces of the actors. Of course, I could hear the notes of joy, pain, excitement, and terror in their voices; however, I didn’t feel immersed in the experience because I couldn’t rely on the sense upon which I depend most to read people in my everyday life — eyesight. The situation is different with film, I think, because the subtitles are right under the actors. If you read them quickly enough, you can usually switch your focus back to the images above and still catch the visual action unfolding. Twenty feet of distance to travel, though, was a bit too much for my eyes to handle.

After the play last night, the University Musical Society actually hosted a Question and Answer session with the director, Emmanuel Demarcy-Mota. Sitting in a folding chair on stage, this slight man embodied every positive stereotype of a Frenchman. Fitted navy blazer with black everything else. Chic. Check. Impeccable posture and only using his hands to accentuate the important details of his speech. Elegant. Check. His voice increasing to a vigorous tone whenever he really cared about something. Passionate. Check. And he really cared about those subtitles. He kept repeating that he loved how the author could be present through them, complementing the acting, how text can serve as a bridge between the literary and the theatrical worlds of a play. His argument was very fair, and he was very persuasive, but I was still not crazy about them in this venue.

At the same time, I have to admit that without subtitling, this show would have probably never come to the university. The people of the Ann Arbor community, bilingual or not, would not have had the opportunity to welcome a culture so beautifully unique to their own.

And that would have been a shame.

I don’t think anyone will argue with the statement that society seems to be losing its creativity. Hollywood is awash with remakes and adaptions, the literary world is stuffed with paranormal teen romances, and even advertising is splitting into two distinct worlds, one dominated by sex, and the other dominated by quirky non-jokes. An interesting look into declining creativity is adaptions and the “twists” they try to create in established stories. One of the clearest examples of this is Little Red Riding Hood.

Little Red Riding Hood has been adapted several times, and while it is one of my personal favorite fairy tales, its re-imaginings have been lackluster to say the least. The only word I have to say in order to explain most adaptions of this tale is, “werewolves.” While it makes sense in certain circumstances, there are also many other ways to create an interesting take on the tale. Werewolves can be used very cleverly, like in the game The Wolf Among Us, or it can be used as cheap plot device, like in the 2011 film, Red Riding Hood. Nevertheless, the constant werewolf barrage is no longer interesting to a general audience since we are oversaturated.

So this is my plea to any creative types out there, if you have the want to create a new version of Little Red Riding Hood, please avoid the werewolves and help to return some creativity to us. Take a look at 2006’s Hoodwinked!, it turns Little Red Riding Hood into a comedy murder mystery that surprisingly works really well. Take the path less traveled and find a new way to twist the tale; link it to Greek mythology and turn Little Red into Persephone and the Big Bad Wolf becomes Cereberus, or, alternatively, make Little Red some form of beast tamer who learns to control the Big Bad Wolf. Possibilities are endless for tales like this. Don’t be afraid of flop because it’s not what people are used to. Without innovation, red wouldn’t even be a color we could see on our screens.

So, I know I’m pretty late in jumping aboard the Scandal train, but that’s what Netflix is all about, right? Right. This week (after finally getting all caught up on Mad Men of course) I decided Scandal would be my next Netflix drama to watch and damn, let me just tell you, I was far from disappointed. The overall positive reaction stemmed not from the script or the production quality, rather it was the refreshing complexity of the cast of characters that immediately had me hooked. Complex characters are, to me, something that have been so missing from television, too often sacrificed for a plot full of twists and turns designed to keep viewers coming back. I’ve noticed that shows that focus on character development rather than plot development are typically much more able to sustain long term high quality whereas there is only so much you can do with plot development. Complex characters give viewers something to latch onto because real people are complex. I see a bit of myself in each character of Scandal because they all operate on multiple levels: career, personal, romantic, head vs heart, etc. The show, thus far, explores what happens when these levels establish conflicting interests and this, my friends, is what had me sold after one episode.

It also doesn’t hurt that the protagonist Olivia Pope is a powerhouse woman who is a highly intelligent and confident leader. However, she is not dehumanized into “the bitch” figure often associated with women in charge, but rather highly respected by her colleagues and very relatable on a personal level to the audience. By this I mean that she is a complicated person just like you and me, one who’s leadership role doesn’t detract from her humanity.

My final piece of praise is for the show’s creator Shonda Rhimes and the writing team who manage to address at-large social and political topics in an extremely natural and nonjudgmental way. The whole purpose of Pope’s organization is to offer help to people without judgement. In the first two episodes this includes a potential murderer and a high end prostitution ring “Madame.” The show’s ability to address issues of politics, homosexuality, and the sex industry unflinchingly in the first few episodes says to me that it will not back down from topical issues, nor will it pass judgement on anyone without justifiable cause. To me, this is yet another affirmation of the value of each individual’s story, and though these stories may not fit with the commonly accepted standard culture has set, each story deserves to be valued, told, and heard. This story is breaking tremendous boundaries and I can’t wait to see how the next three seasons unfold.

You all know what I’ll be doing this weekend…

Growing up, I never dreamed of becoming Miss America. My exposure to pageantry consisted of Sandra Bullock in Miss Congeniality, commercial “sneak peaks” of Toddlers in Tiaras and stereotypes of bleach blondes dyed orange by too much spray tan. So last year when a family friend suggested I compete for the title of Miss Washtenaw County I politely declined, knowing that I was not the type of girl who did that sort of thing. This year, the allure of scholarship money overpowered my doubts and on the day of the deadline I submitted my entry form, not fully realizing what I had gotten myself into.

At orientation I discovered exactly what I had signed up for. As expected, the other contestants were gorgeous. Not the fake, too much make up kind of beauty that looks good from a few feet back but the girl next door kind of beauty generated by an immense confidence in themselves and a genuine smile. Beyond that, they were smart. Students at top universities with majors ranging from logic to dance, I heard discussion of 400 level math classes, impressive work experience and lofty career ambitions. Needless to say, these were not the girls I expected and I was intimidated.

Every volunteer I interacted with had only the highest of compliments to pay to the Miss America Organization and now having been through the local level of competition, I understand why. Each contestant is scored in 5 categories which have been designated the following percentage of the final score: Interview – 25%, On Stage Question – 5%, Health and Fitness (commonly known as swimsuit) – 15%, Talent – 35% and Evening – 20%. This scoring system rewards talented young women who are able to intelligently discuss issues currently facing our country and generation, who also are able to exhibit poise and confidence in front of large groups of people. The competition helps improve the contestants’ public speaking skills and awareness of current social issues. Additionally it helps to develop stage presence and increase their comfort level on stage in front of large groups of people.

When the results were announced I was completely taken by surprise. I entered the competition for fun. Worst case I would spend my Saturday in pretty dresses and best case I would earn some scholarship money. So when they called my name as Miss Washtenaw County 2014 I was stunned. The next 15 minutes in which I took my first walk as MWC 2014, took photos with the other contestants and my family, and proceeded to the afterglow are a blur.

If you had told me a month and a half ago that I would be Miss Wastenaw County 2014 odds are I would have burst out laughing. However, I cannot be more excited to spend the next year working on promoting my personal platform, Women in STEM, and supporting Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals as part of the national platform. This year will be an adventure and I’m looking forward to every moment of it.