REVIEW: Logic: Who Can Relate?

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The Who Can Relate? event was one of the best events I’ve seen in my time on campus.  If not for the technical difficulties, it would have been near perfect.  The event started off strong with a pre recorded message about mental health by former POTUS Bill Clinton.  After the powerful message by former president Clinton, the men’s glee club took the stage.  They sang an incredible rendition of “Glory” by Common and John Legend featuring some incredible vocalists on the lead parts.  I recognized one of the vocalists as one of the students who did an outstanding job singing in Porgy and Bess.  After the last member of the glee club exited the stage, we welcomed actor Glenn Close, founder of the BringChange2Mind charity.  Glenn shared a heartwarming story about her sister who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.  She is the inspiration behind Glenn starting her charity.  Everything seemed to be going smoothly as Glenn planned to show a video, but then the screen unfortunately fell victim to technical difficulties.  In an attempt to buy some time for her video, Glenn sang a song, but it would end up taking them the better part of the mental health half of the event for them to fix the screen.  Even though, the video was never shown, the event was so moving it might not have even needed it.  Kevin Hines was next up to speak.  He knew that most people in the auditorium did not know who he was going into the event and used that knowledge to his advantage with his presentation.  Before introducing himself he gave an impassioned speech about the importance of life and then shared his story with us.  He is one of less than 40 people to have survived jumping off of the Golden Gate Bridge out of over 2000.  It is one of the “most exclusive clubs” one can be in, as he put it.  Even more amazing, is that fact that he regained full mobility in his body and suffered no major injuries from the suicide attempt.  Upon sharing this knowledge, the entire auditorium fell absolutely silent.  After having us repeat “I want to be alive” three times, each with greater intensity, Mr. Hines left the stage to raucous applause.  Hakeem Rahim, the founder of I Am Acceptance, gave a series of spoken word pieces that were fantastic.  He was followed by Brandon Marshall and his wife Michi to end the purely mental health portion of the event.  Brandon personally has borderline personality disorder and talked about the importance of asking for help.  I have personally already seen his “A Football Life” documentary where he discusses his struggles with BPD, so it was amazing to see him in real life.  After all of the empowering speeches about mental health, it was time for Logic to close the night.  There was a short delay where they eventually ended up fixing the screen.  Logic’s DJ came out and warmed up the crowd with 30 snippets of songs that were surprisingly well connected.  Finally, it was time for the real deal, Logic himself.  He came out with a Maize and Blue shirt on, ready to take over the show.  He informed the crowd that this would be his first time performing songs from his new album, Bobby Tarantino II, so, naturally, we went wild.  After a great set of mostly new songs mixed with some funny audience interaction and Logic’s spiel about not using our phones, we had reached the song that really embodied the night, “1-800-273-8255”.  The title of Logic’s hit is the number for the suicide hotline, and he had been saving it to close his formal set for this event so that he could remind us of what we were all really there for, a gathering in support of mental health.  After an amazing performance of that song, Logic decided to play his other hit, “Everybody”, as an encore.  The performance he gave was fantastic and the night overall was really moving.  This event was one of the best I’ve seen on campus, and I highly recommend going to anything similar in the future.

PREVIEW: Bad History Month / Soft Fangs / Johanna Baumann

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On April 10, 7-10:30 PM, Electric Eye Cafe presents a concert featuring Bad History Month, Soft Fangs, and Johanna Baumann. Suggested donation is $5.

Bad History Month, from Boston, MA, is the solo project of Sean Bean, and has been described as “a glum, anti-folk act.” NPR writes about the the band’s music as being a “combination of ribald jokes, effervescent self-deprecation and blunt existentialism focused on understanding oneself from the inside out in service of isolation — assuming the position of the middle school loner in the back of a classroom.”

Soft Fangs’s music is, well, soft. With gentle melodies and harmonies, accompanied by John Lutkevich’s mellow vocals, Soft Fang’s music is a mix of the dreampop, shoegaze, and indie genres. Check it out here.

Johanna Baumann is an artist based in Ann Arbor. I listened to her album, Peach, the other day, and really enjoyed it! My favorite tracks include “Peach” and “Boy Who Loved Anne.” Here is her bandcamp page.

Electric Eye Cafe is a recently opened coffee shop, who describes themselves as “the Dream-Come-To-Life for Our Team. Envisioning a calm and measured space & atmosphere from which to enjoy the art of coffee.” I have not had the chance to visit yet, but after scrolling through the pictures and reviews on their Facebook page, I cannot wait to pay a long-overdue visit! The cafe has been hailed as providing a great space for creative work, fantastic service, and delicious coffee and baked goods (also free wifi!) Here is a link to their website and Facebook page.

PREVIEW: Korean Cinema NOW | Jane (꿈의 제인)

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On Saturday, April 7, 1-3 PM, the Nam Center for Korean Studies will be hosting a screening of Jane at the Michigan Theater. The event is FREE and open to the public.

Jane is a Korean movie about loneliness and chosen family, centering around So-hyun (played by Lee Min-ji), whose boyfriend has recently gone missing. She meets a transgender woman named Jane (played by Gu Gyo-hwan) and, together with a group of runways named Ji-soo, Dae-po, and Jong-gu, the group sets out in search of the missing boyfriend.

Given that South Korea is a country that is relatively conservative when it comes to issues of of LGBT rights, I am interested to see how the transgender character of Jane is rendered, as well as the narrative she creates for herself in the movie.

More information can be found on the Nam Center’s Facebook event and the Michigan Theater’s website.

Image credits: The Michigan Theater

PREVIEW: New Beat Happening Presents: Diet Cig and Palm

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Like alternative rock/ indie pop? This Wednesday, April 4, at 7:30 PM, come to the Union for a FREE Diet Cig and Palm concert, presented by New Beat Happening, a student org committed to bringing music to campus. (Tickets are free to students with an MCARD, when purchased at MUTO. If you would like to buy them online, they are $5).

I have been listening to Diet Cig for a while, and am personally really psyched to be able to see them play live. If you are a fan of Girlpool, Frankie Cosmos, or Slutever, you will probably enjoy Diet Cig, too. Their sound is bouncy and fun, a true testament to the “indie pop” genre. Check them out on Spotify! My favorite songs by them include “Harvard” and “Link in Bio.”

I am not as familiar with Palm, who are listed as part of the “experimental rock” genre, and who describe themselves as “playing rock music backwards.” The New York Times hailed the band as being “one of the most ambitious and promising acts in today’s art-rock scene.” I recommend giving their EP, “Shadow Expert,” a listen.

The Facebook event can be found here, and more information about the artists can be found on their Spotify pages or Bandcamps (1, 2).

 

REVIEW: A Fantastic Woman

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The outside world is always prying, straining its beady eyes to get a peek at our inner lives. It wants a public sacrifice of our most intimate secrets. It is never satisfied. Every morsel feeds an all-devouring hunger until there is nothing left unshared. In the film, A Fantastic Woman, Marina (Daniela Vega) feels this pressure more overtly than most. She is constantly subjected to questioning by people looking, searching for some undefinable thing that makes her wrong. But there is nothing to find. Marina is just another Chilean woman, working as a waitress by day and a singer by night. Yet, despite her best efforts, people refuse to accept her as she is because of her identity as a transgender woman. When her partner, Orlando (Francisco Reyes), dies suddenly, the gnawing everyday curiosity of others is given justification, a right to pry. Even as Marina grieves over the death of a loved one, she must endure constant questioning of the very nature of that love.

It is excruciating, to be pricked and prodded in the places where you have made yourself vulnerable. The film’s greatest success is translating this pain without ever becoming maudlin. Vega’s performance radiates the strength of a woman who has become accustomed to a world that is always seeking more information instead of understanding. She has adapted, but the sting is still there on her face, behind her eyes. Much of the film focuses on Vega’s face as she encounters various ignorant or openly antagonistic force. Each time, it becomes something newly expressive. During one conversation with Orlando’s ex-wife, Vega is outraged, grieving, smoothly impassive. She knows what the world needs to see. But in her moments alone, she is truly herself, even if only her dog is there to witness it.

Image result for a fantastic woman

The film may focus entirely on Marina’s day-to-day life, but by interweaving a melancholy surrealism, it also provides a welcome variation on the typical, staid drama. In these moments, the film becomes beautiful and mysterious. It does not bother to explain away any of these enigmas. Instead, they act as the visible expressions of emotion that Marina must bottle up in front of others. Director Sebastián Lelio gives the audience both the privilege and burden of watching Marina closely. Even in her most uncomfortable moments, the camera is aimed unswervingly at her. But there are scenes where the film floats above the daily humiliations that Marina must endure. Scenes where it becomes swirling color and ecstatic dance sequences.  Scenes of humanity even when one has been declared a monster.

A Fantastic Woman is an expertly made, character-driven film. With its single-minded focus, it could easily become monotone. But the inclusion of Vega allows the film to craft a fascinating story without a sensationalist plot. By the end, the constant yearning to know more has been eliminated, not through nosiness, but compassion. We know exactly who Marina is. And she is fantastic.

REVIEW: Bloom

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NERDS can lift any sad or sick spirit. After a couple days of feeling under the weather, involving little movement and work, I made my way to the Union to watch this semester’s production of Bloom. And that was certainly the highlight of an otherwise bad weekend.

As a purely student-run theater group, this original production was amazing in terms of its talent in acting, singing, composing, and writing, as well as the powerful message it conveyed. Despite some curtain technical difficulties (handled with poise and laughter) and an extended intermission due to the game (GO BLUE), the cast carried on and performed this important work filled with heartfelt, heavy content that is not represented in media enough. The importance of the opportunity NERDS provides students cannot be emphasized enough. Diana Yassin, part of the ensemble, said, “It was a really good experience because I’ve never done anything theater-based in high school because it was always really intense and stressful and scary. But then I came here…and it was really fun and there’s not a lot of pressure on it and everyone’s really nice.” You heard it here folks: NERDS makes dreams come true.

Leah King and Asritha Vinnakota’s portrayal of best friends Margot and Aggie, each struggling to make sense of their own sexualities, was very real and authentic. Their misguided intentions and projected insecurities are problems all too common in friendships and the community. The fact that this Austen-era world highly resembles today’s world still is disconcerting. But it is works like this that is changing the narrative.

This musical had many intricate layers that complicated the lives of the characters. Playwrite Sarah Costello did an amazing job highlighting the difficulties of being understood, even among close friends and people who might understand you better than you might think. The tension between Margot and Aggie was heartbreaking, as their struggles were more similar than they knew, showing how one’s identity may obscure the understanding of another’s.

Taking place in a world where impromptu love duets determine your fate, Margot’s inability to romantically duet led to many raw solos that Leah absolutely killed. Asritha’s gut-wrenching performance of “Right In Front Of Your Eyes” showed everyone the silent struggles Aggie also deals with as she grapples with her own feelings of bisexuality. Toby Jaroslaw’s well-intentioned Ollie complicated the situation but despite his embarrassment, his continued support at the end is a perfect example of how one should treat someone who comes out as asexual and aromantic — exactly how you treated them before (and his proposal number “Next To You” was stuck in my head for the rest of the night). As the town’s outcast, Ellen Paquet’s song as Aunt Clarabel was so beautiful, it was exactly what Margot needed to hear. And the platonic duet between Margot and Aggie at the end was truly heartwearming as each character began to accept that they are exactly who they are meant to be.

The costumes were beautifully designed and symbolically important. Margot’s stunning dress — purple, white, and black — was the color of the flag for asexuality, and Aggie’s was the color of bisexuality — pink, lavender, and blue. The subtle symbols may seem small, but they are huge for raising awareness, as well as being an integral part of each character.

Bloom was truly groundbreaking in terms of representation for invisible and misunderstood minorities. Castmember Fareah Fysudeen commented on the significance of this musical, saying, “I think it’s really important for representation…and I’m sure it meant a lot to people in the crowd and onstage. Overall, it was just a really enriching experience.” Just as Sarah wrote the change she wanted to see, every member of NERDS believed in the power of this musical and dedicated three months of their time to this production, being the change they also wanted to see onstage.

Championing platonic love over romantic love, a concept foreign to many heteronormative people, is not weird or abnormal. Being aromantic or asexual does not mean something is wrong with you. Just as Margot was a beautiful character that gradually found her way to happiness and acceptance, if you are struggling to find your place with your sexuality, Bloom shows that there is a community that cares. You are wanted, you are accepted, you are loved, and you are supported. You, too, will bloom.