Author: Allyson Murphy

Growing up locally in Houghton I have enjoyed being a part of this town and
now my college community. At college I stay busy as a member of the Soccer Team,
Print Matters Press, Freshmen Honors Program, and working at the Campus Store.
I am declared as an art and psychology double major as of now, though I feel quite
certain that English will replace one of those two. Writing for the Star has given
me an opportunity to practice my writing and editing skills, while at the same time
learning to critically analyze art and culture in the world around us today.

Categories
Stories In Focus

#SPOTOn: Strongest SPOT in Years

This year’s spring SPOT was a clear success.  Just by luking at the audience one could tell as everyone constantly johned in laughter together.  Senior roommates, Luke Ogden and John Carpenter did a superb job #tag teaming back and forth throughout the two hour show with an array of facetious comments and jokes. They kept it short and concise with fewer acts, while regularly engaging with the audience, therefore making this one of the strongest SPOTs in years.

SPOT_2As normal, not all acts were equally amusing, though few disappointed.  The show started out a little slow with a typical Christian school jab.  The song may have had one or two clever lines, but overall it served as the usual conservative Christian relationship song with overdone points, such as getting “friend-zoned.” Also, the Mariachi band did not garner quite as many laughs as was perhaps hoped, but overall the show was strong and flowed well.

During setup breaks the extremely talented duet of Malcom Bell and Jerbrel Bowens entertained with upbeat piano-percussion pop songs that kept the audience lively.  Also during breaks, Luke and John creatively entertained with their various top 10 lists.

The Flight of the Concords song Jenny was brought back again and done quite well.  And videos such as the RAs Reading Tweets and Amazing Race were also clever and fun components to the show.

Due to some steph that happened following the fall SPOT, Nathan Hatch could not afFord to be quite as scandalous in his musical performance, although his Party Rock duet with Nathaniel Efthimiou still trumped some other acts included in the show.

The news update could not phelp making some jabs at Russia’s unprepared setup for the Olympics, and, though touching on serious issues, the two were only joshin’. This second performance of Hatch’s cracked people up with some eggcellent yokes from both him and co-anchor Josh Phelps.

And I must profess-or should I say concur with many peers that Ben Murphy’s clever punny story elicited an aBendant amount of laughs.  Returning later with his Jimmy Fallon inspired thank you notes, more laughs were released as he thanked Luke Crawford for “reminding us what Jesus would look like if he was a 6’4” Canadian white ginger from Thailand with a giant smile.” And also he was sure to thank Sodexo as well “for a bar-like atmosphere in a dry town”- though as Luke and John remind us we should all be getting drunk… on Jesus.

Another fun wordplay skit included a quintet of sophomores who produced a clever script consisting of an impressive amount of Lord of the Rings quotes and references.  And though funny, I urge you to also take warning from the skit: If you are in the music building and need a drink, resist-“do not disturb the waters.”

Overall, briefly mullen over the night’s events from the clutch president appearance to Sodexo jokes (napkins are a staple food) the show was strong and entertaining.   Good work hosts, people shall be tweeting about this for days to come-well, as long as the Internet is working.

 

Categories
Stories In Focus

A Ritual to Read to One Another (As Well as On Your Own)

If you are anything like me, you looked forward to Christmas break largely due to the plethora of time simply spent sitting at home in uninterrupted silence with a book. Once break finally arrived, you had time to read and linger over the author’s words without feeling the pressure of assignments and other obligations clouding your thoughts.

Courtesy of ndbooks.com
Courtesy of ndbooks.com

Now, break is over and the time to read for pleasure has diminished greatly.  The booklist you have added to over break may now sit unattended for months.  However, I urge you to find and make time for yourself.  Solitary time to reflect is essential to every individual.  Though if you think that you don’t have the time, I suggest not only reading a novel, but also begin having a daily dose of poetry intermingled with other activities to ensure even on busy days you allow for at least a few minutes of reflection.

Recently, I have become fond of a contemporary American poet, Denise Levertov.  In particular, Levertov’s collection, Evening Train, is dear to me.  Through her poetry Levertov describes faith as elusive and often discusses the tension of her relationship with the divine. In her iconic poem, “Suspended” she writes, “I had grasped God’s garment in the void/ but my hand slipped/ on the rich silk of it.” Though unable to tangibly sense her faith or feel security she concludes this poem stating, “For though I claw at empty air and feel nothing, no embrace,/ I have not plummeted.”  Unsure of God’s presence she still feels some comfort there, perhaps dormant, but still there.

Faith is a prominent theme for Levertov. Her sublime mountain imagery becomes a common archetypal device for expression of faith. In her poem, “Witness” Levertov writes, “Sometimes the mountain/ is hidden from me in veils/ of cloud,” but then states, “Sometimes I am hidden from the mountain.” Her experience with God is a reciprocal relationship: with the disappearance of the mountain she loses the desire to search. With the disappearance of her faith she loses the desire to seek God’s presence.

In her poem, “Elusive” she writes, “The mountain comes and goes/ on the horizon/ a rhythm elusive as that of a sea-wave.”  God, like a mountain, escapes her view.  Yet, Levertov emphasizes the fickle elusiveness, because that is the inherent nature of faith.  Faith is not a tangible experience.  It is an intimate relationship that would not exist if we possessed factual knowledge from which deductive reasoning would ensue.

Levertov treasures faith as a personal and fragile necessity that humanity must pass down from generation to generation.  For this reason, her poetry is steeped in contemplation of the divine.  In this post-modern age where academics are plagued with doubts and questions of faith Levertov offers comfort.  Comfort which you, like me, may deeply appreciate.

Having shared a poet dear to me I encourage you now to find a poet that you can relate to and revisit their words daily.  Then read another poet, and another.  Let their words wash over you like the ocean’s daily tide.

And if you will indulge me for one last short paragraph, I offer a quick list of some more favorites you may wish to explore.  Classics such as John Donne, William Wordsworth, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Rainer Maria Rilke come to mind as well as many moderns such as William Stafford, Wallace Stevens, Franz Wright, and recent American Poet Laureate Billy Collins who wrote a book, Poetry 180, designed to make poetry more accessible to high school students.  And if you are new at this ‘poetry business’ I suggest Collins’ “How to Read Poetry” for starters.  As Collins writes, be mindful not to,“begin beating it [the poem] with a hose/ to find out what it really means.” So give poetry a try and you may find that a poem a day keeps the stress away.

Categories
Stories In Focus

Recommended Reads: Robert M. Pirsig “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance”

“Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth.” – Henry David Thoreau

Nature speaks to us and we constantly feel a transcendent urge to experience its sublime beauty. Our youth culture today often resonates strongly with this call of the wild.  However, romantic yearning should not be flippantly sought after as a scapegoat by which humanity may bypass troubles in daily life. Too often people want to experience nature without further thought regarding the emotions they may become filled with.

Courtesy of univie.ac.at
Courtesy of univie.ac.at

After the above sentiments you may feel as if I starkly hope classical rationality may defeat this artistic and creative Romantic ideal. Let me quickly dismiss that thought: I do not condone a conquest; I propose a balance.

As Robert M. Pirsig states in his book, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, “To reject the part of the Buddha that attends to the analysis of motorcycles is to miss the Buddha entirely.”  This philosophical novel both explores the twisting back roads of America, as well as surveys the many roads of reason within the mind. “Motorcycle riding is romantic and the motorcycle maintenance is purely classical.” Both are necessary parts that must exist in dichotomy with one another. This first-person narrative nonfiction chronicles a 17-day motorcycle trip, that the author and his son take from Minnesota to California. The main highlights during this trip are the various philosophical discussions that Pirsig refers to as “Chautauquas”. The author wants to, “Pursue further now that same ghost that Phaedrus pursued- rationality itself, that dull, complex, classical ghost for underlying form.” The name Phaedrus here serves as a third person outlook on the author, while also a reference to Plato’s dialogue.  Pirsig conveys how rationality is indeed often, “dull and complex,” but nevertheless important for humanity to expound upon. Throughout the author’s pilgrimage of sorts he realizes that, “the classic reality is primarily theoretic, but has its own esthetics too.  The romantic reality is primarily esthetic, but has its theory too.”  Pirsig finds that both Eastern aesthetic emphasis and Western rationality are valuable philosophical understandings that will aid us in attaining individual spirituality.

This new epiphany of Pirsig’s does not set his mind at ease, but instead leads him to yet another question- the question of Quality.  He wants to understand how someone or something attains Quality, and soon his obsession over Quality begins to drive him to insanity.  After a difficult time, his metaphysics of Quality cause him to conclude that, “The Quality which creates the world emerges as a relationship between man and his experience.  He (humanity) is a participant in the creation of all things.”  Therefore, Pirsig finds a viable means to link both Romantic idealism and Classical reasoning together in a fluid thought process, which compounds his own feelings towards the ideal of Quality.

Pirsig ultimately reminds us that if we want the “truth” that Thoreau and others speak of we cannot just go out into the world.  To seek comfort in Nature is fine, though we must remember that we, as cognitive beings, must also realize our capacity for understanding beneath the surface qualities initially experienced.

Now, friends I urge you to begin your own Chautauqua. Curl up with a good book (e.g. this one) and a hot cup of coffee for the afternoon. Then go out into the crisp November air and experience Nature for all that it may offer to you.  And as Pirsig states, “Remember that it’s peace of mind you’re after and not just a fixed machine.”  Eastern romantic appreciation and Western classical understanding are both necessary.  Learn from both.  Balance both.  Embrace both.

Categories
Arts

Movie Review: The Great Gatsby

“[Nick] ventured, ‘You can’t repeat the past.’

‘Can’t repeat the past?’ he cried incredulously. ‘Why of course you can!”

Courtesy of 8tracks.com
Courtesy of 8tracks.com

Unlike Jay Gatsby’s attempt to repeat the past, director Baz Luhrmann’s endeavor to bring The Great Gatsby to the screen yet again was the refreshing and unique spin that this acclaimed American story needed.

In 1926, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby, made its screen debut in a silent film production directed by Herbert Brenon. Following in 1949, Elliot Nugget directed a black and white “talkie” version. Yet a third version was created with a screenplay by Francis Ford Coppola and direction by Jack Clayton in 1974. That most recent version starred actors still known today, such as Robert Redford and Mia Farrow, but many critics, such as Roger Ebert, were unimpressed.

All this to say this classic story needed a fresh spin to redeem it from some of its less than impressive predecessors. Luhrmann’s adaptation was created in conjunction with musical genius Jay-Z, who also served as executive producer for both the film and album. The duo was joined by composer Craig Armstrong, whom Luhrmann had worked with in previous projects, such as Moulin Rouge.

The acting and cinematography of the film were stylistically unique and fairly well received, but the soundtrack was perhaps most notable.  The soundtrack, a composition of upbeat brash hip-hop combined with traditional jazz melodies and other contemporary sounds, was a means to bring the Roaring Twenties to the modern era. Luhrmann said, “The question for me in approaching Gatsby was how to elicit from our audience the same level of excitement and pop cultural immediacy toward the world that Fitzgerald did for his audience. And in our age, the energy of jazz is caught in the energy of hip-hop.”  Jay-Z’s $100 Bill carries an electro-rap beat that bluntly chops in and out of Nick’s wistful recount of Gatsby’s woes.  The hard beat and pointed lyrics serve as a description of Gatsby’s life of luxury and “decade of decadence, ill reverence, irreverence.”  Later, Lana del Ray’s haunting, Young and Beautiful, rises and falls, as Gatsby and Daisy’s intimate relationship climaxes within the Gatsby estate.  To name a few other contributors, Florence and the Machine, The xx, and Gotye all add key elements necessary to bring back to life the vibe of the Roaring 20’s.

In terms of acting, DiCaprio stepped up to the role of nouveau riche and mysterious Gatsby himself.  Throughout the film his, “Old Sports,” get repetitive, but they do the job to stress his tiresome and affluent lifestyle.   However, Tobey Maguire’s performance in the role of the young and naïve Nick Caraway who quickly gets caught up in Gatsby’s bourgeoisie living is weak. Though Maguire’s character is meant to get lost in the decadence of Gatsby’s spendthrift life, his performance is much overshadowed by DiCaprio. Lastly, Carey Mulligan struggles to balance and convey the love triangle she has been caught in, yet her sub-par performance is overall acceptable.

Perhaps the harshest criticism of the film should be directed at what is also considered it’s greatest strength–its unabashed and garishly over-the-top ostentatious storytelling. Luhrmann’s riots of color and extravagant party scenes take away from Fitzgerald’s intimate and personal story of self worth and the struggle to mend relationships. Gatsby’s doomed romance is repeatedly overshadowed and shoved to the side, due to unapologetically excessive depictions of the leisure class. Some critics point to the films of Quentin Tarantino as having the feel Luhrmann was ultimately striving to achieve, yet failed to accomplish. However, this flaw seems minor when compared to the

Categories
Arts

Les Mis: Still a Beloved Story

Few musicals adapted to the big screen are considered equal to the stage performance, and Tom Hooper’s Les Miserables is no exception.  Still, the film is still a beautiful and heart-wrenching depiction of a soul’s search for redemption from a life of misery.

Victor Hugo’s five-volume story, originally published in 1862, took the stage in 1980 when Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg co-composed it. Critics of the musical and movie have complained that it was condensed into a vague, generic, and melodramatic story.  To these critics I say that Les Mis carries just as much dynamic depth and awareness as any other serious musical.

Promotional poster for Les Mis
Promotional poster for Les Mis

Ambiguity is certainly a fault in these adaptations; after all, the roots of the revolution are addressed vaguely. But the heart of the story does not suffer; these revolutionists are boys fighting for a desperate cause in a confused world.

When criticizing the film adaptation of Les Miserables I would first ask whether the cinematography adds to or detracts from the production. Film hinders Jean Val Jean’s trek across the countryside by depicting it through short, incoherent and seemingly random intervals.  Also, some ensembles like the trio, “A Heart Full of Love” are a bit jarring since the camera skips back and forth between the soloists.

In the musical, there is an intermission after the exhilarating and triumphant delivery of “One Day More” sung by numerous cast members as they prepare for the Revolution.  Since there is no intermission in the movie, this song doesn’t quite swell and build like it does on stage.

Hopper decided to cut certain parts of the score from the movie; the duet of “A Heart Full of Love” sung only by Marius and Cossette was cut completely, and part of “Drink With Me Two Days Gone By” was omitted. I agree with the first choice since Cossette and Marius, though essential to the story, are less engaging characters.  However, cutting the second song short took away an important depiction of vulnerable young men drinking their sorrows away before their short lives in this unfair world would come to an end.

On the other hand the production was improved by numerous aspects, such as the intimate filming done with the camera throughout.  This intimacy lets “I Dreamed A Dream” be sung as a bitter prayer instead of an uncontrollable rant and enables Jean Val Jean’s personal conversion to be delivered through a helpless whisper.  Film also captures the horrific end to the Revolution in a way live production has never previously been able to.  This is best conveyed when Enjolras’ limp body falls while still grasping onto the ragged flag of freedom.

On top of the quality filming the acting was impeccably done.  Due to open-tryouts the all-star cast was comprised of well-known Hollywood names, professional London performers, and young new faces.  Hugh Jackman was the lead role needed to capture Val Jean’s amazing strength as well as human weakness. Anne Hathaway stole the show with her portrayal of the hopeless Fantine, particularly in “I Dreamed A Dream.”

And though not possessing a strong voice, Russell Crowe rose to the occasion in his soliloquy before plunging to death amidst angry waters below. Outrageous comic relief overflowed through the eccentrically crass and hysterical performances of Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter in their roles as Mr. and Mrs. Thenardier most notably in “Master of the House.”  Other characters such as Marius, Cossette, Enjolras, and Eponine delivered strong singing and acting performances as well.

In conclusion, after reading the book myself, I agree with critics that the plot was condensed and relationships appear melodramatic at times, but the portrayal of the story is not weak.  It still carries the heart of the book; a man fallen from grace journeying through hell towards a heaven.
When Les Mis opened in New York in 1987 it earned eight Tony Awards including Best New Musical, and now the film has garnered eight Academy Award nominations including Best Actor, Jackman, and Best Supporting Actress, Hathaway, and Best Picture for a reason.  The film is overall a well-adapted version of a beloved novel and musical that I highly suggest you do not wait one day more to experience.