Oregon Daily Emerald
Thursday, November 21,2002
Power of
music is
overlooked
Occasionally, my television’s re
ception is good enough that I can be
graced with the mysterious appear
ance of MTV2 without being a cable
customer. When it does come in, I
try to devote a few minutes to catch
ing up with the counter-cultural
“Joneses.” This is no simple task for
someone as excitable as I — on my
last viewing, I found myself wishing I
knew how to crochet so I could knit
a noose while I frittered away valu
able time jading myself with such
counterproductive garbage. For
some reason, however, I feel an obli
gation to commit this stupid act of
self-torture.
So this is what music has become?
Not everything MTV2 plays is bad, and
there is certainly no lack of talent, but
the art and the power of music is sadly
overlooked. The themes, attitudes and
imagery are — for the most part — ig
norant, selr-cen
tered and self-de
structive. There
are only a few
ways to sell music
in a forum like
this, and they are
all antithetical to
the very essence
of music. MTV2
uses images of
sex, violence, mi
sogyny, physical
toughness, exces
sive wealth and
deviant behavior
to sell products that make its con
sumers believe they are rebelling
against the system.
To be a success in the pop music
world, artists must forfeit their iden
tities to become characters in some
fabricated reality. Eminem’s “With
out Me” — a painfully common fea
ture on MTV2 — vaguely deals with
this very issue. “I created a monster,
’cos nobody wants to see Marshall no
more they want Shady/I'm chopped
liver.” Even if Eminem had some
thing positive to say for once, he
couldn’t because he has to remain
in character.
Instead of hearing a positive mes
sage from a talented artist who worked
hard to make something of himself, we
have to listen to his sniveling and
whining about how tough it is to be
him. It’s tough to be anyone. Those
who have risen from squalor to a posi
tion that reaches as many people as
Eminem should feel some sort of vest
ed interest in seeing others experience
those opportunities.
Women on MTV2 compromise
themselves far more than men do.
There isn’t a woman on that channel,
ever, who couldn’t be described by
words that range from “coquettish” to
“slutty.” There is nothing less appeal
ing than a woman dancing around in
sexy clothes whose face says that she
doesn’t want to be there.
The recent hit by N.E.R.D., “Lap
Dance,” illustrates just how women are
viewed in MTWs pseudo-world. The
last verse, vomited by Lee Harvey, is so
damned offensive that MTV2 had to
chop it into a garbled collection of arti
cles and pronouns. After hearing this
Turn to Bechard, page 7
Joseph
Bechard
Cultural
Obstetrician
Big city steps
Dance performances Friday and
Saturday will reflect an amalgam
of Big Apple experiences with
choreographed ‘lighthearted’ shorts
Jacquelyn Lewis
Pulse Editor
New York and Eugene will fuse together
Friday and Saturday, spawning a perform
ance Dance Theatre of Oregon co-director
Marc Siegel calls “wild, crazy and beautiful.”
DTO will kick off its 11th anniversary season
with “New York, New York” at 7:30 p.m. at
the Hult Center both evenings.
According to Siegel, the company’s entire
season will center around New York-in
spired themes.
“It’s memories of our time living in New
York and our friends,” he said. Siegel and
wife Pamela Lehan-Siegel lived in the city
until 1991, when they moved to Eugene to
create DTO.
The “New York, New York” program will
consist of three separate works, each one in
cluding choreography inspired by the city.
New York-based, internationally acclaimed
artist David Parsons also contributed some of
his own work.
Parsons’ “The Envelope” will begin the
evening. Parsons choreographed the piece in
1984, and it centers around the intricacies of
envelopes. Both Siegel and Lehan-Siegel will
perform in this section, along with other
dancers from the 11-member company. Intri
cate choreography, combined with music by
renowned composer Giochino Rossini, forge
a choreographic work DTO dubs “funny, in
triguing and 100 percent Parsons!”
According to Siegel, Parsons’ “Sleep Study”
is anything but a snore. The piece, which ex
plores the nuances of nocturnal respite, is
only five and a half minutes long. Siegel de
scribed it as “outrageously comedic.” Audi
ences can expect to see pajama-clad dancers
tossing and turning to the music of Flim &
the BB’s. Once again, the co-directors will
contribute their performing talents.
“Trocks,” Siegel’s own work, will showcase
men in pointe shoes.
“It’s about my time when I danced with the
ballet Trockadero,” he said, referring to the
New York company, Les Ballets Trockadero
Courtesy photo
David Parsons performs "The Envelope "with Dance Theatre of Oregon.
de Monte Carlo. Siegel toured with the all
male company in 1988 and 1989, dancing
comedic women’s and men’s roles.
Siegel said the selection is also a tribute
to his artist-friends in New York — living
and deceased.
“But mostly, it’s very light-hearted,” he said.
Lehan-Siegel will add her “Jones Beach,
Long Island circa 1929” to the mix.
“The inspirations were childhood memo
ries of being at Jones Beach on Long Island,”
co-director Lehan-Siegel said.
She took the idea farther back in time, to
the opening of Jones Beach in 1929 — an era
Siegel calls “a time of exploration.”
The choreography will incorporate skimpy,
period-style swimsuits as well as 10 black in
ner tubes. Favorite old, old oldies, including
“I’ll See You in My Dreams” and “Manda,” will
provide a musical backdrop.
Lehan-Siegel said audience members —
young and old — will appreciate all the pro
gram’s aspects.
“It’s a fun, original look at dance, and it’s
inspiring because of the technical and ath
letic qualities of the choreography, too.”
Siegel said the inspiration behind the
show is simple.
“We just wanted to go back to our
roots,” he said.
Tickets are $14.50 for youth and $18 for
adults, available at the Hult Center ticket office.
Contact the Pulse editor
atjacquelynlewis@dailyemerald.com.
Bond movies follow refined formula
Courtesy photo
‘Die Another Day,’ the latest installment
in the 20-film James Bond series,
opens Friday after the second-longest
break between movie release dates
Aaron Shakra
Pulse Reporter
James Bond has returned — and was there
any surprise? “Die Another Day,” the latest en
try in the long-running film series, arrives at lo
cal movie theaters Friday.
Technically, “Die Another Day” is the 20th
Bond film, although there are various stragglers
to the official canon. Not counting the numer
ous spoofs (and their often subsequent se
quels), Sean Connery stepped back into the
role in “Never Say Never Again,” released in
1983. “Casino Royale,” circa 1967, was notable
because it was based on an Ian Fleming novel;
Fleming originally created the character.
Folks who complain about Bond’s pre
dictability as of late are perhaps not familiar
with the film series as a whole. With each sub
sequent release, the Bond films have become
increasingly refined to a formula that revolves
around specific archetypes.
In a somewhat chronological order, the ele
ments of necessity for a Bond flick are as follows:
An opening action sequence, titles with thin and
scantily-clad women, things blown up, a few
chases (using some kind of technologically ad
vanced vehicle), one or two villains, which may
include a woman. Bond gets the girl, kills the bad
guy and everything is reset for the next time.
There was a point when Bond films were
based — either by title, or content — entirely
on Ian Fleming’s novels. Those who may argue
that such earlier films had more integrity to
them probably don’t remember some of the en
tries from 1970s.
In many ways, “GoldenEye,” Pierce Bros
nan’s first foray as Bond — and the fifth actor
to (officially) play the character — is the edgi
est film of the series. When the film was re
leased in 1995, the character had taken a six
year moratorium after “License to Kill”, part of
the late 1980s Timothy Dalton-era.
In “GoldenEye,” the film’s producers were
able to take some chances, namely by having
an awareness of the post-Gold War, ultra-politi
cally correct setting to jab at Bond’s misogynist
ways and instituting Dame Judi Dench as a
Turn to Bond, page 9