REVIEWS
October 24,2007
2
Star Tech
"Across the Universe" with the
Beatles
Rebecca Duncan
Contributing Writer
Meredith faculty put
a good bit of energy into
understanding the cul
tural forces that shape
our students. This knowl
edge helps us connect
what you know with
what we think you need
to know. If you would
like to return the favor
to those professors who
are starting to look like
candidates for Botox, go
see the Beatles-inspired
film Across the Universe.
It will give you a sense of
the world we witnessed
as we were coming of
age. Think of it as our
high school musical.
But first, there's home
work. If your parents (or
an eccentric uncle) did
not blast the Beatles at
you from infancy, find a
music store with a gener
ous Beatles section. If
someone did perform
this service for you, bor
row the CDs (or cassettes
or those ancient record
albums) and refresh your
memory. Note the range,
from the early simple
love songs ("She Loves
You," "Happy Just to
Dance with You") to the
experimental (Magical
Mystery Tour and
Sergeant Pepper albums)
to the densely political
(Abbey Road). For now,
don't sweat the details,
but bear in mind that,
along with the music,
we observed“Some from
afar, others close-up--the
Civil Rights Movement,
major race riots in
Detroit, the Vietnam War,
student-led war protests,
and what the media
labeled the Hippie move
ment: psychedelic drugs,
love cults, alternate reli
gions, and brightly paint
ed buses.
Now you're as ready
as you can be to see the
film. It's a quirky blend
of corny musical, across-
the-Atlantic-boy-meets-
girl saga, buddy story,
questing adventure, and
documentary, all tied
together with Beatle
songs performed by the
actors. Thematically,
it portrays a national
loss of innocence. When
the omery Max (Joe
Anderson) drops out of
Princeton, he's shipped
off to Vietnam, where
real psychic damage
occurs. His sister Lucy
(Raleigh native Evan
Rachel Wood), drawn
into the anti-war move
ment by a charismatic
womanizer, finds her
ideals shaken when the
group starts building
bombs. The fresh-faced
actors seem to have
been cast to emphasize
their innocence. Jude
(Jim Sturgess), the win
some Liverpool dock-
worker who tracks down
his American father,
blends the boyish looks
of young Lennon and
McCartney, those same
fellows who sent a
generation of girls into
screaming fits at stadium
concerts and sleepovers
in the mid 1960s.
Prudence (T.V.Carpio), a
high school cheerleader
from Dayton, Ohio,
wants to "come out" and
play witih two women
who don't seem to notice,
and we are moved to feel
her pain.
The film gets more
interesting, however, as it
departs from realism and
becomes a multi-sensory
impression/interpretation
of the times. Technology
sweeps the film across
the generations, as danc
ing actors and Uncle
Sam morph into chiseled
aiumated figures to the
tune of "I Want You."
Mr. Kite's circus includes
a troupe of video game
like blue finger beings.
also computer drawn.
In a post-war hospital
scene, the image of Salma
Hayek is multiplied five
times. The Beatles' psy
chedelic material lends
itself well to these treat
ments. Yet symbol and
allusion linger behind
these seemingly playful
scenes. A water dance
of dark-haired women,
for instance, summons
images of the My Lai
Massacre, our first inti
mation that battle lines
in Vietnam were crudely
drawn and that inno
cent civilians were being
killed.
The love and buddy
stories intersect with
the big issues, especially
through Max's politi
cal art. He produces a
concept piece of fresh
strawberries pinned to
a canvas, dripping red
juice and darkening
John Lennon's nostalgic
Strawberry Fields. Max
also provides a needed
critique of the violent
anti-war movement, as
he disrupts the group's
harem-like headquarters
with a scathing rendition
of "Revolution." Yet the
film never loses sight of
the personal or the opti
mistic. It has a story that
you can enjoy nearly con
text-free if necessary.
This film takes a gen
eration back in time, but
(probably thanks to the
special effects) it doesn't
assert the notion that
"this is how it was."
Rather, it gently nudges
us to remember and
rethink, and for me, to
wonder if I've brought
enough of the sixties to
the life I'm living today.
Certainly "All you need
is love" won't play in
the ENGlll classroom,
where we have those
"Universe" cont. on
Pg-3
Among plug-in tech
nology, fuel cells, hybrid
technology, ethanol and
vegetable oil, one fact
seems inevitable: in the
future, cars will run off
of anything except gaso
line.
Topping the 2008 list
of most fuel-efficient
vehicles are, not surpris
ingly, hybrid vehicles.
Toyota Prius reigns
supreme, with a com
bined highway/dty mile
age of 46; Civic Hybrid
finishes second with
combined mpg of 42.
Nissan Altima Hybrid,
Toyota Camry Hybrid
and two-wheel drive
Ford Escape Hybrid (the
only SUV to make the
list) round out the top
five.
A new array of hybrid
vehicles has arrived for
drivers clinging to their
behemoth SUVs and vans
but perhaps wanting to
cut down on emissions
and gasoline consump
tion. Chevy Tahoe,
Toyota Sierma, Dodge
Durango, Lexus RX 400h
and Ford Escape are just
a few of the hybrid "big
boys."
How does a hybrid
car work? Well, it
couples a smaller-than-
usual gasoline engine
with a battery and an
electric engine (or, as
with General Motors'
"two-mode" hybrid
technology, two electric
engines with different
gear ratios for various
Chelsea
McGlaughlin
Staff Writer
driving modes). The
electric engine comes
into play when the car is
idle or stopped, say at a
stop light. The gasoline
engine shuts off, and
the car nms off of its
electric motor and bat
tery. While the car is in
motion, cylinders in the
gasoline engine can be
shut off and orv depend
ing on the speed and
driving conditions (and,
therefore, the amount of
power required for driv
ing). The battery charges
automatically when it
is not in use. Low driv
ing speeds require the
use of only the electric
engine, oftentimes until
speeds of 15 or 30 mph
are reached. All of these
features add up to a
quieter ride, lower emis
sions and much greater
fuel efficiency than with
the traditional, gasoline-
powered vehicle.
Although electric
technology is enabling
the public to cut down
on its gasoline consump
tion, some nonrenewable
energy sources are being
used to produce the elec
tricity; for example, coal
is oftentimes burned in
electric power plants.
This process of burn
ing coal creates carbon
dioxide, which harms the
environment. However,
hybrid technology is a
huge step toward inde
pendence from the gaso
line monster.
Visit http://www.
hybridcars.com/ for
hybrid news, prototypes,
speculation and model
information.
Toyota Prius:
Best-selling hybrid, and
for good reason