Monday, September 28, 1998
Life as Arts editor isn’t all glamour, glitz, fluff
COLUMN: A&E hopes to capture emotion, feeling behind the
entertainment
On the day I applied for Arts & Entertainment editor, an
overwhelming feeling of poor judgment swept over me. I had no
intention of taking up a position that consumed an enormous amount
of time just so four pages of text gets flipped aside for the daily
crossword puzzle.
For reasons still foreign to me, I pushed aside the ill-begotten
feeling and put myself up for consideration. It was me against thin
air. I barely got this gig.
To say the least, my experience as editor is far from what gets
onto the pages of the Arts & Entertainment section.
When I was a contributor, A&E looked so different. My duties
fell into one category: write. For two years, The Bruin was a
simple repository for my music needs. I’d come in, pick up a couple
of discs that interested me and head on home. Little did I know
what my editor was going through. The pressures of getting stories
in on deadlines and dealing with flaky writers were constant. It’s
my turn now to feel the unrelenting push to get A&E out on
time. And so far, the picture on this side is much more cluttered
than the other.
No longer do I spend an hour in the office to edit with my
editor. I am the editor, and the hour has been extended by eight.
It is not what I want to cover or see anymore; it is what the
section should cover. My position is no longer about individual
interests but as a collective depository for what should be in the
paper.
There were definitely times this summer when I just wanted to
drop all this weight; the production, the decision-making,
everything that was not writing-related. Of course, those feelings
quickly pass and are replaced with the sense of satisfaction once
the paper is finished. I am sure by the end of my tenure, all this
work and responsibility will be second nature. What remains is the
lingering nuisance that A&E is considered in some respect as an
illegitimate form of journalism. Not quite paparazzi and not quite
hard news, we’re the middle child with the identity crisis.
Often considered "fluffy" to our fellow compatriots in
journalism, entertainment writing is just as tedious sometimes as,
say, news. But it is often overlooked in that we get a lot of movie
and music paraphernalia that makes the job seem easier than it
really is.
To dispel the myths about this job, most of the supposedly
"cool" stuff is actually horrible CDs that no one will ever buy or
lame movie knick-knacks that usually lands more in the garbage than
on a work desk. It is the rare and few exceptions that deceives
people into thinking that A&E is a cushy situation.
People seem driven in their belief that anyone involved in
A&E has the plum assignment. Whenever someone hears that you
write for A&E, the first words coming out of their mouth is
usually, "Whoa, you must get a ton of free stuff." Wrong.
Sure it seems like Christmas at the office every day with
packages upon packages coming in, but what is forgotten in all this
is that people send it to us because they want coverage – not
because they like us. Nothing is free here.
Want to listen to your favorite artist? Write a review.
Want to eat for free? Tell us how the chicken differs here than
at Kentucky Fried Chicken.
It is hard to write 600 words about a band such as Matchbox 20
when two will suffice: really lame.
But for the intrepid A&E writer, they have to deal with
describing melodies, motion and expressions with words. And that is
something not many people can do competently.
So the next time you browse through the Arts & Entertainment
section, think not of how fun it must be to talk to Halle Berry or
see the Smashing Pumpkins in concert. Consider what went into the
article: the hassle of talking to slick publicists with their
well-rehearsed embellishments, or interviewing less-than-articulate
actors who can’t string a complete sentence together to save their
lives, or sitting down and transcribing the said actor’s gibberish
and spending the night trying to write a clear, concise article.
Please think about that, and only then think about how fun it is to
goof around with celebrities.
As for what to expect in A&E this year? Anyone out there
hear of R&B because for the past couple of years, A&E
hasn’t. This year A&E will shift some of the musical spotlight
away from alternative music and refocus that on R&B and
rap.
There will be more feature and issue stories appearing in this
year’s Daily Bruin as well. Stories that deal with the problems
plaguing a certain medium or thoroughly critiquing an ongoing trend
will also be in print.
It is a goal to move away from the typical preview or review
stories and place more attention to the independent, up-and-coming
events and artists that tend to slip through bigger publications.
The writing will strike a balance between creativity and
fact-finding. We would like to stand apart from the paper in the
sense of style and content. With capable writers, stories will be
full of information and lucid descriptions.
In the beginning of all this, my feelings hedged between
hesitation and doubt. There was no reason for me to even apply for
this job. I was happy just going to concerts and reviewing my
favorite artists. Maybe because I was subtly coerced by the former
editors with reassurance that the job was easier than it actually
was or it might have been a latent sense of power-mongering that
finally kicked in. Whatever the case, for most of the summer, I
never really knew why I took this job.
So for a few months, I performed the duties of this position
with a hollow indifference. To me, it was a managerial job with no
creative flow. I left the world of reporting and open-air venues
for the stuffy confines of Kerckhoff Hall.
My moment of revelation or epiphany didn’t occur until a few
days ago. In fact, my eyes were opened to the importance of this
editorship over the course of many days.
It all happened last weekend.
Tori Amos came into town Friday night. I have seen more than my
share of concerts since attending UCLA, but that night turned out
differently. I was just there to review the show and get me away
from the monotony of looking at the grey cubicle I voluntarily
stranded myself in. Little did I know about the happy coincidence
ready to fall in my lap. That night, Tori’s voice inebriated the
audience with its childlike charm and divine range. But it wasn’t
her mesmerizing chirping that finally snared that elusive reason I
had been searching for all summer. I found my answer in the
people’s faces, as they watched her sing. Women clasped their hands
together, eyes hypnotized by her mere image on stage, waiting for
that favorite song they all knew word for word. The songs so
related to their pain that it became a unifying force connecting
them with the singer. It was at that moment I realized why this job
was important.
Granted, the arts does not have quite the same utilitarian
benefits as the sciences. I am sure Michael Flatley won’t stumble
onto the cure for cancer while Irish stepping. But for what it
lacks in the tangible, it makes up for in the impalpable.
The arts makes living worthwhile. It’s the music, the visual
imagery of painted canvas or moving celluloid, the animated arms
and legs that fascinate people. It turns fair-weather admirers into
passionate afficionados.
The arts has become such an everyday fixture that we tend to
fade it into the background, but without art, why find medicines to
extend life if there is nothing to live for?
People dismiss the arts as a luxury reserved for when real work
is done. But the arts is more than the car explosions; it gauges
society’s mood, whether it’s her lethargic wallowing or restless
impudence. The arts shake us into realizing what we are or are
becoming. It’s the voice for the masses, disguised under the surly
riot of the Clash’s "London Calling," or it speaks through a rebel
without a cause, or it just simply places a mirror in front of us
so we can see ourselves naked – stripped from the protection of
grandiose, self-made illusions.
And maybe that is why the arts is so easily dismissed,
especially if it reveals all our flaws and fractures because who
really wants to see their imperfections expressed through the
arts?
So, what’s the remedy for my pestering feeling?
If all things work out according to plan, you will never see my
mug grace the paper again. The goal this year is to set an agenda
that encompasses an eclectic variety of stories that shed light on
less recognizable forms of art while keeping you on top of the
mainstream stuff. The point to Arts & Entertainment – and
journalism in general – is to give the reader a picture of the
world.
Give the reader a mirror image of what is happening in life that
would be important to them. My responsibility for the upcoming year
is just make sure I point that mirror in the right direction.
We’ll dig hard to find the fluff in life.
Bui is biding his time here until he wins the Super Lotto. The
odds of him getting fired currently stand at 30-1. So place your
bets. He is the new A&E big cheese.
Trinh Bui
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