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XANSAN.COM
ARTS & CULTURE
Trending: 'Stonewall' director defends himself in interview
COURTNEY BIERMAN
@KansanNews
Roland Emmerich's "Stonewall" is already experiencing a flood of criticism and scathing reviews before its Sept. 25 release date. The film, which tells the story of the 1969 Stonewall Riots, is controversial because
of its cast of primarily white, cisgender male characters when the riots were actually started by drag queens, lesbians, and transgender women of color.
"Stonewall" has already achieved an 11 percent "rotten" rating on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. Vanity Fair called the film "terribly offensive and offensively terrible."
Emmerich defended himself in a recent Buzzfeed article in which he discussed his reasons for fictionalizing the riot by centering it on a fictional character named Danny.
"You have to understand one movie: I didn't make this movie only for gay people, I
made it also for straight people," Emmerich told Buzzfeed. "I kind of found out, in the testing process, that actually, for straight people, [Danny] is a very easy in. Danny's very straight-acting. He gets mistreated because of that. [Straight audiences] can feel for him."
The Internet isn't having it.
If your Grindr profile says "No fats, no fems, no Asians, no Blacks, and no guys over 30", you will love Roland Emmerich's Stonewall.
- @James_T_Higgins
- @samkalidi
Stonewall - Emmerich's most recent disaster movie.
— @two35am
Roland Emmerich's Interview on #Buzzfeed about altering the story of #Stonewall to please a straight audience juststorms me. tell the truth
- @J Manasa
I would send @rolandermicher the Nicki Minaj "What's Good" meme but he'd probs just replace her for Taylor Swift and send it back #Stonewall
like, media about pivotal moments in #Igbtq history don't exist to make straight people feel comfortable. #Stonewall
This movie will not help the LGBT community if they are not represented right. You had one job! #Stonewall
- @maryleong
- @Daniel Bass 20
MCCLATCHY TRIBUNE
Jeremy Irvine in "Stonewall."
Kansas (the band) will come to the Kansas (the state) to perform at the Lied Center on Oct.2
Richard Williams, Billy Greer, David Ragsdale, Ronnie Platt, Phil Eihart, and David Manion of the band Kansas.
RYAN MILLER
@Ryanmiller_UDK
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
The band Kansas may not be in Kansas anymore, but they are returning in October for a series of concerts around the state. One of their stops includes the Lied Center on Oct 2.
"I always enjoy coming home," said Richard "Rich" Williams, the lead guitarist for Kansas and one of the original band members from 1974. "So when I can, I come in earlier or stay late and spend more time (here), you know it's my roots, it's where I grew up, where I'm comfortable."
Derek Kwan, the executive director for the Lied Center, said he's excited to have a band that has withstood the test of time bring people of diverse ages and backgrounds together to celebrate the University's 150th birthday.
"We were thinking of a great way to celebrate the 150th birthday of the University by bringing together the band that helped put the state of Kansas on the map, and the University that put Kansas on the map." Kwan said.
The band's stop in Lawrence is one of 95 shows this year, a
jump since the introduction of Ronnie Platt, the new vocalist for Kansas, after longtime member Steve Walsh retired in July 2014.
Williams said that change like Walsh's retirement — is sometimes necessary to open doors for other opportunities.
"I've been through enough change now in my life to not fear it anymore," Williams said. "You know one door closes, another one opens, and you walk through the door and make the best of the next situation. I've come to find that all these changes were always necessary to get to the next place."
Since Platt joined the band, Kansas has gone from doing around 65 shows a year to 95, and fans have embraced Platt.
"He's very respectful to Steve and Steve's legacy. He is his own singer, but he still sings Kansas songs as they were written," Williams said. "He's very respectful to that and the crowd is loving what he does, much more than I would have anticipated."
Since Platt's addition, Kansas is also in the process of recording a new album with Inside-Out Music, which is in the beginning stages of development
"I'm very grateful for the change, because it's been the
busiest most kick-butt year I've had in 30," Williams said.
The band has recorded one song to test the dynamic of the group, and they're currently putting ideas together and forming skeletons of songs, Williams said. Kansas plans to hit the studio in January to record the album.
"We're excited to see what it's going to be, but we really don't know what it is yet either. I don't think it'll be surprising to anyone, we're going to be 'Kansas.' We're going to do what we do, we're not going to totally reinvent ourselves and try to jump on a new way of doing things. It's not the horse we rode in on, and we're just planning to be ourselves," Williams said.
the fun part," Williams said.
"You get to spend 24 hours of the day doing something somewhere, so you have two ways to do it. You can dread every moment, or you can just be glad to be there and take the best of the day and enjoy it, and then usually at the end of the day you get to jump up on stage and play and that's always
With over 30 years of experience touring across the world and playing on the same old guitar, the biggest change Williams has seen in touring was his attitude about it.
After playing the guitar for over 40 years for the band. Williams has learned to live and play in the moment.
"A lot of things we did were just by inspiration, by the moment. There's an excitement in doing things that may rather than everything being note for note." Williams said, "We don't play as if we're parakeets repeating constantly. Listen to what's going on around you,
you try to fill holes. We're organic in that sense."
Williams's biggest piece of advice for playing as a band is to play with people you'll get along with.
"You can get the best six guys in town in a band and you have to sit back and watch it explode because the egos are going to create a dynamic for internal combustion. It won't work." Williams said.
He added: "Making a joy of
sound is a fun experience, and the egos pretty much have to be checked at the door. So be friends, and then make some music. If it works out, maybe you can make a life of it (and) if it doesn't, at least you'll have some fun," he said.
Kansas will perform at the Lied Center on Oct. 2 at 7:30 p.m. Some tickets are still available online and at the Lied Center.
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