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There are two types of singles on a Saturday night: the one who, panty-clad and smiling, paints onto a canvas what her heart desires, and the one who, wearing tights and push-up bra, swings from the chandelier with a bottle of champagne in hand. Both are sexy, independent women and together make up the essence of singleness — freedom and solitude. Separated, and they are overwrought silhouettes of drama and spectacle.
We see both of these types in How To Be Single, when Alice (Dakota Johnson), who plays the good-girl-turns-bad and Robin (Rebel Wilson), the wild coworker who forgets who she slept with the night before, become best friends. After leaving her long-term college boyfriend, Alice starts a new job in New York City with the intention of "finding herself." Of course, Robin spices this goal up by taking Alice out to party and enjoy the single life in a cross between Miley Cyrus’ foam finger and Fifth Harmony’s sass.
Young director Christian Ditter stoops low when he feeds the stereotype of newly single women being boozy, sex-crazed party animals. Considering the film features single women, it might have been more fitting for a female director to apply her perspective in instructing, as the title indicates, how to be single.
At first, there is casual sex, alcohol, partying, and flirty-tigress-overload. Wilson takes center stage with her hilarious sense of humor and inflated confidence, largely a continuation of her work in Bridesmaids and Pitch Perfect. Weaved throughout are moments when Johnson's Alice is insecure and lonely, as she tries to rekindle her past college relationship or is let down by possible partners and runs to her sister for solace. These lapses are akin to a child who can’t part with their binky (which is understandably often the case in transitioning from companionship to solitude).
Then, too abruptly for coherence, things turn serious. Robin makes fewer appearances (unfortunately robbing us of Rebel Wilson's comedy), when Alice realizes that, in fact, booze and hooking up do not induce self-discovery. Although the backdrop of the free-spirited and liberated lifestyle remains, the film quickly moves into phase two, in which the binky is torched and the woman muscles her way through the single life with grace and fervor.
This shift forces Alice to experience solitude, and it's counterpart — loneliness (which is heartache over the absence of companionship) — is rightfully sidelined. However, Alice slides into the pre-established profile of what a single woman ought to be: strong, book-reading, waiting.
Had the film combined the book-reading and party-going perspectives in a cohesive hybrid of single life, Alice’s story might have been a modern genre flick manifesto of what it means to live, especially in busy New York City, as a single person. That is, it might have given viewers something they weren’t expecting. How to Be Single is a watered-down version of Sex in the City and variant of He’s Just Not That into You — simply put, it is largely forgettable.
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The Spokane Civic Theatre's executive director for two years, Keith Dixon, announced his resignation from the position in a press release distributed this afternoon.
Dixon was hired in February 2014 to fill a vacancy after the Civic's board controversially fired former executive director Yvonne A.K. Johnson.
Dixon cites as his reason for the departure a desire to be closer to his family in Louisiana, where he lived prior to coming to Spokane.
A search committee has been formed to find a new executive director for the Civic. Dixon was scheduled to direct a few upcoming productions during the remainder of the theater's 2015-16 season, including the season-closing show Guys and Dolls. His last day at the theater will be April 11.
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Back in January, after the Spokesman-Review wrote a story about his trip to visit the occupiers at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, Shea claimed that he’d received multiple threatening messages. He said he had received a “death threat” sent to him on Jan. 12.
“Today, more threats have come in and my address was published on FB in association with them,” Shea wrote on Facebook on Jan 13.
Now that the records request has finally come in, here’s the text of that voicemail message. It does not appear to be an explicit death threat, but rather a threat of “armed occupation” of his office in Spokane.
Hey, Will. Uh, your office in Spokane is going to suffer an armed occupation and we’re going to take it over. You wanna chase around the sheriff’s wife and children there? Remember, we can do it here too. Matt Shea lives in our community. He’s a f—-in’ treasonous piece of shit, though. And you know what? I can’t wait until his f—-in’ ass comes back to Spokane.
Because you know what? You don’t need to be supporting terrorists. You’re insane, you know that right? Absolutely f—-in’ insane.
It’s comin’ dude. Don’t be threatening the rest of the community and your own government. There’s a lot of people like me that are not going to tolerate your bullshit anymore. All you f—-in’ Republicans. F—- you all!
You better get your ass out— I hope you told them to get your ass out of there. Your ass needs to get out of there too, motherf—-er.
F—- you! You represent me? You’re f—-in’ insane!
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