entertainment
`Outsourced' hits close to home for travelers
BY FLORENCE MOOSER
STAFF WRITER
FAMSO47@PSU.EDU
"Outsourced," directed by
John Jeffcoat, is a light and
entertaining movie that follows
Todd Anderson (Josh Hamilton)
on a business trip to India.
Todd is manager of a call center
in Seattle. One day, his boss
announces that the company's
jobs are being outsourced to
India; Todd, therefore, must
travel to India and train the
future manager of the Indian call
center.
The setting changes drastically
as Todd arrives in India. The
scene fills with music, colors and
animation, contrasting sharply
with the grimness of America.
In the taxi which looks more
like a cross between a golf cart
and a Jeep that leads Todd
to his town, he contemplates
the scenery, bewildered and
disoriented. Eventually, he meets
Puru, the "new guy" he is to
train. Puru is a friendly, helpful
Palmer goes solo, kills self for new
BY ERIN McGAW
FOR THE CAPITAL TIMES
EMMS277@PSU.EDU
You're crouched in a corner and
the lights are all cut off except
for the few glints of natural light
that graze the hardwood floor.
A piano sounds in the distance
and wails like unforeseen death.
You're shivering already and
the chill of the room gives rise
to the tiny hairs on your arms
as, down the corridor, you see
her. Pale as Victorian lace and
just as deceivingly delicate, lies
Amanda Palmer, rest her soul.
The decidedly outspoken half
of the internationally regarded
duo The Dresden Dolls, Amanda
Palmer, has released her first
solo album "Who Killed
Amanda Palmer?" in a way fans
and critics would only expect of
her. She died. Well, only for the
pictures.
On her new Web site
WhoKilledAmandaPalmer.com,
Palmer wrote of her new release,
middle-aged man.
Todd has no knowledge of
Indian culture. During his first
days, he makes one blunder after
another, upsetting
his hosts and his call
center staff. In fact,
Asha, the prettiest and
smartest employee,
tells him he should
"learn about India,"
Todd, in turn, must
teach his employees
how to sound
American on the
phone. He suggests
they tell customers
they are calling
from "Chicaaago"
pronounced nasally
in the true American
fashion and not
from India. This
request prompts Asha
to question why they
should pretend they
are Americans, if
"most of the products
they're buying are
made in China"
"The record was supposed to be
simple. It ended up not being
simple at all. This is like my life.
I first got the idea to put together
a really simple, stripped-down,
record-in-my-underwear-in
my-apartment-in-Boston kinda
thing."
But, as she said, it ended up
being so much more.
Though some may find
Palmer's use of her own
death as a motif for her
album in poor taste, I see it
more as a nod to society's
unwavering obsession with
death and with the celebrity,
or just a fun gimmick
in which Palmer gets to
pose for a whole bunch of
glamour shots. Whatever the
true point or true meaning
of the whole "dying thing,"
it's irrelevant when set side
by-side to the music of the
album.
Even if her death is
imaginary, the feeling of
chilling beauty invoked by
anyways. Todd, unsettled by the
irony of the question, mumbles
an answer.
Struggling to adapt to the
the album is no ploy. The music
itself has the kind of sheen one
can only find in well-produced
records, but there is an underlying
macabre, almost gothic ambiance
about it. Perhaps it is in part due
to the crackly tape recordings
Palmer incorporates into the
ends of her songs, which hiss
and moan like ghosts, much in
Indian culture, Todd eventually
seeks refuge in a Mac Donnells,
an equivalent of America's
McDonald's. There, he meets
another American, who wisely
advises him to stop "resisting
India."
This suggestion, combined
with Todd's fascination of the
Hindu goddess of destruction,
marks the turning point of the
movie.
Suddenly, Todd finds himself
playing with the children
in the streets and dancing
to a Hollywood movie. He
discovers a new way to boost
efficiency of the call center,
and learns to appreciate his
staff. Quite predictably as well,
he falls in love with Asha.
Just as Todd finally succeeds
in improving the efficiency of
the call center, he learns that
once again, the jobs have been
outsourced. This time, he must
go to China. But instead of
going himself, Todd lets Puru,
who was devastated about
losing his job, take his place.
the same vein as '9os rocker
Poe's 2000 album "Haunted."
Or, maybe it's because of the
"posthumous" theme of it all
that it just ends up being wholly
creepy and wholly intoxicating.
It is difficult to choose the
standout tracks of "Who Killed
Amanda Palmer?" because the
entire album plays as an almost
unstoppable force. There are
hidden connections between
unrelated songs, little threads that
weave it all together. In a way,
the album is impressionistic.
Individually, the songs create
one image, one splash of color on
a canvas, but if you step back a
few feet and look at all the songs
together, they create one glorious
image of unflappable beauty.
The range of styles exhibited
is also quite impressive. On a
typical Dresden • Dolls album
there would be two or three
types of songs: loud and angry,
soft and sad, or cheeky and
cheerful. Though Palmer brings
all of these commonalities into
Todd goes back to his old life
in the United States. The movie
ends just as Todd's phone rings
- with a Bollywood ringtone.
If you have ever studied or lived
abroad, you will relate to the
movie and to Todd in particular.
From the disorientation of the
first few days, to the feverish
search for a taste of home, you
probably have experienced it.
Actor Josh Hamilton brilliantly
portrays all the emotions that
any traveler will have felt: the
shock, the frustration and the
homesickness.
The Indian actors seem to
compensate for Todd's stiffness;
they are friendly, open and
eager. They stand out with their
spontaneity and seem to act
almost effortlessly, giving the
movie vivacity and gaiety.
"Outsourced" is not just a
delightful movie about cultural
differences. Under its surface,
it raises an important question:
As globalization sweeps in, is
the world ready for the culture
clashes it will bring?
album
her solo work - "Guitar Hero,"
"Blake Says" and "Oasis" - she
also pulls from Rodgers and
Hammerstein and a kind of
1920 s flapper jazz on songs like
"What's the Use of Wond'rin?"
and "Have to Drive."
For those who cannot get enough
of Palmer's publicity-death, there
is a forthcoming picture book
compiled by award-winning sci
fi fantasy author Neil Gaiman,
who also wrote liner notes for
the album, as well as a collection
of music videos directed by
long-time friend of the Dresden
Dolls, Michael Pope. You can
even get a t-shirt that reads "I
Killed Amanda Palmer," which
is totally on my Christmas list.
All in all, "Who Killed Amanda
Palmer?" is an album of inspired
growth for who is, in my
opinion, one of popular music's
most talented and promising acts
and it will surely leave listeners
dying for more.