shut up and sing
michael moore recently wrote that one of the explanations for a lot of american movies to be really bad, could be the fact that
many who run hollywood believe that the american people are too stupid to enjoy a film that respects their intelligence
after quite some time, we made it to the movies last evening. we've seen an american documentary called "shut up and sing", which chronicles the ups and downs of the dixie chicks, an american country music trio (actually the highest selling female group in any genre).
the movie was brilliant. in case you haven't heard about the history behind it: in 2003, at the time when america entered iraq, lead singer natalie maines expressed her disagreement about the war by stating that she was "...ashamed the president of the united states is from texas". while the dixie chicks continued their tour in europe, the statement totally backfired in their home country. they were denounced by bush supporters, radio stations boycotted them, and former fans destroyed their cds.
the movie follows the band during the three difficult years after "the incident", documenting their day-to-day life between band business and family challenges. it shows them as great musicians collaborating with some of my personal favorites (i am still proud that i immediately recognized rhcp-drummer chad smith) as well as caring mothers (including some sex-and-the-city-like girl talk). some of the most impressive and funny scenes are when they listen to the raw takes of their new songs together with producer rick rubin (headbanging dog included) or a lively discussion about brangelina while emily robison is giving birth to twins.
to come back to michael moore's quote: at some stage, the band decides to steal their enemies' thunder by appearing on the cover of entertainment weekly with slogans such as "traitors," "saddam's angels," and "dixie sluts" printed on their naked bodies. in the movie, some marketing person is worried that the readers would not get the message...
(what is actually kind of weird: while the chicks are totally naked on the original cover, they suddenly are partially dressed on the us movie poster. moreover, the "dixie sluts" label has been censored to a moderate "dixie bimbos". all in line with the film's official tagline: "freedom of speech is fine as long as you don't do it in public").
