Country:
USA
Recognizable Faces:
The Dixie Chicks
The Fox News Cast of Merry Propagandists
George W. Bush and His Funky Cabinet
Directed By:
Barbara Kopple
Cecilia Peck
I have caught SHUT UP & SING a few times on a local music channel, now. I didn't want to review it at first, because it took me at least three tries to watch it in its entirety, but now that I did, I think it's a very important piece of document to watch. This movie is another argument for the use of "Orwellian" adjective, at the present tense. In 2003, when the U.S invaded Iraq and George W. Bush's approval rating were off the charts, Dixie Chicks' lead singer Natalie Maines said during a concert that her band was against the war and that they were ashamed that Dubya was from Texas. The second half of her statement might be a little rude, but it was fairly polite in the delivery. Harmless, no? Not in an America at war. The Chicks were soon to be boycotted on the radio as they saw their record sale plummet like bad stock. With their main audience turning their back on them, the Chicks did the only smart move they could in that situation. They shot a documentary about it.
What blew my mind about this was the violent and visceral crowd reaction to a simple comment. The Dixie Chicks didn't record an album to slander George W. Bush and they were never deeply political about their music. They were engaged yes, but not a political band. Natalie Mains just used her platform responsibly and voiced her opinion. It's her right as her American as it is a right for Americans that disagree to not buy her record, as W. explained. That's where the debate gets polarizing, because I think the Dixie Chicks were victim of an engineered boycott by radio station and conservative media, lead by what was the pendant to Orwell's Big Brother at the height of its popularity, Fox News Network. Kopple and Peck, the directors of SHUT UP & SING edited some footage of Bill O'Reilly*, Sean Hannity and friends, hammering away at the Dixie Chicks with footage of boycotters outside their show. They were repeating the same exact things that they had heard on the news, told by those energetic men in suits.
That's freaky stuff, because it's a portrait of an aggressive America. While Dubya and his boys were plotting, away from America, they had RABID (and I am weighting my words, here) media selling the war to the common folk. When you think about it, it's a strong clash with how wars were presented to the public before. With their career withering away, the Dixie Chicks turned themselves around and broadened their musical vision. They established a strategy for their would be next album (Taking The Long Way) to not do only country and try and seduce a different audience. Watching SHUT UP & SING, it's particularly impressive to discover the character of Natalie Maines. She is one tough chick that doesn't take crap from anybody, not even the suits in the White House. Without her unflinching conviction, I'm not sure the band would have stood up so strong against the tidal wave of adversity they were facing. She turned down every easy solution she was offered to weather the storm and hey...she ended up recording "Not Ready To Make Nice". That's a song that wraps up pretty well what they went through.
While I hadn't heard about it before it aired on television, SHUT UP & SING had a wild festival run where they won pretty much every "people's vote" awards wherever the movie entered competition and rightfully so. Barbara Kopple and Cecilia Peck know how to make a documentary. They start by focusing on a precise situation and slowly they broaden up the scope of their argument and expose how the freedom of speech issue that the Dixie Chicks suffered is really affecting (or really affected, things aren't so clear-cut anymore) all of our lives. SHUT UP & SING reaches out the the viewer and doesn't simmer in complacency for a second. If you like political documentary, watch it and you will grow a new found respect for the Dixie Chicks** and feel implicated in the problematic to a certain degree.
SCORE: 90%
* Somehow, in that movie, he reminded me of Buster Friendly in DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP? by Philip K. Dick. Friendly is the fun-loving host of a 24/7 television show that tells people what to think.
** At least I did...I grew from indifference to respect. Still not a fan of the music, but I like the musicians behind the instruments.