October 19, 2006
Where Are The Dixie Chicks?
I had the opportunity two nights ago to see a sneak preview of Barbara Koppel's new film, "Shut Up and Sing," which documents the fall and anticipated rise of the country singing group The Dixie Chicks. Here's a prediction: Koppel, and her co-filmmaker Cecilia Peck, will win the academy award for best documentary film next year and the Dixie Chicks, once the best-selling female group in American pop culture history, are about to discover a whole new audience.
This is by far Koppel's best cinematic work. The narrative cuts between the December 2002 off-hand comment by lead singer Natalie Maines about not being proud that President Bush was from Texas (it took place at a London concert just a few hours after a million people marched against the looming war in Iraq) and their present travails in Los Angeles trying to rebuild their careers. The film uses classic cinema verite techniques that include everything from touching family scenes to the fevered meetings between the Chicks and their public relations consultants who tried to stem the vicious assaults that extended all the way to the White House.
I'm not a country music fan, and I can honestly say that before seeing the movie, I couldn't identify a Dixie Chicks song if I heard it on the radio. But the film introduces their new album, "Taking the Long Way," and its heartfelt songs, many of them drawn from their recent experiences. I guarantee it will send you running to the CD store. If you like Bonnie Raitt, here's the next generation.
I didn't intend to write about the movie except I saw an interesting post last night on Donkey Rising. It cites a poll of southern voters that showed 57% of southerners now believe the U.S. "should have stayed out of Iraq." Moreover, 56 percent of southerners, compared to 59 percent in the nation as a whole, believe the U.S. should begin withdrawing its troops. In other words, country has gone mainstream.
The media gave extensive coverage to the campaign against the Dixie Chicks, which was orchestrated by extreme right wing groups who organized call-in campaigns to pressure country radio stations to stop playing their records (don't forget, this was the best selling band in country music history). What they never covered was the deep well of support their stance had, not just in liberal free-speech precincts where you'd expect it, but among the thousands of so-called rednecks who continued to fill arenas in the immediate wake of the London incident.
The Chicks are not political people. The movie shows us three young women who somehow found the courage in the face of this massive and unjustified political assault to stick by their convictions, convictions that they only discovered by coming under fire. If you're like me and paid little attention to this extraordinary story as it unfolded, see "Shut Up and Sing," which will be opening around the country later this month. You'll become a fan of these three young women, too.
Posted by gooznews at October 19, 2006 07:03 AMI love that album. Taking the Long Way Home is a song that describes my life. I've been following the Dixie Chicks since that incident to gauge the temperament of the nation, and now I can't wait to see the film. They are a leading indicator.
Love to Karen and Zoe.
Posted by: francine at October 19, 2006 09:43 AMGreat post, and yet another indicator of what I hope is a gradual realization among Republican supporters of how conservative ideologues have taken the country down a dead-end path.
As I noted in my own blog last week, one of the aces in the Republicans’ electoral hole in recent years is what observers have called “the church attendance gap” – that is whites who are attend church more are more likely to vote Republican. But a summary of USA Today/Gallup Poll results that came out last week suggests that may be coming to an end –- or at least suspended for the moment.
Here’s the lead paragraph from the survey report: “An analysis of USA Today/Gallup poll trend data indicates that while Democrats have made gains across the board on the generic Congressional ballot in the latest Oct. 6-8 survey, the change has been greater among religious whites than among less religious whites and among non whites. At this point, religious whites are equally as likely to say they will vote Democratic as Republican, a marked change from their strong tilt towards the Republicans in surveys conducted June through September.”
A similar erosion of support among the so-called “values voters” showed up even more vividly in a study conducted by the Center for American Values, an institute of People for the American Way. (See: http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/general/default.aspx?oid=22461)
Are we at a watershed moment? I've learned not to hold my breath. But it could be.
Jeff Weintraub
I wouldn't know the Dixie Chicks if I fell over them. Like you, I'd have a tough time naming one of their songs. That said, I do not understand why the public goes to concerts or buys CDs based on a performer's politics. I don't care whether a singer or actor contributes money to the NRA or the ACLU. I only want to know if he or she is worth seeing artistically.
The growing "polarization" we keep hearing about in Congress is alive and well with "we the people." There seems to be no tolerance for the views of others, and this happens with ever growing frequency on BOTH the Right and the Left.
My Dad used to say that the answers to most issues are NOT in black and white, but rather shades of gray. Sam was right.
Hope you are well.
Merrill, where you been, boy? As a long time fan of the Dixie Chicks, I could have played a few tunes for you that would have tickled your country rock toes.
Country has always been more complex and various than the mainstream realizes. It speaks about everyday life and working world worries in a way that other genres ignore, and as a result, it contains a lot of uncertainty, doubt and skepticism. Time for you to bone up on your Steve Earle, Lucinda Williams and Jimmie Dale Gilmore. Don't be so surprized when a little oppositional politics pops its head up over the barn yard fence.
Posted by: Monte Tarbox at October 19, 2006 12:22 PMI too saw the film preview and got fired up. This movie has it all. It's a great story about three women who inadvertently become politically empowered thanks to the right wing attack on their free speech rights and implied criticism of the war in Iraq. It's about becoming liberated creatively and from corporate constraints, freeing them to expand beyond their country roots and experiment with other forms of musical expression. It's a very personal story about their families, and about balancing work and homelife. It's a ton of fun with great music and behind the stage scenes. Most importantly, it rejuvenates your spirit because it's transformative, positive and uplifting. It's the best film I've seen all year, and then some.
Posted by: Frank Clemente at October 19, 2006 12:56 PMI'll add my endorsement for "Shut Up and Sing." It was a great cinematic experience to travel with the Dixie Chicks as they courageously confronted the political and personal storms that blew up after Natalie Maine's Bush comment. Family, love, sky-high musical talent, spunk and artistic integrity are a heady mix and the directors have captured it all beautifully. And supporting it all--the unbreakable bond between the Chicks that elevates the concept of friendship to high art. The movie is wonderful!
Posted by: Ira Shorr at October 19, 2006 02:14 PM