Shut Up and Sing
Shut Up & Sing is a 2006 documentary that covers the country music band known as the Dixie Chicks over a period of three years while they were under fire for comments that lead singer Natalie Maines made criticizing President George W. Bush at a concert in London in 2003. The film covers the fallout from those comments and how the country music industry and many of its fans turned their backs on the Dixie Chicks.
The documentary uses backstage footage, personal footage of the band, footage of the band recording new albums, and ample news and entertainment footage to design the constructs of the firestorm that followed the Chicks around after Maines remarked that she was ashamed the President was from her state. It was amazing to see that this now somewhat popular opinion was so vilified less than five years ago and stating such an opinion would result in such a chaotic response from the general public in what I will gently refer to as the “red states” in the South. The film ably describes the situation with candid honesty and clarity, allowing masses of ignorant fans and politicians speak for themselves without any running commentary or manipulation a la Greenwald.
The film covers censorship and the results of speaking out against the “popular” opinion for a musician or an entertainer, with one so-called pundit offering the Chicks her advice to “shut up and sing”. The advice, which is pretty much the equivalent of “dance, monkey, dance” illustrates the notion in North America that we’re willing to listen to celebrities that we agree with and give them all the time in the world to make their point (see Toby Keith) but we aren’t willing to allow others to make opposing points and share their point of view. In that respect, we’d rather they simply shut up and entertain us. Fame sometimes forces us to forget about the real people behind the firestorm we create and, as an inevitable result, we impact lives by our ridiculous actions when it is us that should be “shutting up”.
Shut Up and Sing doesn’t set the Dixie Chicks or any other act on any sort of intellectually superior ground than the fans or “regular people” in our world. It doesn’t attempt to make the Dixie Chicks into heroes or create some sort of mythology about their actions during this trying time. Instead, it shows us that our reactions as fans make an impact on the musicians and performers that we are fans of and it also impacts the industry as a whole. The documentary shows us with accuracy and power that the fans have the ability to impact radio stations and record companies to the point that we can literally put people out of work for not saying what we want them to say. Shut Up and Sing doesn’t give us an “us vs. them” dichotomy but it rather forces the obvious and uses the situation involving Maines and her remarks as the blueprint here, telling us that what we may view as “celebrity” and as some sort of fantasy world actually is consequential.
I am using “us” here as the collective, of course, and do not draw any inferences except through creative license as to the notions or nature of any readers of this blog (I know there might be one person that reads this thing). Most of the music I listen to is made by folks who have passed on, so the fan culture is not really something I have ever related to. I can’t imagine vilifying a musical group I enjoy because of “political” statements made by a member of the band. I have no business doing such a thing and have never even thought that people would go so far, but Shut Up and Sing served as an eye-opener of sorts to the realities of the industry and the effects that disgruntled fans can have on the whole show.
The film achieves relevance because it examines this intertwining relationship of celebrity, political statements and fans. It takes the Dixie Chicks and uses them as an example of sorts, showing the girls trying to get on with their lives and how the consequences of one sticky situation permeated through to the rest of their lives and actually had an impact on the day to day events.
What Shut Up & Sing actually ends up being after all of that is a illuminating sociological study into the minds of the “fan” and how personally hurt one might feel after such an occurrence as hearing that your “star of the moment” doesn’t agree with your stance on politics. The death threats, the name-calling and the other nonsensical ramblings of such wounded souls are captured in this powerful documentary, enabling those of us on the outside looking in to see the realities behind such callous and childish actions. So when real life is transformed back into the fifth grade level of groupthink and de facto censorship, Shut Up & Sing shows us the consequences on a very practical level. It’s not about feeling sorry for the Dixie Chicks and their families, although it’s certainly reasonable and logical to do so, but rather it’s about feeling sorry and disturbed for the people that allow this mentality to exist in their personal lives.
Shut Up & Sing uses an interesting and compelling chronology to tell us this story and allows the band members and their detractors to speak for themselves. Whether it’s Toby Keith, George W. Bush or some rabid idiotic rednecks in front of a Dixie Chicks concert holding a sign, we’re able to see the freedom of speech in all of its power and glory. The film makes a compelling case for freedom of speech, but it also reminds us that it is a two-way street in some fashion and that the reactions of an industry might fly in the face of all that is reasonable and logical. The same freedom that allows the Dixie Chicks to speak out in that way does, ironically or not, allow the rabid moronic fans and the idiosyncratic individuals of our world to do the same. Something tells me the Dixie Chicks wouldn’t have it any other way. They just want the chance to give a big ol’ “FU” right back at ‘em and Shut Up & Sing is that “FU”.
Trailer:
