Dixie Chicks Movie
It took me a minute to decide if this was politics or music, but I guess since what I’m pissed about is more in the political area – it’s going in politics….
I just finished watching “Shut up and Sing” which is a sorta documentary about the Dixie Chicks and what they went through when Natalie Maines made her comment about Bush being from Texas, and first off, I can recommend this movie on many levels.
It’s obviously on the face of it a very interesting look at what it’s like to be in the shoes of someone who a large number of people in this country hate (hate still?), but it’s also a great viewpoint to look at what happened in the country at that time, with the war starting, Powell at the UN, Bush on the carrier, country fans freaking out and basically attacking the D.C.’s etc etc….really interesting.
I ended up having more respect for and liking what they did even more than I did before. I must say that I had some of the same type of experiences after 9/11 and also when the war started ramping up, though obviously in a smaller way. But I had people kicking me off websites, threatening me, calling gigs where I was going to be playing and saying all kinda things about me, some people getting VERY aggressive when I would say my things about the war and what I thought about the criminals that started it etc etc etc…..so when I see them having those experiences, but at the enormous level that they were dealing with, to show the spunk and courage that they did really pleased me a lot, it’s good to know that not EVERYONE sells out, sometimes they do the thing that is right and that they believe in, and that’s not ALWAYS about the money.
And then they get the money ANYWAYS!!!
I couldn’t be more pleased….I know I went right out and bought the album BECAUSE of their stance, and it turns out I really like it too – BONUS!
I think there’s been another effect of their shoving back, and that’s to take some of the steam and the self-righteous “gang authority” that a wound up but ill-informed or just plain stupid public somehow got, because for a minute there it looked like they were gonna get away with this roasting they did to the D.C.’s, and that was just NOT America, no matter how many hateful fear-mongering sloganeering yahoos wanted to claim it was.
So anyway, if you haven’t seen it, give it a Netflix-ing, I think you’ll be fascinated by the view from inside, their courage, their musicality, and as my wife said watching it, their normalcy and coolness as people. Of course I don’t know them, (though I’ve met their live drummer Fred and he’s a very nice guy, especially considering I was hammered when I met him….), but you do get a sense of who they are.
You may also be interested in your own remembrance of what you thought about things at the time, how you were being treated if you were against the war, or maybe whether or not you’ve apologized for what you may have said to people who were against it and you were for it……hunh. Maybe you still are?
How that could be I’ll never know, but I know they’re out there somewhere….I know I haven’t received one apology from any of the many many online and real world people who vilified me, tried to hurt my career, and in several instances threatened me or even in one case followed me to my car after a gig (that person became less aggressive after I let him see the pipe I have in the back of my van – no I’m not kidding, it got that weird).
That was a weird time, and honestly it continues to be to me…..I’m just totally dismayed and confused by the continued aggressiveness of these people in the face of all fact and reason, and it just blows me away that we’re not impeaching Bush and all of his people that were in on this, and that we can’t seem to get ahold of this corporate feed trough that this war always was, no matter how many people make it clear they’re OVER IT!!
Why we aren’t seeing a massive landslide of really pointed and aggressive questioning of all the people involved, why the media isn’t just hounding them for answers, why the Democrats have wasted the opportunity to DO SOMETHING historic…it’s all just like being in the rabbit hole that never ends….
Check the movie out, you’ll like it.