I know what you are probably thinking. “The Dixie Chicks? Why would I want to see a film about the Dixie Chicks?” The answer is that this is one of the best documentaries about modern music and its effects on society that I have ever seen.
You don’t have to like their music. You just have to sit there and be amazed at how one truthful, innocent remark can make a person feel pain, fear, and almost cause a successful business enterprise to fold. This is a film about freedom of speech in America, and does not hold back with its scepticism of the American Way of Life, George Bush, and perceived patriotism.
On March 10, 2003, the biggest-selling female group in history, the Dixie Chicks, played to a packed crowd at Shepherds Bush in London. Well known for her between-songs banter, and with the war in Iraq poised on the brink, lead singer Natalie Maines made a remark which at the time seemed to mirror most people’s thoughts. “We’re ashamed George Bush is from Texas,” she said.
Little did she know that this comment, which echoes sentiments made by countless other performers, would cause a storm to rival John Lennon’s “Bigger than Jesus” remark. For the next three years, the group were the victims of political attack, death threats, radio station boycotts, and had to suffer the scorn of those in their home country. Shut Up And Sing chronicles those years, while the three members of the group tried to continue making music, had babies, and basically lived their lives under a mushroom cloud of patriotic resentment.
Barbara Koppel, a two-time Academy Award winning filmmaker, and Cecilia Peck have put together a film that not only does justice to the content matter, but is highly entertaining and intriguing. The fly-on-the-wall documentary takes us into meetings where tour sponsors pull out from lucrative deals because they fear repercussions, it takes us into recording sessions with the legendary Rick Rubin, and it exposes the fear many Americans seem to have of anyone who even thinks their way may not be the best way. Many of the band’s most outspoken opponents are interviewed, passionately wishing death to the Dixie Chicks while in the same sentence thanking God for Free Speech in America. Children that don’t know any better are physically shaken by their parents to admit the Dixie Chicks are evil. Even George Bush himself is shown speaking his mind about the group. This is a film of importance and relevance, and should not be missed.
Tim Saunders, transl. K. Weber
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