Posted on 09/14/2006 4:41:58 AM PDT by kristinn
Edited on 09/14/2006 3:04:35 PM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
After facing a barrage of insults, death threats and all kinds of broken records in the face of an offhand remark about the U.S. president, the Dixie Chicks are no longer chicks.
"It turned us into women," says Natalie Maines, speaking about the past three years in near media exile, facing one of the largest pop culture controversies in recent history.
On the eve of the invasion of Iraq in 2003, Maines made an offhand comment about being against violence, and being embarrassed that the U.S. president, George W. Bush was from Texas, her home state. Despite their being a top-selling act, they soon faced fans who had turned into haters. Record sales plummeted. Some radio stations excluded them from their playlists. People said their career at the top of country was over.
The conflict was so rich in scope and meaning, it attracted the attention of two-time Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Barbara Kopple and her colleague, Cecilia Peck (Gregory's daughter).
The result is Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing! - one of the hottest documentary titles of this year's Toronto International Film Festival.
Beginning the voyage with the actual comment of the title recorded in a London amphitheatre, Kopple and Peck take a full immersion tour through the post-Bush-slag landscape, and follow the Chicks - Maines, Martie Maguire and Emily Robison - as they attempt to understand what happened, and how to move forward without their sturdy net of a solid fan base.
"In watching this movie, it felt like I was watching myself mature," Maines says.
Robison echoes the sentiment. "I think, for the most part, when your career is going great, you don't really have the opportunity to soul search ... but we did. And we do think it happened for a reason."
At a Shut Up and Sing! press conference, the Chicks say they have absolutely no regrets about speaking their mind. If anything, the experience made them realize just how vulnerable to censorship we are in the world of consolidated media ownership and nationally uniform radio playlists.
"Consolidation means one guy at the top decides everything ... and I don't think the media has been successful in pointing out why it's so dangerous," Robison says.
"People don't understand why this is so important," Maines says. "But if you live in Lubbock, Texas, where I'm from - you just have one paper and one radio station and unless you're savvy on the Internet, that's it for you. If Bush said get a gun and kill an Arab, they would do that."
Maguire says if it had been just one - or even several - DJs who felt it was just too much of a hassle to spin Dixie Chicks singles, they would have been fine with the boycott. The problem was how the whole anti-Chicks campaign was orchestrated by a select few through a right-wing Internet site called the Free Republic.
According to the research done by Kopple and the Chicks themselves, the Free Republic sent out form letters to their 30,000-thick subscription list with market-specific information, saying if the station did not stop playing their music, people would cease listening to the station.
The campaign worked, and the Chicks' current tour for their new album is being booked at venues half the size of their previous tour. "What was wrong was that (the decision to not play Dixie Chicks records) was coming from the top ... and that (DJs) were not allowed to play the records, even if they wanted to. ... I think that kind of censorship is dangerous," says Maguire.
Kopple says what happened to the Dixie Chicks really struck a chord because it spoke to the changing times.
"In the ... '60s, there was a sense of a cultural movement that happened, and you really felt a sense of belonging to a community. They (Dixie Chicks) were on their own, and our hope is that people who see this film ... will become part of their community so the Chicks no longer have to stand alone," Kopple says.
Maines, who says she always felt the support of her bandmates and family, says she's still a little surprised by the whole journey. Though she's learned to really think hard about what she says to the press these days, she says she may well have said the very same thing - even with a little reflection. "Even if I had thought about what I wanted to say, I don't think I ever could have imagined what happened. What I said was just so lame."
Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing! is slated for a fall /winter theatrical release.
ooooooooooo I'm so glad we're right-wing......!!!
I never got MINE either!!!
It's the "whore", "talentless" name calling I refer to.
They have given us plenty of ammo with witch to trash them....no need to "make stuff up" or name-call about things which have nothing to do with their idiocy.
Dear Fellow Freeper:
The moose with the beeber is stuning my sister. The Dixie Chicks are hugh and series and eating cheese. That is all for now. You know what to do.
Freegards,
Fellow Freeper
This is as bad as not getting the wedding invitation.
I know Jim has my address because I contribute.
So where is the dang form letter?? I demand satisfaction.
Hmmm.
I believe her latest "offhand remark" about the President was calling him a "dumb f--k."
They are really CLUELESS, aren't they?
It is a shame. All that talent and not one brain between them! No class either!!!
Katherine Monk, the writer of this review, is nothing more than a movie critic who wishes folks would take her more seriously. I guess that's what majoring in English and then getting a post-grad degree in film gets you: unfulfilled delusions of grandeur. From another article of hers:
"Like Rumsfeld says, the truth will eventually reveal itself. Thanks to Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11, Sandra Goodman’s Army of One, and Jehane Noujaim’s Control Room, that truth grows a little stronger—a little more complete—every day."
How does it feel, Kathy? No matter what you write, no matter how much you hate Bush - your side will continue to lose. You can stomp your feet, hold your breath, and plug your ears, but the majority of Americans (and Canadians) read your tripe and laugh at you.
Absolutely! And also those pesky little gray hairs that keep sprouting up in their heads.
Well it's a bit late now, isn't it. I wanted to censor the Dixie Chicks using all of my FR government powers and now the moment is gone. I'll never get it back.
In an alternate universe there was a concert overseas. Prior to the concert the group agreed that there would be no political overtones in their act. When questioned about their politics, their stock answer would always be that while they may disagree about the policies of any given politician, the best way to express that view is at the ballot box.
Further, the group decided that they would do their best to support their fellow Americans who were in the military, and they would do a couple of USO tours, and they would visit the injured in the hospitals.
Because of this reasoned strategy, they became one of the most successful groups of the 21st century, and their earnings were basically uncountable.
But, that was in the alternate universe. In this universe, they encountered huge boycotts to their performances. And that is something dreaded by all people who choose to try to have a career in entertainment. All that time, all those rehearsals, all that work, was wasted because of their political views. What fools.
Yeah, they missed me too.
More PR but I bet they don't get more fans. What do you want, people to buy your CD's because you are a victim??
And her statements against country music fans, Reba McEntire, and Toby Keith. Some of us don't know when to quit making that poor girl say things like that. Well, I hope you're happy.
So, looking into the camera and calling the POTUS a "dumb f*&k" is a sign of maturity to her?
They have been trying to put the toothpaste back in the tube for three years now and they still keep making things worse.
He could have been behind it, trying to tap into what I call Micheal Moore Money. MMM is where the capitalists exploit the communists for tons of money. Everyone saw how much Moore raked in and some wanted to get on the band wagon. How many of these libs are truly speaking from their own twisted beliefs or just to ride the gravy train will never be known know.
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