Just so you know, we're ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas.It was the off-the-cuff stage banter heard round the world. I dare say that Natalie Maines, the Dixie Chicks lead singer who made the comment, wouldn't have thought twice about it had it not been for the knee-jerk reaction of the red-state right-wingers who have, since day 1, blindly backed the President.
Maines made the comment on a stage in London (the blasphemy!) in the spring of 2003 just days before President Bush started the Iraq War, and just hours after thousands marched the streets of London in protest against the coming conflict. The result (here in America) was a boycott of the group by country-music radio (that is still in effect today, for the most part), public demonstrations in which Dixie Chicks CDs were crushed, and death threats made against Maines' life.
The original intent of filmmaker Barbara Kopple ("Harlan County USA," "American Dream") was to make your basic documentary about a popular singing group - in this case one the biggest selling female groups in the United States. But after Maines' comment, Kopple took a detour and the resulting film, "Shut Up and Sing," is a compelling and superbly made behind-the-scenes story of the Dixie Chicks' three-year journey between the London concert and the release of their latest album "Taking the Long Way."
Kopple does a superb job of capturing the determination of Maines and her fellow Chicks, Emily Robson and Martie Maguire, to stick to their guns; their refusal to give in to the public and corporate pressure to fall in lock-step behind this President. Their refusal to be brainwashed, as were too many Americans during the run up to the Iraq War in 2003, tested the group in many ways. "Shut Up and Sing" captures the essence of the tried and true friendship of these three women during those turbulent years. That friendship sustained them through the long "post-London" period, and it is what sustains them still today. Their loyalty to one another epitomizes the meaning of the words "friend" and "family" - words the administration of George W. Bush and their ardent supporters will never truly understand.
Four-years later, with the Iraq War in shambles and the President wildly unpopular, the tried and true right-wingers still boycott the Dixie Chicks. But in losing those fans, the group has essentially found a new legion of them. Their passionate and emotional single about the whole affair - "Not Ready to Make Nice" - went gold (in a day and age when few singles sell enough to be certified gold) and "Taking the Long Way" climbed to the # 1 spot on the national album chart.
Poetic justice? You better freekin' believe it!
Kopple's documentary, "Shut Up and Sing," is available on DVD. I urge you to put it in your Netflix queue or pop on down to your rental store and give it a look this weekend. You'll find it one of the better films of the past year.
