Lately the docs I've been watching have just been "meh". They weren't bad, but they weren't leaving me with much to think about. This is a film I know I'll be thinking about for a while.
The film is mainly about copyright laws and how they impede intellectual and creative freedoms. Sounds pretty bland, right? Well the way these points are made is what makes it so fun. Great interviews, a strong narrative, and a f*cking killer soundtrack make the movie flow from idea to idea, and trust me it covers a lot.
But it's more than all that too. It's a mixer's manifesto; a visual guideline to the life of anyone who creates using that which already exists. It's a love song to the DJ, the editor, and the remixer. The film has one central hero, GIRL TALK, DJ by night, bio-engineer by day. He's famous for his complex mixes of popular songs. He describes his music as "putting Elton John in a headlock", by that he means taking traditional, well loved songs and putting such a spin on them they become something brand new.
And finally it's a wake up call to how our arts are dominated by multinational corporations bent on increasing profits and decreasing our freedom of expression. This theme takes one even more significance in the wake of the recent SOPA PIPA legislation.
What I learned: The 'Happy Birthday' song is a trademarked tune owned by Warner-Chappell music. Everytime you sing it in public you are actually breaking the law!
If GIRL TALK paid the copyright fees for each music sample he used, he'd be paying an average 262,500 dollars per song.
When Napster was shut down there were 52 million users. Only 50 million citizens voted for each political party during the last election. (Really goes to show you if people rallied around a common cause, like prosecuting music 'pirates', we might see real change in our govt!).
The curious case of Dan O' Neil and the Mouse Liberation Front.
Dan was a merry prankster who created an underground comic collective called Air Pirates in the 70's. The comic was just Mickey Mouse as a blood-thirsty pirate who loved to break the law. Naturally Disney didn't appreciate this less than subtle imitation, and ordered Dan to stop his work. In response he created the Mouse Liberation Front, an semi-serious activist group that fought for creative freedom in pop culture.
What I liked: ALL OF IT! Seriously, it was all good. Specifically, I enjoyed the narrative. The filmmaker provided a lot of background into why he wanted to make the film, and was a central character throughout. This is the first doc I've watched that had a constant narrative, and it made everything flow smoothly and evenly.
I loved everything we learned about GIRL TALK. I've been a fan of his music for a long time, and I always pictured a slick, well dressed DJ and total babe magnet. Turns out the dude's a total nerd. Super nerd. It's easy to tell he never expected the kind of huge response he got from his music.
There's an amazing interview scene with GIRL TALK and his family. His parents are absolutely adorable. You can tell they really don't understand what he does musically, or why it's as popular as it is, but they support him through and through. Adorable.
Big Ole' Nerd.
Favorite quote: "We think you're talented enough, why do you have to take your pants off?" GIRL TALK's dad, on his son's habit of getting naked on stage.
Not only was it a cool idea for a doc, it was well executed and well thought out. Best of all, it ends on a call to action- ideas about what the viewer can do if they feel so inclined to help the cause of protecting freedom of expression. This is really the most pivotal step of any documentary, and it's amazing how often it's left out.
Go watch this one, right now.
Here's the trailer:
This film can be viewed in multiple locations online. I watched it on Hulu, but found it ironically frustrating that a film about the perils of large corporations was frequently interrupted by commercial breaks.
Here are two comedic remixes featured in the film:
Darth Vader feels blue:
George Bush sings 'Imagine'
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