Shut Up & Sing

Yesterday I went to see Shut Up & Sing (click here to view the trailer), a documentary based on the country-music group the Dixie Chicks. In 2003, lead singer Natalie Maines started a controversy when, at the height of President Bush's pre-war popularity, she stated at a concert in London: "Just so you know, we're ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas." This comment set off a storm of controversy, resulting in plummeting record sales, anti-Chicks rallies, and a death threat against Maines.

When this controversy happened, I remember thinking that, while Maines had the absolute right to say whatever she wanted to say, it might have been career suicide for her to say it, because the country music world is stereotypically very conservative and people would precieve her statement as unpatriotic.

The focus of the movie surrounds what unraveled in the aftermath of Maines' London comment, along with the Chicks' (successful) attempt to rebuild their career two years later.

I went to see the movie because I really like the Dixie Chicks' music and was impressed by their honesty and bravery. But this movie also showed me something you don't see often in the media--the power of women sticking together no matter what. These women have had a sisterhood that has survived so much--without dessension.

I wrote an email of praise to Cecilia Peck, one of the directors (and an alumna of the school where I work), and she wrote in her e-mail back to me that she and her co-director, Barbara Kopple, were "very inspired by the unbreakable bond of friendship between the three women. There are so many themes; of the effect of the media and the internet hate groups on public opinion, of the cost of speaking out against the government in our post-911 climate of fear, of the state of free speech in our country. But we really tried to stay with the three Dixie Chicks and watch how they matured as women and as artists and as friends during a very challenging time."

A strong story about the bond between women--I highly recommend it.