In 2003, The Dixie Chicks, were one of the top American recording acts when during a concert in England, Natalie Maines made comments critical of President Bush and the Iraq war. This movie documents the controversy that arose out of what of a singer speaking her mind. Bush's popularity numbers were at record heights as the country at the time was stirred up by the events of 9/11. In addition Karl Rove was very much in charge of White House PR and a spin campaign was on to keep the radical right in charge of all parts of the the government. It was easy to paint the "Chicks" as unpatriotic. As a result, they were basically blacklisted.
The movie shares some down home moments with the Dixie Chicks, and gives a glimpse in their personalities. Without a doubt, the salty Maines is the driving force in the group.
The movie also shows that it was not the original intent of the Chicks to start a controversy. I admired them however for speaking out when no one else in the mainstream really did. The DVD "Shut Up And Sing" is available at Amazon.
I'm not enamored of the Bush administration, but I'm not a great fan of the Dixie Chicks either. I will never understand artists who feel their talent makes them experts on world affairs, or who feel they should be able to air our country's dirty laundry to a foreign audience. The Dixie Chicks have made a large amount of noise about being "martyred" for expressing their views. So be it. I have no interest in anything they are associated with.
ReplyDeleteBack in the late '90's, we attended a Fourth of July party in the courtyard of an apartment house on the Venice Boardwalk. We were told that Natalie Maines' boyfriend lived in one of the apartments; and that Maines herself was sleeping there during the party. Alas, she never woke up and joined the party. (You could imagine how some of their pro-Bush critics might use the story that she failed to attend an Independence Day celebration.)
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