Posted on 11/12/2006 7:05:35 PM PST by Chi-townChief
Back in 2003, Natalie Maines spoke her mind and lived to regret it. Just days before the Iraq invasion during a London concert, the lead singer of the Dixie Chicks stated: "Just so you know, we're ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas."
It was a thunderbolt that reverberated throughout conservative factions of America where country music is a bastion. Almost immediately, the Chicks, who are all against the war, became the most loathed band in the United States. What followed that now infamous statement is chronicled in Barbara Kopple and Cecilia Peck's new documentary, "Shut Up & Sing," opening Friday.
The filmmakers, who have worked together for the last 10 years, immediately knew they wanted to get closer to the situation and chronicle the ensuing turmoil that was sure to rock the once-popular trio. Even more important, Kopple saw a story building around freedom of expression in a country where security and paranoia were being taken to new levels.
"It's so hard in this day and age for people to speak out," Kopple said. "I feel it's important, no matter how you feel politically on anything, to have that voice. Once that voice is silenced, we're all in deep trouble."
Of course, Kopple is no stranger to controversial topics. She won Oscars for her unflinching look at Kentucky coal miners in "Harlan County U.S.A." and for "American Dream," a courageous film about the strike against a meat-packing plant in Minnesota.
For "Shut Up & Sing," Kopple and Peck traveled with the Dixie Chicks, visited them at home and chronicled the writing and recording session that would lead to their most personal album, "Taking the Long Way," which featured the defiant song "Not Ready to Make Nice."
When they started their 2003 Top of the World Tour, the Chicks, with record sales exceeding 30 million, had just been crowned the biggest-selling female group of all time. Maines, Martie Maguire and Emily Robison had forged a path to country music success that was fresh and unblinking but also did not step outside the genre's rules for success. Maines' comment blew the lid off that and seemed to many a shocking betrayal.
"I think there's a possibility that being a woman had something to do with the way the Chicks were targeted," Kopple said during a recent stop in Chicago to promote the film. "They were seen as good ol' gals from Texas, and they played the game of country radio. But country music has boundaries, and I think the Chicks were the last ones anyone expected to cross them."
The Chicks agree. "I think if we'd been a man in the country industry, we would have been like rebellious and just kind of a Merle Haggard of the time, or whatever they tried to spin it as," Robison told a Canadian newspaper during the Toronto Film Festival. "But people don't like mouthy women in country music."
The revolt against the Chicks is mostly credited to a right-wing Web site called the Free Republic, whose anonymous members, infuriated over Maines' comment, went on their blogs and riled people up. Before long, former fans smashed the band's CDs, country radio boycotted them and death threats were voiced. As record sales plummeted, the women were left wondering how to move forward without their solid fan base.
But through it all, Kopple says, the women never backed down. Maguire and Robison never resented Maines for her off-the-cuff comment that abruptly changed their professional lives. In fact, the threesome became closer as performers and friends.
"I think what it did was allow them to mature as people, to really think about the kind of artists they wanted to be and to be more proactive in the things they believe in," Kopple said.
Added Peck: "There was some soul searching but at the same time they had children, they had husbands, they had an album to make. They kept moving forward during a very uncertain time, when they realized all that they had worked for could disappear. They stood tall and kept going."
Simply put, Kopple and Peck saw the film as a way to capture the Chicks as they "grew up" and moved from the darlings of country music to bold symbols for freedom of expression.
There are scenes of the women's family lives -- between them they have seven children -- and strategy sessions with their optimistic manager, Simon Renshaw. Scenes in the studio show the Chicks opening a new chapter in their impressive songbook as they write an album's worth of songs, something they had not done before. There is added depth and passion to what many felt was some of their best work yet.
"The new music speaks not only to politics but also to who they are as wives and mothers," Peck said. "During this entire process they dug deep into their lives and discovered anew the things that make them strong."
And in case you wondered, Maines still isn't ready to make nice. In the film, the feisty blond continues to speak her mind about the war and President Bush, in not so flattering terms. Was Kopple worried about the caustic comments?
"No, not at all," Kopple said. "We wanted people to get a real look at the Dixie Chicks and draw their own conclusions after seeing the bigger picture. You wouldn't trust this film if we didn't put in it a true picture of who these women are. Making a film like this is all about the truth, warts and all."
mhoulihan@suntimes.com
Can we cut a double CD and go on tour, then?
I can live with that.
how many people have their own blogs????
Yeah, those damn freepers and bloggers sending death threats.
Isn't amusing how they're worried about the freedom of expression, when what indeed happened was exactly that?
It's as if they feel that anyone who is in the public sphere should be able to say anything with zero repercusions.
Well, that ain't happening. And frankly, if Tim McGraw or Toby Keith said what the Hicks said, I'd be willing to bet that either one would get the exact same reception. I sure as heck wouldn't buy their lot, anymore.
Plenty of other people have had their careers damaged by their own big mouths. Remember Jimmy the Greek? Was it the evil conservatives who threw him off the air? No it was corporate media lefties... the true totalitarians of thought.
I'm still blaming Metallica.
Too much credit given to FR, but when it comes to the Dixie Chumps, I'd consider any role in their fall from grace a badge of honor.
Comparing themselves to Merle?
IN THEIR DREAMS!
If we had that much power Congress would still be Republican.
They could've helped us even more by offering a link to FR, just like this: Free Republic.
I checked the article itself at the Sun Times website, but no such luck for us.
LOL! Great graphic. But my only quibble with it: The guy throws a sneaky left hook. We here at FR only throw devastating right hooks.
Hey, don't burst our bubble
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