Perfect Concert Movie: "Stop Making Sense"

Several months ago, I was talking to one of my classes, and I brought up what I thought was an obvious point: some things are awesome because they are awesome, and other things are awesome because they suck. It turns out that this was not at all an obvious idea to my students. So before I explain why The Talking Heads concert film, “Stop Making Sense” is a perfect concert film, I need to explain the bigger theoretical issue of awesome =>awesome, vs. suck=>suck, vs. suck=>awesome.


AWESOME=>AWESOME

Think of some things that are clearly and indisputably good.

Movies: “The Godfather” (I and II), “No Country for Old Men”; “Schindler’s List”

Bands: Beatles, Radiohead, Arcade Fire; The Association

Songs: “When Doves Cry,” “Somewhere over the Rainbow,” “Tracks of my Tears,” “Moonlight Sonata”

Books: “The Sun Also Rises,” “Fahrenheit 451,” “Pride and Prejudice”

And so forth.

Why are they good? Because they move us; they make us laugh; they make us think. The world is a different place after than it was before. I remember my good friend Brien Henderson read this essay by DFW and remarked, “That changed my life… a little.” That is what awesome=>awesome does. It shapes our outlook and gives us a fresh perspective, even if only a very little bit. It opens our imagination to wonder.

SUCK=>SUCK

Ok, so now what about things that suck because… well because they suck? I will not create a list of suck=>suck, lest I offend someone by listing something they like. But a couple safe examples might include “Small Wonder,” Billy Ray Cyrus, and “Kangaroo Jack.” They are not awesome, and they do not even suck the right way to be funny or cool. Not even ironically. I don’t want them near me.


SUCK=>AWESOME

Some very smart people will likely have a name for this. I do not know that name but I suspect that Germans do. In America we do have a concept of “camp.” Dictionary.com offers these explanations:

“1. An affectation or appreciation of manners and tastes commonly thought to be artificial, vulgar, or banal. 2. Banality, vulgarity, or artificiality when deliberately affected or when appreciated for its humor.”

This comes close to suck=>awesome. The idea of camp is perfectly illustrated by the following: my esteemed colleague Phil Mayfield has an inexplicable affection for Hello Kitty that he is unwilling to explain. “She is a cool cat,” he will say. However, we all know that as he loves Hello (can I call her by first name only?), he does so in a way that acknowledges that he probably should not. It is an ironic appreciation. Grown men that are respected college professors should not like Ms. Kitty. He knows that. This is why it is funny. Whenever someone “likes” something that they know they should not like, and they do so in a public and self-aware way, we have an example of “camp.”

But awesome=>suck is slightly different than camp in my opinion.

It includes camp, perhaps, but also includes things like Lou Reed. No one would ever make the argument that Lou Reed is a “good” singer by any conventional definition. But many (myself included) would argue that his music is great. And that includes his bad singing. The bad singing helps the music, somehow. It sucks. It really does. But that makes the music awesome. The music would be less beautiful and interesting if his voice was more classically beautiful.

Or Take “Jesus Christ Superstar.” That is a great, great movie… probably perfect. But it sucks so bad, it will make you cry. The roman guards that arrest Jesus in the movie are wearing purple tank tops and carrying machine guns. Judas’s guilt about betraying Jesus is dramatized by having him run away from a helicopter. Suck, right? Yes. And Awesome!

Still not sure what I mean? Ok, cut and paste this into your browser: http://www.myspace.com/grumleeacoustic then report back to my blog.

I am sure that you now know what I mean.

STOP MAKING SENSE

So why is “Stop Making Sense” by the Talking Heads a perfect concert film? Because no other concert video that I can think of moves so seamlessly between AWESOME=>AWESOME and SUCK=>AWESOME. It is both.

You can watch most of the film on Youtube.com or you can watch the whole thing instantly on your computer if you have netflix.

David Byrne in the end will stand next to Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Chris Chrsitopherson, Hank Williams Sr., and all the truly great American song writers. He is consistently thought-provoking, and listenable. The Talking Heads were great. But there is no question about the “suck” part of this film. There are so many dated 1980’s elements that just outright suck… in the right way to be awesome.

But there are aspects of the music and the film that are just plain awesome=>awesome, not the least of which is the brilliant music of the Talking Heads. But the production is also brilliant. It starts with Byrne on stage alone with a guitar. Then for the next song, they add a boom box drum track. Then they add more and more stage-dressing after each song, first the remaining band members, then the touring musicians, then extravagant lighting, dancers, etc. Finally David Byrne leaves the stage and come back with a giant suit on. It makes him look like a little boy wearing his dad’s suit.

The notion is that the production itself has outgrown the musicians/music in Baudrillardian hyperreality. Brilliant, really.

At any rate. It is a great concert movie that everyone should watch.