Over the weekend Jim & I rented the documentary "Shut Up & Sing" about the country group Dixie Chicks. The documentary was filmed between 2003 - 2006. At first the group had planned the documentary to be about their world tour. Well, at the start of their tour in 2003 at Shepard's Bush Stadium in London, their lead singer, Natalie Maines had said to the crowd, "We are ashamed that the President of the United States is from Texas". The crowd loved it since it was just before the US invade Iraq and obviously the group is against the war.
Anyways, the US media got wind of what she said and there were backlash to the group. A lot of the conservative Republicans were upset by what she said. Since a lot of country group fans are from the south and the south are mostly Republicans (why? I have no idea), the group saw their song and cd sales go down. Most, if not all, country radio stations refused to play their songs and a lot of their fans either burn or destroyed their cds. The band was branded as a traitor and non patriotic and the members even received death threats.
What I really like about the documentary is that how the band dealt with the backlash. How they stuck together and soldier on with what they think is right. It is their right to express their opinion. Even with all the bad press and their songs not being played on country radios, they still had a top selling cd last year.
My favorite part of the documentary is when a reporter asked George Bush what he thinks about the Dixie Chicks, he said that they are entitle to their opinion but they shouldn't get their feelings hurt when their fans criticize them. They showed that interview with George Bush during one of the Dixie Chicks concert (in their dressing room) and Natalie turned to the camera and said, "He's a dumb fuck!!". I almost choked myself with laughter when I heard her said that coz obviously I agree with her. *A little side bar here....for those of you who loves the show "Heroes", Natalie is married to Adrian Pasdar who plays Nathan Petrelli (the one who can fly) on that show.....
Anyways, I thought the documentary was really good. I didn't think that I would like it very much when Jim rented it since I don't like country music too much (neither does Jim). I also like the song they wrote about the "incident" called "Not Ready to Play Nice". It reminds me a little of my relationship with someone.....
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