Review: ‘Shut Up & Sing’ speaks its mind

Directed by: Barbara Kopple and Cecilia Peck

Starring: Natalie Maines, Martie Maguire, Emily Robison

Rated: R

“We should send Natalie Maines to Iraq, strap her to a bomb and drop her over Baghdad.”

That’s how one caller to a radio station summed it up a day after Natalie Maines of The Dixie Chicks made her now infamous statement, “We’re ashamed that the president of the United States is from Texas.”

Maines said this at a performance in London, on the eve of the USA’s invasion of Iraq, in the post Sept. 11, “You’re either with us or with the terrorists”-world when George Bush’s approval ratings were not quite where they are now. These days, nearly everyone, except the Bush administration, seems to be able to admit that the Iraq war might not have been one of the best-planned military operations in the history of warfare.

The reaction to Maines’ outspoken proclamation set off a series of events that brought to mind the ridiculous backlash the Beatles dealt with after John Lennon’s “We’re more popular than Jesus” quip. That statement set off a rash of record burnings and denouncements, and many jumped off the bandwagon.

I must note that before seeing “Shut Up & Sing,” I wasn’t a fan of the Dixie Chicks. That isn’t to imply I didn’t like them or their music; I just didn’t know that much about the group and was only marginally familiar with their music.

After watching “Shut Up and Sing,” I’m befuddled by the fact that they are categorized as a country act. Granted, they feature banjos, fiddles and mandolins prominently in their music, but if you subscribe to the Ray Charles philosophy that there are only two kinds of music – good and bad – the Dixie Chicks simply fall into the good category. They are talented musicians, great songwriters and employ state-of-the-art production. Maines is as powerful a singer as Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp or U2’s Bono – all performers who also tend to flirt with political themes in their music.

“Shut Up & Sing” is a serious documentary and far removed from a Country Music Television-styled fluff piece/band promo.

The heart of the story concerns every American citizen’s right to their freedom of speech while giving insight into the reactionary political and social ramifications toward those who dare to use that freedom in any fashion that might be deemed “traitorous.”

The Dixie Chicks are one of the best selling acts in popular music history. They were seen as “good ol’ gals,” and just a few months before the “incident” sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” at the Super Bowl.

But the public is fickle, and at that time, country music fans were still charged up listening to the jingoistic anthems that celebrated kickin’ butt.

Co-director Barbara Kopple is no stranger to this kind of subject matter. In 1976 she directed “Harlan County, USA,” an unflinching look at a coal miners’ strike in Kentucky. Since then, she’s done a number of other acclaimed documentaries, including “Wild Man Blues” (about Woody Allen) and “American Dream,” a companion piece to “Harlan County, USA” dealing with unions and the meat-packing industry.

Rush Limbaugh, Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, et al., are merely entertainers. So why is it that their minions get so upset when other entertainers – who lean in a different political direction – want to speak their minds? Susan Sarandon, Sean Penn and Alec Baldwin have all been told to “Love it or leave it,” for just saying what’s on their minds. The difference in the assumed intelligence between actors and musicians and talk show hosts is one I really don’t understand.

But saying “shut up and talk” to people who pontificate for a living isn’t as easy as telling someone to just shut up and sing.

The Dixie Chicks lost a lot of fans. The tour that followed in the aftermath of the “incident” suffered greatly. At the same time, however, they managed to reach a broader demographic, one that is interested in the “red state” reaction that raised so much ire.

The girls’ “Taking the Long Way” album released earlier this year is their most ambitious to date. After seeing “Shut Up & Sing,” I bought the album. It’s got a rock ‘n’ roll sensibility, and the song “Not Ready To Make Nice” is a courageous statement from a group that is firmly committed to their beliefs and their love for each other. These feelings are readily evident in the movie.

“Shut Up & Sing” probably won’t do a good deal of business in southwest Missouri, the most scarlet of red-state areas. But director Kopple has done a fine job of making a film that stays away from the obvious and focuses on the important.

It starts at The Moxie on Dec. 27.

Jim Wunderle owns Wunderle Sound Services and is a Springfield free-lance writer and musician. He can be reached at info@wunderlesound.com.