Review of Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing (2006) by Noah S — 09 Aug 2007

A documentry that I felt didn't explore its full potential. Director Kopple struck gold that as when she started filming her documentry, the DC went out and threw their political firebomb into the country music industry, which I'm sure changed the direction of her filming completely. However, this film pulls back its punches and instead touches more on the relationships between the Chicks and their lives, than on the serious implications of their actions.

Some pointers that I would like the film to have explored more:

1. We see snippets of people bashing the DC. While it could be said that these people were partially ignorant or just haters, we cannot forget the influence of the mass media as well. While the radio stations are brought under some scrutiny in the show, the bashing from the TV/news industry struck me as being more blunt. Why wasn't there any analysis done on their reasons and motives? And what was the aftermath reaction once the Bush approval rating started dropping?

2. The loss of their own core of fans must be something immensely devasting to the DC, and not only for the financial reasons. Natalie declares that she is willing to abandon 'country' music, but that is the conclusion of her struggle. We don't see their journey and the transition that made them reach that conclusion. That, for me, would have strong emotional resonance for the film.

3. Why bash the DC? I'm sure that they weren't the only US band to express disapproval of their president. Why did they warrant so much hate? Was it because it was so contrary to image? Or was this an attempt of the mass media to stem their popularity when they realized how influential they could be? Whatever the reason, the show chooses to leave this hanging, and I felt that it was a powerful revelant question that should have been looked into.

It only gets three stars from me because even though it does skim and touch on certain points that are important and encourages people to reflect on the Americans' behaviour, it just doesn't dig deep enough, opting instead to settle into emotional melodrama. It's still a good film to watch, with some excellent pieces of their music on showcase with an ending that celebrates loyalty and sisterhood. However, this was meant to be a documentary to incite thought, and all it became in the end was a competent biography of about 3 years.