Welcome to The Church of Rock & Roll: 20 FEET FROM STARDOM

It’s bad enough when a film gets past me. It’s worse when a film gets past me that hits me so hard.

I was raised Catholic, but really I’m a believer in the church of rock & roll. Not long after I learned how to sing “Baa Baa Black Sheep”, I began to coo along with “Surfin’ U.S.A.”. Before I ever had a favorite movie, I knew every lyric to “Thriller”, “Jump”, and “Glory Days”. Music was omnipresent as I grew up, with radios always playing, the occasional concert, or playing games with my brother to see who could name a song the fastest. To this day I contend that I would rather go blind than go deaf, so important are the voices I would miss. Music is my religion and every day is Sunday. In the name of the Godfather, the Fortunate Son, and the Spirit in the Sky.

So to say 20 FEET FROM STARDOM is up my alley might seem like an obvious fact. But that’s the thing – after you see a few rock docs you start to get a little jaded. Whether the subject is an artist you love, or an artist you barely love, the tendency is to see the same angles played time and again. It’s enough to leave you skeptical.

But every skeptic can be wrong.

To be clear, so many people pointed me in the direction of 20 FEET FROM STARDOM that I had no reason to be skeptical. These were people whose taste I trust – both cinematically and musically. However, I just never got around to it. Some other film always stood in its way; some other blockbuster seemed to have a greater allure. It was always there though, shuttling around Toronto’s rep cinemas, dropping on blu-ray, getting recommended by person after person. Then it got nominated for an Oscar last week, and the die seemed cast…

…and like a sinner to the baptismal font, I felt both ashamed and redeemed.

As a film, it was so wonderfully constructed and focused. While the filmmakers trot out some of the most famous faces in rock, it never lingers long with them, and instead keeps the spotlight on the amazing women at the heart of the story. That is true respect for your subject matter. I mean, how many filmmakers get the opportunity to have Mick Jagger describe the making of “Gimme Shelter”? How many of those, given the chance, would have the stones (pardon the pun) to say “Let’s let Merry Clayton tell it instead”. That’s the difference – what sets the film apart and what sets it above.

One can’t help but be inspired by women like Clayton, Darlene Love, Lisa Fisher, Claudita Lenner, and Tata Vega who are so much a part of musical history, and yet to the casual observer seem like little more than footnotes. They have done so much to shape the music we love – often contributing the very best parts – and yet missed out on the glory. It’s usually not from humility, but from cruel circumstance. And yet, for many of them, it’s the music they love, not the glory. They are able to add so much complexity …so much texture…and they make it look so. fucking. easy.

And yet it’s not. Not only is it not easy, but it requires a great deal of compromise and balance. It takes acute awareness and a complete lack of ego which seems to run counter to the way we’re wired. We all want to be the hero, the quarterback, the rock star. It takes a particular disposition to be a team player. Perhaps if more of us wanted to be team players, this world would be a better place.

This film made me understand that, and for that I will be forever thankful – just as I’m thankful that I now know the names of these talented women whose voices I’d heard on so many of my favorite songs. Some have found a way to rise to fame in their own right, others have gone on to do other things. Yet each of them inspire me. They will forever remind me that there are more important things in this world than ego, and that a person’s story isn’t finished being told until they are finished telling it.

This film might have got past me, but I hope with this confession I can find redemption. Further I hope that this bit of writing is a fitting penance.

Earlier this week, I explained to a friend that much of the way I assign ratings in my film reviews comes down to emotional lift and how a film speaks to me personally. I underlined that while a film may execute at every level, if it doesn’t strike a chord in my heart, it’s hard for me to latch on to it. 20 FEET FROM STARDOM is a perfect example of that. To most, it will serve. To me, it gave me goosebumps, made me smile like an idiot, and tear up like a proud parent. That is a film speaking to an audience member on a personal level.

This review has ended. Go in peace to love and serve John Lennon.