After viewing So Wrong, They're Right, I can honestly no longer make fun of Mike Sterling for his love of Swamp Thing.
Oh, sure, I can make fun of him for posting certain things on his blog, or even because he is a big cheater pants, but his love of Swamp Thing...it's genuine. If someone wanted to do a documentary about it, it would be heartfelt. It would try to capture the allure. Mike does that on his blog. So Wrong, They're Right simply doesn't.
I expected this movie - which is a documentary about 8 track tape collectors done by fanzine writers - to, at the very least, contain some glimmer as to why 8 track collectors love an outdated, unused musical format. Unfortunately, there's a slight "we're-hipper-than-you" tone to the movie, ranging from a woman who claims she was kicked out of Goodwill for life (for essentially breaking and entering) to entrepreneurs who are basically into it for the money (and admit it). It wants to take a stab at railing against the "digital culture" and fails miserably.
However, a writer from Stereophile magazine makes one point - that 8 track tape collecting is an inexpensive way to become acclimated to a wide variety of music - but it seems lost amongst the hipper-than-thou presentations.
It was after watching this film that I put in Tosy & Cosh's Burn THIS, Pal! Mix. Admittedly, it took me a couple of passes to listen to it in full - not because the disc itself is bad, but because it contained a variety of genres that I am not used to. Once it clicked it, I got it, and found myself liking this disc. There was a joy in hearing something that I never heard before.
However, the makers of So Wrong, They're Right never capture that joy.
No comments:
Post a Comment