This is for Dr. Hobby's Honors Lang 120 Spring course.
Sunday, April 14, 2013
Is this Spinal Tap? Why yes, it is!
This Is Spinal Tap is a ridiculous documentary. Directed by Rob Reiner, it is composed of a multitude of well-cast actors, such as Fran Drescher, Rob Reiner, Christopher Guest, and Harry Shearer. The film itself was designed to mock rock bands, focused mainly on the 1980's, with some bashing on the rock bands in the 1960s. It took a humerous take on the downsides of band management, miscommunication, and the rise to fame. Nigel, the lead guitarist for the band, is continuously letting the fame get to his head. He bickers about not getting his way, such as eating sandwiches with the bread cut too small or the fact that St. Hubbins's girlfriend, Jeanine, decides to become the new manager when their manager quits. Nigel leaves the band but then appears later on stage because he had to have more of the fame and couldn't leave his friends. This movie is based on a fictional band, but slowly mortalized it into a tangible, "semi-fictional" band, creating two more albums after the release of the movie. To listen to more of their music, here's some from their second album, Break Like the Wind.
One humerous part of the film was when the band members were discussing how their drummers continuously die strange, uncommon deaths.
Eight years after the release of the film, they held auditions for a new drummer. A filming of these auditions was released on MTV in 1992. Some of the criterion for the new drummer were "no living relatives," "no immediate family," and "can count to four" (2:10-15), to name a few. The lightheartedness of the film also left an ominous. dark truth: rock bands are slowly deteriorating due to the harshness of reality. Fame tears a person down, and drugs, spirits, and the pressure of society added on to that can lead to a musician's death.. or in this case, many drummers' deaths.
I didn't realize these guys wrote their own music for the film! I read that they ad-libbed most of their lines... what a multitalented cast. They're so convincing in the video you've linked.
It's unfortunate that this documentary is so true in so many ways, but still is hilarious in the way it exploits and exaggerates real life. It points out how we tend to immortalize people who really aren't that great at just being a good human being.
This film seems to be a continuous joke, I never thought to look at the social commentary of the life of a rock in roll band. Though the film is exaggerated, they are also showing the ridiculous and dangerous lives that rock bands lived in the 80's.
I didn't realize these guys wrote their own music for the film! I read that they ad-libbed most of their lines... what a multitalented cast. They're so convincing in the video you've linked.
ReplyDeleteIt's unfortunate that this documentary is so true in so many ways, but still is hilarious in the way it exploits and exaggerates real life. It points out how we tend to immortalize people who really aren't that great at just being a good human being.
ReplyDeleteThis film seems to be a continuous joke, I never thought to look at the social commentary of the life of a rock in roll band. Though the film is exaggerated, they are also showing the ridiculous and dangerous lives that rock bands lived in the 80's.
ReplyDelete