March 7, 2005

"It is kind of strange, being, like, a famous guy...."

"... This is part of me that's trying to be unfamous, I guess. But it's also: go against the rules attitude. You know, is this a big pose? Yes! It's a pose."

That's a quote from James Hetfield, the Metallica frontman, from the movie "Some Kind of Monster." Ah! The travails of a heavy metal band! But I enjoyed this documentary about the group, the aging guys, so successful, but bumping up against the limitations of a band built on youthful aggression and negativity. They struggle to find a way to keep the aggression and the passion but to lose the negativity. It's a perplexing artistic problem, and they don't have deep personal resources to tap. They have a hired psychiatrist, a thinned out, pointless man who tells them -- mind-numbingly -- to "treasure" each other and treasure their moments together. What a strange human collision!

Note: The directors of this movie made "Brother's Keeper" and the "Paradise Lost" movies. These documentaries are even better than "Some Kind of Monster."

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

No, they really don't have deep personal resources to tap! The deep self-absorption really gets in the way. I enjoyed watching it all play out tho' and, like, a couple years later, I still feel like I know them all personally. Weird at the time to watch that kind of overshare, but I'm impressed with it now looking back.

It bothers me slightly that I think the passive one (Kirk) really came out ahead by being passive.