The Carpenters were a brother & sister duo from the late 70s/early 80s who made a name for themselves doing soft-rock/easy listening music. Karen Carpenter, the lead singer, had an extremely unique voice that carried listeners, “smoothly into the 80s”. Unlike many popular groups at the time, The Carpenters were considered very wholesome. However, everything was not right with Karen and she was the first person to die of Anorexia Nervosa. I first discovered The Carpenters music after watching Todd Haynes first film, Superstar The Karen Carpenter Story (1987). It is a startling and tragic look at the life of a beautiful woman destroyed by familial and social pressures.
“All You Get From Love Is A Love Song” was the first single off their 1977 album Passage and is a phenomenally clever and sad song disguised as a pop hit. I mean just look at the hook; “Oh it's a dirty old shame/When all you get from love is a love song/That's got you layin' up nights/Just waitin' for the music to start//It's such a dirty old shame/When you got to take the blame for a love song/Because the best love songs are written/With a broken heart.” I believe most writers and creative types in general can relate to this on an instinctive level and this song is so rewarding, but so dark. It is as if Kurt Vonnegut himself couldn’t come up with something so perfect.
So If I were in the Todd Haynes film I'm Not There concerning Bob Dylan I would play the seventh Dylan.
As a young student I would discover Bob Dylan through easily palpable sources (ala “You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away” by The Beatles) because I didn’t like his voice at first. But, I’d soon be familiar with Christian Bale’s character Jack Rollins, the prophet, finger-pointin’ folkie. Bale gleefully exudes the stereotypes I had about Dylan (the kind most people have) leaving me optimistic and expectant but vulnerable.
At this time I re-picked up the guitar and like Marcus Carl Franklin’s character Woody Guthrie, I picked up my heroe's songs pretty well, harp and all. I could start naming all of his influences, move a crowd and fake my way through any trivia contest. Like Franklin I could charm my way through all the standards (Just hear my desperate versions“Blowin’ In The Wind” and “The Times They Are A-Changin”), but I didn’t yet realize that imitation leads nowhere.
Finally I tried to branch out on my own, wildly and chaotically in the same vein as Ben Wishaw’s Arthur Rimbaud. I feel like I can provide a commentary on my current situation and I do well during the interrogation like cool Arthur, but after awhile the pressure gets too much to me and I start to lose my composure. I just cannot take these hounds and flashbulbs anymore; they do not say who I am.
I grab my weapon (“Not in any literalized sense”) and I decide to blow them away like Cate Blanchett’s Jude Quinn. “I refuse to be heard,” she exclaims nervously, neurotically; she’s a ghastly site, a person not quite centered and on a witty, fierce defense. And oh does she defend well against the likes of ravenously selfish fans, confused reporters, Michelle Williams as Coco Rivington (Edie Sedgwick) and Bruce Greenwood as a BBC journalist. I feel things starting to crack; I know that I cannot survive very long on drugs (maybe it’ll help The Beatles deal with those hard days and nights), apparent disinterest, angered disassociation and witty cool.
Maybe I should turn to God. Maybe I’ll see angels in the street like Jack Rollins. Christian Bale could lead me in the right direction as Pastor John singing the magnificent gospel of “Pressin On.” Could this be the freedom I need from the wary eyes of those who seek to impose on me like they’re trying with to do with Jude? It could be, but that would end in comfort and stagnation. So instead I start to hurt those around me without realizing and get caught up in the electric period of the man I’m imitating.
Heath Ledger as Robbie and I now have some problems with women and our own egos due to this ease of cynicism and wit that we borrowed from our heroes (The Godard references are perfect). Like Robbie I could only break through by listening and letting those around me listen (Charlotte Gainsbourg is the most gorgeous, striking woman on the planet).
Do I understand everything yet? No, there still is that whole fame and identity entrapment thing to confront. I decide to leave for awhile, maybe grow a beard and live a simple life ala Richard Gere’s Billy the Kid. I even live in a surreal world with carnivals, funerals, Halloween and animals. I try hard believing that I’m free from it all, but I really do care and I am forced to stand up and fight once again.
I jump back into the fray with Jude who is now dealing with a Fellini-esque circus around her. Can it be true that “Death is so part of the scene right now”? Is a motorcycle crash the correct way to escape? At the time it seemed the only appropriate tactic to get off the whirlwind. I don’t blame Jude for it one bit. Is reinvention death? Maybe in some circles, but I’m sure those are the circles you want to get out of.
Seeing the Todd Haynes masterpiece I’m Not There was like staring into a mirror.
IGN is the first site to release the trailer for the Todd Haynes flick based on Bob Dylan's life called I'm Not There. The cool thing about this "biopic" is that six different actors (Marcus Carl Franklin, Ben Whishaw, Heath Ledger, Christian Bale, Richard Gere, and Cate Blanchett) will be playing Bob Dylan at different stages of his life. When I first heard the premise I was immediately excited because the recent slew of biopics all followed the same formula: Musician experiences traumatic moment as a child, meets a girl, becomes famous, gets the girl, does drugs, potentially loses girl, and then gets over drug due to the love of the girl. I'm Not There seems like a much more compelling approach. However, I haven't seen a Todd Haynes film yet so I do not know what to expect. All I know is that this trailer makes me giddy as a hardcore Dylan fan. Enjoy!
I am a filmmaker, musician and student at UCSB. This little blog is all about love. This is love of music, film, books, art, and just plain confusion in general. Lo-fi music is always welcome! Beards too! Want me to review your music/film/art? Let me know, I'd love to hear/watch it! If you noticed, my reviews tend to go pretty in-depth so if you send me an entire album it'd be much easier to write something super cool!
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