DEVO at AFI Fest
by William J. Hammon (ActuallyPaid.com)
One of two feature-length documentaries at the festival dealing with one of the most experimental rock bands in history (the other being De-Evolution is Real, which was a collection of restored films and music videos from the group), director Chris Smith (famous for Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond, Fyre, and Tiger King among others) presents DEVO, a comprehensive history of the group that revolutionized popular music in the 70s and 80s with songs like “Uncontrollable Urge,” “Girl U Want,” and of course their biggest and most controversial hit, “Whip It.”
As music documentaries go, this is fairly standard, showing the formation of the band (there’s a heavy emphasis on the impact the Kent State Massacre had on founding members Mark Mothersbaugh and Gerald Casale), the fine-tuning of their distinctive sound, and their overriding philosophy, that of a cultural de-evolution, where humanity has been homogenized by politics and media to abandon logic and reason in favor of societal placebos that make us collectively dumber. Things progress to their early successes and collaborations with the likes of David Bowie and Brian Eno, their self-produced films and music videos (the launch and viability of MTV owes a lot to their library), their mainstream peak, and their eventual fade, with some fun asides to Mothersbaugh’s second career as a film and TV score composer (the man gave us the Rugrats theme, the soundtrack to The Lego Movie, and even Cocaine Bear, for God’s sake).
There’s a hint of bitterness and resentment in some of the interviews, mostly centered on the fact that the group never became as famous as they perhaps should have thanks to the corporate structure of the music industry and the fickle tastes of the masses. In a way, their brief time in the limelight is a form of confirmation bias for the whole theory of de-evolution. At the same time, though, there’s always something to be said about leaving your audience wanting more, and Smith’s presentation gets that across perfectly. It showed through in the festival screening certainly, as Smith and the surviving members of the band had a Q&A afterwards, and for 20 minutes straight all the audience wanted was to request some variation of a reunion, to the point that the moderator had to intervene and ask if there were any questions about the film itself.
That’s the ultimate success of a documentary like DEVO. Artists and acts come and go, but eventually we all have to wonder what the overall legacy will be. How much have we learned from them, and how much have they learned in turn? The film shows that it’s a great deal for the band. The reaction proves a great deal for those of us who cared to listen.
Originally published at http://behindtherabbitproductions.wordpress.com on November 15, 2024.
