LET FURY HAVE THE HOUR (DOCUMENTARY FILM)
Summary
This documentary film examines the artistic and cultural responses to certain American political movements and ideologies over the last century. The program begins as several artists comment on art's ability to provide unique perspective and create unity amongst different kinds of people, often when contrasting a shift in mainstream ideals. Novelist Hari Kunzru, playwright Eve Ensler and others explain how, after WWII, President Roosevelt created programs like Social Security and unemployment benefits, which led to a general sense of solidarity and egalitarianism amongst Americans. In the 1980s, however, with the rise of the very conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and President Ronald Reagan, the tone shifted to one of "economic Darwinism" and individualism, focusing on one's personal success rather than general prosperity of all, which Ensler calls "the end of America." Filmmaker John Sayles and musician Tom Morello discuss the political attacks on unions and the working class, as well as the promotion of the idea that socialist notions of sharing were "weak." Similarly, consumerism was encouraged as an ideal, with material goods being the ultimate goal of hard work, and comedian Lewis Black and writer Edwidge Danticat explain the "trickle-down theory" and the prevalent sense that one was poor because of personal failure and inferiority.
At the same time, foreigners were seem as a job-stealing threats and fear was used as a tool of propaganda, stripping people of their sense of history, though seemingly-optimistic political ads claimed that it was "morning in America." Musicians Wayne Kramer and Ian MacKaye discuss the contrast to the themes of the 1960s, in which the reaction to the Vietnam War contradicted the idealistic post-WWII mood, highlighting how the music of the time reflected the political unrest. By the 1970s, rock stars were "royalty," and many young people, including Morello and musician Tommy Guerrero, were finding an outlet through skateboarding, the "indefinable" non-sport, as well as punk music. Punk, often produced through the musicians' own labels and promoted through grassroots methods, served as "firsthand reporting" for the ideas and feelings of young America, and street art served as the "spontaneous" visual extension of these concepts, as explained by artist Shepard Fairey. Hip-hop music, by groups such as Public Enemy, often contained similar ideas of self-expression and defiance. Their #1 song "Fight the Power," made popular in Spike Lee's 1989 film "Do the Right Thing," became an anthem in the face of racism, classism and police brutality, like in the case of Rossy Hawkins and her two children. Ensler explains how art creates metaphor and addresses large issues, and Danticat notes that people can find unity through personal storytelling.
A clip is shown from 1987's "Matewan," concerning issues of unions, and Black comments on Edward R. Murrow's eye-opening 1960 documentary "Harvest of Shame," which revealed the poor treatment of migrant agricultural workers. Kunzru talks about facing racism in the United Kingdom as an immigrant, and poet Staceyann Chin discusses feeling valueless in American as a black woman and a lesbian. Environmentalist Van Jones, a Yale graduate, touches upon the need to use one's education in a "empowering" way, and others discuss the need to set aside society's constrictive rules and "misbehave." Ensler discusses her feminist movement "V-Day," associated with her play "The Vagina Monologues," and others explain their own movements and associations, all working towards equality and social freedom. Returning to music, doctor/punk rocker Irman Malik, Eugene Hütz and others explain how punk is also affiliated with ska, reggae and Afrobeat, pioneered by Fela Kuti, leading to a "gold mine" of mingled genres. Billy Bragg and Danticat explain the "dehumanization" and "cynicism" associated with the mindset of individualism, and historian Stanislao G. Pugliese explains his sense of solidarity with the suffering of others, regardless of nationality. Bragg describes the 1978 Rock Against Racism carnival as the "bedrock" of his political activism, having been inspired by the crowd's enthusiasm, and he and the others close the program by discussing the need for passion and organization as well as involvement and activism beyond music and artistic expression, concluding that change is inevitable.
Details
- NETWORK: N/A
- DATE: November 30, 2011
- RUNNING TIME: 1:27:37
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 108658
- GENRE: Documentary
- SUBJECT HEADING: Documentary; History; Art
- SERIES RUN: N/A
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Rob McKay … Executive Producer
- Brian Devine … Executive Producer
- Jonathan Gray … Executive Producer
- Mark Urman … Executive Producer
- Chaz Zelus … Executive Producer
- Leo Glickman … Co-Executive Producer
- Brooke Devine … Co-Executive Producer
- James Reid … Producer
- Antonino D'Ambrosio … Producer, Writer, Director, Based on the book by
- Ben Correale … Co-Producer
- Karim López … Co-Producer
- Julian Gross … Associate Producer
- Ian Jarvis … Associate Producer
- Wayne Kramer … Music by
- Lewis Black
- Billy Bragg
- Staceyann Chin
- Edwidge Danticat
- Eve Ensler
- Shepard Fairey
- Tommy Guerrero
- Rossy Hawkins
- Eugene Hütz
- Van Jones
- Wayne Kramer
- Hari Kunzru
- Fela Kuti
- Spike Lee
- Ian MacKaye
- Irman Malik
- Tom Morello
- Edward R. Murrow
- Public Enemy
- Stanislao G. Pugliese
- Ronald Reagan
- Franklin Delano Roosevelt
- John Sayles
- Margaret Thatcher