[JerzeeGirl]

With our 5th pick, Team That's What She Said, would like to select from the Documentary category, the 2006 film - Shut Up & Sing.

This film follows the Dixie Chicks from the perch atop the music world in 2003 thru the death threats, public record/cd/dvd burnings & general abuse they received following a statement made by lead singer Natalie Maines at a concert in London. As the USA launched its attack on Iraq, an action questioned & criticized by many people at home and abroad and George W. Bush enjoying extremely high approval ratings, Maines said to her London audience, “Just so you know, we’re on the good side with y’all. We do not want this war, this violence, and we’re ashamed that the President of the United States is from Texas.“

The documentary attempts to give context to her comment, which was made in the wake of a huge anti-war protest in London. Maines apparently wanted to show solidarity with the Brits and was taken aback that her quip sparked a firestorm in which the band was branded as traitors by some Americans.

The film examines the backlash created by her comment and takes a fascinating, fly-on-the-wall look at damage-control efforts. We see the Chicks and their families, their various reactions to the death threats, being called traitors and essentially discovering that, as the tagline for the film states: "Freedom of speech is fine as long as you don't do it in public."

I wasn't a huge Dixie Chicks fan before this but I am now a fan of these women - and the fact that agree with them or not, they showed that there is more to patriotism than just parading around with a flag in your hand and blindly following along with the people in charge.

The Preview Trailer:


A longer clip...worth the watch!
(Potentially NSFW tho due to some language)


Video for "Not Ready To Make Nice" the autobiographical song of what they went thru...