I won't lie, it would be nice to see/read about a jazz musician's life that was happy (I know that's not the point, Mike, but just thought I'd share).
It is clear that "The Story" is still at play in this week's jazz biopic. The film was another representation of how the life of a highly talented, black, jazz musician was torn apart by poverty, sexual abuse, and drug addiction. Although the autobiography portrays a Holiday that is a functional addict (I'm sure Hollywood didn't think that kind of story would sell as well), one can't help but notice that the same themes (poverty, sexual abuse, drug addiction) are major factors in the book. This case is also supported by this week's article, "Jazz Autobiography." The article made it perfectly clear that the life of a black jazz musician is a hard one--any discrepancies to pure fact aside.
The article's opening section, which quoted Mile's experience with jazz history at Juilliard from his autobiography resonated most with me. Clearly, the professor's explanation of why black people played the blues was horrifically erroneous and demonstrated the generation's ignorance on the subject. Yet when I think of the "history" that jazz autobiographies tell me I should believe, I can't help but think, "there's more to it than that!" Right? Maybe? Of course, I'm not entirely comfortable making such a statement (after all, I certainly wouldn't want to be considered a non-playing so-called critic).
I would appreciate, however, some clarification on the following concerns: Are we now equating the jazz musician's life with jazz music? Are we saying that one is the direct effect of the other (which I might understad), are we saying that one influences the other (which I feel is obvious), or are we saying that the two--life of a jazz musician/jazz music--are interchangeable (which I'm not so comfortable with). Maybe my confusion is due in part to my absence from class last week when we discussed the other biographical films.
I'm quite excited to hear what everyone has to say on the subject.
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I like the last paragraph's questions here. It does seem that she write 'Strange Fruit' after having experienced the anger of the KKK mob, proposing that her music is a direct result of her life.
I also agree that the prevailing themes show up again (drug addiction, abuse, and poverty) but appear to have a new angle. Voila, they are all caused by white people in this film. We don't see Billie Holiday's rocky relationship with her first 2 husbands or the 3rd that is actually shown. She is shown as moral (like the scene where she refuses to pick up the dollar bills from the tables) while in reality, she lived with various men without being married and used her sex appeal at times to ensure another hit (drugs).
This just seems so political to me.
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