MovieChat Forums > Stop Making Sense (2023) Discussion > Has the music style not aged well?

Has the music style not aged well?

posted 10 years ago by rzajac
12 replies | jump to latest

I'm teach English in Taiwan, and my co-workers are mostly ex-pats (like me), mostly from Canada or The States. They're also younger, "youth culture" hip types. They dig new music and films and so forth.

Anyway, we got into this thing of having "movie night" on Fridays, and I recommended "Stop Making Sense" as a classic, period art-rock thing. Two other folks were able to come: A Canuck, and an American. The canuck is around 30, the American, 26 or so. I'm 59.

They hated it! One thing struck me especially odd: The American, who I had pegged as an open-minded, free-thinking, free-wheeling type, was particularly put off at the moment (I think, in "Life During Wartime") where the camera is directly facing Byrne, and he's doing this wiggly dance, standing in one place, with his arms undulating at his sides. To me, it's a beautiful moment of balletic movement. But in the darkness of the viewing room, I hear this youngster American guy suddenly give this sort of incredulous guffaw, as though to say, "Does this guy have *no* self-respect?" And, at that point, my two fellow-viewers united in their determination not to subject themselves any longer to this film's depredations, and we stopped the flick... and "movie night" was *over*.

What can I say? These responses are so far off from my first-time-viewing imprinting, which was, to me, so exciting and engaging.

Which leads to the question in the Subject Line: Have the stark, moderno stylisms showcased in "Stop Making Sense" failed to age well? Is the film destined to be seen by future generations as a kind of technically clean but ultimately dated and unwatchable "period piece"?

I suspect folks out there might have similar stories. Please share.

[–] garbage317 10 years ago

I'm 31, from New York, and I love listening to this album and am very excited for the upcoming screenings. Your coworkers have bad taste, most hipsters do. Talking Heads are lengendary, most of the bands your coworkers listen to are probably pale imitations. They can't handle the real McCoy.

[–] Bill-166 9 years ago

Your coworkers have bad taste, most hipsters do.

Nailed it.

[–] Robbmonster 10 years ago

I'm 34 and Talking Heads are my favourite band of all time.

I think younger people are used to dour, pouty, rock stars who take themselves VERY seriously and look upon smiling and energy as being a capital crime.

Regarding the style of the film itself, younger audiences are also used to concerts of the 'visual spectacular' type, a far cry from the stark white light and long camera shots of Stop Making Sense.

Never defend crap with "It's just a movie"
http://www.youtube.com/user/BigGreenProds

[–] badtothebono 9 years ago

younger people are used to dour, pouty, rock stars who take themselves VERY seriously and look upon smiling and energy as being a capital crime

Very simply, by the mid-90s, "rock" bands bifurcated into either navel-gazing emo tools or mindless thrashers. (Green Day & some later almost backlash acts like The White Stripes & others) Take Radiohead. First album sounded sort of like Nirvana. Second album had some high-quality rock. 5 years later, they were emo tools who occasionally sounded like Alan Parsons on a bad day.

You can't even put Radiohead in the same league as Talking Heads, but your pals would probably choose Radiohead.

Robb has it exactly right. Smiling and energy. Byrne was having a blast in this & at various times you can see other people on stage trying to not crack up while watching him.

[–] darryl-tahirali 9 years ago

Which leads to the question in the Subject Line: Have the stark, moderno stylisms showcased in "Stop Making Sense" failed to age well? Is the film destined to be seen by future generations as a kind of technically clean but ultimately dated and unwatchable "period piece"?

I suspect folks out there might have similar stories. Please share. - rzajac

Thanks for asking. First, the sample size is tiny--two persons. I would hardly base a generational assessment on that.

I first watched Stop Making Sense 30 years ago when it came out, and I watched it again a couple of years ago. Now, it looks like a product of its time, which is hardly a surprise, but it still seems fresh and vital to me, and that's not my being nostalgic or simply a fan. (I like Talking Heads quite a lot but there are many acts I like better.)

On the other hand, I may not be a good choice to respond to this question. I've always had a historical sense and try not to commit "presentism," or the tendency to view past events with a purely current perception. (However, as a Canadian who has lived much of his life in the United States, I do have experience with both cultures.)

But to return to your questions, 'twas ever thus. Every period has its stylistic tics that will look dated to future generations. It's been ages since I've seen Woodstock, but if I'm recalling correctly, it has a number of split-screen images that were trendy in the late 1960s and early 1970s (I'm already thinking of the ones used in The Andromeda Strain) but date the film now.

Bottom line: Get more opinions than the ones from those two.

------------------
"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro." - Hunter S. Thompson

[–] rzajac 9 years ago

Lovely response. Much thanks.

--
And I'd like that. But that 5h1t ain't the truth. --Jules Winnfield

[–] Degree7 9 years ago

I can definitely relate to your experience, as I had a similar one with my two friends in college when I subjected them to an old Moody Blues concert film. One was 19, the other was 22. They basically laughed at it and told me to turn it off, I'm assuming they thought it was 60s, flower power fluff that is considered cheesy by today's standards.

Unfortunately, I think it's a symptom with a lot of "youth culture" types (aka hipsters) who find it difficult to look past the conventional and immerse themselves in what the artist is trying to say. At least with my "friends," they're stuck on the surface image. IN a word, they're shallow.

I experimented again with a co-worker, aged 27, tried introducing him to old films that I liked, such as In the Heat of the Night. He snorted at the Mr. Tibbs line, I got the feeling he was too cool for an old movie like that. He also said that all movies from golden age (30s, 40s, 50s) are poorly made and have bad acting.

But back to your post, I think the Talking Heads are definitely offbeat, even by today's standards, and most likely went over your co-workers' heads. It is noticeably more dated than their 70s output, but once you look past the slightly distracting choreography, and all the flash they spent on the concert, I find that the songs are just performed so well. It is great music, and David Byrne is a mad genius. I think if they can't get past the initial weirdness and just enjoy it, then their loss. I think they were foolish not to appreciate your attempt to introduce them to something as brilliant as The Heads, or at least finish the movie. Actually being offended by it and turning it off doesn't say much about their taste.

~ I'm a 21st century man and I don't wanna be here.

[–] badtothebono 9 years ago

How could you blame the "music style" for that? And besides, it was probably more the performance style than the music style that went WAY OVER THEIR HEADS.

I'm not sure what you imply by "youth culture hip type", but I'll get to the point:

If you calculated the avg IQ of all the people in the audience & on the stage, it would be at least 20 pts higher than the avg IQ of your pals.

It has nothing to do with anything "aging well".

[–] badtothebono 9 years ago

David Byrne not only has great self-respect, he has a HUGE amount of self-confidence. He made a film of a TALKING HEADS concert & he let 2 of his band members include their own Tom Tom Club song in it.

Most of the "rock-stars" your pals like are too narcissistic & insecure to let a band member even HAVE an outside musical interest, never mind perform those songs in a concert, never mind put them in their concert film.

[–] annieofalderaan 9 years ago

It's aged just fine; I'm 18 years old and love Talking Heads and their music, especially some of the arrangements heard in Stop Making Sense. I know several other people around my age who are fans of the band, too. Just proves that good music is timeless!

I think, however, if you showed it to someone who had no knowledge of Talking Heads or the related new wave acts of the late 70s/early 80s, there is a possibility that they would not like this film.

[–] Lovetvshows 8 years ago

I saw this film several times when it first came out in 1984. I later bought the DVD. Some movies are dated while others capture the feeling of the era on film. This movie captures the era of the time. I particularly enjoyed that there weren't any behind the scenes shots or interviews of the musicians.

[–] aasoloway 8 years ago

I was driving with two 25-year-old co-workers. "Low Rider" by War came on the radio and one wanted to change the station. WTF.

Musical tastes changed drastically in the 80's when people starting paying more attention to looks than sound. The new generation is more influenced by hip-hop and computerized music than by the music of previous generations.