The stars aligned when film director Don Hardy decided to make Linda Perry the subject of his next documentary feature. You may be thinking, “Who’s Linda Perry? Sounds familiar, but…” If you were alive and kicking and near a radio or TV in the early 90’s, you probably remember” What’s Up?” the smash hit from 4 Non Blondes.
The song was powerfully and beautifully written and sung by Linda Perry, and it gave the band a good run, but then she walked away from this success and seemingly disappeared. But she didn’t disappear at all. She just pursued a career in which she could be true to herself and her music. She has been producing and writing hit songs for top stars, among them Pink (“Get the Party Started”), Christine Aguilera (“Beautiful”), Madonna, Celine Dion, Hole, Brandi Carlile, Lisa Marie Presley, Gwen Stefani, and Adele. She is also in demand for scoring movie soundtracks. You might not realize that she has always been an out lesbian, but may recall her marriage to actress Sara Gilbert, who played Darlene on “Roseanne.”
Producer/director Don Hardy collaborated with Perry on the score for his 2020 Sean Penn documentary, admired her work and got to know her. And to know her is to find her fascinating, brilliant, and troubling, as will you once you view this documentary. Hardy persuaded her to allow him to hang around her home studio with cameras and a crew member or two while she worked. Neither of them could have foreseen that her life would fall apart during the time it took to shoot. The result is a painfully honest and raw, at times hard to watch, but ultimately triumphant portrait of a queer female musician who has survived most everything that a woman can survive in a misogynist industry and a patriarchal culture.
Linda shares her stories of childhood abuse and adolescent self-abuse, and when the telling gets rough, Hardy lightens things up by illustrating them with animated sequences done by Studio Linguini. I found this technique to be very effective in keeping the film watchable. He also includes heartwarming and delightful scenes, such as her child joining one recording session, which is credited as “Guitar in Creepy Spot” by Rhodes Perry. Similarly, the scene where she collaborates with Dolly Parton is quite uplifting, as they seemed to form an instant bond. (Who doesn’t love Dolly?)
This reviewer has never given a shout out to the creator of the opening credits of a film, but I will do so now: Omar Acosta put together the most artful and captivating collages of images, clips, and sounds from Linda Perry’s life and work that I can imagine. It’s genius.
Indeed, this entire film is genius. I hope the fact that the director and producers do not appear to be women or queer does not deter anyone from programming it in festivals or other screenings celebrating us. It is a fine, sensitive, and engrossing film which deserves to be seen widely.
Review: Janet ProlmanJanet Prolman was born in Boston, Massachusetts, where her mother nicknamed her “my little queer.” She has also lived in North Carolina and New York. A lover of short stories, theater, music, and performance, she knows the lyrics to almost every song or advertising jingle she’s ever heard. Now on Cape Cod, she enjoys kayaking and frequenting Provincetown.
Labels: 2024, documnentary, Don Hardy, Janet Prolman, Let It Die, Linda Perry, musician, review
