If you only have a passing knowledge of the work of Bruce Springsteen, then let Blinded By the Light enlighten you. The film is an adaptation of Sarfraz Manzoor’s memoir about growing up in racist 1980s Luton as a British Pakistani “whose life was transformed by the music of Bruce Springsteen”.
It is also, unavoidably, a feature-length eulogy to, and advertisement for, the Boss. Springsteen’s music accompanies the emotional beats, his lyrics are projected across the screen, and his contribution to humanity argued in the strongest possible terms (“Bruce is the direct line to all that’s true in this shitty world”). If you don’t agree, you’re basically on the side of the skinhead racists and the conservative Muslim parents.
Directed by Gurinder “Bend It Like Beckham” Chadha, Blinded By the Light is another crowd-pleasing but emotionally sincere tale of teenage multicultural strife, but it is also yet another movie celebrating the power of classic, white-guy rock. It is beginning to feel like a conspiracy: repackaging the 20th-century rock canon to a generation who don’t really listen to it any more for the benefit of a generation who already profited handsomely from it the first time.
Just last month we had Yesterday, which did a similar job of re-enshrining the Beatles’ reputation, just in case there is anybody on the planet who doesn’t know who they are. Yesterday’s fanciful premise is that nobody on the planet knows who the Beatles are, except one young guy (another British Asian, coincidentally), who passes off their songs as his own. The world instantly recognises these tunes as masterpieces, thus affirming the Beatles’ intrinsic brilliance.
These films suggest a new approach to the rock movie: they cast the back catalogue in the best possible light but conveniently leave out the musicians. Thus, Springsteen, McCartney and co can benevolently sanction these feature-length promos, free from even an airbrushed examination of their lives. Mind you, judging by Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocketman, the straightforward biopic seems to be working just fine, too, so prepare for more of the same. Currently in the works are biopics of David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Janis Joplin and Elvis Presley.
It’s not as though the Beatles have ever been under-represented in the movies, via the likes of Backbeat (1994) and Across the Universe (2007). Springsteen, too, is a constant presence. Sean Penn based his 1991 movie The Indian Runner on the song Highway Patrolman, and in his cameo in High Fidelity, the Boss personally dispenses the same wisdom his music offers in Blinded By the Light. It should go without saying that these classic rockers and their music are meaningful and valuable to billions, but that’s the problem: it is being said. Again and again.
