In Which DuJour Means Crash Positions

If I were a person to make broad and sweeping generalizations (which is definitely not a thing that writers on the internet do) I would say that the culture of the 90’s was defined first and foremost by its music.Now this isn’t too deny the influence and import of the films, TV, books, and video games produced during the time, but instead looking at the macro narrative of the culture and discourse and discovering the extent to which music pushed it forward. You have the rapid evolution of technology from the full embrace of CDs at the top of the decade to the introduction of MP3s and the internet by the end. You can trace the revolution, expansion, and consolidation of rock moving from grunge to pop-punk. You can explore the influence of artistic “integrity,” “selling out,” and “indie” through the ebbs and flows of certain artist’s success. You can see that by the end of the decade the hottest new names in filmmaking cut their teeth producing music videos.

All of these threads coalesce into the bizarre cultural moment that is the pre-9/11 2000s. Where even the angst of Y2K dissipated into more mundane, but no less consequential, problems. A wonky presidential election and an economic recession were the order of the day. No grand revelation came with the passing of the millennium, so  why not wear some sunglasses, frost your tips, wear crop tops, and listen to some pre-fab pop tunes.

Into this cultural interregnum came Josie and the Pussycats, a whip smart satire that slashed through the seemingly satiated era with precision and affection. If the musical revolt of the early 90s ended up with pop-punk and boy band era of the early aughts, than Josie is the perfect antidote to the excessive corporatization that defined that moment in music. It’s Network for the Total Request Live landscape. Or it would have been if people hadn’t been flummoxed by what this movie turned out to be. For the initial response feels more like the original reaction to Starship Troopers. Critics and audiences couldn’t parse that Josie was mocking all complaints thrown its way, and doing so by perfectly replicating the style, sound, and look of the era it was goofing on.

This time around the Pussycats: Josie (Rachael Leigh Cook), Valerie (Rosario Dawson), and Melody (Tara Reid), are a bunch pop punkers in Riverdale with no real future. They are a great band with no audience. Until one day, quite literally, a mischievous record exec (Alan Cumming) falls from the sky and offers them an opportunity for the big time. Unfortunately it’s all a plot cooked up by Fiona (Parker Posey), the head of the record company, who uses subliminal message in the music to convince impressionable teens to buy things. Her entire support system propped up both by MTV and the US government. So it’s up to the Pussycats to crack the case while remaining friends and play the big show at the end.

In many regards the outline of the film follows pretty closely to what an episode of the cartoon would be. The band solves a mystery, plays some songs, and throws minor barbs at each other. But directing duo Harry Elfont and Deborah Kaplan marvelously use this structure to paint a hilarious portrait of specific juncture in the music biz. They accomplish this through a three pronged approach: getting the music right, getting the look right, and having a cast of hilarious performers game to go along.

This approach is executed in microcosm during the film’s prolog. We are introduced to an of-the-era boy band called DuJuor (its members consist of Donald Faison, Seth Green, Breckin Meyer, and Alexander Martin). As they come on screen cinematographer Matthew Libitique (coming off his bracing work in Requiem for a Dream) shoots the whole thing exactly like the “I Want it That Way” music video: all blown out colors, fish eye lenses, and each member of the group singing directly into the camera. It looks and sounds just right, and only reveals itself to be farce when one actually registers the words to “Backdoor Lover.”

From there we get canned catch phrases (“DuJour means hygiene!”), hyper product placement (just check out that Target themed plane), and absurd escapades (watch out for the pet monkey). All this before the credits even roll. The level of acuity never drops. Libitique breaks out the wackiest lenses and light filters to capture the moment, and perfect sound-a-like pop hits are provided from people like Adam Duritz (Counting Crowes) and Adam Schlesinger (Fountains of Wayne). It’s the commitment to the style and tone of music of the time that keeps the movie buoyed and never dipping into pure pettiness.

So when the withering barbs pour from the Elfont and Kaplan they feel like genuine critiques rather than cruel put downs. They like pop music, they just want it to be better. Some smart insights come from how race is dealt with. Alan Cumming is quick to exclude Val from the marketing of the band (a giant billboard has her face covered by a guitar) and he compares her to a, “really tan Christina Aguilera.” Valerie is the first to get the short end of the end stick when success is handed to the Pussycats, a smart insight into how corporate music wants a cut and clean image along racial lines. It also cuts to the quick about how crassly politics equates success with consumerism. Fiona is able to rope in the government with her plot because buying things is American and, “good for the economy.” While unrelated, this feels slightly spooky where barely a year later the president would encourage shopping to fight back terrorism.

Josie and the Pussycats is one of the rare comedies that is able to perfectly skewer a specific moment in time while also remaining funny and insightful about the world it was made in. Some jokes (especially those in relation to differently abled people) land with a thud, but the thrust of the arc of the 90’s in music is endearing and crackling with invention. What people saw as a cheap cash in was in fact a deconstruction of that exact thing. It’s a shame this thing bombed, but it’s robust cult following (and now fully available soundtrack) should keep it swimming in the cultural consciousness as a perfect takedown of just-before-9/11 America.

Odds and Ends

• None of the product placement in the movie was actually product placement. Just an extreme garnish to highlight the commercialization of music.
• My favorite blink and you’ll miss it gag: a news chyron saying that the cast of McG’s Charlie’s Angels will play the Pussycats in a movie.
• This review forced me to lean how to spell Rachael Leigh Cook’s name.
• The episode of The Simpsons where Bart joins a boy band with subliminal messaging aired 2 months before this movie. Must have been something in the water.

As always, twitter, letterboxd, and I Chews You (the podcast about cooking and eating Pokemon).

Once again I’m open to suggestions for next week. If I don’t pick your suggestion, don’t worry, I’ll probably do it later, and I have something cooking for the rest of the summer.