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 (010524)
Little Richard: I Am Everything is an outstanding and inspirational music
documentary that focuses on the transgressive rock pioneer, Little Richard. The
film shows how he is as interesting for his vibrant personality and flamboyant
fashion sense as his music. Unlike other documentaries about Richard, this one
goes into depth into his gender fluidity, and it also explores the more commonly
discussed contradictions between his religion and his often-reckless lifestyle.
The film was well directed by Lisa Cortez whose talents are well suited to the
material. Her previous films include the award winning
Precious and the
acclaimed documentary, All in: The Fight for Democracy.
There have been some interesting docs recently on musicians including David
Johansen, the Velvet Underground, The Stooges, PIL, Billy Eilish, Bob Dylan,
Linda Ronstadt, and David Bowie, but most of them did not come close to this
film in terms of quality. This is the finest doc on a solo popular music
performer since the Aretha Franklin doc,
Amazing
Grace
a few years ago. The
clips of Richard on stage ARE especially terrific, and they are some of the most
lively and energetic performances I have ever seen. One of the high points is a
great clip from one of my favorite comedies, The Jayne Mansfield film, The Girl
Can’t Help It (named after the Richard song) which features one the best uses of
rock music I’ve ever seen in a film.
The film also examines the effects racism in the south had on a young (his birth
name was Richard Wayn Penniman) Little Richard. At one point he was washing
dishes in a restaurant that would not even allow him to eat or use the bathroom.
The film suggests that he was only able to survive and succeed because of his
perseverance and his strong belief in himself.
It’s also interesting to see how big of an impact he had on white pop stars,
many of which made much more money than him while emulating him. Ex- Beatle,
Paul McCartney admits his trademark scream comes from Little Richard. Mick
Jagger discusses how on how watching Little Richard on tour taught him how to
work an audience on stage. John Waters was inspired by his rebellious spirit,
and he claimed that he stole his first Little Richard single, and he grew a
pencil thin mustache to emulate his role model. Waters also said of his
discovery of Richard, “The first songs that your parents hate is the beginning
of the soundtrack of your life.”
The film also depicts some of Richard’s own influences. These include the
underappreciated Sister Rosetta Tharpe who recently finally made it into the
Rock Hall of Fame in 2018. She shared much in common with him. She was also
underrated, black and queer and raised in the Pentecostal church.
Fredara Hadley, an ethnomusicologist from Harvard poses an interesting question
that serves as the basis for the film when he asks, “What would it do to the
American mythology of rock music to say that its pioneers were queer black
people?’ But aside from Richard and Tharpe, the film never really gives evidence
of this.
But the film has one minor flaw. It is so gay centered that sometimes it almost
seems like the film makers believe that Little Richard being a queer icon and
role model is more important than the fact he was one of rock’s founding fathers
and one of its all-time great vocalists.
Also, although it is undeniable that Richard was one of the early rock greats,
the doc unfairly slights the influence of Elvis to build up Richard and imply
that he was the sole founder of rock n roll. There was probably not a single
originator or king of rock, so why is it necessary to always knock down former
idols to make room for the ones that never got the proper acclaim?
The film also displays Richard’s inner contradictions and troubled swings from
hedonism to being devout (Jerry Lee Lewis went through similar swings). At times
he was openly gay, but then on David Letterman he announced that “God made Adam
to be with Eve not Steve.” One interviewee even said, “When I hear his
passionate singing {from the 50s and earlier} it’s hard to tell how much he is
running towards God, and how much he is running from himself.”
Overall, the film delivers and hits the glorious high and distressing low points
of Richard’s career. It manages to be both highly informative and entertaining,
and along with Chuck Berry: Hail Hail Rock n’ Roll, it is mandatory viewing for
fans of early rock n’ roll.
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