JK Rowling: "[he] has sat in a darkened room and been witty on paper..."

August 11, 2015 5:59 PM

"He probably finds himself the most attractive person that you could possibly meet." James O'Briend, friend of Morrissey, in the documentary, The Importance of Being Morrissey (2003) [SLYT]. From the video details: "UK TV Documentary Narrated by Christopher Eccleston, With contributions from Johnny Marr, Alan Bennett, Kathy Burke, Noel Gallagher, Nancy Sinatra, Linder & others."
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome (11 comments total)

Guh?
posted by Jessica Savitch's Coke Spoon at 6:03 PM on August 11, 2015

Meanwhile, in Adolf Hitler's closet...
posted by boo_radley at 6:08 PM on August 11, 2015 [2 favorites]

I've watched this documentary probably close to fifteen times.

That's what happens when you love someone who loves Morrissey.

For sheer watchability, I'd rate it an 8/10. It's pretty amusing and doesn't overstay its welcome. But even non-fans will find that it's lacking in any sort of depth. And that might be okay. I don't know what I would do if my personal reality involved repeatedly being coerced into watching a 2 1/2 hour long feature on Morrissey. Anyway, yeah, recommended! It's what you might call a lighthearted romp!
posted by blixapuff at 7:25 PM on August 11, 2015 [4 favorites]

Linder Sterling? She's much more interesting than the Mozzer. I might watch this then.
posted by octobersurprise at 7:29 PM on August 11, 2015 [1 favorite]

"He is a great hugger".

Nancy Sinatra
posted by qinn at 9:08 PM on August 11, 2015 [1 favorite]

I thought it was quite interesting how JK Rowling viewed his public persona, and then they have a short bit with his band mates, and they're smiling and going, "well, he lives in L.A. and drives a Jag, so no - he doesn't sit at home dressed in black" or words to that effect. If anything he has a very well-crafted public 'character' presented and I imagine his personal self is a lot different.

Found the interviews - Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders, Bono, Will Self, Kathy Burke, JK Rowling, and the Gallagher brothers (bless 'em they are quite funny in this) to be fascinating. When Miranda Sawyer says, "Actually it's men that throw themselves on stage not women" this launches a whole aspect of his fandom that I wasn't aware of, discussed at points by Will Self and Morrissey himself, who doesn't seem to understand it.

Yeah, it's not warts-and-all but it is a pretty wonderful 49 minutes 17 seconds of your life.

Finally: guh!
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 9:30 PM on August 11, 2015

Morrissey's a twat, I think we can all find common ground there. But I still find him to be an interesting, complex individual, and I thought that doco, while superficial, was eminently watchable.

Oh and I discovered Moz shot a video in Victoria (Australia)!
posted by wilful at 9:30 PM on August 11, 2015

joseph conrad is fully awesome: "and then they have a short bit with his band mates, and they're smiling and going, 'well, he lives in L.A. and drives a Jag, so no - he doesn't sit at home dressed in black' or words to that effect"

Those weren't his band mates, they were his nephew and cousin! (At 2:40, anyway - maybe you mean a different bit.) I found that rather surprising somehow.
posted by koeselitz at 10:13 PM on August 11, 2015

I know, right? It's like Morrissey emerged fully formed from a pod somewhere unknown, and it seems unlikely that he would have any relatives at all.
posted by hippybear at 12:59 AM on August 12, 2015 [2 favorites]

Well, more surprising in the sense that Morrissey doesn't seem like the kind of person to tell an interviewer, "here, let me give you the names and phone numbers of my nephew and cousin, you should go talk to them." It's not really common in documentaries for them to talk to family members, largely because even people who aren't rather reclusive don't tend to stick said family members in the strange position of being interviewed about their relative. The only thing I can think is that the interviewer heard all these people like Noel Gallagher saying "he's such an enigma only his mother understands him" and figured it'd be interesting to talk to some relatives, and so they actually flat-out asked him for names and numbers of people they could interview. And he seems to have been in a rather giving mood when he gave this interview, so I guess he said "eh, whatever, here you go."
posted by koeselitz at 10:05 AM on August 12, 2015

If only someone had thought to use the proper method to keep pop stars fresh.
posted by Appropriate Username at 3:33 PM on August 12, 2015