"My journey from boy to Boy George began in the 70s"

January 18, 2018 12:51 PM

In the 1970s, nobody knew what to do about Britain. The economy was in tatters. Industry was in decline. Governments changed like traffic lights. There were fears about terrorism, immigration, and fascism. We joined Europe, then we wanted out. This is a film about how the '70s shaped me. It's my story, but it's also Britain's. - Boy George's 1970s: Save Me From Suburbia
posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey (26 comments total)

His hat's too big.

I watched this a while back, and I'm not a Boy George fan, but it's an enjoyable and informative take on the times.
posted by sonascope at 1:40 PM on January 18, 2018

I was stationed in the UK from 1983 to 1986, and I cannot WAIT to watch this.
I'll probably start getting cravings for tea and East Enders.
posted by Major Matt Mason Dixon at 1:41 PM on January 18, 2018 [2 favorites]

I'll probably start getting cravings for tea and East Enders.

What flavor of East Enders? Do you dunk them in the tea?
posted by Splunge at 1:49 PM on January 18, 2018 [3 favorites]

His hat's too big.

Yeah. I’ve not seen the film but I heard that was to do with his love of Matthew Chapter 1.
posted by stanf at 1:57 PM on January 18, 2018 [1 favorite]

It is an exceptionally voluminous hat.
posted by sonascope at 2:03 PM on January 18, 2018 [2 favorites]

I remember the response to Culture Club's first TOTP experience: what have I just seen? Looking back at the video and trying to forget my snotnose 13-year-old self, I'm pretty horrified by Peely's derisive little chuckle in introducing the back, and hoping, just hoping, I can pick up the tiniest reflected signal of hope from tens of thousands of previously scared kids.
posted by scruss at 2:22 PM on January 18, 2018 [3 favorites]

I have to say, I have to swim against the tide a bit and say I dig the hat.
posted by 4ster at 3:42 PM on January 18, 2018 [1 favorite]

That hat is fantastic. It is the hat of a man who knows himself, and is satisfied enough with what he has become to show it to the world in hat form.

I mean, really - color, texture, the shape of it, how it's so huge but doesn't flop down upon his face because yes, he's Boy George, and yes, he's that put together.

I was intrigued by Sweet, and sold with the hat - and get this, it's in counterpoint to his TOTP debut, where his hat was too small!

The man is on a journey, and we shall mark his waypoints with hats too fashionable for mere mortals to wear.

No, serious, I really like that hat, tho I have no desire for one of my own. I can appreciate where he's at, hat-wise.
posted by Slap*Happy at 4:52 PM on January 18, 2018 [11 favorites]

Thanks for posting this. Just finished watching it.

Regardless of where you may stand on his hat sizing, he is most certainly Not Fucking Around when it comes to haberdashery.

He's also earned the right to wear the hat of his choosing at any time, any place.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 4:57 PM on January 18, 2018 [7 favorites]

I enjoyed the video. Thank you for posting it.
posted by 4ster at 5:22 PM on January 18, 2018

He is a man, er, Boy, of many hats, and I note that each drop-in shot (including a hatless Jon Savage) includes a hat. This hat theme, it's deliberate.
posted by mwhybark at 5:43 PM on January 18, 2018

He's a lot more personable than I was expecting. I enjoyed that.
posted by bonobothegreat at 6:45 PM on January 18, 2018

I am also in favor of the hat.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 7:10 PM on January 18, 2018

OMG, help! Who knows what the song is that starts playing at 14:50 seconds while he is talking about David Bowie? It's a Glam song and I know I should know what it is but it's stumped me for months now. I've had this video open in a months-old tab cued up to that snippet so I can go back to it now and then to try to figure out what song it is.

PS, I'm with sonascope re: the hat and how much more I liked this than I thought I would.
PPS blame Phillip Treacy for the hats.
posted by Conrad-Casserole at 7:39 PM on January 18, 2018 [3 favorites]

14:50: Only You Can by Fox. (Thank Shazam, not me.)
posted by maudlin at 7:44 PM on January 18, 2018 [3 favorites]

Thank you, and Captain Marvel.
posted by Conrad-Casserole at 8:00 PM on January 18, 2018 [2 favorites]

I really enjoyed this, thanks for posting!
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 4:06 AM on January 19, 2018

I really enjoyed the bits with his mom.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 6:41 AM on January 19, 2018

I was fascinated by this. I'm about 3 years younger than Boy George, and while all the 70s stuff he discusses is familiar, it was also light years away from my own U.S. 70s suburban childhood (which was all disco and ABBA and Barry Manilow and my mom's Jim Nabors records and my dad's Carpenters records). Really loved seeing his 70s world.

Oddly enough, I enjoyed wearing big hats in the 70s, but I don't now.
posted by JanetLand at 6:52 AM on January 19, 2018

This is a good program, but it largely consists of George taking a tour of his old haunts, and finding them either completely gone, or gentrified to the point of being barely recognizable. I'm left wishing they'd have taken a few moments to talk about how these places ended because I'm guessing that those stories contain the seed of what those places have become.
posted by spudsilo at 6:57 AM on January 19, 2018

I’m not against the big hat, Just pointing out it’s biblival origins.

Matthew 1 in the King James Version is all about he big hats.
“Abraham, big hat. Isaac, big hat. Jacob, big hat. Judas, big hat...”
posted by stanf at 9:42 AM on January 19, 2018 [1 favorite]

I'm not sure what's up with all of the current mefi BG love, but it's obvious his time has come again. And perhaps not a moment too soon.
posted by evilDoug at 12:37 PM on January 19, 2018

I adore Boy George and have since he was huge. He fucks up, he quips, he gets fat, he wears hats, he champions artists, and he NEVER STOPS.
posted by goofyfoot at 2:25 AM on January 20, 2018 [2 favorites]

I think what endears him to me now is a sense of realization that he was amazingly lucky that he had opportunity to get his talent spotted, perhaps was a massive asshole to a lot of people back in the day, and now is free to be himself and say and do what he wants. And maybe regrets past episodes where he let fear and ego and overwhelm drive his behavior. That he is still friends with so many of his former cronies says a lot. They have that easy camaraderie that's hard to fake, so I really hope it's all true and not just put on for the camera. I don't know if he scripted that narration; if so I am even more impressed. I'd watch the hell out of any future Boy George efforts.
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 5:29 AM on January 20, 2018 [1 favorite]

I don’t know if this is mentioned in the documentary, but I think it should be mentioned here.
posted by Agent X9 at 2:13 AM on January 21, 2018 [1 favorite]

Nope, not mentioned in the docu. But glad you added it.
posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey at 2:38 AM on January 21, 2018