If You're Not Into The White Stripes You Probably Shouldn't Read This

Have you seen this?



I'm BUSTING! I watched it last night with Mike while we folded laundry. Ah. Where do I begin?? Here are just a few thoughts right off the top of my head:

1. You know how Jack White came across as weird and eccentric and sort of like he had something to prove in "It Might Get Loud"? Well, he doesn't seem as weird in this movie. I have a feeling that he is weird, but more normal in real life than "It Might Get Loud" editors gave him credit for. So if you watched that and thought "Whoa, Jack White=eccentric out to prove himself, blech!" You might want to consider giving him another shot.

2.You know how in "It Might Get Loud" they only showed one small clip of Jack White performing and it happened to be a moment when he screeched into some sort of voice distortion mic and it sounded really weird? And you may have thought "what's all the fuss about? He's just a weirdo with black hair and pasty skin who screeches into voice distortion microphones." Well, that was a very bad representation of Jack White in concert--he screeches, yes. But he plays a mean guitar, my friend, and he is gracious and humble. Please see it.

3. And you know how in "It Might Get Loud" Jack said that he likes to make things harder for himself, play an old out of tune guitar, move the piano just out of reach? That really bothered me because my general rule of thumb is that life is hard enough, so why go out of your way to make it harder for yourself when you don't have to (I'm talking to you, "natural birth" fanatics!) But in this new documentary, Jack talks a lot more about why he does that, and the reason is to encourage his creativity and to keep things fresh and real. They never have a set list. They just play whatever they feel like when they perform so that something exciting happens. While Jack was explaining all this, Mike told me that he does the same thing as a teacher. He forces himself to improvise in order to keep things interesting for himself and his students. Now I get it! Now I can respect it. And you should, too. (Sorry, "natural birth" fanatics. I guess all this time you were just keepin' it real.)

4. Something happens at the end of the movie. Just so you know, it made me cry. Not fanatical, hysterical crying because of how much I love the White Stripes. This wasn't the kind of crying that happens at an emotionally overwrought U2 concert. Instead, it was deeply moving. I don't really want to give it away because you should just watch it. But it was a little embarrassing to cry that much over a movie in front of Mike.

5. Jack and Meg are divorced. They say they are brother and sister, but it's not true. He took her last name when they got married. Isn't that chivalrous and forward-thinking? I love that idea. So, anyway, I guess they got a divorce right as they starting making it big as the White Stripes. They have been making records and playing live for 10 years. I always think a lot about this. It's sad. I wish they still loved each other, but maybe they love each other in a different way now. They have both remarried and are probably happy, but I still want them to get married to each other again. I can't help it. This is probably why they didn't want anyone to know they are divorced: so people like me wouldn't obsessively watch for any tender moment between them.

6. Meg is so quiet that they have to use subtitles for her. I find this sort of rude, and I feel bad for Meg. She seems like a very tender person (see the ending!). I am sort of a quiet person (believe it or not), and it gets really annoying having to repeat yourself for loud people.

7. Near the end of the movie they play their tenth anniversary concert. This made me think a lot about how Mike and I are celebrating our tenth anniversary next month. We are sort of like Jack and Meg. Not that we are a divorced couple posing as brother and sister and playing insanely great music. But just that we are two people trying to make something great out of what we've got. Mostly it's hard work, but sometimes it's really fantastic, which makes it worth all that effort, just like Jack White says (so, from now on, I'll be putting my proverbial piano just out of reach to make things more interesting). That was the cheesiest thing I have ever written on this blog!!! Tenth anniversaries will do that to even the most sardonic of people.

Thanks for indulging me. See the movie. Cry at the end.