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 (030621)
Billie Eilish: The World is a Little Blurry is a surprisingly intimate and
effective music documentary about the new electro pop superstar, Billy Eilish,
who self-recorded her first album with very little studio interference and
gained most of her seeming overnight popularity online.
At 13 years old she recorded a song, Ocean Eyes, which struck a chord in many
teens and it became an immediate sensation when it was widely downloaded with a
couple of hundred thousand hits. Her massive success seemed to come out of
nowhere. This helped create an image of her as the ultimate self-made pop
princess sensation even though some detractors have made much of the fact that
her family had ties to the record industry which helped her along.
Billiemania hit in full force last year. One of the singer’s hits was able to
get 720 million hits on Spotify, she has 15 million Instagram followers, and the
singer recently swept the Grammy awards (earning Album of the Year, Record of
the Year, and Best New Artist.)
Also, for those who care, her first and only album made the recent Rolling Stone
500 Greatest Albums All Time List at 397, improbably ahead of such undeniable
classics as Brian Wilson’s Smile, the first Stooges album, and Something Else by
The Kinks.
Her latest project was a theme for a highly anticipated James Bond film, No Time
to Die. Not bad for a 17-year-old that most people never heard of a few years
ago.
The film shows how her family members were major influences on both her life and
career and helped her achieve her goals. Her brother co-produced and helped
write the songs off her album which they recorded together in her bedroom. He
has to manipulate her to a certain degree to prevent her moodiness from
negatively impacting her career, and he even has to “trick” her into delivering
the hit single that the record company demands.
Her parents supported her creativity her whole life (they also had musical
backgrounds) plus they provided her with instruments. They also prop her up when
the teen who is prone to mood swings is in one of her psychological valleys (her
Tourette’s syndrome also makes her hard to deal with at times.)
At one point she even admits that she has cut herself with razors when she
thought she deserved it. Her darkly introspective confessional lyrics, often
reflect her dark depressions and attraction to sinister subject matter. In one
song, she quotes and identifies with the evil ambition of Sherlock Holmes’s main
protagonist, Moriarty, when she says, “And honey you should see me with a
crown,” and in Bad Guy, she proclaims she is a “make your girlfriend mad
type/Might seduce your dad type.”
Her spirit animal is the spider and the film features an image of a big hairy
one coming out of her mouth. This became one of her defining images and is
featured on a popular poster.
The film also shows us her creative process and how she came up with some of her
unconventional ideas. She tries lots of stuff out at first in her sketch
book/journal. In one picture, she drew herself crying dark tears and she ended
up drinking a dark liquid in real life until she cried black tears for a video
while her dad picked up dog poop in the background.
There are also several celebrity cameos in the film. American Idol judge, Katy
Perry, who was in a similar position as Billie ten years ago warns her that she
may be in for a “weird ride.”
But the most significant cameo in the film is undoubtedly Justin Bieber (sorry I
am not a big fan) who Billie has been crushing on since she was 12 years old
(she said she would do anything he wanted including kill her dog if he asked her
to.)
Billie is genuinely surprised to learn that Bieber also admires her work, and
they collaborate on an alternate version of one of her big hits. Bieber who has
often acted like a conceited jerk in public is surprisingly sensitive and he
compliments her and tries to encourage her creativity.
In contrast her real life significant other, Q who we rarely see is the ultimate
bad boyfriend. She gets him tickets into fancy shows, parties, and concerts, but
he shows no appreciation. He continually blows her off, is never there for her,
and seems to see her as a lesser part of his life. In a fit of anger, her
boyfriend broke his hand by punching a wall which causes her parents to worry
that he might physically act out his violent tendencies on her someday. The
audience can be forgiven for hoping that she will choose better partners in the
future.
The film also shows how the concerts and constant touring take a tremendous
psychological and physical toll on her body. At one point she opens a concert
and in the first few minutes she comes down wrong while dancing and gets a
sprain and has to get painful physical therapy. Earlier on, she had wanted to
become a professional dancer, but a serious injury ruined her dream.
Billie Eilish: The World is a Little Blurry is not totally without flaws. At
almost two and a half hours it may seem a little long for anyone but super fans
(at least in the theatre where you can’t pause it.)
The film is undoubtedly aimed toward Billie’s fans (which tend to be young and
female), but this film is so well done that it may convert some new people of
all ages and genders into bona fide Eilish aficionados.
No one knows if her fame will last or if she will be another Cyndi Lauper style
flash in the pan, but as the movie makes clear , she is a fascinating subject
and genuinely gifted. And at this time of pop conformity there is no one in pop
music that looks or sounds quite like her, which is a good thing.
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