Pistol

Ok, couple of things—first, the best part of this is that Chrissie Hynde is rightfully put back into the story of ‘punk’; she’s always been her own advocate, but it isn’t usual to see her feature so prominently in other people’s rendition of these events. Second, as a piece of storytelling, this tv show gets worse the longer it goes on and the more it has to contend with the actual historical record instead of relying on Steve Jones’ Steve Jones-tinted glasses; I’m not necessarily disputing his version, just saying that the show works better when it is covering things where there was no newsreel footage. Third, the inclusion of the ridiculous sex scenes, which clearly have come from Jones’ book and no one else’s, are laughably gratuitous. Fourth, watching Julien Temple’s ‘The Filth and the Fury’ in conjunction with ‘Pistol’ makes it possible to see just how much stuff (down to individual shots and sequencing) Boyle straight-up lifted from Temple. On the whole, it’s a mildly amusing diversion for 3 or 4 of its episodes and that’s about it—and the mere fact of its existence has nothing at all to do with whatever you may or may not feel about the band.