it’s been about a week since i watched this and let me preface: i do not particularly care for brian jones. irreplaceably important to one of my favorite bands and a deeply troubled individual who never had it easy, but i still don’t care for him that much past the normal, human emotions of empathy.
where this lost me - because i did enjoy most of this - was at the 1 hour mark. we are introduced to brian’s most infamous girlfriend, the singular anita pallenberg. the gorgeous german-italian film actress who defied every stereotype expected of her and became one of the most important and under-sung heroes of the rock and roll pantheon as we know it. she was, just as brian, deeply troubled, and known for being maybe not the nicest of people - she hurt many people in her time and thrived off negativity. what goes wrong here is the second anita is introduced she’s framed as a villain of no parallel in brian’s story.
as quickly as we meet her we are bred to hate her. this comes from a certain level of misogyny from some of the interviees - the film director calling her a gold digger just moments after discussing her film and modeling careers - but it also comes from a distinct use of framing. of course anita would look like she up and left brian after wrecking havoc on his life for no particular reason if you have the story guided by someone who barely knew her or her story. there’s no discussion of brian jones physical abuse. he, in many accounts, was described as physically abusive by ex girlfriends and by other members of the stones. why this was left out i can’t really fathom - there was no issues from bill wyman discussing the venom seeped from brian to the boys, or how his relationships were often predatory. it makes it easier to frame anita as a villain and give the story a director, sure, but it’s deeply unsettling for that to be ignored in such attempt to frame a woman as a bad guy for escaping abuse.
framed as “going right down the hall to another bedroom”, anita pallenbergs breakup with brian jones is framed as a woman who cares about nothing but money. this differs from her view, where she says she after being attacked by brian after saying no to unwanted sexual advances she sought comfort in keith richards, who was right down the hall and a safe person to be with when she felt vulnerable. how she didn’t want to leave but keith said it would be best for her safety and brian’s. how in keith’s recollection, their “getaway” was one in silence where anita still felt tings of pain over leaving brian despite the horrors she was enduring. she fought back, yes, but just that: fought back in defense.
how this was ignored so a story could have a more black and white conflict is quite disappointing. how this was ignored to have a villain made out of a victim is disappointing. how this was made to portray another deeply troubled individual as the villain you’re avoiding making your protagonist is disappointing. this would’ve been a very well rounded portrayal of brian had this not been ignored, but alas.
“i’ve been frequently called a slut, a witch, a murderer.” - anita pallenberg
it’s been about a week since i watched this and let me preface: i do not particularly care for brian jones. irreplaceably important to one of my favorite bands and a deeply troubled individual who never had it easy, but i still don’t care for him that much past the normal, human emotions of empathy.
where this lost me - because i did enjoy most of this - was at the 1 hour mark. we are introduced to brian’s most infamous girlfriend, the singular anita pallenberg. the gorgeous german-italian film actress who defied every stereotype expected of her and became one of the most important and under-sung heroes of the rock and roll pantheon as we know it. she was, just as brian, deeply troubled, and known for being maybe not the nicest of people - she hurt many people in her time and thrived off negativity. what goes wrong here is the second anita is introduced she’s framed as a villain of no parallel in brian’s story.
as quickly as we meet her we are bred to hate her. this comes from a certain level of misogyny from some of the interviees - the film director calling her a gold digger just moments after discussing her film and modeling careers - but it also comes from a distinct use of framing. of course anita would look like she up and left brian after wrecking havoc on his life for no particular reason if you have the story guided by someone who barely knew her or her story. there’s no discussion of brian jones physical abuse. he, in many accounts, was described as physically abusive by ex girlfriends and by other members of the stones. why this was left out i can’t really fathom - there was no issues from bill wyman discussing the venom seeped from brian to the boys, or how his relationships were often predatory. it makes it easier to frame anita as a villain and give the story a director, sure, but it’s deeply unsettling for that to be ignored in such attempt to frame a woman as a bad guy for escaping abuse.
framed as “going right down the hall to another bedroom”, anita pallenbergs breakup with brian jones is framed as a woman who cares about nothing but money. this differs from her view, where she says she after being attacked by brian after saying no to unwanted sexual advances she sought comfort in keith richards, who was right down the hall and a safe person to be with when she felt vulnerable. how she didn’t want to leave but keith said it would be best for her safety and brian’s. how in keith’s recollection, their “getaway” was one in silence where anita still felt tings of pain over leaving brian despite the horrors she was enduring. she fought back, yes, but just that: fought back in defense.
how this was ignored so a story could have a more black and white conflict is quite disappointing. how this was ignored to have a villain made out of a victim is disappointing. how this was made to portray another deeply troubled individual as the villain you’re avoiding making your protagonist is disappointing. this would’ve been a very well rounded portrayal of brian had this not been ignored, but alas.
“i’ve been frequently called a slut, a witch, a murderer.” - anita pallenberg
