Matangi/Maya/M.I.A.

Never mind the wardrobe malfunction, there's the The Super Bowl finger!

In a world where most pop stars' dabbling in politics is of a perfunctory, often naive nature, there exists a few explosive artists who really are game changers. Unfortunately, many are often disregarded as self-serving alarmists.

As a Sri-Lankan refugee, the transplanted Brit M.I.A has been tireless in fighting for the Tamil people seeking independence back in her homeland. With a father who co-founded the revolutionary Tamil Tiger movement, her's is more than just a privileged outsider connection.

Mixing pop and politics is also what this jumpy documentary is all about. Before music became her weapon (both intellectually and on the dance floor), video was M.I.A.'s vocation, and this film takes full advantage of a lifelong grainy footage trove to tell the complex story. The results are a mixed bag, but effectively show the growth of a spirited, young radical into world famous persona, with many of her victories, and missteps along the way. It's an engrossing doc, and must viewing for anyone wanting a well rounded look into what M.I.A., and her passionate struggle is all about. At the very least, it'll increase the Google activity on a much overlooked part of the world.

I appreciate this movie, and I appreciate MIA. She has been a pillar of humanity and intelligence, and I am grateful her ability to view reality and make an art of it, assembling the pieces based on pattern recognition. There is so much violence, and each of us participates in de-humanizing each other. I hope that this movie can expose some of our violent tendencies.

No ordinary pop documentary, reads the poster, but M.I.A. is no ordinary pop star.

True.

I have been a fan of Maya Arulpragasam (AKA M.I.A) for over a decade now so this film came as a pleasant surprise. Allegedly it's been over a decade in the making and the relationship between Maya and the filmmaker, Steve Loveridge, has been, to say the least, "challenging".

She's a bloody difficult woman, as it reveals.

The daughter of the founder of the Tamil Tigers, a terrorist minority resistance group that was formed in 1976, she had to flee her home land of Sri Lanka in 1986 to set up home in London with her mother, brother and sister while her dad fought the good fight in the face of what she claims was 'ethnic cleansing'. It was ten years before she met her father again.

Clearly she has inherited her father's sense of justice and fighting spirit.

Basing her unique style of hip hop on political oppression she has been an unlikely success, rising to top the Billboard dance charts and performing alongside Madonna at the Super Bowl where she raised her middle finger to camera and in doing so enraged the NFL so much that they sued her for $16.6 million.

Her right to be angry is, in my opinion, quite reasonable but clearly her detractors think it is a stunt as she has gathered considerable wealth since her politically oppressed immigrant days.

For me, her wealth is irrelevant.

The documentary is a curate's egg. Some of it rambles almost incoherently, using found footage on dodgy VHS tape from her childhood, some of it is expertly shot. Its timeline is also so scattergun as to be quite confusing at times and this jolts the narrative. At times one wonders what the point really is.

She doesn't shirk criticism, but the reaction of the NFL on American TV drew loud guffaws from the audience I was in at their petty outrage. It's certainly a precursor to Colin Kaepernick's 'Taking the Knee' and a good, if a little childish, one at that.

Madonna was not overly happy.

For fans of M.I.A. this is a must see, for others I doubt you will be engrossed.

For me, even as a fan, it took a good hour to reel me in. But once there I was sold.

Tied together by the pre-fame, aspiring film student Maya's 2001 footage of a trip to visit her family in Sri Lanka after a decade+ living as a refugee in London, the fully sanctioned and highly official 'Matangi/Maya/M.I.A.' doc is exactly what you'd expect: decidedly pro-M.I.A. in every which way, and that's fine. It's not about what side of the fence you're on as the Tamil-British pop star might argue that the fence doesn't really exist. Reality is chaos. Chaos is imaginary. Does it really matter who ordered the truffle fries? Is a middle finger really worth $16.6 million? I believe some singular artists are almost above dissection, and I believe in some singular artists unequivocally (even if I don't actually understand or trust everything they say and do). All that being said--as I'm obliged to politely nod for the duration both in solidarity and to the beat of the hot tracks--this does suffer *as a film* critically from a lack of conflict, which I suppose is ironic given the underlying subject matter. But then again, who M.I.A. to say?

Having only listened to a handful of her songs, M.I.A. was relatively unknown to me both as an artist and a person. Now that I've seen this informative documentary, she has earned my utmost respect for the work she produces and as an individual. A documentary chronicling her early childhood in guerrilla warfare Sri Lanka (Matangi), her immigration to London where she becomes inquisitive regarding the Tamil rebellion (Maya) and her rapid rise to fame as an international pop star where she utilises the medium to convey the brutality of the civil war to the masses (M.I.A.). Fame, fortune and popularity were ideals that never motivated Matangi. Through first-hand experience, she had encountered the very worst of the Sri Lankan civil war. The mass executions. Child deaths. Rape and misogyny. But naturally she felt as if no one was actively attempting to stop the war. No news coverage whatsoever. As a result of this, she utilised her natural rhythmic talents to convey the negative connotations of the war through her music. She never wanted to make a hit, but only to share her views. What this documentary does exceedingly well is make Matangi a relatable individual. Her humanity shines through, and the recordings of her family enhance this perspective. The rapid progression into her musical career coexists with her right to support the Tamil Tigers, and the two are balanced well. Loveridge does encounter a few focussing issues as he is unable to decide which topic takes priority, but for the most part integrates both aspects of her life efficiently. The second half tackles the various media outlets singling her out as a controversial artist, and that is when the film truly finds its pace. The several narrative time jumps does make her life seem disconnected, and does skew the pacing frequently. Her music makes a remarkable impression, however this documentary fails to do that. Whilst that may sound unfair, it was culturally informative and engaging despite the cumbersome narrative stumbles.