Privilège

A film society at my school showed this movie for free in a lecture hall last night. Though nothing beats a free movie, the guy running the whole thing introduced it as one that had been totally panned by critics, never released on video, etc., which didn't make it sound very promising. They also showed the short film "Lonely Boy" just before "Privilege" (it's funny to hear Paul Anka's manager saying how no one will be as famous as Paul Anka ever again, knowing that only two short years later The Beatles were on Ed Sullivan). The film society also said that the director of "Privilege" watched "Lonely Boy" repeatedly, to get a feel for the mass hysteria and hero worship of teen idols.

"Privilege" is about pop star Steven Shorter, who has the teen population of Britain in the palm of his hand. Behind Steve, however, are the corporations and investors using him to control teens, which is pretty scary to think about, considering the same is very nearly true today. They decide everything for him: his appearance, what products he'll endorse, the songs he sings; and when he tries to break away and become an individual, that's it. The investors withdraw their support and the show's over. Steve controlled the public so well that with just one speech, he is able to turn the teens against himself.

I liked this movie. Perhaps the reason it did so poorly when originally released is because it didn't seem relevant. Today, it certainly is. The "futuristic" British society portrayed seems a bit of a stretch (at one point the crowds chant "We must conform! We must conform!"), but then, so does the society shown in 1984, in my opinion. Find this movie if you can, it's a great one and should be released on video!

Good movie about a singer whose popularity serves for societal manipulation. The rather timid rock star is part of an effort to control English youth by coercing them into accepting the government line, which is subtly expressed in his lyrics and behavior. The concept of using rock for social control is a bit dated, but try reworking it in the context of modern consumerism: Huge corporations and their musician-sponsors. Why, Madonna and Michael Jackson would never

allow their artistic talents to be used to get people to buy Pepsi, right? The Beatles "Revolution" in a Nike ad is out of the question, true? Janis Joplin's estate wouldn't allow Mercedes-Benz to feature her tune about the car,

correct? We aren't being manipulated by that old time rock and roll, are we? Not even to buy "Like A Rock" Chevy trucks? Paranoid enough? Then you'll enjoy "Privilege".

Fascinating, baffling, confused and prescient -- sometimes all within the same scene. A true artifact of the late 60's. The American Cinemateque just showed the ONLY existing print in the world. It was pretty ratty, with a constant hiss on the soundtrack, but at least it was shown. Director Peter Watkins (THE WAR GAME, PUNISHMENT PARK) directed PRIVILEGE as a faux documentary about a near future where the biggest musical star in the land who's fame becomes so large that he becomes a demi-god to the people. Of course, with all that power, he becomes a political pawn. The idea of a pop singer turning into a national icon that transcends his commercial status is even more relevant today than in '67.

The one major flaw of the film is Paul Jones' performance as the Singer Steve. He's just too dull and boring to be believed as the greatest Rock Star of All Time. Swinging 60s fashion icon Jean Shrimpton plays the girl who is hired to be with him. Patti Smith covered the title tune ("Set Me Free") on her great album, Easter.

Update: PRIVILEGE has finally made it to DVD and Blu Ray (but, not currently streaming)

Privilege is one of those `lost' rarely screened masterpieces that always seem to end up on some critic's top-ten list, but you almost never know anyone who has seen the film. It is no wonder no one has seen this film – it has never been available on video (except for crummy bootlegs), it's not shown on television any longer and revival theatres have long since forgotten about it. Why?

Privilege has much more pertinence now than it did back in 1967. Paul Jones (lead singer of Manfred Mann) plays Steve Shorter, a British manufactured rock-n-roll icon, who is shaped and molded into a tool used to sell every product imaginable. In one humorous moment, the British Apple Growers Association, having harvested far too many apples to be sold, hire Steve to do a commercial convincing each British person to eat six apples a day.

To the nation, Steve is a god. A symbol of everything that is pure and good. Steve can do no wrong. Unfortunately, Steve has no mind of his own and is easily led from concert-to-concert, commercial-to-commercial and meeting-to-meeting by his conniving, greedy managers. Everyone wants a piece of Steve. The mere mention of a product from Steve's lips will sway the entire nation's fashion sense – if Steve wears black, the whole country wears black. His managers know this and there is no organization they will not sell him out to.

`The Church', in an act to attract more young members into its congregation, hires Steve to convince the nation's youth to become God-fearing Christians. But, this does not sit well with Steve who is becoming more cognizant of his surroundings through the help of a young artist played by sixties supermodel, Jean Shrimpton.

Privilege, even though rarely shown, is a surreal motion picture every film fanatic and music historian should seek out. With teeny-bop stars like Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Mandy Moore, Jessica Simpson and NSYNC sprouting up like so many invasive weeds, Privilege is very worthy of a second look. Hurry, please, before it is too late.

Peter Watkins-directed mockumentary about a pop star whose fame is engineered by the government. Paul Jones gives a wonderful performance as Steven Shorter, possibly the most famous man in Great Britain. We watch his daily exploits as he's followed by a documentary crew that also narrates. Although Shorter is clearly in the vein of a "mod" from the mid-1960's, the film has aged quite well. The original songs are great ("Privilege(Set Me Free)" was covered by Patti Smith in 1978) and the scenes of Shorter leading a fascist-like rally are still eerie (perhaps an influence on the film PINK FLOYD THE WALL?). Another great scene deals with Shorter being conscripted into writing a Catholic rock song, which anticipates how the organized Christianity of today tries to use rock as a way of converting people. Definitely worth watching. Hopefully it will finally get a proper home video release.