Jagged

Despite a lifetime working in pop music, radio and TV, I was late in joining the Alanis Morissette fan club. Whilst being aware of her music, it was not until SUCH PRETTY FORKS IN THE ROAD in 2020 that I realised what an extraordinary talent she is. So, I went in to view Jagged with a lot of love for her music, but little knowledge of her history and pop musical roots. I found her story a total revelation and absolutely compelling. The lady is a genius and her ability to express feelings through her music is rare and wonderful. The documentary is powerful and like Alanis's music it is absorbing. A must watch.

Isn't it ironic? This documentary only very superficially delved into Alanis Morissette, the person, but it was apparently "too salacious" for Alanis. I would like to have learned more about what makes Alanis the person who was able to create such wonderful music.

I had just finished watching the Anthony Bourdain documentary, Roadrunner. We got real insight into Anthony the person in that film, to learn about his beauty and his flaws, not about how great his TV shows were.

With Jagged, we got a film whose thesis is "Alanis set the world on fire with Jagged Little Pill and opened the door for women in rock." An inspiring message about someone who started on the wrong track (a Tiffany and Debbie Gibson wannabe) but was determined to find her own voice rather than what sleazy showbiz promoters of the moment needed her to be. There are similarly inspiring feminist messages throughout, but to some to some extent this film comes across like one of those DVD "extra" promo reels.

It just seemed to lack substance and purpose.

I really enjoyed this documentary- even though there were some things about its narrative that irked me- like the way it presents Alanis like some anomaly who was ahead of her time in the mid-1990s, when this was the time of Grunge and bands like Hole and people like PJ Harvey- and among them, she fit right in, except to anyone who wants to split hairs about it. So, that point the doc kept trying to make felt completely disingenuous, as did the point it tried to make about how no major or minor record label wanted her- all rejecting Jagged Little Pill originally. The first thing I thought when hearing that was here we go again- this is a repeat of what Joan Jett said happened with her- only, in that case, it feels more true.

I kinda didn't buy what they were selling here. First off, to call "Jagged" the best selling debut album by a female artist sounds good to say, BUT it wasn't really her debut, since she had made a few albums before that in her native Canada. So again, the point felt disingenuous. And another thing- there is no way Jagged Little Pill was a hard sale in the era of Grunge and Riot Grrrl. No way! Yeah, I'm sure she got rejected BEFORE people actually heard the music- but that is often true for anyone trying to make a hit- people can be reluctant to try anything new- including new music. But after hearing the music, they liked it, and that's what counts. After all, she did end up on Madonna's boutique label, so it was a little irksome that they kept painting her as a truly struggling artist in those years- because she wasn't- it's just the nature of the business.

There was nothing really unusual about Alanis, except for the fact that her level of fame eclipsed all the others due to how catchy her songs were and songwriting was. That said, she was and is a true talent who I am glad to learn more about. This documentary is well-made and kept me entertained and invested, even if I didn't quite agree with a lot of the points made in it.

As "Jagged" (2021 release; 97 min.) opens, Alanis and her band are in their dressing room, moments before going onstage at another gig on the "Jagged Little Pill" tour. We then go to Alanis today, as she gets situated for being interviewed by the director, and Alanis starts talking about her upbringing in Ontario, Canada and how she became a Debbie Gibson-reminding pop star at age 15, only to abandon it all and restart in Los Angeles at age 19...

Couple of comments: this is the latest from up-and-coming but already well respected documentary director Alison Klayman ("The Brink"). Here she looks back at how Alanis reinvented herself from scratch for the "Jagged Little Pill" album. Alanis talks openly about being raped at age 15 in Canada (it's called "statutory rape", she says). Her musical partnership with producer Glen Ballard gets plenty of coverage. The film includes many other talking heads, such as Shirly Manson (Garbage), Taylor Hawkins (Foo Fighters, but he was the drummer on the Jagged tour) and others. There is plenty of concert footage of course. It's hard to believe that it's been 25 years ago. I all found it quite rollicking as a documentary. Alanis, who gave full cooperation during the filming, has now openly disavowed the film for being "reductive" and "salacious". Say what? Did Alanis and I watch the same documentary? I'm thinking this is just Alanis being Alanis.

"Jagged" opened this weekend on HBO as part of the "Music Box" documentary series. It is now available on HBO On Demand and on HBO Max (where I saw it), and eventually on other streaming platforms and DVD/Blu-ray. If you loved "Jagged Little Pill" and all that it stood for (and who doesn't?), I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.

Fascinating look at her origins, the issues she dealt with as a female artist in a male dominated commercial industry and her thoughts regarding it. Her music still stands up and I can't wait for her to get her due properly.