I had no idea what to expect going to see the documentary on the Magnetic Fields, because I’ve never heard of them before, but their name led me to believe that it would be horrendously boring because not only did it already have the guaranteed boring-ness because it was a documentary but it had a really boring name. That’s why I didn’t get upset when I got lost after getting out of the b train station on west 4th street. The streets were so confusing. Someone needs to straighten them out. Someone also needs to fix the directions on Google maps. I mean normally I know my south west from my north east, but last Wednesday I left my compass in my other pants so it was a little difficult to walk south east towards Film forum. I ended up being 20 minutes after walking around for a half hour trying to find this place.
When I actually got to the theater, I was amazed that the documentary was actually good. Within 5 minutes, I went from being happy i was late to being really upset that i was late.
I know it wasn’t really supposed to be a comedy, but i was laughing the entire time. The main character, Stephen Merritt, wasn’t even trying to be funny, but every time he talked, i cracked up. He had such satirical humor. I always find people like that hilarious. He was so negative and witty. It was hysterical.
Then, his music was amazing. His songs weren’t your normal every day love songs. They were about a great variety of different things, and they were all really funny. If you listened to the words they were so sarcastic and just plain mean, but sarcastic and mean in a funny way. The music matched the singer perfectly.
I also really liked seeing two people work so well together. Their was no boss. They were a team, and i think it’s nice to know that a work environment exists that is so comfortable and welcoming.
My favorite quote by far was when Stephen was talking about his partner, Claudia, and he said something like, “I pretty much just hate everyone, but Claudia, she’s okay.” That was the nicest thing he said throughout the whole film, and you knew after he said that that he really cared a lot for Claudia. It brought tears to my eyes not just because i was laughing hysterically but because of how cute it was.
Overall, I would definitely recommend seeing it.
Here is a video of one of Stephen’s songs. He’s brilliant:
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