Tourist Guide

Strange Powers

When I first heard that we were going to watch “Magnetic Fields: Strange Powers” at Film Forum, I was excited. I was anticipating a science fiction type of film. Like my other classmates, I was surprised to learn what the film was really about. It was a documentary starring Stephin Merritt about music. Although many people enjoyed the documentary, the film did not meet my expectations. Documentaries were just not meant for me. I felt as if the story dragged on and I had a hard time staying awake. Stephin Merritt had an interesting case of humor, but it was not my type of humor.

Some aspects of the film that caught my attention though was how Stephin Merritt used basic household items to create music. The idea of using basic items to produce music reminded me of my visit to the Meet The Artist event last month. At the Meet the Artist event, David Ellis showed us a video on items, such as trash cans, producing music. I find it fascinating how both David Ellis and Stephin Merritt thought of such a creative idea.

Out of all the songs played throughout the film, the one song that remained stuck in my head was “Papa Was A Rodeo” by the Magnetic Fields. Even though this isn’t usually the kind of music I usually listen to, the song remained stuck in my head. The deep voice of Stephin Merritt’s combined with the soft background music produced a unique result. One criticism of the song, though, are the lyrics. I felt as if the lyrics did not flow together. Maybe I just didn’t understand the lyrics’ meaning, but when looking at the lyrics, it seemed as if he just took random lines and pieced them together into one song.

Watching Magnetic Fields: Strange Powers was an interesting experience. Film Forum is a local small movie theater, yet it produces the same effects of the bigger theaters. The most interesting part of my visit to Film Forums is when we went backstage and how the place functions. I was amazed by the number of different machines it had and the way films are displayed on the bigger screen.

Below is the song that I mentioned earlier, “Papa Was A Rodeo”: