Seven Degrees of Bob Dylan (by Becky Garrison)
Poet, prophet, outlaw, fake, star of electricity, rock-and-roll martyr, born-again Christian … all of these words have been used to describe Robert Allen Zimmerman, aka Bob Dylan. I've lost track of all the "unauthorized" books profiling this mysterious man that have crossed my desk over the years. So I was intrigued to learn that Todd Haynes had obtained the music and life rights to Bob Dylan's work from his longtime manager Jeff Rosen.
I saw Haynes' feature film I'm Not There last month at The New York Film Festival (NYFF). Suffice to say, he redefines the well-worn term "biopic." Using six actors to portray seven personifications of this larger-than-life star, Haynes weaves through the different periods of Dylan's life, beginning with a preteen African-American runaway who goes by the name Woody Guthrie, and ending with Richard Gere, aka Billy the Kid, living in self-imposed exile.
Much of the film's media buzz circulates around Cate Blanchett's transformation as Jude, the self-destructive rock star who proclaims, "I kind of like getting busted out of my skin." From the moment Jude explodes on the screen - literally - at the Newport Folk Festival to the shot of him crumbled beside his mangled motorcycle, Jude takes the audience on one helluva Felliniesque ride.
Hayes turned to another '60s cinema legend, Jean-Luc Godard, to illustrate how hot Hollywood actor Robbie (Heath Ledger) romanticized and yet condemned women. As his fame skyrockets, his marriage to his idealist sweetheart unravels against the backdrop of the Vietnam War.
Haynes touches on Dylan's conversion to Christianity through the character of Jack Rollins (Christian Bale). This breakthrough singer-songwriter of early '60s protest music has now become a Pentecostal preacher. Apparently, the church seen in the film closely resembles the actual church that Dylan joined in the late '70s. However, there's no mention of Dylan's infamous trip to the wailing wall or other outward displays of the Jewish faith. Hence, his Jewishness remains a very well-kept secret.
Dylan purists will find plenty to nitpick about. For example, I can't find any credible evidence that Pete Seeger actually tried to take an axe to the electrical cords during Dylan's Newport '65 set. And I am not sure if Dylan ever danced with a drunken Allen Ginsburg (David Cross) in front of a crucifix of Jesus as Dylan slurred, "I preferred your earlier stuff."
But those who quibble over factual inconsistencies will end up missing the meaning behind the message. Clearly, some of the Dylan personas featured in I'm Not There correspond to a recognizable period and look in Dylan's life, whereas others are more metaphorical - blending influences, passions, and imagery. I left the film knowing nothing more about Dylan the man, but somehow through these characters I was able experience the ethos of the era, when "Like a Rolling Stone" replaced "Blowing in the Wind" as the song that defined my parents' generation. This film opens Nov. 21 in New York and Los Angeles, with a wider release to follow.
As I was in diapers when Dylan became heralded as a folk legend, I am grateful to the NYFF for showing Murray Lerner's musical documentary The Other Side of the Mirror: Bob Dylan Live at the Newport Folk Festival, 1963-1965. Through vintage footage sans narration, Lerner allows the viewer to experience Dylan's transformation from youthful troubadour to rebel rocker. While this film is still seeking distribution, the DVD will be released Oct. 30.
Sometimes I'm moving so fast that I find it helpful to stop and reflect on the past. I still shake my head when I hear some kid singing a Dylan song without any clue of the history that shaped this message. Thankfully, these movies afford many of us the opportunity to reflect on a world that we were too young to experience firsthand.
Becky Garrison's books include Red and Blue God: Black and Blue Church (Jossey-Bass, 2006), Rising from the Ashes: Rethinking Church (Seabury Books, October 2007), and The New Atheist Crusaders and Their Unholy Grail: Their Misguided Quest to Destroy Your Faith (Thomas Nelson, January 2008).
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Comments
I have not seen the movie, not sure I want to.
But it's great that a new generation is trying to understand and experience what happened back then. My world shifted when I heard my first Dylan song " Just like a Woman ". More than a decade later I made what can only be discribed as a 600 mile pilgrimage to see him perform.
Maybe every generation creates their own existential quantum leaps. Maybe I'm just missing the present one....am I ? Maybe it's just over the horizon, something about globalism and environment. If so, then bring it on kids.
Darryl
Posted by: Darryl | November 1, 2007 4:11 PM
What is meant by the term "infamous" to describe Dylan's trip to the Wailing Wall. Surely there is nothing wrong in maintaining one's Jewish roots.
Posted by: Judith | November 1, 2007 4:45 PM
I used the term "infamous" to describe Dylan's trip to the wailing wall because some Christians faulted him for participating in Jewish rituals during his trip to Israel given he was attending a Pentecostal style church in California. I brought that up because many die-hard Dylan fans looking for a timeline of his life will fault the movie for missing certain factual elements of his life, and in doing so they will miss the message of the movie.
Posted by: becky | November 2, 2007 10:02 AM
A better question of Eileen might be is why is she posting that on the Sojo blog. We should all keep personal self promotion to our own websites.
Posted by: Eric | November 2, 2007 10:29 AM
My point exactly, Eric. It's even in the "Rules of Conduct" not to solicit for your own gain. Although I can't imagine anyone buying the book based on the excerpt.
Posted by: Cads | November 2, 2007 12:39 PM
I highly recommend that Christians spend some time with two Dylan albums from the 1980's: Infidels and Oh Mercy. These are as powerful testaments to the awe at the wonder of God that any that have appeared in the rock idiom. Infidels came out in 1983, shortly after his trip to the wailing wall, and created confusion because it was the first album in four years that did not have an overtly evangelical Christian message. It was also clear from the title to the inside jacket photo to many of the lyrics that he was digging deep into the well of Jewish cultural and theological tradition. Many Christians wrote it off as "Dylan abandoned Christianity for Judaism." But wait! Scratch the surface and listen to the songs and you will hear that the Christian themes are still there, "completed" if you will by Jewish symbolism and concepts, and marked a new maturity in his songwriting.(For a complete experience of this album, listen also to the outtake songs that didn't make it onto the original album. Some of them are better than some of the ones that did make it on.)
Fast forward to 1989 and Oh Mercy. The album begins with three songs lamenting the brokenness of man, proceeds with an acknowledgement of the need for restoration ("Ring Them Bells"), and ends the LP side (sorry for those who experienced it first on CD) with a warning about evil ("Man in the Long Black Coat"). Side 2 includes an uncomfortably honest piece of soul-searching ("What Good Am I?"), a black-church style sermon on narcissism, and ends with a psalm.
Secular media never appreciated those two recordings for what they were, and secular radio would rather plod on with well-worn chestnuts such as "Rainy Day Women" and "Like a Rolling Stone." My guess is this movie doesn't give much attention to them, either. But having gone to college during the Reagan era, these records were as important to me as Dylan's earlier work was to students during the 1960's. Unfortunately, because the rock industry does not promote music that disturbs people on a deep level spiritually, the few of us that love these two records must usually enjoy them in isolation.
Posted by: I and I | November 2, 2007 12:55 PM
Becky, I meant to say in addition to my admittedly long-winded Dylan tribute that this was a great article, and thanks for making me (us) aware of the new movie.
And no, I didn't do the brown acid either!! :)
Posted by: I and I | November 2, 2007 1:03 PM
I and I,
Good post with no self-promotion, as it should be. The NY Post reported that Dylan has been showing up at his grandson's school in Calabasas, CA with his guitar to sing for the kids. They've been heard to describe his as the "weird guitar guy" who sings "scary songs" (lol). We are getting old, which is what's really scary!
Posted by: Cads | November 2, 2007 2:16 PM
Hmmm...He wouldn't have sung "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall" to those kids, would he?
Posted by: I and I | November 2, 2007 4:12 PM
Rule 7 of the Beliefnet Rules of Conduct states:
Solicitation: You agree not to use Beliefnet Forums to advertise or solicit on behalf of commercial, religious, or charitable organizations, causes, products or services. You may use your personal pages for this purpose.
Eileen, I don't make the rules, just try to follow them.
Posted by: Anonymous | November 2, 2007 5:42 PM
becky,
Thanks for the explantion on "infamous". And for the review: I look forward to seeing the film.
Judith
Posted by: Judith | November 2, 2007 5:45 PM
I heard that there were many actors who play Dylan spanning his career ?
Posted by: Mick Sheldon | November 3, 2007 4:02 PM
why the censorship?
i followed your Rule 7!
I AM unnamed in this reflection and i offer you a pearl:
9/11, Bob Dylan, a beautician and me
written Sept. 2006
"If it keeps on raining, the levee's gonna break
If it keeps on raining, the levee's gonna break,
Some people are still sleeping
Some people ARE WIDE AWAKE."-Bob Dylan 2006 Modern Times
Five years ago to this very Tuesday in September, Bob Dylan's previous most recent release, "Love and Theft" came out. Last week, the sixty-five year old legend released "Modern Times" and Dylan has kept the party going.
That day, five years ago when the Twin Towers fell and the Pentagon tattered, I didn't know anything about it until 12:45 PM when my daughter phoned from high school. She wanted to know if it was the end of the world, and I wondered the same too, when I turned the TV on.
I also recalled a song I first heard in 1981:
"See the massacre of the innocent...City's on fire... phones out of order... I see the turning of the page. Curtain's rising on a new age. See the Groom still waiting at the altar." -Bob Dylan, 1981, Shot of Love
The "Shot of Love" album had been Bob's third in a row with some indisputable Christian themes. The Groom is a biblical metaphor for Christ, and the Bride is understood to be a lover of God. For a Christian this great analogy takes the fear out of death, for ones physical demise releases one to union with God. Thus, the release in dying can be anticipated to be one incredible cosmic orgasm.
But on that day, we call 9/11 after the shock and awe had passed from the initial images of smoke and despair, I quit hearing Bob Dylan in my head, and then recalled a passage from II Chronicles 6:1:
"The Lord has said that he would dwell in thick darkness."
I have recalled that verse often in the aftermath of the way America chose to respond to a few angry men who hated America so much that they could target and murder innocent people. I also wonder about the words of Lincoln and how he always reflected upon if he was on Gods side.
But, five years ago on that day in September that the world stood still, Bob Dylan's "Love and Theft" was released and even though my heart was heavy and I wanted to stay glued to the TV, life continued.
I had a hair appointment that afternoon and had already planned on picking up Bob's latest. I did both those things and I still do visit that hairdresser every six weeks. Not an appointment goes by that we don't both recall that we spent a few hours together watching TV on that day that changed the world as we had known it.
On my way home, I popped "Love and Theft" into the CD player of my Explorer [which I traded in for an economical Acura four years ago] and for the twenty minute drive, I was transported to a different place and a new time. Bob sounded like he was having fun, but I really couldn't get into it that day, for once again, an ear worm from 1981 had returned.
On any given TV station, or the Internet, one can readily see the massacre of the innocent, cities on fire, and phones go out of order. When I reflect on that day we call 9/11, I see the turning of a page and a curtain has risen on a new age. Life as we had known it prior to 9/11, will not return, for Big Brother has grown.
On the eve of the fifth anniversary of that day we call 9/11, I recall two things, the first being the words of the most radical of all the founding fathers, Tom Paine who penned words of wisdom still unheeded:
"Soon after I had published the pamphlet "Common Sense" [on Feb. 14, 1776] in America, I saw the exceeding probability that a revolution in the system of government would be followed by a revolution in the system of religion... The world is my country, all mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion."
I also recall a parable, a short story that Christ told about a Bridegroom and ten Virgins. In ancient times, weddings went on for days [if not weeks] and anyone who accepted an invitation to a wedding understood it was a commitment of time and money, for jobs were abandoned in order to be at the happening.
The custom of the time was for the Bridegroom to decide exactly when the wedding occurred. It could be the first day of festivities or even the ninth! No one knew when the Groom would appear, and the story Christ told was about ten virgins waiting for their man. Five were unprepared for his arrival and were out shopping when he came, so they were left out of the Bridal Chamber and you can imagine how frustrating that would be.
Parables are stories that invite the reader to decide who they relate to and what it means to them. Christ didn't hit his listeners over the head with his message; he led by example not lectures.
Christ did tell his listeners to wake up, to stay alert as no one knows when the end of time will come, but that one shouldn't be concerned about that anyway, but instead occupy oneself with doing right, with doing good, and to not be out shopping when the Groom is on the way.
Christ was never a Christian; but he was a radical, social justice revolutionary Palestinian Jewish Road Warrior who told his followers to go out and make disciples; and a disciple is one who follows and does what the Master teaches.
Christ had very few friends inside the Temple Authority for he challenged their job security by teaching the people they didn't have to pay the high priest for ritual baths or sacrificing livestock to be OK with God.
Christ told the people the revolutionary and radical news that God LOVED them just as they were and was already within them.
The authority of God, up until then, had been external, but what Christ did, was place God in the very hearts of his hearers. Christ didn't lecture them; he told stories that allowed them to draw their own conclusions. Christ taught by example and he presupposed that his listener already knew it all. Christ's message was that the Divine authority is in the heart of every human being. This was then and still is now a revolutionary thought. Rome crucified Christ because he disturbed the status quo of the Empire which ruled by oppression while Christ taught liberation.
The immanence of God and the Divine in the human heart and throughout the ages, has always inspired poets, musicians, writers, artists and prophets, even in modern times.
"If it keeps on raining, the levee's gonna break
If it keeps on raining, the levee's gonna break,
Some people are still sleeping
Some people ARE WIDE AWAKE."-Bob Dylan 2006 Modern Times
Posted by: eileen fleming | November 4, 2007 7:55 AM
I guess that just about says it all; you've worn me down. You win, Eileen.
Posted by: Cads | November 4, 2007 10:49 PM
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