Spinal Tap vs. Gimme Shelter

Gimme Shelter and This is Spinal Tap are both films that portray the lives of rock and roll bands. While Gimme Shelter is a serious documentary about the Rolling Stone's 1969 Altamont Freeway concert, and Spinal Tap is a mockumentary about a fictitious British metal band, both contain their own aspect of humor.

Spinal Tap is a straightforward comedic documentary, whereas the humor in Gimme Shelter is more of an ironic humor, showing how a concert based on the principals of being free turns in to a violent murder scene. Both however depict an image of the bands presented, which in Spinal Tap is a humorous one, mocking and satirizing other rock bands of the 1980's, and Gimme Shelter depicts a somber, but nevertheless narcissistic, Mick Jagger and crew.

This is Spinal Tap was released in 1984, and is the brainchild of Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, and Rob Reiner. With no script, the four men made the film based almost entirely on improvisation skills. The only aspect of the film that was planned was the music that Spinal Tap preformed; Michael McKean states "Since there wasn't a script, we had to write something."

The absence of a script was the truly comedic genius component to this film, as Dr. Kelly (best teacher in the world) McGuire states "The only thing funnier than being stupid, is being able to act stupid when you aren't." The ability of the actors to create dialogue on the spot adds a genuine stupidity to the film that would not have existed if the lines were carefully constructed.

The feeling that is invoked from an improve of stupidity is a truly genuine one for the audience, although to many who do not know that there was no script for this film would perceive the dialogue as a carefully constructed comedy. This was the intended effect by the films creators, by using improvisation; they were delivering a realistic comedy with jokes and references that one might encounter in their everyday life.

The film Spinal Tap mocks and satirizes other bands of the 1980's throughout the film. The songs that Spinal Tap performs do not actually contain any profound meaning. In the interviews throughout the film David St. Hubbins talks to the film maker about how the music has such an impact on its listeners, when in reality the "songs that profess to have deep meaning…really say diddley squat." (Zacharek). The songs that the band performs have lyrics that are simplistic but often refer to sex.

The song "Big Bottom" opens up with "The bigger the cushion, the sweeter the pushin," immediately giving images to the listener that refer to sex. Many people may think that the lyrics in Spinal Tap's songs are not all that much different to other bands of the 80's, using sex to create their songs, but Spinal Tap uses images of sex that are commonly identified with other things, such as food, clothing, and even quicksand, in order to make the message humorous.

Another way that Spinal Tap mocks bands of the 80's is by their name. Bands in the 80's such as Anthrax, The Scorpions, and Slayer, all have names that are meant to invoke a harsh sentiment to the band. They chose these names to create an image that they will sell to the listener, one of being a "tough" band. A spinal tap is literally a medical procedure where a large needle is inserted in to a person's spinal cord in order to extract spinal fluid.

This procedure is extremely painful, so when a consumer hears that the band is named after this procedure automatically the thought of pain comes to mind. This is funny because when looking at other bands of the 80's, one may not initially even give much thought to the name of a band, but given a closer look there is much humor to be found in the motivation for the names that were in use.

The film also depicts how mindless members of a band can be. In one of the interviews Martin DeBergi is interviewing Nigel Tufnel and is talking to him about his equipment. Nigel is quick to point out his huge collection of guitars, which, speaking as a guitar player, is much larger than even the biggest rock star would ever need.

He picks up a blue Fender Stratocaster and tells DeBergi that it can never be played, and he beings to seem really confused and frantic. He then walks over to his Marshall Amp and tries to explain to DeBergi how this amp is special because it "goes up to 11."

To the viewer this interaction seems comical and somewhat pointless, but in reality the scenes comedy lies within the fact that this type of interaction is completely plausible for someone in the rock world. Stephanie Zackarek states "You almost can't blame its legions of faithful followers for memorizing huge chunks of it…a parody that's so close to its target, so spot-on and elusive at the same time, that it almost-almost-isn't even funny?" This statement displays how the humor in Spinal Tap is funny because it could easily be a reality of any of the rock bands of the 80's.

The film Gimme Shelter which shows the Rolling Stones free concert at the Altamont Speedway in Livermore, CA in 1969, adds a different aspect of humor to the documentary. While the film itself is about the rioting and murder of four people during the concert, there is still an ironic element of humor in the film.

The Stones wanted to put on a free concert to try and recapture the same sentiment that was in the air at Woodstock. It was supposed to be about freedom and music, but it turned in to a bloodbath under the control of the hired help, the Hells Angels, who were in charge of crowd control. I am not saying that the fact that people were killed at this concert is funny, but rather that the fact that the opposite of the ideals the band hoped to showcase during this concert occurred.

Another funny aspect to Gimme Shelter was the fact that the viewer is watching the band watch itself on a small monitor. Anyone who knows about Mick Jagger knows that he is incredibly narcissistic, "…and what could be more egomaniacal than a tape of Mick Jagger watching footage of himself onstage?" (Vowell). Even when Jagger is listening to the Stones' recording of "Wild Horses," he seems to have a self-praising look upon his face, as if he knows that he wrote a wonderful and beautiful song, and somehow that makes him wonderful and beautiful also.

The film showcases Jagger's ego, which to the viewer is hilarious, because it is almost unbelievable that one person could be that much in love with themselves as Jagger is.

While the type of humor and joking in Spinal Tap is trivial according to Freud, the humor in Gimme Shelter is more ironic. Both films showcase the tour of the rock band, but each carries a different message. Spinal Tap serves the purpose of mocking and satirizing bands of the 80's, whereas Gimme Shelter is a serious documentary with ironically humorous aspects to it. Spinal Tap's purpose is to display to the viewers, in a humorous way, the faults and ridiculousness of the bands in the 80's. Gimme Shelter's purpose is to show the viewer how the idea of musical freedom failed at this particular concert. Sarah Vowell states that mockumentaries are "an argument against art…art kills, maims, and disappoints.

But "Gimme Shelter," even with the Altamont ugliness in the film's second half, is an argument for art." I think that this quote is especially important because it not only shows the drastic difference between documentaries and mockumentaries, but it also makes reference to the documentary as art. Documentaries as often thought of as truthful accounts of a situation, but there is still an element of organization to a documentary, the filmmaker often gives the subject the questions that she/he will ask ahead of time in order for them to prepare their responses.

I think that this is humorous because it shows how the "fake" band Spinal Tap seems more realistic than the Rolling Stones do in Gimme Shelter does. Even though the viewer knows that Spinal Tap is not a real band, their responses to the filmmakers questions are genuine and real, whereas the footage of the Rolling Stones while in their screening room seem rehearsed and planned. The film supposedly portrays the band's initial reaction to the footage of the murder, be each of the bandmates seems to have a very statuesque feature to their reaction.

However, each of the films, whether serious or trivial, has a comedic aspect to it. While the comedy in Spinal Tap is straightforward and almost juvenile, it still presents to the viewer an alternative view of rock bands of the 80's. While Gimme Shelter presents how the fallen ideals of the 60's could not survive in an environment where the Hell's Angels were in charge of crowd control. The ideals of freedom, love, and peace become the tragic heroes of Gimme Shelter.

Works Cited
McGuire, Dr. Kelly. Personal Conversation. 24 Nov. 2003.
Sragow, Michael. ""Gimme Shelter": The True Story." Salon 10 August 2000.
http://dir.salon.com/ent/col/srag/2000/08/10/gimme_shelter/index.html?sid=944041
Vowell, Sarah. "The Mockumentary Cometh." Salon 28 July 1999.
http://archive.salon.com/ent/col/vowe/1999/07/28/mock/index.html
Zacharek, Stephanie. "The Return of Spinal Tap." Salon 8 September 2000.
http://archive.salon.com/ent/movies/review/2000/09/08/spinal_tap/