00's Watch: Josie and the Pussycats (2001)

Watched:  02/17/2024

Format:  Criterion Channel (I know)

Viewing:  Unknown

Director:  Harry Elfont/ Deborah Kaplan

When I moved to Arizona for reasons I can hardly remember in the summer of 2002, I remember spending my days unpacking while Jamie was at work - and Josie and the Pussycats (2001) running all the dang time on HBO.  So, no, I have no idea how many times I've seen it.

I was well aware of the concept.  As a kid I knew Josie and friends from Archie Comics, and I had seen both versions of the cartoon, Josie and the Pussycats and Josie and the Pussycats in Outerspace (Hanna Barbera was nuts, y'all).

But like a lot of people, I dismissed the movie when it came out, assuming it was *not for me* and aimed at pre-teens.  Which, fine.  But not my movie.  But sitting there, delirious in the Arizona heat, I sat and watched a few minutes of the movie and was, like, "...ooooohhhh.  They let them make this?"

And I don't mean that in a bad way.  When this hit in 2001, making a movie for the audience about how they were being easily led dressed up as a frothy, fun ride was kind of unheard of.  And also sort of reflected the spirit of the Gen-X generation's initial push into leadership roles in media - just before they decided it was more lucrative to be the villains from this movie instead of spunky musicians.

SPOILERS

The basic plot: The number one boy band of the moment (appropriately named "Du Jour" - which none of them know the actual meaning of) begins to detect a hint that there's subliminal messaging in their recordings.  Their manager decides to 86 them and leaps from the plane, to let it crash.

Turns out the rock, pop and youth music industry is a carefully constructed front built on the government pushing subliminal messages to drive consumerism among teens and exploit their disposable income in order to keep the engines of capitalism going.  

Further, this secret operation manages the rapidly changing trends among young folk, the swift adoption of new and nonsensical slang, and choices in food and other commodities.  

Oh, and it also accounts for why so many rock stars die young or have other unfortunate things occur in their lives.  Once they find out - it's time to move to the next rising act.

With Du Jour gone, the manager - Wyatt (Alan Cumming) - must find another band.  And he doesn't need to be too picky.  He finds Josie (Rachel Leigh Cooke), Val (Rosario Dawson) and Melody (Tara Reid) busking (sort of) and whisks them from Riverdale to "The City".  In a week, the band is rebranded from The Pussycats to Josie and the Pussycats and a wedge is driven between the members.

An even more sinister plot unfolds at the hands of the organization's leader (Posey Parker in top comedic form), 

I suspect that the joke of the movie, that you're a bunch of mush-brained dummies who are easily manipulated into trends, hit a little too close to home for some folks, maybe?  Especially for what seemed to be the key audience when the movie was marketed to young teens - teens who may not take kindly to being told "you're a dupe".  

 In many ways, the bad critical reaction and poor box office with a subsequent long life on home video/ streaming reminds me quite a bit of Idiocracy.  It's a comedy, but it's a cutting one.  It's not particularly kind to the people it's punching, and those people are... us.  And us does not like being made fun of.  

Watching it now, it's absolutely a movie by the snarky kid who cannot wait to get away from their high school's take on pop and the culture of teens (of the late 20th century). 

I mean, it's maybe not as edgy or cutting as it felt in 2002 when I first saw the movie.  We've had social media and the rise of memes, etc... in the interim that have no problem going there, and going way darker.  And don't rely on corporate overlords who do not want to be exposed.  The notion that teens (and adults) are easy marks feels maybe all the more on the nose in 2024 than it did back then.  The cult-like worship of specific performers (ahem) can feel a little weird at times, to the point where you won't name them in your blog post so you don't have to deal with the blowback.*

If there's an issue with the movie from a technical persepctive, it feels edited at a weirdly leisurely pace for the period.  It's oddly cheerful in it's half-assed-ness that I think was a thing worth mentioning about some Gen-X media of the time.  There was a lot of "you get it, let's just play with the expectations for how these movies go", which is indicated in the very existence of Alexandra (a terrific Missy Pyle) in the film who states she's only there because she's in the comic books and pretty much everything done by Parker Posey.

A quick look at some reviews from the time suggest - this may not have gone over the heads of the reviewers, but they seemed to want to engage with the movie on the terms of the kind of movie it was using as a template, not as the movie it was.  And that's a tough spot.  

I suspect that the movie's commercial failure was pinned on Rachael Leigh Cook, because that's what we did to women actors in those days rather than anyone owning responsibility for bad marketing, etc...  Maybe now, too.  But Cook is cute and fun and good in the role.  Her biggest problem is that Josie was not written to be as interesting as Val (and you're up against the very-good Rosario Dawson) and Tara Reid, who gets to just act insane for 90 minutes and have a grand time.  Josie is the "straight man" of the movie, and maybe that was a misstep, but also super typical of 90's-era comedic stuff - you need one normal-ish person or two to center the kookiness.

Sure, the movie is dated now, and the music - whule better than it needs to be - is absolutely of the moment in pop-punk.  But most of it still sorta makes sense.  And it would be interesting to see this updated for the Tik-Tok clout-chasing influncer generation.

At this point, a retrospective on the movie seems at least as interesting a prospect as the movie itself.  And that I'd watch.

*it's weird, y'all