Not Fade Away<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\nBy Christian Hamaker<\/p>\n
As a young boy, radio and records were my best friends.<\/p>\n
We lived in a split-level home inBurke,Va.\u2014not the bustling Fairfax Country suburb of today, but a new development in the early 1970s. A 7-Eleven, a Peoples Drug store and High\u2019s convenience store were the neighborhood retail highlights. A Woolco discount department store housed the neighborhood record shop, where I purchased my first 45 rpm record at age 8 (\u201cBecause the Night\u201d by Patti Smith; don\u2019t ask why) and built my collection of vinyl.<\/p>\n
Growing up without a lot of disposable income meant not a lot of record purchases. To supplement, I became an avid radio listener of rock at a young age. That\u2019s what happens, I suppose, when you have an older brother who likes rock and roll, and a close friend who also liked rock (and who, not coincidentally, had an older brother who was into rock, and whose tastes clearly influenced his own).<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.notfadeawaymovie.com\/site\/assets\/files\/1019\/dc-10313.640x480.jpg\")
My rock education began in grade school, with the Beatles, the Kinks and the Rolling Stones. In those days, there was no \u201cClassic Rock\u201d radio format. Those bands and their music were mainstays of the Album Oriented Rock (AOR) format played by stations like WAVA and DC-101. (It wasn\u2019t until I was in junior high that WCXR ushered in the Classic Rock format at 105.9 FM.)<\/p>\n
I eschewed the \u201cnew\u201d music of New Wave during my youth, adhering to the purist sound of guitar-based rock music. Eventually, I moved on from my elementary school fixation on a few rock bands to hard rock and metal, although not the heaviest stuff. That lasted through high school, when acoustic singer-songwriters became my next, entirely unexpected, musical infatuation.<\/p>\n
But my nostalgia for Classic Rock remains. I still love the bluesy rock of the Rolling Stones, the driving anthems of the Kinks and the melodies of the Beatles.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s why I couldn\u2019t wait to see David Chase\u2019s Not Fade Away<\/em>, a tribute to the rock culture of my youth. Billed as \u201ca love letter to the music of the Sixties,\u201d Not Fade Away<\/em> is the story of a band that finds fleeting fame. It should have been right in my nostalgic sweet spot.<\/p>\nDavid Chase, who created The Sopranos<\/em>, tells the story of Douglas, a drummer who joins a rock band and who eventually finds that vocals are more his strong suit. That creates tension with the band\u2019s other singer, but it brings affection and attention from the one particular female in Douglas\u2019 life, Grace (Bella Heathcote).<\/p>\nDouglas\u2019 new identity also raises hackles among his family, chiefly his father (James Gandolfini). There\u2019s a family meal scene where divisions between father and son are laid out, but anyone who\u2019s seen The Wonder Years<\/em> or The Graduate<\/em> will find the conflicts about the Vietnam War and Douglas\u2019 professional ambitions rote.<\/p>\nFor much of the movie, Chase allows the musical performances to define the movie. Not Fade Away<\/em> shows us a band trying to \u201cmake it\u201d and almost succeeding. But ultimately, it\u2019s not to be, which isn\u2019t a surprise given that most bands don\u2019t \u201cmake it\u201d these days, and they didn\u2019t make it then.<\/p>\nOverall, the film didn\u2019t work for me despite its pretty good music and performances. But the story\u2019s more important element is its values, and it\u2019s here where Not Fade Away<\/em> is at its dimmest.<\/p>\nWe all remember the days when we came into our own, when we decided that what we thought mattered most in life didn\u2019t have to be the same as what our parents valued most in their lives. But did our parents ever embrace our new way of seeing things? Not in my experience. Usually, they recognized youthful foolishness, and usually, they were right.<\/p>\n
Not so in Not Fade Away<\/em>, wherein a rebellious boy\u2019s father finds inspiration in his son\u2019s anti-authoritarian streak, rather than the boy learning anything constructive from his elders. That\u2019s\u00a0the countercultural gospel\u2014the young know better than the old. But that\u2019s a lie for the most part, and anyone who\u2019s grown past their school years knows it.<\/p>\nOur culture has reaped the whirlwind of 1960s counterculture excess, even though the upheavals of that era weren\u2019t all bad. Yet for every step of progress\u2014and there has been <\/em>progress\u2014there have also been consequences, sometimes dire. Are we really to look back on the embrace of \u201csex, drugs, and rock and roll\u201d as a great thing? We don\u2019t need to condemn the Sixties outright, but at this point in time, do we really need to celebrate that era the way Not Fade Away<\/em> wants to celebrate it?<\/p>\nNot Fade Away <\/em>seems to think the worst part of the 1960s was the lack of success for some aspiring rockers, and that the best part was the older generation\u2019s recognition of the their kids\u2019 value systems. That\u2019s sad. Although the adults of that time had their shortcomings\u2014and Gandolfini\u2019s character is forced to grapple with his own failings\u2014they also recognized that the pursuit of self fulfillment wasn\u2019t the answer to every problem.<\/p>\nChase can\u2019t abide that tension\u2014most movies can\u2019t\u2014so he resolves it by having the older generation follow the lead of the younger in the realm of romance and sex. Nevermind what those beliefs and values led to in the 1970s and 1980s.<\/p>\n
Chase wants us to grow wistful and nostalgic as we watch the indulgence on display in Not Fade Away<\/em>. I might have my own nostalgia for the music of the era of Not Fade Away<\/em>, but I\u2019m no fool. I\u2019m also not a strict traditionalist when it comes to \u201cold ways\u201d versus the new. Instead, I like to think I\u2019m a realist <\/em>about the consequences\u2014pro and con\u2014of social development. In the end, my trust is not on cultural trends\u2014musical, sexual or otherwise. My hope is based on eternal truths, and that\u2019s something very few movies capture.<\/p>\nNot Fade Away<\/em> doesn\u2019t aspire to tell eternal truths, but its misplaced nostalgia for youthful pursuits\u2014and its condescension toward the values of previous generations\u2014makes for a pointless film. The music\u2019s not bad in spots. But if you want good Classic Rock, you don\u2019t need to go to the movies\u2014just turn on your radio.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A review of David Chase\u2019s Not Fade Away By Christian Hamaker As a young boy, radio and records were my best friends. We lived in a split-level home inBurke,Va.\u2014not the bustling Fairfax Country suburb of today, but a new development in the early 1970s. A 7-Eleven, a Peoples Drug store and High\u2019s convenience store were […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1471,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,7],"tags":[231],"class_list":["post-574","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-drama","category-films","tag-david-chase"],"yoast_head":"\n
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