Hype down
Doherty gets bottled
Put the hype down! The Arena bottle was bound to wash up on the litter-strewn shores of Pete Doherty at some point. Ashtar Alkhisiran spent six months on the road with Britain's most famous junkie poet and this film - premiered at the Electric Proms, because home video footage of Doherty mumbling and smoking really needs to be experienced on a big screen - is the dog-eared result. I was unconvinced of Doherty's genius before watching it, and I am equally unconvinced after watching it. Rarely has a film been so in thrall to its subject. From experience (cf: the humiliation of Max Carlish) we know that Doherty is a volatile and fickle soul, so the only way to get close enough to him to stick a camera in his face is to blend in with his unquestioning entourage. This, Ashtar Alkhisiran seems to have done. The result, as well as the seemingly endless rambling, incoherent monologues from Pete Doherty about Being Pete Doherty, is the occasional glimpse of something warmer and more "private" (and I use the word in context of being filmed round-the-clock): Doherty the unfit father with his three-year-old son Astile, holding him upside down like other fathers do, then leaving to go on tour with Babyshambles while Lisa Moorish, the mother, implores him to get clean. One wonders if his current girlfriend is as insistent on these matters.
Clean is not a word you'd apply to this lost soul. His flat is a disgraceful, graffitied hovel. Ah, the romance of being unwashed, something most people grow out of when they leave college. But then, Pete is the type of 27-year-old who draws pictures with a syringe of his own blood, another strangely teenage act. His wide baby face simply adds to the impression of a boy dressed in an old man's hat and an old man's string vest. So what insights did this meandering, absorbed film offer? That Doherty is a bit useless, onstage and off. That Doherty wishes his dad liked him. That Doherty's drummer seems to hold the band's itinerary together singlehandedly (they have no management) and is thus an example to all drummers. That there is a journalist called Tanya Gold, who seems to think she knows an awful lot about Doherty, despite or perhaps because of the fact that she sounds fresh out of a girls' boarding school adventure. Oh, and that Doherty knows some bits of poetry.
The film began with a quote from Baudelaire, smeared across the screen as if in marker pen (yeah, punk rock!), and used this as a linking device with further gobbets from Byron and Dickinson. There's no doubt that Doherty is an intelligent, sensitive fellow (he's got 11 O-levels and 4 A-levels), and wrote some bracing songs with Carl Barat in the Libertines, but at the end of the day, the creative spark has been put out by drugs. Why do we continue to adore this man? The adoration is what keeps him on drugs. Would we still be making documentaries about him if he hadn't taken up with the most photographed woman in the world? (We saw Kate, side of stage, at one point, occasionally getting up to squeak into a microphone. What a surreal life she leads.) What this film, or any film, needs is some explanation as to why we are still here. Tanya Gold, the only media commentator on offer, couldn't quite nail it, beyond the fact that the tabloids are waiting for Doherty to die, like Truman Capote apparently, even though Capote's reasons for wishing execution on Smith and Hickock were far more complicated than the Sun's death wish.
In opting to step back and allow Doherty to explain himself, slurred and confused, Arena has merely added to the baffling myth. It's porn for Babyshambles fans, of which I accept there are many, although most of them under 25, which has to be key. (A generation in search of a figurehead.) Some of his followers should have been given a voice. You had to clutch your head and stick it out till the end to see anything truly joyful - Doherty and his de facto female tour manager singing along to High And Dry by Radiohead as they were driven away from a triumphant (ie. he turned up) Brixton show. A genuinely arresting sequence, held in camera for too long, and therefore just long enough to see some light in this condemned boy's soul. Also, at least we had a decent song at last.
posted by Andrew Collins @ 8:09 AM
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26 Comments:
Well, you certainly let rip there Andrew. And by your final sentence we can see you're not a fan of the music.
I am a fan, so I found this documentary quite absorbing (if a documentary about, say, The Automatic came on I simply wouldn't watch it, as I think they're rubbish). I felt it did its job well.
You infer that Doherty has something to explain to the public. This is surely a little patronising and I'm afraid it sounds horrifically tabloid to ask a young man to account for his behaviour when, in fact, he isn't harming anyone around him apart from those foolish enough to get too close. Also, ask a junkie for an explanation of anything and you're unlikely to get anything out of him.
Doherty's lyrics are undoubtedly excellent, in comparison to the other stuff you'll find in the NME, it's utterly superior. So I welcome an insight into the chap that writes them.
The High & Dry sequence was loaded with meaning, the lyrics to that particular song seemed to be having an impact on Doherty as they sank into his mind and as the car eased through London.
It was an unpretentious snapshot, nothing more.
So, yes, I thought it was great. Apart from the blood paintings, I agree, that is really scummy and adolescent.
I thought I was the only one who didn't rate him.
What's the difference between Pete Doherty (there's no K in Doherty) and Will Young ?
Not much really.
Will Young's not a talented smackhead?
The only similarity is that they're young, white men really.
I couldn't agree more. Why are Kate n Pete considered so cool? Because they're junkies?
It seems to me that the worse you are, the more everyone loves you.
Look at Lord Brocket, Lizzie Bardsley, Michael Barrymore, and any other rule breaker you care to mention, all embraced by the media and/or the British public.
Just proving that the rise of celebrity culture is way out of hand.
Ah, it is because I'm old that I think he's a minutely talented waste of space then. Glad that's cleared up.
I think the definition was 'under 25', for Doherty's fans. I'm 28 and I think he's great. I also don't consider myself old.
I'm a bit confused by the ranting and the hatred thrown at a bloke who's just a musician, and hardly the worst for courting the press out of all celebs. Unlike most, he has a talent.
What's with the bile??
Crikey, Pete Doherty's appeal is certainly questionable but I'm not sure he's that much of a loser should be compared to Lord Brockett!
Personally I think he's a talented young man but he's rapidly approaching self destruction which, in the 21st century seems a little tired, trite and cliched.
What worries me more is that we live in a culture where people are so obsessed by celebrity that the media is compelled to keep us informed of his dubious lifestyle.
I couldn't really give a toss if he's shagging Kate Moss or if he's straight enough to bother showing up for a gig. Maybe if I was a fan of his I'd be a little more concerned.
I didn't see this documentary but it does sound like it was a relatively pointless piece of film making with the odd poignant moment. If I were interested in Doherty I would prefer to see interviews with his former and current band mates as well as other people who have worked closely with him as opposed to watching him staring off in to the distance singing a Radiohead tune. That just sounds really lame.
I didn't get to see the documentary on Pete Doherty as I forgot to tape it, but quite frankly I'm not sure I would have wanted to see it anyway. I am admittedly a big Libertines fan and under 25, but I couldn't give a toss about how many drugs he takes.
I am soon having a piece publushed in a magazine for teenagers called Young Writer regarding the notion of celebrity. In it I have mentioned about Doherty and how I like his music and I don't care about all of the other stuff. Can't we just ignore his drug taking and concentrate on his music? Leave that to The Sun's readers? Keith Richards was a big drug user but he's hardly remembered for that now compared to his music.
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When I sent out my comment, Herbaliscous's comment wasn't up, so I said a lot of things similar to his/her comment. I agree with what he/she said though! We even used the same phrase ("couldn't give a toss"). It was my own writing, I promise!!
I've never forgiven the BBC for including Doherty's embarrassing contribution in the Hancock documentary shown last Christmas. A piss poor poet but he's deep: self-absorbed and self-indulgent on so many levels.
The man is a cipher, a shell, a dullard. I don't blame the drugs for that, he's just got nothing to say about anything. That's why I find it bizarre that anyone gives a shit about him. His music on the other hand has a certain grubby charm and we see how dull The Dirty Pretty Things are without his contributitions. Undiluted Doherty though is a tough old thing to enjoy. About three songs from the Babyshambles album is all I can manage.
As I heard someone say the other day (can't remember who), Keith Richards is a musician who takes drugs, but Pete Doherty is a drug addict who makes music.
It isn't really his fault that everyone wants to talk about his private life though.
I find it very strange that people are so keen to slag him off. If I don't care for someone's music, I either ignore its very existence or find a more interesting way of criticising them than saying 'dullard' or 'boring'.
Clive is clearly one of those people who finds Doherty cool. Well, good for him.
But to most people over 21 he's a pretentious, addled fool who'll be dead by the time he's 30.
Really cool.
Jon,
At no point have I used the term 'cool'. I don't think being a junkie is cool, in fact, losing a best mate to intravenous drug use has kind of conditioned me against that lifestyle.
I think he's talented and his self-destruction is his business, and none of yours. You sound like the Sun's comments page with your patronising tone.
I also reiterate that I am over 21, over 25, and certainly not the screaming fan you probably imagine, rather than someone who judges an artist on their ability rather than tabloid tittle-tattle, and Doherty is a bloody good wordsmith.
If we're making assumptions, I presume Jon Peake allows the tabloids to inform his point of view, given his hyperbolic invective.
I hate to come across like, I don't know, the person whose blog this is, but can we pull back on the personal insults please, even backhanded or general ones? I posted this as a review of the Arena documentary, which added nothing to the Doherty myth. I liked the Libertines, but feel that Doherty has swapped talent for lifetstyle - one not helped by the appearance of Kate Moss - and that's a shame. My post was not intended as bile.
Doherty certainly elicits strong reactions though. But nobody's saying that his fans are stupid. I certainly wasn't. (I actually wanted more from his fans in the film.) I think the debate here is about the media and the way junkies are portrayed and implicitly encouraged for vicarious thrills. Clive, you shouldn't have to defend your position. I respect it.
No hair-pulling, people. There are plenty of internet forums out there for that.
You can't critise people for liking someone. Well, you can, but it's not fair - in my opinion. You don't have to agree with what people say, but don't be harsh as though they are the only ones to ever like someone that others think they really shouldn't.
I am 35 and I love The Libertines' music. I haven't heard much of Babyshambles' stuff, but of what I have heard it seems ok. That's not to say I love Pete Doherty or any of the other stuff that has been said in other comments. I certainly don't agree with what he does in his free time. I also don't agree with how the media have hyped him up to such a point, to then revel in how many bad habits he has and the trouble he gets himself into. The media do this to people time and time again. Having said that, I don't know if Pete D deserves that attention.
From what I have seen of him, he seems to be a lost little boy. I don't pay that much attention to lyrics unless they are strikingly brilliant, or hit-you-in-the-face rubbish, so I can't comment on his poetic abilities. But how many people begin to believe the hype if it is in their face day after day and they are surrounded by people who are happy to say they are brilliant. It happens to a lot of people and Pete D is just one of them.
I haven't watched the documentary, but I think my husband has recorded it and if he has I will be interested in watching it, just to see what it is about, nothing more.
My previous comment was posted before I had seen Andrew's and Clive's last postings.
Sorry about that. Celebrity no-marks are my bete noire. No personal insults meant.
Fair point Andrew, it was a bit heated.
Same goes Jon, apologies if offence taken. Let's treat it as pub banter rather than anonymous internet barracking.
I also am not keen on celebrity no-marks, we only differ on our opinion of what constitutes one.
Though he courts it to a degree, I reckon it would be terrifying to be pursued by photographers and the gutter-press all day long. I can see the headlines now: 'CLIVE POUNDS IN INTERNET BUST UP'.
I'd love to get Mr D alone in a room. And ask him, ideally in a non-class A-addled state, if he realises that the media are simply waiting for him to die?
"at the end of the day, the creative spark has been put out by drugs"
This is the clincher for me. I loved the Libs first album, it was a classic, full of really great tunes, great lyrics and Pete n' Carl were a great double act - full of charisma. Doherty was obviously on crack or smack then, but since then it really has been a downward spiral.
The man is now largely incoherant, in awe of himself, surrounded by people telling him he is a poet, a modern bohemian, opiated like all the Romantics he aspires to emulate. In reality he is a smacky wash-out who has shot himself in the foot as much as his arm. Any talent he had has evaporated in a fug of tabloidery, sycophancy, and crack. It is beyond me why anyone still likes him.
It's really not that I dislike him for his lifestyle (although I abhor Kate Moss, his living conditions, the way they treat their kids) because I like plenty of musicians who have taken drugs, who were dependant on them, who died from taking them - most people in the music industry fit into one of those categories, my record collection would be pretty slim!
But I think he is a very selfish individual who doesn't care how his actions affect his fans, the people who pay money to attend the gigs he misses, his own kids, his family.
And he is sadly unaware that he is being used by the tabloids and the NME as a circulation-boosting freakshow.
And I'm 26 by the way. Not too old to be a fuddy-duddy and not too yound to be a naive kid either...
I'm 37. Do I have to stop being a naïve kid now?
I'm 41. I still think I'm a kid.
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