Blinded by the light movie
In one of the film’s most affecting scenes, Javed and his father visit neighbors who have to put a plastic runner in their vestibule because the neighborhood boys keeps urinating on their doorstep. I was particularly interested in the dynamics of the Pakistani home, especially against the backdrop of this neo-Nazi threat. Much of the film plays out in a predictable, if charming, way. So let’s just say it helps if you love the Boss. Springsteen’s lyrics often flash on the screen, there are fanciful (and in some cases, fantastical) music numbers set to Springsteen songs, and Javed pretty much talks about Bruce nonstop. On the other, Blinded by the Light is very much about, well, Bruce. On the one hand, Blinded by the Light is about the transformative power of art-the way a certain musician, in this case, can feed your soul, make you feel seen, and inspire your own creative life. He lines his bedroom with Bruce posters, begins to dress like Bruce, and writes long essays expressing his devotion to the Jersey singer. It’s in the midst of all this that Javed discovers the Boss-a Sikh classmate (Aaron Phagura) who is soon to become Javed’s good friend, slides him a couple of cassette tapes. (His mother, a seamstress, has to work long hours to help make ends meet.) On top of all that, his father (Kulvinder Ghir) has lost his job at the local factory and is having no luck finding work. He also has to deal with the neo-Nazis who populate the town, taunting Javed and painting hateful graffiti on the homes of Pakistani families. This, of course, has been true of all teenage boys in perpetuity, but it’s particularly true of Javed, a writer and dreamer being raised in a strict Pakistani home, where children are expected to be hardworking and dutiful and not express themselves in any meaningful way.
The story takes place in 1987, where a Pakistani teenager named Javed (Viveik Kalra), living in a small English town, feels misunderstood. So, with that in mind, I went to see Gurinda Chadha’s new film and I can officially report this: No, you don’t have to be a Bruce fan to enjoy Blinded by the Light.
I don’t like to do ANYTHING for three hours. And here’s the another thing about Bruce: Those epic, three-hour-plus concerts he’s so lauded for? The thought of those actually gives me anxiety. I liked his verbal dexterity and outsized sense of irony. When I was a kid, I was more of an Elvis Costello kind of girl. It’s just that his brand of earnest, angsty, Rust-Belt rock doesn’t move me. And don’t get me wrong-it’s not like I actively dislike the guy. Not loving Bruce Springsteen is downright un-American.
On Twitter, I posed the question, “If you’re not a big Bruce Springsteen fan will you still like Blinded by the Light?”