20 Feet from Stardom

 Good day Lombrices!

Hope all is well! Today I watched the documentary 20 Feet from Stardom, and I want to talk about one specific scene that stood out to me. 

When all the back-up vocalists begin their solo career, suddenly they weren't doing well like how they used to when they were in their small group. They all sang very well, and they sounded great, but for some reason it was almost as if the world rejected them. They couldn't seem to surpass wall, and it was almost as if they were stuck. They weren't moving forward and were definitely moving backwards. This scene made me feel depressed, because it was like once they thought they were in the spotlight, finally being their own person, their light was dim. It wasn't as bright as when they were known as the background vocalist. Behind the "big star" they shined more brightly. Seeing these women struggle, not just mentally, but financially as well, made me feel angry, because they had the potential to be a "huge star" but couldn't seem to reach their goals. 

One thing that caught me off guard was the in the same scene, when they were showing all the record labels of these women, and how their names started to disappear, as well as their faces, only leaving a blank record. I think it caught me off guard because of the significant impact it has on the audience, that these once well-known women are slowly "disappearing" in the world's eyes. More like the music industry's eyes. 

Visual literacy- I wanted to just do a quick add in about visual literacy in the documentary. Towards the middle/end we see three birds on a branch while the person narrating talks about what it means to be in a group of back up vocalists. One of the birds left. Almost signifying how one the vocalists from the group left to begin her career as a soloist. I feel like using birds as a visual understanding was significant because when one bird leaves, the rest either stay behind or follow, therefore when one singer leaves, the others either stay behind, or just follow the same path as their “leader.” 

Well Lombrices, until next time! Have a great rest of your Sunday!! 

-Mayra :)