Movie Review - Blinded By the Light (2019)

Inspired by the memoir of Sarfraz Manzoor, this film is all about Pakistani immigrants in Britain and the son of whom falling in love with the music of Bruce Springsteen, the American rock star. Apparently, the young British-Pakistani found a lot in common or a lot with which to identify in Springsteen's music. For starters, the Pakistani lived in an area known as Bury Park in a large town called Luton, which is about a hour northwest of London. Springsteen is known for having made a name for himself at Asbury Park, a beach town in New Jersey, about a hour or so southeast of New York. Both come from working-class families that struggled financially and economically. Both had religious upbringings. Both were loners who found solace in art.

However, that background can and does describe a lot of people. It's probably not surprising that Springsteen became as popular as he did. He rose to prominence in the 1970's and 80's achieving the status of one of the world's best-selling artists. People for various reasons probably identified with him and related to Springsteen. Yet, he wasn't the only artist who could speak to those people and spoke to issues that were issues of working-class people, and I don't begrudge anyone who is a fan of Springsteen because his music was great and he is a good man with liberal and even progressive politics who has been advocating for gay marriage since the 90's. Asbury Park in fact is known for its increased gay population.

I simply find it troubling that a young person of color, a minority with either black or brown skin, can't or didn't find another person of color with whom he could relate or identify. I find it troubling that there was no one in the media, either in music, film or print with whom he could relate that also had black or brown skin. This isn't to say that there is no one in the media with black or brown skin that could have caught his attention and possibly even his fandom, even in the time period of this film, which is specifically 1987. For some reason, this film chooses to ignore those persons of color, particularly those in the field of music who were speaking to those same issues.

This film almost rises to the level of being a musical, a jukebox musical. We've seen recent jukebox musicals of huge musical artists, a few of which have been centered on Britain. They include Bohemian Rhapsody (2018) and Rocketman (2019). This film though doesn't have the production value of those films. It's not meant to be as glossy or frilly, as we're not taken into the life of a rock star. We're merely taken into the life of a fan of a rock star, one whose family struggles to pay bills. There are musical sequences though, but they're as cheaply staged or choreographed as Once (2007) or Sing Street (2016). Yet, here it's even worse because the musical sequences lack the verve of either Once or Sing Street because the characters aren't performers or aspire to be. The sequences therefore are cute but rather lame.

What we get initially and for a couple of those sequences are the lyrics to Springsteen's songs appearing on screen. The film sets itself up as almost a sing-along, something probably unnecessary for true Springsteen fans. Seeing the lyrics also help to underscore the issues or ideas expressed in Springsteen's songs being analogous or reflections of what's happening in the Pakistani's life. For some aspects to the Pakistani's life, Springsteen's lyrics appear to be an almost one-to-one match-up or at least a perfect linking and sharing of the two people's feelings and experiences. Maybe, other famous artists, especially artists with black or brown skin, at the time didn't have that kind of simpatico or alignment with the Pakistani here, but I doubt it.

Viveik Kalra stars as Javed Khan, the Pakistani in question. He's in sixth form or he's in his last year before going off to university. He lives with his parents and his sisters in Luton in a small, modest home. His family is Muslim, but Javed's parents don't seem to be strict on him practicing it. We never see him attend mosque though his mother and father do seem somewhat devout. Mostly, they seem to want Javed to assimilate, while still retaining some Muslim values. It's not clear when his family immigrated to England, but Javed doesn't have an accent. He also doesn't seem to have many friends at school, which probably speaks more to him being a loner. He does have one friend that lives across the street from him.

Dean-Charles Chapman (Game of Thrones and Into the Badlands) co-stars as Matt, the aforementioned friend who lives across the street. Matt is the lead singer of a band. There is a rising racist element to the neighborhood in Luton, a rise of white nationalism and Neo-Nazism. Matt isn't a part of that and has in the past defended Javed from bullies, as Javed and his family were the first Muslims in the neighborhood. As a result, Javed writes lyrics for Matt's band, but Matt isn't exactly satisfied with Javed's writing.

Unfortunately, director and co-writer Gurinder Chadha (Bend It Like Beckham and Bride & Prejudice) doesn't really provide us with what Javed's writing was like. We never get to read his writing or even see it on screen like Springsteen's lyrics. His poetry and other writings are scribbled on many, many sheets of paper, which get swirled around in a wind storm, but we never get to see the words close-up. We never therefore get a true sense of what kind of artist Javed is. We simply see him mimic that of Springsteen. He later works as a journalist at the school newspaper, so documenting the lives and works of others becomes his job, but we're led to believe he has an artistic voice of his own but that voice remains mostly obscure from us.

Again, I have no problem with anyone being a fan of Springsteen. I just find it troubling if that fandom comes at the exclusion of other artists and other voices of color. One such scene that's indicative of this film's statement is when Javed goes to not a night-club but rather a day-club. It's there that he sees a room full of Pakistani youngsters or a majority of which dancing to Pakistani or distinctly, Middle-Eastern music. Javed then puts on his headphones to drown out that music so he can hear Springsteen. He does remove the headphones, but his response isn't to investigate that music and try to understand what it's saying or what it means. His response ultimately is to run to go get tickets for a Springsteen concert.

At one point, Javed asks someone to name a Pakistani writer, something he aspires to be. That question is never answered. It suggests that there are none. The point might be that there aren't that many, but they do exist, not only in Pakistan itself but in England. It's a minor point, but it's again indicative of the film's statement that ignores or excludes other artists that are either black or brown-skinned.

There is one scene where Javed acknowledges other kids dressing up like Salt N' Pepa. There's even a moment during the playing of a Springsteen song where we see a black kid dancing like Michael Jackson. It's an odd juxtaposition. Obviously, this film is set in 1987, the year when Jackson's hit album Bad was released. Yet, when Javed goes to the school's radio and asks about doing a Springsteen program, he's dismissed with other white artists being cited over Jackson. Springsteen released an album in 1987, but it didn't do nearly as well as Jackson's album. It certainly didn't do as well as Whitney Houston that year. Why those artists aren't mentioned seems strange.

Bohemian Rhapsody was in some ways about the erasure of his ethnicity. Freddie Mercury in fact wasn't his real name. He changed his name. His race or so-called brown skin doesn't really play a factor in that film. Yet, Javed's race and his brown skin, as well as the race and brown skin of his family are a factor in this film. It just seemed like it's fitting if at the end Javed embraced a part of his culture or people who were minorities like him. Instead the ending seems to be that a white man who has never experienced the kind of racism and bigotry of someone like Pakistani immigrants knows just as much if not better than any artist of color.

Rated PG-13 for theme and language, including some ethnic slurs.
Running Time: 1 hr. and 58 mins.