It might seem that there are at lot of great arguments for why Josie and the Pussycats were way ahead of their time, but one rings out the most to me upon reading the source article, and that’s the commercialization of music. In other words, music is just a stepping stone a lot of times to get to bigger, better deals that have little if anything to do with the real reason why so many musicians get into the act. It might seem like they’re all having the time of their lives in videos and onstage and it’s true, during live performances a lot of musicians do in fact tend to have a better time than they do when they’re being used to promote one product or another. But the reality of it is that the people paying them these humongous paychecks are the ones that want to slap their face and name on anything and everything they think can sell.
Despite being regarded as one of the worst movies ever made Josie and the Pussycats contained a cleverly hidden message that the industry moguls didn’t want people to see. They tended to make fun of those that wanted to sign big names to their company just to satisfy corporate greed, and it’s a great message that could have finally tuned people in to what’s really going on in the industry. Music on its own is what people love to do, they enjoy the chance to tell a story in words to a beat and have those same words inspire others to do great things. It’s not a dog eat dog world in the music industry as others would have you believe thanks to Top 100 charts and rating systems, it’s a chance for the musician to get out there and make their voice be heard.
Josie and the Pussycats had a very Indie feel to start with until the movie turned, or tried to, them into something bigger than life. In the Archie comics, where they originated and in some cases should have stayed in the opinion of many, they were little more than another set of characters that took on their own life and persona. In the movie they became something that possessed a little more depth and a lot more feeling than could be conveyed in the comics. They also got the chance to strike back at corporate in a way and made it clear just what they thought of selling out.
This is an idea that many in the music industry obviously don’t want people to know about because in truth it might chip away at the facade a little bit and allow the public to see just what kind of importance isn’t placed on the music any longer. So long as someone can take it, synthesize it, and allow it to drone on and on to the masses in a manner that seems more likely to create brain-dead consumers than actual thinkers, then the music industry is doing a great cover-up job and instilling job security for their top execs. If however, like Josie and the Pussycats, musicians tend to stick to their guns and simply enjoy the feel of the music and the absolute joy it brings to people then music will continue to mean something.
Yes it was ahead of it’s time, but the movie might have outlived its time at this point, unless someone can make it relevant again. That might be an interesting challenge for the right director.
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