"Thank you all for believing in my weirdness," a perky, heavily dolled-up Perry states to her rambunctious audience in her self-titled documentary, Katy Perry: Part of Me, arguably the best concert film I've seen since Michael Jackson's This Is It. When I say "concert film," be advised I am using it in its loosest form. Perry is shown as a compassionate, self-aware, completely genuine enigma throughout the picture and the compilation of concert clips have some of the most impressive theatricalities I've seen in recent times. To put it simply, the set designs as a whole look as if Willy Wonka was the hired contractor.
Perry exploded into the mainstream scene in 2008 when her song "I Kissed a Girl" burst onto peoples' radios, playing the infectious pop instrumentals which were equipped with "good girl gone bad" style lyrics. It was a fun little jam that you wanted to hear again instantly after it was done. Prior to the breakthrough of her single, Perry was attempting to get recognition with her gospel songs and her acoustic guitar. Despite being raised with extreme Christian theology by her parents, she realized that it most likely wasn't going to get her broad recognition in the music industry. She needed to do something catchy, fun, and slightly provocative.
Her "debut album" (second to only a gospel rock one released seven years prior), One of the Boys, was released the same year and welcomed over one million sales, making Perry, officially, one of the most successful new artists in 2008. But she wasn't done. She had a plethora of quirkiness to show her new fans. Then came Teenage Dream, another record breaking album boasting five number one hits, including "California Gurls", "Teenage Dream", "Firework", "E.T.", "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)", and "Part of Me" - a record previously held by only Michael Jackson. For a while, it was impossible to turn on a radio for more then ten minutes and not hear one of these songs.
Part of Me centers itself around Perry's stage shows, but isn't hesitant to dig into her personal life to get a deeper look at the perky woman herself. We see her acting unusually graceful to her assistants, costume designers, managers, etc (I was reminded of the way Conan O'Brien treated his management team in Conan O'Brien Can't Stop and how disrespectful he was most of the time), and there are times we see her without any makeup on - a complete rarity in many documentaries showcasing an idolized talent.
Seeing Perry interact with her fans is a charming, often uplifting event that brings a smile to not only the fan's faces but also ours. We see Perry in touch with her fanbase because, as we're told from the start, "she knows what it's like to be that girl in the audience." Even the gooey, often cheesy scenes where we see crazed fans do an amateur rendition of one of her songs we can't help but crack a loose smile. We think of the woman's ingenuity and spirit which clearly rubs off on her extensive line of fans.
But unfortunately, tragedy brews, and we are not robbed of scenes of Perry crying, lying around, or simply, broken-hearted. We see her deeply affected by her divorce with Russell Brand. We can see love still reigns in her eyes, but the relationship is sadly, a toxic area for the both of them. They are scarcely seen together in the documentary, and because of conflicting schedules, which the film tactfully makes note of, we can assume this is a contributing reason to the breakup.
This is where most concert documentaries would ham up the sad music, show a star in distress, only to have them brush away the tears and continue on within the next few minutes. We saw it in Justin Bieber: Never Say Never, but Katy Perry: Part of Me dares to humanize an artist victim to a heavy schedule and a majority of problems the people and the media tend to scrutinize or simplify beyond comprehension. My number one complaint with movies of this kind is that, most of the time, they serve little to no purpose. Bieber's documentary and Kenny Chesney: Summer in 3D provided some nice music and pleasant visuals, but the whole thing felt like a vehicle, incomplete and victim to unusual timing. If they are filmed nicely, offer insights, properly depict the artist at hand, and try to branch out to others and not conform to the ones firmly gridlocked in the fanbase, I will throw the bone. The bone has been thrown to Katy Perry: Part of Me.
Starring: Katy Perry. Directed by: Dan Cutforth and Jane Lipsitz.
Perry exploded into the mainstream scene in 2008 when her song "I Kissed a Girl" burst onto peoples' radios, playing the infectious pop instrumentals which were equipped with "good girl gone bad" style lyrics. It was a fun little jam that you wanted to hear again instantly after it was done. Prior to the breakthrough of her single, Perry was attempting to get recognition with her gospel songs and her acoustic guitar. Despite being raised with extreme Christian theology by her parents, she realized that it most likely wasn't going to get her broad recognition in the music industry. She needed to do something catchy, fun, and slightly provocative.
Her "debut album" (second to only a gospel rock one released seven years prior), One of the Boys, was released the same year and welcomed over one million sales, making Perry, officially, one of the most successful new artists in 2008. But she wasn't done. She had a plethora of quirkiness to show her new fans. Then came Teenage Dream, another record breaking album boasting five number one hits, including "California Gurls", "Teenage Dream", "Firework", "E.T.", "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)", and "Part of Me" - a record previously held by only Michael Jackson. For a while, it was impossible to turn on a radio for more then ten minutes and not hear one of these songs.
Part of Me centers itself around Perry's stage shows, but isn't hesitant to dig into her personal life to get a deeper look at the perky woman herself. We see her acting unusually graceful to her assistants, costume designers, managers, etc (I was reminded of the way Conan O'Brien treated his management team in Conan O'Brien Can't Stop and how disrespectful he was most of the time), and there are times we see her without any makeup on - a complete rarity in many documentaries showcasing an idolized talent.
Seeing Perry interact with her fans is a charming, often uplifting event that brings a smile to not only the fan's faces but also ours. We see Perry in touch with her fanbase because, as we're told from the start, "she knows what it's like to be that girl in the audience." Even the gooey, often cheesy scenes where we see crazed fans do an amateur rendition of one of her songs we can't help but crack a loose smile. We think of the woman's ingenuity and spirit which clearly rubs off on her extensive line of fans.
But unfortunately, tragedy brews, and we are not robbed of scenes of Perry crying, lying around, or simply, broken-hearted. We see her deeply affected by her divorce with Russell Brand. We can see love still reigns in her eyes, but the relationship is sadly, a toxic area for the both of them. They are scarcely seen together in the documentary, and because of conflicting schedules, which the film tactfully makes note of, we can assume this is a contributing reason to the breakup.
This is where most concert documentaries would ham up the sad music, show a star in distress, only to have them brush away the tears and continue on within the next few minutes. We saw it in Justin Bieber: Never Say Never, but Katy Perry: Part of Me dares to humanize an artist victim to a heavy schedule and a majority of problems the people and the media tend to scrutinize or simplify beyond comprehension. My number one complaint with movies of this kind is that, most of the time, they serve little to no purpose. Bieber's documentary and Kenny Chesney: Summer in 3D provided some nice music and pleasant visuals, but the whole thing felt like a vehicle, incomplete and victim to unusual timing. If they are filmed nicely, offer insights, properly depict the artist at hand, and try to branch out to others and not conform to the ones firmly gridlocked in the fanbase, I will throw the bone. The bone has been thrown to Katy Perry: Part of Me.
Starring: Katy Perry. Directed by: Dan Cutforth and Jane Lipsitz.