Color Me Obsessed – A Film About The Replacements

It took forever, but I finally saw Color Me Obsessed, the documentary on The Replacements, one of my favorite bands of all time.  If you were a teenager in the 80’s and did not like the ‘Mats (or don’t know the reference), then I do not want to talk to you about music.  Anyway, back to the movie…

The story of the band is told entirely by their fans, and shows the ownership that fans have over cult bands like The Replacements.  This “love affair” that fans have with a band is an interesting topic that they explore in the film; fans want their band to be big, but they also want to keep them their own.  Artists need to grow and explore musically, but fans want to keep them in a box and cherish the “early” sound.  There’s no better example of those conflicts than The Replacements, who always seemed one step away from hitting the big time.  Often, it seemed, they felt the same as their die-hard fans and seemingly sabotaged their own career on occasion rather than go mainstream.  (Fans of the band will remember their first ever music video for “Bastards of Young” where they showed a video of a speaker for the length of the song).

Interestingly, there is zero music in the film, and that is by choice.  No music, and no pictures or interviews with the band members themselves.  I understand the choice, but don’t agree with it.  I watched the film in starts and stops because I wanted to re-hear those songs as they were discussed in the film.  Listening is what reminded me how great this band was, and I never saw even saw them live.  I put together the Spotify list below as a soundtrack for anyone interested in listening along, as I did, while you watch the film.  The movie is not available on Netflix, but can be streamed on Amazon (for free if you have Priime membership).  It’s well worth it.