I like to have movies playing in the background while I clean; it keeps my brain occupied. So, this past week, as I wiped down counters and swept, I had The Blues Brothers playing on Netflix. I never thought of this as a pro-single movie, but given that’s there no romantic subplot and two of the characters choose to be independent, I’ll put it here.
The basic plot: Dan Aykroyd and Bluto, err, I mean, John Belushi, play Elwood and Jake Blues, a pair of blues musicians (haha) trying to raise $5,000 to save the orphanage that raised them. To do so, they follow the trope of “let’s get the band back together!” and recruit their old bandmates to play some shows to raise the money.
Pro-single point #1: Jake has an ex-fiance, played by Princess Leia, err, I mean, Carrie Fisher, whom he ditched at the altar. Said fiance spends the movie trying to murder Elwood, though it is in jest. Granted, he did end up in jail, and he lies to her again. Not cool, really, but at least they didn’t have that phony reconciliation. And the movie is slapstick, not to be taken too seriously.
Pro-single point #2: One of the band’s members, Matt “Guitar” Murphy, is married to a soul food restaurant owner, played by Aretha Franklin, who won’t let him join the band. She even busts out a delicious number, “Think,” to persuade him to stay home. It’s fun, but ultimately ineffective. He loves his wife and says so, but he can function independently outside the marriage. I do “Respect” that (haha).
There are two items of contention on whether it’s pro-single that I struggled with before I saw the pro-single narrative, which I will refute:
Item #1: The band pretends to be a country act called The Good Ol’ Boys so they can play a gig at Bob’s Country Bunker. During their rendition of Tammy Wynette’s “Stand By Your Man,” we see couples canoodling and dancing. One shot is of a single man, crying into his beer. It is a stereotype, for sure, but many men do fit that description, simply because they were never made aware that one can he happy single. Plus, it was 1980.
Item #2: During the climax, their act at a large concert hall, they play a song “Everybody Needs Somebody to Love.” The title obviously gives the message away. The pro-single advocate hates this song, but the music fan finds it catchy, so I’m a bit conflicted in that respect, especially when Elwood encourages his audience to “find someone and hold them tight.” But we can take solace in the fact that neither brother seems to actually practice what they’re preaching (particularly Jake). Additionally, it’s a typical blues rock song, not to be taken too seriously. And it was 1980.
This film is a fun watch, and by the standards of John Landis, ahead of its time. It’s a good chord to play.