Movies

Dixie Chicks' "Shut Up And Sing" is a good documentary about the group's trials and tribulations after Maines gave her off the cuff remark in London just prior to the invasion of Iraq.
It's probably the most intimate documentary about a musical group that you'll ever see. You practically see Emily Robison give birth to her twins. I imagine it's usual for groups to constantly have cameras in their faces and they sure had a lot of material that was perfect to record the controversy.

I came away from this effort with two observations. This whole flap wasn't about free speech even though that's how it wound up being portrayed. Both sides can agree on that because both sides engaged in it. But the depth of sickness involved with being a card carrying member of the bush cargo cult is amazing. Maines tossed out her opinion about Bush. Rabid, frothing true believers then went on a life's mission to destroy the group any way they could. Looking back on it , it was typical pathology of the sickness. Thin skinned outrage followed by violent behavior - bullhorns in front of concerts, tractors smashing the group's CDs, death threats. To the cult the Chicks became the face of the enemy because you can't dis the Supreme Leader.
And like Martie Maguire said in the film, "We were the perfect targets. We were the all-American girls and they never expected that to come from us."

If there's a better fim out there that nails home the message that you should stick to your principles I'm not aware of it. At first taken aback by the swiftly negative reaction of the mouthbreathers, the Chicks wavered and were unsure how to proceed. They stuck to their guns even as the country music crowd turned their backs. But it soon became apparent that their music and their careers would go on just fine despite the brownshirts. Time sure proved us right, the intelligent among us are all disgusted by him.