DVD review: Radical Act

Revisit the original riot grrrl scene and beyond in this recently reissued 1995 documentary

By Brittany Shoot
Published: September 24th, 2010 | 11:00am

This has been quite the year for riot grrrl revival. From books like Marissa Meltzer’s Girl Power and Sara Marcus’ Girls to the Front to the release of films like the Le Tigre documentary, it only seems appropriate that Radical Act, a 15-year-old documentary featuring some of the biggest (and some of the more obscure) names in women’s punk and rock of the mid-'90s, is now available on DVD. The film stitches together interviews with Bikini Kill's Kathleen Hanna, Kim Coletta of Jawbox and Desoto Records, and singer-songwriter Gretchen Phillips on topics including women’s predilection for playing bass, being a self-taught musician, whether or not artists should act as political spokespeople, and how women musicians in the burgeoning ’90s scene became empowered through their own art. At times a bit self-referential, it’s nevertheless an interesting peek into our past.

The ways that women have been historically discouraged from being musicians are catalogued in the film’s many interviews about growing up a musically inclined girl without role models or support. As music writer and radio producer (and now Girlie Action promoter) Vicki Starr explains, whenever a woman makes her living from expressing herself through music and claims her cultural space, it is a simple yet radical act.

Throughout the 45-minute film, a number of women explain how this realization manifested in their lives. Seeing the Beatles and the Doors on TV as a child, Meg Hentges (of Two Nice Girls) didn’t want to marry them; she wanted to play their guitars. Coletta explains that growing up in the Boston hardcore scene, she’d never considered that like her male friends, she could play in a band. Buying a bass in college changed her life.

Women in lesser-known bands like Sincola, Women of Destruction (W.O.D.), and Vita Pup all talk about the necessity and ultimately liberating experience of being self-taught musicians. Similarly, Michelle Primo (Apostles on Strike), an experienced guitar player who riffs on screen, had the same goals as her less experienced peers: to be taken seriously as a musician, regardless of gender. All of this is certainly a worthy contribution, but without more context for some of the now defunct bands or their affiliations with one another, the larger message feels a bit lost. For many, empowering aphorisms must come from a trusted source, and in this way, the film dates itself as more of a cultural artifact than useful tool.

I also wish Radical Act had featured more screen time with Toshi Reagon, the American folk-blues artist and only woman of color included. Reagon’s powerful lyrics and guitar skills stand out even in the short time she’s on camera, and she cites a personal history of storytelling and oral culture that brought her to music as a way of communicating, even for political gain. “Never underestimate the systematic racism and oppression in any business system, not just the record industry,” she says. “The space that has been made for black women in the music industry is too small; it’s too thin, it’s too limiting, it’s too little, period.” Unfortunately, even Reagon’s inclusion in the film was arguably insufficient considering her message, influence, and long-term success.

In addition the film’s title, one of the film’s best pieces of advice comes from Starr. Speaking to the idea that change is not a monolith, she points out that at some point again in the future—in other words, now—feminism and music may not be treated as a “cute” combination. The marriage may, in fact, be treated as outdated, irrelevant, or even threatening to the status quo. When that happens, she warns that we’d better have safeguards in place so that women musicians can still get through the gates. Progress isn’t a static thing; it can shift against our favor again at any time.

The film ends rather abruptly, but maybe that’s the point. Fifteen years later, it’s clear there could be no tidy ending to a piece about women in rock and punk music. They—we—were just getting started.

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About the Film

Radical Act

directed and produced by Tex Clark