The Punk Singer

This playful, fierce and dynamic (like the music we hear in it) portrait of one of the icons of the third wave of feminism draws on the collage-like aesthetic of riot grrrl, the punk-rock movement that Kathleen Hanna co-founded. Sini Anderson spent four years with the vocalist of the feminist band Bikini Kill, which was long enough to lose critical distance from the subject of her documentary (not to mention that the two women had known each other for a long time before shooting began). Despite the themes that give rise to powerful emotions (abortion, rape) and lead to emotional blackmail (an illness that prevents you from doing what you have devoted your entire life too), The Punk Singer nevertheless maintains a praiseworthy degree of matter-of-factness. Though it portrays Hanna in a mostly positive light as an inspirational figure with admirable energy, it doesn’t make her out to be a bigger heroine than is necessary. The last twenty minutes dealing primarily with the singer’s illness are no exception, yet the focus remains on the broader context. The entire film is built on the intertwining of the personal and the political in accordance with feminist principles, incorporating the activities of Hanna and her colleagues into the history of the struggle for women’s equality. The history of feminism is understandably presented in a very simplified form, giving the impression that the third wave of feminism comprises an ideologically coherent group of activists with uncompromising punk rockers at its core. The incorporation of feminist ideas into the mainstream beyond music and the commercialisation of feminism (if it weren’t for bands like Bikini Kill, it is probable that the Spice Girls and Pussycat Dolls would have never existed) are left aside. Similarly, the singer’s double-edged treatment of her own body as a sexual object (which Madonna takes to the next level) is not problematised in any way. The film cannot be reproached for offering little impetus for such considerations, which bring more ambivalence into the final result; it only depends on the willingness of each viewer to think and seek out information beyond what they learn from The Punk Singer. 80% (14.07.2016)