This Is Spinal Tap story
This Is Spinal Tap (stylized as This Is Spın̈al Tap: A Rockumentary by Martin Di Bergi) is a 1984 American mockumentary film directed and co-written by Rob Reiner. It stars Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer as members of the fictional English heavy metal band Spinal Tap (who are characterized as "one of England's loudest bands"), and Reiner as Martin "Marty" Di Bergi, a documentary filmmaker who follows them on their American tour. The film satirizes the behavior and musical pretensions of rock bands and the hagiographic tendencies of rock documentaries such as Gimme Shelter (1970), The Song Remains the Same (1976), and The Last Waltz (1978). Most of its dialogue was improvised and dozens of hours were filmed.
8 total · 1 choice · 6 major · 1 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| the entertainment industry | choice | We saw a quasi-parody of what it might have been like in the rock music industry in the 1970s. |
| boyfriend and girlfriend | major | David and Jennie |
| celebrity culture in society | major | although groupies wer conspicuously absent for most of the film, the idea of bands being idolized was topical |
| coping with being washed up | major | most of the film depicted the band in a slump: they had once been booked in arenas for 10,000 people but now got significantly smaller venues, cancellations, and less attention |
| falling out of friendship | major | Nigel fell out with and left the band, then later made up |
| music | major | From time to time we saw the members of the eponymous rock group care about their music, not just sex and drugs. |
| the desire for fame | major | the band members wanted to be famous, among other things |
| sexism in society | minor | the band's first album cover had been denounced as sexist because it depicted a greased up naked lady on her fours, smelling a glove |