Presenting his new documentary The Ballad Of Judas Priest, Tom Morello was typically outspoken at the press scrum.
The sky is blue, water is wet, and Tom Morello has no problem getting political on a live mic: three immutable truths. The Rage Against The Machine main man once again carped the diem and waxed political, this time at a press event for The Ballad Of Judas Priest, which had its world premiere at the 76th Berlin International Film Festival on the weekend.
Asked by a Spanish journalist about the film’s political content, Morello replied, “What a time to be alive where you can both make a documentary about one of your favorite bands and fight fascism at the same time.” before going on to say that “The band’s existence is very political.”
The Ballad Of Judas Priest explores the band’s entire career, but focuses to some degree on lead singer Rob Halford’s experiences as a closeted gay man in the tough, working class Birmingham of the ’60s and the nascent British heavy metal scene of the ’70s. It also addresses the civil suit against the band in 1990, when they were accused of hiding subliminal Satanic messages in their music that contributed to the suicide of two fans (the case was thrown out).
According to Deadline, Morello waxed effusive about Judas Priest’s broad appeal and diverse fan base, saying that audiences in recent years “…may be more than 50 percent Latino. It’s a lot of gay couples – and yes, there are some older dudes like myself in leather jackets proudly bringing their kids to the show as well – but that community and the unity and the harmony that exists at a Judas Priest show is in some ways a model for how we might all do better.”
Even that mild political commentary stands in stark contrast to statements made Berlinale jury president Wim Wenders. At a press event to mark the opening of the festival, Wenders pushed back on the notion of films or film festivals engaging with politics in any way at all, saying, “We have to stay out of politics because if we make movies that are dedicatedly political, we enter the field of politics. But we are the counterweight of politics, we are the opposite of politics. We have to do the work of people, not the work of politicians.”
At the festival to promote new indie comedy Sunny Dancer, How I Met Your Mother star Neil Patrick Harris was similarly evasive, saying, “I think we live in a strangely algorithmic and divided world right now, and so as artists, I’m always interested in doing things that are apolitical,” which is a wild take from a man who was in Starship Troopers.
But for Morello, there’s no separating politics and art, which should come as a surprise to absolutely no one.
“It’s been impossible for me as a lyricist to not avoid seeing things in the world that affect me, that get me pissed off and thinking, is there a way I can put this into a song? And I’ve been doing that forever… I really have to temper myself because as I’ve gotten older, I’ve gotten angrier with the world.”
MORE IN News
