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By Miranda Blake
“Be
yourself and you can be anything” seems to be both the theme and the message of
“Katy Perry: Part of Me,” a documentary which follows the life of pop star Katy
Perry as she embarks on a yearlong world tour. In addition to that message, the
audience gets concert footage and costume changes and views of her backstage
antics and angst. We also get to peek into Perry's personal life - past and
present - including her struggle to rise to fame and the difficulties of
balancing that public fame with her personal life.
Another
theme is dedication. Throughout the film Katy demonstrates great dedication to her
family and friends, her marriage to comedian Russell Brand, and her career. I
found her boldness and determination to be successful quite admirable. For
example, producer Glen Ballard (who had great success working with Alanis
Morisette) tells the story of their meeting and says that he was impressed with the way she just knocked
right on his door and asked to play him a song.
The
most emotional part of the film was watching just how hard Perry worked to keep
her marriage alive, only to fail in the end. Despite the apparent heartbreak
that the star deals with after receiving the news that her marriage is over
(Brand files for divorce because of “irreconcilable differences”) she doesn't
allow herself to succumb to the pain and refuses to cancel her scheduled
performance.
Throughout
the movie, we are treated to homemade videos sent in by fans. Each one says
basically the same thing, that they look up to Perry because she makes them
feel okay about being themselves and being “different.”
At
one point while onstage Perry even thanks her fans for “believing in my
weirdness.” This struck me as odd because not once during the movie did I find
her to be in the least bit weird. As a matter of fact she seems to me to be a
perfectly average girl, albeit one who managed to make it big in the
entertainment industry. This was definitely the biggest criticism I have of the
film and it’s depiction of Perry because, while her fans are sending in videos
about how she makes them feel okay to be different, I couldn't stop thinking
about how not different she really seems to be. Yes, Katy, it’s okay to
be “weird” but it’s okay to be “normal” too.
Overall,
“Katy Perry: A Piece of Me” gives an interesting look into the life of someone
that most people simply see as a star and forget to view as a person.
Witnessing Katy Perry's life from an insider’s point of view allows the
audience to relate to her on a more personal level. We come away with the
feeling that we know her better than we did before. And that, for me, is what
made the movie worthwhile.
A 3D motion picture event movie, “Katy Perry: Part of Me” comes out July 5th and is a backstage pass, front row seat and intimate look at the fun, glamorous, heartbreaking, inspiring, crazy, magical, passionate and honest mad diary of Katy. For more information you can follow “KATY PERRY: PART OF ME” on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/KatyPerry and Like Katy on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/KatyPerry.
