Country:
USA
Starring:
Eddie Lee Sausage
Mitchell D.
Daniel Clowes
Raymond Huffman
Peter Haskett
Tony Newton
Director:
Matthew Bate
Synopsis:
This documentary traces back the origins of the "Shut Up Little Man" phenomenon and its viral spread through underground tape trading all over America. From the original clandestine recording sessions to the dispute over the film rights, everything is there. It also depicts the fate of the three unlikely stars, Ray, Peter and Tony.
The fate of young people in big cities is often strange. Their enthusiasm for everything and nothing and their resilience to the worst possible living conditions makes things happens. When Eddie and Mitch moved from Wisconsin to San Francisco, the probability of landing in a shithouse with terrible neighbors was really high. What fate didn't calculate though is that Mitch and Eddie were two really creative little bastards. It turned out that moving into the "Pepto-Bismol Palace", an ugly, pink building with paper thin walls that looked like a cheap motel, was the best thing to ever happened to them. I'm sorry, this is inaccurate. Having Raymond Huffman, Peter Haskett and Tony Newton for neighbors was the best thing to happen to them.
The story goes like this. Raymond and Peter were friends and roommates. But every night, they argued literally for hours, making their neighbors lives impossible. They would argue about the stupidest stuff and end up chaining the most creative strings of insults after an hour or two. Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Peter was homosexual and Raymond was very, very homophobic. When Mitch and Eddie moved right next to them, their lives were miserable for about ten days. Then they started taping their new neighbors and inserting bits of arguments in between mixtapes they gave to their friends. The legend was born. Mitch and Eddie started hosting listening parties, where they would call their neighbors and provoke arguments for their guests to listen to. Next thing they knew, they had a call to have their Raymond and Peter tapes produced by a label. One thing led to another and they found themselves arguing about movie rights.
It's a crazy story that raises many ethical and artistic problems and Matthew Bate does a good job at leaving no questions unanswered. SHUT UP LITTLE MAN! - AN AUDIO MISADVENTURE is a very exhaustive piece of documentary. It covers the legal battle as well as the fate of the characters of this unfortunate sitcom, highlighting the greed and the opportunism that swept the "Shut Up Little Man" phenomenon as soon as it got lucrative. It was amazing hearing how Eddie and Mitch offered a royalty check to Peter Haskett and he turned it down. Not because he was ashamed or angry, but because he said he didn't really fight with Raymond. Eddie and Mitch had FOURTEEN HOURS OF MATERIAL OF THEM ARGUING. Just shows you how broken and sad those two men were. They didn't had jobs, they drank most of the day and...they only argued while piss drunk.
The other interesting question is to know if those tapes are art or not and whether Eddie and Mitch are the artists or is it Peter and Raymond? This is clearly comedy and the two old drunks are the stars of the show. Eddie and Mitch had the original idea and handled its development really well, so both parties are responsible for its success but whether to know if its art of not is a more difficult question. Is a meme art? Is there something to draw out of this, except that broken old men are...well...broken human beings? SHUT UP LITTLE MAN! - AN AUDIO MISADVENTURE was great, if not a little of a downer. It covers a fascinating pop culture bit in thorough fashion. Part of me was comforted that two men who were bound to be dead, buried, forgotten and wiped from existence are actually remembered by so many people. Why they're being remembered might not be so relevant after all. Lots of discussion to be had after viewing this documentary.
SCORE: 82%