Died Young, Stayed Pretty Review

Died Young, Stayed Pretty
Scattershot survey of the American rock poster scene.

by David Parkinson |
Published on
Release Date:

09 Oct 2009

Running Time:

95 minutes

Certificate:

Original Title:

Died Young, Stayed Pretty

This scattershot survey of the American rock poster scene is awash with surreal, satirical and subversive images, but is incapable of staying focused on pertinent issues like plagiarism, commercialism and misogyny. The majority of the artists are either cut ’n’ paste cynics or pseudo-stoners with an enthusiasm for pop trash. They all talk a lot but say virtually nothing.

They certainly don’t betray any creative or motivational secrets and, by dwelling so long on ephemera, Yaghoobian fails to put the punk poster into any tangible cultural context. She even avoids discussing the music that engendered it. Consequently, this is eager, energetic, but infuriating.

A decent concept but ultimately a bit messy and unfocussed.
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