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Go beneath the candy coating of the Perry phenomenon. Features unseen backstage footage and the very latest compelling interviews from Katy Perry, John Mayer and Russell Brand.
Coming from the music industry I have seen many people label their clients in some ridiculous ways. This largely happens with larger labels as they hire artists who can conform to the market in which a lot of the cash is in. These artists don’t get to be themselves and this results in a misconception of who they really are to the general public. Katy Perry broke the mold with her songs and performances and what you saw is what you got. This was a girl who was quirky on stage and quirky in life. Katy Perry became known for being personable, down to earth, gracious, and hardworking. The bright eyed girl who conquered the music industry with “I Kissed A Girl” was a respectable idol that the world loved.
“Katy Perry: Getting Intimate” shows what goes on behind the cherry chapstick and how she got to standing on stage with a fruit covered mic stand in front of thousands upon thousands of fans. Starting out with an overview of the stars life it hits the ground running with behind-the-scenes footage of her Hello Katy Tour letting fans get an inside look on the pop powerhouse. It really shows how Katy really isn’t, and doesn’t want to be different from her fans. This wasn’t that surprising seeing as how at any live event you can see Katy acting in a manner that is a stark contrast to other pop artists like Pink or Avril Lavigne in that she was herself, she didn’t care about the camera or the fame, all she cared about was making her fans happy. A shining example is when Katy explains “I hate the idea that they think I’m any different or they couldn’t do this. I hate when musicians act like they’re better than everybody or they stop connecting.”
Continuing with her achievements, the show talks on her business takeover with things like her line of nail polish and perfumes. The show describes Katy as a mega-brand and then contrasts this popularity with the sheltered life she had with her parents. Her father, a former member of the Strawberry Fields Forever group left behind his life in the fast lane along with his wife to become a minister. This resulted in Katy having a cocooned childhood with a strict household based on traditional values. The family drew a path for Katy to follow but she wasn’t really a follower and this lead to her butting heads with her father and mother a lot of the time. Settling in California at the age of eleven, Katy’s quirky attitude was allowed to shine through especially in fashion. She gives an example of a leopard print coat that she received for Christmas and how she wore it on her first day being back to school and was proud of it even though she was made fun of.
The Segment on how Katy Perry constructs her songs really resonated with me. I’ve been let down many times after interviewing an artist and finding out that a song I held high really hadn’t meant anything to the artist that it was just a money grab. The biography capitalizes on the fact that Katy Perry still writes her own lyrics and the fact that each song has meaning and is rooted in her personal life. Even “I Kissed A Girl” has a root in her life with her love for how the female body is a finer representation of art. She goes on to describe her influences in music which are mainly Madonna and Freddy Mercury and how their song structure finds itself in her own music. This has to be the best segment of the show by far.
Moving forward the show covers her early career as a gospel artist. She did well but her label went under and that is when she turned to pop. She had multiple bad experiences with large labels like Def Jam and Columbia Records not because she was a sub-par artist but because she wouldn’t conform with what they wanted her to be. She didn’t want to be the next Avril Lavigne or the next Kelly Clarkson; she wanted to be the first Katy Perry. It wasn’t the labels that gave her stardom it was the loyal fans and her sheer will that shot her into the starlight. In 2007, after years of hard work she was signed to Capitol Records and “You’re So Gay” was released digitally which was well received but failed to chart. Re-branding herself, Katy Perry shot onto the main scene with “I Kissed A Girl” and continued the climb to the top.
After that the biography takes up expanding on Katy’s relationship with Russell Brand, the actor/comedian that she was married to for a short time. It continues to describe both the rise and fall of their relationship and how emotionally and musically she changed throughout and was almost destroyed in the end. The biography then shows how once at the bottom of the emotional mountain, she climbed back up better than ever. Next, the biography revisits Katy’s obsession with fashion calling her a trendsetter and showing off her outfits on many of the different red carpet appearances she has made. The show ends as it began, giving an overview of the pop star and how she got to be the down-to-earth powerhouse that she currently is and speculates how there is no indication that she’ll be stopping. Even though this biography is unauthorized, I do recommend it to anyone who likes the pop star. Although it is just a reiteration of what viewers already know if they watched “Katy Perry: Part Of Me,” the show still shines its way to success.
Available on DVD and Google Play
