Steven Patrick Morrissey was born in Manchester, England in 1959. He grew up in a working class neighborhood in England and worshipped people like Oscar Wilde, James Dean, and The New York Dolls. He began writing when he was six years old and always knew that he would be famous. In 1980, Morrissey became the founder/frontman/singer of one of the most “British” bands to ever live, The Smiths. The Smiths celebrated moderate success throughout the 1980’s but frontman, Morrissey became a cult hero. With lyrics that opted for realism, wit, tension, opinion, asexuality, and love, Morrissey proved himself to be a complex individual with a transcendant talent for songwriting. He continued writing songs throughout the 1990’s as a solo artist but was dropped from his record label in 1999 due to low album sales.“When words aren’t enough to describe the way someone else’s words set to music make you feel, you know you’re dealing with a genius.”
-anonymous Morrissey fan
Jose was born in Mexico in 1983. His family moved to Los Angeles in 1989, when he was six years old. In Los Angeles, Jose lives in a working-class neighborhood with his parents who do not speak English. Gang violence, crime, drugs, and machismo are all very real elements of Jose’s day to day life. Jose started high school in 1996 where he was introduced to his first Smiths song, ‘How Soon is Now?’. When he heard the line, ‘I am human and I need to be loved, just like everybody else does’, his life was transformed. He soon began collecting all of the Smiths/Morrissey merchandise he could get his hands on. He began emulating Morrissey’s style, including a pompadour haircut.
On the surface, these two people have very little in common, yet Jose credits Morrissey with saving his life. What would cause an eighteen year old Mexican immigrant to become obsessed with a forty-five year old British man who he has never met or even seen in person? What causes people to become obsessed over someone they don’t know and have very little in common with? ‘Passions Just Like Mine’ will investigate this question. The film will be a feature length documentary that tells the story of Jose, as well as others like him, and how fan culture manifests itself. The stories will be told trough the eyes of the fans themselves. Audiences will be able to see first hand how obsessed these fans really are and how they became that way. We will follow these fans to Smiths tribute shows and Morrissey conventions as well as through neighborhoods and family homes. I will also conduct interviews with the fans to learn about who they are, where they come from, and what has led to their complete obsession with Steven Patrick Morrissey.
WATCH THE TRAILER
(youtube.com)
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