From the moment Josie and the Pussycats begins, the tone of the film is fast and flashy, the first shot of screaming fans waiting to see their idols touch down from their private jet, and give their ordinary lives a jolt of glamour. The speed of the opening sequence mimics a heartbeat of an adoring fan, eager to tell the waiting camera why their favorite boy band, Dejour matters. Fans are absolutely going crazy, sheer pandemonium happening all over a group of guys who know their way around a three-minute song complete with fancy footwork, but the sweet foursome doesn't seem to be aware of anything except their fabulousness; it is quickly established the members of Dejour are completely oblivious to the fast-pumping corporate machine which is fully activated all around them.
'Josie' Is In On The Joke
Despite the sense of oblivion happening on the screen, the audience is completely "in" on the joke. After finishing a performance in front of their private jet, the group board their private plane which is adorned with product placement; the bullseye logo from Target is all over the plane. The band is seen drinking from Diet Coke cans and reading SeventeenMagazine. The immediate bombarding of product placement may seem funny or a bit daunting to the viewer, but it is soon established the film has a backbone behind all the glitz and glamour.
The viewer is soon introduced to Wyatt Frame, Dejour's manager. Wyatt's demeanor is all business. The British record executive is keeping a silent and steady watch on the surrounding activity; when Dejour begins to question Wyatt about something mysterious happening with their recordings, Wyatt has his finger on the pulse; he quickly hops on his phone, ready to enact the next phase in his plan: Wyatt works for an extremely powerful record company, Mega Records, a gigantic record company which plays a leading role of controlling the actions of the youthful consumer.
By the time the film's titular trio is introduced, the viewer is soon aware Josie and her bandmates Valarie (Rosario Dawson) and Melody (Tara Reid), aren't meant to stay confined to playing in their garage forever; the gals from the small town of Riverdale have guitars on their backs and the glimmer of success in their eyes with the determined drive to look toward the future. After Wyatt witnesses the trio playing on the street, he immediately begins putting plans for the group's pivot to superstardom into action, much to Josie's (Rachel Leigh Cook) split-second speculation.
The 'Secret' Behind Clawing To Superstardom
Josie and the gang try their best to ignore their respective inner voices letting them know Wyatt's intentions may not be so 'purrfect' after all; the band is suddenly catapulted to instant fame as their first single is planted firmly on top of the charts, and Josie, Mel, and Val must try to make sense of their new identities as the biggest band in a world fueled by designer labels, which could potentially be destroyed by Wyatt, his partner Fiona, and Carson Daley all in a moment's notice.
There are several instances in Josie and the Pussycats critically acclaimed soundtrack where the seemingly endless string of corporate logos seem to overwhelm the overall tone of the film, but the all-consuming urge to eat a Big Mac while humming songs from the film is exactly what Josie And The Pussycats wants the viewer to feel.
The film was released in April 2001, an era dominated by boy bands and Britney Spears, pop music, and the almighty dollar; music fans were still steadily consuming music physically, and the introduction of the music file-sharing site Napster, a few years earlier, became a cultural phenomenon. Record store chains were still thriving and easy to find, and teenagers were still hanging out at and buying things at shopping malls. The lens of 'Josie' knew exactly what it was zooming in on; consumerism revolved and cycled through popular culture at break-neck speed, making it seem like a victory when a consumer was able to "keep up."
Critics, however, didn't seem to be "in" on the joke. Josie and the Pussycats didn't have its shining moment at the box office Melody Valentine would have hoped for. One of the most common criticisms of the film was that it oversaturated product placement; to the point where the film's intended tongue-in-cheek stance against corporations was overshadowed by the countless number of logos used in the film. The amount of backlash Josie and the Pussycats received was so strong, the film's directors and co-writers Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont, backed away from the film industry. The duo also felt discouraged by the film's promotional target audience being a little too young to get the film's underlying message.
For some, the smirk within Josie and the Pussycats is more visible than it is to others. The inclusion of the song Money written by Berry Gordy in the Fifties on the film's soundtrack, and the seemingly all-knowing smirk of Letters To Cleo vocalist Kay Hanley (who provided the lead vocals for Josie), present on many of the songs, gave fans an extra nudge toward uncovering the film's extremely strong sense of self-awareness.
Amid the sea of product placement and occasional slivers of self-deprecation, the film never loses its sunny sense of optimism, which could serve as foreshadowing for Josie And The Pussycats' cult success later on. Renewed interest in the film was sparked via the soundtrack's first-time release on vinyl, ushering in a wave of conversation about Josie and the Pussycats' importance in popular culture in an era before nostalgia and reflection were 'purred upon,' and consumers were as eager to flaunt their financial statuses like one of the film's villains Alexandria Cabot was all-too-excited to inform Josie's managers she deserved to come along on a business trip because she was "in the comic book!"
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