Peaches Does Herself, 2012
Written and directed by Peaches
Starring Peaches, Dannii Daniels and Sandy Kane
You remember that episode of Spaced where they go and watch Vulva’s stage show? Well Peaches Does Herself is exactly like that – but for 80 minutes.
Your enjoyment of Peaches Does Herself will all depend on your level of knowledge of Peaches’ music and life. This ‘anti-jukebox stage opera’ is a pretty bizarre movie with some intriguing visuals, thumping music, risqué images and an odd sense of humour. Part of me thought it was okay, but the other part of me left with a headache.
According to the press notes, Peaches Does Herself is a semi-autobiographical tale of how she went from wannabe bedroom rock star to full blown musician while dealing with sexuality, sexual exploration, near-death experiences and being saved by a transgender person. All of this is told through a ‘greatest hits’ melody of tracks from her 4 albums and presented like a one act stage show. It all works quite well to be honest and Peaches herself is so charismatic (with a beautiful singing voice too) that fans of hers will not be bored (but others might).
The problem lies in the fact that Peaches’ music is so niche. Some of her songs are incredibly catchy, but some of her more repetitive electro-pop tracks are insufferable and it makes the film hard to watch. I found myself loving some segments (the Shake Yer Dix and Talk to Me where particular highlights) while the early Set It Off segment was painful. She does break up the film with a couple of ‘comedy’ segments featuring Sandy Kane, The Naked Cowgirl who is, as you’d imagine, an old naked lady in a cowboy hat who gives an obscene rendition of her own track I Love Dick before covering Peaches’s AA XXX. It’s kind of funny, but not really.
I get the feeling that Peaches was trying to shock with us with some of her imagery choices including a fully nude transgender person, the Shake Yer Dix segment and the aforementioned Sandy Kane. But it never really shocks or repulses and in fact caused some laughter from the audience I was sat in. The only thing that really took me back was Sandy sticking two matches into her breasts – and that was only because I had no idea what was happening. When a movie like this does all the things it does it comes across more like a desperate attempt for attention rather than making a point.
At the end of the day, your enjoyment of Peaches Does Herself rests on whether you can stomach her music for 80 minutes. In the screening I was in I saw at least 5 people walk out before the 20 minute mark and I’ve heard that some left even earlier than that during the week. I think it was trying to be shocking and controversial but it doesn’t really work on that level. But as an exercise in putting a narrative to Peaches’ eclectic music catalogue, it does an alright job – it just wasn’t always my cup of tea.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Luke Owen is one of Flickering Myth’s co-editors and the host of the Month in Review show for Flickering Myth’s Podcast Network. You can follow him on Twitter @LukeWritesStuff.
Originally published April 27, 2013. Updated November 6, 2019.
