True Stories (1986)

dir. David Byrne
writ. David Byrne, Beth Henley, Stephen Tobolowsky
feat. David Byrne, John Goodman, Swoosie Kurtz, Spalding Gray, and many more

David Byrne's playful examination of small town Texas in the age of electronics and the mega-mall offers a new forum for Byrne to tell his offbeat stories, beyond the songs and the music videos. He sets up the fictional town of Virgil on the eve of its Sesquicentennial celebration, following the almost ordinary citizens through their routines. They all seem slightly odd at first, but one can't tell if this is simply a reaction to Byrne's deadpan probing.

As the film progresses, between repeated interactions with the various characters where we discover that the techie is also trying to communicate with aliens and Goodman is advertising for a wife, Byrne offers random philosophical tidbits about the movement of culture from the town square to the mall. In the local mall, he very briefly hits upon the notion that people are creating their own ideologies, buying products that suit their belief systems. It's a flash of a moment, quickly discarded as we head toward the wildly distracting fashion show, but it's quite a spark in a largely rambling film, striking the idealism of the free market system, that anyone can buy anything and live just the way he likes, unbound by restrictions. The moments passes, easily overlooked when surrounded by jokes and analysis of born to shop mall culture, but shows Byrne's notion of hope, sussing out the best in even an ugly scenario.