Why has it taken me nearly 24 years to see The Legend of Billie Jean?
It has all of the makings of what my dear friend, luddite robot, calls an “anarchist fairytale”: totally badass teenager and her closest friends/family (also known as an affinity group) band together to seek justice for her brother, battling heterosexist capitalist skeezballs as well as elected officials and law enforcement. There’s mutual aid, civil disobedience, squatting in mansions, some powerful instances of collective direct action, Joan of Arc, jail solidarity, an ending bonfire sequence where the angry crowd burns their possessions, and a killer soundtrack featuring The Divinyls, Billy Idol and Pat Benatar. Emma Goldman would approve.
