There’s a less generous review of Celeste Bell and Paul Sng’s Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché out there. That review criticised the documentary that it focuses on Styrene as a mother, important because Styrene is Celeste’s mother. Strangely enough in a good way, I see more focus on something that does feel surface level. That seemingly surface level focus is on Styrene’s looks, which does speak to a lot of things about it. Her looks speak to the innovation surrounding punk rock, as well as how the scene shapes her mental health. Those mental struggles determine how she juggles the punk music scene, Eastern religion, and her role as a mother. Ruth Negga lends her voice to read out Styrene’s diary entries, fleshing out the latter’s feelings on those topics.

Celeste and Paul use the typical mix of archive footage and actual magazines to put this earnest documentary together. This film, strangely enough, can make one realize how strange it is to see one’s mother as reproductions. What’s equally interesting is Celeste’s narration, now old enough to understand Styrene faced as a famous woman in music. Styrene is unique in that she’s a bigger Black woman with braces, which come with a lot of scrutiny. For the most part, there is confidence in much of the images we see in I Am a Cliché. But as part of a white band, X-Ray Spex, her label ‘has to’ slim her down for album covers. Despite that, Styrene’s image helped a lot of Black female musicians like Neneh Cherry see themselves in genres that, on surface, may gatekeep them out.

Capturing a life on screen is always daunting, and I Am a Cliché has its missteps in doing so. Despite Bell’s insight about a very complex woman, her monotone voice doesn’t necessarily make her a great narrator here. Strangely enough, I also think that there’s three documentaries in one here, even if it chooses the right A-plot. Like what does Bell feel like to be a Black woman who passes as white in ways her mother didn’t? And what does she feel about Hare Krishna, a controversial religion, but then again all religions have thier controversies. However, even while juggling all these storylines, I appreciate how this documentary shows Styrene in a larger context.

Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché shows a woman that left the earth more than a decade ago, but sometimes, the world is the same now as it was during the 1970s, full of hate and resistance. The documentary illuminates this as it covers an antiracism concert and protest where she performs despite enduring personal difficulties. The film puts enough focus on how Styrene and other Black people navigated the punk scene with much ambivalence. There are the occasional racists – looking at you Johnny Rotten – but other times, misfits stand up for each other. A unique doc capturing the life of an equally unique woman makes for good Black History Month counter programming.

Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché comes soon on OVID.