{"id":922110,"date":"2026-10-09T17:54:18","date_gmt":"2026-10-09T17:54:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/922110\/"},"modified":"2026-10-09T17:54:18","modified_gmt":"2026-10-09T17:54:18","slug":"we-are-the-shaggs-documentary-to-tell-sister-groups-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/922110\/","title":{"rendered":"‘We Are the Shaggs’ Documentary to Tell Sister Group’s Story"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tA new documentary will look at the legacy of the Shaggs<\/a>, the discordant group of sisters who recorded 1969\u2019s Philosophy of the World, a favorite album of both Kurt Cobain and Frank Zappa. A trailer for We Are the Shaggs shows people\u2019s first reactions to listening to the band\u2019s unusual music with the commentary, \u201cI don\u2019t think anybody can be prepared to listen to the Shaggs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe doc\u2019s trailer shows two of four Wiggin sisters looking back on the way their father forced them to form a band, the fallout when the album was dismissed, and the surprising reappraisal of their music in recent decades. Filmmaker Ken Kwapis, whose resume includes Follow That Bird and episodes of Freaks and Geeks, Malcolm in the Middle, and The Office, directed the picture. It premiered at South by Southwest in March. (The producers are entertaining offers from distributors with hopes of getting the film in theaters early next year.)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI\u2019ve been fascinated with the Shaggs ever since I first heard Philosophy of the World in 1980, and their music remains as puzzling and provocative as ever,\u201d Kwapis tells Rolling Stone. \u201cMany accounts of the Shaggs paint [band members] Dot, Betty, and Helen Wiggin as curiosities, or as the puppets of a domineering father. My intention was to humanize and dignify the sisters and make the case to take their unique music seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n

\n\tHe went into the project with a few questions in mind: \u201cWhen it comes to music, why do we like what we like?\u201d he says. \u201cWhat qualifies as \u2018good\u2019 versus \u2018bad\u2019? \u2018Sophisticated\u2019 versus \u2018primitive\u2019? When it comes to creativity, what is the difference between \u2018intentional\u2019 and \u2018accidental\u2019?\u201d Kwapis consulted with composers, musicologists, record producers, and culture writers to provide commentary for the film. Their insights, he says, made him admire the Wiggins even more. \u201cWhat began as a straightforward telling of their story evolved into something much more personal and philosophical,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tDot (left) and Betty Wiggin<\/p>\n

\n\tIn a 2016 interview with Rolling Stone<\/a>, the Shaggs\u2019 Dot Wiggin said she took negative criticism of her band in stride. \u201cWe started reading all the negative stuff on the internet for a while but then I said, \u2018Everybody is entitled to their own opinion,’\u201d she said. \u201cMy motto, from Bambi, was always, \u201cIf you can\u2019t say anything nice, don\u2019t say nothing at all.\u201d I\u2019m not sure everybody feels that way. So I just blocked it out.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new documentary will look at the legacy of the Shaggs, the discordant group of sisters who recorded…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":922111,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[64,63,134,344,489864],"class_list":["post-922110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-entertainment","tag-movies","tag-the-shaggs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/922110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=922110"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/922110\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/922111"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=922110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=922110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=922110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}