Blinded By The Light (Movie 2019)

For me music has always been so important. When times are good I’ve had certain songs that spoke of the same joy I was feeling. When times were bad there was something someone wrote that expressed exactly what I was going through and made me feel like someone out there understood. Some of my favorite artists blow me away with the insights of their lyrics. So I could totally appreciate the movie that came out this past weekend Blinded By The Light. It is based on the true story of a  British teenager of Pakistani heritage in the 80s who becomes completely inspired by Bruce Springsteen’s music. Javad Khan is a boy who is dealing with a lot in his life. His family is going through financially hard times, wanting a future he wants conflicting with what his traditional father wants for him, dealing with racism in his neighborhood, and the typical coming of age dreams of first romance. A soon to be friend introduces him to The Boss. Once he pops in the cassette of Bruce Springsteen into his Walkman he is completely over taken by what he hears. Even though Bruce is an American from New Jersey the songs of feeling like an outsider, struggle and desire resonate with Javad. It gives him courage to move forward and deal with things in his life. This movie has heart and humor. It shows how powerful music is and how it can transform someone’s life. The movie is based on the book Greetings from Bury Park: Race, Religion, and Rock N’ Roll by journalist Sarfraz Manzoor. It is directed by Gurinder Chadha who also directed Bend It Like Beckham.