We tend to romanticize the era and place that produced art we love, turn it into a fantasy fertile wonderland where people just wake up every day and make great music, start world-changing political movements with nothing but a Sharpie and a stapler, love and support each other, and never worry about money. In Rebel Girl , which shares a title with the Bikini Kill song long since immortalized in Rock Band video games, countless covers, and karaoke nights, she connects the dots of how trauma and happenstance ended up giving shape to what would become a political and cultural movement and her own enduring music career.
Born in Portland, Hanna spent her childhood in suburban Maryland with an unhinged abusive dad before the family moved back to Portland in time for her to attend Lincoln High School.
Hanna would collect actual, physical addresses from concertgoers to send them zines or postcard announcements of future shows. Less nostalgic, perhaps, are the accounts of scraping together funds. Later, she took a job stripping in DC to pay for repairs to the tour van. At the same time, Hanna acknowledges her own privilege in the industry and in life. Beyond personal slights, a lot of Rebel Girl is a look back on how the riot grrrl movement was largely a white space and how Hanna contributed to that.
Apologies and excuses could come off as annoying, but as a writer she maintains a tone of simply wanting the world to be less shitty. But you can also just pick it up at Movie Madness. Image: Rachel Bright. Filed under. Related Content. In Memoriam Darcelle Has Died. Long Live Darcelle.
