Like a lot of reactive works of art released during the presidency of Donald Trump ( some of which are also making their television debuts in the lead-up to the 2020 general election), the film indirectly grapples with the history and the atmosphere that led to our current reality-though only American Utopia can lay claim to the ultimate existential question: “Well… how did I get here?” It was born from Byrne’s pre-2016 impulse to collect and collate news of genuine hope and human advancement, resulting in two, not-unrelated creative outlets: The editorial nonprofit Reasons To Be Cheerful, and the album that spawned the concert tour that was adapted into a Broadway show that is now a Spike Lee joint. It came back into my life at just the right time: David Byrne’s American Utopia debuted on HBO this past weekend in the wake of Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett’s farcical confirmation hearings, a foiled coup in my home state, and the still-raging COVID-19 pandemic-the scope, severity, and utter mishandling of which we can blame in part, like the two other items in that list, on a president who has returned to public life only shortly after becoming an active vector for a virus that has killed more than 220,000 Americans.
The best concert I saw in 2018 will most likely be the best concert I see in 2020.
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