Sex and Broadcasting: A Film About WFMU Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.5

Sex and Broadcasting: A Film About WFMU Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown February 10, 2024

How best to introduce and describe WFMU? What better than their own words: "Even as a meek 10-watt cultural blip obscured by the sedate suburbs of northeastern New Jersey, convention seemed to evade WFMU. From the fateful day our antenna first pierced the skies over West Orange, to the critical juncture when listeners and staff members secured our independence by purchasing WFMU’s license, to finally settling into our cozy new home in Jersey City, a constant flow of talented weirdos and outcasts have oiled the gears and replaced the burnt-out lightbulbs of this radio tilt-a-whirl. Ordinary has never been an option here."

What an ethos. What a mission statement. What a perspective. Weirdos and outcasts, with ordinary barred from the menu, creating, innovating, entertaining and giving people radio free of agenda and blunt in its purpose and methods. WFMU sounds less like a radio station and more like the kind of place I wouldn't mind settling down and living out my days. That's the heart of Sex and Broadcasting: A Film About WFMU. More love letter than documentary (in the best of ways), the Tim K. Smith-helmed 2014 doc explores the station's decades-long appeal, providing a nice overview of its history, successes and failures, and especially its on-air talent, but also manages to make WFMU feel bigger, more important, and far more essential than a simple listener-supported, independent community radio station.

Sex and Broadcasting: A Film About WFMU is a feature length documentary about the titular New Jersey radio station, dubbed the world's strangest and most unique radio station, and one man's attempt to keep it alive in the face of recession, the persistent threat of commercial media, and the challenges that come with keeping a rebellious group of outsiders working together for a common cause. The film includes interviews with The Simpsons overmind Matt Groening, The Beastie Boys' Adam Horovitz, Sonic Youth's Lee Ranaldo, comedian Patton Oswalt, TV and animation producer Tom Scharpling, comedian Paul F. Tompkins, and a who's who of voices and other WFMU connective tissue like Tim K. Smith, Dave Abramson, Bronwyn Bishop, Glen Jonesy Jones, Brandon Cox, Pseu Braun, Jim Marshall, Gaylord Fields, Ira Kaplan, Therese Mahler, Mike Dawson, Andy Breckman, Ken Freedman, Laura Cantrell, Irwin Chusid, Nachum Segal and Nick Zignauskas. I'm sure there are others I missed but it's a lineup and a half.

My prior knowledge of WFMU amounted to precisely zero. I hadn't heard of the New Jersey-to-New-York station, and only loosely recognized it as the documentary unfurled (mainly from randomly firing memories of stories and articles about independent broadcasting and shock jocks over the years). So I was surprised how quickly I warmed to its stable of DJs, producers and programmers, and how almost instantly I began rooting for the proverbial dark horse. The film isn't sweet or saccharine, though its interviewees certainly regale WFMU with praise early on. No, this is a documentary about struggle. Obstacles. Hurdles. The pitfalls and landmines struck by the fledgling station in its founding years and the many, many times since that it has come under threat of financial failure and closure. There are deep dives into business strategy, experiments tested for better or worse, loyal members of the team and those who couldn't cut it, and with it all an endless array of stories and behind-the-curtain forthrightness that invites you into WFMU, rather than have you stand at a distance and only hear what the documentary producers want you to hear. It's a vulnerable place to put oneself, but Smith and the station do just that.

The title is also misleading. Sex and Broadcasting isn't all that salacious, provocative or edgy. There's a healthy dose of irreverence and cranky personalities trying to keep their heads above water, but it's funny rather offensive, revealing rather than manufactured. It's about art. Its gestation, creative origins, and expression. It's about artists, fighting to stand out in the crowd and be counted as comedy taste-makers, memorable characters, and entertainers. It's about the battle for speech and individuality, and the right every artist should have to exercise the two. More than anything, though, it's about the burden of the starving artist, the discouragement and the setbacks, the trials and tribulations, and those brilliant, shining moments when you barely eek by and live to fight another day. You needn't be a fan of radio, or know WFMU from any other station. You don't need to be able to rattle off fifty years of DJs by name, list your Top Five programs, or count yourself among the WFMU faithful. You only need an affection for documentaries that introduce you to people you never know you wanted in your life but, thanks to the magic powers of the interwebs, can invite into your ears any time, in any place on the planet.

Sex and Broadcasting: A Film About WFMU Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Blu-ray release of Sex and Broadcasting features a solid 1080p/AVC-encoded video presentation that pretty much represents your standard documentary fare. Ably filmed sit-down interviews look great; the rest of the film, not so much. It's a blend of archive, vintage and (in 2014) new footage, and the results depend heavily on the source elements for each scene, some of which are standard definition video or TV broadcasts. Colors are consistently lifelike, black levels and contrast are dialed in nicely, and detail is as good as each shot allows. Moreover, aside from the vintage and archive footage, there isn't really anything in the way of substantial banding, blocking or errant noise. Sex and Broadcasting isn't the best looking documentary on the market, but if it were, it would cease to be the story of a struggling independent radio station and become a hyper-polished advertisement for an ordinary broadcaster.

Sex and Broadcasting: A Film About WFMU Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Sex and Broadcasting's audio comes in the form of a lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 surround track. It's not flashy, it's not lossless, but it gets the job done. Voices are clean and clear for the most part (although archive clips are pretty hit or miss in terms of fidelity and clarity) and prioritization doesn't allow music or other effects to clog up the works. Low-end output is decent enough, despite only a handful of occasions to show off, and the rear speakers add some welcome support, even if the film remains a front heavy affair. Honestly, I doubt you'd be able to tell much of a difference between this lossy track and a (hypothetical) lossless mix. It just isn't that sort of documentary. I suspect the added value would be perceived rather than genuine.

Sex and Broadcasting: A Film About WFMU Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• At Home with WFMU DJs (HD, 9 minutes) - A quick slice of life tour of several DJs' homes.

• WFMU Library Tour (HD, 2 minutes) - A much too brief tour of the studio library.

• Alternate Film Intro (HD/SD, 2 minutes) - Decidedly lo-fi alternate intro to the film.

• Trailer (HD, 2 minutes)

• Booklet - The film's 32-page booklet includes essays by Lorenzo W. Milam (author of "Sex and Broadcasting" the book), DJs Dave the Spazz and Irwin Chusid, and director Tim K. Smith.

Sex and Broadcasting: A Film About WFMU Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Sex and Broadcasting: A Film About WFMU is an excellent David vs. Goliath documentary about a little radio station fighting to survive in a dog-eat-dog world of radio. Against all odds, WFMU has survived, and thrived at times, but also struggled as often as it's nearly broken through to easier times. That story is the real core of the film and it makes for a great examination of the plight of the starving artist. The 2014 documentary's Blu-ray release is worth a look as well, without much in the way of things to gripe about. I was pleasantly surprised with this one. Recommended.