Yes it's annoying when certain people in the media (or just the general public) dismiss the Spice Girls as being nothing without their manager. Simon obviously did great work for them, but at the end of the day it was the Spice Girls who were up front and centre with those songs, their image, their personalities, the hard work they put in... it ultimately worked so successfully because of them. The girls themselves are rarely given enough credit for their own success.

I really enjoyed the documentary, great to see all the unseen footage from the early days. I found it hilarious to see men like Chris Herbert and that guy with rat tail in his neck are still bitter about what happened more than 25 years ago. Shows more this guys in a negative light than our Girls. Never saw that clip of Mel B telling off that director.it really showed the girls stood up for themselves and I loved it.

Glad it's on youtube. I don't have access since I'm from Brazil. Well....

 

It seems that the documentary tended to show that the whole 'girl power story' was a marketing strategy, and men manipulated them to extract money.

The first manager was placed as a victim, as was Simon. And that without them the girls went downhill.

 

As a fan it hurts when they dont treat the girls as a musical band, just as a commercial product. At a certain point I understand this and the prejudgement that exists about the spice girls. I mean, in Brazil (around 1997/1998) they were everywhere, in every place. MTV Brasil they were always in first position, as well in radios. Spice Mania was huge back then here. In those days even if you weren't a fan, you would definitely listen or see something related to the Spice Girls every single day! Whether in the newspaper, magazine, TV, radio, or in stores. But this whole commercial thing overshadowed the group as a (musical) band. Thats a fact!

Non-fans tend to like their songs but don't take them seriously as artists. In my opinion, all this marketing strategy somehow damaged their musical image. After all, few songs released and an explosive career built on image and advertisings.

Edited September 15, 20213 yr by dromeda

The documentary was watched by 850,000 viewers on C4. I don't know the channel's average viewership for a documentary at 9pm on a weekday but I was hoping for a million at least.

I have no idea what's good or what's not anymore I know live viewers has dropped off a cliff the last few years as streaming and catch up mean people don't need to watch live as it airs anymore.

 

I remember being shocked seeing Eastenders doing like 4m viewers when it used to be 9 to 10m most regular episodes.

 

Next week it has the 1st episode of bake off leading into it so I'd be surprised if it isn't over 1m then.

Id the say the ratings will be higher once all comes through such as recording, iplayers etc.

Jayne Middlemiss was the best thing about that episode besides the 90s footage.

 

Had no idea Davina McCall auditioned for Tank Girl either, that was interesting. I do remember her as an extra in an old Kylie music video.

 

The guardian and inews reviews completely got it spot on for me exactly how I felt about episode 1.

 

Will be interesting to see the ratings on Wednesday with the bake off lead in.

Here are those reviews:

 

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/20...us-and-intimate

 

https://inews.co.uk/culture/television/spic...ode-one-1199202

 

Maybe I should watch it again and see if I have a reassessment, perhaps I wasn't in the right mood when it aired!

 

 

By the way here is the synopsis for Episode 3:

 

The final part of the documentary follows the girls' attempts to carve out solo careers, while also raising families - difficult for anyone, but virtually impossible for an ex-Spice Girl. Victoria juggled home life and new career as interest in the Beckham brand grew ever more intense, while Mel B moved to LA as a single mum. Eventually, however, the girl group returned for two spectacular reunions, although Posh decided the final tour was not for her. Now their fanbase is all grown up, what will be the lasting legacy of these five young women who stormed the pop charts?

 

Supposedly the episode in which we'll be treated to the orange fan being interviewed x

Thanks Jay, those reviews articulate exactly my feelings on the documentary episode 1.

 

Episode 3 might be really interesting if we get some SW19 footage.

Episode 2 tonight

 

About the episode

 

The quintet sack their manager and go on tour as

Geri quits and five become four. Victoria and Mel B

are both pregnant and under intense media scrutiny

Hoping tonight gets a ratings boost from Bake Off, over 1m viewers would be good.

I hope so too, I don’t think there could be a more perfect slot than being on after Bake Off, so hopefully lots of viewers stick around to watch it.

Why include a clip of Noel Clarke speaking about Geri in this?

 

 

I didn't watch it this week lol, will catch up with it later on.

Miss Middlemiss once again owning the ep. What a woman I always did like her.

That was an incredible hour of TV. So many on twitter shocked at how they were treated by the media and men. It's the documentary about the Spice Girls that needed to be made.

 

If you haven't watched it then it is a must episode 2.

 

I really hope that episode forces some men still in the media to publicly apologise to the girls.

 

My admiration for them has only grown. Being young in the late 90s it was very easy to be in a bubble and completely miss the misogyny they faced daily, from their looks to weight to sexuality. Weighing Victoria on TV and asking Mel C if she was gay and telling her not to lie were things I feel people need to see now.

 

Obviously it's about the spice girls and actually their strength than the music but it's more a documentary about people's and the press attitudes towards women at that time and how that was turned up to 100 against the Spice Girls.

I agree these are some of the stories we’ve read about and maybe only the fan base really knew about them, but it’s nice that this documentary has been made so that a wider audience gets an understanding of what they actually went through.

 

The episode also made me a little angry and when you think what presenters, journalists and newspapers got away with was terrible.

 

Ideally what I’d also like for their 25th anniversary would be similar to the GYE documentary career story but more like the VF music where there are more personal stories about those early days in the studio and actually how they made their music.

That was indeed a great episode.

 

Even though I was aware that the Spice Girls got some very bad press in those days, some of the clips used were even eye opening to me.

 

I actually no idea about Victoria being presented with a set of scales and being obliged to weigh herself on TV - it was framed as banter, but that was beyond invasive. I did already know about her being outright asked in Parkinson's interview whether she considered herself to be anorexic, and that'll always be shocking.

 

Then there's Melanie C being confronted about her sexuality in a This Morning interview, of all places! As Sammy said, the question was delivered with an added "don't lie about it". Really shameful and really highlights how the possibility of not being straight was such a scandal, something to interrogate someone about. Shocking.

 

Geri clearly got an incredibly tough time from the press - some of those headlines that were shown were simply vile.

 

Then there was Mel B and Victoria being blamed for teenage pregnancies, certainly one of the more ridiculous things they were accused of, as Mel B rightly pointed out not so long afterwards.

 

The archive footage even shows how fellow musicians and presenters in the industry could be completely unsupportive and vicious about them, as if they deserved the scorn for simply existing. Why were they so threatened? It's so odd.

 

I hope if some of those people are reminded of what they said, they feel ashamed! I won't hold my breath for any belated apologies being made.

 

Honestly, wow... what an incredibly different media/society was just 20 years ago... and somehow it was considered acceptable back then? Maybe the public were shocked by things then, but didn't have the platform - i.e. social media - to express their dissatisfaction about the treatment. At the time I think I was too young to really notice the extent of what the Spice Girls had to put up with, I didn't read tabloids or see a lot of these interviews back then.

 

Sorry for rambling, but my goodness. As Sammy says, it's certainly got Twitter talking... so many people are completely shocked and disgusted with how things were for the Spice Girls all those years ago!

That was indeed a great episode.

 

Even though I was aware that the Spice Girls got some very bad press in those days, some of the clips used were even eye opening to me.

 

I actually no idea about Victoria being presented with a set of scales and being obliged to weigh herself on TV - it was framed as banter, but that was beyond invasive. I did already know about her being outright asked in Parkinson's interview whether she considered herself to be anorexic, and that'll always be shocking.

 

Then there's Melanie C being confronted about her sexuality in a This Morning interview, of all places! As Sammy said, the question was delivered with an added "don't lie about it". Really shameful and really highlights how the possibility of not being straight was such a scandal, something to interrogate someone about. Shocking.

 

Geri clearly got an incredibly tough time from the press - some of those headlines that were shown were simply vile.

 

Then there was Mel B and Victoria being blamed for teenage pregnancies, certainly one of the more ridiculous things they were accused of, as Mel B rightly pointed out not so long afterwards.

 

The archive footage even shows how fellow musicians and presenters in the industry could be completely unsupportive and vicious about them, as if they deserved the scorn for simply existing. Why were they so threatened? It's so odd.

 

I hope if some of those people are reminded of what they said, they feel ashamed! I won't hold my breath for any belated apologies being made.

 

Honestly, wow... what an incredibly different media/society was just 20 years ago... and somehow it was considered acceptable back then? Maybe the public were shocked by things then, but didn't have the platform - i.e. social media - to express their dissatisfaction about the treatment. At the time I think I was too young to really notice the extent of what the Spice Girls had to put up with, I didn't read tabloids or see a lot of these interviews back then.

 

Sorry for rambling, but my goodness. As Sammy says, it's certainly got Twitter talking... so many people are completely shocked and disgusted with how things were for the Spice Girls all those years ago!

I agree with everything you said. It was a hard watch as the press crucified them but fair play to them for coming out the other end stronger. It's also nice knowing what we know now in that all the girls made up and seeing what they went through makes that reunion more special. That performance clip of goodbye was very emotional when watching it.

Edited September 22, 20213 yr by Feel_The_Fever