The Mysterious Queen of Funk! Betty: They Say I’m Different Review

“You can call her trendy And superficial An elegant hustler But don’t you call her no tramp” “Betty: They Say I’m Different’ is an intimate and experimental documentary into the life of funk music icon Betty Davis. Through a mixture of unseen archival footage, collaborator and family interviews, and psychedelic transcendental animation, the film chronicles the rise and subsequent self-imposed exile of the Queen Goddess of Funk. I was fortunate to finally catch the film at the 21st Indie Memphis film festival after a year of near misses and “almost got im” moments.

As free as a bird and just as distant, Betty Davis (born: Betty Mabry) herself looms over the material of this documentary, appearing only in abstract extreme close ups or her detached voice.  She is the force woven gracefully and mysteriously through the film as filmmaker Phil Cox tells the story of Betty’s childhood in Durham, North Carolina and Pittsburgh before her exodus to New York City. While enrolled at FIT and taking in Greenwich Village musical trends, she spent her time writing songs and eventually sold the composition “Uptown (To Harlem)” to the Chambers Brothers in 1967. Her path included stints as a model, a relationship with South African trumpeter Hugh Masekela, and an aborted marriage to Miles Davis. The culmination of these experiences and her childhood dream leads to the creation of her own band and the release of three controversial albums – Betty Davis (1973), They Say I”m Different (1974) , an…