Respect Yourself: the Stax Records Story

Name: Ciel Tran

Course: Mass Communications in Modern Society

RESPECT YOURSELF: THE STAX RECORDS STORY

A. Section I - Synopsis & Personal reaction

The first time I was informed of the film that I needed to watch to write for a reaction paper, “Respect Yourself: The Stax Records Story”, I felt a bit disappointed and disheartened. That film was really not my type – although I could prevent myself from falling asleep while watching films in my history class, I could hardly find any interest in such kind of historical movies; moreover, I felt uneasy because of encountering some sort of things that I was not familiar with. Indeed, coming from another country, regardless of the fact that I am secretly proud that I have listened to various kinds of music range from punk, rock, pop, R&B to jazz and classical music, I found the term “soul music” – a music genre that originated in America – alien to me, not even to mention the Stax-whatever-brand I had never heard of before; thus, I was afraid that I would mess up my very first film reaction paper. It would have been more comfortable if I had been able to write about something I at least have a little knowledge of, since I more or less have a clear view about what I need to convey. However, when I began watching this film, I felt very excited. My excitement sprang forth from the appealing sounds of “soul music” played throughout the movies, the intriguing interviews with many figures from Stax Records, and moreover, the eventful story about vicissitudes of Stax Records.

Begins with “Respect Yourself”, the name of a classical soul song which once peaked at #12 on the Billboard Hot 100, the film is regarded as an anthem composed to celebrate the legacy of Stax Records in honor of its fiftieth birthday. Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records by Jim Stewart, a white America bank teller, and his sister Estelle Axton, Stax Records – the later adoptive name – started its business as a country and...