Deborah Harry of the punk-pop band Blondie is one of the most stylish, cool iconic women to grace the earth. She is also an incredibly talented artist and, as a woman leading a rock band through the ‘70s and ‘80s, she’s been subjected to all manner of stupid questions. 

In this short documentary titled, Deborah Harry Does Not Like Interviews, director Meghan Friedrich presents this video essay collag solely out of creatively edited archival materials. Through a series of TV interviews conducted over the span of many years, we see a variety of show hosts talk down to Deborah Harry, question her about her hair, her image, being a sex-symbol – anything but her music. Irritation eventually gives way to triumph as Harry finds a way to turn the tables on them, contending with their objectification and counteracting the leering creepiness by bringing a stuffed animal named Minkie to every interview and turning her attention to it in the face of irreverent questions. Watch below:

Rebelling against the simplistic narratives and casual sexism she encounters along the way, she endures superficial, tedious, and demeaning questions from journalists with cool contempt. The defiant and ultra-cool Harry battles back with clever and evasive retorts challenging the interviewers to ask her something of substance. It's a myriad of missed opportunities to engage in an intelligent conversation with the band who rose through the1970s New York new-wave scene alongside bands like Talking Heads and the Ramones, combining punk, disco and rap into their own brand of supremely successful pop; and a priceless montage of an artist who knows her own worth and won't be deterred by a decade of questions about her hair. 

From punk haven, CBGB's to rocking the disco, and successfully putting rap on the mainstream charts for the first time - there is so much more to Blondie than Deborah Harry's hair. Remember all their chameleonic charms with the This Is Blondie playlist on Spotify:

Listen to all the Blondie Essentials on Apple Music: