Backlash - Joan Jett & The Blackhearts

What this video is

Released in August 1991 — the same month as Nirvana's Nevermind — 'Backlash' arrived at a pivotal moment of genre disruption in American rock. Joan Jett, a punk and hard rock icon since the late 1970s, occupied a unique cultural position: she predated and in many ways prefigured the aggressive, anti-establishment ethos that grunge would soon claim as its own. Produced by Propaganda Films, a Los Angeles production…

Why it matters

As one of the most prominent female hard rock artists of the MTV generation, Joan Jett's 'Backlash' represents a critical data point in studying gender, punk authenticity, and commercial rock during the early 1990s. The video's fast-cut, performance-driven visual language, produced at Propaganda…

The director

Paul Rachman (born September 13, 1962) is an American film director who began his career making underground hardcore punk music videos for bands including Bad Brains and Gang Green. He was signed to Propaganda Films in Los Angeles, where he became one of the…