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A five hour documentary shouldn't leave anything out, right? Well,
despite being four episodes long, Hulu's new Bon Jovi doc doesn't go
as deep as it should. Here's what else they could have included.
First off, there's a lack of outside perspective. Sure,
we know Bruce Springsteen was interviewed a bit.
"That was the first thing I knew about Jon. He was a hardworking guy,
put everything he had into his music."
As was Desmond Child, the songwriter who, despite never being an official member of the band, helped
write some of their biggest hits — such as "You Give Love A Bad Name" and "Livin' On a Prayer".
Bon Jovi's wife, Dorothea, also makes a brief appearance.
"I knew that he was going to be something,
ya know? You could just see the potential and the drive he had."
But that's basically it. While it could be argued that no one could tell the story
of Bon Jovi better than the band members themselves — or those close to them — it
would have been cool to see some other faces from the music business explore
the band's impact on the scene through a more objective lens. For instance,
including a bit of criticism from those who were competing for fans at the same time — such
as members of the grunge scene in the early '90s — would have added some depth to the band's story.
And what about the fans? Given that they've sold around 130 million albums,
there's a pretty considerable percentage of the world population who might have some interesting
and insightful things to say about the band and the impact they've had on their lives.
This goes double for female fans, because the honest truth is that they've allowed Bon Jovi
to stay relevant throughout their forty year run. And that's not an exaggeration.
In 2016, Forbes spoke with biographer Bryan Reesman about the lasting popularity of Bon
Jovi — and Reesman said that without their female fans, they wouldn't have lasted. He explained:
"The reason I think they broke big in the '80s is they were a band that was safe enough for
girls to go to [...] It was a little raunchy, but it was safe enough that a lot of girls
wanted to go to the shows. It was a look and a sound, it was sexy without being too sexual."
Hearing from some of their longtime female fans — be it everyday people or other female
musicians — would have been a brilliant thing to see reflected in their story.
Lastly, there's the angle they took with longtime guitarist Richie Sambora — who
suddenly left the band in 2013. Bon Jovi described his abrupt departure to People:
"We were all shocked. It was a show that night…and he just didn't show
up. And then the next night, and then the next night…We had 120 people on the road,
80 other shows to do. So the train kept going."
Needless to say, there were a ton of rumors that circulated for a while. However, all was
eventually made clear a few months later when Sambora issued a statement saying that touring
had simply gotten to be too much, and that he'd suddenly realized how much of his daughter's life
he was missing out on. In the years since, he's emphasized that he's happy with his decision.
"I'm really glad I did it. So, I mean, you, know, it's certainly worked out for our family."
Bon Jovi has always stressed that there's no ill will there,
and that he understands where he's coming from. He told People:
"Just to be clear, there was nothing but love.
There was never a fight. [...] He had to deal with his other issues."
The fact that Sambora was on stage with them for their 2018 induction
into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame seems to back this up — as does the fact that
he and Sambora got together to watch about three-quarters of the documentary together.
But why only three quarters?
According to those in Sambora's camp, it's because he felt as though the documentary
had been edited in a way that left out his truth. The anonymous source said:
"Richie left ... because he was sick and tired of what he was seeing. He didn't like the way
he was being cast. He disagrees with how they framed his departure from the band and to him,
the currency of happiness is more important than the currency of money."
While there's rarely a case where everyone is happy with the way they're portrayed in
a documentary, giving Sambora more of a say in the finished product might
have resulted in a more well-rounded and honest exploration of the band's legacy.