Chasing Happiness: A Story of Personal Growth and Reflection
The Jonas Brothers are officially back. They dropped a surprise single in February and now have released a comeback album Chasing Happiness. It reminds us of their pop start in 2005 that won everyone's hearts. To mark this new chapter of their career the brothers released the documentary Chasing Happiness on Amazon Prime to give fans an insight on their humble beginnings, the ultimate demise of the band back in 2013. and where they stand now.
The documentary is so raw and emotional. They provide moments of shock during their lengthy career. All of these moments are captured beautifully without feel over-dramatized or cliche. They are simply telling their story without holding back on the hard moments on the route to their success and even the low moments of feeling outdated and overworked. The brothers successfully use this platform, to be honest, and truthful to the world. The documentary is filled with home videos of the boys at a young age and confessionals at their current age while they are discussing their regrets together in a secluded location in Sydney, Australia. The home videos drive the narrative of three brothers from a small town in New Jersey who each are incredibly talented. They have a dream of making music and performing and it is evident throughout the film. The scenes of the brothers drinking and playing cards gives insight to the audience on who they each are individually and it humanizes them.
The beginning of their story was sad and moving with them having to move to a two-bedroom house due to their parents losing their jobs and the boys losing their record deal. They made their big break with the single Year 3000 and from their, they took off. Throughout their success, the audience can see how shocked the brothers were for their growing fans. They continued to keep growing and growing and the brothers could not believe it. The documentary also covers the regrets and mistakes of the group. One regret they had was doing their TV show, Jonas because they felt that it held them back and put them in a place that stunted their growth as a band and people. They were put into a category they did not want to be in. The documentary takes a turn when it discusses the controversy around the purity rings. The media shifted their focus from the music of the brothers onto personal things like their purity rings. People began to look at them through a different light and not for their music. During this time it seemed that the band wanted to take a break and try being solo for a while. From this period Nick began to do Broadway and have a successful solo career, Joe made a failed solo album and then formed the out of the box group DNCE and Kevin took time to be a husband and father.
The documentary does an amazing job of highlighting the personal growth of the brothers during their break. Each one is able to take the time to explore their own interests and passions and experiment with their images. In this time they can find out whom they are without someone trying to do that for them. The break was absolutely needed so they could attain personal growth. The documentary is appropriately titled because since the beginning all these brothers wanted to do was chase happiness. They did that in the beginning as a band and also when they went solo. They now have the time to do that as a band again and it is evident that they are in a healthy place with one another.
The documentary is both honest and inspirational. There is a side of the Jonas Brothers that is uncovered showing that they are more than a boy band. They are very different from the image the media has tried to portray them as over the years. They are just three brothers who want to share their love of music with the world.