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Will They Ever Make a Feature Film about Mia Zapata and The Gits?

I was in the mood for a little angry music last night while I was driving home from the old day job, so I pulled up my favorite song by The Gits, “Spear and Magic Helmet.” In the song, Mia Zapata sings about getting revenge on a man who raped a friend. (Here’s a link to the lyrics and a link to Evil Stig’s rendition of the song.)

Sexual abuse was a common theme in women’s punk music at the time, so this song wasn’t unusual, except that less than two years after the single was released, Mia Zapata was raped and left to die on the streets of Seattle. The punk community banded together to keep the investigation into her murder alive as long as they could. Many Seattle Bands released benefit albums and played shows to raise money for the cause. One of the highest profile benefits was Evil Stig (Gits Live backwards), made up of the surviving members of The Gits and Joan Jett. They released an album of Gits songs and toured to raise money to fund the investigation.

Zapata was murdered in 1993, but they didn’t find the murderer until 2002. A DNA sample taken from a man in Florida matched a saliva sample taken from Zapata’s skin.

I remember listening to an interview with the policemen who tracked the man down. They had been working the cold case files, looking for the killer for quite a while. They were so excited when they found the DNA match. One of the policemen looked at his luggage in the airport, and noticed that the tag said MIA, the abbreviation for the Miami airport. He got a feeling that Zapata was telling him they were on the right track. (Listen to the full story here.)

Zapata’s friends formed an organization called Home Alive, which provides self-defense education and promotes safety for all people, regardless of sex or race.

I wish I could say that I had been a fan of Zapata’s before her death, but it wasnt until 7 Year Bitch released Viva Zapata and a friend clued me in to Evil Stig that I heard of her. I would love to see more people exposed to Zapata’s infectious enthusiasm and The Gits’ great music.

I hope that The Runaways movie, starring Kristen Stewart as Joan Jett, will be successful and raise awareness of female punk musicians. If it is a money-maker, other filmmakers will try to replicate that success and I hope come across the story of this amazing vocalist and compelling stage presence.