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 "excerpt": "Meeting People Is Easy is Grant Gee's 1998 documentary following Radiohead's 104-show 1997-98 OK Computer world tour, portraying the band's burnout and Thom Yorke's struggle with fame through fragmented, experimental footage.",
 "snippet": "Meeting People Is Easy is Grant Gee's 1998 documentary following Radiohead's 104-show 1997-98 OK Computer world tour, portraying the band's burnout and Thom Yorke's struggle with fame through fragmented, experimental footage.",
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 "markdown": "# Meeting People Is Easy\n\n**Meeting People Is Easy** is a 1998 documentary film directed by Grant Gee that follows the English rock band [Radiohead](https://www.edgepedia.org/radiohead) on the world tour for their 1997 album *OK Computer*.<sup>[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/meeting_people_is_easy_1999)</sup> Rather than a conventional concert film, it is a fragmented, impressionistic portrait of the band's exhaustion under the pressures of sudden fame, built from backstage footage, interviews, press conferences, and concert recordings.<sup>[2](https://movingimage.org/archived-events/radiohead-in-meeting-people-is-easy/)</sup>\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Subject | Radiohead's 1997-98 world tour promoting *OK Computer*, covering Asia, Europe, and North America<sup>[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/meeting_people_is_easy_1999)</sup> |\n| Director | Grant Gee, who had previously directed the band's \"No Surprises\" music video<sup>[3](https://citizeninsane.eu/media/can/jam/pt_1998-06-02_jam.html)</sup> |\n| Performances charted | 104 over the course of the tour<sup>[2](https://movingimage.org/archived-events/radiohead-in-meeting-people-is-easy/)</sup> |\n| US release | Wide release March 26, 1999 by Seventh Art Releasing; domestic gross $51,282<sup>[4](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Meeting-People-is-Easy)</sup> |\n| Recognition | Grammy nomination in 2000 for Best Long Form Music Video<sup>[5](https://raindance.org/12-must-see-music-documentaries/)</sup>; included in Rolling Stone Australia's list of the 70 greatest music documentaries<sup>[6](https://au.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-lists/70-best-music-documentaries-34172/meeting-people-is-easy-1998-34195/)</sup> |\n| Critical scores | 83% Tomatometer (6 reviews) and 85% Popcornmeter (2,500+ ratings) on Rotten Tomatoes<sup>[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/meeting_people_is_easy_1999)</sup> |\n| Availability | Free to watch in the OK Computer section of the Radiohead Public Library<sup>[7](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Film/MeetingPeopleIsEasy)</sup> |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Content and style\n\nThe film follows Radiohead, Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, Ed O'Brien, Colin Greenwood, and Phil Selway, through large concerts and extended press conferences that take a physical and mental toll, with Yorke having a particularly difficult time dealing with stardom.<sup>[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/meeting_people_is_easy_1999)</sup> Over the course of 104 performances it charts the band's growing apprehension toward the price of celebrity and their increasing disillusionment with the rigors of touring.<sup>[2](https://movingimage.org/archived-events/radiohead-in-meeting-people-is-easy/)</sup>\n\n**Form.** The film deliberately abandons the conventions of the \"rockumentary.\" It uses quick cuts contrasted with stills and slow tracking shots, and mixes color with black-and-white video, creating a chaotic impact that echoes the band's sonic ambiance; the soundtrack layers interview samples, songs, and sounds of metropolitan cities.<sup>[11](https://archives.nd.edu/Observer/2001-09-13_v35_013.pdf)</sup> Audio bleeds and overlaps in a constant chatter of reviews and commentary, including journalists asking questions such as \"What is music to you?\"<sup>[12](https://avclub.com/meeting-people-is-easy-captured-how-much-it-sucks-to-be-1798262172)</sup> Live performances of nearly all the songs from *OK Computer* appear, usually in brief snatches, so that lyrics to songs like \"Lucky\" and \"Karma Police\" take on sardonic subtext as commentaries on the band's growing isolation.<sup>[12](https://avclub.com/meeting-people-is-easy-captured-how-much-it-sucks-to-be-1798262172)</sup> Gee has cited [Chris Marker](https://www.edgepedia.org/chris-marker)'s essay film *[Sans Soleil](https://www.edgepedia.org/sans-soleil)* as an influence, a film he bought on VHS in New York in 1997 during the tour.<sup>[13](https://watch.grasshopperfilm.com/transmissions/three-films-that-influenced-grant-gee-s-radiohead-documentary-meeting-people-is-easy)</sup>\n\n## Production\n\nGrant Gee, a self-taught director and cameraman, first met Radiohead early in 1997 during pre-launch preparations for *OK Computer*, after directing their \"[No Surprises](https://www.edgepedia.org/no-surprises)\" video.<sup>[3](https://citizeninsane.eu/media/can/jam/pt_1998-06-02_jam.html)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[8](https://citizeninsane.eu/media/uk/uncut/03/pt_1999-01_uncut.html)</sup> The band gave him free rein to film what he wanted on tour.<sup>[3](https://citizeninsane.eu/media/can/jam/pt_1998-06-02_jam.html)</sup> The project was never commissioned as a documentary; Gee kept submitting proposal after proposal in order to keep the cameras rolling.<sup>[9](https://citizeninsane.eu/videos/mpiequotes.html)</sup> He shot with Super 8 and hand-held video cameras as the band toured through 1997 and 1998.<sup>[10](https://www.7thart.com/product/radiohead-meeting-people-is-easy/)</sup>\n\n## Release and reception\n\nThe film played a limited theatrical run to sold-out houses before a home video release on May 4, 1999.<sup>[14](https://www.salon.com/1999/04/06/radiohead/)</sup> The Numbers records a wide US theatrical release on March 26, 1999 by Seventh Art Releasing, with a domestic gross of $51,282 and a 99-minute running time.<sup>[4](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Meeting-People-is-Easy)</sup> Rotten Tomatoes lists a theatrical release date of March 20, 1999 and a 1h 38m runtime.<sup>[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/meeting_people_is_easy_1999)</sup> It was nominated for a Grammy in 2000 for Best Long Form Music Video.<sup>[5](https://raindance.org/12-must-see-music-documentaries/)</sup>\n\nCritics have consistently read the film as an anti-tour document. Rolling Stone Australia called it \"the perfect visual embodiment of alternative rock's 'success = sucks eggs' mantra,\" turning arena stardom into \"a psychological horror movie.\"<sup>[6](https://au.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-lists/70-best-music-documentaries-34172/meeting-people-is-easy-1998-34195/)</sup> Salon described it as the quintessential 1999 rock documentary in the way that *Gimme Shelter* was for 1969, as much about a moment in time as about the music.<sup>[14](https://www.salon.com/1999/04/06/radiohead/)</sup> A 2001 campus review noted that it functions as a visual companion piece to the mechanized attitude of *OK Computer* rather than a typical tour film.<sup>[11](https://archives.nd.edu/Observer/2001-09-13_v35_013.pdf)</sup> Some reviewers warn that its deliberate drudgery makes it a slog for viewers expecting a concert film.<sup>[15](https://uproxx.com/music/best-music-documentaries-ranked/)</sup>\n\n## Legacy\n\nThe documentary is frequently cited as context for Radiohead's drastic change of direction on their next album, *Kid A*, with viewers describing it as showing a touring band pushed to their edges and a frontman at the limit of his sanity.<sup>[16](https://thefilmstage.com/watch-the-ok-computer-era-radiohead-doc-meeting-people-is-easy-for-free/)</sup> It was later released as part of the band's online archive, the Radiohead Public Library, where it is free to watch in the [OK Computer](https://www.edgepedia.org/ok-computer) section.<sup>[13](https://watch.grasshopperfilm.com/transmissions/three-films-that-influenced-grant-gee-s-radiohead-documentary-meeting-people-is-easy)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[7](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Film/MeetingPeopleIsEasy)</sup>\n\n## References\n\n1. [Meeting People Is Easy (1999), Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/meeting_people_is_easy_1999)\n2. [Radiohead in Meeting People is Easy, Museum of the Moving Image](https://movingimage.org/archived-events/radiohead-in-meeting-people-is-easy/)\n3. [Jam! Showbiz, June 2, 1998](https://citizeninsane.eu/media/can/jam/pt_1998-06-02_jam.html)\n4. [Meeting People is Easy (1999), The Numbers](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Meeting-People-is-Easy)\n5. [12 Must-See Music Documentaries, Raindance](https://raindance.org/12-must-see-music-documentaries/)\n6. [70 Greatest Music Documentaries of All Time, Rolling Stone Australia](https://au.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-lists/70-best-music-documentaries-34172/meeting-people-is-easy-1998-34195/)\n7. [Meeting People is Easy, TV Tropes](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Film/MeetingPeopleIsEasy)\n8. [Uncut #20, January 1999](https://citizeninsane.eu/media/uk/uncut/03/pt_1999-01_uncut.html)\n9. [Meeting People Is Easy quotes, Citizen Insane](https://citizeninsane.eu/videos/mpiequotes.html)\n10. [Radiohead: Meeting People is Easy, 7th Art Releasing](https://www.7thart.com/product/radiohead-meeting-people-is-easy/)\n11. [Radiohead documentary is OK, The Observer (University of Notre Dame), September 13, 2001](https://archives.nd.edu/Observer/2001-09-13_v35_013.pdf)\n12. [Meeting People Is Easy captured how much it sucks to be Radiohead, The A.V. Club](https://avclub.com/meeting-people-is-easy-captured-how-much-it-sucks-to-be-1798262172)\n13. [Three Films That Influenced: Grant Gee's Meeting People Is Easy, Grasshopper Film](https://watch.grasshopperfilm.com/transmissions/three-films-that-influenced-grant-gee-s-radiohead-documentary-meeting-people-is-easy)\n14. [Eat the documentary, Salon, April 6, 1999](https://www.salon.com/1999/04/06/radiohead/)\n15. [The Best Music Documentaries, Ranked, Uproxx](https://uproxx.com/music/best-music-documentaries-ranked/)\n16. [Watch the OK Computer-Era Radiohead Doc Meeting People is Easy for Free, The Film Stage](https://thefilmstage.com/watch-the-ok-computer-era-radiohead-doc-meeting-people-is-easy-for-free/)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Films by genre, form, and subject › Documentary and biographical films › Documentary films by subject: arts, music, sports, and place*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n",
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 "credit": "\"Meeting People Is Easy\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/meeting-people-is-easy. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.",
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 "speakable": "Meeting People Is Easy is Grant Gee's 1998 documentary following Radiohead's 104-show 1997-98 OK Computer world tour, portraying the band's burnout and Thom Yorke's struggle with fame through fragmented, experimental footage."
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