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  • A five hour documentary shouldn't  leave anything out, right? Well,  

  • despite being four episodes longHulu'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 hitssuch as "You  Give Love A Bad Name" and "Livin' On a Prayer".

  • Bon Jovi's wife, Dorotheaalso 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  themselvesor those close to themit  

  • 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 timesuch  

  • 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  

  • Joviand 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 raunchybut it was safe enough that a lot of girls  

  • wanted to go to the shows. It was a look andsound, it was sexy without being too sexual."

  • Hearing from some of their longtime female  fansbe it everyday people or other female  

  • musicianswould have been a brilliant  thing to see reflected in their story.

  • Lastly, there's the angle they took with  longtime guitarist Richie Samborawho  

  • suddenly left the band in 2013. Bon Jovi  described his abrupt departure to People:

  • "We were all shocked. It was a show  that nightand he just didn't show  

  • up. And then the next night, and then the  next nightWe 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, youknow, 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 upas 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.

A five hour documentary shouldn't  leave anything out, right? Well,  

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