Film/TV Oct 24, 2018 at 2:35 pm

It's a ballet of tragic gay clichés.

Comments

1

95% of biopics are either terrible, or have no reason for being made. Hollywood seems incapable of avoiding sentimentality in this kind of movie.

2

Brian May seems not to have hated it, which is good enough for me.

3

Thanks for saving me the time. Couldn't picture Rami Malek as a half decent Mercury. Saw the preview and it looked like shit, but was contemplating giving it a chance anyway. Now just waiting for the cringey "Jim and Andy" style doc about how Malek got so lost in the character he forgot himself. I'd bump the bad biopic percentage up to 99.

4

I'm sorry, not sorry, but the scatological references in this piece are just plain dumb. You're not James Joyce. Otherwise, nice article.

5

@2 I hate to be this cynical but given that he's licensed Queen's music for the film he may somewhat obligated to promote it.

6

@2, 5 Brian May and Roger Taylor are credited as producers and, along with screenwriter Peter Morgan, conceived the project a decade ago.

7

Not sure I'm going to take 70s/80s biopic tips from someone who just found out who Jane Fonda is.

8

You seem to hate Queen in general, yes? Maybe the Stranger should have sent someone who is at least ambivalent?

9

While I haven't seen the film, I guess I don't understand how Freddie was supposed to act - or how they were supposed to portray him acting - when he found out he had AIDS, in a period when it was truly a death sentence, and a quick and gruesome one. The scene you described doesn't sound especially worthy of ridicule.

The fact that the band members had something pretty big to do with the making of this film to me would lend credence to at least some of what you see in the film overall.

Interesting that you admit to missing 15 minutes of it. Time for more fiber in the diet.

10

@1,
You have a point. I agree. I largely avoid biopics. They simply can't do the subject justice as a feature film. I tend to read biographies.

On the other hand, documentaries depending on the subject can be awesome. I just viewed "Won't You be my Neighbor?" by Morgan Neville (2018). The subject was Fred Rogers of "Mister Rogers Neighborhood". It was outstanding.

I may end up seeing "Bohemian Rhapsody" as I really enjoy Queen's music.

11

4, completely agree with the unnecessary scatological references. Trying to be jaded and edgy, just sounds immature and gross. Also, if I want to see Queen, I go to youtube and watch them perform "Great King Rat", one of my favs.

12

Oh goody, maybe he can destroy this film before it gets scene like the "activists" did to "Stonewall"

13

@12 I hope nobody saw Stonewall. That movie was terrible.

14

Bohemian Rhapsody" plagues every middle school dance. Lol Thestranger

15

Brian May and Roger Taylor are, unfortunately, two of the reasons this movie was always destined to be lame. I love both of them-- they are huge talents. And I love Queen.

The issue is that they are highly protective of Freddie's image. And as men of their generation, they are not comfortable with the image of him sticking his dick in half of Germany. The two straight men ended up being drafted into the HIV-prevention world of the 90s by virtue of the Mercury Trust. And at the time, monogamy was regarded as the way to survive the plague. So over and over again, the message was repeated that Freddie had slept around in his youth, but then come around to monogamy in his later years. That the source of the "come to Jesus" mythic moment of this story, I would guess.

Times have changed. Taylor and May haven't. They pushed anyone who wanted to delve into Mercury's sexuality off the project. That's why it spent about ten years in pre-pre-production hell, and that's why it's lame.

16

I'm a conservative. I didn't stop listening to Queen or Judas Priest when their singers came out of the closet. In fact, I gave Rob Halford more respect for coming out than Freddie, who stayed in the closet almost until he died. That took balls, and Judas Priest fans of all stripes stood behind him.

Good thing the author is a dutiful progressive, otherwise, he might resort to using big, sloppy stereotypes when writing about people he neither likes, nor understands.


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