Bohemian Rhapsody (2018) is a bad movie lol

[@BigJoel]

I don't normally release these, but I figured it made sense with the number of short guys I've been making lately. Very cool. very sweet

[@yo26721]

there's a problem in the clips- the lips don't match the sound at all 3:24

[@aubreyjane7536]

If you ever do one of these nebula uploads again u should do the about time one, or not, I'm not ur mother

[@crusatyr1452]

Just short little guys

[@asapling]

Is it true that you tried to hit little Joel with a car?

[@Timmakesmusic]

You've been making 'a number of short guys'?! Wait - does that mean there's more than one Little Joel? How many are there? How do you make them? I don't care how sweet they are - I want answers!

[@trevorwiley5098]

The film makers were so afraid of Freddie Mercury's queerness that they somehow managed to make him boring... that is honestly impressive to me

[@Chungussy]

They also did the bi erasure. You're just gay freddie cus you like men

[@owenbowe]

@@Chungussy i fuckng hated that watching this in the theater. freddie is my bi icon my bicon. dont take that away from him or us,

[@IdentifiantE.S]

@@Chungussy800 IQ

[@Bagheadman]

@@owenbowe He said the love of his life was a woman - and he meant that in a romantic sense - but mostly had relationships with men. Absolutely bisexual and portraying him otherwise was so so strange.

[@GioGioPietromica425]

@@owenboweabsolutely a bicon, from one Owen to another, I totally feel that shit

[@thevfxmancolorizationvfxex4051]

The way that Brian and Roger are presented in the film as perfect saints that don't do drugs or partying the way Freddie does 100% makes it obvious that this film was clearly influenced by them

[@Drag0nfoxx]

It's particularly funny considering several Brian May-written songs are about cheating on your wife (It's late, Too much love will kill you)

[@leow3696]

I think there was like, one hint that Roger wasn't entirely faithful, but that's it. I understand why John wanted nothing to do with this film.

[@thomasjames6680]

Roger Taylor was less than impressed with the film, from all accounts.

[@brynniefresh9746]

yeah that's probably the shittiest part...i mean they have never admitted to doing drugs so it makes sense they'd want it left out but still...also each of them are depicted as finding one girl and they got married and that was it but the only one of them to have one partner and stay with them is John, Brian got divorced and Roger got divorced and there was cheating going on with those I believe so the only perfect saint is John lmao

[@marocat4749]

I mean as movie, it makes fredie memorable at least and interesting, so weird decision. So many biases to , yeah its clear it way not , I love rami malic, he adds the actual value to watch it, but its , why do you do a make him that dramatic person when you skip over the build up, .. or the spicey, or most of the gay that should be way more there to , for whom is that movie?! Other than rami malik fans, he is fantastic i guess.

[@LukeLeonettiYouTube]

My favorite scene in this movie is when Freddie throws a party and the rest of the band is like “Freddie how dare you you know that we all we don’t drink and get in bed by 9 o clock”

[@ProjectRedfoot]

Then he said "It's Queenin' time!" Then Queened all over

[@billbill6094]

Then they tuck each other in and kiss their foreheads goodnight, returning the Hungry Little Caterpillar back to the bookshelf.

[@irenelvr3149]

LMFAOOO

[@mothersbasement]

I'm a bit of a Queen fanatic, so I saw this in theatres as soon as I could and I was just disappointed on every level. It gets so much of the history wrong, which, you know, it's a Biopic, they do that for the sake of story, drama, etc. - but then, it leaves out one of the single most iconic moments of Queen Drama, when they split with their old manager and wrote this absolute banger of a song, Death On Two Legs, which is just 4 minutes of them finding increasingly eloquent and imaginative ways to call him a jackass. Also the rest of the band is just, like, the rest of the band that hangs around the very famous cool guy who gets too famous for his own good and becomes slightly less col for a bit. Brian May is an ASTROPHYSICIST who shaped the band's whole sound with a custom guitar he designed as a teenager. Roger Taylor is one of the most influential drummers of all time and wrote the song Lady Gaga named herself after (among a lot of other boundary-pushing bangers). John Deacon is a bassist, but he managed to overcome that and write some of Queen's most iconic anthems. they took some of the most fascinating and naturally entertaining people who've ever lived and crammed them into one of the most boring, paint by numbers formulas in cinema.

[@becausesakamoto5938]

Mother's Basement x Big Joel crossover moment

[@v_bunny]

you should’ve written the movie tbh

[@Drilling4mana]

big joel graced by the pope hisself

[@bennyk384]

Mother's Basement and Big Joel crossover? I wanna see that!

[@SheerSniper7]

"John overcame being a bassist" Fanaominal

[@ThatPazuzu]

I still can't get over that line about how Freddie Mercury makes music for shy lonely outcasts. Because, like, he makes crowd pleasing arena rock. Why does he have to be Morrissey

[@sockpuppetqueen]

He kinda made both, right? Early queen, like the first two albums, was often WEIRD. Like, musically weird songs about ogre battles, and fairies. He really had the range to make arena rock AND fantasy nerd stuff, which is just, so fun.

[@ThatPazuzu]

@@sockpuppetqueen you're right, I guess I was thinking that he didn't make a lot of sad, solemn songs

[@wusstunes]

@@sockpuppetqueen to be fair, so did zeppelin. It was kind of the ogre battle era of rock music.

[@sockpuppetqueen]

@@ThatPazuzu true yeah, there's like, a coooouple, but it's really not many at all

[@wadespencer3623]

@@wusstunes I hope we bring back that era.

[@caitlinbelforti870]

Elton John's story about Freddie Mercury I feel perfectly encapsulates who he is. Christmas in 1991 a month after Freddie died, Elton received a painting that he often talked about wanting on his doorstep. A note was attached revealing that it was from Freddie (from "Melina" to "Sharon" more specifically which were their drag names for each other lol). Freddie was dying from a brutal disease that had a harsh stigma from the world attached to it. And in those last painful moments he still made a point to think of his friends....with style and humor too. I missed that Freddie in the film. His kindness. His bravery. His refusal to let tragedy leave him defeated. His generosity. His sense of humor and love for life. This film showed none of that and it is such an insult to him. And it makes me really sad to think that Brian and Roger signed off on it. I don't think I can ever look at them the same way after that.

[@idontwantahandlethough]

I think there are many, many, _many_ circumstances that could have occurred such that Brian & Roger didn't actually do anything wrong. I don't know all that much about the behind-the-scenes stuff surrounding that, and I don't think you do either. So maybe we don't have to jump to conclusions that we can't actually be sure of, ya know? You very well might be right, but until we know for sure don't ruin good music for yourself if ya don't have to ;)

[@carnigob42069]

its definitely understandable that you feel that way. i think there are so many things that go into making a film that we can't really say how much input brian and roger really had- they could have been present for shooting select scenes, they could have just held a conversation with the writers or producers, its really unclear. you also have to consider that what was filmed and what made it into the movie can be so wildly different, that maybe the ideas that brian and roger had for the film were cut in favor of something else. i think its fine and understandable that your opinion has changed of them. mine has as well! i just like to think abt all of the possibilities.

[@brynniefresh9746]

I think his speech was trying to convey that but that story is exactly what I think of when I think of what kind of person he was, silly, generous, and very caring of those in his life...I understand why they did what they did in the movie but it's still really annoying cause I've seen so many interviews of him and people talking about him, clips of the guys just being goofy and I wish the movie did a better job at showing who he was, as opposed to thinking of plot above the person

[@busylivingnotdying]

You know what I think the problem was? They where asked to make a DRAMA about their lives. A drama that matcher the greatness of the music. It was a fools errand! False conflicts where created to make it interesting. Instead it became a lie! I liked the music movie about the Beatles that came out around the same time «Yesterday» (2019). It didn’t pretend to tell «the real story of the Beatles» It just created a fun fantasy (full of the same positive enery that the Beatles expressed), and presented the fantastisk songs to a new generation. It made you want to hear the songs again! Simple, but beautiful!

[@busylivingnotdying]

@@jpc2470 Well, they can't go back to that "lightning in a bottle" collaboration they had since Freddie is gone. So they manage as best they can (such is life). But they were all key players in the experience that was Queen. Those people who want to find out "who was the REAL talent" is also on a fools errand. It was a lucky combination of the four. (The same goes for: the Beatles, ABBA, Simon and Garfunkle etc.) I would enjoy any new music they make now (or new collaborators playing the old music) without complaining that "it isn't what it was." It isn't meant to! There's a time for every purpose under heaven! 🤔☺

[@maxwellbowman4084]

They spend so much time showing a really fictionalized toxic relationship with Paul Pretner, and than shove his loving relationship with Hutton into a few minutes near the end. Really seems like the movie wanted him to be with Mary, and portrayed his attraction to men as analogous to a love of partying and drugs.

[@weirdbird74]

Wow, honestly... you hit the nail on the head. I knew going into the film that Freddie was bi, so I ignored everyone on Twitter calling it out for "not being gay enough". But after watching I feel like the twitter twats had a semi-valid point. It feels subtly homophobic/biphobic, almost!? As if men to him were a "temptation".

[@MrGksarathy]

Exactly. He was with Jim Hutton for at least a decade, which is worth way more than the last 15 minutes of the movie.

[@Saibellus]

its such a miserable flattening. freddie himself called mary the love of his life and cherished their relationship, AND had loving and profound relationships with men too. i dont know why movies about queer people fkin just, hate showing them having happy love lives.

[@carly2290]

The scene where he calls himself bisexual and then Mary, the kind and intelligent straight, has to tell him he’s not…. It felt weird, and that was even before I knew about how his sexuality was more nuanced in reality.

[@oftinuvielskin9020]

+

[@becuaseimbored3481]

You know you messed up when "Freddy mercury gets Trapped in a slide and calls out for mamma (ASMR)" is more respectful to his legacy that whatever the fuck this is.

[@aurora_skye]

I REMEMBER THAT OMG

[@luna-p]

WHAT?? 😅

[@alexf225]

Or "Freddy Mercury gets lost in the park looking for Joe"

[@ashblossomandjoyoussprung.9917]

​@@alexf225Joe who?

[@alexf225]

@@ashblossomandjoyoussprung.9917 Joe mama

[@CodeNameX001]

Just the fact that the writers had to lie and say the band broke up, all because they needed to meet their mandatory requirement of a "Third Act Break-up", THE most overused trope in film making, shows that they didn't care about the content. So many real life people, many of whom are still alive, were demonized just to make the band seem more like underdogs. They also depicted Freddie as unruly as a child, and having changed his name out of shame pf his background. In real life, he got along fine with his family, and actually had a Zoroastrian funeral, so i think he was pretty okay with his heritage.

[@sh4rkb4it]

from everything i know, freddie mercury was very proud of his heritage. he was everything that average conservative-leaning people hated and he had deep pride in that.

[@shikonaori]

I always thought Rocket Man was the superior biopic about a queer male musician, it just felt way more authentic to me in every aspect. It's a shame he passed so young, imagine how good a movie about Freddie could've been with his actual involvement rather than the weirdly joyless mythologizing we got instead

[@oftinuvielskin9020]

Rocket Man is a better film for sure, but it too kind of suffers from focusing unfairly on queer trauma and the main character being pulled down by a bad gay

[@jamiesprinkbob]

i really didnt like rocketman tbh- taron did an amazing job but watching the shot for shot remakes of some of eltons music videos made me wanna rip my eyes out

[@Lawliest]

@@oftinuvielskin9020 tbh that's just how eltons life was. Him and reids relationship was very significant because he was his manager for 30 years iirc & Elton very publicly struggled with addiction & sobriety but came out a better man & i think it stayed very true to his life & feelings at the time especially because he was there consulting it + gave his diary to be read

[@elliehoward4108]

@@oftinuvielskin9020I mean it’s based off a real person’s life. While it is true they exaggerated how big of an asshole John Reid was for the sake of time (in real life they were still friends and business partners until the 90s), and they ignored how Elton was also a shitty boyfriend to not only him but to many of his former partners, I don’t think we can get mad at a movie about an actual gay man because it “focuses too much on queer trauma.” Of course it does, it was something Elton struggled with his entire life. While he came out as bisexual in 1978 he didn’t come out as fully gay until 1997, almost 20 years later. If Rocketman ignored or minimized this part of Elton’s life it’d be a disservice, just as bad as Bohemian Rhapsody.

[@falconeshield]

I got tired of the montage > drugs > drugs > montage > drugs > montage > gay moment circle parts of the movie

[@ruverbryh9998]

Freddie wasn’t even diagnosed with aids before live aid, in fact it was two years later in 87. I think the fact that he just wanted to play at live aid and then find out he’s actually dying could have offered a much more powerful reflection moment in the film. It makes Freddie a ridiculous unnecessary martyr, and kind of makes the decisions he makes in the movie easier which makes him boring.

[@agoo7581]

It was also like "Oh yeah, rest of the band, I have AIDS, but that's not important, WE GOT A CONCERT TO DO!" It really is on part with how Lisa's mother in The Room declared she had breast caner.

[@Pandaboomina]

That’s so frustrating. To change the details of some one’s life for a narrative “honoring” them.

[@patricktilton5377]

Sure, the film was fast-and-loose with the timeline. But by pretending that Freddie knew he would soon be dying of AIDS during the Live-Aid performance made it all-the-more poignant when, singing the lyrics from the title song, he cries out: "Mama . . . I don't wanna die . . ." Is it historically accurate? No. But is it dramatically effective? Yes. Filmmakers usually have to go with what 'works' from a dramatic standpoint, even if it goes against the grain of historical accuracy.

[@ruverbryh9998]

@@patricktilton5377 nah man I think that is just lazy writing to make the story “feel” more impactful but fails at that because of its historical inaccuracies. It’s such a trope in these types of movies and does not make sense. Why change such a big historical fact for it to “make sense” in a movie because a movie HAS to have these specific moments of rise, climax, and fall. It’s just following a movie blueprint and is dumb and lazy

[@RivalHades-mk1xl]

yeah but I kinda understand them for making the decision of showing it. Because otherwise this long movie would be even longer or split in 2 parts. Kinda a broad thing to cover and I for sure agree with you on it

[@crow2963]

YES! i have despised bohemian rhapsody for years because it makes Freddie this weird, dramatic, pitiful character. like he doesn’t feel like a person, he feels like a caricature. also Freddie allegedly didn’t know he had HIV/AIDs till 1987, 2 years after live aid. i could be wrong but that’s what i’ve heard. that fact always bothered me, like they had to make the movie about how ‘tragic’ his life was. i was a huge queen fan when it came out, and it was disappointing to say the least.

[@weirdbird74]

Yeah! I don't understand any of these creative decisions in the slightest. It _was_ supposed to be a documentary... right? But so many facts were skewed or even made up for no reason. Smh

[@AngelusOrpheus]

yes this is true. he was NOT diagnosed during live aid thats just something they made up for the movie. it was after

[@andrewg3196]

"Well gay people are sad all the time because all they think about is their persecution duh 😞✊" - straight Hollywood executive, probably

[@lolly9804]

Well he can't be the perfect queer martyr if he's shown to be the fun loving, though flawed person he was in life.

[@witchflowers6942]

im not even a huge queen fan; but watching the movie just had me saying “he wasn’t even like this why are they making him so weird”. in interviews and performances and stories from friends and other stars he was a really fun and unique guy. he was funny and a joy even when he was dying. it’s so wrong how they took that away.

[@benzur3503]

I’m still so mad that they made the huge deal out of radios not wanting to play the whole of bohemian rhapsody, and then played only a part of bohemian rhapsody

[@jaspervanheycop9722]

It's also just a stupid historical forgery for fake drama: Dark Side of the Moon was done by the same label (IIRC there's even a poster for it in the EMI office in the film!), so experimental stuff wasn't going to be a big deal, Bohemian Rhapsody was riding a wave of (over-)produced, highly experimental 70's pop. And Queen themselves had already released Ogre Battle and Seven Seas of Rhye, both insanely long (Battle is longer than bo rap at 8 minutes) fantasy epic poems. There's plenty of interesting drama to mine out of Night at the Opera's production. All this super technical stuff done with analog technology and pure elbow grease. The movie didn't have to make shit up for tension, especially when everyone knows what happens anyway, it's infuriating.

[@stephcake1112]

​@@jaspervanheycop9722don't forget the prophet's song too, that was around 8 minutes too iirc

[@jaspervanheycop9722]

@@stephcake1112 Ah yeah forgot about that one, it slaps (Queen II is underrated in general IMHO)! But to be fair that IS a song that doesn't get radio play. (though not for it's lenght, it just isn't very approachable). I have heard OB a few times on classic rock stations, and SSoR is like a daily.

[@razznapple]

⁠@@jaspervanheycop9722 prophets song was also on night at the opera, but i totally agree that queen ii is underrated! march of the black queen is an absolute banger

[@conspiracyyui8642]

@@jaspervanheycop9722 while I agree with your point if I recall correctly Ogre Battle was only 4 mins and Seven Seas of Rhye was 2 mins (almost 3 actually), so both of those were shorter than BoRhap though Seven Seas of Rhye did have a 6 min long remix released as a bonus track in 1991 so maybe that's what you were referring to ??? I'm not aware of an 8 min long version of Ogre Battle

[@tryker2710]

Can’t believe Epic Rap Battles of history had a more true to life version of Freddie than this biopic

[@LimeyLassen]

Jesus, thats brutal 😂

[@4everhippies]

Okay but actually though…. You are 100% correct and I think about that often

[@vaiyt]

When I rock the UK, South America gets horny!

[@tonys6620]

"I took one for both teams for a disease no one knew existed I didn't leave a mark on history, I french kissed it" 🔥

[@robotrain1607]

Biopics like this always make me nervous. I can watch one and say, "Oh, that was nice, I guess," only for someone with much more historical knowledge to tell me, "Actually, that film was hugely disrespectful." If I don't know anything about the person they made the movie about, I just kind of have to assume in good faith that their portrayal was reasonably good, which it obviously isn't always.

[@xBINARYGODx]

given all of the reviews of these types of film I have seen, I dont think any of them ever worth watching.

[@turducken77]

That’s how I feel as well. I’m afraid someone will bring up a biopic and ask me how like it and then I’ll say “Oh I thought it was pretty good” and then they’d say “Oh well it was completely historically inaccurate and super bad and I hated it and now I think you’re an uneducated idiot”. So I completely know the feeling 😂

[@TSDT]

See also: Ed Wood. At least Ed Wood had the courtesy of being a damned good movie in its own right about filmmaking, friendship and camaraderie. Even if it took loads upon loads of artistic liberties. I remember watching this in the cinema and enjoying it for the music, the aesthetic and the Live Aid scene was pretty killer. Then saw places like Cynical Historian tear it to shreds. Yeah...

[@hyperx72]

@@xBINARYGODx Rocketman was great though

[@stapler942]

The one that bugs me the most is probably The Imitation Game. They pretty much made up the portrayal of Alan Turing as this jerkass loner genius who is apparently proficient enough in electrical engineering to build an entire decryption machine on his own. He's basically reduced to a stereotype similar to Cumberbatch's Sherlock character. The real Bletchley team didn't have any such personality conflicts or drama as far as history tells, and Turing collaborated with a lot of people in the project so everybody was on the same page. He didn't just single-handedly build a machine that nobody else understood and decide the war outcomes. That is not how any kind of R&D works. A similar kind of mythology surrounds Nikola Tesla, this notion of a "misunderstood genius" who was held back for petty or conspiratorial reasons. Only in Tesla's case his downfall was largely due to him sinking money into unworkable projects, while Turing's suppression came from discriminatory laws, so he has a far stronger case for being done dirty.

[@MarkArandjus]

As a Queen fan, this film has two major problems when portraying Freddie:. 1. In reality Mercury was reserved and quiet, he was an introvert. He spent much of his life alone behind a piano with half a dozen cats for fuck's sake. The loud flamboyant persona was for the stage and interviews, that's not what he was in private. 2. Freddie had brown eyes, how the fuck did the makeup/costume department miss that detail? :D You'd think that when they were fitting him with fake teeth they'd have remembered that one.

[@laurena9563]

100 percent. And his later life partner was equally as private- they almost make it like Freddie is just this wild extrovert, and it just leaves the audience with this sense of, "Why is he settling down with this "regular" guy, when he's just some guy who doesn't take Freddie's "B.S" public persona?" In real life, like you said, they were literally approaching middle age men who wear oversized patterned sweaters and took care of half-a-dozen cats, and drank tea and went for walks, lol.

[@sunbleachedangel]

The put these garbage ass fake teeth in but forgot about eye colour, I'm sure it says something important about directing in this movie

[@Threeleebird]

Freddie was also tall and stocky. How Rami Malek was the best option? And don't get me started on how horribly unnatural those prosthetic teeth are.

[@CharleyA73]

@@ThreeleebirdIf I remember correctly, the initial choice was Sacha Baron Cohen, which makes a lot of sense. For some reason he had to pull out of the film so they got Rami Malek instead.

[@MarkArandjus]

​@@goober479 Not worth the money to make a physically accurate Freddie Mercury in a Freddie Mercury biopic. Okay. The visual effects for the film were done by DNEG. They're one of the top visual effects studios in Hollywood and worked on several films where CGI eyes are a major feature of the film, like Bladerunner 2049, Alita and Dune. The idea that the people at DNEG couldn't handle basic eye color replacement and it's 'not a thing' is simply false. I could do it with just my basic After Effects skills. This was after all a very heavy CGI film, after all.

[@owena7434]

The scene with his father sucks too because Freddy is like "I'm finally doing something good like you taught me" as if the rest of it WASN'T. As if he would have been a better person if he acquiesced to his father's regressive crap

[@skeetsmcgrew3282]

I strongly doubt that after all those years he actually would go out of his way to attempt to impress his stupid dad. And I can guarantee that if he did try he would fail because that's how those kinds of dad's work. They've already decided who you are

[@miguelangelcote9168]

The movie is also homophobic in a way, it presents a distintion between the "good gays", monogamous and subtle, and the "bad gays" who are promiscuos a wild. Meanwhile most movies about hetero rock stars present their sexual life as something to be proud of

[@chrislawuk]

Gay-d/God, that’s so true. Man, you really KZbin commented the shit out of that insight. Thank you. (This sounds sarcastic but actually isn’t). I’ve been gay all of my life and am still picking apart the heteronormativity (and blind-eye-turning for heteros only) in my own psyche.

[@mnschoen]

Listen, being gay is indecent, so we have to make sure that if you JUST HAEV TO be gay you better conform to society in every other way. Being a gay is already just TOO MUCH. I still don't know how they made this flaming turd of a film in 2018.

[@MrPiccoloku]

Also VERY biphobic.

[@Somebodyherefornow]

@@MrPiccolokuand birasure

[@rooty]

Promiscuity literally killed Freddie and many of his friends and lovers who had the same lifestyle. It's pretty unambiguously bad.

[@Zeikier]

This movie had an overwhelming stench of being about how the surviving people in Freddie's life involved with this movie felt about him rather than a celebration of why he was so loved. It's such a weird morose puppet show that crucifies him rather than exalts him, as if we're supposed to be mourning some dire messianic figure instead of celebrating a wonderful showman. That and it's dawning on me that Rami Malek is only capable of one sedated miserable note and I'm flummoxed at him being so praised.

[@b_delta9725]

People who praised Rami for this role are usually people who liked him already on Mr. Robot. And he's amazing in that show, especially in the last season, so it's sad that he has this mixed reputation as an actor because of this horrible role.

[@Bagheadman]

I wanted the Cohen version. At the very least it wouldn't hesitate to show how fun and electric Freddie Mercury was.

[@someoneontheinternet4518]

​@@b_delta9725 I think he did pretty alright with what he was given

[@Pikachu-kw4fv]

I associate his face with josh from until dawn. Usually I can separate an actor from their role but this dude will always be the tortured schizophrenic who got eaten by his sister

[@ashikjaman1940]

@@Pikachu-kw4fv my brain is rotted so I associate that character with the Real Time Fandub

[@misterlinux9290]

Freddy: "can I be happy?" His movie: "no, being dark and miserable means being mature "

[@blahblahsaurus2458]

bingo

[@MackenzieChandlerDunnavant]

I remember seeing this movie in Bahrain while I was in a Navy. I thought it was weirdly subtle about Freddy's sexuality, only to be surprised when I saw the more explicitly queer moments in the American version on the ship's TV. The movie was so poorly edited that it didn't occur to me that it was censored.

[@Wyrm3]

I wish Joel mentioned that. I legitimately believe they hired a rattlesnake to edit it.

[@ashikjaman1940]

​@@Wyrm3 how dare you insult rattlesnakes like that lol

[@Wyrm3]

@@ashikjaman1940 I love rattlesnakes! It's just hard to edit without hands.

[@ren7220]

This is so insane because people who get hired to cut out parts for the middle eastern cuts of movies never give enough of a fuck to make it flow well. It's always soooo jarring and noticeable it's so insane it wasn't for this movie 💀

[@hypocriticalsatire3966]

​@@Wyrm3 It should be known that the guy got an award for it lol

[@machiel5888]

I despise this film and I love it when people agree with my opinion

[@reed6514]

I enjoyed it, but I'm glad to learn how badly it misrepresented history.

[@dazednotconfused1503]

You sound miserable.

[@justincruz8050]

Want to get this framed

[@Erasureeraser]

I enjoyed the movie but I knew that this movie has tons of issues. Two of them being the script and the directing

[@octodaddy1602]

As someone who watched Night At The Museum religiously as a kid it is endlessly confusing to me how Rami Malek managed to typecast himself as a tragic stuttering emo boy when he started out so far from that mark

[@VesnaVK]

This reminds me of how the movie The Imitation Game made Alan Turing into a stereotype of a neurodivergent savant -- socially maladjusted, can't understand what jokes are. In real life, he was witty and fun. I wonder if it's a coincidence that both these flattened-out, joyless portrayals are of brilliant, unique gay men who contributed so much to the world.

[@offbranddorito9668]

That movie makes me so sad. People around Alan Turing- the real Alan Turing- said he was clever, but most of all, kind. In the imitation game, they make him rude and haughty. Like Sherlock from the nbc show. It’s insulting. It’s the way a lot of people think of him now because of that movie.

[@VesnaVK]

@@offbranddorito9668 would you compare him to being played like Sherlock Holmes in the BBC series as well?

[@davidci]

It's still so wild how this was the most undeserving movie in the Best Editing nomination and it still won

[@victoriaescobedo5458]

I know right, and Rocketman came out at around the same time as Bohemian Rhapsody and there was just more creative editing than in BR.

[@alexjohnson6192]

I wish they'd just be honest and rename it "Most Editing"

[@JeffAlbertson09]

​@@alexjohnson6192that's actually what it is, like every time. And that is so sad, that it's funny :D

[@IgnorancEnArrogance]

AND the best actor nomination.

[@cmbeadle2228]

With a few words changed, this could also describe Blonde, which turned Marilyn Monroe into a dull, self-pitying shade who never knows what she wants beyond satisfying her electra complex with various tyrannical men. It's almost like some biopics go out of their way to degrade the actual achievements of more populist artists as "fake" and unworthy for the sake of utterly contrived emotional beats about the shallowness of fame etc. (E.g. she is depicted as hating her "shallow" films because they weren't "real" or her true self)

[@annabelcunningham2848]

Dude it was SO exploitative while acting like it was exposing what she went through!!! Like y'all just made a weird porno making fun of this women and saying she was unstable and unhappy and NEEDED stardom and a proper man or some shit. It was so bad and gross

[@coolboyyo654]

tbf Blonde was straight up based on what is essentially a weird Real Person Fic about her and not her actual life. The book is also weird exploitative bs though.

[@ldallas8315]

That movie is such a tasteless slog to get through. Ah yes, let’s make this real person’s story more ~tragic~ by totally misrepresenting them, then it’ll really be ~art~. The people who made that movie and the book it’s based off of embody the exact sort of dismissive and exploitative attitudes that Monroe hated having to deal with in the industry when she was alive... People who didn’t see her, but what they wanted to see: A sexy, sad lady who didn’t know what the hell she was doing, oh and also did we mention she’s sexy?? And sad??? Oh and I almost forgot the movie just straight up portrays JFK and one of her actual producers as sexual assailants, when Monroe never even suggested such a thing about either of them. The movie just goes out of its way to assassinate the character of everyone. Torture porn garbage.

[@cmbeadle2228]

@@ldallas8315 tbf it was mostly enjoyably bad (outside of the more distasteful abuse scenes) with the tryhard vibes and the ludicrous decisions (e.g. talking cgi baby).

[@dochyde493]

It drives me up the wall. Marilyn Monroe was an intelligent, kind woman that deserved better in life and it's gross that she still doesn't get respect in death.

[@haveyoureadumineko]

thinking about how they didn't bother talkig about Freddie's death at all and instead gave us 30 minutes of a concert.

[@orimengu]

*Freddie. Also it was to celebrate the band's peak moment imo, Freddie's death was very slow and very depressing. I'd understand wanting to celebrate his life and acomplishments.

[@jamesn3122]

​@orimengu for 30 minutes though? It's not even a movie at the end, it's a weird music video. Garbage film

[@haveyoureadumineko]

@@orimengu Thanks for pointing out the typo! Also that's a valid argument but I do think it's super lame to not even bother telling the full story of the guy you're making a biopic about. And if they wanted to celebrate his life they could still do that by maybe exploring his legacy. The movie would be longer probably but that's just because Freddie's life is an insane story to tell. I still think it's super underwhelming to end it like this.

[@hypocriticalsatire3966]

​@@orimengu Funny because it seemed this movie tried to make a happy part of Freddie's life slow and depressing

[@orimengu]

@@haveyoureadumineko despite the very cinematic mistakes it makes and the weird pacing, I have a hard time agreeing with you because of the deep involvement that Brian May and Roger Taylor had with the making of the film; I think that if anyone knew how Freddie would like his story to be told, it would be them, and therefore I have a respect for the end product, albeit flawed.

[@BacklogReviewer]

After all the flaccid, vacant footage of Bohemian Rhapsody in the first two thirds of the video, I genuinely teared up at the real Live Aid footage. The film captures none of the man’s electric presence, absolutely criminal stuff

[@laurena9563]

100000 percent the last thirty minutes of Bohemian Rhapsody trying to recreate Live Aid just made me think, "Why am I not rewatching the actual Live Aid yet?"

[@fwestah]

radio ga ga is just always going to be one of the most emotionally swelling songs EVER for me.

[@Cosplaybuddygiraffes]

It’s telling that it’s the most replayed part of the video. Freddie just COMMANDS your attention

[@DsRelaxingSounds]

Yeah that really put it into perspective that the movie version just pales in comparison to the real thing. It's a shame, I wish we could have had the version with Sacha Baron Cohen.

[@amagicallaura]

​@@laurena9563me too, i do cry easily but it was this huge emotional whiplash!!

[@vanityvanityvanityvanity]

It's really weird how Rami Malek starred in one of *the* best, most thought-provoking shows of all time - Mr. Robot - just to have Hollywood put him in very mediocre projects. I hope he gets something fantastic again soon.

[@RedMoonSolitary]

He was in twilight too! 😂

[@fedweezy4976]

He was pretty good in Amsterdam

[@spiritedha1534]

night at the museum ;)

[@zachfakelastname]

This always felt like it was kinda in the same trend of kill your gays. Not the fact that he died cause thats obviously just something real that happened, but the idea that you can't show queer characters being happy cause then the big bad boogey man of gay man would destroy society. They couldn't show him being happy cause then it might say that being queer can be liberating and we cant have that

[@tjenadonn6158]

It seems that queer joy is one of cinema's last taboos. You can depict any act of gratuitous violence your heart can dream up, there have been multiple mainstream cinema releases with unstimulated hetero sex acts, blasphemy, libel, slander, defamation all fly freely and furiously. But the depiction of someone who is queer and happy about it, and living a happy and fulfilled life in the fullness of their queerness gets the censors out in droves. Some people are shocked when I tell them that I'm happier than I've been in decades since coming out as trans and starting hormones because they're simply not exposed to the idea that trans people can be happy.

[@d3l3tes00n]

Queer Joy: The Destroyer Part 1 out in theaters 2069

[@starkillersneed]

It's even more egregious when Freddie, the sole queer member (as far as I know), also happens to be the only one shown to be a stereotypical hedonistic, druggie, oversexed rockstar in a band of literal and figurative straight men. Which they never were in real life.

[@e32b61]

The last people I would have thought capable of this crime would have been the band Queen.

[@buffypython]

I don't see it as Kill Your Gays, since he does end up with Jim Hutton & they're portrayed as happy, but I do think it has homophobic elements. It shows Freddie doing drugs & having sex with many people he doesn't know well, waking up & not remembering what happened, then immediately shows him getting the diagnosis. While he surely got AIDS from either sharing needles or unprotected sex, the number of people he had sex with didn't give him AIDS. You can get HIV from having unprotected sex with 1 person ever if they're positive.

[@ToddintheShadows]

THANK YOU. THIS DROVE ME CRAZY. He said he was doing it for career reasons!! He said it out loud!!

[@NationalHooeyLeague]

I just realised Idk your opinions on Queen. It would be an interesting watch

[@broodzitspecialist]

​@@NationalHooeyLeagueI really hope Todd does a Trainwreckords on Hot Space once. I'd ve to hear him tackle some Queen history!

[@trickster80]

woah its the guy who is in the shadows

[@TheTygre]

Why is this movie so washed out? Everything is so pale and cold in the movie. You compare it to the actual footage from Live-Aid and Freddie’s interviews and there’s just so much warmth and color in those.

[@mjoflaherty126]

Typing Bohemian Rhapsody (2018) feels like tempting fate for the possibility of a second, worse version

[@badger6882]

God no

[@stwbmc98]

If the title just said “Bohemian Rhapsody” people would assume he was talking about the song and jump at his throat before watching

[@northstarjakobs]

The best outcome for that would be another movie with the same title that is not a Freddie Mercury biopic but is instead a good movie about something else

[@timothymclean]

@@northstarjakobs Maybe a jukebox musical set in Bohemia.

[@broodzitspecialist]

​@@northstarjakobsperhaps a story about a man who confesses a murder to his mother and how he has to deal with that for the rest of his life?

[@laurena9563]

One thing I hated as a John Deacon fan was the dunking on John throughout the film. Like, the constant attitude that he's "Always there" as a joke and treating him like he was just some hanger-on, when he literally was responsible for some of Queen's most long-lasting hits (Another One Bites the Dust, You're My Best Friend, I Want to Break Free), just stunk of some sort of weird misplaced jealousy from Roger/Brian, or because he didn't want to be involved after retiring from music.

[@conspiracyyui8642]

TRUE not to mention he is, if we're going to be historically accurate, probably the only one in the band who didn't have any problems like someone else in this comment section mentioned, he is the true saint of the band lol

[@Starfishluver]

@@conspiracyyui8642that’s true, but also not, I agree he was quiet and really the saint for the hits but this guy had 6 kids before the age of 30 and I’m pretty sure somewhere I read he cheated on his wife before 😭😭

[@Starfishluver]

I believe he signed on the movie but never did any involvement on it. I agree with John’s character, he didn’t have anything to rely on to learn his character because John never showed up and he probably only used interviews, I feel like he was only there for snarky jokes, just to be sassy… it kinda sucked seeing Brian and Roger getting more lines then he did .

[@ariyellsalot8961]

It's kinda odd that this movie is more boring than documentaries about Freddie's life. I've watched a couple and they are a delight because of all the interviews and stories about a man like him. This movie just missed the assignment.

[@dochyde493]

If this movie was any good they would have dedicated the last thirty minutes to his friendship with Monstserrat Caballé.

[@rickmoranisstan]

I cannot stomach Rami Malek's depiction of Freddie. Physically, he is way off. Tiny, scrawny, bug-eyed and blazé. His cadence is not even close, not even one tenth of the charisma you can see in interviews of the real Freddie. And he didn't even sing the songs in the movie, it was all lip-synced. I am genuinely appalled by the dishonesty in this portrayal, nevermind the endless praise he received upon the release of the film. Just a hard miss through and through.

[@lenonel3286]

Yeah I heard Sacha Baron Cohen was the original cast, and I think he would've been better in the role

[@athenajaxon2397]

I still can't believe he won like he's a good actor but this performance was fine I thought Bradley Cooper was way better that year and probably would've won if he was playing a real person

[@JackMorgan06]

I agree mostly aside from the lip syncing part, that's a dumb criticism.

[@leow3696]

I can't criticise the lip-syncing in this case, but I agree with everything else. It was painfully obvious during the Live Aid scene-Freddie was pretty ripped, and you can see it in the actual photos and footage, big strong biceps coming out of the white tank top. Rami was far too skinny.

[@sanna9062]

Of course he didn't sing

[@Jokoko2828]

This is a movie of how to take a fun dude and make him absolutely fucking miserable.

[@be4ndo]

I really wish we lived in the universe where we got the gritty version starring Sacha Baron Cohen

[@SleepBeforeYouThink]

Me too! I thought I was one of the only people who wanted this and thought SBC looked like Freddie. Also, and this could just be me, Malek looks too short to play Freddie.

[@kostajovanovic3711]

What if that one ended up like Blonde?

[@SleepBeforeYouThink]

@@kostajovanovic3711 that movie has dogshit reviews. I can’t imagine Sacha Baron Cohen being in a movie like that.

[@jamiesprinkbob]

@@SleepBeforeYouThink hed make it really funny tho ngl

[@blahblahsaurus2458]

I'm sure he'd have done a 10x better job than Rami Malek but... I really can't picture him in that role 😅

[@thelostremainunfound]

I wish we’d seen more of Hutton and Freddy’s relationship personally. Freddy is an incredibly powerful queer icon that everyone in my generation has grown up with. He deserved a movie that was fun and spunky like he was. The only part of the movie I enjoyed was the Live Aid concert and that was mostly because it was just a recreation of said concert with more cinematic angles. I honestly could have just watched Live Aid for free on KZbin and had much more fun. The one thing Freddy said that was in the back of my mind during the movie was how the only thing he said not to do with his music and legacy was make it boring and I feel they did exactly that :/

[@jeanmichellelaurent]

I honestly do want a sequel based on the memoir "mercury and me", and base it on Freddie's final years and bond with Jim Hutton

[@koybze]

nothing says an oscar is a completely meaningless award given out by out of touch ghouls that hate movies more so than bohemian rhapsody winning best editing

[@conspiracyyui8642]

I still can't believe it actually won Like I was already baffled that it even got nominated because the editing was basic at best and at worst just so so so bad (i.e. too much cuts, that one scene where the band couldn't fit in a single frame together for some reason so they did this weird ass fast cut from Freddie, John, and Roger to Brian) I think it only got nominated on the basis of the Live Aid scene tbh 😭 and even that's wack as shit because it's literally just a recreation of the og recording so uhh

[@alexathegator]

I hate this movie so much. The moment that it broke me completely was when he confessed his illness to his bandmates. The dialogue still sticks in my brain like a rusty nail: Freddie: "I've got it." his bandmates "...What?" Freddie: "...AIDS." It's so fucking amazingly bad. I couldn't help but laugh right there in the cinema at the absurdity of these couple lines, so inexcusably awfully written as if they were handcrafted by Tommy Wiseau himself. And I felt so vile and disgusting for laughing at a man confessing that he's dying. Fuck this movie for making me laugh at a terrible tragedy because of it's shitty dialogue.

[@WingoEthan]

I got the results of the tests back. I definitely have AIDS.

[@skunkjo3195]

Anyway, how's your sex life?

[@kialo6790]

I don't see what's wrong with the dialogues When a gay man told you "he's got it" in the 80s, you know what he got but you still won't assume it is AIDS too much

[@skeetsmcgrew3282]

@@kialo6790 Ok fine, but then don't express it outloud after hinting at it. It makes me think of someone saying "Would you like to examine my wears?" ..."...huh?" ..."Drugs, do you wanna buy drugs?" It's a comedy beat, not how you confess a terrible disease

[@leow3696]

Ben Hardy's acting in that scene was fucking appalling. I didn't like the film overall, but at least Gwilym Lee and Joseph Mazzello actually fucking tried to make their reactions look genuine and heartbroken, then it cuts to Ben Hardy and he's got the most 'dull surprise' look imaginable.

[@abbeybarry7332]

If anyone here would like a more accurate and heartfelt portrayal of Freddie Mercury, I would recommend "Mercury and Me", written by his husband (not by law, but it is how they referred to each other!) Jim Hutton, which covers the latter end of his life. I'd also suggest "Freddie Mercury: A Life In His Own Words", which is made up entirely of direct quotes from him on various aspects of his life. Freddie was an amazing person, not nearly as sanitized and strange as this movie portrays him.

[@mizjulio]

I haated this movie, it also leans into the worst parts of how being gay works and AIDS stigma (watch rocketman instead, it has fun with it)

[@davidtaylor142]

I liked Rocket Man. It wasn't perfect but it was fun

[@v_bunny]

it rlly enforced the stereotype that only gay men get AIDS 🙄

[@cassielcruzchavolla809]

Rocketman was so much better , I know they are only compared because they came out around the same time ...but Rocketman deserves the hype so much more over this movie.

[@JesterQueenAnne]

@@cassielcruzchavolla809 they are also compared for being biopocs of queer male musicians. Like it's not just about them coming out at the same time.

[@ReitheOffbeatOtaku]

⁠​⁠@@JesterQueenAnneAnd they’re _also_ compared because the two movies both share a director; Dexter Fletcher replaced Bryan Singer as director of Bohemian Rhapsody late into production after Singer was exposed as a pedophile, and Fletcher then went on to direct Rocketman after that. You could totally argue that Rocketman was basically a spiritual successor to BR.

[@SmokeyDora]

The worst thing is that rocketman came out soon after. It was a better movie, but not as popular as bohemian rapsody which is sad imo :(

[@laurena9563]

And then I feel it got snubbed more at the Oscars than Bohemian Rhapsody, because it was almost like, "Oh, we already awarded a musician biopic in the last five years. We can't do that again for a film with 10000 times better editing" (even though Bohemian Rhapsody somehow won for it's super-subpar editing job).

[@Erasureeraser]

Both Queen and Elton John are legends but Queen is certainly way more popular than Elton. And the fact that Elton is still alive kinda put some people off because probably the mindset was "yeah at the end of the day, Elton is still alive so why should we bother watch his biopic movie?". And the R Rating held back for its wider audiences and banned in some countries whereas BoRhap played way too safe and its PG13

[@laurena9563]

The fact that this movie thought it ended on a "high note" with a 30 minute recreation of Live Aid, when all it made you want to do was question why you weren't watching the actual live performance from the band themselves.

[@CinnamonQuills]

The awfulness of this movie is a direct result of it being made with the detailed involvement of the surviving band members, whose one agenda was to make themselves look amazing and blameless and take credit for every single success the band had while being smol innocent beans. There probably won't be a good Freddy Mercury biopic until they can't step in and make huffy noises about being made to look like he wasn't a footnote to their genius.

[@laurena9563]

And note how the one band member not explicitly involved (John), gets constantly put down for a laugh throughout the film, even though he's responsible for some of the most long lasting and popular songs in Queen (You're my Best Friend, etc.). I would have been so mad if I was John at the scene where they play it for laughs that they can't think of what John brings to the group besides a constant presence.

[@jeremykrane4855]

brian may and roger taylor were both very closely attached to this movie, and all that fact does is make me wonder if they ever even *liked* freddie that much, with all the scenes of freddie being an ass, as well as being verbally beat down by a lot of people in this movie.

[@mnschoen]

Can we talk about how proud everyone was about the dental prosthetic? Everyone talked about those fake teeth like they were the star of the movie when they were just distracting. Also, Freddie Mercury had pretty normalish teeth for his day an age so I was just distracted because I think his character in the movie was just Look At My Teefs.

[@laurena9563]

100 percent. And while Freddie obviously had protruding teeth, it wasn't to the point that when he closed his mouth they were basically still visible, like the prosthetics. They actually took away from any performance Rami Malek was trying to give because he so clearly was struggling to speak clearly in them AND put on an accent.

[@allergiccookies6735]

as someone with significantly protruding teeth, it feels so weird to see someone who... also just had his own kinda unique arrangement of teeth, which is not a notable thing, and the movie be like heehoo this weirdo ain't got the same teeth as everyone else we better make sure that's represented

[@alisoncrimson]

i saw bohemian rhapsody when it came out in theaters and really loved it, but over the years i ended up listening to every Queen album and doing a ton of research on the band, only to return to the film and wonder what the hell was wrong with past me.

[@ffion8815]

same. however good the movie would’ve been I still would have discovered Queen, so its a shame that THIS was the movie that introduced me to it.. there was so much potential 😢

[@conspiracyyui8642]

Same 😭 I think I eventually forgot BoRhap once I got deep into the the real history of the band and the only part of the film I continuously enjoyed were the cast's interactions outside of it I still love Queen, just sad that the biopic of one of my fave bands is ass when it could have been so much better

[@annaolson4828]

Freddie also clearly LOVED performing and didn't take himself seriously, unlike...whatever the hell this is. Actually my favorite Freddie Mercury anecdote was about when he met Sid Vicious, who cussed him out and got aggressively in his face. Freddie Mercury literally just pushed Sid backwards out the door.

[@harrymon0]

"Freddie Mercury fuckin' rules!" True words have never been spoken.

[@poweroffriendship2.0]

I think _Rocketman (2019)_ did the better job at being a biopic film than _Bohemian Rhapsody_ would ever be. The fact that Eggsy from the _Kingsman_ series managed to capture Elton John's portrayal is superb and the film gives off a Broadway musical feel that makes his story feels magical.

[@ea5145]

And he can sing. It was great

[@christianwise637]

I used to really like Bohemian Rhapsody when it first came out, but I think it's very telling that I haven't watched it again since Rocketman came out, and I don't really have any desire to do so

[@stwbmc98]

How are you typing in italics?

[@StandardGaming]

And it was also probably partially undercut as an Oscars contender since Bohemian Rhapsody took home some key awards the previous year- if Rami deserved that Oscar, Taron DEFINITELY deserved a shot at one as well.

[@mickb44]

rocketman sucked coundnt stand the elton self pity in the movie

[@silashurd3597]

I think Schaffrillas had really good points on this movie and it winning the Oscars for Best Picture; 1. They treat Mercury’s straight relationship like as if it was better than him being in his same s*x relationship 2. It has the same typical formula you’d see in a movie like this like Queen being a band that falls into pieces but than Mercury realizes he was wrong, then the band gets back together 3. The Director. The director, Bryan Singer is a scumbag and was reportedly a scumbag on set as well to where he got fired, but since he worked on most of the movie rather than his replacement, he still got the credit which proves that Hollywood is trash for rewarding terrible people like Singer, all because of some movie that likely shouldn’t have gotten the Oscar.

[@saml302]

man I saw this in theaters w a group, and everyone walked out pumped abt how good they thought it was. except me. when it got to my turn to say what I thought, all I could say was "I can't tell if I liked the movie or if I just like Queen"

[@chiar0scur0]

A lot of biopics are annoyingly inaccurate. Except Weird Al's, which is perfect

[@Butwheredotheducksgo]

I’m in the minority that hated it. Absolutely love weird Al but i was bored by the constant pop culture references and “meta humor” and I hate how they did Madonnas character making her evil and “slutty” and an addict without her permission. What the fuck did madonna ever do 😭

[@alexjames7144]

The weird personal focus for Live Aid was particularly bizarre because Freddie was born in Zanzibar and so obviously is going to have a very different experience and perspective on this than most of the other people performing, it's way more personal and I'm actually shocked joel didnt bring this up.

[@jossypoo]

Rami played Freddy like a Jesus figure

[@ervin7178]

Rami plays a Jesus figure in everything.

[@amnoirgg8563]

Man, Freddie was so cool. This movie just made me wish he was still around so we could see more of the real him. Breaks my heart he left us early.

[@Awkward7176]

I remember when the movie was aired on the Polish state TV. They couldn't just play the movie, no - they had to add half an hour of a one-sided "debate" that though Freddie Mercury made good music, his way of life was bad, especially because being gay is bad and that Freddie Mercury "was at least not open about it".

[@crystalic_heart]

Do you remeber where it was aired? I'm guessing TVP

[@luna-p]

Gross

[@alexf225]

​​@@crystalic_hearto way it was lmao Edit: wait, actually it's possible with this "dabate" about his queerness.

[@crystalic_heart]

@kemist578 from my experience it ain't that bad

[@Butwheredotheducksgo]

@@crystalic_heart*if you aren’t gay

[@thisguy8106]

"I wanna be impressed by him bc Freddie Mercury fkn rules!" Amen!

[@jossypoo]

You and Little Joel should do a collab!

[@yucky-yucky]

that would be so cool

[@PublicDudeBaby]

That would be amazing!!

[@kristad7204]

I believe they're in different time zones. Might not be practical.

[@pory-z]

no way, these guys are so different there's no way they can possibly work together

[@vurpo7080]

I think Medium Joel would be a good fit

[@KealohaHarrison]

I want less standard biopics like Bohemian Rhapsody and Straight Outta Compton and more ones like I’m Not There and Love & Mercy that are more art house and avant-garde, ones that break the mold of the boring old rags-to-riches/cradle-to-grave story that’s been done to death and thoroughly parodied in Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story.

[@ajsnyder6160]

The weird al one was pretty funny though

[@wusstunes]

Love and mercy was kind of a mess and I loved it

[@ArtisticlyAlexis]

Walk Hard & it's farcical comedy got me through one of the toughest points in my life. That silly movie is a hidden gem of a parody.

[@Butwheredotheducksgo]

We NEED an avant-garde Heart biopic

[@thebasedgodmax1163]

@@wusstunes how was it a mess?

[@hebedite4865]

As a kid my life and soul were literally dedicated to Freddie Mercury, and I had been following the development of the movie since like 2012 at least and was excited about it, but as it got closer and closer to release I couldn't help but cringe at how poorly Brian and Roger handled the movie in general, and how they ridiculed John for not going to the premiere when they knew he wouldn't have anything to do with it as has been the case since Freddie died.... I still haven't watched the movie because there isn't really any point in me doing so, and i know it would just piss me off and I would scream about how "that never happened" at the screen the whole time so yeah this video resonates pretty hard with me lmao.

[@laurena9563]

100 percent John is the only one who had enough sense to step away, and throughout his characterization through the film, there's literally a scene where they're basically going through what everyone brings to the band, and of course, everyone else has amazing things they bring to the band (Charisma, talent, etc.). They literally get to my man John, and are like, "AND JOHN. YOU'RE ALWAYS- THERE." It's played as a joke but it just speaks volumes and they act like my man wasn't responsible for some of the best songs Queen composed. >_>

[@DiamondDogVenomSnake1984]

I watched this in theatres the day it came out as I've been a very big Queen fan my entire life, and the moment I knew it wasn't really worth anyone's time was the scene where Paul Prenter is leading Freddie down a red lit hallway as "Another One Bites The Dust", their most disco (i.e. Gay) song plays. Paul is literally portrayed as leading Freddie deeper into "the gay lifestyle". Freddie Mercury being so unafraid of who he was was a really big influence on me as a kid and was a massive part of me being able to accept my own queerness at a pretty young age, so seeing his queerness represented in such a way was really just disgusting to me. I get very annoyed when every time someone brings up how bad this movie is they always make sure to go "oh but Rami Malek as Freddie was AMAZING" and I have no idea how they're able say that because _he's just not playing Freddie Mercury in my opinion._ He's doing an excellent job of portraying the Sad Pathetic Gay the writers put on screen, I'll give him that I guess.

[@JC-yy8iv]

Exactly, out of everything that was the worst to me, that narratively his queerness is treated like an addiction or vice, like ooh he strayed from the path of a happy healthy life into this decadent, hedonistic lifestyle- and the movie 100% implies that contracting HIV was a moral consequence of that, and that his only redemption is that before dying he returned to a “good” life focusing on the band and Mary (meanwhile making Jim Hutton basically a footnote despite them being together for over a decade). Ugh it’s just the worst

[@NoahPurdyFR]

I feel like the movie version of Freddie acts like he already had AIDS before he formed Queen

[@edwinniz]

Just the fact that they changed his AIDS date says a lot about who made the movie and the movie itself

[@DoggyHateFire]

Yeah, I don't have problems with historical films playing around with timelines here and there, but changing the date he got his AIDS diagnosis seems pretty egregious.

[@edwinniz]

@@DoggyHateFire yeah, I can handle some little changes, but the movie turned out to be a big fan fiction with how much stuff they changed, from small stuff to considerably relevant stuff

[@carnigob42069]

the thing that made me the most mad abt bohemian rhapsody (2018) is that they did a shot-for-shot re-enactment of the entire live aid concert from start to finish which was just basically padding for an already fairly drawn out movie tbh. it was so silly seeing these ppl act like musicians, seeing rami malek and his stupid fake teeth pretending to sing to a mostly digital crowd. it felt like a farce, like they were trying to cover up the actual performance, and i realize now why they didn't just have the actual concert at the end of the film: they would have had to face the cognitive dissonance between the incredibly charming, charismatic, energetic, wonderful, powerful presence of the real freddie and the victimized manic pixie dream boy freddie they created for the film.

[@cheesebread3]

My mom forced me to watch this with her after a breakup telling me it’s a “feel good” film. I still don’t forgive her

[@Gooberpatrol66]

I always felt kind of weird about the subplot where Freddy gets into the gay subculture and the band eventually convinces him to leave, pushing the message that "these people are bad for you".

[@freethesoft1088]

Yes indeed!!

[@lessalazar9068]

I mean, it is what killed him in the end. You really, and absolutely cannot deny that if Freddie wasn't as promiscuous as he was, he wouldn't have died. And in real life, Paul Prenter was seen as a bad influence over Freddie by the band and most people around them.

[@Starfishluver]

@@lessalazar9068I’ve been a queen fan for years, but I can never bring myself to research on Paul.. I really don’t know why. I think his presence could make me care less, but correct, Freddie constantly cheated on Jim hutton for a while, and gosh who knows what and who he was dealing with.

[@DumbIdeaPresentedStupidly]

A favorite moment of mine in queen lore that any decent queen film would have included. Queen was a band with a ton of glam and prog rock aesthetics that fit right into the early 70s, but the back half of the late 70s saw them clashing with the punk rock scene. While Freddie talked about brining ballet to the masses, and Brian May played at Queen Elizabthes jubilee, literally on the roof of Buckingham palace; The sex pistols where singing a different god save the queen song. Just so happen that they where recording in the same studio. Freddie was at the mixing board when sid vicious asked him "so have you brought ballet to the masses yet" (Dont have to read between the lines to hear the hemophobia in that) Freddie walked up and grabbed him by the collar. Called him 'Simon Ferocious' and said he hadn't yet but when he dose ‘What are you going to do about it?’. Retelling this an 80s interview "He was very well marked. I said, ‘Make sure you scratch yourself in the mirror properly today, and tomorrow you're going to get something else" That feels like such a cool cinematic moment. OK maybe they could not get permission to us sid vicious, but a scene inspired by it feels tailored made for a movie.....and this one dose nothing with that

[@lessalazar9068]

The real life story of Queen has so, so much more to offer then the piss poor writers of this film could come up with. It is ridiculous how inaccurate and terrible this film is.

[@GBart]

I didn't know much about Freddie Mercury going into that movie, and coming out of it I felt like I knew less.

[@radical6905]

the script was what annoyed me the most dialogue was just terrible throughout, none of the conversations sounded real *btw small note, regarding Africa not coming up prior to the Live Aid show in the movie, it somewhat of a thread through the movie given Freddie and his family moved to England from Tanzania (Zanzibar). He was born in Africa but i guess the film doesnt do a good job of making that thread obvious

[@amitthehuman]

So the bi guy has to prove himself to his conservative father? That is genuinely so shitty. Not only that, but they have to present partying and having sex as something to be ashamed of. I get that some people are addicted, but I doubt his father had this kind of nuance.

[@doodoobonejones]

It's the same problem with these biopics focused on these larger than life personalities. They always want to make them seem deep and introspective, instead of making them act like real people. In the All Eyez On Me film, they made Tupac seem like an asshole. He's always giving some empassioned speech and is lost in thought. They don't even seem like real people

[@JoJoJoker]

Walk Hard is everything Bohemian Rhapsody wanted to be as a film. A raw, adult take on a 20th century musical icon.

[@davidv1376]

Schafrillas copies your disney sequel video topic and right away Big Joel is hunting for a hit piece on his Shrek the musical video. Out for blood.

[@sarcasticstartrek7719]

Please learn the difference between AIDS and HIV. He was diagnosed with HIV. If he had AIDS at the time of the concert, he'd not be able to do the concert.

[@BigJoel]

yeah, I regret speaking incorrectly, there. oftentimes the two are used interchangeably, but I agree that I shouldn't have here

[@michaelburleson2687]

@@BigJoel Common Big Joel W

[@malgoooooo]

Too me it always felt like they were afraid to show him as a human. It suffers from people who knew him being too involved.

[@Humorless_Wokescold]

My favorite thing about this movie is how the editor went on a seven minute rant about a youtuber that didn't like the film's editing. That's when you know a project is Oscar worthy.

[@DoggyHateFire]

Really? Showing some real confidence in his art lol.

[@valawee]

Link?

[@nimrodery]

More like an explanation of how the manager scene was so badly cut. Where's the rant?

[@Humorless_Wokescold]

@@nimrodery he goes on to taunt thomas flight for being a know nothing and says only people who don't matter had a problem with the film.

[@Humorless_Wokescold]

@@nimrodery if you wanna simp for this movie, go ahead. but this was elon musk level cringe. not something "the best in his field" should be doing.

[@justinhamilton8647]

I turned the movie off completely after it insinuates that Freddie broke up the band by going solo. In reality, Freddie was THE LAST to go solo after Roger and Brian. Freddie is spinning so fast in his grave he’s probably powering up the entire graveyard.

[@nowlun]

This movie did to Freddie Mercury the exact same thing The Imitation Game did to Alan Turing. It dehumanizes them and makes their story a pity parade of sadness and victimhood by the end

[@ComradeWW]

In History Buff's review of this movie, he pointed out a couple things that really irked me as well: 1) There's a big scene in the movie where Freddie decides to go solo, and the rest of the band is offended and flabbergasted, accusing him of breaking up Queen. In reality, all the other members of the band had done solo projects well before Mercury, and him doing solos was an eventuality. 2) Queen's decision of reconciling for Live Aid is given the cheesy reason of "Because we're _family_ ," when in real-life interviews they explicitly said they are more like workmates rather than friends, much less a "family." It really annoys me how spiteful this movie feels towards Freddie. I don't want to assume anything, but given how the other members consulted on it, you can see the how they had clear biases against him and his personal life.

[@kevinkoval3610]

I remember at the time Bohemian Rhapsody received middling to poor reviews, and the only thing everyone agreed on was that Rami Malek's performance saved the movie. And then all of a sudden it was a frontrunner during awards season. It won the Golden Globe for Best Drama, was nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars, and it won the most Oscars of any film that year--including Best Film Editing and Best Actor. Audiences generally liked it and it did extremely well at the box office. But I never understood how this movie went from middle-of-the-road crowd pleaser to one of the best of the year. 2018 was also the year that Green Book won Best Picture though, so that year was clearly cursed.

[@Erasureeraser]

Lol I remember the trouble production this movie had than the outcome of the movie after its release 😂

[@willsith9762]

So strange seeing this guy who was historically blindingly vibrant, with this goofy mustache and gaudy outfits and big wide smile, and het all slathered over with a coat of grey paint because moody is somehow better

[@bevanmorgan3946]

This won an award for editing but people still get wound up about the Oscars as if they mean anything in terms of quality

[@Nicolette.hummel]

As a huge queen fan, this movie has the stench of Mary’s grubby little hands all over it. The homosexual erasure and demonization, the way she is the only person who can fix him. Heteros absolutely massacred this piece of cinema.

[@chrislawuk]

Yeah I lapped up Roy Hutton’s book of his time with Freddie and it still kind of sticks in my craw that he left her the house… still, I guess it was Freddie’s decision… right

[@Nicolette.hummel]

@lonesomechimneysweep5599 bae you don’t wanna know

[@laurena9563]

I legitimately was shocked by the "NO FREDDIE" line where within the movie she basically negates his own sexuality, then the rest of the movie legitimately has him awkwardly smiling at his later life partner (who Mary later screwed over), and then they're suddenly a couple. Cause lord forbid there be any explicit homosexuality in the Freddie Mercury biopic, of all things.

[@bibrosko]

@@Nicolette.hummel i do...👀

[@Twat_Dirt]

I'm confused, wasn't Mary his ex-wife who he confessed his sexuality to and wasn't she okay with it? Weren't they still close?

[@colinvandenberg3446]

I was utterly baffled when this won Best Editing at the Oscars. I think the voters confused "best editing" for "most editing." I'm also bitter about how this movie screwed over "Rocket Man."

[@thejoin4687]

To be fair, it was a sublime example of the ability to edit out the fun and joy from Freddie's life and leave him completely boring.

[@nikolasscheeks]

I didn’t know Lindsay Ellis was on Nebula. I thought she had given up video content creation entirely. I think Nebula is a good streaming service, and this has given me the push I needed to sign up.

[@Thumbdumpandthebumpchump]

"Why are you acting like you're trying to be inspirational in front of an audience" This is honestly the main problem with most biopics

[@BrigonChomhgaill]

I heard a Queen fan theorise that Queen playing Live Aid was the culmination of their redemption arc for violating the creative embargo on apartheid-era South Africa, and tbh that makes sense, but the surviving members of Queen were producers on the movie and I can understand why they probably didn't want to draw attention to the fact that - contrary to the narrative of the rest of the movie - Freddie wasn't the only source of drama and bad decisions in the band.

[@WobblesandBean]

"Whatever you do with my music, don't make it boring". ~Freddie Mercury.

[@patriciahammondsongs]

So many modern biopics take the twinkle, the spark, the smile, away from the subject. And it was that humour that made us love them. Judy Garland and Johnny Cash are two particularly egregious examples recently. Both could be HILARIOUS, both made you love them with their ability to make you laugh. And then when any sadness came, it had real impact.

[@Levyathyn]

This film is also a little bit of a hit piece. The band members of Queen were absolutely instrumental in the band's success, obviously. But who they got for this film either misled the filmmakers about the true history on several occasions, or when those times popped up didn't correct them, and some of the issues are glaring. They write moments of Mercury being lazy or not putting in the time to practice, when he was by recorded account on many occasions the first one in and last one out of the studio, spending much of his free time singing and writing. They have him be this,not mopey but quietly, stoically sad figure so often when his public persona for so long was always cheerful, always holding the world together. And more. Now nobody is perfect, especially famous rock stars, but they sanded down the edges unique to this man's story and shaped the entire thing much, much more traditionally. It's just a standard by-the-numbers biopic, makes no effort to portray the most staggering and incredible moments in Queen's history OR Freddie's, and I think it did a shit job.

[@camipco]

The refusal to let Freddie be happy also explains why the movie basically ignores the fact he was in-all-but-law married to Jim Hutton for ELEVEN YEARS. They lived together, they exchanged rings, they had cats, they stayed together through the HIV/AIDS diagnosis until Freddie's death. By all accounts, it was a happy, stable marriage, but the movie can't tell that queer story because it's not Tragic (tm).

[@xBINARYGODx]

I also hate it because it's just more anti bi stereotyping - the gay men are there for sex and hedonism, but the pure, white, blond woman is the only true godly approving love he is permitted to enjoy. Yes, many bi men will do that, but, how about we get something other than this or the usual "I can't be happy with only you, my new gay love - I also want to bang and be in love with your female best friend at the same time! I am bi, you see, I dont date one person at a time, but two at a time - always, I cannot be happy without two people!"

[@xBINARYGODx]

at any rate, this is still not as tragic as Olive Stone's The Doors. The film, if you ignore its supposed to be a biopic, is electric, exciting - captures a slice of that 60's culture, is blown up - but as an actual story of Jim M? Putrid.

[@belindapaul9828]

I thought it was a trash flick overall but I kinda feel like you’re projecting your own gaze here tbh. Firstly, to my knowledge, Freddie never publicly identified as Bi, Gay, straight or anything else. The movie doesn’t definitely define his sexuality either but implies he’s Gay rather than Bi. Freddie himself describe Mary as the love of his life so idk???! And she is actually white😂 but Freddie was Indian Parsi so idk where you get the notion that the script portrays him as searching for a ‘white’ woman cause ‘God’. Again, I didn’t like the film… but it does attempt to show why Freddie struggled with his sexual & cultural identity within that social / historical context. Also, facts is facts! Dude was raging out on the down-low (and good for him). But, the down-low is where it’s at when minority groups are oppressed - and the film does make a clear comment about oppression, shame & discrimination. So, I’m honestly not sure what you’d want from the script given that it’s about Freddie’s journey?

[@JesterQueenAnne]

@@belindapaul9828 Freddie never made a public declaration of his sexuality, but he was openly bi. Media straightwashed him for all of his career, then gaywashed him posthumously, because even if homophobia was strong at the time, biphobia was stronger. The movie is homophobic, and reuses old narratives that were used back then to try and diminish Freddie's queerness. That of him being a straight man whose only true love was Mary, but got tempted by gay men and that killed him. The movie just slightly changed it to yeah, he was gay, and got tempted by The Bad Gays™ and only innocent angelic Mary could save him so he'd become one of The Good Gays™. Just a very disrespectful movie to both Freddie and everything he stood for in life.

[@belindapaul9828]

@@JesterQueenAnne Where in the flick was Freddie depicted as an innocent lured over to the ‘dark side’ by a bunch of Gay boys? Where did it depict straight as good & everything else as other? That literally didn’t happen. It’s a commentary on the path he walked because (like many of other folk) he couldn’t simply be himself. An anti-Gay film wouldn’t have painted his final love story in such a positive light. I’m not saying they did a great job of anything cause they didn’t imho - but it’s weird af to call his journey an ‘old narrative’ given that these are the actual bones of life. Would you rather they reinvented stuff? Pretend that he didn’t love Mary til his dying days? Acted like he wasn’t forced underground but was leading his best life out & proud? Cause that’s not what happened. I totally agree that the Bi Community get hammered more than others though. However, Freddie wasn’t openly Bi - he wasn’t openly anything. He never made a public statement of identity - never came out to his family. So, what’s with insisting on a label? If Freddie didn’t label himself, why even speculate? That’s disrespectful imo. The media shouldn’t wash him any which way, but nor should anyone else.

[@Twat_Dirt]

Only the bi dudes with a stronger preference for women will do that or as I like to call them, hetero-leaning bi’s.

[@SusieEffin]

i hate this movie bc we could have had Sacha Baron Cohen in the performance of a lifetime. He worked on that movie with Queen for almost 10 years, but the band shut it down bc he wanted to stick too true to life and focus on Freddy not the band. They barely even made him gay, and did up the marriage with his friend-wife, and wrote out all the cool druggy stuff he did. How do you leave out midgets with coke trays on their heads? I blame the band, and also the actor just bc he isn't SBC. It could have been awesome.

[@Erasureeraser]

And you can tell that Sacha was so passionate about this movie when he tried to recruit David Fincher, yes that's right, David freaking Fincher to direct. Fincher was interested but he didn't sign on to direct as Sacha already left. And I hate how Roger's excuse for expelling Sacha from the project due to saying that Sacha is a bad actor. Like I get that Sacha is mostly known for his pranks and comedic stuff but the guy can pulled off an against type role very well like Hugo and The Trial of the Chicago 7. I always hate how people underestimate comedians when they got a chance to play an against type role cuz you never know that comedian can surprise you for playing a dramatic role

[@lessalazar9068]

There were never midgets with coke on their heads. That's been a myth for years now

[@Zanador]

To the point about Rami Malek's Freddy being weird an uncomfortable and distant and vaguely sad, I think that's on the casting director more than anything honestly because that's like Rami Malek's entire vibe in everything I've seen from him. I don't think they would've cast him for the role if that wasn't what they were goin for.

[@SpellboundWolf]

I only saw this film once. It was a date with my boyfriend to the theater. I personally had more fun singing the songs with him than watching the movie & that makes me sad. Mom gave me her own DVD of The Queen Movie, but I still have not watched it. It feels restrained, even neutered. They treat being gay/bisexual as the saddest thing that happened to Freddie before catching AIDS. They also made it look like this was about the band Queen, but it turned out to just about Freddie in an unfaithful retelling of his career. The only part I want to watch again is when they recorded the song Bohemian Rhapsody. The best shot of the film is when Freddie is standing in front of a blue truck, talking to the other band mates because the blues of this film are turned all the way up. I have heard from friends how Rocket Man feels like what The Queen Movie should have been.

[@DriscolDevil]

Just a reminder, Brian Singer never had to return any of his awards for his behavior or controversies. Slapping a comedian is unforgivable and psychotic, but apparently Brian Singer is still respectable enough to keep his academy awards. You can see where their priorities are.

[@Erasureeraser]

Wdym? Singer didn't win anything from this movie, not even the Oscars. He was also terminated from the producing credit

[@DriscolDevil]

@@Erasureeraser The movie got awards, being the director kind of gives you that claim. I guess I did exaggerate it, and I didn't know about him being removed from the producing credit. I guess I'm just annoyed that "the slap" was taken more seriously by the industry.

[@Erasureeraser]

@@DriscolDevil I know that the movie got awards but I don't recall Bryan Singer win anything for Bohemian Rhapsody 🤷 Most of the BoRhap awards goes to Rami instead of Singer. Singer's direction was horrible and bland (except for the live aid sequence although I can't tell if that's Singer's direction or Dexter Fletcher's direction) so it's good that he wasn't nominated for anything And yes about that producing credit, he always produced the movies that he directed. But of course since he got fired, Fox terminated their deal with Singer's production company including BoRhap

[@DriscolDevil]

@@Erasureeraser it feels like him still being the director kind of makes removing the producer credit a little pointless. The fact is he hasn't been blacklisted like people who have done far less. The guy still has a career.

[@Erasureeraser]

@@DriscolDevil He hasn't direct a movie since Bohemian Rhapsody came out which was exactly 5 years ago. So yeah, he's pretty much done. Even Dark Phoenix, the last X-Men movie in the franchise by Fox had his name removed from the producing credit due to his allegations. Obviously, he still got the directing credit because he shot most of the movie and hired the cast and crew so that's kinda understandable, but still he's pretty much done after BoRhap 🤷