@@davidbowman2001 Balls! If it were pronounced that way, it would be spelt that way; bio-pic, with a hyphen. And then you may as well just say 'biographical picture'. It's logical to shorten the o in 'biopic' because it's a combination of two individual abbreviations.
@@mrstephenpariah that changes the inflection of the word entirely. It makes the word sound like an adjective, like myopic, sapphic, graphic, angelic, exotic, etc.
The worst part of biopics is when people take what happened in the movie as fact, when there’s usually plenty of dramatized or straight up fictional events added
I've always found Jersey Boys unintentionally creepy. It turns out that, according to the movie, every love song that Frankie Valli wrote was for his daughter, and his daughter was a better singer than he was, and perfect in every way, and would have become a much bigger star if she hadn't died young. There's so many layers of creepiness there. Like, apparently, Can't Take My Eyes Off You is apparently the song he wrote as a tribute to his daughter, and the "I love you baby," is intended for her... Okay, Frankie.
i find it so sinister because even without the conscious acknowledgement of ‘oh this is what really happened’, people still subconsciously take it in and end up feeling some type of way about the real people portrayed in the biopic. i find this especially weird when it builds an image of a tragic figure at the centre who endures all these blows from very real people who did not act like that irl. even when creating a scene that is close to real life events, the quality of the acting, the tone of the voice, the slightest change in the wording can make someone into a villain or a tragic hero.
I watched Bohemian Rhapsody and wondered wgta was true and made up (because of the scene with Mike Myers) . I looked online. Let's just say that I stay away from biopic, or at least take them with a whole box of salt. Like they're fanfictions!
Winning awards for lazy Biopics is one thing.....winning awards for lazy biopics are serial killers is a whole other level.....holding an award for playing Jeffrey Dahmer is still wild
I think RedLetterMedia said it best. "Every few years there's a new Dahmer thing. Every few years I sigh because I'm so tired of hearing about Dahmer. Every few years there's a discussion about the ethics of making money from a Dahmer project because he was a real serial killer with real victims..." "...And every single time I watch the latest Dahmer thing. So, no, I don't think that they're gonna stop making Dahmer projects because we all watch them, especially those who are speaking out against them. Maybe if people online just ignored the Dahmer Netflix show instead of telling people how immoral it is they'd stop making them and Milwaukee could move on. But, that won't happen, so in another few years we're gonna get another Dahmer thing and the cycle will repeat."
@@ashblossomandjoyoussprung.9917Except-like others already said-I find the projects immoral and have never, nor will ever, consume any of these series. I would argue I’m in the majority on that. It feels silly (and shady honestly) to blame the backlash for these series’ success. It comes across as a weak way to try to reduce others’ moral critiques while ignoring the real problem. Which is that are *many* people who eat up this kind of sick media for breakfast, lunch, and dinner without a care in the world to the real-life people that were and are affected. *They’re* why this sort of media makes money.
The irony of Benedict Cumberbatch playing Hawking years before Redmayne, getting no notice for it, then portraying Alan Turing years later and LOSING the Oscar for that performance to Redmayne, who won the Oscar portraying Hawking. I can't get over it. (I do actually love both films but L O L)
This is why i like shows like bojack horseman because they can show an in depth look at a celebrity’s life without having a real name attached to the main character
I think the best (and definitely most realistic) biopic I’ve ever seen, was Weird Al Yankovic’s. then again, I’ve only ever seen one biopic, so I could be wrong.
I'm surprised you didn't talk about "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story", the ultimate biopic satire and probably the best biopic out there while being completely fictional.
I was hoping and praying, watched it for the the first time last month. But I watched walk the line like a million times when I was younger so it was fantastic.
The scourge of biopics seems to fit right into this metamodern period of IP consolidation where every film is either a remake, prequel, metaverse, biopic, or spinoff.
Definitely agree. I wrote a section on meta modernism for the video, but cut it because introducing the topic at the end of the video felt wrong so I kept it simple. would recommend thomas flights video on it
I remember thinking Joe Anderson would be perfect as Kurt Cobain because they look so alike, plus Anderson has a similar singing voice. But then I read Cobain's su*c*de note. The fact anyone could read it bothers me. Goes to show how we already dehumanise him. Long story short, I'm glad there is not a biopic of Kurt Cobain and thanks to Courtney Love, there may never be.
I think some biopics are genuinely interesting and can have compelling stories but these days a lot of them are just exploitation of famous dead people for Oscar bait.
A lot of them have always been exploitative. They've always whitewashed a lot of shit too. It feels like people who qualify statements with "these days" often have all the memory of a goldfish.
Most hilarious part of Bohemian Rhapsody (aside from the band members finger wagging and scolding Freddie for hosting a lavish do at his house) was the weird gay club scene. It was like, "OooOooOooohhhh NooooOoooOoo! Beware The Club of Gays! We can't show the debauchery. What with their bisexual lighting and leather ensembles. The censors would be scandalised!" 😂
@@davidbowman2001 It seems like when a band is heavily involved they tend to lie a lot. A funny example is the Motley Crue biography (The Dirt) which was apparently mostly made up. An interesting one is the Kiss biographies. Every band member released a book about their experiences with Kiss. Apparently, Ace Frehley's book was the most honest one, the rest were mostly lies that contradict each other. For instance, there's a bit in Paul and Gene's books where they talk about Peter's audition to re-join the band after taking drum lessons. In both of their books they lean over to the other and say "Are we on Candid Camera?" So, apparently both Gene and Paul leaned over towards Paul and Gene to say that amazing joke at Peter's expense. Though, apparently a lot of Ace's antics were real, but they're more sad than anything. One of my favorite bits is when Ace was on the floor, and Paul walked in and Ace flipped out on him. When asked why, Ace said "You're stepping on them! You're stepping on my friends!" because he was hallucinating.
@@davidbowman2001legit when I watched it for the first time in theatres I was baffled at how they were depicted as righteous when I'm sure they were as crazy as Freedie when it came to the party life style.
I love the way that movie producers and studios see ONE movie that did well and won an oscar and decides to make 50000 million movies exactly like the other movie but in different fonts so that the common people can't complain about hollywood not having original ideas anymore
i feel that a lot of biopics don't have anything going for them beyond the concept, like you were saying "huh, that would be interesting". the whole idea of biopics are "What if we recreated a bunch of scenes/looks from this famous artists career and told their story in a movie!" like at this point just start a tribute band/act you haven't added any nuance or creativity.
One biopic that I think is really great is Love and Mercy, about the life of Brian Wilson. By focusing on two brief but important periods of his life instead of his entire life, it retains the nuance and tragedy of his real life in a way that a movie like Bohemian Rhapsody that covers almost 20 years can’t pull off
@@JayshawnJones-rp4xc I love both of those movies. The biggest things for both of movies is the heavy involvement and passion of the people & families who KNEW them (either personally or through dedicated research) or the PERSON themselves (in the case of Tina’s movie). The only modern biopic that I feel like comes close to those vibes those two had was Rocketman and Tetris. Otherwise, you’re better off going for those biopic documentaries where they have dramatized or clipped moments with actual commentary from the people who knew them and professionals who analyzed their story. Examples of this are Amy by Asif Kapadia, Beatles: Get Back by Peter Jackson, and BBC’s Freddie Mercury: Who Wants to Live Forever.
alright hear me out: a biopic that plucks all of the biopic actors from other biopics and assembles them into an adaptation of them all working together in some kind of biopic cinematic universe. We'll call it "Supergroup"
I wish there were more biopics that explore a different side of the person in question, something that views them from a different perspective that’s neglected or not as well covered in pop culture
I mean, Courtney may have been fired from Flight Club for not giving Brad permission or she may have been fired for "going nuclear" on him. Either way, I'm thankful there's not been a Kurt/Nirvana biopic. I can't imagine anyone doing him justice.
If I had to choose a constant inner monologue casually critiquing ones life, it would probably be Joseph. Thoughtful, sad, bitter, slightly disappointed, but honest as ever lmaooo
yk i think it should be compulsory to put a clause in your will stating that no unauthorised biopics should be made about you but, then again, i would actually love to see a film about my neighbour greg who spends all day in bed watching youtube videos and leaving strange comments also, on a separate note: i dont think i can ever escape aydiambp help
People have actually tried that. It doesn't work. The problem is that the family can give permission for a biopic to be made, regardless of what the will says. So, if Kurt Cobain didn't want a biopic to be made they'd just have to get his daughter to sign off on it. Or, morbidly, if his daughter dies, and his wife dies, and neither have any more kids, no one needs permission except from Kurt's estate to use his likeness.
gus van sant actually made a movie inspired by kurt's life and death called last days that came out in 2005, similar to todd haynes' velvet goldmine(1998) which was supposed to be a bowie biopic but he was alive at the time and didn't like the idea so haynes just wrote like a fictional version of bowie which honestly makes for a way better movie
I actually really liked Rocketman. I know a lot of it was dramatized, but there were parts of the story that resonated with me. It probably helped that Elton John is alive and was involved in the production. And my parents loved telling me about their memories from when they were growing up seeing the music videos or hearing the songs. But you do bring up a good point about why biopics are made. I want to see a biopic to hear the lesser known stories of the person and what making music or becoming an actor was like for a given celebrity. A biopic should be a story about their life, insights into their highs and lows, what they learned and what the audience can learn from their experiences. Because they are people, and people have depth and complexities. When you fail to carry that over to the film, you haven't made a biopic. You made some fanfiction of a celebrity's life. Sure, slipping some references to things we've seen before is fun, but that should be an added treat, not the whole film. I find biopics interesting, and when they're done well, they can be inspiring and insightful stories about a celebrity's life. But when they're done just to use the brand and get an Oscar, they will naturally lack soul. And yeah unauthorized biopics just shouldn't be a thing. Those aren't trying to tell someone's story. Those are exploiting a famous name to get some cash and an award. If you don't have the subject of the biopic (if alive) or their family (and/or bandmates) involved in production, you are not going to tell their story in the way it should be told.
The only good music biopic is Rocketman. It didn’t follow the structure of “stuff, song, stuff, song.” It used the songs TO tell the story as a jukebox musical. Even though it does end on a feel good and triumphant note, it doesn’t shy away from Elton’s shittiest moments as an addict or just being a shitty person in general. It was done creatively and compassionately, but it didn’t shy away from the flaws. Those movies should do more of that or nothing at all.
There are plenty of good musician Biopics but they are much older. What's Love Got to Do With It, The Temptations, Get On Up, Ray, all of those are well done and very emotional but are just older.
You've convinced me to change my pronunciation. The two opics are clearly nowhere to be found, and I will sound like a prick no longer. Absolutely love your channel ❤.
Kurt Cobain is the absolute last person who would want a biopic made about them🤦🏼♀️ so disrespectful and obviously brad pitt doesn't have any idea who Kurt Cobain was as a person
i paused my game at the cumberbatch-redmayne, stephen hawking bit. thats mad, i had no idea it had already been done, takes the wind out of the whole fuckin' movie. Smashing video.
I remember when I was a kid and the only two biopics I remember were "La Bamba" about Richie Valens and "What's Love got to do with it" about Tina Turner. Both are brilliant movies and are good even if you don't who they're about. I certainly didn't know who Richie Valens was when I was six years old but I watched that movie sooo many times. These modern biopics, where they recreate things shot for shot.. it's just boring? Why would you not just watch a documentary with the actual person? It's weird. One of the only modern biopics I've enjoyed is Gus Van Sant's Nirvana one (can't remember what its called?), which was genuinely challenging to watch and really made me think. Also "I'm not there" where a whole heap of different actors played Bob Dylan, because it was doing something different. I do think "the Social Network" is awesome because I love David Fincher as a director, and the writing is awesome. Also I really enjoyed the beret but admittedly did think it was a tea cosy until you called it a beret. I feel a bit bad because I have a beanie that I wore when I was younger but my English teacher referred to it as a tea cosy, and I had no idea then what a tea cosy even was. So I shouldn't have made tea cosy assumptions there. Sorry mate. ETA The Gus Van Sant flick is "Last Days"! There is another fan in the comments ^_^
recently found out that there’s a biopic on Pasolini.. that ones really baffled me because from what I’ve seen about it it’s literally just about his murder, which keep in mind is still unsolved so I find that really gross tbh and just in general focusing on someone’s death is just an odd way to remember a real person
I haven’t seen it and don’t plan on doing so, so I can’t say if decent but in all honesty who asked for a Pasolini biopic it’s just seems like a really random dude to make a film about
The one genuinely good biopic imo is Control. Ian Curtis is portrayed tragically but realistically and it shows that he was a bit of a dick, liked taking drugs and unfortunately suffered from epilepsy at a time whilst it was really poorly treated and so on (I don't want to spoil it, just watch it, it's great).
I actually really liked 'Tetris' cause it showed a pretty ok portrayal of Russia, Soviet Russia in particular. Cause usually it is shown as over exaggerated totalitarian nightmare or a fantasy land of talking bears and always drunk people. But 'Tetris' did a good job showing the political problems and same level of bureaucracy as in America, greed of the Corp on both sides. So yeah, good bio-pic😅
Also the "Bio-pics" that you wonder what is the point in it being a Bio-pic when barely anything in it actually happened. I.e. The Darkest Hour apart from Winston Chruchill was the Prime Minister and an alocholic and the speak at the end not one other thing is true.
It's just like how so many videogames are being re-released nowadays. These companies want to make "History - Definitive Edition" and boost it to the front page of every Google search.
Bio-pic is the ONLY way to say the word and yes I couldn’t resist commenting, but I’m 100% right… so the is for literally spelling it out, it’s a relief you said right 😂
Frankly I can't believe they made a biopic about the sweatshop capitalists who heroically exploited Michael Jordan rather than the actual dude and his legendary basketball skillz
Imagine my horror whilst watching 'Don't Worry Darling' I discovered that I had been misled and it wasn't a biopic of our beloved herione Grace Darling
I think the points you touched on at the end there - the one about telling a story and not just copying pop culture moments into a screenplay, and the one about the ethics of making a fictional story about a real person's life - really cement the differences between Bohemian Rhapsody (the movie) and Rocketman for me. BoRhap (I'll just use the abbreviation to save time) was made in close consultation with Brian May and Roger Taylor (and if you believe the rumor, John Deacon was also quietly involved). Still, just because you knew and were in a band with someone doesn't automatically make you qualified to tell that person's story. By now, I'm sure most people know that extensive creative liberties were taken with BoRhap's story, the most significant (for me) being the move-up of Freddie Mercury's AIDS diagnosis to coincide with Live Aid in 1985. In reality, Freddie was diagnosed with AIDS two years later, with his bandmates being told well before the public ever knew. While I get that it adds drama to the story to make that change, it undercuts the casual cruelty of disease: it strikes when you least expect it, and its timing is never convenient. I maintain that if BoRhap had remained a story focused on Queen as a whole band instead of narrowing its focus to Freddie, then told the band's entire story from formation through to whenever they wanted it to end (Freddie's death in 1991, John's departure in 1997, etc.), that would have been a stronger movie. (For the record, I do still like BoRhap as a movie. I just don't consider it gospel truth about its subject matter.) Rocketman, similarly, was made in direct consultation with its subject, Elton John. The main difference is Elton John is, well, alive. The artistic flourishes that get added (like the swimming pool scene where Elton sees his younger self at the bottom) don't detract from the overall truth of the biography, if that makes sense. Was Elton John ever in an AA meeting wearing a lavish devil costume? I don't know, but I do know that he would drop in on AA meetings while touring in the late 80s to help himself get clean. Did time literally slow down when he first performed Crocodile Rock on stage? No, of course not, but it probably felt that way to Elton figuratively.
I would much rather see a film about MJ which was a collection of some of his most iconic performances, with some interviews of him and the people who knew him. I don't need see someone pretending to be him
I wrote an essay on this for my schools paper. this is a section of it that I think is pertinent to your video. These movies tend to gross very highly in the box office as they offer an audience artificial intimacy with a real historical figure. This promise of this verisimilitude is attractive to audiences, as our celebrity culture covets the innermost secrets of public figures. While these movies can be striking and beautifully shot, I believe they hold too much weight in cinema today. They are frequently praised by critics for raw performances, despite them not requiring a profound creative vision as there is quite literally a historical rubric allowing it to be metrically judged on accuracy, and have no obligation to present an artfully crafted narrative. This of course appeals to studios, as they can capitalize on existing stories that naturally draw people in, without the responsibility of offering originality to the screen, which can often result in an artless litany of half-assed exploitation projects. The cultural imagination is, simply put, the culmination of art, theory, philosophy, and history that make up cultural paradigms, it is the tentative objectivity of the world’s intellect. A development of the cultural imagination is that of collective moral and epistemic standards rising and falling based on the growing depth of knowledge in the public sphere. Since the birth of cinema, it has been argued whether or not it was harmful to the cultural imagination. Much of this speculation came from cinema being popularized around a time when propaganda posed a great risk to the political fabric of America, and filmmakers were just realizing their ability to rewire the thoughts of an audience in their favor without expressly communicating their views on screen. Nevertheless, cinema occupies an integral space in cultural development, with people citing it for shifts in prototypical American culture, fashion, and individual behavior. The way biopics reconstruct narratives to cater to a drama seeking audience acts as an oblique threat to the universal intellect. As much as cinema is molded by our society, the same is true inversely. Cinema does not exist in a vacuum. Its appreciable grasp on audiences can be easily wielded, and so too can it be improperly used. Cinema is a mechanism for storytelling. Even the surreal, the broad, and the fantastical pieces of cinema in some way or another reflects our humanity and interrogates human limitation. Movies act as responses to specificities of our societal experience. When a historical account is executed carelessly and inaccurately in favor of the aesthetic presentation of real people, like most biopics are, they deteriorate the artistry and the creativity that movies are meant to provide and leave a collective void of informed consensus on culture.
It's so weird to see people complain about multiverses and "multiverse fatigue" when like 5 movies dealing with a multiverse have come out, with three of them being sequels to eachother.
One of the worst biopics imo is from the 90s- Patch Adams. They straight up just lied about stuff he did, and changed his real life friend that tragically lost his life into a woman and made them a love interest for Patch. Like, wtf? If you wanted to tell a story about a thieving doctor that didn't do good medicine and had a girlfriend that got shot and turned into a butterfly then just make that, don't use someone's name and life as the loosest possible story structure for clout.
I liked that film as a kid but when I learned about the real life person and how they changed so much of the events for that movie, I then despised it. What a vile thing to do.
I'm late but there are plenty of older Biopics that primarily focus on Black Figures that are beloved by the Black community. Malcolm X, Ray, 42, Bessie, and even newer biopics such as Judas and the Black Massiah, Marshall, and Hidden Figures. Not to say there aren't any stinkers, there are many inaccurate and bad ones but these are the ones I saw, and loved.
I think the reason biopics like I,Tonya or Joy still work really well is because they aren’t trying to tackle this hugely heavy content matter rather they’re just providing deeper insight into a cultural moment that most people don’t about.
I want an Elon Musk Biopic directed by his Mother I can't believe Brad actually called up Courtney in 2000, during Fight club, and asked if he could buy the rights to Kurts story and play him in a biopic. Holy shit. Imagine Brad trying to portray Kurt. Knowing he has asked twice has made me laugh way too much, you can hate Courtney all you want but she done a huge solid in keeping Kurt's shit away from Brad 😂
Interesting account from Courtney Love. Gus Van Sant went ahead and made Last Days anyway, starring Michael Pitt, as a fictionalised account of Cobain's last days. Seems lacking in taste now.
Most biopics have the celebrity behind the scenes so they can give points/tips on how to protray them, the lifetime biopics are terrible but the worst one was the Michael Jackson flex Alexander one and the Nina Simone biopic starring Zoe Saldana.
I think the cringiest one was a Bob Dylan biopic. It just goes way too far in talking about how great he is. I like Bob Dylan, sure, but the "Bob Dylan is the best at everything and an enigma that no one can decipher," thing can very easily become cringe. Like, people, it's okay to admit that Bob Dylan didn't have a good singing voice and couldn't play guitar very well. There's a reason why he always had the best of the best session musicians working with him, and when he didn't his albums didn't sound very good.
I mean, a lot of the most popular biopics that have come out recently are about dead people. That doesn't mean that they don't consult family/friends/etc, but it's certainly not directly from the source. And even if it is, that celebrity and their associates are always concerned with preserving their image, the expectation even in that case should not be truth.
@@natatatm see with the lifetime biopics, the celebrities don’t even consult with lifetimes, Dustin diamond from saved by the bell used his book to create the film. Making biopics about dead celebrities is such a waste, they should be left in peace. There’s talk about making a new biopic about Jean Michel basquait
I generally agree with you, but you must concede that, not only the Social Network was well written, but I'm Not There was brilliant, and that's because these are example of films about exploring a theme through a protagonist, not just telling the story of a person's life and taking a few liberties. Even Blonde, which was very imperfect (the first 15 minutes come to mind) told a story about gender relationships, female fragility and choosing between two sides of yourself, which were quite universal themes. Hell, technically, Citizen Kane was a biopic.
Look. I still don’t know which is the right way to say biopic. So sue me.
You are 100% correct in your pronunciation and logic of it.
@@davidbowman2001 Balls!
If it were pronounced that way, it would be spelt that way; bio-pic, with a hyphen. And then you may as well just say 'biographical picture'.
It's logical to shorten the o in 'biopic' because it's a combination of two individual abbreviations.
@@mrstephenpariah that changes the inflection of the word entirely. It makes the word sound like an adjective, like myopic, sapphic, graphic, angelic, exotic, etc.
I rationalised it the same way as you.
your pretty you get away with it
The worst part of biopics is when people take what happened in the movie as fact, when there’s usually plenty of dramatized or straight up fictional events added
I've always found Jersey Boys unintentionally creepy.
It turns out that, according to the movie, every love song that Frankie Valli wrote was for his daughter, and his daughter was a better singer than he was, and perfect in every way, and would have become a much bigger star if she hadn't died young.
There's so many layers of creepiness there. Like, apparently, Can't Take My Eyes Off You is apparently the song he wrote as a tribute to his daughter, and the "I love you baby," is intended for her... Okay, Frankie.
i find it so sinister because even without the conscious acknowledgement of ‘oh this is what really happened’, people still subconsciously take it in and end up feeling some type of way about the real people portrayed in the biopic. i find this especially weird when it builds an image of a tragic figure at the centre who endures all these blows from very real people who did not act like that irl. even when creating a scene that is close to real life events, the quality of the acting, the tone of the voice, the slightest change in the wording can make someone into a villain or a tragic hero.
cant wait for the bts biopic in 20 yrs!!
I watched Bohemian Rhapsody and wondered wgta was true and made up (because of the scene with Mike Myers) . I looked online. Let's just say that I stay away from biopic, or at least take them with a whole box of salt. Like they're fanfictions!
@@ashblossomandjoyoussprung.9917 euwwwwwwwwwww......
austin butler’s elvis accent will never not be funny
Winning awards for lazy Biopics is one thing.....winning awards for lazy biopics are serial killers is a whole other level.....holding an award for playing Jeffrey Dahmer is still wild
I think RedLetterMedia said it best.
"Every few years there's a new Dahmer thing. Every few years I sigh because I'm so tired of hearing about Dahmer. Every few years there's a discussion about the ethics of making money from a Dahmer project because he was a real serial killer with real victims..."
"...And every single time I watch the latest Dahmer thing. So, no, I don't think that they're gonna stop making Dahmer projects because we all watch them, especially those who are speaking out against them. Maybe if people online just ignored the Dahmer Netflix show instead of telling people how immoral it is they'd stop making them and Milwaukee could move on. But, that won't happen, so in another few years we're gonna get another Dahmer thing and the cycle will repeat."
@@ashblossomandjoyoussprung.9917good points they made
@@samuelfoster8615 Yeah it's a false dichotomy that we either completely ignore it, or we watch and complain about it. I don't buy it either.
So we can reward his performance because he's playing a bad guy?
@@ashblossomandjoyoussprung.9917Except-like others already said-I find the projects immoral and have never, nor will ever, consume any of these series. I would argue I’m in the majority on that. It feels silly (and shady honestly) to blame the backlash for these series’ success. It comes across as a weak way to try to reduce others’ moral critiques while ignoring the real problem.
Which is that are *many* people who eat up this kind of sick media for breakfast, lunch, and dinner without a care in the world to the real-life people that were and are affected. *They’re* why this sort of media makes money.
The irony of Benedict Cumberbatch playing Hawking years before Redmayne, getting no notice for it, then portraying Alan Turing years later and LOSING the Oscar for that performance to Redmayne, who won the Oscar portraying Hawking. I can't get over it. (I do actually love both films but L O L)
This is why i like shows like bojack horseman because they can show an in depth look at a celebrity’s life without having a real name attached to the main character
He has its bojack 😅
it feels like with every video your style develops more and more and I love it
I think the best (and definitely most realistic) biopic I’ve ever seen, was Weird Al Yankovic’s. then again, I’ve only ever seen one biopic, so I could be wrong.
The accuracy was immaculate. so glad the got the real Al Yankovic to play himself as well! I gained so much insight into his amazing life.
I'm surprised you didn't talk about "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story", the ultimate biopic satire and probably the best biopic out there while being completely fictional.
"Dewey Cox has to think about his whole life before he gets on that stage."
I was hoping and praying, watched it for the the first time last month. But I watched walk the line like a million times when I was younger so it was fantastic.
“WRONG KID DIED!”
I definitely thought of this movie immediately. Sort of points out everything wrong with the biopic genre already.
The scourge of biopics seems to fit right into this metamodern period of IP consolidation where every film is either a remake, prequel, metaverse, biopic, or spinoff.
Definitely agree. I wrote a section on meta modernism for the video, but cut it because introducing the topic at the end of the video felt wrong so I kept it simple. would recommend thomas flights video on it
@@JosephFish3rfacts flight the goat
I remember thinking Joe Anderson would be perfect as Kurt Cobain because they look so alike, plus Anderson has a similar singing voice. But then I read Cobain's su*c*de note. The fact anyone could read it bothers me. Goes to show how we already dehumanise him. Long story short, I'm glad there is not a biopic of Kurt Cobain and thanks to Courtney Love, there may never be.
I think some biopics are genuinely interesting and can have compelling stories but these days a lot of them are just exploitation of famous dead people for Oscar bait.
The Marilyn Monroe one is really bad
A lot of them have always been exploitative. They've always whitewashed a lot of shit too.
It feels like people who qualify statements with "these days" often have all the memory of a goldfish.
I have a recommendations for you. I’m Not There. They somehow capture the energy of Bob Dylan so perfectly without him being there.
Most hilarious part of Bohemian Rhapsody (aside from the band members finger wagging and scolding Freddie for hosting a lavish do at his house) was the weird gay club scene. It was like, "OooOooOooohhhh NooooOoooOoo! Beware The Club of Gays! We can't show the debauchery. What with their bisexual lighting and leather ensembles. The censors would be scandalised!" 😂
Of course we don’t want to party Freddie we’re gonna go home to our wives!
You can really tell how involved they were lol.
@@davidbowman2001 It seems like when a band is heavily involved they tend to lie a lot. A funny example is the Motley Crue biography (The Dirt) which was apparently mostly made up.
An interesting one is the Kiss biographies. Every band member released a book about their experiences with Kiss. Apparently, Ace Frehley's book was the most honest one, the rest were mostly lies that contradict each other.
For instance, there's a bit in Paul and Gene's books where they talk about Peter's audition to re-join the band after taking drum lessons. In both of their books they lean over to the other and say "Are we on Candid Camera?"
So, apparently both Gene and Paul leaned over towards Paul and Gene to say that amazing joke at Peter's expense.
Though, apparently a lot of Ace's antics were real, but they're more sad than anything. One of my favorite bits is when Ace was on the floor, and Paul walked in and Ace flipped out on him. When asked why, Ace said "You're stepping on them! You're stepping on my friends!" because he was hallucinating.
ikr, Roger's sex life was just as active and crazy as Freddie's but oh no it's scary and bad bc GAY😱😱😱
@@davidbowman2001legit when I watched it for the first time in theatres I was baffled at how they were depicted as righteous when I'm sure they were as crazy as Freedie when it came to the party life style.
@@heythankstommy I could believe it. I saw what Roger was wearing in the 80s.
I havent watched the whole video yet, but my favorite biopic is Weird: The Al Yankovic Story.
A fantastic serious movie thats 100% true
I love the way that movie producers and studios see ONE movie that did well and won an oscar and decides to make 50000 million movies exactly like the other movie but in different fonts so that the common people can't complain about hollywood not having original ideas anymore
The biopic is the most “huh. That would be really interesting to see” and then never seeing it genre of all time.
i feel that a lot of biopics don't have anything going for them beyond the concept, like you were saying "huh, that would be interesting". the whole idea of biopics are "What if we recreated a bunch of scenes/looks from this famous artists career and told their story in a movie!" like at this point just start a tribute band/act you haven't added any nuance or creativity.
One biopic that I think is really great is Love and Mercy, about the life of Brian Wilson. By focusing on two brief but important periods of his life instead of his entire life, it retains the nuance and tragedy of his real life in a way that a movie like Bohemian Rhapsody that covers almost 20 years can’t pull off
So happy to be your memberships coordinator and visual lead assistant director
Everybody give it up for the man himself
youre so easily my favorite video essay youtuber your comedic timing is just chefs kiss
James Corden should play Queen Elizabeth
I would actually say that Selena was the first major biopic. After that film, there was kind of a desensitization of celebrity tragedy I would say.
Also the Tina Turner biopic
@@JayshawnJones-rp4xc I love both of those movies. The biggest things for both of movies is the heavy involvement and passion of the people & families who KNEW them (either personally or through dedicated research) or the PERSON themselves (in the case of Tina’s movie).
The only modern biopic that I feel like comes close to those vibes those two had was Rocketman and Tetris. Otherwise, you’re better off going for those biopic documentaries where they have dramatized or clipped moments with actual commentary from the people who knew them and professionals who analyzed their story. Examples of this are Amy by Asif Kapadia, Beatles: Get Back by Peter Jackson, and BBC’s Freddie Mercury: Who Wants to Live Forever.
alright hear me out: a biopic that plucks all of the biopic actors from other biopics and assembles them into an adaptation of them all working together in some kind of biopic cinematic universe. We'll call it "Supergroup"
This guys got ideas!!!
I wish there were more biopics that explore a different side of the person in question, something that views them from a different perspective that’s neglected or not as well covered in pop culture
I mean, Courtney may have been fired from Flight Club for not giving Brad permission or she may have been fired for "going nuclear" on him.
Either way, I'm thankful there's not been a Kurt/Nirvana biopic. I can't imagine anyone doing him justice.
If I had to choose a constant inner monologue casually critiquing ones life, it would probably be Joseph. Thoughtful, sad, bitter, slightly disappointed, but honest as ever lmaooo
'walkhard' torpedoed this genre forever, cant take a single one seriously after it
yk i think it should be compulsory to put a clause in your will stating that no unauthorised biopics should be made about you
but, then again, i would actually love to see a film about my neighbour greg who spends all day in bed watching youtube videos and leaving strange comments
also, on a separate note: i dont think i can ever escape aydiambp help
People have actually tried that. It doesn't work.
The problem is that the family can give permission for a biopic to be made, regardless of what the will says. So, if Kurt Cobain didn't want a biopic to be made they'd just have to get his daughter to sign off on it. Or, morbidly, if his daughter dies, and his wife dies, and neither have any more kids, no one needs permission except from Kurt's estate to use his likeness.
Highly offended you didn’t include the weird Al biopic in the list of good bio pics
gus van sant actually made a movie inspired by kurt's life and death called last days that came out in 2005, similar to todd haynes' velvet goldmine(1998) which was supposed to be a bowie biopic but he was alive at the time and didn't like the idea so haynes just wrote like a fictional version of bowie which honestly makes for a way better movie
Yes! Last Days! That's the name! I couldn't remember the name but wow that is a powerful film. It has really stuck with me over the years.
i love velvet goldmine for only being inspired. it probably wouldn'tve made for very good fact. as you said what he did worked way better!
I actually really liked Rocketman. I know a lot of it was dramatized, but there were parts of the story that resonated with me. It probably helped that Elton John is alive and was involved in the production. And my parents loved telling me about their memories from when they were growing up seeing the music videos or hearing the songs.
But you do bring up a good point about why biopics are made. I want to see a biopic to hear the lesser known stories of the person and what making music or becoming an actor was like for a given celebrity. A biopic should be a story about their life, insights into their highs and lows, what they learned and what the audience can learn from their experiences. Because they are people, and people have depth and complexities. When you fail to carry that over to the film, you haven't made a biopic. You made some fanfiction of a celebrity's life. Sure, slipping some references to things we've seen before is fun, but that should be an added treat, not the whole film.
I find biopics interesting, and when they're done well, they can be inspiring and insightful stories about a celebrity's life. But when they're done just to use the brand and get an Oscar, they will naturally lack soul. And yeah unauthorized biopics just shouldn't be a thing. Those aren't trying to tell someone's story. Those are exploiting a famous name to get some cash and an award. If you don't have the subject of the biopic (if alive) or their family (and/or bandmates) involved in production, you are not going to tell their story in the way it should be told.
The only good music biopic is Rocketman. It didn’t follow the structure of “stuff, song, stuff, song.” It used the songs TO tell the story as a jukebox musical. Even though it does end on a feel good and triumphant note, it doesn’t shy away from Elton’s shittiest moments as an addict or just being a shitty person in general.
It was done creatively and compassionately, but it didn’t shy away from the flaws. Those movies should do more of that or nothing at all.
There are plenty of good musician Biopics but they are much older. What's Love Got to Do With It, The Temptations, Get On Up, Ray, all of those are well done and very emotional but are just older.
You've convinced me to change my pronunciation. The two opics are clearly nowhere to be found, and I will sound like a prick no longer. Absolutely love your channel ❤.
Kurt Cobain is the absolute last person who would want a biopic made about them🤦🏼♀️ so disrespectful and obviously brad pitt doesn't have any idea who Kurt Cobain was as a person
not the katya jumpscare while talking abt princess di😭😭
The Tolkien family (who owns the Tolkien estate, and thus the “brand”) don’t even endorse the Tolkien biopic
i paused my game at the cumberbatch-redmayne, stephen hawking bit. thats mad, i had no idea it had already been done, takes the wind out of the whole fuckin' movie. Smashing video.
I remember when I was a kid and the only two biopics I remember were "La Bamba" about Richie Valens and "What's Love got to do with it" about Tina Turner. Both are brilliant movies and are good even if you don't who they're about. I certainly didn't know who Richie Valens was when I was six years old but I watched that movie sooo many times. These modern biopics, where they recreate things shot for shot.. it's just boring? Why would you not just watch a documentary with the actual person? It's weird. One of the only modern biopics I've enjoyed is Gus Van Sant's Nirvana one (can't remember what its called?), which was genuinely challenging to watch and really made me think. Also "I'm not there" where a whole heap of different actors played Bob Dylan, because it was doing something different. I do think "the Social Network" is awesome because I love David Fincher as a director, and the writing is awesome.
Also I really enjoyed the beret but admittedly did think it was a tea cosy until you called it a beret. I feel a bit bad because I have a beanie that I wore when I was younger but my English teacher referred to it as a tea cosy, and I had no idea then what a tea cosy even was. So I shouldn't have made tea cosy assumptions there. Sorry mate.
ETA The Gus Van Sant flick is "Last Days"! There is another fan in the comments ^_^
recently found out that there’s a biopic on Pasolini.. that ones really baffled me because from what I’ve seen about it it’s literally just about his murder, which keep in mind is still unsolved so I find that really gross tbh and just in general focusing on someone’s death is just an odd way to remember a real person
I haven’t seen it and don’t plan on doing so, so I can’t say if decent but in all honesty who asked for a Pasolini biopic it’s just seems like a really random dude to make a film about
The one genuinely good biopic imo is Control. Ian Curtis is portrayed tragically but realistically and it shows that he was a bit of a dick, liked taking drugs and unfortunately suffered from epilepsy at a time whilst it was really poorly treated and so on (I don't want to spoil it, just watch it, it's great).
The Katya as Diana caught me so off guard T_T
"ARE THE OPICS IN THE ROOM WITH US RIGHT NOW"
KAJFGAKSGFKASHGFKJASGF
I'd recommend the Blackberry movie. It's a weird deconstruction of the formula and doesn't take itself too seriously
I actually really liked 'Tetris' cause it showed a pretty ok portrayal of Russia, Soviet Russia in particular. Cause usually it is shown as over exaggerated totalitarian nightmare or a fantasy land of talking bears and always drunk people. But 'Tetris' did a good job showing the political problems and same level of bureaucracy as in America, greed of the Corp on both sides. So yeah, good bio-pic😅
Lmao got my like at "where ARE the two pics? Can you see them now?" 😂
The problem with Blonde is that it was "sold" as a biopic, when in reality is based on another work of fiction.
Also the "Bio-pics" that you wonder what is the point in it being a Bio-pic when barely anything in it actually happened. I.e. The Darkest Hour apart from Winston Chruchill was the Prime Minister and an alocholic and the speak at the end not one other thing is true.
It's just like how so many videogames are being re-released nowadays. These companies want to make "History - Definitive Edition" and boost it to the front page of every Google search.
The vast majority of games being released aren't re-releases though.
gosh i never even knew how many biopics there were, and they all seem insane
also love your hat
This guys pretty funny, How about we make a Bi-opic about him?
Bio-pic is the ONLY way to say the word and yes I couldn’t resist commenting, but I’m 100% right… so the is for literally spelling it out, it’s a relief you said right 😂
or man on the moon? that got even funnier with the behind the scenes released a few years ago.
Frankly I can't believe they made a biopic about the sweatshop capitalists who heroically exploited Michael Jordan rather than the actual dude and his legendary basketball skillz
you have the calmest chaotic energy ever im obsessed
can’t wait till we get a will smith biopic starting will smith as will smith where they recreate the slap frame by frame
Imagine my horror whilst watching 'Don't Worry Darling' I discovered that I had been misled and it wasn't a biopic of our beloved herione Grace Darling
watching this on my macbook with my iphone next to me and my airpods in, the steve jobs can personally thank me for keeping his compny afloat
I think the points you touched on at the end there - the one about telling a story and not just copying pop culture moments into a screenplay, and the one about the ethics of making a fictional story about a real person's life - really cement the differences between Bohemian Rhapsody (the movie) and Rocketman for me.
BoRhap (I'll just use the abbreviation to save time) was made in close consultation with Brian May and Roger Taylor (and if you believe the rumor, John Deacon was also quietly involved). Still, just because you knew and were in a band with someone doesn't automatically make you qualified to tell that person's story. By now, I'm sure most people know that extensive creative liberties were taken with BoRhap's story, the most significant (for me) being the move-up of Freddie Mercury's AIDS diagnosis to coincide with Live Aid in 1985. In reality, Freddie was diagnosed with AIDS two years later, with his bandmates being told well before the public ever knew. While I get that it adds drama to the story to make that change, it undercuts the casual cruelty of disease: it strikes when you least expect it, and its timing is never convenient. I maintain that if BoRhap had remained a story focused on Queen as a whole band instead of narrowing its focus to Freddie, then told the band's entire story from formation through to whenever they wanted it to end (Freddie's death in 1991, John's departure in 1997, etc.), that would have been a stronger movie.
(For the record, I do still like BoRhap as a movie. I just don't consider it gospel truth about its subject matter.)
Rocketman, similarly, was made in direct consultation with its subject, Elton John. The main difference is Elton John is, well, alive. The artistic flourishes that get added (like the swimming pool scene where Elton sees his younger self at the bottom) don't detract from the overall truth of the biography, if that makes sense. Was Elton John ever in an AA meeting wearing a lavish devil costume? I don't know, but I do know that he would drop in on AA meetings while touring in the late 80s to help himself get clean. Did time literally slow down when he first performed Crocodile Rock on stage? No, of course not, but it probably felt that way to Elton figuratively.
james acaster raising some brilliant points here 👍
omg, my thoughts exactly 🤣
so THAT'S who he reminded me of 😂
loving your videos, and totally agree on how biopics need to just stop!
The idea of a brand biopic makes me want to fold in on myself until I leave this plane of existance...
Theres gonna be a BioPic of a BioPic one day
BREAKING NEWS: Chris Pratt cast as Martin Luther King Jr.
average day in 2024
Wow, I never knew that about Brad Pitt and Kurt Cobain.
I would much rather see a film about MJ which was a collection of some of his most iconic performances, with some interviews of him and the people who knew him. I don't need see someone pretending to be him
such an underrated channel, hope you gain more traction
dude i am already laughing so hard at this video, i have consumed so much content about biopics but the way you talk about it is so funny tysm
Am I the *only* person who remembers the 2005 Johnny Cash biopic?
No, although I had forgotten about it until you mentioned it! Did the Cash family have a hand in that?
The topics you choose for every video and the quality of your work are just magnificent ✨
Goodfellas, The Aviator and Wolf of Wall St are all Scorsese biopics
I wrote an essay on this for my schools paper. this is a section of it that I think is pertinent to your video.
These movies tend to gross very highly in the box office as they offer an audience artificial intimacy with a real historical figure. This promise of this verisimilitude is attractive to audiences, as our celebrity culture covets the innermost secrets of public figures. While these movies can be striking and beautifully shot, I believe they hold too much weight in cinema today. They are frequently praised by critics for raw performances, despite them not requiring a profound creative vision as there is quite literally a historical rubric allowing it to be metrically judged on accuracy, and have no obligation to present an artfully crafted narrative. This of course appeals to studios, as they can capitalize on existing stories that naturally draw people in, without the responsibility of offering originality to the screen, which can often result in an artless litany of half-assed exploitation projects.
The cultural imagination is, simply put, the culmination of art, theory, philosophy, and history that make up cultural paradigms, it is the tentative objectivity of the world’s intellect. A development of the cultural imagination is that of collective moral and epistemic standards rising and falling based on the growing depth of knowledge in the public sphere. Since the birth of cinema, it has been argued whether or not it was harmful to the cultural imagination.
Much of this speculation came from cinema being popularized around a time when propaganda posed a great risk to the political fabric of America, and filmmakers were just realizing their ability to rewire the thoughts of an audience in their favor without expressly communicating their views on screen. Nevertheless, cinema occupies an integral space in cultural development, with people citing it for shifts in prototypical American culture, fashion, and individual behavior.
The way biopics reconstruct narratives to cater to a drama seeking audience acts as an oblique threat to the universal intellect. As much as cinema is molded by our society, the same is true inversely. Cinema does not exist in a vacuum. Its appreciable grasp on audiences can be easily wielded, and so too can it be improperly used.
Cinema is a mechanism for storytelling. Even the surreal, the broad, and the fantastical pieces of cinema in some way or another reflects our humanity and interrogates human limitation. Movies act as responses to specificities of our societal experience. When a historical account is executed carelessly and inaccurately in favor of the aesthetic presentation of real people, like most biopics are, they deteriorate the artistry and the creativity that movies are meant to provide and leave a collective void of informed consensus on culture.
things that need to stop in cinema culture: multiverse brands and biopics.
yet another banger sir! love your work
It's so weird to see people complain about multiverses and "multiverse fatigue" when like 5 movies dealing with a multiverse have come out, with three of them being sequels to eachother.
One of the worst biopics imo is from the 90s- Patch Adams. They straight up just lied about stuff he did, and changed his real life friend that tragically lost his life into a woman and made them a love interest for Patch. Like, wtf? If you wanted to tell a story about a thieving doctor that didn't do good medicine and had a girlfriend that got shot and turned into a butterfly then just make that, don't use someone's name and life as the loosest possible story structure for clout.
I liked that film as a kid but when I learned about the real life person and how they changed so much of the events for that movie, I then despised it. What a vile thing to do.
The way you put Katya in the Diana biopics 💀💀
Bi-opic is like with Steve Jobs when theres two movies coming around the same time.
Unrelated but
the fit is IMMACULATE 🤌
The shirt? The beret? The necklace?? ON. POINT. No further notes 100/10
oh- my heart broke when that stick broke :(
As soon as bio pics are made for fictional characters Joseph will be cast as Ron Weasley.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is my favorite biopic.
I am absolutely fascinated by the hat. I want to make it for myself and am watching the whole video for research purposes
I'm late but there are plenty of older Biopics that primarily focus on Black Figures that are beloved by the Black community. Malcolm X, Ray, 42, Bessie, and even newer biopics such as Judas and the Black Massiah, Marshall, and Hidden Figures. Not to say there aren't any stinkers, there are many inaccurate and bad ones but these are the ones I saw, and loved.
genuinely the fastest ive ever subscribed to someone
Losing your mind after A-levels and creating a youtube channel is such a mood
I think the reason biopics like I,Tonya or Joy still work really well is because they aren’t trying to tackle this hugely heavy content matter rather they’re just providing deeper insight into a cultural moment that most people don’t about.
Brutally attacking a woman, ruining both her and her rivals careers isn't "hugely heavy content"? *Or* "something most people don't know about"?
It really bothers me that they made a biopic about David Bowie he didn't even die that long ago.
I SAW KATYA AS LADY DI LMAO love your videos dude, every one knocks it out of the park. keep up the excellent content!!!
I caught that Katya as Diana in there. Nice.
I want an Elon Musk Biopic directed by his Mother
I can't believe Brad actually called up Courtney in 2000, during Fight club, and asked if he could buy the rights to Kurts story and play him in a biopic. Holy shit. Imagine Brad trying to portray Kurt.
Knowing he has asked twice has made me laugh way too much, you can hate Courtney all you want but she done a huge solid in keeping Kurt's shit away from Brad 😂
can't believe you didn't quite Bo Burnham's song Welcome to the Internet: "can I interest you in everything, all of the time"
Was totally singing that in my head!! Great minds :)
Thank you for releasing this beautiful artwork. It is surely your magnum opus.
Crocheted beret is a choice, it reminds me of a used teabag.
I like it. ❤️
Pretty sure it’s a tea cosy haha
this is… strangely accurate
We're gonna need a bigger board, ladies and gentlemen
ok but Weird: The Al Yankovic story is a masterpiece
I wonder when the James Corden biopic will come out
I was ambivalent about this video until the voice ranting about artistic integrity convinced me to hit that like button.
Im here for the bulletin board and pointer abuse.
Interesting account from Courtney Love. Gus Van Sant went ahead and made Last Days anyway, starring Michael Pitt, as a fictionalised account of Cobain's last days. Seems lacking in taste now.
Most biopics have the celebrity behind the scenes so they can give points/tips on how to protray them, the lifetime biopics are terrible but the worst one was the Michael Jackson flex Alexander one and the Nina Simone biopic starring Zoe Saldana.
I think the cringiest one was a Bob Dylan biopic.
It just goes way too far in talking about how great he is. I like Bob Dylan, sure, but the "Bob Dylan is the best at everything and an enigma that no one can decipher," thing can very easily become cringe.
Like, people, it's okay to admit that Bob Dylan didn't have a good singing voice and couldn't play guitar very well. There's a reason why he always had the best of the best session musicians working with him, and when he didn't his albums didn't sound very good.
I mean, a lot of the most popular biopics that have come out recently are about dead people. That doesn't mean that they don't consult family/friends/etc, but it's certainly not directly from the source. And even if it is, that celebrity and their associates are always concerned with preserving their image, the expectation even in that case should not be truth.
@@natatatm see with the lifetime biopics, the celebrities don’t even consult with lifetimes, Dustin diamond from saved by the bell used his book to create the film. Making biopics about dead celebrities is such a waste, they should be left in peace. There’s talk about making a new biopic about Jean Michel basquait
33:42 Is it difficult to create a fictional story about a public figure?
Well, we got TÁR. It was difficult .. to market.
I loved the biopic Race about US Olympian Jesse Owens it was very informative as I did not know anything about him before watching him
I generally agree with you, but you must concede that, not only the Social Network was well written, but I'm Not There was brilliant, and that's because these are example of films about exploring a theme through a protagonist, not just telling the story of a person's life and taking a few liberties.
Even Blonde, which was very imperfect (the first 15 minutes come to mind) told a story about gender relationships, female fragility and choosing between two sides of yourself, which were quite universal themes.
Hell, technically, Citizen Kane was a biopic.