We were planning to see Bohemian Rhapsody, the new Freddie Mercury biopic. But the reviews have been decidedly mixed, despite Rami Malek’s astonishing portrayal as the Queen of Queen. It’s been said that, as producers of the film, the surviving members of the band all come across as a bit too saintly. Of course, they’re not saints. Nobody is. And Freddie’s sexuality has been sanitised, presumably to appeal to the widest international audience possible. Freddie’s excesses are well-documented. His AIDS-related death was awful and, for me, profoundly affecting. I remember it all too well. I once saw Freddie at a gay club back in the day, surrounded by his acolytes. There was nothing ambiguous about Freddie. So we decided to give the film a miss to avoid the disappointment. Instead, we lunched at Bishop’s, one of Norwich best indie restaurants. The meal was courtesy of the staff at the village surgery where Liam earns an honest crust. We’d already had our joint birthday treat at the newly opened Ivy Brasserie. But you can never have too many birthday treats, can you?
Jack Scott
Imagine the absurdity of two openly gay, married, middle aged, middle class men escaping the liberal sanctuary of anonymous London to relocate to a Muslim country. I chronicled our exploits with the mad, the bad, the sad and the glad in a blog for the whole world to ignore. Then came the book which became a critically acclaimed best seller. Its success opened out a whole new career for me, firstly as an author, and now as a publisher. Who'd have thought it? Certainly not me.
In June 2012, we ended our Anatolian affair and paddled back to Britain on the evening tide, washing up in Norwich, a surprising city in eastern England, then to the wilds of Norfolk as the only gays in the village. I’m sometimes nostalgic for our encounters with the hopeless, the hapless and, yes, the happy go lucky. They gave me an unexpected tale to tell and for this I thank them.
Perking the Pansies 
Apparently, Sacha Baron Cohen was going all out for a real Freddie and Brian May wasn’t best pleased. We’re not sure about watching it either despite friends really raving about it. We’re not Queen fans but Freddie Mercury was certainly an amazing character – and no saint – and I’m sure people would appreciate the less santised version. It’s nice to know more about somebody – even the bits that might take us aback. Why pretend anything was otherwise? That just makes me think less of the other band members. 🙂
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Yes, I heard that too. Shame really. When Freddie bounced out on stage at Live Aid dolled up like an gay clone he was screaming ‘I am what I am’ for all the world to see. None of the band members were much bothered then so why now, I wonder. We might catch it on DVD when it comes out.
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We absolutely loved it. I realise some of the story was tweaked for want of a better word but smiled all the way through apart from the sad bits. All the casting was brilliant but Rami Malek was superb
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Quite a lot tweaked but, yes, I’ve heard Rami is excellent so maybe worth seeing it just for his performance. We’ll wait to the DVD is out, perhaps.
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I’m a bit dubious, too. I like to see my idols portrayed with their weaknesses as well as their greatness. And As you say, Freddie was quite unapologetic. What a pity that the remaining band members wanted to “dilute” his self-expression even if not his sexuality…
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My thoughts entirely.
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I haven’t seen it yet either, I would rather like to though.
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Then you should 😀
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We saw it and had an excellent time. There’s only so much that can be fitted into a cinema film (and let’s be honest, they want it to be an earner rather than a wrist slitter) so I suggest you go, ‘have a good time’ for the entertainment value rather than a factual documentary, and enjoy!
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Trying to get to the theater. Retirement life is too darn busy. Thanks for the two cents.
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You’re welcome!
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