Last week Bohemian Rhapsody surprised Hollywood by winning both its Golden Globe nominations for Best Drama Actor and Best Drama Picture. Now up for two SAG awards and seven BAFTAs, the Freddie Mercury movie could be headed for an Oscars shock win. Now The Independent have highlighted just where all this backlash towards Bohemian Rhapsody is coming from. From the critics and downplaying Freddie to director Bryan Singer.
One of the most obvious backlashes comes from the fact that Bohemian Rhapsody received mixed reviews.
In fact, on Rotten Tomatoes it’s just three per cent off being rotten and was the worst reviewed film to win Best Drama Picture at the Golden Globes for over 30 years.
While some critics felt the film was too formulaic as a showbiz morality tale, the movie has been very popular with regular audiences.
Another possible reason for the backlash is the downplaying of the AIDS crisis in the 1980s and Freddie’s sexuality.
Some critics felt there was too much of an emphasis on Freddie’s relationship with Mary Austin, rather than Jim Hutton.
Then there’s the controversy surrounding Bohemian Rhapsody’s director Bryan Singer.
The filmmaker was just a couple of weeks from wrapping on the film but is alleged to have fallen out with Malek for going AWOL from the set.
Singer was fired and then replaced by Rocketman director Dexter Fletcher, but now the original director has now been nominated for a BAFTA.
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While producers usually pick up Best Film awards, at Britain’s answer to the Oscars the director is included in the Outstanding British Film category.
Whether or not Singer will show up is another matter, not just because of a potentially awkward encounter with Malek but because of sexual misconduct allegations against him.
Singer has also been repeatedly accused of sexual misconduct over recent years. In 2014 a Los Angeles court dropped a sex abuse case against him on the grounds that there was no legal basis for it. He was also accused of abusing actor Michael Egan III, although the suit was dropped the same year – and Egan’s lawyer apologised for the “untrue and provably false allegations”
Egan had made against other figures. In 2017 Singer was accused of raping a 17-year-old boy in 2003, according to legal documents. He vehemently denies all of the accusations against him.