Review: Bohemian Rapsody - influences of fame on health

I recently watched Bohemian Rapsody, a biopic on Queen and Freddie Mercury. Very well done and I can see why it was best picture etc. One of the things that I wanted to point out though is how much the media controls.

There is a scene that they were being interviewed and it became overwhelming and it was more of an attack. The paparazzi want a story. They find some dirt and they fling it as mud in your face if you're famous. This makes me wonder often about the mental state of those who are in power and those that are in the limelight of media. I've heard countless stories as we all have of those who committed suicide, one famous one enough is Robin Williams. We also know of stories of being chased down by the media til death, famous example being Princess Diana of Wales.

Review: A Star is Born - addressing addiction and suicide

The reason why I’m doing this review here is to talk about the heart of the film. It’s not about romance it’s not about music. It’s about influences of media and the toxic way it affects celebrities and about addiction. It’s about defining who you are and what you will allow in regards to people and environment to define you. It’s about suicide and how that affects the people afterwards.

I admit at first I thought it was a love story and that’s kind of what ads and such lead you to believe is this happy ending type of thing but it’s not at all and the way they did it was fantastic. It really pulled at the heartstrings. Basically it’s about these two people, both singers, one famous and one not. She, Ally, is the one that is practical, against the whole fame and against people taking over what and who you are and controlling your art. He, Jack, is famous and has allowed alcohol and his past to define him and blames it on others. This is their story of love and of addiction and the hard truth of what fame and what addiction can do to a person.

About "Purl" by Pixar

So I have to address this particular video making it’s rounds on the internet. It’s called "Purl" by Pixar, a short video in a set of animations meant for adults that is part of an initiative to help artists express themselves. This particular one , the first of many to come, has sparked some controversy and debate.

The reason is because an article has labeled it about toxic masculinity. Now in previous entries recently I addressed what is this toxic masculinity and what the true definition of it is.  The definition as outlined before is essentially anything that is negatively impacting both men and women in the way of expressing aggression, suppressing emotions of a “feminine” or softer nature, encouraging bullying and sexual harassment and rape culture.  In this video it shows a ball of yarn, representative of a women and also note that yarn and knitting and crocheting or even sewing were considered and somewhat still are, “women’s crafts” and are part of the “home” despite men doing it in history long before women did, joining a company full of men. It shows her being pushed aside, doors slammed in her face, her opinion not being able to be accepted,  let alone expressed, being the brunt of sexist jokes and  being set as an outcast. I also note that if you’re careful to notice you’ll see that the graph at first in the board room they’re showing looks a lot like her and they point out that it is the “bad guy” or the “problem” of which this is representative of the negativity that some men or “toxic masculinity” has against women or anything different than them.  After the men leave she looks at a wall of photos of men who’ve done well or succeeded in the company and then goes into the ladies room and recreates herself or “knits herself” into the fabric of masculinity. Becoming more masculine and therefore becoming unrecognizable to the men around her but then becoming accepted as she is then more like them. This is what women have to do or even people who are different try to do, to fit in. They can lose themselves in this process. Then nearing the end, they’re all going to go out to the bar and another ball of yarn, or woman, comes to join them. Purl was going to allow herself to become one of the guys and just go with, but had she, she would have lost who she was and what she was. She didn’t and decided to help the new ball and therefore making way to become a better company and group dynamic of both men and “yarn” or women by the end.

I bring this up in that it does affect our health mentally. We can become stressed, depressed and though eager to fit in, why should we change ourselves to become accepted and become like a generic robot? Why should we as women, need to be more masculine? Why can’t all men and women accept that we have both sides, both ying and yang and that we are equal in that aspect.

I have found comments against this video by women, that state they will not follow Pixar anymore. Why, they didn’t specify however I do ask those that agree with that to come forward as to why they wouldn’t? I feel it’s an acceptable animation and though not something perhaps I’d show younger children it is certainly something I would show to a child of 10 and up as they understand more than you’d like to think and they need to learn that that type of behaviour be it at the workplace or on the school ground or in any group or situation, is not acceptable. That it is ok to be who you are in that way and that encouraging those negative things is not something to be proud of.

I have also found statements that state that it is not an example of toxic masculinity but as I stated before, I feel that it is and though it can be applicable for any minority group it is still the epitome of it.

I welcome further discussion on this topic (please be kind to one another).