thePULSE“The Musician BioPic”
Hollywood’s Latest Addiction
“Hello, I’m Johnny Cash, and I’m the latest victim of Hollywood’s propensity for biographical pictures, aka The Biopic.” “The Man in Black” is the latest in an ever-growing line of musicians who have had their lives portrayed on film by some actor/actress that may or may not bear a striking likeness to the main character, a la Val Kilmer and Jim Morrison. What does Hollywood love about this type of movie? What exactly do They, and we ~ well, most of us anyway ~ find interesting about some drug-addicted, alcoholic, quasi-to fully-tragic musician’s life?
The Doors opened the doors. Jim Morrison’s life was the perfect subject for the biopic and laid the foundations for future biopics. Although silver screen versions of the life of Jerry Lee Lewis (Great Balls of Fire) and Richie Valens (La Bamba) pre-date The Doors, it was that movie that really caught Hollywood’s attention with its artistic and commercial success. It was one of those “you have to see this movie” movies,” granddaddy of the more recent “now you have to see this movie” retelling of Ray Charles’ life, cleverly titled Ray.
Perhaps it’s the dramatic potential that addiction to drugs and alcohol always brings. Think of all the heart rending, tear-jerking scenes that have populated all of these rocker/musician biopics. Then add the redemption scene or the fatal overdose scene ~ both great dramatic fare. Walk the Line wasn’t even in theatres and there was already Oscar talk for stars Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon. And that story has it all. Young guy gets into music, gets caught up in celebrity, works his way through a few bottles of Jack, a few lines of coke, a couple or ten women, and then he sees the light. Yes, Hollywood, we have a winner! And the story has already been written by the life of your subject, so you get to cut writing costs.
The actor who gets the lead role in a major biopic is guaranteed an Oscar nomination and, more often than not, winds up getting the trophy to go with it. This is stuff that actors and actresses can really sink their teeth into. This is life, Baby, raw and unfettered. Real life is always the best subject matter for acting. It is such a leap for most lead players too, right, since movie stars definitely don’t have any way to relate to musicians that have been poisoned by celebrity and fame…?
There’s also the audience to consider. Biopics are lock-down favorites for box office success. The general public loves a good flick about a troubled musician who rises and falls and rises again like a Phoenix (like a Joaquin Phoenix even) from the ashes of a hedonistic life. Why do we, the audience, eat these movies up? It could be that we want to know what that life is like. Sure, there’s a lot of us out there that have addictions and emotional problems, but just none of the fame or money to go with it.
I know, I know. It’s not just about the artist. It’s all about the music. We want to see what made this person tick. Where did his or her (but mostly his) sound come from? How much of himself did he put into it? Certainly Hollywood is the best place to get this kind of knowledge.
Every subject of a biopic has accomplished one thing. He or she has made a significant contribution to American culture; whether for better or worse is not a subject I care to take on, you can argue that amongst yourselves. I’m just waiting for Hollywood to branch out a little bit from musicians and do a biopic about George Carlin. That movie will have all the woes of fame, celebrity and excess ~ and will be absolutely hilarious, too.
