MovieChat Forums > Rocketman (2019) Discussion > Not too many people come out of this loo...

Not too many people come out of this looking good at all

posted 5 years ago by looper007 (1126)
6 replies | jump to latest

Bernie Taupin and Elton's Nan aside, Elton's Mum and Dad come out of this been selfish, uncaring and down right cruel people and Elton's manager/lover John Reid also doesn't come out of it looking good, he probably gets it worse then anyone else. I say he's the Villain of the film in a way. He's a cheat, abusive and a bully.

To be fair, Elton doesn't let the filmmaker's hold on him either. But it was nice to see everyone and everything was hidden and looked over.

[–] CoriSCapnSkip (1563) 5 years ago

As with many biopics, the portrayal of John Reid seems exaggerated to the max.

https://ultimateclassicrock.com/elton-john-manager-john-reid-jerk/

[–] looper007 (1126) 5 years ago

Reid portrayal did seem like to get one over someone you just don't like. I've heard stories with some talent that knew Reid well, that he wasn't anywhere near as bad he was shown in the film. Even the article you linked too shows many feel the film's portrayal of him was unfair. If I was Reid I'd be pissed off too, basically he's shown to be callous, sex maniac asshole.

[–] Otter (24464) 5 years ago

True. But IMHO the film's greatest weakness is that Elton John himself doesn't come across as looking any better. Bernie Taupin is the only person in the film who comes across as actually looking good.

I mean it's a fun film and I'm willing to forgive a hell of a lot for anything with that many fab musical numbers, but the fact was that Elton wasn't that sympathetic a hero. I mean, most young people have problems with their parents, feel unloved, have trouble establishing an adult identity, and take time to get their sexual and romantic lives on track... and most young people find better ways to cope with such issues than become a screaming diva-bitch with a huge drug problem.

But really, the film's biggest flaw is that we don't see Elton truly coming into his own as a person, not like Freddie Mercury did in the most satisfying "Bohemian Raphsody". Towards the end of "BR" we see Mercury going through hell and realizing his days are numbered... and he reacts by saying he is going to be who he was meant to be. In "Rocketman" we see Elton losing his way and being penitent and fixing things, but we don't really see him become a well-adjusted person. Instead, we're told he became a happier and more stable person later in life, which just doesn't have the same emotional payoff.

[–] CoriSCapnSkip (1563) 5 years ago

Both Bernie Taupin and Elton John's grandmother Ivy Sewell come across as saints in the film. Elton John has nothing but good to speak about his ex-wife Renate Blauel, but she appears too briefly for the audience to get much impression except that the marriage was short and unhappy and that he wished her the best.

https://www.stylist.co.uk/people/rocketman-true-story-elton-john-wife-mother-renate-blauel-sheila-farebrother/269586

Besides John Reid, it would seem Stanley Dwight, Elton John's father, was a victim of character assassination in the film. Dwight's widow and children violently dispute the impression given of them in interviews and the film. Only two of the four brothers are portrayed. The name of at least one, Geoff, was used. The two other of the three younger brothers were named Robert and Simon but I don't see those names in the cast list.

https://ultimateclassicrock.com/elton-john-dad/

https://toofab.com/2019/06/02/elton-john-brother-geoff-dwight-rocketman-rewrite-family-history-stanley-dwight/

This same issue has been raised with Michael Jackson. Some who were there greatly dispute that Joe Jackson was never nice to Michael, but it's been said it was less significant whether this was true than that Michael believed it to be true.

To me, many aspects of the film appear as payback to people with whom Elton John had a problem, the rest is the screenwriter's need to have villains or at least have someone look worse than the main character, but Elton John signed off on this though he did not write it.

[–] Otter (24464) 5 years ago

"To me, many aspects of the film appear as payback to people with whom Elton John had a problem"

Like I said, the biggest underlying problem with the film is that Elton John just isn't a very sympathetic protagonist. By most accounts he's not a very nice person, and while the filmmakers tried to make him sympathetic by showing how much he suffered, that's not the same thing as making him likeable.

I believe Elton was involved in the making of this film, and it's possible that he thinks the script was emotionally honest. But that's the problem with emotional honesty, it's so personal that even the people who were under the same roof at the same time say whether you're telling the truth or not, because their experiences and relationships were all different than yours. It's absolutely possible that Elton felt his father was slighting him in favor of younger half-siblings, and that the half-siblings were never aware of that, or that he was hurt by his mother's reaction to his coming out, and his mother thought everything was fine... that's what family life is all about. Obliviousness to each other's feelings.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

I agree. Terrible people.