Rami Malek plays Freddie Mercury in the upcoming biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody. Photo / screenshot
Rami Malek plays Freddie Mercury in the upcoming biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody. Photo / screenshot
Bohemian Rhapsody, the forthcoming Freddie Mercury biopic, has been criticised for apparently downplaying his bisexuality, relationships with men, and even his death from Aids.
Hannibal creator Bryan Fuller slammed the company behind the Bohemian Rhapsody for being vague about the Queen singer's death in promotional materials.
He tweeted: "DEAR 20THCENTURY FOX... Yes, it was a life-threatening illness, but more specifically it was AIDS. From having gay sex with men. Do better."
The trailer for the film features Mercury's partner Mary Austin prominently, but only appears to show his interest in men in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it shot of the singer being approached by a man in a recording studio.
Jim Hutton, the singer's long-term lover who nursed him until his death, does appear in the film, but it is not yet known how their relationship will be portrayed.
Fuller slammed the trailer as "hetwashing", a term used when LGBT media is changed to make it more palatable to heterosexual audiences.
ANYONE ELSE MILDLY ANNOYED (enough to tweet about it) THAT THE #BohemianRapsody TRAILER FEATURES GAY/BI SUPERSTAR FREDDIE MERCURY FLIRTING WITH AND TWIRLING WITH A WOMAN BUT NO INDICATION OF HIS LOVE OF MEN?
Bohemian Rhapsody has had a notoriously rocky conception. Director Bryan Singer was fired, and former star Sacha Baron Cohen also left the production.
Earlier versions of the film were said to feature Mercury's death in the middle of the film before showing how the band continued without him, but the final cut focuses more on Freddie and chronicles 25 years of his career leading up to the 1985 LiveAid concert.
Freddie Mercury is one of the most famous bisexual ever to have lived. Yet in his biopic, he's depicted solely with female love interests, and they omit the entire AIDS crisis, as well as the reason he died?
Pack it up. There's nothing of value that movie can bring to the table.
— Aditya Mukerjee, the Otterrific 🦦 🏳️🌈 (@chimeracoder) May 15, 2018
The Telegraph has contacted 20th Century Fox for a response to Fuller's allegations.
