Bryan Fuller Criticizes BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY Trailer For Leaving Out Freddie Mercury's Sexuality
The Bohemian Rhapsody trailer has come and gone, and while most people saw no issue with the trailer, Bryan Fuller has a bone to pick with 20th Century Fox. Fuller took to Twitter and alleged that the trailer, and possibly the film itself is trying to downplay Freddie Mercury's bisexuality:
Fuller's main criticism was that the trailer showed Mercury flirting with and twirling a woman, yet leaving no indication that Mercury reportedly had a much bigger attraction to men. Fuller explained his outrage in an interview with Upworthy:
“Even Mary Austin, who Freddie Mercury called the love of his life, somewhat famously corrected Mercury when he told her he was bisexual: ‘No, Freddie, you’re gay.’ By emphasizing heteronormative images without a balance of same-sex images, the marketing folks are making a statement of what content they feel more comfortable putting forward about this film. Judging from this trailer alone, it felt to me like queer erasure, regarding Freddie Mercury’s bisexuality or his relationships with men [that] felt conspicuously absent, or rather significantly de-emphasized. The use of ‘life-threatening illness’ in the publicity material smacked so disturbingly of Reagan-era AIDS denial, my ass was triggered like Roy Rogers,” he adds. “Representation matters. If a story I’m telling isn’t necessarily a queer one, I want to make sure the audience understands there is a queer one telling it."
I personally didn't notice what Fuller did, although I agree that from what I've heard about Mercury throughout the years, he was far more into men than he was women. That said, I'm sure most people interested in seeing this film also know that, and I don't imagine too many people are going into this film not knowing that will likely be a good part of Freddie's story. Do you think Fuller has a point, or is he making a mountain out of a molehill?