Queue Tips: Rock it, man.

What was the point of making the movie "Rocketman"?  I mean, it's just a bunch of Elton John songs set to some random images.  Like, why not just listen to his songs and close your eyes.  It would be a better experience.  Instead, you're watching someone pretending to be him while hearing bits and pieces of his music.

And it's not like he wrote all the songs by himself.  He had a songwriting partner for most, if not all, of it.  So for me, it doesn't really feel like those songs were that personal for him.  And when you listen to songs, they have certain meanings to the audience.  You may not totally understand what they are about, but they do evoke certain emotions or memories.  When you watch music videos, the visualizations they present take over and it means less of what it used to mean for you before.

I think there's a problem when celebrities are involved in creating their own biopics.  Obviously, they are going to want to approve how they are portrayed.  I thought this film was fairly bland.  Just like "Bohemian Rhapsody", it didn't really add much to discovering the subject of the story.  You're better off just reading a Wikipedia article, and you end up learning more.

What were the inspiration for the songs?  I don't know.  They were not even in chronological order.  (As far as I know.  I'm not a huge fan though.).  What did this movie offer to anyone who didn't already know Elton John?  If I was directing a biopic, I would approach it in that way, as though the audience never heard of him and then explain who he is and who he became.

I get that his parents seemed neglectful.  I mean, I've seen that in a lot of movies.  And it seemed pretty one-sided.  I didn't really get why the father was so unsupportive.  I didn't see his point of view, or his mother's.  What was the real reason why they were how they were?  I guess they were just bad guys.  Or maybe I just wasn't paying enough attention?  I really couldn't get into this movie, to be honest.

One thing that they don't ever show in these movies is how they got to be good at what they do in the first place.  Who encouraged him to take piano lessons and why?  Did he have any teachers who inspired him?  Did he have to practice a lot or did it just come naturally?  When he worked with Bernie Taupin, did he just instantly understand what the songs were about?  Did the songs ever evolve?

For a while in the '90s, Elton toured with Billy Joel, the piano man.  The real piano.  Now is there a movie about him?  That one I would like to see.  And Billy actually wrote the songs himself, music and lyrics.  They were deeply personal and reflected a lot of what he was going through.  Actually, you don't even have to watch a biopic to get the Billy Joel experience.  Just listen to his albums from start to finish, and you feel like you've lived a whole life.  You don't have to know all the details behind the songs and the albums.  You are just grateful that this person existed and is able to convey his emotions through his art.