Weird Al has been in the song parody business for nearly 40 years, and on November 4, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story was released on the Roku channel. The biopic is praised for its over-the-top storytelling that distorts the truth while brilliantly capturing Weird Al’s aesthetic.
All the celebrity biopics of the past seem to have a few things in common. These similarities have become genre tropes, and just as he parodies the music, Weird Al tackles the biopic head-on.
Fact versus fiction
Biopics are notorious for distorting the truth. Almost every movie that explores the life of a celebrity changes things up to add drama and make it funnier. It’s the most common and sometimes most frustrating trope in biopics, especially for those who know and appreciate the truth.
Biopics tend to greatly exaggerate or leave out important life moments because people think they make the watch more appealing. Unfortunately, they’re not wrong. Weird is almost so far from the truth about Weird Al’s life, that it could be considered a historical novel. Eric Appel and Al have taken so much liberties in telling this story. They have added such ridiculous plot threads that the audience is sure to be entertained and laughing the entire time.
Flash-forward aperture
Starting a movie mid-plot is a commonly used trope to hook viewers. While many movies and shows do this, recent biopics are famous for it. For example, Bohemian Rhapsody opens at the Live Aid concert and Rocketman opens as Elton John enters group therapy. Both movies start here, then immediately jump back to the beginning to provide context for what’s happening.
In Bizarre, this trope is parodied when Daniel Radcliffe’s Weird Al is dragged into an emergency room, knocked unconscious. Doctors frantically try to revive him and he suddenly comes back to life with an idea for a brilliant parody song. This is where the movie ends and flashes back to Al’s childhood. This hook leaves viewers concerned and wondering what has led up to this moment, but also with an idea of what they are up to.
Family and childhood traumas
Every major artist old enough to make a biopic about them seems to have some sort of familial or childhood struggle that greatly affected their life. Johnny Cash’s childhood trauma in Walk The Line is particularly heartbreaking.
Bizarre sees Al being verbally abused by both of his parents. While said musician’s trauma can in no way be understated, Al takes this commonly used celebrity biopic trope and puts his own interpretation into it. The script has his mother telling him in no uncertain terms that he shouldn’t be himself, and his father overreacting when the accordion salesman shows up at the door. Bizarre is careful to avoid belittling authentic traumatic experiences, but it also manages to demonstrate that biopics aren’t always good at portraying these issues in the most authentic way.
Lip sync
Singer biopics always face an interesting problem when it comes to deciding how they want to sing. Sometimes the actor sings each song himself. Other times, even if the actor is a great singer, they may not be required to provide his voice for songs because the subject of the film has already recorded his music.
Several biopics do this. Rami Malek in Bohemian Rhapsody and Jennifer Lopez in Selena are some of the best known examples of the actor’s lip-syncing to original music. Daniel Radcliffe can sing, as evidenced by his performance in Miracle Workers and at the 2011 Tony Awards, but in favor of parodying this common trope, Weird has the Harry Potter actor lip-syncing Weird Al’s voice, and the film not too worried . to make it seem otherwise.
Instant fame
So many biopics want to jump into a professional celebrity career as soon as possible, so they skip several important steps to get there. However, this will often give the illusion that their fame was instantaneous.
Weird tackles this trope brilliantly. Al immediately comes up with “My Bologna” and quickly records the song. It’s not even ten minutes after sending the tape to the radio station that the DJ announces his name and plays the tune. This sequence of events is hilarious and the reaction of his roommates is priceless. This is potentially one of the best scenes in the entire movie.
mentor figure
Not all celebrities are born into a life of glory. Many of them go from a normal working life to daily recognition on the streets once their talent is realised. Many of these celebrities have a mentor figure who helps them through the transition and several biopics like to capitalize on this fact. Reverend James Cleveland helps Aretha Franklin in Respect as the Colonel leads Elvis into chaos in the 2022 biopic.
In Bizarre, Al asks Dr. Demento to help him cross bridges in his career and personal life. Demento watches over the young man, opens doors for him and disapproves of his girlfriend. The real coup, however, comes when Dr. Demento asks Al if he can legally adopt him. He teases how much these mentors take care of their protégés in the movies. Sometimes they go so far as to be a parental figure in the star’s life.
The toxic relationship
Several biopics highlight a celebrity’s most toxic relationships, and not all of them are romantic. Unfortunately, so many stars find themselves in contact with such awful people. Elvis explores the nature of the king of rock ‘n roll’s relationship with his manager, Colonel Tom Parker. The film shows, and multiple sources have claimed, that the Colonel sent Elvis into a downward spiral that led to his death.
Freddie Mercury and Elton John have also had toxic relationships with their respective lovers and managers, as shown in their biopics. Weird decides to use Madonna in this antagonistic role, which Al only uses for the “bump” parodies of her give original artists in record sales. In real life, behind-the-scenes interviews reveal that Al and Madonna only met once. If you consider the truth, the film becomes much better and a hundred times funnier.
hit rock bottom
Each biopic explores the good and bad of a celebrity’s life and career. The most memorable parts of the film come when the star is down and somehow breaking out of their funk.
While Post Malone’s “Rockstar” alludes to the dangerous and unhealthy activities rock stars are often known for, Weird takes the behaviors and actions stars often exhibit in biopics that mean rock bottom, and Radcliffe’s Al takes them all. . He smokes, drinks, gets into a toxic relationship, has multiple public outbursts, crashes his car and ends up in the ER in just one day. It’s a series of crazy events that are entirely made up and parody that sound good.
The death
Most celebrity biopics are made about people who have passed away and these movies are made to commemorate them and all that they have accomplished.
Weird Al is still alive and well, but he and Eric wanted to play into that trope to give the movie an ending that fit the wild story they told. As a result, they use a hit man hired by Madonna to kill Al just as he accepts an award he’s always wanted. The death is shocking and leaves viewers choking on confused laughter.
Actual photos at the end of the credits
Almost every biopic about a celebrity, whether they lost their life or are still alive and breathing, has a photo montage at the end sharing footage of the real person.
Weird’s credits reverse this trope. This is probably the most obvious parody of the film. In the beginning, real photos of Al in his childhood and youth are shown, but as the credits roll, the beautiful images become photographic images of Weird Al in strange situations or with famous people such as Fire.Queen Elizabeth. This sequence is brilliant and gives the audience one last big laugh. Despite its inaccuracies, Weird could prove to be one of the most successful biopics of all time.
