Though grateful the Rami Malek-starring biopic took home four Oscars, the Queen guitarist couldn't help but point out at the 'vindictive sickness' encircling all of the nominated movies.
Mar 7, 2019
AceShowbiz -
Queen rocker Brian May took a leave of absence from the limelight to recover from the "sickness" of awards season after snagging Oscars for "Bohemian Rhapsody".
The Freddie Mercury biopic took home four Academy Awards at the Los Angeles prizegiving on February 24, with leading man Rami Malek bagging the Best Actor in a Leading Role trophy for his portrayal of the late singer.
Though the film ended up a great success, May, who had a huge hand in developing the movie, admits he is still struggling with the shock of awards season on Instagram.
"You saw I went very quiet after the Oscars were over, signalling the end of the whole movie awards season," he wrote, before explaining how great it felt to perform the opening ceremony at the 91st Academy Awards and then see his film win trophies on the night.
"I was, and I am, deeply grateful for our Freddie film being recognised in a way we never had the audacity to expect, but I found the public activity behind the whole awards season, and the behaviour of the media writers surrounding it, deeply disturbing."
May went on to explain that most of the press about Bohemian Rhapsody and the other nominated films was so negative it took him down to a dark place.
"If you look at the Press and Internet discussions that took place over the last few months, you can see that 90% of it is aimed at discrediting one or other, or all of the nominated films by innuendo and smears, rather than discussing their merits and admiring the skills that went into making them," he continued. "Vitriol and dishonesty, and blatant attempts to shame and influence the members into voting the way they, in their arrogance, required them to. It's not the fault of the awards panels - they stood up well."
"It's a kind of vindictive sickness that seems to have gripped public life. All through it, I've been biting my tongue, not wishing to influence the results of the ballots even by a hair. But, when the curtain came down, I was left with very mixed feelings."
