💬 In Defense of the Mediocre Music Biopic

I think the primary reason I’m drawn to the mediocre music biopic is that I know, from personal experience, that most actual bands are incredibly boring. I’ve spent much of the past 25 years around musicians — interviewing them, hanging out with them, even performing, recording, and touring in some bands myself. And I can tell you with confidence that, say, 95 percent of them would make for abysmal movie subjects. Being a musician is a monotonous process that’s mostly about waiting: waiting to get to the gig, waiting for sound check, waiting until it’s time to play, waiting to start making actual money at this. Even the documentaries of the most legendary bands to have ever lived, your Stones and your Beatles, are largely dominated by scenes where someone lays down a tambourine while someone else watches, their facial expression suggesting that they vaguely prefer this to a desk job. Sure, there are the onstage highs and the occasional bursts of offstage glamour. There are drug binges and fights with your bandmates and even sudden, tragic deaths, all of which can create moments of real narrative tension. But mostly it’s just overdubs and cigarette breaks, and arguing over where to eat lunch.