I had the amazing opportunity to see Weird: The Al Yankovic Story at SCAD Film Fest, since it’s now out in theaters, I thought I would share my thoughts. This film was one of the first evening showings to Film Fest and aired on the first night. It was a great kickoff. Part of what I enjoy about film fest is that it has the duplexity of showing multiple stories and many of which can be dramatic and somber and there’s some appreciation to that, but I think what Weird Al and director Eric Appel bring to the table is that same sort of complexity and appreciation of cinema and the industry but in the vein of comedy.
To give context on what the biopic is about it is essentially a long production that started 10 years ago with comedy company Funny or Die on YouTube. They released a video as a way to parody the biopics that were out at the time. The original cast for that short parody trailer of the biopic was Aaron Paul, of Breaking Bad fame as Weird Al and actress Olivia Wilde as Madonna. When it released, Eric Appel mentioned in his interview with SCAD Radio, that he had to work back to that trailer and find ways to make those bits longer and adapt it to the biopic format. The basis of the concept was to make a biopic of an artist that is still alive.
Now, if you don’t know much about Weird Al Yankovic essentially, Weird Al Yankovic is a musician, parody artist. He was essentially one of the first to have this comedy musical career which really created a foundation for parodies. It was a predecessor to YouTube videos and Minecraft parodies, I think once YouTube came out, I was the perfect demographic where I had the ability to access YouTube, a new generation to view his videos of parody songs. Weird Al made Eat It, a parody of Beat It, White and Nerdy a parody of Ridin Dirty. He did a parody of Nirvana. Weird Al is sort of a milestone to a musician in the sense that Nirvana stated Weird Al asked if he could do a parody on Smells Like Teen Spirit, that was them knowing that they’ve made it in the industry, that they’ve been recognized by pop culture. I think Weird Al Yankovic is like a transcript. He’s tuned into pop culture. He started that career in the late 70s, early 80s and is still going strong today.
This particular biopic brings the idea that if you want to leave a legacy, you can make that story your own and with Weird Al he’s obviously gonna make a parody and commentary of it. The biopic genre has advantages and disadvantages. Many artists have passed and therefore in a way do not have a say in what should be shown or not shown. Queen at least had Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon to voice on behalf of Freddie Mercury. The film is about showing a little bit of himself, reflecting who he is, and bringing in new generation again. It’s also to recognize his work or to appreciate his love for music because the biopic includes several of his songs: Amish paradise, Eat it and Like a Surgeon. He took a biopic genre, and how it’s usually produced and he flips it on its head. For those who don’t really know his life story, you can’t quite tell, is this true? Is this not true? but then it’s also very blatant. With the fact that it’s not true he brings a sort of hero arc to himself. He wants to make himself a bigger legend. He’s a humble guy in real life, so within the movie, he really takes on these heroic acts or he really falls. He has a really hard character fall with alcoholism, and dealing with relationships in the biopic that, may not have happened in real life. Weird Al himself does not drink or do not drink to that level that was depicted. So he really did kind of get the nuance of the biopic, the harsh upbringing, the the need to explore in life and the college years you know, the the story arc of a biopic, but he makes it so great and comedic. It’s just a great light hearted film, especially watching it in a crowd with reactions or I’d recommend watching this with family. Definitely something that will just get the conversation going.
After the movie, Eric Appel did a QnA session. Appel mentioned that he was planning on only staying a few minutes of the screening during Film Fest, but stayed for the whole movie just because of our reactions. He could hear it and I think he was very much appreciative of the Scad and Savannah crowd because of it
This movie is a reminder that we can make our own legacies if we want to and to recognize what’s real and what’s not. Another factor I enjoyed was his, his awareness of the time era that he came up in the in, the 80s by parodying The Knicks My Sharona with his take of My Bologna. If you enjoy the 80s era and pop culture or you grew up around then, you get a laugh about what is parodied. I think that’s why Madonna is so integral to the film, because Yankovic was becoming a star in the same era as her. The fact that he just incorporated Madonna into his story, legacy and interaction with fame is something that gets a kick. The cast that goes along with it is just simply amazing. This wasn’t just a parody, but a passion project and it shows the effect that Al Yankovic has left in a comedic career and the impact he has had for others. We wouldn’t have lonely island without weird Al, or Tenacious D be as popular if it weren’t for Yankovics hold in integral foundations for that musical genre. I’m hoping more more awareness of Weird Al Yankovic comes because I was shocked that when I asked people are you going to see weird owl and many people were like, No, I don’t really know him. And I think that just shows at least for people my age, the side of YouTube that they were introduced with or even you know, parents, maybe not also showing his legacy and I think he has a refresh and restart or even just not quite a comeback because he’s been here, but I think, this movie opens up to a larger audience. It’s a reminder to do some self reflections about ourselves and the legacies that we are currently making and we would like to take it, maybe we’d like our legacies to go. I highly recommend it. It is currently out on Roku. That if you do have a Roku account to go out and support it ,So I highly recommend it. I think it’s, it’s a great watch for sure
