Rocket Man (2019)
No, this is not the story of the one that Donald Trump is telling to tone down. This 'Rocket Man' is from nowhere near the East or has to do with space travel. It is a musical presentation of the lives and times of Reginald Herbert Dwight a.k.a. Elton John.
It is an original musical in the sense that it uses all his songs, with altered lyrics and tempo, with the liberty of anachronism, as the sequence of songs does not follow the order it was released, to narrate the story of an English musical prodigy.
Just for how long are we going to blame all our unhappiness and failures in life to our parents and how we were brought up? The movie is made on the premise that Elton John lived a miserable life. The root of his disharmony is put squarely on his childhood, that he hardly spent quality time with his father, that his mother was a cynical two-timing vixen, that his parents separated when he was only a young boy. Nobody talks about him, being left with his own devices, delved and created a personal new world of music and creativity. Didn't the ancient forefathers tell us that tragedy is essential for us to appreciate life?
If Michael Jackson were not drilled as hard and as heartless as he was, (as MJ later in his life lamented), the world would not have seen the first moonwalk on Earth. The kid in Outer Mongolia would not be dancing to Billie Jean and Bollywood not have ventured into set dances. If Adele had not had romantic breakups, her hit songs would not have hit the charts.
If not for the sadness that hung throughout her life, the world would have missed understanding the pains and tortures that were beautifully crafted by Sylvia Plath through her short stories and poems. Her works exposed to the downtrodden that they were not alone in experiencing despair and melancholy.
At one time, the medical fraternity also attributed to homosexuality to an over-domineering mother. Children exposed to contradictory views from both parents contributed to schizophrenia, it seems.
Rather than blaming all our maladies on our parents, who did what they thought was best at that time, given their mental and economic abilities, we should embrace our misfired start and get the best of our setbacks. Like Sisyphus, life is reaping much that is proffered to us.
A scene from this movie struck a note with me. It was a scene when Elton John's father, who spent very little time in his childhood, was seen lovey-dovey with EJ's step-brothers. An uncle that I know had a similar predicament. "Why wasn't he so nice to me when I was young?" the uncle asked himself. Quickly, he shrugged off the negative thoughts and went on to achieve greater things in life.
Sometimes, we have to have to be unkind and unsentimental. We should not be chained and embroiled in chains and bonds that in relationships that bring us down. Look ahead in life, we set our standards and not be apologetic to the sins of our fathers.
No, this is not the story of the one that Donald Trump is telling to tone down. This 'Rocket Man' is from nowhere near the East or has to do with space travel. It is a musical presentation of the lives and times of Reginald Herbert Dwight a.k.a. Elton John.
It is an original musical in the sense that it uses all his songs, with altered lyrics and tempo, with the liberty of anachronism, as the sequence of songs does not follow the order it was released, to narrate the story of an English musical prodigy.
Just for how long are we going to blame all our unhappiness and failures in life to our parents and how we were brought up? The movie is made on the premise that Elton John lived a miserable life. The root of his disharmony is put squarely on his childhood, that he hardly spent quality time with his father, that his mother was a cynical two-timing vixen, that his parents separated when he was only a young boy. Nobody talks about him, being left with his own devices, delved and created a personal new world of music and creativity. Didn't the ancient forefathers tell us that tragedy is essential for us to appreciate life?
If Michael Jackson were not drilled as hard and as heartless as he was, (as MJ later in his life lamented), the world would not have seen the first moonwalk on Earth. The kid in Outer Mongolia would not be dancing to Billie Jean and Bollywood not have ventured into set dances. If Adele had not had romantic breakups, her hit songs would not have hit the charts.
If not for the sadness that hung throughout her life, the world would have missed understanding the pains and tortures that were beautifully crafted by Sylvia Plath through her short stories and poems. Her works exposed to the downtrodden that they were not alone in experiencing despair and melancholy.
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| The Other Rocket Man |
Rather than blaming all our maladies on our parents, who did what they thought was best at that time, given their mental and economic abilities, we should embrace our misfired start and get the best of our setbacks. Like Sisyphus, life is reaping much that is proffered to us.
A scene from this movie struck a note with me. It was a scene when Elton John's father, who spent very little time in his childhood, was seen lovey-dovey with EJ's step-brothers. An uncle that I know had a similar predicament. "Why wasn't he so nice to me when I was young?" the uncle asked himself. Quickly, he shrugged off the negative thoughts and went on to achieve greater things in life.
Sometimes, we have to have to be unkind and unsentimental. We should not be chained and embroiled in chains and bonds that in relationships that bring us down. Look ahead in life, we set our standards and not be apologetic to the sins of our fathers.
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