"Eighth Grade" star Elsie Fisher actually had to apologize for tweets in which she stated how "happy" she was that "Bohemian Rhapsody" and Rami Malek won at the 76th annualGolden Globes.
The 15-year-old actress was nominated for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy for her performance in "Eighth Grade," but had the time to tweet about how she was "happy" for the big winners of the night, Malek and 'Rhapsody.'
Fisher tweeted, “IM SO HAPPY RAMI MALEK AND BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY WON GOLDEN GLOBES IM THRILLED TONIGHT IS THE BEST NIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” A backlash eventually ensued, which prompted Fisher to tweet, “Why is everyone being so mean about this? I’m genuinely sorry if I did something wrong :(”
There have already been plenty of writeups about how the film "de-queered" lead singer Freddie Mercury, not to mention director Bryan Singer being a #MeToo poster boy with numerous rumored sexual assaults being alleged against him.
Fisher is not the only public figure that has had to deal with the wrath of Twitter over her love for the film. Earlier last month, "Doctor Strange" director Scott Derrickson went on Twitter to voice his frustration with critics bashing "Bohemian Rhapsody," stating “I really enjoyed ‘Bohemian Rhapsody. Most criticisms I’ve read about the film say it could’ve been something more. But I refuse to judge a film by [what] I wanted it to be, I receive it for what it is.”
Derrickson's tweet angered critics such as Variety's Guy Lodge who wrote, “It’s good to review everything on its terms. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t criticize a film for being limited in scope, ambition or courage..If you’re not bothered by the de-queering of Freddie Mercury’s story for mass entertainment purposes, well, great — you are exactly who Bohemian Rhapsody was made for. Enjoy! But also take a moment to consider whether the film should have been made only for you.”
A backlash against Derrickson soon ensued, which lead to the director threatening to exit social-media: “If I keep getting personally attacked by film critics I will leave twitter." he tweeted, adding"They will win. I cannot afford to have them souring my name to other critics and filmmakers. It’s consequential. And none of them come at me directly. That would at least deserve a smidgeon of respect.”
Despite mixed reviews from critics (62% on Rotten Tomatoes) you can't escape the fact that "Bohemian Rhapsody" has been such an immense success with audiences nationwide. The Queen biopic has delivered great numbers at the box-office with close to $193M grossed domestically thus far -- cue in all the Hollywood execs greenlighting rock biopics left and right. Not to mention 'Rhapsody' garnering a rare A grade on CinemaScore and an astonishing 8.3 rating on IMDB (based on 172k votes).