E! News - Brown funeral, biopic set

James Brown is going out the same way he came in—with a flourish.
Funeral plans for the Godfather of Soul, who died on Christmas Day of congestive heart failure at age 73, have been finalized. At the same time, as tributes from fans and fellow musicians around the world continue to pour in, Spike Lee has announced he’ll direct a biopic based on Brown’s life.

Of course, James Brown is going out the same way everyone goes out–dying. Other people are going in their own way, now that he is dead and hereby immune from criticism. Let’s see, we’ve got Spike Lee, looking for some mainstream recognition; whoever plays the lead, looking for a guaranteed Oscar nod; the studio, looking for some reverent dollars.

And the nation’s fascination with biopics continues. Why? Why are we so obsessed with someone playing Ray Charles, or Ali, or Bobby Darin? Why can’t characters fabricated from whole cloth get the same kind of recognition?

It’s because if their lives were represented the same way James Brown’s will be, we wouldn’t buy it. Rocky Balboa is pulling in disappointing revenue, because people don’t believe a made-up sixty-year old boxer could do what he does in the movie. Not without real character flaws, real horrible events, which are not fun to watch on screen.

Those won’t be in The Godfather of Soul either, no doubt; we won’t see the wifebeating, or assaulting a police officer. We’ll see his rise from obscurity, and his fame, and maybe, to give the movie some arc, his fall from grace in the 70s before he makes a grand comeback with “Living in America.” It’ll be just as false and unreal as Rocky, but since he’s a real person people will understand. It happened, right? So how can it hit a wrong note.

The same is true in books, now; James Frey is verbally abused by Oprah, and the publisher rushes in to give people refunds and heartfelt apologies. The book isn’t any different. But people aren’t willing to relate to people who don’t exist any more. Forget about Jay Gatsby–we want our romances processed, sure, but we want to be able to watch the person who loved and lost come on TV and talk about it. We want real, and we’re willing to let people be fake for it.