Welcome to "Conscious Movie Reviews."
I'm your host Joy Davis and here to review the musical biopic, "Bohemian Rhapsody."
When Freddie approached the members of "Smile" to take him on as their new lead singer, they
were hesitant.
His teeth looked funny.
He explained to them that by having four additional incisors, it gave him a wider vocal range.
Freddie was a powerhouse on stage.
Within a year, they sold out every pub.
His new girlfriend Mary encouraged him to take more creative risks, so he had the group
record an album that got the attention of EMI executives.
They prided themselves in being a band of misfits playing to misfits.
At home, Freddie's father was less enthusiastic, reminding him to follow the Zoroastrian principle
of "good thoughts, good works, good deeds."
That's what his son should aspire to.
Naming the band "Queen" suggested different things, like Freddie being gay.
Born with a strong Life Force, he had an excess of sexual energies.
Achieving self-mastery involves transmuting your sexual energies for creative purposes
and upliftment.
Rumi, a famous poet and Sufi mystic, explained that "Union with God is through a surrender
to erotic love, divine love, and personal love."
As primal, sexual energy courses through the seven energy centers of our body, called chakras,
it spirals upwards.
We can choose to transmute it into drive for achieving our goals in life, or, we can leak
it through the sex organs to indulge in pleasure.
Freddie embodied his sexual energy in a powerful way to focus it on his stage presence.
And, he weakened himself with it by over-indulging at gay orgies.
As a performer, Freddie was "electric".
This comes from how he channeled his sexual energy from the waist up to reveal true power
and clear intent through his voice while making exclamation points with sweeping arm gestures
and fist pumps in the air.
Soul singer James Brown is another compelling performer, but liked to channel his sexual
energies from the waist down with lots of hip action and fancy footwork.
When sexual energies circulate freely around the groin in a healthy way, it can contribute
to being comfortable with your sexuality and maintaining strong ties with a tribe, family
and community.
These were major hangups for Freddie, so he blocked his energies to only move it upwards
for power.
By creating interactive music that is a call-and-response, it showed off Freddie's mastery in exchanging
his energies with thousands in an audience to build them to a musical climax.
Many can't help but join along with him to "Radio Gaga" and "We Will Rock You".
This is the hallmark of a Magician Archetype.
Freddie understood the dynamics of energy flows, using his power to transform, then
channel it in a creative way for the good of all.
And with a crew cut, wearing a studded arm bracelet and military-style jacket, he personified
someone who liked to martial a group to his command.
Mary lived on Freddie's property, but in separate homes.
This was his way of distancing himself to not really know true intimacy.
They eventually broke up for Freddie to pursue meaningless hook-ups with men.
His life took a dark, sexual turn with Paul Prenter, his personal manager and lover.
Being a part of Queen and having Mary as his chosen family grounded him in a healthy way
to thrive.
Without them, his solo efforts on two albums lacked genius.
He sounded lost, confused and uninspired.
Rare is the band whose members do well together and on their own like "The Eagles."
Queen was an alchemy of great talents and intentions with enough creative stress placed
on each other to produce music that made them "Gods of Rock".
As family, they needed each other.
Freddie ended his toxic relationship with Paul, calling him a "dirty little fruit fly".
As a consequence of engaging in risky sexual encounters, Freddie contracted the AIDS virus.
For every disease, you'll find limiting beliefs and feelings underlying it.
Having AIDS is often associated with either guilt about sex or sexual shame to create
self-rejection, similar to how your own immune system can attack you.
It's also likely that contracting AIDS was a means for Freddie to learn lessons about
releasing any fear of being emotionally vulnerable to experience true intimacy, both with himself
and others.
Happy to see Mary again, she told him about the Live Aid benefit concert at Wembley Stadium.
Freddie was ready to reconcile with the band and perform before a televised world audience
of over 1 billion.
He arranged a meeting to ask for their forgiveness.
When Freddie made the announcement to his band mates that he has AIDS, they kept it
between themselves and honored his request to make the most of their time together.
Queen's very last concert was held at Knebworth Park in England in 1986.
Freddie died five years later.