I recently watched “Bohemian Rhapsody,” and I think it deserved to win all of the Oscars it was nominated for. It completely changed my perspective of how I view rock music, and it should be on everyone’s watch-list for 2019. [Warning, this article contains spoilers.]

Upon Hearing about the movie “Bohemian Rhapsody,” I had two thoughts. One, I don’t listen to rock music. Two, I don’t even know the band Queen or any of their songs. Rock music has never been something that appealed to me personally. My music taste was always in the realm of techno and electronic dance music. However, after watching the film, I can definitely say that I am now a converted Queen fan. Not only am I now a fan of their music, but I also have an appreciation for it because I got to see the process of how one of the most iconic bands in the entire world was formed.

The 2018 film “Bohemian Rhapsody” is the story of how the iconic band Queen formed along with the trials and tribulations of frontman Freddie Mercury. The movie mainly focuses on Mercury’s journey with Queen and the problems he faces due to his sexuality.

From one of the first scenes in the movie we automatically see that Mercury, who is portrayed by actor Rami Malek, grew up in a stringent and old-fashioned environment. As Mercury is leaving his home, his father comments on what he is wearing and seems like he doesn’t understand or approve of his son’s feminine style. We learn that Mercury’s parents had more traditional expectations for their son, but Mercury chose his personal life path instead of the future his parents envisioned for him.

Mercury’s feminine-style of clothing and his mannerisms are a crucial aspect of his persona. The viewer gets to see how Mercury interacts with the people around him and vice versa. He is not afraid to express himself through clothing and his stage presence. His then-girlfriend, Mary, even helps Mercury try on clothing at the boutique she works at and smudges black eyeliner on his eyelids.

Mercury notices that the lead singer of a local band quits and he asks the remaining band members if he could join as their new lead singer. The other members are skeptical about Mercury and make fun of his front teeth, which poke out of his mouth. When the band performs with Mercury for the first time, the crowd isn’t very impressed, but Mercury turns the show into his own concert. The crowd goes wild as Mercury stomps around the stage while flinging a microphone stand. From that moment on, the rest was history. Literally.

Malek captures the essence of Freddie Mercury so well that you start to believe that he is Mercury. In preparation for the role, Malek watched performances of Freddie Mercury on tour with Queen to replicate Mercury’s unforgettable stage presence.

As Queen’s success becomes bigger, Mercury struggles with his sexuality. He has a girlfriend at home, but his attraction to men grows more apparent while he is on tour. Mary begins to suspect that something is off when Mercury hesitates to tell her that he loves her. He comes back from tour and tells Mary that he thinks he’s bisexual, but Mary believes that Freddie is gay and she’s known this for a while. Mary is heartbroken, but the two remain very close friends, Mercury refers to Mary as the “love of his life” throughout the movie.

After Mercury comes out to Mary, he decides to come out to his bandmates as well. This is the part of the movie that sort of annoyed me. After Freddie Mercury comes out to the rest of Queen, they start to act different towards Mercury and seem uncomfortable when they hang around him. I understand that this took place in the 1970s, but I expected his band mates to be the most supportive of Mercury during this crucial time.

I soon realized that it wasn’t Mercury’s sexuality that frustrated his bandmates, but instead, it was his hard-partying and involvement with sketchy people that sent them over the edge. They all wanted Freddie to be safe, but they watched his self-destruction and couldn’t stand the fact that someone so talented was heading down a dark path.

In the end, they all end up making up, and Mercury is back with Queen. He puts his hard-partying days behind him and stops hanging out with the people who were bad influences. Queen goes on to perform the most iconic and unforgettable concert at Wembley Stadium for the Live Aid benefit in 1985.“Bohemian Rhapsody” is worth watching for the lesson; it teaches the audience. Be yourself. Be fearless. Learn forgiveness. Learn acceptance. This movie will have you clapping your hands, stomping your feet and crying all at the same time. As a newly converted Queen fan, I can confidently say that we can all find a piece of ourselves in Freddie Mercury.