Another rec for the TDWM&Y!Freddie vibes: 'What's Your Pleasure?' by Jessie Ware! The Dance Video MV starring Nicolas Huchard is absolutely mesmerizing- gay glamour and sensuality at its finest. 💖 The song itself reminds me so much of Freddie, masking his insecurity by playing seductress with outrageous confidence.
Apologies for the late reply, darling! I can only plead a combination of illness and a really stupid Tumblr setup on my part 😣
I looked up the video you're talking about and just... wow. 😳 This is amazing, Anon, thank you so much for sharing it with me! I'm in awe of Huchard's grace and beauty (and can I say that Freddie would have adored both the outfits and the moves??). Seriously, anyone who hasn't seen it, check it out—it's a treat and just dripping in glam and queerness. Inspiring!
As far as Freddie goes, I love what you've noted here: "masking his insecurity by playing seductress with outrageous confidence." That is so insightful, Anon, and I think 100% true. He seems to have spent most of his time playing a part, probably out of fear that no one wanted the real him—only the fun, famous, hard-partying rock star who could give them something, whether that was money, drugs, or sex.
TL;DR: The song's amazing, and I'm glad that Freddie found Jim, who loved him for who he was 😊❤️
It’s fitting and he is lucky, isn’t he? The luckiest boy in the world. He might be plagued by rough hands, because of course they touch him, that is an unavoidable fact, but he has softer hands to fall into afterwards, when it’s over: gentle arms pricked by rose thorns, and sweetened by curling honeysuckle.
I promised I’d be back, and @a-froger-epic’s Freddie Mercury Weekend seemed like a great opportunity to get off my butt and do something! So here we go:
One night, after the demise of Sour Milk Sea, Roger stumbles on Freddie in the sitting room of their flat.
bestie, I LOVE your story this dream was me and you!
*blushes furiously*
*gives you a virtual hug*
Thank you so much, Anon, for your kindness in reaching out to tell me this. Thank you for reading TDWM&Y, and thank you for being so sweet in what you said. This all means a lot to me, especially right now.
Hi there! I tried sending this message a little while ago but I’m not sure if it went through (if it did, sorry for the spam!). I have a song rec for you: ‘On the Floor’ by Perfume Genius. It conjures up vivid images of your Jimercury fic— which is an absolute gem, btw. I’m delighted that you’re sharing something written with such empathy, talent, and attention to accuracy. 🤍🌹
You’re all so nice! Thank you so much, Anon 🤗🥰
Oh my gosh, darling, this song is amazing!!
I watched the whole music video grinning like a loon, my hands over my face, because—it's so amazingly queer?? And Jimercury as hell, I just, please tell me I'm literally the last person on the planet to know about this artist or something.
(And yes, I just added this song to my TDWM&Y/Jimercury playlist.)
(I'm not kidding!)
(I treasure every song suggestion you lovelies give me and listen to them all the time, I hope you know that ❤️)
I love your fics there’s so much detail in them! A rarity!
Thank you so much for your work, hopefully that minority has not affected your contributions, I’d be sad to see you go. Keep sharing!
Anon, you are so sweet. 😭❤️
Your words mean so much to me. I truly didn’t expect this response to speaking out about my hurt and confusion. I just thought: I have to say something, because I can’t bear not to, but I’m sure nothing will come of it.
But you have all proven me wrong over the past twenty-four hours. My heart is full. I’m just—you guys. ❤️❤️
I appreciate your support, Anon, more than I can clearly articulate. Thank you so much, darling ❤️
(And don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere! Maybe I will even finally get up off my butt and get something done soon... crazier things have happened haha)
It's clear you approach the history respectfully and as it happened in it's time (he's a Persian Poppinjay!!) Thank you for writing such beautifully detailed work.
I really just want you to know that there's much more to this fandom than the combative-know-it-all minority. Please, just remember you are so appreciated and you've done absolutely nothing wrong. I am so grateful for your fics and your perspective! What fun would it be if there was only one perspectiv!?
(No pressure to 'answer' this I just wanted to get this out into the universe. I really hope this makes sense!)
Anon—! 😭❤️
Oh my god, lovely, thank you so, so much.
I can’t tell you how much it meant to me to see this in my inbox. You really, truly brought tears to my eyes. I’ve felt so confused all day, and deeply alienated by this fandom... but this message gave me so much joy, and so much hope.
I was so worried that people believed what they were saying about me—that I said horrible things. That I’m a racist. And you come and say that you don’t believe that. Any of it! And the tension just falls away.
People like you are what make this fandom great, Anon. Thank you for reminding me of that. And thank you for thinking of me, and taking the time to write this out. It means everything.
Right. So. Today’s the first time I’ve ever been accused of being something I am manifestly not, and all over a post that I only added to. Not contradicted, not slammed—just added more historical information that supported the original posters’ main goal.
That goal being, from what I could tell: Hey, let’s think about how racism affected Freddie when we write him!
It’s a super complicated issue! And literally no one was saying it wasn’t? So... I’m confused why contributing some more details about how complicated it was for Freddie—how racism probably led him to define himself, how his religion contributed to his self-image and self-relationship, etc—is such a huge crime.
Unless this is all about my perceived race. And to those of you who called me “white” today—you have never seen a picture of me. I have not stated my race. How do you know if I’m white? Where did that even come from?
Let me say one thing: This was a fandom conversation. People are allowed to have opinions, they are allowed to do research (as the post itself stated!), they are allowed to put in their two cents. And it’s crazy to me that someone used an event account—an event that says it welcomes all—to attack additions that did not once invalidate the original post.
This post is made to make people conscious of describing Freddie’s ethnicity and writing about racism.
This is not an easy list of do’s and don’ts. That is impossible when it comes to something this complicated and varied. Why will be explained below.
Freddie’s ethnicity won’t play an integral part in every fic written about him, which is fine. This is not a rulebook or a rule for the event. This is just a starting guide for people who want to write about racism and focus on Freddie’s ethnicity in their fics.
What is important is to make conscious decisions about when you draw attention to his ethnicity.
You might want to do this is when you introduce him as a new character or when you want to emphasize his ethnicity, for example when he is experiencing racism or when you pay attention to his facial features.
When his ethnicity isn’t part of the story it is not necessary to keep referring to Freddie as ‘The Asian/Indian Man’. This isn’t a hard rule, but a guideline. Writers don’t usually refer to Brian/Roger/John as ‘The White Man, English Man, European Man’ without a context where it makes sense to pay attention to their ethnicity or skin colour. Make conscious decisions for when you want to draw attention to Freddie’s ethnicity.
“Exotic” although used in Bohemian Rhapsody, is not an appropriate term to describe Asian peoples or cultures. It is also not appropriate for other poc.
Most important advice is: Don’t erase Freddie’s ethnicity.
This can be a tricky one for people, and from experience I can tell that people are truly trying, but often make mistakes.
Freddie is not African. Yes he was born in Zanzibar, which is now part of Tanzania. But Freddie’s ethnicity is not an African ethnicity. I have seen people refer to him as African. I understand where the idea comes from, but he is not African.
His family is Indian Parsi and their religion is Zoroastrianism. What does it mean to be Indian Parsi? Read down below.
Indian Parsis:
- “Parsis or Parsees, are an ethnoreligious group who migrated to the Indian subcontinent from Persia during the Muslim conquest of Persia of 633–654 CE” x
- Persia (now Iran) had Zoroastrianism as the state religion for many centuries in the ancient empire, it is in fact the oldest religions to still be practiced and laid the groundwork for the largest practiced religions today. There are wonderful YouTube videos and articles online about the early Persian empire, which was incredibly important and became a model for other empires. But when the muslim conquest of Persia began, many Zoroastrians migrated to India over several centuries to escape persecution.
- “Over the centuries since the first Zoroastrians arrived in India, the Parsis have integrated themselves into Indian society while simultaneously maintaining or developing their own distinct customs and traditions and thus ethnic identity” x
- The Parsis who migrated, naturally took their culture and religion with them.
The Indian Parsi community has its own distinct culture which includes its own distinct religion, but have been a community in India for many centuries and are not only influenced by Indian culture, but are a part of Indian society too.
Down below is a wonderful journal article about the Indian Parsi identity. (Click on the image for better quality to read)
- Parsi Identity by Rashna Writer in Iran Vol. 27 (1989), pp. 129-131 (3 pages)
Therefore, try not to overemphasize Freddie’s “Persian side” and neglect that he is also Indian. This happens often in fanfiction. As is explained above, Indian Parsis aren’t simply migrated Persians. Their history is much more complicated.
Further advice and resources:
- If you are white and want to write about racism, first ask yourself why you want to do this, question your own intentions first. This might sound vague, but the source in the next point explains why.
- If you are white and want to write about racism and go in-depth about other ethnicities, you should consume media made by people of colour. Read a book, articles, blogs, watch YouTube videos, or a podcast directly by people of colour. Without consuming the work by poc you cannot accurately represent racism. This source talks about the problems that arise when white people write poc characters without engaging with the work of poc. It uses JK Rowling as a problematic case study.
- An important aspect of Freddie’s background, is that he was an immigrant. This is an oral history source that talks about the experiences of Southeast Asian immigrants who came to the UK.
- This wonderful tumblr talks about everything representation, written by poc and of the specific ethnicities and religions. They do not have an Indian Parsi or Zoroastrian resource, but they do have Indian representation and general advice on representation and writing of poc characters.
Most importantly: Don’t take our word for it!
Use this as an impulse to do your own research if you want to write about racism and the experiences of Freddie as a poc. Don’t assume that you already know enough about racism without having experienced it. Don’t assume that another white author knows either.
Instead, research the works and histories made by people of color if you want to represent racism and experiences surrounding Freddie’s ethnicity more accurately.
🚨🚨🚨
Adding this post here: information about the extremely terrifying coronavirus situation in India and how you can help
A couple of further notes on this (because this is important):
-Freddie called himself Persian, not Indian. Does this erase the fact that his parents were born in India? No, but it’s an important distinction.
-Yes, Freddie himself did live in India, but at an English-style boarding school. It’s doubtful he experienced much “normal” Indian life, even the Parsi version of it. Instead, he was raised and taught in a very British way.
-Zoroastrianism is not noted for its tolerance of homosexuality. To this day, most Zoroastrians do not acknowledge Freddie Mercury as one of their own because of his sexuality.
-The Bulsaras fled Zanzibar because of a violent, racially-charged revolution. We can’t ignore this, or the terror and lasting trauma it created.
-Most importantly, Freddie went to great lengths to avoid and erase his own early history. Whenever possible, he left friends with the impression that his Persian family had always lived in London. He could pull this off, in large part, because of his English-style education at St. Peter’s. Freddie seems to have felt most at home in London—again, all things we shouldn’t ignore.
Lovely additions, @oatrevolution! There are just a few things I'd like to add.
Technically, in broader terms, his family was Persian because they had Persian ancestors. However, a more accurate description of his his ethnicity is Indian Parsi (I've specified Indian here because some Parsis also live in Pakistan). Due to the centuries that they spent in the Indian subcontinent (which includes Pakistan), Parsis are in some ways different from Persians, the languages being a major point of distinction. This is why I feel that whilst talking about their ethnicity, it's important to call them Parsi instead of Persian. Another interesting point is that migrants from present day Iran to India are divided into two groups: the Parsis and Iranis. I mention this point here because I have seen people incorrectly call him and his family Iranis.
I have some theories about why Freddie called himself Persian. I think he did that because calling himself Persian would be a more comprehensive and simple answer than calling himself Parsi. He'd probably have to elaborate slightly more had he mentioned that term, or maybe generate some more interest in his private life, something he absolutely detested. And as you said, he was always very reluctant to talk about his childhood. Hence, I think he gave a very simple answer that would probably not require further explanation. He never called himself Indian probably because technically (in terms of nationality), he wasn't. He had become a British citizen by 1967. His experiences in India also may have played a major role in making him reluctant to call himself Indian, especially pre-1967. Now, there may very well be more reasons as to why he called himself Persian (and he wasn't wrong to call himself that!) but these are my thoughts on the matter.
I agree that he probably felt a disconnect to the Indian culture because he never experienced it to a large extent. He did feel the most at home in England, and I agree that that is an important point to remember.
However, when talking about his ethnicity, it's important to remember point 1. Also, even if he may be written as a Persian man based on his own statements, his family at least, in my opinion, should be described as having Indian Parsi origins. But yes, calling them just Indian (in terms of nationality) makes no sense because they weren't. They were British.
While these are, undoubtedly, wonderful points about Freddie's sociopolitical background, I'm afraid that in trying to address things to level with our modern sensitivity to political correctness, that some points could possibly overshadow Freddie's characterisation in fic (as the original post was referencing it in the context of fic). When writing (not in discussion, in discussion I support this sensitive analysis of his background and ethnicity) I believe that it would be more in keeping with Freddie himself (and his and others perceptions), to refer to himself (or others to refer to him, as Freddie pushed this angle) as Persian. (Lest we forget the comment he made about being 'a master of the Kama Sutra' to Rosemary?) Otherwise, we would be losing an aspect of his viewpoint and a nuance in regards to meta thought, particularly about the ways (and reasons thereof) in which Freddie shrouded and attempted to mystify his origins.
Tldr; There's a point where political correctness overshadows characterisation itself.
As modern-day readers and writers, we have to understand that Freddie existed in a different time, one with prejudices that we find repulsive now. But to represent him accurately, it’s important to consider those faults of the times as well.
This post is made to make people conscious of describing Freddie’s ethnicity and writing about racism.
This is not an easy list of do’s and don’ts. That is impossible when it comes to something this complicated and varied. Why will be explained below.
Freddie’s ethnicity won’t play an integral part in every fic written about him, which is fine. This is not a rulebook or a rule for the event. This is just a starting guide for people who want to write about racism and focus on Freddie’s ethnicity in their fics.
What is important is to make conscious decisions about when you draw attention to his ethnicity.
You might want to do this is when you introduce him as a new character or when you want to emphasize his ethnicity, for example when he is experiencing racism or when you pay attention to his facial features.
When his ethnicity isn’t part of the story it is not necessary to keep referring to Freddie as ‘The Asian/Indian Man’. This isn’t a hard rule, but a guideline. Writers don’t usually refer to Brian/Roger/John as ‘The White Man, English Man, European Man’ without a context where it makes sense to pay attention to their ethnicity or skin colour. Make conscious decisions for when you want to draw attention to Freddie’s ethnicity.
“Exotic” although used in Bohemian Rhapsody, is not an appropriate term to describe Asian peoples or cultures. It is also not appropriate for other poc.
Most important advice is: Don’t erase Freddie’s ethnicity.
This can be a tricky one for people, and from experience I can tell that people are truly trying, but often make mistakes.
Freddie is not African. Yes he was born in Zanzibar, which is now part of Tanzania. But Freddie’s ethnicity is not an African ethnicity. I have seen people refer to him as African. I understand where the idea comes from, but he is not African.
His family is Indian Parsi and their religion is Zoroastrianism. What does it mean to be Indian Parsi? Read down below.
Indian Parsis:
- “Parsis or Parsees, are an ethnoreligious group who migrated to the Indian subcontinent from Persia during the Muslim conquest of Persia of 633–654 CE” x
- Persia (now Iran) had Zoroastrianism as the state religion for many centuries in the ancient empire, it is in fact the oldest religions to still be practiced and laid the groundwork for the largest practiced religions today. There are wonderful YouTube videos and articles online about the early Persian empire, which was incredibly important and became a model for other empires. But when the muslim conquest of Persia began, many Zoroastrians migrated to India over several centuries to escape persecution.
- “Over the centuries since the first Zoroastrians arrived in India, the Parsis have integrated themselves into Indian society while simultaneously maintaining or developing their own distinct customs and traditions and thus ethnic identity” x
- The Parsis who migrated, naturally took their culture and religion with them.
The Indian Parsi community has its own distinct culture which includes its own distinct religion, but have been a community in India for many centuries and are not only influenced by Indian culture, but are a part of Indian society too.
Down below is a wonderful journal article about the Indian Parsi identity. (Click on the image for better quality to read)
- Parsi Identity by Rashna Writer in Iran Vol. 27 (1989), pp. 129-131 (3 pages)
Therefore, try not to overemphasize Freddie’s “Persian side” and neglect that he is also Indian. This happens often in fanfiction. As is explained above, Indian Parsis aren’t simply migrated Persians. Their history is much more complicated.
Further advice and resources:
- If you are white and want to write about racism, first ask yourself why you want to do this, question your own intentions first. This might sound vague, but the source in the next point explains why.
- If you are white and want to write about racism and go in-depth about other ethnicities, you should consume media made by people of colour. Read a book, articles, blogs, watch YouTube videos, or a podcast directly by people of colour. Without consuming the work by poc you cannot accurately represent racism. This source talks about the problems that arise when white people write poc characters without engaging with the work of poc. It uses JK Rowling as a problematic case study.
- An important aspect of Freddie’s background, is that he was an immigrant. This is an oral history source that talks about the experiences of Southeast Asian immigrants who came to the UK.
- This wonderful tumblr talks about everything representation, written by poc and of the specific ethnicities and religions. They do not have an Indian Parsi or Zoroastrian resource, but they do have Indian representation and general advice on representation and writing of poc characters.
Most importantly: Don’t take our word for it!
Use this as an impulse to do your own research if you want to write about racism and the experiences of Freddie as a poc. Don’t assume that you already know enough about racism without having experienced it. Don’t assume that another white author knows either.
Instead, research the works and histories made by people of color if you want to represent racism and experiences surrounding Freddie’s ethnicity more accurately.
🚨🚨🚨
Adding this post here: information about the extremely terrifying coronavirus situation in India and how you can help
A couple of further notes on this (because this is important):
-Freddie called himself Persian, not Indian. Does this erase the fact that his parents were born in India? No, but it’s an important distinction.
-Yes, Freddie himself did live in India, but at an English-style boarding school. It’s doubtful he experienced much “normal” Indian life, even the Parsi version of it. Instead, he was raised and taught in a very British way.
-Zoroastrianism is not noted for its tolerance of homosexuality. To this day, most Zoroastrians do not acknowledge Freddie Mercury as one of their own because of his sexuality.
-The Bulsaras fled Zanzibar because of a violent, racially-charged revolution. We can’t ignore this, or the terror and lasting trauma it created.
-Most importantly, Freddie went to great lengths to avoid and erase his own early history. Whenever possible, he left friends with the impression that his Persian family had always lived in London. He could pull this off, in large part, because of his English-style education at St. Peter’s. Freddie seems to have felt most at home in London—again, all things we shouldn’t ignore.
A couple of things jumped out to me, and I wanted to bring them up. First, though, I’d like to say that overall, I was pleased with the doc—there wasn’t any evasion about Freddie’s sexuality, Jim got a few mentions, and they didn’t lend any homophobic slant to Freddie’s battle with AIDS. So, it’s got a lot going for it. I loved Rose’s interview. I appreciated them bringing in Wigg—as Freddie put some trust in him, and that felt nicely acknowledged. Featuring Freddie Mack absolutely broke me in the best way possible and added some brightness to the (otherwise quite grim) Munich era. Phoebe was, as ever, sweet and calm—the mainstay. (Also can you hear me screaming about “He’s short” because – 😂 YES, tiny Freddie is tiny!)
Now, for the actual thoughts.
While I did find the interview with his school mate interesting, I simply don’t believe that Freddie wasn’t bullied at boarding school. I know this has been repeated by a few of those who knew him during that time period, but I find it hard to believe. Aside from the features that would lend him as an easy target for bullying—build, effeminacy (yes, even, and perhaps especially, then), his teeth (Bucky, anyone?), and ability (or rather inability) to cope and adapt to life at boarding school. Given the reputation of English boarding schools, it’s understandable that bullying would be minimised as much as possible—and it’s important to remember that the atmosphere Freddie was exposed to (whether or not he was directly involved), meant bullying and abuse was not confined to sourcing only from Freddie’s peers. This is historical context that cannot be disregarded.
In response to the proclamation ‘He didn’t want to feel he was in a sad situation’... well, I think that’s slightly incorrectly nuanced. At that time Freddie must have been in an immense amount of emotional turmoil: he’s dying, his dearest friends and loved ones are forced to see—he pushed everyone he could away to spare them. I think his outward attitude was more of a reflection on how he wanted the others around him to feel than he felt himself. (Not that he couldn’t be joyful! Of course he could and of course he could find happiness and peace in the situation—but the emotional pain had to have been there.) And given Freddie’s pattern of going to great lengths to accommodate everyone before himself, I think he would have taken great pains to make sure those around him saw the minimum of his emotional suffering.
My thoughts on the last photograph can be found here. Additionally, details surrounding that period (in terms of Freddie’s health and rate of decline) have only ever been vaguely spoken about—as in, we don’t know the specifics of what he was able to really do, how ill he was for how long, etc. However, Phoebe’s words in the documentary could quite easily be misconstrued as indicating this period as the major decline. It’s much more accurate to view the last years of his life as declines of various degrees, in various ways. Illness is hardly linear and effects are hardly equal to the body. Undeniably, Freddie was ill for a very long time. During that time, there would have been worse periods and better periods at every stage, but there was never a long period were he could have been termed ‘well’, and declines in health of various degrees were continuous and not confined only to the last few months.
So, I saw the new documentary, and I have some Thoughts. Here are a few of them, very rambling and disorganized, which no one asked for! You’re welcome 😉
one. Phoebe is a treasure. Surely nobody can deny that Freddie was a tiny gay baby anymore, and Phoebe’s care and love for Freddie is still so evident. He brought tears to my eyes and warmed my heart. Phoebe is 100% worth the price of admission (which is zero, because it’s on YouTube, but you get what I mean!).
two. The assertion that Freddie wasn’t bullied at boarding school is completely ridiculous. Yes, knowing Freddie, I’m sure he had great determination and spirit, but also knowing eight-year-old boys, he was tiny and gay and had huge, mockable teeth. You cannot convince me that his time in India wasn’t miserable.
three. I also find it difficult to believe that he somehow didn’t realize he was into men until he was dating Rosemary. Overall, though, I found her segment quite interesting and sensitive to the inner turmoil he faced, and she’s much more bearable here than in her own book.
four. I wasn’t expecting much from Leslie Ann Jones, tbh, but I was pretty upset by her recounting of how Freddie discovered his sexuality and came out to Mary. In her version, he experiments with men, finally tells her he’s bisexual, she replies he’s gay, the end. Notice anything major missing? Oh, yeah: David Minns, who apparently just doesn’t exist. No mention that Freddie, you know, had an actual boyfriend and that’s maybe a big reason why he finally ‘fessed up to Mary. No mention that Freddie was cheating on her for ages with this guy! I don’t even like David Minns that much and I’m angry. No, of course the focus has to be on dear Mary, not how gay Freddie really was...
five. Even though, to quote my beloved Phoebe: “You didn’t have to ask Freddie if he was gay, he just was.” Thank you, Phoebe.
six. There were a couple of lovely sentences on Freddie and Jim’s relationship (also courtesy of Phoebe!) and I melted. Those two deserved every happiness.
seven. Buckle up towards the end and prepare to just cry your eyes out, like I did. Accept your fate. It will be easier this way.
eight. This idea that Freddie was happy all or most of the time—um, disagree. Read the lyrics, listen to the stories where partied-out Freddie calls himself trash as he’s found in a dumpster. Remember that he would have wanted everyone else around him to be happy, to have fun, even as inside he’s a mess of trauma and internalized homophobia. Terrible, aching wounds that can only be ignored for a short period of time.
