Jessica Berget Opinions Editor hen I first heard that they were making a movie about Freddie Mercury and his life, I was ecstatic. A biopic about an eccentric bisexual icon and music legend starring Rami Malek? Sign me up. Yet alas, my excitement was tarnished when I found out the film doesn’t delve deep into two very important details about Mercury’s life—his sexuality and his battle with HIV. If you ask me, you might as well not make the movie at all. Many people have been quick to defend the film, stating that it should only focus on his music career, that it’s more of a celebration of him, and that Mercury was private about his sexuality. Even actress Lucy Boynton, who plays Mercury’s girlfriend Mary Austin, has had her say in the controversy. “The one thing that we're so proud of with this film is that I don’t feel it ever steps over the line into any kind of expose or intrusiveness. [...] They always ask about the darkness of Freddie and it’s like a celebration and an ode to [him], she said in an interview with DigitalSpy. IT understand not wanting to offend or step over any boundaries when making a film about a prominent music icon, but I don’t associate Mercury with inoffensiveness or staying on the safe side. If you watch his concert performances and interviews, you would see he is unapologetically fierce. His music pushed Bohemian Rhapsody's promotional image boundaries. Furthermore, isn’t it possible that Mercury was private about his sexuality because he lived during a time when homosexuality wasn’t as accepted as it is today? For years people have been waiting for a movie about Queen to come out. Freddie Mercury is such a widely beloved figure and hero to many, so it’s disappointing that it doesn't go into detail about his personal life. From what I’ve read about the film, his sexuality and his relationship with his long-term partner Jim Hutton is reduced to a few short scenes. This is something even Rami Malek says he wishes could have been explored more. “It was something I pushed for, to be quite honest, as much as possible and repeatedly brought to the attention of producers and directors and everyone who would listen,” Malek said to USA Today. Considering the political climate of our current society where people are fighting for more LGBTQ+ representation, and how many people idolize Mercury, I think focusing on his sexuality and death Bisexual Rhapsody » Freddie Mercury biopic completely misses the point would have made it all the more successful. The thing is, everyone has already seen music biopics that only focus on the musicians’ careers. Mercury’s death was a complex tragedy that has never really been represented in film before. His battle with HIV/AIDS was a defining moment during the AIDS crisis of the 80s’ and early ’gos. Representing these things would have been an honest testament to his legacy. Leaving these aspects of his life as an afterthought was a huge mistake. Freddie Mercury was a brilliant musician and performer, there’s no doubt about that, and I get they wanted to make a movie that celebrates him. However, the fact that he was bisexual and died after being diagnosed with AIDS is pretty fucking important. Thus, to only focus on the “musical” part of his life is not a celebration—it’s a safe and lazy gimmick as well as a great disappointment to Queen fans everywhere. What gets your goat: Jumping puzzles » The scourge of my gaming experience Bex Peterson Editor-in-Chief he third installment of the fantasy RPG Dragon Age saw a few exciting added mechanics to the game: a top- down combat system, a fast travel option, and—perhaps most excitingly—the ability to jump. The developers also added a whole bunch of collection quests in Dragon Age: Inquisition, to a decidedly lukewarm response. I consider myself EWcovenl yates ni mcor- Bleek core Kel pranks YC om antl mane cm Corel ed breaks from saving all of Thedas to collect every fractured shard and mosaic piece scattered across the map. It’s a bit annoying, but the annoyance Feeling lucky? » The lottery is a complete waste of money Jessica Berget Opinions Editor I: there a bigger waste of money than spending it on the lottery every week? I don't think so. However, to many Canadians, spending a few bucks on a ticket every week isn’t a waste—it’s a chance to get rich quick or to achieve long-term financial sustainability. It’s unfortunate that so many people bet on winning as their only way to make some money but spending $10 to $20 every week to do so makes no sense. It seems contradictory that people spend so much money to win it back big time, but that doesn’t stop them from is compounded when some of these collectable items are placed in hard-to- reach areas, forcing me to complete my least favourite of all gaming conventions (aside from the dreaded escort mission): jumping puzzles. Now, let me start off by saying that I don’t hate all jumping puzzles. As was pointed out to me by a friend, there are some clever ones in the Legend of Zelda series, and a few others exist in other games as well. If the “puzzle” aspect is having to look at the resources around you and figure out a way to get yourself saxovreM Mol we ovr SRAAe UMM Voy isn't readily apparent, that makes perfect Son oa Kopel eRe acm Ca coe om di gamer thinking. The jumping puzzles IBC dete Km aN Rese Rael ech eoye wae) doing it. As reported by CBC News, approximately one quarter of Canadians play the lotto every week. Furthermore, about 34 percent of Canadians (41 percent of British Columbians) plan on winning to pay for their retirement. A depressing stat, considering the unlikelihood of ever winning. We've all heard the statistics and odds of your scratch ticket being the million- dollar winner, so it doesn’t bear repeating. To me, it makes more sense to take any money you would spend on the lottery and save it. If you took the five bucks or whatever it is that you spend on the jackpot ticket weekly and saved it all, in a year many times the gamer is willing to jump from miniscule platform to miniscule platform, with infuriatingly low odds of your character landing on the precise five pixels allotted to keep them from falling to their doom again. WU stare Trent sstnea iva Aarons necessary mechanics of the game the way the ones in Zelda or many side-scrolling platform games are. It feels like they're just slapped in, no matter how janky or unreliable the jumping mechanic in the game is. I love that you can jump in Inquisition, but believe me, it’s not exactly a skill I'd be willing to stake my Inquisitor’s life on. I think some game developers get that jumping puzzles are far more saMILaK-LabOTeM AN EVO Tee REO nda aK ma cO BEIT Lr Vco Woh en Valen M nel acahm lets pisses me off more. If I see something sparkly at the top of a pile of rubble, you would have $260. That doesn’t seem like much at first, but after five years you would have $1300, not counting interest. This is money that people could be putting towards college funds or retirement, but instead it goes toward a pipe dream and ultimately down the drain. But people do win sometimes, you might be telling yourself. Yes, some have won millions in the lottery. However, when you do some research into some of the people who had winning tickets, their lives Photo by Billy Bui tree trunk, cliff face, what have you, I’m going to want to get my hands on it. The harder you make me work for it, the more I’m going to think it’s something worth having. If I spend half an hour of my life jumping and falling and jumping and FeV Ibn ea vOCe BRC HIN OEM Une BONA Waco ast loot only to find that it’s just a few pieces Coy mebn esc TeaT Renu Kaones moyee Raesent pcr ig useless low-level item—which has absolutely happened to me before—I will not be pleased. I will, in fact, probably Se Tume My abETee As long as characters can jump, I’m sure there will be jumping puzzles, and I'm sure there are people who will enjoy them. However, I personally think they're EUSP VOL MB OMELIORcTaNET MN CI (Rey man en (01 if I can't bring myself to ignore them LXer Let emo) OO UCL Tm dato Aceccoy net slae tba Ted really cool in that chest on top of that big pile of precariously-balanced rocks? aren't better for it. They blow it all on more gambling or investments that never pay off. Some even become homeless because of it. These examples suggest that to many people, winning the lottery is a nightmare, not a dream come true. The lotto, to me, is a depressing activity that should have been phased out long ago. I think it’s a testament to how desperate people are to escape poverty or their low-income jobs. They would gladly spend their hard-earned cash every week to have a microscopic chance at winning a fortune. That’s without even getting into the horrors of casinos and other exploitative gambling corporations that profit off of low-income desperation or gambling addictions. If you really want to make or save money, giving it to the lotto is the last thing you want to do. You might as well throw it away. Even in the miniscule chance that you do win, it might not be the dream you thought it would be.