I never understood the almost fanatical fascination with Beatle founder John Lennon. And this coming from an enormous Beatle fan himself! In his own words he was “just a guy… who started a band”, but the way people have canonized him over the years is laughable.
And he would be the one laughing.
Lennon was a deeply flawed man, with serious dependency issues (especially regarding his mother), but he was never comfortable talking about them. In the years since his death in 1980, many so-called “official” bio’s have been written to try and get through the fog of stardom that surrounded the man, many of them worthless, some inflammatory, and some very good. But none of them were able to explain why, after his death, he was somehow transformed into this legendary Golden God. Yes, he was a brilliant songwriter, but he was also prone to writing complete and utter crap just like anyone else, so the whole Lennon worshiping thing never made any sense to me. He was at times extremely rude to people (just ask The Smothers Brothers) and could be very impersonal to his friends. I understand that he died way too young and had much more music in him, but in the end like kings, politicians, actors and musicians he was just a man who “made it very, very big. That’s all”.
So to add to the myth and legend, another Lennon biopic is in the works, Ecosse Films’ Nowhere Boy. Kristin Scott Thomas has recently been added to cast to play his Aunt Mimi, the lady who raised him after his mother abandoned him when he was young. The production is scheduled to start in March, with Anne-Marie Duff playing his mother Julia, and first-timer Aaron Johnson tackling the Lennon role.
Count me ‘not at all interested’ in this latest attempt to understand the origins of the man who gave us the greatest band in history featuring Paul McCartney.