ABSTRACT
The insistence of rock discourse and biopic theory on authenticity has meant that these earlier films' associations with "entertainment" or "feminine" genres has been overlooked. These conventions are present in all the films discussed in this chapter: Funny Girl, Lady Sings the Blues, What's Love Got to Do with It?, Walk the Line, and Nowhere Boy. Like Walk the Line, Nowhere Boy features the traumatic flashback structure, which refers to the central enigma of the film—John's family background, which is eventually revealed as a variant on the Oedipal family drama. The chapter discusses how the reverse gaze works as a structuring device in music biopics, viewing the dominant narrative of achievement through a female or queer lens that can be both desiring and "concerned". It argues that male and female biopics, traditionally distinct in terms of subject matter and generic identifications, are in fact closely related in their use of reverse gaze—"funny girls" looking at "nowhere" boys.
