When the Robbie Williams biopic Better Man came out at the end of last year, director Michael Gracey (The Greatest Showman, Rocketman) held out hopes that the chimpanzee musical might resonate with US audiences. “It’s truly exciting that they’re hearing these songs for the first time in the film,” he told IndieWire, referring to the fact that – despite selling over 75 million records worldwide – most Americans still don’t know who Williams is.
Gracey shouldn’t have held his breath. Americans don’t “get” Robbie Williams now, just like they didn’t in 1999, back when he signed to Capitol Records and embarked on a tour across North America. After Better Man, the disgruntled TikToks started rolling in from across the pond. “We don’t like him,” said one user. “The music is not good and the music ya’ll keep playing to tell us that he’s good… we don’t like it.” For others, they thought his lack of American fame must equate to not being famous globally. “Every so often somebody tries to convince me that there’s a person who’s been around all along and I can’t help but feel like I’m being gaslit,” said another. “This… Robbie Williams?”
Predictably, Brits flipped out en masse (British culture is dunking on Britain constantly until an American does it and then suddenly you’re the most patriotic person on earth). Indeed, there’s a particular type of deranged British vs American head-butting online that starts with a person in, say, Arizona asking something innocuous like “what’s baked beans?” and ends with someone in Kent frothing at the mouth and rage-typing “AT LEAST WE DON’T HAVE GUNS!!” To that end, the Robbie Williams back and forth should have come as no surprise. What is surprising, however, is the idea that Americans ever should or would get Robbie Williams, Mr Rock DJ, our Robbie from Stoke-on-Trent, to begin with.
Mick Hutson
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Publish date : 2025-01-02 02:00:00
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