Do Biopics Like ‘Oppenheimer’ Change How We See History? | Chart
The last few years have brought a bevy of popular biopics to theaters, from 2023 Best Picture nominee “Elvis,” to 2024 contender “Oppenheimer.” It looks as if that trend will continue into this year, with a biographical treatment of Amy Winehouse slated for May of this year and another of Bob Marley, called “Bob Marley: One Love” set for release on February 14. Many of these movies draw praise and accolades for their stars and directors, but according to Ranker data, they’ve also improved the standings of their historical subjects among our readers.
People come to Ranker, the #1 source of crowdsourced rankings on the internet, to voice their opinions on their favorite movies, TV shows, celebrities, and even historical figures. We looked at our voting data on the subjects of four recent biopics — “Elvis,” “Blonde,” “Oppenheimer,” and “Napoleon” — and found that all of them were viewed more positively after their respective biographical films were released. In general, we found an interesting, if not totally surprising trend: the more successful a biopic, the better people begin to feel about its (not always angelic) subject.
“Elvis”
Baz Luhrmann’s epic retelling of the life and times of Elvis Presley nabbed eight Oscar nominations in 2023. Though the Academy didn’t vote it Best Picture, our readers voted it to the top of our list of Which Best Picture Nominees Are Worth Watching, beating out fan favorites like “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Avatar: The Way of Water.” Overall, a strong majority of votes cast on Ranker for the film indicate positive sentiment, giving it a 63% sentiment score (approval rating).
But what about the King himself? Elvis Presley is a more divisive figure among our voters, with a sentiment score of just under 50%. But in the first 18 months after the release of “Elvis,” that score has increased by more than nine percentage points, bringing it up to 58.75%. The movie ushered in a large number of upvotes on many Ranker music lists, especially The Best Singers Of All Time, where Presley is currently ranked #6. Presley’s score in the last three months, however, is a more modest 53.67% — that could be because of “Priscilla,” the Sofia Coppola film that premiered in late October 2023, which portrays the King in a less than positive light.
“Blonde”
This controversial drama starring Ana de Armas focuses on the less glamorous parts of Marilyn Monroe’s life, emphasizing the extent to which she was exploited by Hollywood. The movie’s unrelentingly dark tone is likely a big reason why it has a sentiment score of just 39%, placing dead last on a list of every movie made about the iconic movie star. But while our readers may not have enjoyed watching the film, it still seems to have inspired a new wave of sympathy for its subject, as Monroe’s sentiment score jumped up by 4.32 points after the movie’s debut. That growth was fueled by upvotes on lists like The Most Beautiful Women Of All Time and People We Wish Were Still Alive.
The fact that Monroe’s popularity rose more than Presley’s did can be attributed to a couple of factors: “Elvis” earned nearly $300 million at the box office internationally, for one thing, while “Blonde” had just a brief, limited theatrical run ahead of its debut on Netflix. But Marilyn Monroe also was already popular with our voters before the movie’s release — her overall score of 63.5% means she had only so much room to grow compared to Presley.
“Oppenheimer”
J. Robert Oppenheimer may have always technically been a household name, but beyond his status as the “father of the atomic bomb,” Americans knew relatively little about the physicist up until this summer, when “Oppenheimer” hit theaters and grossed close to a billion worldwide. The biopic is a hit with both critics and audiences, the latter of which have given the movie a 70% sentiment score — they’ve also voted the film as the most deserving nominee at this year’s Oscars.
That’s rubbed off on Oppenheimer himself, whose sentiment score in the months following the movie’s release has been an impressive 79%, nearly 18 points higher than his average. Voters pushed his approval rating higher through lists like The Most Influential People Of All Time: while the scientist was ranked #71 the day of “Oppenheimer’s” release, today he’s climbed up to #34.
“Napoleon”
Ridley Scott’s “Napoleon,” doesn’t paint a flattering portrait of Napoleon Bonaparte. In fact, the movie got notably worse reviews in France, where critics arguably took the film a bit personally. But in spite of all that, and in spite of a 45% sentiment score for the film, the infamous world leader saw his sentiment score jump by 13.35 points after the movie’s release.
Driven by upvotes on lists like The Most Important Military Leaders In World History and The Greatest Minds Of All Time, the uptick in sentiment surrounding this famous tyrant skews against the trend we noticed overall. “Napoleon” grossed far less than “Elvis,” at the box office, and yet it had a more positive effect on its subject’s reputation. On the other hand, it demonstrates a power unique to the biopic: even when these movies aren’t successful enough to change history, they can change our perception of the history they depict.
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