Why ‘Weird Al’ Is on the Soundtrack of an Oscar Contender
One of the most buzzed about movies of the holiday season is Nightbitch, which stars Amy Adams as a woman who puts a pin in her artistic career in order to become a stay-at-home mother, only to find herself turning into a literal canine.
Nightbitch, which is now available on streaming, is getting a lot of buzz for Adams’ performance, leading some to suggest that it may be the movie that finally wins the acclaimed actress an Oscar. But now that it’s out, audiences have a more pressing question concerning the film: Why does this awards contender include a song by “Weird Al” Yankovic?
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Weird Al’s 1985 banger features prominently in Nightbitch, underscoring a montage as if it were a totally normal song by an artist who isn’t famous for recording parodies and single-handedly keeping the quirky Hawaiian shirt industry afloat.
Of course, “Dare to Be Stupid” isn’t a one-to-one parody of an existing song, it’s an original tune that emulates the style of Devo.
Speaking with IndieWire, director Marielle Heller revealed that Nightbitch’s use of the song comes from a very personal place. “My son, at the time I was writing the script, was seven or something, and was obsessed with Weird Al, and so all we would listen to was Weird Al at all times.”
Heller’s son was also “really into the Transformers movie from 1987,” which, for some reason, includes the same Weird Al song during an epic fight scene between the Autobots and the Decepticons.
“I would always be blasting it on the radio when I pulled into a school parking lot,” Heller added, “and I always felt like, ‘I don’t give a fuck if all you parents think I’m weird. We’re listening to Weird Al, and I’m singing along, and we’re blasting it.’ It was all an ode to my son. And truly, because I had had my own experience of loudly singing Weird Al and realizing it was the moment where I no longer gave a fuck about anything in life and how anyone saw me, I was like, ‘Right, this has to go in there.’”
Securing the rights to the song was no problem because Heller’s husband, Jorma Taccone from The Lonely Island, is friends with Yankovic. “Jorma just called him to ask, and thank God, he just was like, ‘Sure,’” Heller explained.
Prior to Nightbitch, The Walking Dead also turned heads with its unironic use of a Weird Al track, dropping his Queen parody “Another One Rides the Bus” into an otherwise serious scene in which Sheriff Rick has a vision of the future.
Hopefully this trend will continue and more dramatic movies will incorporate Al’s music. Like, maybe Christopher Nolan’s upcoming adaptation of Homer’s The Odyssey will find a use for “Amish Paradise.”
