Joaquin Walks Outside the Line
by Jeffrey JenaOut here in the sticks, despite the fabulous inventions technology has brought us, news travels slowly. I like Letterman but don’t often watch the show because I’m usually either writing or in bed at 11:30 P.M. Besides, I am a little put off by Dave lately because his political bias has been showing through on the show. I am not, however, one of those folks who won’t watch anyone I don’t agree with politically. I don’t want my entertainment choices to be limited to only conservative actors and entertainers, but sometimes I just can’t take the bleed through.
More Andy than Diddy
So I was a little behind the curve on the whole Joaquin Phoenix being weird on Letterman last Wednesday night. I had to watch an edited version of the interview on The Huffington Post. Settle down, my conservative friends, yes I just mentioned the dreaded Huff and not only do I read items there I used to write for their 23/6 political site. Someone has to keep an eye on them.
I also went and found clips of Mr. Phoenix “rapping” and announcing his retirement from acting. It seems to me that Joaquin isn’t moving into hip-hop as much as he is moving into comedy and channeling the spirit of Andy Kaufman. For some of you younger folks, Andy was a comedian who took his act off stage and into his life 24/7 with his Tony Clifton character and later with his foray into professional wrestling. Andy never broke character either as Tony or when he was doing his wrestling thing. The joke was never over, that was part of the beauty of the comedy, it was all set up and no punchline. The really odd thing is that David Letterman was at the heart of both of these pieces of great performance art.
As I watched the Joaquin interview he never got tired of or angry with Dave’s insults or belittling attitude. Odd, don’t you think that a guy who has a reputation for being a little touchy about his work never gets angry that neither Dave, nor the audience is taking him seriously. Even when Paul Schaffer jumps in with a laugh it all seems too planned. While I respect David Letterman as a comic some of the lines he gets off in the alleged interview seem a little rehearsed. So I say let Joaquin have his fun as he spoofs the hip-hop world and the rest of us with his career change but keep in mind that wrestler Jerry Lawler dropped Andy Kaufman on his head. Or was that just part of the joke?
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48 Comments
I showed my wife the Letterman video and her first thoughts was it was staged. She saw him cracking smiles every so often and felt that gave it away. As for me, heck, how do you know – he's a celebrity. It's not like he's a normal human being.
I showed my wife the Letterman video and her first thought was it was staged. She saw him cracking smiles every so often and felt that gave it away. As for me, heck, how do you know – he's a celebrity. It's not like he's a normal human being.
Joaquin shakes hands with Letterman and appears to walk off the stage. BUT, if you watch the video 'till the very end, you see Joaquin take off his glasses and shake hands with Letterman AGAIN right before the fade. I interpret that as "Thanks for helping out with the bit, Dave." Just my 2¢.
I'm not so sure I agree with the "staged" theory. His family has a history of substance abuse and mental illness, so this may or may not be actual "acting." Regardless, as Dave points out, there's not a finer actor working today, and it would be a shame to miss out on his talents. I hope he hurries up and gets to the punchline and starts making movies again.
That being said, this still isn't Dave's most disturbing interview. Crispin Glover anyone?
Joaquin was great, but who was that other guy with him…Dave who?
"bias showing through"? Ya THINK? He prompted a guest on whether G.W.Bush should be brought up on WAR CRIMES! Great forum for that discussion, NOT! Letterman has never been funny, his mocking of 'ol wacky Joaquin could easily be a mocking of him. He's on one break-in by a loon fan from being tabloid fodder, which I will dutifully ignore also!
I liked Andy Kaufman better.
It just seemed obvious from the start that he was doing his own Andy Kaufman type schtick. Honestly, he played it off too well. This could go on for the next five or ten years and I'd still think it's a big inside joke.
So, Jeffrey, you're going with the assumption it's performance art? I've entertained that idea too but I've also heard that he's been increasingly fed up with acting.
Welll…let me be the first to say…I can't wait for the CD of rapper Phoenix to come out.
In the meantime, I will listen to his Walk the Line cd and sing along til I get to rap along.
Oh and Letterman is a whack job who should be in Congress with all the other left wing whack jobs.
Kaufman was a genius. I saw him doing a serious interview and he told the guy that as a child he would preform 4 hours of programming by himself, alone in his bedroom everyday. The reporter ate it up. Genius.
I have to admit, I didn't think of the Andy K possibility. I just saw a short clip and thought the obvious. H e is whacked out, like the rest of his family. Watching it again, eh, maybe staged.. But isn't the funny part, that it wasn't funny? Or really that interesting? I will also confess I never thought the Kaufman schtick was funny, either, so it may be just me. I think JP is a good actor, but I really don't care enough to watch him if he is just doing an Andy Kaufmann redux.
This is definately a case where applying Occam's razor is the way to go:
Joaquin was blazin high on something.
P.S. It was also just Oswald, with the rifle, in the School Book Depository too.
I think he's taking a page from Cash as well as Andy.If I didn't know better I'd say he's impersonating Rick Rubin(American records) a little,especially with the whole rap thing.
JLP
since casey affleck was there taping the interview as well I think it's pretty clear this is a come on of some sort … we'll have to see the finished product but I doubt very much he can sustain like Andy Kaufman,
OTOH
what would a scraggly drugged out looking ex-actor want to rap about? I'm curious but I expect to be unimpressed and bored but not disappointed since expectations are VERY low
palate cleanser, find AK singing along to mighty mouse theme, will keep you smiling all day, starnge and wonderful
Mr. Jena? Saying Joaquin's bizarre conduct was 'performance art' is like saying Brown's conduct with Rihanna was Brown 'getting in touch' with himself. No, no, no. Joaquin's behavior was that of a disturbed young man clearly exhibiting the onset of schizophrenia, exacerbated by drug use. Joaquin needs help – he clearly can't help himself, so it's up to those around him to do it. However, his dysfunctional family clearly won't do that (as River painfully proved). Therefore, it's up to someone outside that wretched family to give this troubled person the help he desperately needs. Sadly, however, the world obviously wants to wash its hands of any responsibility for him. And, yes, calling his deterioration 'performance art' is exactly that.
[...] Has Joaquin Phoenix lost his mind? Here’s a take supporting the theory that it’s an act: Big Hollywood
Casey Affleck, Joaquin's brother-in-law, has been filming a documentary of his foray into music. I think that would imply that this whole thing is a put-on. I would seriously hope that Phoenix's whole family wouldn't be enabling this bizarre and self-destructive behavior unless they were in on the joke.
It seems possible that the whole thing is more in the style of Borat than Kaufman. I hope that's true and I hope he's successful.
Truly brevity is the soul of wit. Well stated.
Joaquin is just another spoiled young actor that has been lucky and talented enough to be recognized and now whines. Fame is the drug and he just need another fix. AHHHHH poor thing
Letterman is an ASS number 1. I will never watch his show. I cannot watch these Liberals anymore because they cannot keep their politics out of their work. So screw all of them. Why pay someone who hates your guts with your entertainment dollar. Holly wood to day sucks!!!!!! I went to see Eastwoods movie. That has been the only movie I have seen in two yrs. TCM is where I go to watch movies.
"Someone has to keep an eye on them." You mean intelligent people?
You don't approve of the forum — fair enough, I guess. But G.W. Bush most certainly should be brought up on war crimes.
The big load is you, my friend.
You'd be better served by a remedial spelling/grammar class.
[...] Big Hollywood wrote an interesting post today on Joaquin Walks Outside the LineHere’s a quick excerptOut here in the sticks, despite the fabulous inventions technology has brought us, news travels slowly. I like Letterman but don’t often watch the show because I’m usually either writing or in bed at 11:30 P.M. Besides, I am a little put off by Dave lately because his political bias has been showing through on the show. I am not, however, one of those folks who won’t watch anyone I don’t agree with politically. I don’t want my entertainment choices to be limited to only conservative actors and e [...]
[...] Big Hollywood wrote an interesting post today on Joaquin Walks Outside the LineHere’s a quick excerptOut here in the sticks, despite the fabulous inventions technology has brought us, news travels slowly. I like Letterman but don’t often watch the show because I’m usually either writing or in bed at 11:30 P.M. Besides, I am a little put off by Dave lately because his political bias has been showing through on the show. I am not, however, one of those folks who won’t watch anyone I don’t agree with politically. I don’t want my entertainment choices to be limited to only conservative actors and e [...]
A little off-topic here, but I stopped watching Letterman before his liberal bias became so pronounced. He simply stopped being funny. I checked him out a year or so ago and saw his nightly "great moments in presidential speeches" was yet another opportunity to malign G.W. Bush. Now that Obama has shown that he can't get through a simple sentence without saying "uh" several times, I wonder if the segment will be cancelled? I can only wonder as going to bed for a good night's sleep is better than watching Letterman and I wouldn't waste electricity recording the show either. R.I.P. Larry "Bud" Melman.
A lot of people used to be funny before they caught terminal BDS that has ruined a lot of things. AT any rate, I'm not sure that Joaquin's issues are any more than someone falling away from the discipline of needing to keep himself sharp for acting and falling into drugs and/or mental disorder. The sad truth is that celebrities being what they are, no one will likely step up and help him if that's so and we'll be "treated" to watching him flame out and burn away.
Ok, bluehawaii. Thanks for letting me know. I was having trouble figuring it out.
so why is 'blue hawaii' so defensive?
the gum under the table move was the tell'. he was brilliant. dave was transparent.
GW Bush should be brought up on war crimes. He is responsible for the premeditated murder of hundreds of thousands of innocent women and children. He started a terrorist war of aggression that has affected mainly a civilian population. If the word "terrorist" is to have any meaning at all, then it should apply to U.S. Presidents as much as anyone else in the world. It seems like the word "terrorism" to Bush means, whatever THEY do to US, but whatever WE do to THEM is by definition, "not terrorism".
Dave would be better than most Republicans, he certainly couldn't have put America in a worse situation, economically or politically than the 8 years of GW Bush in office including 6 years of the Republicans complete control of the House, Senate, and Presidency. How can you morons even talk about the left, when it was your idiotic Republicans that CONTROLLED EVERYTHING for 6 of the last 8 years?
"P.S. It was also just Oswald, with the rifle, in the School Book Depository too."
I think you just invented "Conspiracy Clue."
Confucius say, "Get a haircut and get a real job!"
Hmmm…are you saying our modern day Confucius is George Thorogood? I can probably dig that…after all, I could use one bourbon, one scotch and one beer right about now.
I just watched this thing on You Tube, and my view is that Joaquin Phoenix sent up Letterman BIG TIME. I was cackling. There were a few cues that he wasn't stoned out of his mind, a twitch of the lip here, a smirk there, showing he was still "in there" and knew perfectly well what he was doing. I don't know Mr. Phoenix, but I suspect he was just fed up with the studios sending him out to talk to jerks like Letterman, saying the same things over and over, answering the same questions over and over, so decided he was going to have a little fun with it. What a hoot.
This idiotic on so many levels, where do I start? The U.N. quarrantined Iraq then didn't bother to enforce it. WE DID. Saddam was a MUCH BIGGER THREAT to his "own" citizens than any U.S. task force. Ask a Kurd. Pukes like you are anti U.S. as doctrine. I could care less. When you are anti-U.S. while in MY COUNTRY then I care. Go feed a goat.
This idiotic on so many levels, where do I start? The U.N. quarrantined Iraq then didn't bother to enforce it. WE DID. Saddam was a MUCH BIGGER THREAT to his "own" citizens than any U.S. task force. Ask a Kurd. Pukes like you are anti U.S. as a doctrine. I could care less. When you are anti-U.S. while in MY COUNTRY then I care. Go feed a goat.
Like a said two days ago, totally ridiculous. Ask your aunt, San Fran Nan.
Like a said two days ago, totally ridiculous. Ask your aunt, San Fran Nan. Go help Simkatu (see below) feed his goats.
I'm not Anti-US. The US is the best country on Earth and I love her, but that doesn't mean I agree with every policy we have, just as you probably don't agree with the policies of our newly elected leader of the free world. If Saddam was a bigger threat to his own citizens than "any U.S. task force" can you explain why the United States gave him weapons both before and after he slaughtered the Kurds? Can you explain why Donald Rumsfeld went to Iraq to shake Saddams hand after he slaughtered the Kurds? This war was not about saving the Iraqi people from a tyranical leader. Remember? We were lied to! We were told it was about WMDs, and we continued to drop bombs on innocent women and children even after the President freely admitted that there were no WMDs in Iraq and that he was wrong.
I suppose you think the United Nations and the World Court was wrong when it found the United States guilty of terrorism in Nicaragua? The U.S. was even ordered by the court to pay billions in reparations for committing its illegal war of agression there. But since that was terrorism ordered by Ronald Reagan and killed only tens of thousands of brown-skinned women and children, then its okay, because Reagan is your hero and a he's a saint, right?
Again, the definition of terrorism in America is, "whatever the enemy does to us is terrorism, whatever we do to the enemy is not.
What a ridiculous pile of garbage. The U.S. has sought policitical and military balance world wide for decades. The World Court is a bad joke, it's a communist shill and anti-U.S., period. Allowing Communist regimes on a land bridge connected to our country is crazy. If you don't understand the incidious wrongs of communism, then you attended school with B.Hussien O., and skipped class ALOT! The "lies" acted upon were the those of the same doctrine espoused by none other than Bill Clinton, Kerry and others, they called it "regime change". Look it up. Arming Saddam v. Iran was balance seeking against a Iran openly beligerante to the U.S., PERIOD. Time passed between U.S. involvement with Saddam and Saddam OPENLY DEFYING the U.N., the U.S. and the WORLD. Eliminating these "worldwide bad actors" should be the mandate of the U.N. (another JOKE agency), THEY DON'T DO IT! Acting on intelligence jointly held by ALL western powers, and against the huge $$$ economic interests of France, Russia, and others in Iraq made this EXERCISE UNPOPULAR!
It breaks my heart that France and Russia lost a cash cow named Saddam. Why should the oppressed in Iraq yearn to escape the iron fist of Saddam? What right to have to an unfetted life free of arbitrary power weilded by a Madman? What nerve. The impotent U.N., an accomplice to the crimes of Saddam, should be disbanded and ordered off U.S. soil.
Tired rants against Ronald Reagan are old and baseless. As for brown skinned people, YOUR TALKING TO ONE! My grandparents WERE MEXICAN! FROM MEXICO! U.S. involvement in the Central America goes back to Roosevelt, Teddy Roosevelt! As long as you can grab your AK-47, get up and walk to Texas, GUESS WHAT? We care! The U.S. has a self interest in keeping Central America in control. We haven't been as effective as I like. Why is MS13 operating in L.A.? How can this be? Hardned criminals being EXPORTED to our cities? Where is Hussein on this issue? Tired liberal talking points, half of the strory, crafted to shine the worst light on Republican presidents and burnished to make liberal Dems the savoirs of humanity. Not buying it, sorry.
sry i just know how to write my name in arabic
) anyway however my english not that good but i think i get the point. thanks
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