Joaquin Walks the Line

I'm not gonna link to the Joaquin Phoenix/Letterman interview. It's all over the web, so check it out if you haven't seen it.

It's funny as hell. And I can't quite figure out what's going on. I mean, this isn't earth-shakingly important or anything. Just kind of pop-culturally interesting.

Famous actor, Oscar-nominated, one of the best working today (see "I Walk the Line," if you have any doubts), brother of dead movie mini-legend - River Phoenix (check out "Stand By Me," or "My Own Private Idaho," if you want to see River at his best) grows a beard, let's his hair go long, tells the world he's chucking acting and devoting his life to music, and not Country music (which might sort of make sense after his masterful performance as Johnny Cash) mind you, no, he's gonna devote his creative energy to Hip Hop (for a taste of that, check out his performance in Vegas - Joaquin caps a pretty sub-par, lame-o performance with a quite comical, dead man walking swan dive off the stage).

He goes on Letterman, supposedly to hawk his latest film, and shows no interest at all in talking about it. He mumbles, is sort of lethargic, and comically unresponsive. Kind of gives the finger to the whole celebrity, Hollywood schmooze thing. And how many big time execs in Tinsel Town are crossing his name off the "go to" list right now?

Letterman goes to town, it's one of his finest comedic moments. Letterman is at his best when he can show his absolute disdain for the whole celebrity ass-kissing thing.

So anyway, either this is all a great put-on (sort of like Andy Kaufman's wrestling phase?), or maybe not. If it's an elaborate joke we're not exactly tipped off or let in on the joke. Is Joaquin on the juice? Is he mad? Is he brilliant? Is he making a commentary on the whole corrupt, Scarface Ethos culture we've concocted for ourselves?

Maybe Joaquin is showing us the way? He's seen the Hollywood thing from the inside, and he's turning away because it's a dead end. An elaborate blow job, and who needs it anyway? And maybe taking fashion tips from the Unabomber is the perfect "fuck you" to all that?! Joaquin walks the line. And in a way, I'm madly, deeply impressed with his blissfully, Rainman-like, laconically incoherent chutzpah!