
cow_hat
- March 29th, 5:58
So this is the main text to a Facebook group I just made and probably invited you to join, but seeing as I never feel inspired to post here I might as well share this with the LJ world as well.
The Myths:
Andy Kaufman was the king of performance art, the practical joke, and hoaxes. Most notably his wrestling hoax in 1982, in which Andy claimed to be the "Inter-Gender Wrestling Champion of the World", saying that any woman who could pin him would get $1000. This enraged Jerry "The King" Lawler, who challenged Andy to a fight. This led to a broken neck for Andy, a fight on Late Night with David Letterman, and much more feuding (This was not revealed to be a hoax until 1995). In December of 1983, Andy was diagnosed with a rare form of lung cancer. He fought long and hard, but the cancer spread rapidly, and on May 16th, 1984, he died of kidney failure due to metastasized large cell carcinoma. His body was laid to rest in Beth David Cemetery on Long Island, and his spirit rose to heaven, to goof on Elvis.
Joaquin Phoenix was born in Puerto Rico. He started as a child actor in such films as Space Camp and Parenthood, under the name Leaf Phoenix, as he wanted an Earthy name like his siblings, River, Rain, Liberty, and Summer. He withdrew from acting and travelled to Mexico and South America with his father, but was dragged back into the spotlight when his brother River overdosed in front of Johnny Depp's 'The Viper Room' club. After about a year, on prompting of his friends, Joaquin returned to acting, and appeared in films such as Gladiator and Walk The Line. Recently, Joaquin revealed to the world that he was quitting acting to pursue a hip-hop career. He made his rap debut in mid-january this year.
The Truth:
I suppose you expect me to say something like Andy Kaufman faked his own death, skinned Joaquin Phoenix, and is now wearing him as a suit. That's disgusting, and I'm appalled that you would even mention it. It's true that Andy's friends have revealed that he often talked about faking his own death. His popular character Tony Clifton has resurfaced many times over the years. However, Andy had said that if he were to fake death, he would make his triumphant return 20 years later, and when that date came in 2004, Andy was nowhere to be found. The myth part of that section is that Andy's spirit left this earth. In fact, it wandered around, looking for somewhere to place it's great influence. Andy tried whispering in several ears. In 2002 he tried it with Jamie Kennedy, who created the television show The Jamie Kennedy Experiment. In 2003, Ashton Kutcher heard the voice, and created Punk'd. And then last year, Howie Mandel was prompted to create "Howie Do It". This was the final nail in the coffin. Andy realized that no one could truely understand the genius of a prank, and drastic measures had to be taken. He would have to do a full scale possession. So he scoured Hollywood, to find the perfect patron. One who could create a believable hoax; one who had a troubled upbringing, proved his incredible talent, become quite famous, and was not currently in any real spotlight. Joaquin was the ideal candidate. Directly after filming of Two Lovers wrapped, Andy stepped in. "Joaquin" announced that he was retiring from film, and none of us knew what to say. The hoax had begun, and believe me friends, it will continue for some time.
How I know it is a Hoax:
So, I don't know the man. I'm just a Joe Public, and I go by what I see on TV. I don't follow gossip rags, so I don't really know what he's doing in general life. What I do know, is that Joaquin knows how to play the game. Over his acting career, he's done talk shows at least fifteen or twenty times, and he knows the formula. His now-famous appearance on Letterman was a clear indicator that this is all a big set up. He comes out grim faced, doesn't acknowledge the audience. He spends the entire interview making short answers, and refuses to talk about even the most basic details of the film that he's there to promote. He pretends to have forgotten things like who was in the movie with him, or what the film was based off of. He claims to have not seen the movie at all in fact, when the premier would have been at least a few nights before the show, as it opened the Friday following. David tries all the Talk Show Host tricks to get him to open up, and nothing will work; even when he pushes the subject towards Joaquin's music, which he is supposedly passionate about, Joaquin is still reluctant to talk. But the thing that convinces me most is his face. He doesn't come out with any enthusiasm, he starts low, and stays that way, the polar opposite of what he must know about talk show appearances. His face stays stone, excepting for a couple of slight sneers. I understand this reaction to jokes at his own expense, but even when Joaquin jokes about the audience, and David responds, the safe still goes uncracked. There is one telltale sign, however: a genuine smile when David says, "I'm sorry Joaquin couldn't be with us today". You're damn right he couldn't, but Andy Kaufman was there in his place, and I think he did brilliantly.