Todd Phillips new film The Joker was released this
week. His first film was Hated in the
Nation about GG Allin.
From what I have seen in the previews, The Joker stars Joaquin Phoenix as a traumatized and
possibly mentally ill man who strives for acceptance through performing on
stage.
Phoenix is famous for an elaborate joke, I’m Still Here, in
which he “retired” from Hollywood, and pursued a dream of becoming a rapper on
stage.
GG Allin and Phoenix ( or is it "the character" Phoenix plays in ISH) represent two individuals who achieved success in the polished game of fame, before turning on and dropping out,
and then sharing their descent into madness.
Again, I am only assuning from what I have seen in the previews, The Joker seems to be Phillips and Phoenix attempt to tell
the story about the dark side of chasing fame, of the people who go into the pursuit
with unavoidably tragic baggage. People who have lost so much, and have somehow been led to believe that ascension into the world of fame is a form of salvation.
In trying to select an album to listen to when taking in this
new movie, I look for puzzle pieces of fact that fit together.
A. They are both two
hours long
B. Robert DeNiro’s
character is named Murray Franklin/The Glowing Man has a song called Frankie M.
C. Robert DeNiro is
starring in a new film called The Irishman/I am Irish
D. The Clown makeup
of The Joker represents a type of “glowing man”, a person whose face is lit up
and amplified
E. Michael Gira’s early
performances in the 80’s remind me of a more stable GG Allin, in the sense that
Gira laid waste to his ego in the most savage and vulnerable of ways.
F. The two opening
songs “Cloud of Unknowing”/”Cloud of Forgetting” represent a striving to be
released from the imprisonment of some type of trauma, or a dark and uneasy past. This is something that can be achieved
gracefully, or perversely. I feel that this film will show the dark side, the perverse side of salvation that arises in hopeless situations.
G. The final song on
the album is called “Finally, Peace”, which is something that I believe the
character of The Joker is ultimately searching for.
For me, these are enough puzzle pieces for my mind to twist and turn and piece together into what I can only describe as a metaphysical lens through which to see, hear.
iAhuasca: an arrangement of interdependent correspondences designed to transcend perspective so completely it triggers a niagra of coincidence that, once believed, projects pre-cognitive synchronicities into the foreground.
I have only seen previews of The Joker. I have not read any movie reviews. I have looked up character names and the time of the movie on Wikipedia.
I do not know the plot of this film, but I feel like I know what it is about,. I feel like I have heard it already in the music of The Glowing Man; this is simply a chance to see a film version of that music.
Will the marriage
of this album and this film be interesting?
Of course. Any chance to sit and listen to The Glowing Man from start to finish is going to be an interesting meditation.
Will there be synchronicity?
Of course. Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.
Of course. Any chance to sit and listen to The Glowing Man from start to finish is going to be an interesting meditation.
Will there be synchronicity?
Of course. Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.
Or four, or five times a day? These sparks are the kindling for the type of experience I am looking for.
I am going to the theater in about an hour. I plan to take a few notes, and then I hope to polish these notes into another final synthesis of what this blog is all about.