So it was just a strange coincidence that netflix sent me "Gonzo: The Life And TImes of Hunter S. Thompson" the same week that Michael Jackson died, but after watching the movie I began to feel truly sad that Hunter S Thompson is no longer in the world and it got me to thinking, if I had the ability to bring back 5 people from the dead for purely selfish reasons, who would I choose? Below is my list and a brief explanation for each choice.
1. Hunter S. Thompson.
From my first few moments reading "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" I was hooked on Hunter's writing. I had known nothing about the man when my friend Geoff started telling me about the book in high school. The movie version was about to come out and Geoff and some other people were getting very excited about the prospect of this beautifully chaotic and funny novel being brought to the bigscreen. Because I knew nothing about Hunter at the time, I read through the novel the first time in a constant state of half incredulity and half total belief in what I was reading. I remember finishing the chapter when Dr Gonzo is tripping on acid in the bathtub and he tries to get Duke to electricute him to the sound of "White Rabbit" by The Jefferson Airplane and thinking, is there any way that this really happened? I must have reread that scene 20 times that day trying to decide if this Hunter guy was serious or if the whole book was in itself some brilliant joke about the reliability of narrators in general. As I learned more about Hunter and discovered that what he wrote was interchangeably truth and fiction it blew my mind. How could a person so seamlessly transition from retelling actual events to fabricating stories from thin air, all the while creating something so funny that it seemed meticulously crafted and premeditated? I have read "Fear and Loathing" about ten times at this point and watched the film literally 100 times, though arguably not from start to finish in one sitting every time. I wish Hunter could have stuck through the W. Bush years with the rest of us. I think he would have found a way to make us laugh at the insanity in retrospect or at least to feel like we all went through it together. Early in his career Hunter never shrank at the sight of darkness, instead he plunged straight through into its savage heart to explore it for what it was, and for that courage (or insanity) he will be missed.
2. Michael Jackson
I have elaborated on this somewhat in my previous post so I will take a new angle on why I miss Michael. There was no one like him ever anywhere. He was a freak in the best and worst way simultaneously and he seemed too unreal to die like any other person. I liked having someone so interesting in the world with so many bland celebri-nobodies occupying all media. He was one of the few truly dynamic people still around.
3. Mitch Hedberg
Funniest, quirkiest comedian I have ever come across. No one thinks like this guy did. I smile everytime I think of one of his jokes. The day he died a bunch of my friends sat around quoting his jokes for hours. Here is my bad retelling of one of my favorites:
"I think the original intention of Pringles was to make tennis balls. But on the day they opened the factory the trucks showed up full of potatoes instead of rubber. But the owner of Pringles was a really laid back guy so he just said, fuck it, cut em up."
When he tells it, it kills.
4. Jim Morrison
Okay, a little cliche, sure. But honestly, the man was a great poet. The rest of the Doors are very talented musicians, but without Morrison, they were at best a decent jam band. The only exception might be some of Robbie Kreiger's guitar work, which was pretty unique at times. In the late 60's if Jim Morrison stood on a rooftop like Russel Hammond did in the movie "Almost Famous" and screamed out, "I am a golden god," who would have challenged him? These days "rock stars" are gauged by how many accessories they can fit on their bodies while pyrotechnics blaze behind them to distract the audience from the reality that they are subpar musicians and pathetic songwriters. Honest music doesn't have to hide behind spectacle, regardless of how good it is. Jim Morrison could have blown people's minds acapella because of the passion he infused in his performances.
5. Heath Ledger
With "The Dark Knight" Heath was finally becoming a respectable actor. His turn as the joker was so fucking good that when he died he essentially killed the joker (arguably the coolest Batman villain ever) as well. Who would dare to play that character after how Heath did it? No one in their right mind. I remember seeing "Lords of Dogtown" and thinking it was a pretty average movie, but one scene stuck with me, the scene in which Heath Ledger's character is drunkenly laying on the edge of the roof of his skate shop, dangling dangerously over the edge. He reminded me of Val Kilmer as Jim Morrison. This was Heath's rockstar moment and he nailed it. He was also the only believable half of the romance in Brokeback Mountain. When Jake Gyllenhall's character falls in love with Heath's, Jake is acting, when Heath's character expresses the same emotion, you can see it in his eyes, stoney as they seem at first. Heath had a depth that can't be acted, it just existed.
Those are mine at this time. If anyone is interested I would love to hear someone elses picks and why.
