because you're a little too old for school clothes...

Friday, February 27, 2009

I try to ignore sh!†, but...it keeps finding me.

I've tried to ignore this issue, but...it isn't going away anytime soon.  Interpret this however you like, before I add my twopence:



Yes, sew...Joaquin Phoenix [that'd be the bearded gent on the left] has retired from acting to start rapping.  In fact, he made his debut a month ago in Vegas:



Sounds pretty bad, right?  Well...in Phoenix's defense, he was drunk.  How drunk?  Drunk enough to fall off stage:


Yeah.

Phoenix has been asked repeatedly if this is a publicity stunt. His response:
"Might I be ridiculous? Might my career in music be laughable? Yeah, that's possible, but that's certainly not my intention."
Right.

In the first video above, Joaquin's decision is met with laughter, by Letterman and the audience alike.  Why?  Is the idea of a rap career now a punchline?  It wasn't a joke when Phoenix recorded the soundtrack for the Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line.  And if it is a stunt, why does hip-hop have to be the gimmick?  Hasn't urban music suffered enough?

Don't know if it's a publicity stunt or not.  Don't care, frankly.  Put the mic down, homie [a colloquialism I apply loosely].  I'll leave the film puns to Bouier.

Socialite...
 

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