# I'm Still here - Joaquin Phoenix **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 3, 2010, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-still-here-joaquin-phoenix/552517 "2010-09-03T18:42:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-still-here-joaquin-phoenix/552517/41 "2010-09-17T16:01:39Z")
I may be wrong, but I think that under the best of circumstances and with the most popular of celebrities Americans don’t really respond well to publicity stunts. Garth Brooks:Chris Gaines comes to mind, and that was mild compared to Andy Kaufmann. When it’s an actor like Joaquin Phoenix- popular and with a decent career but hardly what you’d call iconic or beloved- (more Kaufmann than Brooks) they like it even less. With good reason imo: publicity stunts and performance art are so masturbatory and the market for jerk off videos just isn’t that great. Ironically it shows his judgment is just as bad as if he _had_ decided to become a rapper. Same with Affleck, whose sexual harassment lawsuits at the same time might deliver some serious career damage. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-still-here-joaquin-phoenix/552517/42 "2010-09-17T16:11:26Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > … If the media ever completely loses interest in Paris Hilton I expect her to come back by having sextuplets. _Sex_tuplets? That’s hot. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-still-here-joaquin-phoenix/552517/43 "2010-09-17T19:40:05Z")
[NYT.com](http://NYT.com) on Affleck’s confession: [http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/17/movies/17affleck.html?\_r=1](http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/17/movies/17affleck.html?_r=1) ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-still-here-joaquin-phoenix/552517/44 "2010-09-17T19:49:06Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > [NYT.com](http://NYT.com) on Affleck’s confession: [http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/17/movies/17affleck.html?\_r=1](http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/17/movies/17affleck.html?_r=1) Very cool. And good for these guys for committing to such an odd idea. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-still-here-joaquin-phoenix/552517/45 "2010-09-17T23:49:34Z")
Despite what Casey Affleck is saying, [reports are also out that Letterman did know Phoenix was acting.](http://omg.yahoo.com/blogs/a-line/writer-says-letterman-knew-phoenix-was-faking/620?nc) It makes sense. Letterman loves this stuff. It’s why he had Andy Kaufman on a bunch. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2010, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-still-here-joaquin-phoenix/552517/46 "2010-09-18T00:06:22Z")
Is this like that thing Pauly Shore did? ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2010, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-still-here-joaquin-phoenix/552517/47 "2010-09-18T00:17:56Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Is this like that thing Pauly Shore did? At considerable risk I have to ask, what thing? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2010, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-still-here-joaquin-phoenix/552517/48 "2010-09-18T00:52:41Z")
[_Pauly Shore is Dead_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0284674/), 2003. Some kinda jumbled mockumentary with lots of cameos by the central figures buddies. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2010, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-still-here-joaquin-phoenix/552517/49 "2010-09-18T01:11:34Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > [_Pauly Shore is Dead_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0284674/), 2003. Some kinda jumbled mockumentary with lots of cameos by the central figures buddies. _Pauly Shore is Dead_ was actually pretty funny. And as far as I know Pauly never claimed to be _actually_ dead in reality. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2010, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-still-here-joaquin-phoenix/552517/50 "2010-09-18T15:33:44Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > > [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > > > [_Pauly Shore is Dead_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0284674/), 2003. Some kinda jumbled mockumentary with lots of cameos by the central figures buddies. > > _Pauly Shore is Dead_ was actually pretty funny. And as far as I know Pauly never claimed to be _actually_ dead in reality. No he never did. It was just a good plot to a movie. Which by the way I highly recommend seeing. It’s hilarious and made even more funny when you realize it’s made by Pauly who’s basically making fun of himself the entire movie. ---
**Author:** ![Bayesian\_Empirimancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@Bayesian\_Empirimancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bayesian_Empirimancer)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-still-here-joaquin-phoenix/552517/51 "2010-09-22T04:06:14Z")
Ah, just saw it tonight. Very interesting movie/ documentary/ whatever the hell it was. My only complaint was it was slightly unbelievable. The tea-bagging was a surprise though. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-still-here-joaquin-phoenix/552517/52 "2010-09-22T04:37:10Z")
[QUOTE=Bayesian Empirimancer] The tea-bagging was a surprise though. [/QUOTE] I’m going to guess you’re not saying that Phoenix went to a Glenn Beck rally. Is it true that there’s a lot of Phoenix frontal nudity? If so would be rare for an established star in a low budget production. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-still-here-joaquin-phoenix/552517/53 "2010-09-22T05:38:38Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > I’m going to guess you’re not saying that Phoenix went to a Glenn Beck rally. No, but there’s still shit involved. > [@Sampiro](#): > > Is it true that there’s a lot of Phoenix frontal nudity? If so would be rare for an established star in a low budget production. Not Phoenix, but his aide, who dances around nude. I loved this movie! It’s pretty obvious that the whole thing is a hoax, a very funny one to me, and I thought that before I read what Casey said. I had never watched the Letterman interview, partly because I didn’t care enough to seek it out online, but partly because I did care enough in that I like Phoenix a lot, he’s a great actor (indeed!), and didn’t want to see him humiliated. Finally seeing the interview in the context of the film was a revelation. It was SO obviously a put on, so obviously an act, that I wish I had watched it at the time, though I probably would have gone along with everyone else and taken it seriously. If it had not been a hoax, Letterman came off as the real asshole in the interview. I did see Ben Stiller’s parody at the time and was a bit pissed off at him that he would make fun of Phoenix. After seeing the movie, Stiller was in on the joke and was perpetuating it, so I’m not mad at him anymore. Puff Daddy was, IMO, also obviously in on the joke, and he’s a hoot in the movie. With this and Get Him To The Greek, I’ve definitely warmed up to him as an actor. I’ve still never heard any of his music. I walked out of the movie with a big grin on my face. Joaquin Phoenix and Casey Affleck can have my babies any day. Love 'em madly. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-still-here-joaquin-phoenix/552517/54 "2010-09-22T06:06:38Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > I had never watched the Letterman interview, partly because I didn’t care enough to seek it out online, but partly because I did care enough in that I like Phoenix a lot, he’s a great actor (indeed!), and didn’t want to see him humiliated. Finally seeing the interview in the context of the film was a revelation. It was SO obviously a put on, so obviously an act, that I wish I had watched it at the time, though I probably would have gone along with everyone else and taken it seriously. If it had not been a hoax, Letterman came off as the real asshole in the interview. I did see Ben Stiller’s parody at the time and was a bit pissed off at him that he would make fun of Phoenix. After seeing the movie, Stiller was in on the joke and was perpetuating it, so I’m not mad at him anymore. Puff Daddy was, IMO, also obviously in on the joke, and he’s a hoot in the movie. With this and Get Him To The Greek, I’ve definitely warmed up to him as an actor. I’ve still never heard any of his music. I watched the interview live in the sense that I saw it on TV as it was happening. It was before all the commentary and really, it was Phoenix’s first public appearance since his retirement from acting. That said, as I was watching it did seem obviously like a hoax, there were just little things about it that made the whole thing feel fake. He very calmly would reach for his water several times and he smirked at several of Letterman’s best jokes. When he put the gum under the table, he was very careful not to jam it in there and he removed it almost as soon as he did it. He also visibly broke character right after Letterman’s “I’m sorry you couldn’t be here tonight.” And at the end, he instantly stuck his hand out to shake with Letterman. But then Phoenix stayed in that persona 24/7 for over a year. Never again did he break character in public. And because of that, the commentary shifted. All of a sudden, the Letterman interview was someone who was becoming unhinged, but still a little there. He had to stay crazy this long for the hoax to last even a few days. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-still-here-joaquin-phoenix/552517/55 "2010-09-23T01:08:31Z")
Ebert has interviewed Casey Affleck about the movie. It turns out Joaquin did break character when the camera was not rolling and they were not in public. He didn’t actually “live the role” for a couple years or anything. Letterman was definitely NOT in on the joke this time, unlike Andy Kaufman’s appearances. [The interview](http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2010/09/casey_affleck_levels_about_im.html) ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-still-here-joaquin-phoenix/552517/56 "2010-09-23T01:10:43Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Ebert has interviewed Casey Affleck about the movie. It turns out Joaquin did break character when the camera was not rolling and they were not in public. He didn’t actually “live the role” for a couple years or anything. Why would anyone ever believe otherwise? After admitting it’s all a hoax, does he really need to tell everybody, “Oh, by the way, Joaquin’s not really crazy”? ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-still-here-joaquin-phoenix/552517/57 "2010-09-23T04:36:17Z")
From **mahaloth** ’s link: > [@](#): > > Originally Posted by Casey Affleck > \*My aim was not to fool. My aim was to provoke thought and stir emotion. The enterprise was a film, not a “hoax.” The idea that Joaquin was really retiring for good and pursuing a rap career in earnest was an act. Nothing was a hoax. At the Toronto Film Festival someone was walking around to theaters in a beard and wig and glasses and telling journalists he was Joaquin Phoenix. That is a hoax. There was nothing else but the deception. > > I was making a movie. In a movie we try to deceive. In theaters, as they say, the deceived are the wisest. I was trying to help the audience suspend their disbelief. That is why the film was released without comment from myself or anyone involved. The reason it was MADE without comment and with Joaquin in character when in public was because the media plays a role in the film and the media would not have played their role as well as they did had it been acknowledged that Joaquin was only performing. When I say the media I mean also the unpaid bloggers and vloggers and people all around the world commenting on line.\* Uh, okay. And later, you say you didn’t read any blogs or other commentary (really), but FTR, there were a lot of un-nice things said about **you**. You know, because it looked like your brother-in-law, who you supposedly love so much, was in the same kind of decline that killed his own brother, and you weren’t intervening. In the long run, I think it’s your rep that will suffer, not Joaquin’s. ETA: I mean, IMHO and FWIW, there has to be something a bit off about people who would want to do this. Neither of you ever better get crossways with the law from now on, or you’re done. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-still-here-joaquin-phoenix/552517/58 "2010-09-23T04:45:10Z")
[His interview from earlier tonight on Letterman](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwA1vm3yq1s). Terrible quality but I’m sure clearer ones will be up soon. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-still-here-joaquin-phoenix/552517/59 "2010-09-23T06:59:24Z")
… can kiss my German ass. No, wait. I wouldn’t let my German ass sink that low. Fucking piece of shit. Q ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-still-here-joaquin-phoenix/552517/60 "2010-09-23T07:22:40Z")
Umm? Details, Quasi? What did Joaquin do that has a-raised your ire? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-still-here-joaquin-phoenix/552517.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-still-here-joaquin-phoenix/552517.md?page=4)