# 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:** 11\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-still-here-joaquin-phoenix/552517/61 "2010-09-23T09:05:33Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Umm? Details, Quasi? What did Joaquin do that has a-raised your ire? He’s the subject of a faux-documentary in which he’s supposedly shown succumbing to the usual celebrity down spiral of drugs and loose women. It was originally played off as real, but has since been revealed to be fiction. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-still-here-joaquin-phoenix/552517/62 "2010-09-23T10:39:08Z")
Merged **Quasimodem** ’s thread (and the two subsequent posts) into this one. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-still-here-joaquin-phoenix/552517/63 "2010-09-23T11:17:14Z")
Casey Affleck says that the mockumentary [left him broke](http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/movie-talk-casey-affleck-broke.html) during the production, such that he had to break to do another film (The Killer Inside Me) to keep going. He also says he had to finish this film or risk Phoenix’s career being ruined. ---
**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 23, 2010, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-still-here-joaquin-phoenix/552517/64 "2010-09-23T12:15:08Z")
> [@Quasimodem](#): > > … can kiss my German ass. > > No, wait. > > I wouldn’t let my German ass sink that low. > > Fucking piece of shit. > > Q Why that reaction? Why do you care so much? I’m not one to debate the point, but it often seems that some of the most interesting art is designed to provoke extreme emotional reactions. This did. I wonder if the anger and other scorn seen in this thread comes from preferring to believe that Phoenix is crazy than that they were fooled. And, no one’s career is going to suffer. Phoenix and Affleck are both super-talented, and will be just fine. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-still-here-joaquin-phoenix/552517/65 "2010-09-23T13:02:16Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Letterman was definitely NOT in on the joke this time, unlike Andy Kaufman’s appearances. I’m not so sure Affleck is being frank there. One of Letterman’s monologue writers gave an interview to [NUVO](http://www.nuvo.net/indianapolis/bill-scheft-keeping-letterman-and-us-laughing/Content?oid=1273434) over a year ago in which he revealed the whole Phoenix routine was a setup and that Letterman was very much in on it and in fact enjoyed it immensely. (The writer actually wrote one of Letterman’s gags that he used during the interview). ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-still-here-joaquin-phoenix/552517/66 "2010-09-23T13:50:14Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > 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. Everyone else took it seriously? It was my recollection that pretty much everyone thought it was fake. A very small minority took it seriously. ---
**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 23, 2010, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-still-here-joaquin-phoenix/552517/67 "2010-09-23T14:00:05Z")
TV Squad’s take on it: [http://www.tvsquad.com/2010/09/23/joaquin-phoenix-letterman/?icid=main|main|dl7|sec1\_lnk3|172460](http://www.tvsquad.com/2010/09/23/joaquin-phoenix-letterman/?icid=main%7Cmain%7Cdl7%7Csec1_lnk3%7C172460) ---
**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, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-still-here-joaquin-phoenix/552517/68 "2010-09-23T14:26:23Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > I’m not so sure Affleck is being frank there. One of Letterman’s monologue writers gave an interview to [NUVO](http://www.nuvo.net/indianapolis/bill-scheft-keeping-letterman-and-us-laughing/Content?oid=1273434) over a year ago in which he revealed the whole Phoenix routine was a setup and that Letterman was very much in on it and in fact enjoyed it immensely. (The writer actually wrote one of Letterman’s gags that he used during the interview). I guess, but they do talk about that writer in the interview. ---
**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, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-still-here-joaquin-phoenix/552517/69 "2010-09-23T14:50:43Z")
Maybe Lindsey Lohan’s faking too. If not, her publicist can claim she is. ---
**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, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-still-here-joaquin-phoenix/552517/70 "2010-09-23T20:03:30Z")
**Sampiro** , how about _this_ explanation? “He/she is doing ‘research’ for an upcoming role!” Why the anger? (answering a post upthread) I just hate being duped. Q ---
**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, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-still-here-joaquin-phoenix/552517/71 "2010-09-23T20:13:43Z")
> [@Quasimodem](#): > > **Sampiro** , how about _this_ explanation? > > “He/she is doing ‘research’ for an upcoming role!” Worked for Winona Ryder. Well, kinda sorta. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-still-here-joaquin-phoenix/552517.md?page=3)