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"Fear and Loathing" was awful

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I read Dr. Hunter s. Thompson's seminal work of Gonzo journalism in 1970, fortunately -- in the right place at the right time. I doubt it would seem funny to anyone of any age reading it today. The film has it's moments (the motel room is a bit understated, but the bar scene is just about right, at least that's the way it looked to me, but it's a mescaline thing), and trys hard to remain true to the spirit of the times, but it just doesn't work.

I forget who that jerk is who trys (and fails miserably) to play "Duke", but it's plain to see he's nowhere near smart enough for the role, or fearless enough, or cruel enough, or scared enough, or that he's ever dropped acid, snorted coke, inhaled ether, drank a fifth of burbon while smoking dope and sucking on a "fresh" pineal gland and firing a 44, all in a moving vehicle, and all at the same time, while dictating a story over the phone to his editor and carrying on a demented psychotic rant with a hapless hitch-hiker. Anyone who has read anything by Thompson knows this guy is lying about his drug abuse. It has to be worse than what he's confessed to. It just has to be.

I've never laughed harder at anyting in my life -- the evening I tried to read his book. I say tried because my sides and face hurt too much to read it all in one sitting. It is, without a doubt, the high-water mark of all journalism written of those times. He nailed it, and he nailed us. All of us.

The best film made about Duke is "Where the Buffalo Roam". Just try not to laugh druing the opening scene in Duke's cabin in Aspen. Peter Boyle, the monster of "Young Frankenstein", plays his attorney brilliantly. That scene with the car speeding down the highway with Boyle carrying on a conversation with Duke, while holding a topless salt-shaker of coke that is inhaled by the rushing amerikan landscape, is priceless. Is there a better metaphore for that time? No. That is true brilliance. That was our lives, literally, blown away in a moment. Salt of the earth. Salt for the Devil.


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  • "Fear and Loathing" was awful - petew 13:55:35 08/09/00 (0)


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