River Phoenix

River Phoenix

River Phoenix was born on August 23, 1970. He, along with his siblings, were encouraged to persue careers in Hollywood from a very young age by their parents. Phoenix’s career took off with his role in Rob Reiner’s 1886 film Stand By Me.
Following this picture, Phoenix was looked at as one of twelve “promising new actors of 1986” by John Willis in his Screen World vol. 38 publication.

Phoenix’s career began in 1982 on a television show called “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers”. He didn’t make the jump to film for another 3 years. Phoenix managed to appear in many films before his death in 1993 at the age of 23. His death not only put an abrupt end to his career but also to the production on Dark Blood, a George Sluizer film that was just 11 days shy of completion. Geoffrey Macnab speaks of the film in one of his articles from “The Independent”:

“Although most of Dark Blood was already in the can before Phoenix died, Sluizer realized he would never be able to finish it. Not only were there several crucial scenes that couldn't be shot without the star; if he had attempted to cobble together a new version of the film, he would have been stepping into a legal minefield. The negative is locked away in a safe somewhere. "Until everything is settled between the lawyers and bankers, nobody will see it." Sluizer originally wanted to use the film as part of a documentary about River: "About his acting; the way he changed from take to take. That, I think, would be of interest to all the acting schools of the world, quite apart from its historic and archival value. Who knows, maybe some day it will happen."

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/film-dark-blood-the-vanishing-of-a-hollywood-star-1197130.html

With these crucial scenes still missing, Sluizer chose not to do what many other filmmakers have done in similar situations by completing the film with doubles or altering the storyline.

Phoenix’s death was the result of a drug overdose due to a combination of a speedball (a mixture of heroin and cocaine) and Persian Brown (a methamphetamine mixed with opiates). This happened in the early morning of October 31^st, 1993 at the Viper Room, a club partially owned by Johnny Depp. Phoenix’s siblings, girlfriend and some close friends, including Johnny Depp and Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers were all present at the time of his death.

Phoenix’s life story after his death has taken on many new meanings for countless amounts of people. His death, of course, hit his family and friends the hardest. Johnny Depp closed the Viper Room every year on Halloween in memory of his deceased friend until he sold his share in 2004. The Red Hot Chili Peppers made a reference to Phoenix in their song “Give It Away”.

http://www.songlyrics.com/red-hot-chili-peppers/give-it-away-lyrics/

This is just one example of Phoenix’s name being tossed around still in American pop culture. It is this continuing reference to his life’s work that still sparks debate among fans and non-fans alike over his importance to the entertainment industry. Many young people, who had been born just a few short years before Phoenix’s death, can be found on forums seeking information on their new favorite actor.

http://www.network54.com/Forum/324917/thread/1107182182/last-1107854261/River+forever+%28im+new%29

Other debates can be found all over the internet of whether or not fans should praise an actor who cut his own life short due to a drug overdose.

http://www.network54.com/Forum/324917/thread/1113869165/last-1114996351/To+those+who+wish+to+harp+on+the+bad..

The real message that can be seen from the current state of Dark Blood is this: The film represents his life and career in the sense that both were ended sooner than everyone expected and it is likely that we will never see how the film or his life was really supposed to turn out.

Favorite Films

Some of my favorite movies as of right now are: Into the Wild, Fight Club, The Fountain and Forgetting Sarah Marshall. So the question to answer now is, what do they say about me? Well I guess the best way to go about answering that is to figure out what it is about the movies that make me love them so much. Then from there we can look at what symbols and pop culture myths can be found in the films.

The first of the films, and also the one seen most recently, is Into the Wild. I just watched the movie for the first time last week and have yet to read the book. The film immediately caught my eye. I think it was the whole search extreme solitude and the urge to do something that everyone else doubts is what I am a fan of. I also liked the message sent about living without frivolous items and unneeded possessions. This is part of the reason Fight Club also makes my list.

Along with the idea of or possessions one day consuming us, Fight Club lets viewers see that sometimes you must feel pain to really feel and appreciate your other emotions. The message that you are your own worst enemy could seem scary to some, but empowering to others, and all the countless other ideas that the film proposes. Many different people can see all of these in different ways. This is one of the great appeals of the film.

The Fountain appeals to the thought of immortality, but makes it seem like a horrible experience. Living with the grief of loosing someone is hard, but the thought of living with that for the rest of time is an emotion that no man can imagine. Loosing somebody is also the idea behind Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Except here it focus on the cultural myth of moving quickly to another to forget someone in your past.

As for what these films say about me, I think they say a lot. I am surrounded by common possessions that I feel as if I don’t necessarily need out of necessity, but for cultural acceptance. Knowing this, I have always had the urge to get away from everything and really simplify my life, whether for a day or a decade. I also see that we have a lot of losses in life, both physical and emotional. The important part is finding a way to make it through the losses, and to not let them bother you forever.

Forum Following

When looking for an online conversation to follow, I found myself on The Athens News website looking at the Editor’s Notes section. This section allows the editor to make comments and/or clarifications on current news stories in the area. One that caught my interest is about the ongoing debate of how a local student should be tried for a drug charge and involuntary manslaughter because he provided a dorm-mate with magic mushrooms. The student then later ate the mushrooms and fell from his dorm window to his death. The editor gives a brief summary of what exactly is going on with the case and his opinion on how the student who provided the mushrooms should be tried and for what. The page can be found from the following link:

http://www.athensnews.com/editorial/editors-blog/28697-manslaughter-charge-in-drug-death-is-overdoing-it

After the editor’s original comments, you can see further comments posted by five different readers. These five different people give us a very wide range of responses to look at and analyze. The first reader, Kandi, only poses a question to the editor specifically that really doesn’t follow along with the message that the editor was trying to get across. The editor responds to this directly by adding a comment to Kandi’s specific post.

The second user to comment, Seancho, begins to engage in what feels like a debate over the legality of the drugs themselves and not on the charges that have been proposed. He seems to be fanning the flames of debate by calling into question the editor and Athens residents past drug use. In a second post, Seancho then changes his topic to a section in the Athens new that appeared years ago that gave advice and information on drugs of different varieties. It seems that this user is looking for someone to talk drugs with him rather than give an opinion on the originally posted topic.

Another user, Townie, makes some similar comments but has them relate to the topic much better, helping give another side to the reasoning for the proposed charges. Also, a general comparison to morphine is given by the user RR, but doesn’t provoke any further discussion, besides for an almost identical restatement of the question by Seancho.

The final post by Patricia Gerrald is one of extreme use. She provides a personal response to the issue at hand and also sites specific lines From the Ohio Revised Code that apply to the case at hand. She also cited where the information could be found. Gerrald did not use slang terms or condisending tones like some of the other users who commented, allowing readers and the editor to take her opinion much more serious than the rest of the comments. This can be seen in the Editor’s remarks to her post, which were much lengthier and in depth than his comments on other’s posts.

Countering Denby's Essay

In his essay, Denby makes many good points about who and what teen movies appeals to. The one issue that he doesn't seem to comment on is the degree to which individuals fit into the stereotypes that Denby lays out for the reader. Obviously not every one's high school has only clones of Social Queen, Jock and Outsider running around. A school with only three different types of individuals would be ridiculous. Denby states that "not every social queen or jock shares all the attributes I've mentioned" but he neglects to acknowledge that many high school kids fall into one category or more, but are not cookie-cutter replicas. Take for example Bleaker in the film Juno. He is a Jock, whether or not he fits the mold, but also looked at as an Outsider.

Denby also fails to acknowledge the presence of friendship between members of the different roles. Not every girl who isn't a Social Queen is not necessarily a Jock or Outsider. With that said, friendships can be made between those who relate with one or more of these aforementioned roles. Without taking note of how these characters are labeled and grouped in real life, the film that is portraying these roles can not be considered a realistic representation.

Missing Pop Culture Image

An image of the first home television sets in American homes must be included in an American pop culture portfolio. This addition to the home has allowed most Americans to view things that they may have never seen in their life prior, good or bad, from their own living rooms. Television has opened up the door for a large portion of the new images that challenge yesterday's and today's traditional pop culture norms.

Pop Culture Images

SoL pg. 32, #2 & #3

The images in the portfolio from Signs of Life represent American culture in a very distinct way. They represent an American need for the next new and provocative form of entertainment. The first two images, the screen shots from The Wizard of OZ and Casablanca, show two of the most well known and respected films to date, let alone when they were created. They represent a change for what was the classical view on film, and set the foundation for a new age of not only film, but film making.

This same way of thinking can be applied to the next two images. The first of Elvis Presley, dressed in a prison type outfit, dancing was seen as extremely controversial when put in front of America's eyes. Following this new form of music that Elvis brought to the American public, the Beatles were idolized by most when they hit the scene, but scrutinized by the rest. What started off as an interest in the forbidden, soon turned into an addiction to the provocative, opening doors for films like Saturday Night Fever. Once these trends in pop culture lost their shock value, the next step was for even more sexuality in entertainment. This ushered in a new wave of Madonnas and Brittney Spears to stimulate America's senses to a new level.

It is from all of this that a conclusion can be drawn to one simple statement: as time goes on in American culture, shock value must constantly be increasing, and with it, more socially unacceptable sights and sounds must be challenged. It is when a person or thing comes along and disrupts American pop culture norms to a new extent that that image becomes embedded in American pop culture's history. It is the images that stay with those who weren't alive to see their debut in America's eyes, that have truly become cornerstones for the foundation of American pop culture.