was the "real" andy anything like he's been portrayed? or is it just what those who remember him fondly want us to believe he was like?
maybe i've just been pondering the reality of what people are really like versus what they portray to be and who we think they are and want them to be.
maybe that's why i liked "was this man a genius?" so much, the author wasn't a "friend" per se, just a writer who was trying to do a story that ended up being a book.
these are the things i wonder about though...sorry if that seems weird and all.
I think the real Andy was just a sweet guy. Like on Letterman when he wanted to hug Dave, his parents and even the audience and told him how he loved everyone.
That was very strange, but sweet at the same time. Maybe that was his way of saying goodbye. Maybe he was about to fake his death.
And the Jeff Conway incident proved how forgiving he was.
Or maybe he was kind of a mean *******. I certainly couldn't know. Unless you knew him personally, you could not really know anything about his character. I think his comedy was in some ways, kind of mean spirited. Granted, some of the targets of his humor, may have deserved to be poked fun at, even in a harsh way. Sometimes brilliant people can be very arrogant and insensitive. What Andy was doing was years, decades ahead of its time, and he knew it.
If Andy was alive today, I believe he could be capable of cruelty.
I think if Andy Kaufman faked his death, this is true. If not, I'm not so sure. There where tones of people doing that kind of stuff in the 60's and 70's.(often more daring, with greater consequences)There are people who did this stuff hundreds of years before Andy was born. I don't say this to detract from his sweetness, it's just people tend to rewrite history when someone dies young. Which is exactly why he was decades ahead of his time if he faked his death. You don't have to be ahead of your time to be a great artist. This is a lame babyboomer to generation x Jesus, luke skywalker complex. When I am moved listening to Brahms, I could give a flying F**k that he was decades behind his time. If you are in your time doing it, you can not technically be ahead of your time. Time is just boring human stuff, art is of the universe baby.
re:cruelty
Who knows what he is(?) or was capable of. None of us knew him.
As a performer, who cares. As a person, different ball game. If he's alive and arrogantly cruel, who cares, he hasn't done sh*t in 20 years! The world is full of formerly talented middle aged blowhards.
I think fans of someone generally put the object of their fanaticism upon a pedestal and disregard any of their human foibles. All of us have the capacity for both good and evil, luckily most of us land somewhere in the middle, but I think it's probable that AK could have answered to his dark side...and you know, if he did fake his death and didn't clue his family in on the plan, that would have been cruel.
I think he was likely a sweet-natured fellow with a mischievous side and a real dedication to fulfilling his destiny.
Hard to attribute bad things to a guy who so earnestly performed for an imaginary audience as a youngster. Sure, he was obviously entertaining himself, but with a mind toward entertaining others, as well. He realized what his dream was, and made it happen. That part is inspirational.
I likewise greatly enjoyed "Was This Man a Genius?", and still have not eaten my two cans of College Inn chicken broth.
