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.
