Joaquin the Genius

Joaquin Phoenix is doing something extraordinarily smart. You've all seen him, with his beard and his sunglasses, his unlikely hip hop career, and his apathetic and sometimes belligerent attitude. Everybody is wondering if the retired actors new persona is real or a hoax. It doesn't matter, because either way it's entertaining. Personally, I think it's a hoax, and I'm sure Jo will cuss me out for "thinking his life is a joke" and then turn around and tell me he doesn't care what I think. Either way it's a hoax. Either the former red carpet Joaquin was the character, or the new spaced out artist is the character. But this isn't a career meltdown. It is career gold, and it's creating far more buzz then "what's your next movie going to be?"

His sudden appearance as Jim Morrison trapped in a hip hop rap artists body brings to mind Ben Aflecks line from good will hunting. "You're suspect." If you saw the David Letterman interview you saw the character Jopheen is playing, and it's a mirror image of the tortured artist musician we have come to know in the likes of Billy Corgan, Bono, or Axle Rose. Jopheen goes out of his way to be anti-social. Even the little things. He wears sunglasses, avoids eye contact, and chews gum. He answers questions with one word or not at all, and looks annoyed with the process. It reminds me of bands like Pearl Jam, who both soaked up their success and fame while acting burdened by it.

One day in the end, Ben Afleck will release all this "reality" footage of Jopheens career transformation. We'll all get a good laugh out of the parody he is playing. We'll get a good laugh out of a obviously uncomfortable media as they try to seriously track this without appearing to be duped. We'll even laugh at ourselves, and at Jopheen for the genius of a performance he is putting out there. Not since Spinal Tap have we seen these issues of celebrity silliness so well covered. Not since the Blair Witch marketing campaign have we been convinced something is real that isn't.

It's Joaquin the genius actor hip hop artist.