Bob, Beards, and The Doors
Thursday, May 15th, 2008
I picked up the Bob Dylan flick “I’m Not There” the other day on dvd, but I have yet to take another look at it. My pal Timmy B and I went to the film back in December, but I don’t think I totally appreciated it (it was a late show, I’d just left a horrible performance by Jefferson Starship, and nearly fell asleep). I do remember being shocked by the performance of Cate Blanchett, who seems to totally embody mid-60’s Dylan. The sound of her voice, every nuance is just so Dylan. I’d say Tilda Swinton scoring the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress was a huge upset. But Dylan’s got his own Oscar, as does Cate, so I suppose everyone’s a winner.
Thinking about “I’m Not There” started my mind wandering on other big screen depictions of iconic musical figures. There’s the more recent performances from Jamie Foxx as Ray Charles and Joaquin Phoenix as Johnny Cash, both which are brilliant. But the one that really stands out to be more than any other is Val Kilmer as Jim Morrison in 1991’s “The Doors”.
Seeing Kilmer as the Lizard King blew me away when I was a teenager, and still stands the test of time. I even managed to see the movie in theatres back in March 1991, but it sure took a lot of work on my part. The move was rated-R, which meant nobody under 18 would be admitted. After futile calls to the ratings board demanding they change their decision, I called in the big guns - Mom.
My mom called up the ratings board herself to protest the rating on my behalf, but they managed to change her mind pretty quickly when they mentioned the film depicted blood-drinking, full-frontal nudity and drug use.
So what’s a poor boy to do? Well, I grew a beard. That’s right. I grew the best darn beard a 14 year old could muster. It was a little patchy, but I had faith. Then on opening night, I went to Centrepoint Mall with two buddies, one of whom had a fake id. Along with my beard, I was clad in cowboy boots and a leather jacket. And surprise surprise - I got in. What an experience. On that note, take a look at a classic in-concert scene from “The Doors” and then use Val’s last name for today’s bonus code.
Sidenote: Years later a good friend of mine told me the rumour around school at the time was that I was growing the beard in protest of the Gulf War. I guess I was a revolutionary too.