Thursday, April 09, 2009

Why Billy Bob Thornton should stick to the script

If you have the seven minutes, you have to watch this:

37 comments:

Jen said...

nope, i cannot watch this. i read a little of the transcript earlier today and it made me so...uncomfortable.

what an idiot. pulling that weird, diva-like act in the interview is just.....ridiculous.

side note- i saw him open for elvis costello a few years ago, and he sucked. he spent most of his set talking about getting divorced from angelina jolie, then playing songs about breaking up, and it was HORRIBLE.

he was good in slingblade. i'll give him that.

Zen Wizard said...

Okay, I get it: "[You] are a tortured artist and nobody understands [your] pain...."

Next!

Erin O'Brien said...

Or: "[His assholiness] is a tortured artist and nobody understands [his assholiness's] pain...."

dean said...

Well, now, Cosmic Cowboy Music might sound interesting except for the fact that it seems to be produced by a colossal dick.

Which would make it some sort of bizarre ejaculate, surely.

(S)wine said...

actors turned musicians + rappers turned actors = goat excrement

"but what i really wanna do is direct..."

Zen Wizard said...

The clip is funny in a sadistic type of way because you can see on the announcer's face, "I wanted to get into radio so I could meet charming, witty celebrities. What monkey's paw did I wish on, to get this misanthropic prick? Oh well I am on the clock I guess...at least they don't make me sell advertising...although the biggest jerk car dealer in the world would be better than this guy...wait, he nailed Angelina Jolie? I guess there is hope for the ass on my German shepherd..."

dogsdontpurr said...

I didn't watch all the way through, but from what I did see, it really seemed like he might be diabetic and having an extreme low blood sugar.

My boyfriend has type 1 diabetes. When he gets extreme lows, or if his blood sugar is dropping fast, he can act just like that. He can be incoherent, disoriented, seem like he's drunk...and can also get belligerent, agitated. Sometimes he won't even know his own name.

I've lived with him for 8 years now, and have learned to detect when his blood sugar is falling. Usually, when diabetics are in that state, they think they're fine. And other people around them think they are assholes. But it is actually a scary situation. They can go into a coma or even die. They need glucose fast.

Early in my relationship with Alan, I didn't understand much about diabetes, and thought he was just being a jerk. But after you've had the aid car out to your house to revive your boyfriend.....so often that you get to know the aid car people personally....you finally realize that diabetes is a complicated deal. He's not being a jerk, it's the disease.

We now have things pretty balanced, but there are the inevitable scary swings in blood sugar that you don't see coming. And it is scary.

Watching Billy Bob gave me a knot in my stomach. If he is diabetic (and not just being a jerk), does anybody else in the room know that? (Diabetics often try to hide their condition, because they want to seem "normal.") If he was having low blood sugar, he needed something sugary to eat or drink immediately.

Sorry to take up so much comment space. But when you deal with this disease on a daily basis, it runs your life. Unfortunately, even though diabetes is described as an "epidemic," because sooo many people have it, most people do not know the symptoms or anything about it.

Hopefully, Billy Bob got something to eat after the show, and was not just being a jerk.

Harry Finch said...

God bless anyone in this world who's achieved enough to be able to get on a show to promote his band and still say FU to all the BS that happens on the airwaves.

I've lived 55 years without a single hero, but Billy Bob is now in the running.

You're right: he's a complete asshole. But we're all assholes. If it takes a rich man comfortable in his skin to show the pucker, then great.

philbilly said...

Ol' Billy Bob made perfect sense to me. I don't think I've seen any of his movies, I don't follow recent film in general much. But I got the reaction to the condescension of the jock, although I don't believe it was malicious per say, jocko was was just being a dull-minded, patronizing, hipster dufus, an affliction of the under 30 crowd.

People see you through their eyes, not yours, and a big piece of wisdom is discerning what they think they see of you, and nipping that in the bud if it is toxic, or denigrating, or knowing if it even matters.

I spoke with an asshat tonight, a person utterly dependent on my genius at the moment, that I've rescued for years, who didn't even remotely hear the disrespect, the god given cultural superiority in which he holds himself above me, a lowly maker of things, in his own sarcastic words and smirks. In about an hour, I'll pull up his already prodigious invoice and quadruple it. Smirk away, asshole, it's on the bill.

British Invasion Hillbilly music? I'm in.

Harry Finch said...

A quick listen at iTunes suggests the Boxmasters have a future on the county fair circuit. No shame there: nobody doesn't like the county fair.

Perhaps Billy Bob is a part-time zen fool at play in our cultural ballpark. Perhaps I am full of it.

If you visit iTunes, check out the Ike Reilly Assassination instead of BBT. I've been looking for any lame excuse to recommend Ike on Ms OB's Manual. I've found it, so now I can have one last drink and go to bed.

VideoDude said...

Billy Bob Thorton, He was great in Sling Blade. ( I highly recommend watching it!) However, I always feel like taking a shower after I see him!

jonas said...

Having previously read the report, and now watching the video...

BBT is, a...um....a douche. Pardon the French.

1) The ONLY reason he (and his band) gets airtime is because he's in film and well know. Period. To pretend otherwise is stoopid. The poor interviewer makes this point, to his credit. Douche.

2) Who gets to dictate how their interview goes? He should be thankful for the airtime. Douche.

3) Who the f has the balls to compare themselves to Tom Petty...as if there's some actual comparison to be made? Douche.

4) Totally disrespecting the other guys in the band. This is about them as well, and BBT decides being a douche is more important than helping the careers other 3 guys we'd otherwise know nothing about. Douche.

5) "I grew up as a music historian"???? Translated: "Like so many other people, I listed to various types of music throughout my life." Douche.

6) HF: Yes, we'd all like to open up a can of our inner douche once in a while. But, to what end? How has BBT's sedated hissy-fit helped him in any way? He's a douche.

That interviewer certainly took the highroad. At some point, he really should have come back with: "Interesting point BBT. BUt I kow Tom Petty. I'm a fan of Tom Petty. And you sir are no Tom Petty."

I'm tired and hungover. I need a shower.
(that's funny...if you know French).

Harry Finch said...

Someone made roughly the same Tom Petty comment at iTunes. And honestly, I have better hair than Tom Petty.

Actually, you can set the conditions of an interview. Especially when there's no real journalism going on, just the BS that happens between people when one is promoting his career by promoting the other's.

I think, Jonas, you should rethink your use of douche. Why is it that the worst things you can call people has something to do with vaginas?

Erin O'Brien said...

DDP, I love that you give him the benefit of the doubt. I just learned that Thornton does have an eating disorder. It's referenced here.

"Actor Billy Bob Thornton has said he, too, has battled anorexia, at one point losing 59 pounds."

So who knows, maybe he does have some sort of problem. Be that as it may, he will now have to deal with this footage and its legacy.

As for the interviewer, I've interviewed all sorts of people and it's a real bitch when they are unresponsive. And this poor devil was on live radio! I think the other band members tried to jump in here and there, but some of that was edited out of this clip.

What a train-wreck.

Think I'll go dig HF's music recommendation.

jonas said...

HF:

You know me well enough that "douche" is by no mean the worst word I could have chosen. I firmly believe, however that my word choice is the most apt for describing BBT and his "performance."

Besides, its not like its a knock on vaginas. No more than calling someone a 'dipstick' is a knock on cars or motor oil.

Harry Finch said...

More importantly, Jonas, are you going to check out Ike Reilly?

Now that I think of it, you may well find douche in Ike's lyrics.

jonas said...

HF:
I well may, but certainly not via iTunes. I do have my standards, after all. Nonetheless, in the spirit of (spirit) reciprocation, I offer you this, my friend:

http://www.lollyphile.com/bourbon.php

dean said...

Billy Bob cuts and runs.

Harry Finch said...

It's not even a good metaphor. Mashed potatoes with gravy aren't that exciting.

Chinese take-out without duck sauce would be an insult. But maybe only to me.

Harry Finch said...

Or a turkey sandwich without horseradish mayo.

Erin O'Brien said...

Finch, you've clearly never had my mushroom gravy.

; )

philbilly said...

HF,
thanks for the Ike Reilly tip, one good tune deserves another:

Eli"paperboy" Reed and the true loves

Harry Finch said...

Phil - I endorse that link. Thanks.

Everyone: check out Eli.

Erin O'Brien said...

Can everyone PLEASE stop talking about stuff other than my extraordinary beauty, wit and intelligence?

It's all about ME.

ME ME ME ME ME ME ME!

philbilly said...

Holy Shit!

The caffeine just kicked in, Billy Bob Thornton, he's that Hollywierdo that drinks Angela Jolie's blood, or they got matching vials around their necks or some such shit.

Keerist, he's a douchebag, alright.
God knows I am.
Jonas, you make good points.

Still say BBT had some latitude on his attitude.

Douchebag.

Douche. Bag.

Somehow it rolls off the tongue(WARNING: Visual Alert!).

'Merkuns are good at douchebaggery, comes from not having to claw a living out of the dirt.

Check this out while we're all having a nice hot cup of STFU.

"Count your blessings............

If Earth's population was shrunk into a village of just 100 people--- with all the human ratios in the world still existing--- what would this tiny, diverse village look like? That's exactly what Phillip M. Harter, a medical doctor at the Stanford University School of Medicine, attempted to figure out.

This is what he found:

57 would be asian

21 would be european

14 would be from the Western hemisphere

8 would be african

52 would be female

48 would be male

70 would be nonwhite

30 would be white

70 would be non-christian

30 would be christian

89 would be heterosexual

11 would be homosexual

6 people would possess 59% of the entire worlds wealth, and all 6 would be from the U.S.



80 would live in substandard housing

70 would be unable to read

50 would suffer from malnutrition

1 would be near death

1 would be pregnant

1 would have a college education

1 would own a computer

The following is an anonymous interpretation:

Think of it this way. If you live in a good home, have plenty to eat and can read, you are a member of a very select group. And if you have a good house, food, can read and have a computer you are among the very elite.



If you woke up with more health than illness... you are more fortunate than the million who will not survive this week.



If you never experienced the danger of battle, the lonliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the prangs of starvation.. you are ahead of 500 million people in the world.



If you can attend a church meeting without the fear of harassment, arrest, torture, or death... you are fortunate, mare than 3 billion people in the world can't.



If you have food in the frigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep... you are richer than 75% of this world.



If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace... you are among the top 8% of the worlds wealthiest people"

Al The Retired Army Guy said...

He was on something during the interview if you ask me.

Al
TRAG

LoDoKid said...

to put things in proper persepective, I offer you this:

In Defense of....

http://www.theboxmasters.com/main/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=26

Personally, I have no prob w/Billy Bob's actions in the CBC interview. We've all seen the classic interviews of Lennon and Dylan where they mock the interviewer because the questions being asked were rubbish. They chose to make sport of it which certainly made for some entertaining clips, but that's not Billy Bob's style. It's certainly within his rights to choose not to feed the celeb hype machine. You have to believe that if he really wanted to give those kinds of interviews, he could line them up for weeks in advance and it would no doubt create a lot of buzz for the band, but those aren't his terms.. Did anybody catch Steve Martin on recent Letterman appearances and elsewhere? Sure, he's got a new film to plug, etc but all he really wanted to do was play his banjo with his buds, and plug his new album "The Crow".. Steve wasn't going to be an asshole about it, but like every artis, he just wanted his work to be taken seriously.. It's all good..

Incidentally, the Boxmasters are definitely hip, in a radzoot sorta way. http://www.theboxmasters.com

Harry Finch said...

Billy Bob is off my heros list. Not due to any real change of heart but because I prefer my heros list to be empty.

Maybe he's a turd, I don't know.

But I ain't calling him a douche or a douchebag.

A douche implies there's something filthy about a vagina. It's been a long time, but I have fond memories of vaginas. I have no recollection of them being filthy.

Maybe Billy Bob is a peckerhead.

Erin O'Brien said...

It's amazing to me that this thread includes so many references to an old-fashioned feminine hygiene product. Maybe someone will start talking about speculums next.

Harry Finch said...

I had a very general knowledge of specula (speculums before I looked them up on Wikipedia), but out of respect for my wife and her kind (as well as a kind of prurient interest that I normally would never confess) I thought I should expand my bag of speculum facts.

Interestingly the word count for the speculum entry in Wikipedia is 456 words, versus 751 for it's clothespin entry.

Erin O'Brien said...

OH FINCH!

Per Webster's Third New International Dictionary (2662 pages, about 12 lbs [!!!]), specula may also be referred to in the plural as speculums.

Despite all of this and my associated heightened use of italics, I'd still have you over for scotch and ham this afternoon if only you lived closer.

Harry Finch said...

Speculums sounds like a bad antacid. Specula sounds exotic, or at least domestic-gardenish. As in: My, the Specula are filling out nicely this summer.

Erin O'Brien said...

You realize, Finch, that you are now one of the few dubious individuals who can say they've engaged a woman in an argument over speculums (both in a specific and ideological sense) on Easter afternoon.

I tried to introduce ham and scotch, but we can all see where that got me.

What's next, you start talking about performing pelvic exams on chocolate bunnies?

erf!

Harry Finch said...

I didn't realize we were arguing. I shall have to specul-ate on that.

Thanks for the drink reminder. Time for the first Swim the River of the day.

It's too cold today to swim all the way to Ohio. I'm not that fond of ham, but if I were your guest I would be the good little gentleman Mama raised and have seconds.

Do you serve mashed potatoes with your ham?

Erin O'Brien said...

OH you dreadful speculatious thwark!

Of course I do not serve mashed potatoes with ham, what do you think this is? Some sort of goddamn alien millwork? I only serve homemade scalloped potato (or sometimes au gratin) with ham. If you want mashed, you have to have it with meatloaf. Or maybe roast beast. Or perhaps roast chicken.

Have a whiskey already Finch. I swear I adore you, that I have had several whiskeys, that I wish you were here, and that I am grinning gleefully.

Erin O'Brien said...

And yes. The Swimmer. I am receiving your broadcast, make no mistake, Lancaster, Cheever, Erin, Farouk. It's all here.

Harry Finch said...

My mother served mashed potatoes with ham. It was a terrible meal. I would cover the potatoes and ham with Worcestershire sauce. I am still fond of Worcestershire sauce. It cures almost everything.

A pleasant little pot roast for me on Easter. The dog was grateful for the potatoes that came her way. Several Jim Beams (for me, not the dog). Then we went out back and built a fire by the brook. I worried about burning down the forest. I worried about the dog falling in the brook. I worried about rescuing the dog from the brook and drowning in the effort. I decided to focus on not burning down the forest. Burning down the forest is not a good story. Drowning in the brook when you are drunk and trying to save the dog is a good story. People get a kick out of a story like that.

I'm glad you are grinning Ms OB. Grinning is up there with Worcestershire sauce as a cure-all.