Hunter S. Thompson

[TheAbominatrix]

I figured since we were 'graced' with a lot of mean ranting about the man, I'd make a topic for actual discussion of him, and hopefully get some stimulating things in return. I'm not the only HST fan here, so lets talk, shall we?

For those of you who dont know, here's the basic lowdown on The Good Doc. He was born in Kentucky and left school early (thanks to a criminal career, his options were jail or the military and he chose the later, the Air Force to be exact). He finished his degree in the Air Force and wrote for the base news during this time, before he left the Air Force (official documents state that, at the time of his last depature from the base, he tossed a bottle of whiskey from the car at one of the gate guards) and pursued his career in journalism.

He soon became a writer for Rolling Stone magazine and became the father of what is known as "Gonzo" journalism; the process of writing journalistic peices more like fictional stories, and directly involving himself in the work, throwing away any pretenses of objectivity. This becomes even more interesting given his love of guns, drugs, and booze, which lead to some insane behaviours. He loved to say whatever was on his mind no matter what the consequences, and never cared who he crossed. He ran for Sherrif of Aspen Colorado on the Freak Power ticket in 1970, and came very very close to winning.

At the time of his death he was working for ESPN (where he met his newest wife, Anita), writing a column known as Hey Rube!, which rarely had to deal with sports.

He's written many books and been portrayed in film twice (three times, once they finish The Rum Diary), once by Bill Murray in Where the Buffalo Roam and once by Johnny Depp in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. The latest Rolling Stone is full of articles about him and I highly recommend it.

Now, as for my thoughts about him (though it's obvious to most people on this board by now, anyway :skull3: ). I was first introduced to Hunter when I saw the aforementioned Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. I loved the movie immediatly, but it wasnt until I started hanging out with an old friend from junior high that I became steeped in Gonzoism. He purchased a few books of Thompson's for me, and I fell in love.

Because of the previous angry thoughts about Hunter, I'd like to mention now that I'm not a drug user in the least and have never done any sort of illegal narcotic, yet I avidly love the man and his work. For me, he can make even an article about football (I very much dislike football) as interesting as any of his political rants. I've watched both documentaries on him (Fear and Loathing on the Road to Hollywood and Breakfast with Hunter) and was privledged to meet the man (along with Benicio del Toro, Sean Penn, and Anita Thompson-all very kind and lovely people) and have him sign my copy of Hey Rube! at his last public appearance before his suicide. I shook his hand and spoke with him briefly, and it was an event I will never forget.

When I heard of his recent death I was shocked and very very saddened by it... but I know that was how he wanted to go. He always kept suicide as an option, and confined to a wheelchair as he was it was time for him to go. I'll miss him very much, but he'll live forever through his works.

For those interested I'd suggest picking up Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (the book) or Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72. Really though, anything written by him is wonderful.

So, after that needlessly long post, let's start. Any thoughts, good or bad?

(By the way, I think that was the longest post I've ever made here xD)

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

I like that he and Timothy Leary were archnemeses. People don't have enough archnemeses these days.

[TheAbominatrix]

I think he had lots of those. I'm reading Campaign Trail '72 and listening to him talk about Nixon and his cronies is great. He apparantly had it out for Jerry Seinfeld as well, the list of his enemies was probably a mile long.

In Campaign Trail '72, he wrote something about the news stations not knowing about McGovern's people and their manuvering on the floor. One of the news folks wrote him a letter, and this is his response.

"Dear John....
You filthy skunk-sucking bastard! What kind of gal would prompt you to write me a letter like that sac of pus dated Aug. 11? I checked your story--about how NBC had the South Caroline trip all figured out--with Mrs. Lucey (Pat wouldnt talk to me for some reason), and she said both you & Kiker were so fucked up on drugs that you both kept calling it "the South Dakota challenge" despite her attempts to correct you. She was baffled by your behavior, she said, until Mankiewicz told her about you and LSD-25. Then, about an hour later, Bill Daughtery (sp?) found Kiker on his knees in the darkness outside McGovern's command trailer, apparantly trying to choke himself with his own hands but, when Bill grabbed him, Kiker said he was trying to un-screw his head from what he called his "neck-pipe," so he could "check the wiring" in his own brain."
But I guess you wouldnt remember that episode, eh? Fuck no you wouldnt! You dope-addled facist bastard. I'm heading east in a few days, and I think it's about time we got this evil <img src="/xxx.gif"><img src="/xxx.gif"><img src="/xxx.gif"><img src="/xxx.gif"> cleared away. Your deal is about to go down John. You can run, but you cant hide. See you soon....

Hunter S. Thompson"


That, in response to a very civil and non-confrontational letter. I love it!

[Dr.K]

Funnily enough, my friend introduced me to Hunter S. Thompson at a gathering last week, and got out 'Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas' for us to watch. I thought the film was absolutely brilliant, and was highly intrigued by Depp's persona - I must get the book. I heard that while trying to get into the character of Thompson, Depp spent around a month visiting him, only to find at the end of month there was a large collection of dynamite under the bed which they had sat on and talked for so many hours. I'm not too sure how true that is, but if it is, that is pretty awesome. Would you recommend 'Where the Buffalo Roam'?

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

It was pretty amazing how much Depp became Thompson in that movie. I was looking at photos of Hunter in that issue of Rolling Stone and unless I'd read the captions I wouldn't have been able to tell if it were really him or just Depp acting. The Criterion Collection DVD has him reading aloud some of the letters he and Hunter wrote to one another. Plus the commentary. Good stuff.

[TheAbominatrix]

Some interesting stories in the Depp/Thompson friendship (Johnny Depp also has in article in the memorial Rolling Stone, it's very interesting and very well written).

When Johnny first met Hunter, he was sitting in the Woody Creek tavern in Colorado (Hunter's favorite bar) and Hunter came in, yelling and swinging around both a cattle prod and a taser. Later that evening, Hunter took Johnny back to Owl Farm (Hunter's fortified compound) and they blew up propane tanks with shotguns.

I have a very interesting photo of Hunter shaving Johnny's head for the movie... Hunter is wearing a coal miner's hat with the light pointed down on Johnny's head.

If you can, download from a peer to peer Hunter's appearance on Conan O'Brien. He talks first hand about the dynamite Johnny found in his room, and in general it's a hilarious interview.

I had never really paid much attention to Johnny Depp as an actor until FLLV when I saw the amazing transformation... he really did become Hunter. He looked a lot like him and got his personality down to a t. So amazingly done. The one scene in particular, one of my favorites, where Raoul Duke and Dr. Gonzo are outside a hardware store and wreaking havoc on the car, Raoul is yelling things like "You people voted for Hubert Humphrey, and you killed Jesus!", it really struck me then how perfectly Johnny had captured Hunter.

Where the Buffalo Roam is only good for Bill Murray's performance. The story is basically a bunch of things taken from The Great Shark Hunt (a collection of various peices and exerpts of Hunter's work known as The Gonzo Papers), but it's very badly done. The dialogue is just horrid and... ugh. Bad bad movie.

[Dr.K]

I've gotta say, Depp's performance in FLLV certainly opened my eyes to what he can do as an actor. From his other films, I held him to be certainly sailing above your average joe, but after seeing his performance in that, it feels like I almost know everything about Hunter's demeanour. He has more than succeeded in inspiring me to look further into Hunter's lifes work, and from the things I've read are classic to say the least. Thanks for the information all.