American Splendor
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Last night I saw "American Splendor", the much
heralded semi-documentary feature on Harvey Pekar,
the
The screenwriters are a couple of young
The directors, screenwriters and actors deserve credit for
not attempting to soften the rough edges of Pekar's
personality or the grimy working-class
In contrast to the atrocious "Frida", this film is serious about depicting the artistic process if nothing else. After Pekar strikes up a friendship with artist Robert Crumb, who is also the subject of a fine documentary titled "The Confessions of Robert Crumb", he tells him that he'd love to write comic books that capture the drama of everyday life, particularly his own meager existence. Eventually Pekar puts together a story board with stick figures and dialog that Crumb finds irresistible and agrees to illustrate. The rest is history.
Despite glowing reviews in the mainstream media, Pekar never sells enough books to give up his job as a file clerk. Even after repeated appearances on the David Letterman show, he finds himself complaining to the insufferably smug and superficial host that he still hasn't made it. Even today, Pekar--whose retirement from the VA hospital where he worked for decades is captured in the film--holds out the hope that the film can open up writing opportunities for him. In addition to his comic book work, he is a free-lance jazz and literary critic.
I should say that Pekar has been an enormous influence on my own writing persona. Despite the fact that I am writing about rather arcane aspects of Marxist theory, I like to cast myself as the resentful underdog who views the Leo Panitches and Slavoj Zizeks of the world in the same fashion that Pekar regarded Letterman. The other major influence is Charles Bukowski, who like Pekar turned a sordid, alcoholic, working-class life into art.
As much as I enjoyed the film, I have to confess that it simply cannot compete with Pekar's "American Splendor" comic books or "Our Cancer Year", a novel in comic book form that is co-written with his wife Joyce Brabner and that details his successful struggle with lymphoma. You can order these from his website: http://www.harveypekar.com/. You can also see an excerpt of the film at: http://www.americansplendormovie.com.
As I just told