Earlier today I caught this trailer for “I’m Still Here,” the upcoming documentary on Jaoquin Phoenix’s transition from actor to rapper in the last 2 years. What a great piece of art and entertainment this looks to be.

Ever since Jaoquin went on David Letterman with a mountain man beard, chewing gum, stating that he was going to quit acting and become a rapper, people have been saying: “Oh, he’s a fool” or “something’s wrong with him” or “he’s got mental problems.” I say no, give that tired story up! People simply can’t accept that Jaoquin Phoenix wants to become a rapper, and so that’s what he’s sincerely doing: he’s following his dream and he’s killin’ it. More importantly though, his buddy Casey Affleck has made a film about it. You’ve got to love the complexity of that–a great actor as the subject of a documentary about his real life career change to become a big bearded rapper. It’ so outlandish that people don’t want to accept it as possible. They figure he has to be faking it all. But as Director James Gray (who directed Phoenix in 3 movies) told ABC news: “If it is an act, it’s the most committed act I’ve ever seen in my life.”

The fake and the real. The real or the faked. The real faked and the faked real. That, my friends, is the big story of our digital, virtual, Intertastic age. The kicker is this: it doesn’t matter whether it’s real or fake. The question itself is what makes things fun! And you don’t need to know the intent of something to know you like it. Sit back and be entertained in the legacy of the great Andy Kaufman who introduced us to this kind of entertainment, paving the way for bright minds like Jaoquin Phoenix, David Blaine, and James Franco to take it to new levels. Right on, gentleman! Way to kill it!

jaoquin phoenix - actor turned rapper

jaoquin phoenix - actor turned rapper