Man of Moods
Is there a bigger Hollywood pretzel-contortionist than Dennis Hopper? He starts out in the '50s as the moody, intense young actor who's influenced by James Dean and that whole alienated, tortured, wandering-in-pain thing. Then he becomes lysergic Dennis of the '60s and '70s -- the visionary director of Easy Rider and The Last Movie, brazen and wild-maned, a "lesbian chick" rollicking in Taos, beset by increasing drug use.
And then he shifts into sobriety and the older, cleaned-up, more clear-headed version that emerged in the mid '80s. And then into being a Bush-supporting Republican over the last 20 years (having voted for Bush '41 and Bush '43 twice). Ad recently having played a supporting role (for reasons that were at least partly ideological, one presumes) in David Zucker 's An American Tale. And then suddenly lurching into being an Obama supporter at the last minute.
How exactly do you do that? How does that work? I'm cool with Obamacans but how do you go from being on the Zucker team to saying "I pray to God Barack Obama [will be] elected" and making mention of the Bush administration's "lies," etc.?
Posted by Jeffrey Wells on October 14, 2008 at 11:56 AM
comment #1
Majorian99
says ...
That is truly a great question. The Hopper-story is beyond fascinating... Sounds like a subject up Oliver Stone's alley...
Posted by Majorian99
at October 14, 2008 1:02 PM
comment #2
admiralmpj
says ...
Hmm. With all his personal lurching, and generally being erratic, one would think he'd be okay with John McCain.
Posted by admiralmpj
at October 14, 2008 1:16 PM
comment #3
The Winchester
says ...
Maybe Hopper was visited in the night by ghosts of liberal past.
Doesn't Oliver Stone have a new movie coming out soon? I can't quite seem to remember what it's called.
Posted by The Winchester
at October 14, 2008 1:28 PM
comment #4
corey3rd
says ...
how come you never hear of Hopper having an acid flashback?
Posted by corey3rd
at October 14, 2008 2:00 PM
comment #5
BurmaShave
says ...
"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds"
Posted by BurmaShave
at October 14, 2008 2:01 PM
comment #6
Deathtongue_Groupie
says ...
I can think of few actors of his generation who are more overrated than Dennis Hopper. He is someone whose persona has always been far more interesting than his performances for going on 30 years.
Back in the 1986 he had a trifecta that seemed to announce he was going to finally deliver on his earlier promise and that his self-destruction was firmly in the past: Blue Velvet, Hoosiers and The River's Edge.
But in the 22 years since, he has done one paycheck job after another, usually as the unhinged, Frank Booth-esque villain. Sure, there were little roles like True Romance but mostly it's been Waterworld and Super Mario Brothers. Glad I don't have Starz so I don't have to see him ham his way through the Crash TV show.
Posted by Deathtongue_Groupie
at October 14, 2008 2:02 PM
comment #7
Jay T.
says ...
Sounds like someone's savings went south and now he realizes that less taxes for someone with as much money as he has don't mean much when the economy goes to hell.
Posted by Jay T.
at October 14, 2008 2:05 PM
comment #8
Rich S.
says ...
Maybe he's just an independent thinker, a scarce commodity in Hollywood these days, I know.
Posted by Rich S.
at October 14, 2008 2:14 PM
comment #9
D.Z.
says ...
I'd say he's proof of why you shouldn't do drugs. You might end up voting Republican. [See the people who helped get Nixon and Reagan elected.]
Posted by D.Z.
at October 14, 2008 2:53 PM
comment #10
dangovich
says ...
Well, at least he switched. I question the sanity of anyone still clinging to W at this point in time.
Posted by dangovich
at October 14, 2008 3:08 PM
comment #11
TedM
says ...
Death_tongue -- you can see the piece of crap that is CRASH for free on various websites (Fancast, among them) or On Demand if you have that option on cable. I watched the first episode and those are 45 mins. I'll never get back. Hopper was awful portraying a Phil Spector-like record mogul.
Posted by TedM
at October 14, 2008 3:38 PM
comment #12
MartinBlank
says ...
Longtime conservative Christopher Buckley endorses Obama.
Longtime conservative Dennis Hopper endorses Obama.
Who's next, McCain?
Posted by MartinBlank
at October 14, 2008 3:59 PM
comment #13
MartinBlank
says ...
corey3rd says ...
how come you never hear of Hopper having an acid flashback?
Dennis Hopper doesn't have acid flashbacks. Acid has Dennis Hopper flashbacks.
Posted by MartinBlank
at October 14, 2008 4:02 PM
comment #14
Josh Massey
says ...
Um, maybe he realized the best role he is getting these days is An American Carol?
Posted by Josh Massey
at October 14, 2008 4:10 PM
comment #15
tjfar67
says ...
McCain is such a maverick, today he announced he was voting for Obama.
Posted by tjfar67
at October 14, 2008 7:14 PM
comment #16
TheJERMSguy
says ...
Dennis Hopper & Christopher Walken in True Romance is one of the coolest scenes of all time.
Maybe he's like about 30-35% of the country. Actually independent. You don't have to hate one of the sides to be able to evaluate what's going on each election year and make an informed decision.
Reagan & Clinton overall did decent jobs as president. Carter & Dubya didn't.
But man, this is a year I wish Congress had term limits. 9% approval rating and 90% of them will be returning. Go figure.
Posted by TheJERMSguy
at October 14, 2008 7:16 PM
comment #17
frankbooth
says ...
Well, here's one old guy who's come around:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/14/bush-supporter-dennis-hop_n_134433.html
Do you get the feeling Hopper's one of those drivers who swerves all over the road?
Oops! I already posted this. In an earlier thread, at 11:29 a.m.
Always happy to help out.
Posted by frankbooth
at October 14, 2008 8:27 PM
comment #18
Bocephus
says ...
Hopper gets a lifetime pass for Super Mario Brothers. Movies that insane just don't get made anymore.
Posted by Bocephus
at October 15, 2008 9:59 AM
comment #19
D.Z.
says ...
JERMS: Carter established peace between Israel and Egypt. Bush has yet to establish even a peace agreement with Israel and the Palestinians.
Posted by D.Z.
at October 15, 2008 8:03 PM
comment #20
janee
says ...
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Posted by janee
at May 18, 2011 5:43 AM