Fear and Loathing in Hollywood

I haven't had much time to post on here this week. My most sincere apologies goes out to all 3 of my readers! My family and friends are beginning to worry that I'm getting too wrapped up in the physical world, so maybe it's time to get back on the internet where things make sense.

I've been wanting to talk about the upcoming film The Rum Diary, the latest installment of Johnny Depp cashing in on Hunter S. Thompson. Don't get me wrong. Being a fan of Thompson's work, I'm excited to see the movie and I'm sure it will be worth watching. My question is why The Rum Diary? 


Written in 1960, The Rum Diary was first published in 1998, presumably to coincide with the release of the film adaptation of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Until this time, publishers universally rejected the novel and Thompson himself abandoned the project altogether to pursue the political writing that made him famous. Now over 10 years later, this novel which nobody was originally interested in is now being made into a film. In short, they made a movie out of a book that was only released to promote a movie... So instead of seeing a culturally relevant film about the campaign of '72 in a time of political turmoil, we'll be seeing a film adaptation of one of Thompson's first and least ambitious novels simply to prove Johnny Depp can still do an impression of the late Gonzo journalist. Well, that and to help finance Depp's personal island I'm sure.

That said, I'll jump at the chance to see a film adaptation of any work by Hunter S. Thompson. I just can't help thinking they made a piss poor choice of which work to adapt. If there is a next time, they should make Hell's Angels or the aforementioned campaign coverage of '72, and they should cast somebody new in the leading role to avoid the steadily decreasing artistic integrity of Johnny Depp...

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