Thursday, October 10, 2019

Beautiful




image from amazon.com


Beautiful

“When’s the last time an actor has assassinated a
President? It’s been a while--perhaps it’s time.”
--Johnny Depp.

The career and persona of
   John Christopher Depp III has
      fascinated me. From his stint on the
              series 21 JUMP STREET, when he
      became a teen idol, to his 40 year
    career playing geeks and misfits,
he still found time for straight
dramatic parts in PLATOON,
                            FINDING NEVERLAND, 
                            DONNIE BRASCO and
                            DEADMAN.

The camera loves him, with his dark
handsome features, pouty lips and
chick magnet eyes. Women sense
what they think is his vulnerability,
sad lost soul, and bad boy posture.
Beautiful men are branded as very
effeminate by most other men.

                              Born in Kentucky, he
                     claimed a Native American
             heritage, It’s probably Cherokee
     several generations ago.
This caused
the Cherokee Nation to challenge his claim,
as they had done with Johnny Cash, Elvis
and Burt Reynolds.

I used to feel the same
way. My family claimed I had a great great
grandmother who was Cherokee. Recently
I had my DNA checked, and the only
        aboriginal blood I have belongs to the
                Inuit of Eastern Asia. Johnny luck-
                       out when a female fan, who is
                               Comanche, adopted him.

His career has been quirky and completely
unorthodox, but regardless, he became a
huge success. He is the third highest paid
actor in the world. He has been
nominated for 10 Golden Globes,
and has won one.
He has been nominated
for 3 Academy Awards.
His movies have grossed
more than 14 billion dollars.

His love life has be a whirlpool,
with several wives,
and dozens of girlfriends.
He has been accused of
battering many of them.
He admits to spending
40K a month on drugs & booze,
which doesn’t faze him, since
he’s worth 75 million.

He is a talented musician as well.
He formed a rock band, which
he at first called TONTO’S GIANT NUTS.
Today the band is called
                           THE HOLLYWOOD VAMPIRES.


Undoubtedly, he is one of the most
unique, bizarre, and mysterious
artists alive. I can dig it.



Glenn Buttkus

Ekphrasis

Posted over at dVerse Poets Pub

15 comments:

Jade Li said...

What a wonderful tribute poem to Johnny Depp. He is an actor once seen you never forget. My favorite movies of his: Edward Scissorhands, The Ninth Gate, From Hell, and Dark Shadows.

Glenn, if I ask you really really nicely, would you think about writing a tribute poem to Brad Pitt? I think a lot of people look at him as just another pretty face, but he is anything but that.

robkistner said...

This is kick ass Glenn, as is Mr. Scissorhands. He and Tim Burton are a match made in... well... in outer space, or perhaps the twilight zone. He picked up the gauntlet from Marlon Brando and James Dean, and rocketed it into true surrealism. Don’t have a lot to say about his guitar playing, but his acting chops are unquestionable. Great prompt dude!

tonispencer said...

I dig Johnny Depp. You pulled a whole hell of a lot from biography for this. Did you see the movie From Hell? Damed good Ripper flick.

indybev said...

I loved your biography in a nutshell! Depp is indeed a fascinating, swaggering, qwerky, vain incredibly talented celebrity!

Victoria said...

I really enjoyed that you took a current cultural icon and painted him in concise words. I liked the biographical tidbits you gave us (I'm not too into pop culture) and the amazing image. Well done, Glenn.

Vivian Zems said...

He’s a true artist-mad as a hatter, talented as hell.

said...

Do you remember Cry Baby? :)

I love him and very much enjoyed this piece.

Frank Hubeny said...

That's a pretty wild life. I especially remember liking the Pirates of the Caribbean (perhaps because my children were watching it with me), but I enjoy watching him play any part.

Kim M. Russell said...

A wonderful Pop Art tribute to Johnny Depp, who is indeed a fantastic actor and was very beautiful. I adored him in ‘What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?’, ‘Benny and Joon’, ‘Donnie Brasco’ and (especially) ‘Chocolat’. I’ve gone off him a bit since he did that awful eau de whatever advert – I never thought he’d do one of those. I remember, while I was still teaching, a rumour that he was moving himself and his family to the UK, specifically to Norfolk – even I was excited by that, and I’m not a celebrity/film star worshipper! I’m more into musicians.

Jane Dougherty said...

I know the name but I've never seen any of his films (I know, I'm film-ignorant). He sounds worthy of pop cult status though.

Sabio Lantz said...

Good write-up on Johnny. I have loved every role he has played , esp. Gilbert Grape (amazing). And like you, his personal life is something else. It seems humans are very dull, normally, but if one comes out to be fascinating in some aspect (like the artist I wrote on), them other parts inevitably get broken. And so it is with all of us.

Linda Lee Lyberg said...

And excellent write about one of my favorite actors. I have seen Chocolat at least 5 times!

JIm Feeney said...

Nailed him, Glenn, a concise portrait of a complex man!

sarah said...

Tha-a-a-a-t's Johnny! I think you got him.

lillianthehomepoet.wordpress.com said...

A POP art tribute by one of the best Western genre writers I know :) Give me Neverland any day and any where. :)