MovieChat Forums > Man on the Moon (1999) Discussion > Was the real Kaufman this much of a PRIC...

Was the real Kaufman this much of a PRICK?!!!

posted 15 years ago by al666940-3
29 replies | jump to latest

Seriously...

I only know what's on the movie, so tell me if it's any acurate.

Because, the Kaufman I saw in the movie, to me, seemed nothing except one big JERK whom while sometimes was very funny (only reason why he ever got a job on TV), most of the times (especially when he got a big head) he just wanted to amuse himself PISSING on his audience.

The distorted-on-purpose TV signal is a perfect example.

Would anyone find that funny if you're watching the show from home, and you're tired from a day's work?

I sure wouldn't find it any funny in the least.

Kaufamn does because it's a practical joke. And practical jokes are almost always only funny to the person doing them, and to an audience, NOT to the intended victim.

In this case, who's the audience? No one. The intended victim IS the audience.

The wrestling gig sure was funny (even for me), but outside of that and his Elvis gig, nothing else he did on screen ever moved me one way or the other (except to another channel).

Was Kaufman this annoying and condescending to his audience (the ones who FED him)?

[–] frankzappayay 15 years ago

Would anyone find that funny if you're watching the show from home, and you're tired from a day's work?

I sure wouldn't find it any funny in the least.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!

Kaufamn does because it's a practical joke. And practical jokes are almost always only funny to the person doing them, and to an audience, NOT to the intended victim.

In this case, who's the audience? No one. The intended victim IS the audience.

You have to remember this was in the 70's. The guy was a creative joker. Stuff like that just hadn't ever been done before.

I bet the majority of people would find his TV signal joke funny, and I bet the majority of people would think it's pretty creative and clever too. Today, comedians try all kinds of stuff, but back then he was really a pioneer.

You talking about being tired after work and having to get up to bang your TV is just laughable. You sound like a big uptight sour puss. That makes the whole thing 10 times more funny to me.

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[–] DuckMan51392 15 years ago

yes

[–] Mylobage 15 years ago

He was a big d!ck plain and simple just a rich a$$ hole means he was still an a$$

"I have not yet begun to defile myself"
^Greatest Performance Ever^

[–] frankzappayay 15 years ago

Beacuse you're thinking as AUDIENCE, not as the intended target. It's always funny UNTIL it happens to YOU.

You would have a point if you were talking about something that might actually harm me or something, but you are talking about getting up! My god, you lazy fat ass.

[–] JinjonatorX 15 years ago

"Beacuse you're thinking as AUDIENCE, not as the intended target. It's always funny UNTIL it happens to YOU. "

The only "victims" are the ones who don't get it. Everyone who's in on it finds it hilarious. If I was with my family or friends or something, watching Andy Kaufman on TV, and the distortion thing started happening and they went up to hit the TV, I'd laugh so much, because I actually GET it.

---------------
This is your life, and it's ending one minute at a time.

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[–] TheDenialTwist 14 years ago

he sounds like a big uptight sour puss to me too

[–] harlowfan 15 years ago

Was Kaufman this annoying and condescending to his audience (the ones who FED him)?

In my opinion, no.
I agree with you, in that Carrey's portrayal makes Andy look like a jerk. I've said it time and time again - if that guy in the movie had been the real person, I would not be an Andy Kaufman fan.

Andy simply overestimated peoples' intelligence. At the end of his life, when a lot of people had turned on him because of the wrestling, his girlfriend Lynne said in an interview on TV that Andy couldn't believe that people didn't know he was joking.

As for the "coming home after a hard day at work stuff"... boo-hoo. ;-)
(Actually, Andy is precisely who I WANT to watch after work!)

[–] Father_Anthonis 15 years ago

LOL All I can say if I was ever a "performer" in ANYWAY it would be like Andy!

Hell, IT'S STILL WORKING TO THIS DAY JUST LOOK AT THESE IDIOTS -

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1083271/board/flat/146604133?d=146840507#14 6840507

Dark Knight is the worst movie ever. The villain died before it even came out.

[–] reeceglenburnie 15 years ago

I agree with this poster 100%, but i thought i was the only one. I mean, everyone says what a genius Andy was but all i saw was a guy who only amused himself.

Case in point, you all say that the TV thing is funny, but its only funny if you KNOW that Kaufman did it, otherwise you'd assume its a glitch on screen, and once the tv righted itself no one would know it was a joke and had happened at all...how is that funny? It escapes the general audience...so whats the point? Like 3 ppl laugh and that makes it hilarious?

[–] longlivepeewee 14 years ago

A great joke takes time and patients. They would eventually figure out that it was him that had pulled it off and secretly they knew they had been had. With all the info, they would have figured it out and laughed at themselves. That *beep* is hilarious. If it wasn't for him you wouldn't of even had a little show called "punked". He's an actor not an *beep* and that was his occupation. He was a good person.

[–] CptHowdy87 15 years ago

You clearly didn't get the movie or Andy Kaufman at all.

Andy says near the start that he's a song and dance man and he doesn't even know what comedy is or what people find funny, he does what he does because it's fulfilling to him whether millions of people get it or just a handful. You go on about how he should aim to please the audience but that's not what he was about and it's clearly explained in numerous scenes in the movie that Andy is not about catering to the masses but doing what he wants do in his own unique way.

You went on and on about the TV distorting thing but in the movie the exec of the tv station even says exactly what you're saying that only Andy would find it funny and no-one else, Andy didn't care, he did it for himself and that's what he was about.

What were you expecting from this movie? Had you ever heard of Andy Kaufman?

You simply don't get what Andy Kaufman was about much like the closed minded audiences he played infront of back in the day.

[–] jonrogers 15 years ago

Kaufman was not a prick. He just genuinely enjoyed messing with people's heads. Granted, his brand of comedy was not for the average person. The majority of comedy audiences around that time were used to sitcoms like "Happy Days" and "All in the Family" that Kaufman viewed as being nothing but cheap recycled puns and one-liners. Rather than being just another comedian, he insisted on pushing the envelope and staying one step ahead of everyone else. That's what made him stand out.

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[–] ydh1985 15 years ago

Andy wasn't jerk at all...the movie gives a wrong picture of him. The movie really misses some important parts of Andy's life.
I know that Andy's family wasn't so happy about the movie and his father also agrees that the movie made him seem like a jerk.

If you want to know more about Andy's life, you should get the book "Lost in the funhouse". it is really good biographical book and tells very well who Andy really was.

"There's no way to describe what I do. It's just me."
http://andygkaufmanworld.com

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] tmaj48 14 years ago

People back then were just more intelligent, judging by their healthier sense
of humor. The ones who didn't get him--those who were annoyed because they
got home from a hard day's work and were insulted by Kaufman's clever performance art--at least knew enough to switch over to "Three's Company"
or some other lame sitcom.

Too bad Kaufman wasn't around to witness the trashy TV of recent years, with
staged "reality" shows such as "The Bachelor," "Project Runway," etc., all
of which serve as further proof that the intelligence level of the average TV
viewer has sunk to greater depths than when he was around. The people who
actually take this dreck seriously (and there are many, sadly) really need a
dose of Kaufman's pranks. If they were even able to get them.

I'm not crying, you fool, I'm laughing!

[–] Isaac5855 14 years ago

Kaufamn does because it's a practical joke. And practical jokes are almost always only funny to the person doing them, and to an audience, NOT to the intended victim.

But that was the whole thing about Andy, at least according to this film...he didn't really seem too care about what the audience thought was funny, only what he thought was funny. As long as he and Bob Zmuda thought it was funny, that was all that seemed to mattered to Kaufman.

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] ydh1985 14 years ago

^^ where did he say that??
I have read it many times but is it really Tony Danza who said that he doesn't want to be participate in this movie because he hated Andy... huh? it can be so...but I just wonder...

"There's no way to describe what I do. It's just me."

[–] prettyh 14 years ago

^^ where did he say that??
I have read it many times but is it really Tony Danza who said that he doesn't want to be participate in this movie because he hated Andy... huh? it can be so...but I just wonder...

According to the first hit you get on search engines:

The limitations of playing one role notwithstanding, Andy was also hesitant to commit to the time-consuming effort of doing a television series. His special agreement with the producers to show up only on Tuesday's (for the script read-through), and Friday night (for the actual taping of the show), made many of his fellow cast members unhappy. And for a time Judd Hirsch, Tony Danza and Jeff Conaway disliked Andy tremendously. Andy kept to himself, did not participate in many after-hours functions with the cast and crew, and was considered aloof and arrogant. Despite public posturing to the contrary, Andy did not like Taxi and Taxi did not like him.

I'm still trying to find the source from which I read that Danza was the only Taxi alum who never set aside his dislike for Andy (I'll post it here if I can track it down again!).

As for the OP, I don't agree with the whole "Andy was a prick because he thought static on TV was funny!" argument. But what made ME wonder if Andy was that much of a jerk was the fact that even his closest friends and family believed he would fake having cancer (when he first told them) just to put one over on them. If they could even THINK he would hurt them with a joke like THAT, you've gotta wonder if there was any limit whatsoever to what Andy would do to have a laugh at anyone's expense.

Having said that, though (and not being an expert on the real Kaufman), reading some of the comments on this board lead me to believe this was more of the filmmakers' angle than the Actual Andy, so I don't know. But as bizarrely angry and weirdly misdirected the original post in this thread is, I can see why one might ask!

~ http://prettyh.blogspot.com/ ~

[–] bsantosu 14 years ago

Kaufamn was different, innovative and original. Was he entertaining and funny? Not so much. His performances tended to make an audience uncomfortable. I think that was his intention: to put the audience in an uncomfortable situation—that way, they'll remember you.

[–] MyDarkStar 11 years ago

How was he innovative ? I'll agree that he was original. I don't see how anybody could deny that. But how was he innovative ?