The Acolytes

The Acolyte

"...and one thing that we uh -- 

that Joaquin came up with 

and found was, um  

--for a lot of these Sailors 

that had been in The War, 

that when they came 

back from The War, 

they felt very aimless, 

because they didn't have 

any Commander anymore.

You know, that they 

LIKED being in....

They enjoyed the the 

part of The Military that 

was very structured, that 

gave them A Commander, 

that if they had A Commander 

that they connected to, they 

Liked very much, they really 

liked working for them, 

they liked being guided --

And to come back to ‘Reality’ 

and real -- or not 'reality', 

but to come back to Home, 

and Life back here, to 

not have that, is 

very disorienting."

Joaquin gets defensive.

By Antoinette Bueno

Published: 10:18 AM PST, 

November 12, 2014

Though the typically reclusive Joaquin Phoenix rarely talks about his unconventional upbringing, the Oscar-winning actor gets candid with Playboy Interview about his experience being born into the Children of God cult, as well as his infamous 2009 Late Show with David Letterman appearance.

Joaquin's parents joined the controversial religious group Children of God in the early 1970s and traveled throughout South America along with him and his siblings -- including the late River Phoenix, who died of a drug overdose in 1993 -- but left when they became disenchanted with the group.

"When people bring up Children of God, there's always something vaguely accusatory about it," the Her star, now 40, tells the magazine. "It's guilt by association. I think it was really innocent on my parents' part. They really believed, but I don’t think most people see it that way. I've always thought that was strange and unfair."

"I think my parents thought they'd found A Community that shared their ideals," he further explains. "Cults rarely advertise themselves as such. It's usually someone saying, 'We're like-minded people. This is a community,' but I think the moment my parents realised there was something more to it, they got out."

Joaquin also comments on his 2010 faux documentary I'm Still Here, in which he pretended to reinvent himself as a rapper. This being the notoriously intense Joaquin, he took it to the next level by making one of the most bizarre appearances ever on Late Show with David Letterman, which lots of people didn't take too kindly to.

"David Letterman was not in on the joke," he reveals. "But look, David Letterman is one of the smartest guys on television. There's no way that guy doesn't know what's going on in some way. That's what I'll say about it."

Despite the controversial reception to the Casey Affleck-directed film, he calls the entire experience "liberating."

"Unlike when you’re acting and everyone is there to support you and you can do take after take, when I did those live music shows and the movie, the safety net wasn’t there," he says. "I can see how people felt like they’d been duped. I think I would have had a similar reaction. I totally understand people getting defensive and scared because they don’t want to be taken advantage of. I think now everyone knows it was never our intention to attack people. We were clearly attacking ourselves."

As for his trouble dealing with Fame, Joaquin compares it to being an attractive woman.

"I think I know what it's like to be an attractive woman," he says. "I think that's basically what the experience [of Fame] is, right? But that sycophantic energy is uncomfortable to be around. Nobody wants to experience that."

Though as he gets older, Joaquin admits he feels like he knows less and less.

"All I know is that I’ve been fortunate, and my good fortune continues," he reflects. "Other than that, the older I get, the more I know that I don’t f**king know anything at all. .... I'm trying to get better at being open to the mystery of it all."

Playboy Interview's December issue hits newsstands this Friday.

The Difficult Second Album

“ I tend to think that what Fame has done is to replace The Sea as The Element of Choice of Adventure for Young People. 

If you were a dashing Young Man in the 19th century you would probably have wanted to run away To Sea, just as in the 20th century you might decide that you want to run away and form a pop band. 

The difference is that in the 19th century, before running away To Sea, you would have had at least some understanding of the element that you were dealing with and would have perhaps, say, learned to swim ... 

The thing is that there is no manual for how to cope with Fame.

So you'll get some, otherwise likeable young person, who has done  

• One good comic book,  
• One good film, 
• One good record, 

suddenly told that they are a Genius, 

Who believes it, and who runs out laughing and splashing into the billows of Celebrity, and whose heroin-sodden corpse is washed up a few weeks later in the shallows of the tabloids. ”

" As I mentioned in my introduction to Frank's Dark Knight, one of the things that prevents superhero stories from ever attaining the status of true modern myths or legends is that they are open ended. 

An essential quality of a Legend is that the events in it are clearly defined in time.

Robin Hood is driven to become an outlaw by the injustices of King John and his minions. That is his Origin. 

He meets Little John, Friar Tuck and all the rest and forms the merry men. He wins the tournament in disguise, he falls in love with Maid Marian and thwarts the Sheriff of Nottingham. That is his Career, including love interest, Major Villains and the formation of a superhero group that he is part of. 

He lives to see the return of Good King Richard and is finally killed by a woman, firing a last arrow to mark the place where he shall be buried. That is his Resolution --

you can apply the same paradigm to King Arthur, Davy Crockett or  Sherlock Holmes with equal success. 

You cannot apply it to most comic book characters because, in order to meet the commercial demands of a continuing series, they can never have a resolution. Indeed, they find it difficult to embrace any of the changes in life that the passage of time brings about for these very same reasons, making them finally less than fully human as well as falling far short of True Myth. ”

"The Dark Knight"... by on Scribd