I have found a new hero.
John Callahan is someone to admire and revere. I have only just been introduced to his work, through the film ‘Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot’, which was sent to me by my friend Ted Eames.
After sharing this with my followers on Facebook, another of my good friends, Brian Hilton, alerted me to the documentary ‘Touch Me Someplace I Can Feel’. This is a magnificent slice of reality that allows me to relate to the cartoonist in so many ways. I found myself being filled with inspiration and fresh new ideas that will no doubt be highlighted on this blog in the coming months.
Who can fail to be inspired by quotes such as the following from ‘Touch Me Someplace I Can Feel’ ?
“Giving up is one of the best things you can do. Just finally give up. Trying to manage is just ridiculous really, because you just drive yourself crazy with your thoughts. I think surrendering to your real true nature, then, I think you have peace finally.”
Or cartoons like this:
For now, I will just provide further information and details of the films I enjoyed so much over the past couple of rainy days.
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The following information has been taken from Wikipedia.
Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot is a 2018 American comedy-drama film based upon the memoir of the same name by John Callahan.[4] Gus Van Sant wrote the screen adaptation and directed the film. The cast includes Joaquin Phoenix, Jonah Hill, Rooney Mara, and Jack Black, and follows a recently paralyzed alcoholic who finds a passion for drawing off-color newspaper cartoons.
The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 19, 2018, and was released on July 13, 2018, by Amazon Studios.
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The following summary of ‘Touch Me Someplace I Can Feel’ has been taken from IMDb.
This is a documentary about the provocative American cartoonist John Callahan. At the age of 21 Callahan got involved in a serious car-accident and was paralyzed from the waist down. Drawing cartoons has become his way to express himself although he can hardly use his hands. With a raw style, pen clutched between his hands, he draws cynical and ruthless observations of mankind. His work is praised and criticised. Callahan has provoked protest-marches and receives many angry letters. He was fired at The Miami Herald journal after drawing a cartoon in honour of Martin Luther King Jr. Day; a little boy with a wet spot on his pyjamas saying: “Mommie I had a dream”. Callahan does not understand why people get so upset about his work but he admits at having been an angry young man for a long time, trying to point the hypocrisy of people. Callahan also writes ànd sings songs. He likes to play the ukulele, something that is very hard for him to do. Of course the songs are no lullabies, lines like “Life is like a box of hand-grenades” and “Something always keeps me from committing suicide in the fall” reflect his way of thinking.
‘Touch me Someplace I Can Feel’ can be rented via YouTube.
You can read all about John Callahan on his Wikipedia page.
