From Off the Streets of Cleveland..
American Splendor depicts the ordinary life of Harvey Pekar, a depressed hospital clerk, self-proclaimed jazz guru, and underground comic strip writer. The finished product lacked Hollywood appeal that made this film as genuine as the gloomy, antiquated city of Cleveland itself. But what it lacked in Hollywood glitz, it gained in authenticity. Pekar’s life and coincidentally his comic strip is the epitome of blue-collar culture and the filmmakers of American Splendor captured it perfectly. No audience could have stomached a Hollywood angle on Harvey Pekar’s life, because he the antithesis of the “glamorous” lifestyle per se.
“OK. This guy here, he’s our man, all grown up and going nowhere. Although he’s a pretty scholarly cat, he never got much of a formal education. For the most part, he’s lived in shit neighborhoods, held shit jobs, and he’s now knee-deep into a disastrous second marriage. So, if you’re the kind of person looking for romance or escapism or some fantasy figure to save the day… guess what? You’ve got the wrong movie,” explains the real Harvey Pekar as he introduces his character in American Splendor. (IMDB.com)
The essence of a comic book in its purest form does more than simply tell a story. The intrigue of comics is associated with the duality of interpretation shared between the author and illustrator, that is, the marriage between a story and its artistic translation into pictures. Authors of comics lead the reader through a series of events of static frames, but do not provide the reader with action. The reader’s imagination takes precedence over the story for the dynamic parts of action, or from frame to frame. The first analogy that comes to mind is a cinematic style, the film noir style that was commonly used in Hollywood crime dramas and whodunits. (No violence was shown: when a gunshot went off, the audience had to use their imagination to figure out how scenarios played out.)
“American Splendor (the comic strip) is just an ongoing journal. It’s an ongoing autobiography. I started It when I was in my early thirties and I just keep going. Essentially all I’ve wanted this to be is a journal of a life, because I think that sort of thing is worth recording,” said Pekar, during an interview with Shawna Ervin-Gore from Dark Horse comics. (DarkHorse.com)
The backdrop of American Splendor was essential no doubt, to Pekar’s depressed, state of mind. Cleveland, Ohio at one point in time was the manufacturing capital of the United States. It was home to the progressive movement and housed major steel and car manufacturers. Racial tensions of the 1960s began to spread around Cleveland, highlighted by the Hough Riots in 1966 and Glenville Shootouts in 1968.
These events triggered the steady decline of Ohio’s largest city as major heavy industries weakened, and residents relocated outside the city. Cleveland declared bankruptcy in 1978, as the first major city in the United States since the Depression to enter “default.” Cleveland is basically a frigid, outdated mill town that doesn’t rise above 40 degrees until April. There is a depressive stigma that surrounds Cleveland, or the “mistake on the lake.” (The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History)
It’s fair to assume that during the course of Harvey Pekar’s life, he witnessed the demise of his hometown. I think that is imperative in a role in life that tended towards People are always to some extent products of their environment. The decline of Cleveland had to affect the lives of all its citizens, in some form or fashion.
It’s no surprise that husband and wife documentary filmmakers Robert Pulcini and Sharie Springer Berman decided to produce and direct the film about the low-key comic strip. American Splendor didn’t need attention from a major motion picture company to ruin its story. Harvey Pekar was not a super-hero. He wrote comics as a hobby, based on his life experiences for others like himself; blue-collar workers stuck in dead end jobs with no optimism.
Pulcini and Springer Berman depicted the spousal relationship along with the ups and downs that Pekar and Brabner encountered together. Both individuals held extremely liberal views, and were ironically meant for each other. All of the social commentary Pekar used to express his ideas in American Splendor was brought to a halt when he obtained a life-threatening cancerous tumor. The filmmakers rendered a beautiful depiction of Pekar’s wife, Joyce Brabner, who was responsible for the creation of Our Cancer Year. Brabner used the cancer as motivation for Harvey Pekar to continue his work and get through the horrific situation.
Pulcini and Springer Berman focused on important issues that were central to Harvey’s life, which in turn caused the audience to empathize with Pekar. The attempt to portray, as well as humanize Pekar, was effective in American Splendor, especially when comparisons are drawn between Pekar in the film and interviews found in Internet archives. It’s obvious that Harvey displayed the OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder), for example, during the Letterman interview. Pekar would not let David Letterman conduct the interview, instead Pekar felt that it was necessary for himself to interview Letterman about topics he felt were more important. Although, Pekar mocked Letterman continually with constant rudeness and interruptions, sneaking in several jokes with Lettermen on the receiving end. However, Letterman would not let Pekar continue to overshadow Letterman’s agenda during the Late Night Show.
Charlie Rose conducted an interview with Pekar on August 19, 2003 on his nightly broadcast on PBS (PBS.com). Rose’s intention was to help Pekar publicize the release of his autobiographical comic strip and now movie, American Splendor. Every time Rose directly questioned Pekar, he would give a blank stare followed by a humorous remark. He definitely played the interview game his own way. Pekar’s humor is deeply imbedded with pessimism that has both positive and negative connotations. It’s always left up to the individual to interpret Pekar’s comments as brash or humorous.
With that said, throughout the history of cinema, films that were inspired by comic books have been largely considered unrealistic and audience leave unfulfilled, unless the viewer desires super-fantasy films. Hollywood would rather have initial box office success and a terrible plot from a comic a revered story with longevity of critical success. Most comics aren’t written for adults. However as a viewer, I wish that more films which get premises from comic strips and approach them with the originality of American Splendor in regards to the documentation and cinematic techniques, we can all savor and enjoy – especially on repeat showings.
Filed under: American Splendor Reviews