Wearing down your resistance.

Rating: 8/10 (18 January 2007)

Having viewed this movie for the second time today I now find it absurdly funny that when I watched it for the first time at least four years ago, I didn't get it. My first attempt at having a look stalled about 20 minutes in because I didn't know enough about the subject and sat down assuming that Kauffman was just another comedian. To me it was Jim Carrey doing a very convincing impersonation of some stranger with a funny haircut and a silly voice. I was befuddled. It seemed almost as if the film were daring me to switch off, being deliberately unconventional at the beginning to weed out those who would only miss the point. I caved in to its creeping demand, not being prepared to think at that time.
Later I learnt that it wasn't just me. Andy Kauffman himself alienated a lot of people during his lifetime with the routines he performed, and so I resolved to watch it at least a second time now that I was armed with some idea of what to expect. On my second try I saw the whole thing, and what's more, I appreciated its aim, too.
The most revelatory thing about Andy's approach is that it taught people something important if they were willing to observe. It taught them just how far imagination can take a person. If you have an imagination you can set your own rules, because then you'll be living up to your own standards and nobody else's. If you don't have an audience, pretend, like it's hinted Andy did as a kid - and then at any rate you won't be crestfallen if the real thing shows up only to leave. Executives may find it infuriating that you first and foremost choose to amuse yourself, but being so fearless will surely pull in a few admirers along the way, as a bonus.
"What if they don't get it?!" "Then I'll just keep trying until they do." I know now that I'm living proof of this philosophy working. It took giving it a go twice, but I got there in the end! Carrey's performance is good enough to make the effort on everyones part worthwhile, no matter how long before things start to click. It'll happen sooner or later. Your resistance will wear down. Andy would've been proud, because if there's a compromise, it'll be in you and not the film.