Mojo

[tsv]

Well, that's one hell of a wig, I say!

I was a bit scared seeing Mojo at first because of the difficult-to-comprehend issue. Thanks to a very nice person , I got the chance to see it and can say it was perfectly understandable to me compared to Stella (I didn't understand a word the first time a saw Stella and I still have troubles catching everything she sais... ).

Anyways! The thing I liked the most in Mojo was the music! I hated that Mr Ross! Grrrr, disgusting fellow! The way I understood it Johnny Silver was the key character through which the main players in the (sort of) an entertainment business were portrayed. There were like different level "bosses" and the bigger the boss, the creepiest his payback expectations were. The ways the two old men (Ezra?! and the Mr Ross) were looking and sniffing around Johnny was totally revolting! The "tickle tickle" scene was the top of the iceberg. It made me want to shout out loud "Go home, you silly boy!!!" and give him a big hug (Johnny looked so fragile and lost and naive ... just like a little child ...). Was Mr Sam more sexually interested in poor Johnny than in anything else? He reminded me of Mr. Peters from Stella with his attitude. Also there seemed to be sort of a second story line portraying false friendships and backstabbing painted mostly through the other characters.

Having said that, now I'll go and read the play, read the movie script (or whatever it is called) and realize I've totally misunderstood the whole thing ;D .

[brooke]

"Aidan wants a wig. He wants straight black hair, not slightly curly hair like he's got. [...] Aidan shows up around eleven, in the wig. He was right."
(JB, diary)

Why, to look more like Ricky Tomlinson, to resemble each other like father and son would?

I don't think I will ever figure out Baby, no matter what his hair looks like. For instance, I'm not sure why he killed Sam Ross. Did he want to revenge the murder of his father? Did he want to secure the club?
Or maybe he wanted to help/save Silver Johnny?
Because I think I can see some kind of bond between the two of them, especially in the end, when both leave the club together.
This would explain, why Baby put on Johnny's Silver Jacket, the instant he finds it in the box and won't take it off once till the end of the film.

[Virgil Reality]

I thought Baby would want to look like Elvis, hence the strqaight hair.

Isn't Baby jealous of but also attracted to Silver Johnny? Jealous because of his father's interest in SJ and also because Baby doesn't have any talent.

You wonder what will happen next.

Is Silver Johnny as naive as we at first thhink - or is he just as manipulative? he could have left anytime, presumably.

[tsv]

Well, the way I understood it, Baby wanted very badly to impress his father but he was just too ... inconsistent (?!) in his actions. It's like, he hated his father for what he has done to him (maybe even feared him a bit) but on the other hand wanted his affection and appreciation... Maybe... Not sure Baby had no talents at all. He just seemed the type of person that easily gives up whatever he's doing.

IMO, Baby had a soft spot for Johnny but also was jealous of him for all the attention he got. Baby had an idea what might happen to the kid and that's why he killed Mr. Ross. It might have been in a way a redemption?! (meaning that he saw himself as Johnny and Mr. R as the nasty father figure and by killing Mr. R, he killed his own "nightmare"... making any sense?! :. I'd guess he was actually indifferent to the fact that Mr. R killed his father or that he might lose the club. And the whole chatter with the other three guys in the club after the murder sounded a bit like toying with them.

Johnny seemed a bit manipulative but he also lacked decisiveness in his actions and I think he was a bit of a ... wuss...

I'd love to know where those two headed in the end. To the Zoo maybe?!

[Gg]

It's so interesting how differently the story can been seen based on whether you've watched the play live or the film. They are different. I saw MOJO on stage first (and wrote a 5 page review if you can imagine) and then in film, and on stage Johnny is present a whole lot less. He's presence is largely symbolic.

But I think it's really important not to forget that Baby is an incest abuse victim, his father has sexually abused him -- and that has an unavoidable affect on all his motivations. It seems as you say -- fear and hatred, but still a strange infantile "jealously" that Johnny is now the object of his father's attentions, in all senses. He is as brutal a characters as, well, most of the others. Victim or no. Possessive and undeniably homoerotic, it's the man who posesses Johnny, body and soul, who wins, and Baby is willing to do it an any price. As they walk away at the end, Baby wears the silver jacket, he has the power, he wears the prize sexually and otherwise... the zoo? I think somewhere with, oh, maybe an obliging pool table...

But I think Johnny is simply (because he is the least written of the characters) looking for the person who will propel him to fame. But in the end, Johnny is a commonity, sexually and otherwise -- there isn't a character amongst all these opportunistic men who don't want to claim discovery/possession of Johnny in someway, and all invariably want to ride the coattails of his potential fame. In the light of failure, they'd all drop him like a wet rag.

[lolly]

Thanks GG you summed that up perfectly.

[tsv]

Well said, Gg!

It must be really exciting to see the play. I read it last weekend but that's so much not the same and besides I kept seeing everything through the perspective of the movie...

Sorry if I'm getting you wrong here but I didn't see Johnny as a sexual commodity. I agree his definitely a financial one for almost everyone involved but it seems to me only the two old men are sexually interested in him. And I'm guessing that the interest is also influenced by the times (in a way fancying young boys was fashionable and acceptable in certain social circles). It seems to me all the references to homosexuality among the other characters are used as jokes or offenses. Baby doesn't seem interested in Johnny sexually the way I see it. Yes, he blows him a kiss and gives him the looks when Johnny walks around his underpants but I'd say the kiss is of an ironic nature - in a way mocking Johnny for being daddy's next fancy boy; and the looks are sort of regret for the past times when Baby used to be the object of interest for daddy. The first time I saw the movie, I actually thought that Johnny has taken Baby's position as the singer because obviously Baby was not able to be serious and do his job. Why else daddy will be so mad at him?!

In the end Johnny and Baby looked like on the same level to me. None was overpowering the other. Baby has the jacket but hey, Johnny has the pants (however stupid that may sound ).

[Gg]

In the play, in the scene when Johnny is tied up, the night I saw it at least, let's just say Baby makes the most of Johnny's bondage. "Do you think I'm good looking?... what am I gonna do withyou blowjob" he cooed to his captive. I should go back and look at the script and see if that's stage direction or a matter of improv!

But I thought it was Mickey who was playing the role of managing the club that Ezra had thought Baby would be doing. If you look at Act 2 Scene 1, Baby says something like "now that I'vemade some improvements, we should be able to run things together" to Mickey -- in the play it's p. 58. similiarly in scene 94-INT DISUSED KITCHEN - DAY (p. 108, in the Diary's film script) when BABY pleads with Mickey "I know I've not done too much to run things in the past. I mean obviously you're in charge, but we could run things together. Like I could tell people". Mickey has usurped Baby in his business legacy, but it is Johnny who has stolen his father's sexual focus, and has his father's rivals attentions as well. However dysfunctional that is. Baby's thoughline is surely complex, particularly if you compare him tohis contemporaries, particularly Skinny, but in the end his intention and motivations are to win the power struggle -- and that means possession of Johnny, body and soul.

[tsv]

Oh, yeah! I've totally forgotten that hanging Johnny scene. It would've been interesting to see it. But Baby seems to be requesting the same sort of attention from Skinny as well (with the kiss my pegs bit?!) ...

Agree that Baby is complex and dysfunctional character. Guess that's why we keep talking about him so much. And it's interesting to see how others see things.

[brooke]

Venice, September 2nd, 1997

[Gg]

OH WELL DONE!!! You're some kind of PHENOME!!

[lolly]

that's great where did you find that little treasure, don't they all look young.

[brooke]

I didn't look for it and found this quite by coincidence. I was just lucky.
Did you notice, that everybody except Hans has a lollipop?

[lynette]

Apr 15, 2010 4:12:39 GMT 8 brooke said:

I didn't look for it and found this quite by coincidence. I was just lucky.
Did you notice, that everybody except Hans has a lollipop?

What a catch, Brooke! Hans does not like a lollipop, maybe.

[caz]

What a great find Brooke!