Portrait Tattoo

It seems I'm sinking into a slough of post-holiday relatively meaningless posts about celebrities. Many apologies to those who enjoy lofty lit crit. But look - Johnny Depp has a Joycean tattoo!

This references A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, when Stephen states in Chapter 5:

"Look here, Cranly, he said. You have asked me to do what I would do and what I would not do. I will tell you what I will do and what I will not do. I will not serve that in which I no longer believe, whether it call itself my home, my fatherland, or my church: and I will try to express myself in some mode of life or art as freely as I can and as wholly as I can, using for my defense the only arms I allow myself to use - silence, exile, and cunning."

I have to say, I'm not actually a huge fan of this tattoo itself - especially the font, which is a bit too Pirates of the Carribbean-y for me (by the way, can you believe they're making another movie?!). However, Johnny Depp has said about his many tattoos, "It's like what sailors used to do, where every tattoo meant something, a specific time in your life when you make a mark on yourself". This, and the "3" you can see on his hand in the second photo make me feel like there's something actually pretty authentic about this. It reminds me of the tattooed sailor from Ulysses, with an anchor, the profile of a man (Antonio), and the number 16 on his chest - each serving as a mark of his journeys.

Robert Pattinson...the Next Leopold Bloom?

A little too dashing for Mr. Bloom, I think, but he may indeed be our next! 

Movie adaptations of Ulysses are (thankfully) relatively rare. There's of course the original, 1967 Ulysses, which was actually nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. The 2008 film, The Brothers Bloom, is seemingly based on the novel, with characters named Stephen, Bloom and Penelope, but in reading the plot it becomes clear that that's about as far as it goes. Nora (2000) is about the lives of the Joyces (Stanislaus included!) but despite starring Ewan MacGregor, it's pretty dull.

But not to worry - another film loosely based on Ulysses is coming! Cronenberg is adopting the Don DeLillo novel Cosmopolis, which so far sounds promising enough. Basically, a young rich assets manager makes a Joycean odyssey across Manhattan and encounters some serious obstacles and distractions along the way. 

I think this could be an interesting film, except that it stars Robert Pattinson who I'm still not entirely sure can pull of a convincing adult role...and his journey is to get a haircut. 

I hope to god he makes it.