JIM CARREY, ICONOCLAST

                                                            by Andy Nowicki

People are buzzing about Jim Carrey's bizarre "red carpet" interview at some recent Hollywood "Fashion Week" shindig. In this two-minute conversation, the famously wacky comic actor seems not to be doing his standard shtick. There is, instead, a definite angry purposefulness behind his abundant jibes and jests.


He is taken aside by a female interviewer who apparently expects something breezy and innocuous. But Carrey displays his hostility from the start; he paces around her instead of standing still for the camera, grinning wolfishly all the while. And once he deigns finally to become stationary, he immediately unloads on the superficiality of the event. "I wanted to find the most meaningless thing I could come to... and here I am!"

The woman, now a bit nonplussed, informs Carrey that the event is about the celebration of icons, to which the "Ace Ventura" star scoffs. "That's about the lowest-aiming possibility we could come up with... I don't believe in icons. I don't believe in personalities. I don't believe that you exist!"

It only gets weirder from there. Before it's all over, Carrey has declared that in fact he doesn't exist, nor does the world; the only things real are "tetrahedrons moving around together." Finally, he informs her that "We don't matter; that's the good news," before giving her a little condescending pat on the arm and strolling off.

What is most amusing about this interview is the effect is the effect Carrey's behavior has upon the interviewer. Clearly, she is put off by his insinuation that this event is shallow and meaningless; she finds his iconoclasm intolerable, and grows instantaneously defensive: "Don't icons have the power to make change, to be bold to inspire others?" she nearly shrieks, so great is her astonishment at his lack of reverence. Carrey responds with a couple of James Brown-esque grunts, then continues to repeat his earlier declaration that all of it is rubbish and absolutely devoid of worth.

She attempts to curry his favor by telling him he is dressed well, to which he spits, "I didn't get dressed up. There is no me!"

Then she makes an effort to get the discourse back to a more comfortable "social justice" level: "What's happening in our world right now? There is a lot of news that is actually relevant!" she tells him, presumably hoping that he'll make a joke about President Trump or engage in some other sort of virtue-signaling shibboleth. But Carrey rejoins with "Here's the thing.. it's not our world! There are just things happening...." Nothing will sway him from his Zen-esque nihilism.

I can't claim to know what all of this signifies, but I do greatly enjoy the effect of it.


Andy Nowicki, assistant editor of Alternative Right, is the author of eight books, including Under the Nihil, The Columbine Pilgrim, Considering Suicide, and Beauty and the Least. Visit his YouTube channel and his Soundcloud page. His author page is Alt Right Novelist.com