A “fuck the world” kind of guy. Well, most of the time. And not too many folks like this get to sit next to David Letterman on Late Night. Though after his last appearance no one like him probably ever will.
He is brutally cynical at times but can get away with it because he is also funny as hell. Well, if you like cynical humor.
A very strange guy for being so ordinary.
IMDb
NBC would not lease out the actual Late Night with David Letterman footage where Harvey Pekar finally lashed out at David Letterman, so the scene had to be recreated with actors.
trailer:
youtube.com/watch?v=APpxQm7sH5k
AMERICAN SPLENDOR
Directed by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini
[b]Young Harvey: Why does everybody have to be so stupid?
…
Real Harvey [introducing his on-screen character]: 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.
…
Harvey: “Plebeian”?
…
Harvey: Let’s get back to your book. What are you gonna do with it?
Crumb: I haven’t really thought about it. It’s just an exercise.
Harvey: No man, it’s more than just an exercise. It’s breaking ground, man. There’s some wild shit in here, Bob.
Crumb: You’re spitting on me, Harvey.
…
Crumb: You turned yourself into a comic hero?
Harvey: Sorta, yeah. But no idealized shit. No phony bullshit. The real thing, y’know? Ordinary life is pretty complex stuff.
…
Harvey: People are starting to know the name Crumb. When you croak, man, you’re gonna leave something behind.
Crumb: Yeah, I guess.
Harvey: Come on, man. I tell you something, it sure beats working a gig like mine…being a nobody flunky and selling records on the side for $1.
Crumb: Well, that’s true.
…
Real Harvey [narrating]: Here’s our man, eight comics later. A brand new decade, same old bullshit. Sure, he gets lots of recognition for his writing now. His comics are praised by all the important media types telling people what to think. But so what? It’s not like he makes a living at it, like Bob Crumb. He can’t go and quit his day job or nothing. Who am I kidding?
…
Harvey [waking up in a cold sweat]: I got a job!
…
Alice: You’re Harvey Pekar? Alice Quinn, from school.
Harvey: College, yeah. We had a couple of Lit classes together.
Alice: What happened to you? You disappeared after two semesters.
Harvey: Yeah, I know. I got good grades and all, but there was that required Math class… hanging over my head. Eventually, the pressure got to be too much, so…[/b]
Gee, me too.
[b]Harvey [on phone]: You should meet me because I’m a great guy. Despite the way my comics read I got a lot of redeeming characteristics.
Joyce: I don’t know. Where would I stay?
Harvey: I don’t know. With me. Don’t worry. I’m not gonna put no moves on you.
Joyce: I’m not worried about that.
Harvey: So what are you worried about then?
Joyce: It’s the way all the different artists draw you. Sometimes you look like a younger Brando. But then, the way Crumb draws you…you look like a hairy ape, with all these wavy, stinky lines undulating off your body. I don’t really know what to expect.
…
Harvey [meeting Joyce for the very first time]: Look, you might as well know right off the bat, I had a vasectomy.
…
Joyce: I’ve had a lot of trouble eating animals. I support and identify with groups like PETA but unfortunately, I’m a self-diagnosed anemic. Also, I have all these food allergies to vegetables which give me serious intestinal distress. I guess I have a lot of borderline health disorders…that limit me politically when it comes to eating.
Harvey: Wow, you’re a sick woman.
Joyce: Not yet, but I expect to be. Everyone in my family has some sort of degenerative illness.
…
Harvey [at his apartment]: I was gonna clean up…but why should I give you any false notions? The truth is, I got a serious problem with cleanliness. If I had to wash a dish times, it’d still be dirty. They even kicked me out of the army 'cause I couldn’t learn to make a bed.
Joyce: I’ve seen worse. Could you get me some water and a few aspirin?
Harvey: What, you got a headache?
Joyce: No, but I want to avoid one.
…
Harvey: You don’t have any problems with moving to Cleveland?
Joyce: Not really. I find most American cities to be depressing in the same way.[/b]
A match made in Heaven?
[b]Real Joyce: There’ve been stories that I’ve participated in or things that have happened, and I’ve seen them as a lot more happy things going on in there. He just doesn’t put that in because he just doesn’t think that sunshine and flowers sell. Is that right? You always say, “Misery loves company.”
Real Harvey: You know, I’m just a gloomy guy, that’s all. It’s my perspective: gloom and doom.
…
[after watching the movie Revenge of the Nerds]
Harvey: What a crock of shit, man.
Joyce: You missed the whole point of the movie.
Harvey: Where the hell am I supposed to find the point in garbage? I agree with Toby.
Joyce: I think it’s a story of hope and tolerance.
Toby: Yes, it’s about time that the people who get picked on get to be the heroes.
Harvey: It’s an entertaining flick and all, and I can see why you like it, Toby. But those people on the screen ain’t even supposed to be you man! They’re college students who live with their parents in big houses in the suburbs. They’re gonna get degrees, get good jobs, and they’re gonna stop being nerds man! Look, Toby, the guys in that movie are not 28-year-old file clerks who live with their grandmother in an ethnic ghetto. They didn’t get their computers the way you did…by trading in a bunch of box tops and $49.50 at the supermarket.
Toby: You’re funny, Harvey.
…
Real Harvey [narrating]: Maybe I was being so harsh on Toby on account of my own problems. You see, I wasn’t even married a month and my old lady was already showing signs of trouble. Granted, I tend to get married fast, 'cause I’ll take any woman that’ll have me. But this time I really met my match.
…
Harvey: I’ll make room for you, okay? You just have to give me time. I’m not so good at these things.
Joyce: Because you’re obsessive-compulsive.
Harvey: Come on! I don’t wanna hear that psycho-babble crap.
Joyce: I don’t care if you don’t wanna hear it. You are the poster child for the DSM III. I’ll have you know I come from a very dysfunctional family. I can spot a personality disorder miles away.
…
Real Harvey [narrating]: If you think reading comics about your life seems strange, try watching a play about it. God only knows how I’ll feel when I see this movie.[/b]
And then a tiny [and very rare] peek inside the media industrial complex…
[b]Letterman: You know, folks, if it really is true that misery loves company our next guest must always have a house full of people.
Harvey [to himself]: Okay, asshole. You’re gonna pay for that one, man.
Letterman: Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome back Harvey Pekar.
[Harvey comes out wearing a t-shirt that reads ON STRIKE AGAINST NBC]
Letterman: Harvey, this is not the forum. This is not Meet The Press.
Harvey: You just want me to talk about simple-minded bullshit, David. But I ain’t co-opted like you. I got things to say.
Letterman: Relax, Harvey.
Harvey: For instance, I want to talk about a conflict of interest situation. Can we do that, David? How about that? You know, like GE owning this network, NBC. GE has basically become a military, industrial, financial…
Letterman: Can we get the singing shitzu back here? Has he left the building yet?
Harvey: You think NBC news is gonna cover what they do fairly? I got other things I wanna talk about.
Letterman: That’s enough…
Harvey: Just shut up, man! Don’t push me. I’m doing my own thing.
Letterman: Harvey, this is not…
Harvey: Are you afraid of the truth, David?
Letterman: It’s not about what you’re saying. It’s about your choice of venue. It may come as a shock to you, but this is a comedy show.
Harvey: Not tonight, it ain’t.
Letterman: You can take your winning personality and go get your own show.
Harvey: I don’t want my own goddamn show.
Letterman: We’ve had you on this show many times. You sulk, complain, and promote your comic book…and you really haven’t been appreciative.
Harvey: You didn’t do me any favors, okay? I’m still a file clerk. I’ve always been a file clerk… and it’s no thanks to you or to your goddamn pathetic audience.
Letterman: We’re gonna take a commercial. And when we come back, guess who’s not gonna be here.
Harvey: You want me to leave, David? Come on, ask me like a man. Don’t go hiding behind a commercial.
…
Harvey: Joyce, tell me the truth. Am I a guy who writes about himself in a comic book? Or am I just a character in that book?
Joyce: What are you talking about? What are you saying?
Harvey: If I die, will that character keep going? Or will he just fade away?
…
Harvey Pekar: My name is Harvey Pekar - that’s an unusual name - Harvey Pekar. 1960 was the year I got my first apartment and my first phone book. Now imagine my surprise when I looked up my name and saw that in addition to me, another Harvey Pekar was listed. Now I was listed as “Harvey L. Pekar”, my middle name is Lawrence, and he was listed as “Harvey Pekar” therefore his was a - was a pure listing. Then in the '70s, I noticed that a third Harvey Pekar was listed in the phone book, now this filled me with curiousity. How can there be three people with such an unusual name in the world, let alone in one city? Then one day, a person I work with, expressed her sympathy with me, concerning what she thought, was the death of my father, and she pointed out an obituary notice in the newspaper for a man named Harvey Pekar. And one of his sons was named Harvey. And these were the other Harvey Pekar’s. And six months later, Harvey Pekar Jr. died. And although I’ve met neither man, I was filled with sadness, ‘what were they like?’, I thought, it seemed that our lives had been linked in some indefineable way. But the story does not end there, for two years later, another ‘Harvey Pekar’ appeared in the phone book. Who are these people? Where do they come from? What do they do? What’s in a name? Who is “Harvey Pekar”?[/b]
Or John Smith for that matter.