The Man Behind the Gonzo Mask
Drugs, alcohol, guns, violence, a pen, and a typewriter are the many vices of the self-proclaimed gonzo writer Hunter S. Thompson. Today thousands of creative delinquents engulf themselves into the chaotic world of Thompson’s work, and I know this because I am one myself. A writer who produced such lines as “when the going gets weird, the weird turn professional,” speaking to those that society has labeled misfits from the general public. He is most known for his book “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,” later adapted into a feature film starring heartthrobs Johnny Depp and Benicio del Toro. The book follows two men into the Las Vegas desert searching for the American dream while inhaling copious amounts of drugs. Casual readers will miss the story’s main point and see it merely as a story promoting narcotics and the spirit of spontaneous adventure. However, the book’s fundamental message is Thompson’s disappointment with the 1960’s counterculture movement.
The more I research Hunter S. Thompson, the more I see a different man behind the gonzo mask. Author Joy McEntee described Thompson thoroughly with the description, “American Journalist Hunter S Thompson is a mythical figure, partly by his own design, and partly, perversely, against his wishes.” A 1978 documentary shows Thompson on his ranch in Colorado, with a half-button shirt wearing a green-tinted visor with the words “Fabulous Las Vegas” scrawled across it. While smoking a cigarette, he mutters gently to the film crew how people are usually surprised that he walks on two legs when they meet him. From his uncontrolled written words, readers expect Hunter S Thompson to be nonhuman, a creature, something not from this world. I am not discounting those assumptions at all. The fact is, Thompson created his “mythic persona” to intensify his writing. Thompson did drugs, was an alcoholic, and was known to be quite mischievous by editors. Still, he was also a brilliant writer who was known to be quite a kind person.
“They don’t always acknowledge how prolific he was and how hard he worked, or how sensitive he could be as a sort of softhearted Southern gentleman at times,” Hesse said. “When that is talked about, it’s usually dismissed because of these unsavory aspects of his character.”
- Josiah Hesse
When Hunter attended the National District Attorneys Association’s Conference on Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs for Rolling Stone magazine, Gary Wall, now a former police officer, accompanied the writer to the event. Wall acknowledges that his account of that event is drastically different from what Thompson wrote. After receiving a copy of “Fear and Loathing,” Gary spoke to Thompson, “I read your book. That’s not the same kind of things I remember!’ Thompson then replied, ‘Yeah, but you weren’t on the same trip I was on.’” Interestingly Gary stated that “He (Thompson) never talked the way he writes.” Further promoting the fact that Thompson overindulged his personality within his writings.
What must not be lost within the drug-inflicted haze of Hunter S. Thompson’s work is his way of making sense, understanding, and critique of American politics. The Nation published an essay called “One Political Theorist Predicted the Rise of Donald Trump. His Name Was Hunter S. Thompson.” Which the author Susan McWilliams makes light of how Thompson prophesied accurately the rise of a group who would be driven by “an ethic of total retaliation.” She writes on how many readers will read Thompson’s book “Hell’s Angels” and completely miss the point. Rather than elevating sex and drugs within the book’s chapters, Thompson “foresaw the retaliatory, right-wing politics that now goes by the name Trumpism.” McWilliams summarizes how Thompson was able to break down the ideology of the ill-famed biker gang and make sense of their actions and how in the future, this “left-behind” demographic would retaliate. I highly recommend reading the essay.
What better way to get a glimpse into what Hunter S Thompson was like off the page than to hear his son’s account. Esquire’s Matt Miller conducted an enticing phone interview with Juan F. Thompson about having Thompson as a father. The most interesting part of the interview was when Miller asks Juan if he knew that his father would commit suicide.
“He couldn’t write anymore. His body was completely failing him. It was very difficult for him to get around. Then the incontinence on top of that and, you know, I could really understand how intolerable it was. It made sense, especially combined with the way he lived his life. Slowly dying in a hospital for months with doctors and nurses with complete control of his body: that was never going to happen. And he sure as hell wasn’t going to go into a nursing home for alcohol-induced dementia. It was his decision.”
- Juan F. Thompson
The more I read Thompson’s work, the more I come to understand why so many are infatuated with him. He’s a passionate rebel, someone who called others out on their bullshit. Thompson could devour what was happening in American and spit it out in a way that showed its true colors. Hunter S Thompson’s work should be viewed as an interpreted account of America’s history.
“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming “Wow! What a Ride!”
-Hunter S Thompson
Other Sources:
https://www.denverpost.com/2017/02/05/hunter-s-thompson-legacy-owl-farm-colorado/
https://theconversation.com/guide-to-the-classics-fear-and-loathing-in-las-vegas-68734
