I will now attempt the impossible easiest thing ever: Turning Ryan Gosling into a bonafide HJ. This will be an incredibly simple and easy-to-understand concept that I will break down into several steps.
His look:
He is dripping in hip-ness.
He is the hippest thing I have ever seen. Ever. From his probably frame-less specs to his loafers, he is the cutting-edge of hipster chic.
His film career: Though his filmography is not extensive, he has worked on some GEMS. My favorite?
No caption necessary.
But really though, he got his breakthrough role in 2000′s glorious sports epic (football right?) Remember The Titans and then who could forget the fucking Notebook? I try, daily. In 2001 he was in a very controversial film called The Believer in which he played an Orthodox Jew turned neo-nazi. It won a bunch of crap at Sundance.
Skip to 2006 when he makes a little indie called Half-Nelson about a coke-addict school-teacher for which he received an Academy Award Nom. nom nom nom. Finally, in 2007, he shows his hipster-colors and comes out with Lars and The Real Girl, about the man with the blow-up-doll-gf. Deep shit. In the same year, a film was released, entitled All Good Things that was sort of like a romance/murder-mystery. What is interesting about this film is the casting of two actors that are not the leads, i.e. not RyGos or Kirsten Dunst and those two are Kristen Wiig and Nick Offernan. I know you know who Kristen Wiig is, the shiksa-goddess that regularly makes me pee myself, but you know Nick Offernan too:
Ron Swanson of Park and Rec
And then FINALLY I get to talk about the real reason for this post: Blue Valentine. This is the most perfectly hip film that I’ve seen in a hot second. Even the film’s title is a hipster reference (to one of my fave Tom Waits songs/albums). Starring the perfect and pixieish Michelle Williams alongside RyGos, who wears a leather jacket and plays the ukulele, even though that is no longer “cool.” It’s still fucking cool.
Premise: Basically Cindy and Dean are two dirty, hard-working, idealistic youngsters who get married young and have a hip baby and quickly have all of their hopes and dreams stomped upon, very visceral and terribly sad/beautiful. Blue Valentine will fill your hipster-quota for at least a month, so you can go see The Hangover 2 without feeling like a mainstreamer.
RyGos also narrated a documentary (along with Noam Fucking Chomsky and Talib Kweli) in 2010 called ReGENERATION which was basically about cynicism and apathy in today’s’ youth.
i.e. how I live every day.
His music: He is also in a band. An awesome band
I dare you to listen to that and not like it. Dead Man’s Bones. Check ‘em out. The Silverlake Conservatory Children’s Choir collaborated for the whole album under the musical direction of none other then Flea, who organized the non-profit in LA in 2001.
Yes, yes, yes, but is he Jewish?
No. But he was raised Mormon, and that gives him some ‘awesome’ points. Also he is Canadian which makes him Jewish, duh.
So there you have it. Maybe it is a stretch to give him the title HJ. But I would like you to take a moment to think about possibly bestowing HJ status upon him honorarily.
Mostly because he’s hawt.
