This is kind of turning into a VG discussion, so I hope Silk doesn't mind it here?

I agree with you, Mali, except I think Mandy really did love Brian. For the most part she was in it for the glam and glory but I think, from Toni's portrayal in the Arthur interviews, and especially in that last explosive encounter between her and Brian (and her conciliatory hug with Curt in the end) that she did love Brian. Curt loved Brian. The problem was Brian was a fire that burned those close to him.

That isn't to blame Brian, mind you. I think he spiralled and lost control. What Haynes left you with was the inevitability and destructive nature of seeking fame for fame's sake. Fame is a tragic romance, paralleled by Brian's ill-fated relationships. I think Brian honestly loved Mandy in the beginning, but his life became less about keeping that integrity and more on furthering his career. I think he fell DEEPLY in love with Curt and had it returned in a way that was far deeper than Mandy could ever return it, because Curt was a fellow musician. They both had passion about the same thing. They spoke the same language. Everybody else thought Curt was a bit of a blowhard and a hack and a washout, but Brian saw the fire in him right from the start and hung onto that even after he (Brian) became famous... so much so that the first person he wanted to meet in America was Curt Wild. Even seeing Curt strung out on the FLOOR with two bimbos by his side didn't ruin Brian's image of Curt.

Ah, the image of Curt. What did Mandy say? The man couldn't live up to the image.

From the MOVIE alone, I took it that Brian eventually allowed himself to become disillusioned. No doubt he loved Curt (the fact he came back at the Death of Glitter concert in disguise is proof enough for me) but he also had this image in his head of Curt. Curt on that stage. Curt in his everyday life didn't seem to work for him. I think Brian is just as broken as Curt, or more so in a way, because he knows what will make him happy (Curt) but he doesn't follow through on it. Curt leaving broke him. He killed his stage persona. Jerry might've read it to him as a publicity stunt, but I think Brian made the decision to do it because his heart wasn't in it anymore. He'd lost Curt and he lost his heart.

THAT is why that DAMNABLE ending makes NO sense on a character level. I TOTALLY don't think it makes sense that Brian would toss himself back into the fame light with such a gaudy persona, and sell himself out, AFTER obviously keeping tabs on Curt in the Death of Glitter concert. We can only assume from that that he'd been keeping tabs on Curt all along.

I saw Brian either leaving entertainment entirely or doing something behind the scenes, but never going back into the limelight. Before we saw him at the Death of Glitter concert, the last scene chronologically was of him in bed with cocaine and a whore all around him, declaring that THIS was exactly what he wanted. The lie rang out as loud as his laughter. He knew it too. I think he'd know it even sharper once he was sober.

So I don't buy that ending of Haynes' at all. It felt like a forced tragedy to me in order to make a point about fame, but it didn't ring true of the characters. That's why I think Silk is being FAR more honest to the characters, with the story supporting their lives, instead of the other way around.

"This is all I can do. It's either act or pump gas."
~Michael Pitt