Why did Sean Penn agree to do an interview with the Long Beach Press-Telegram? Because they were there? Aren't there enough people lining up to do interviews with this guy?...The media talks to him more than the President. I'm not being sarcastic. They seriously talk to Sean Penn much more frequently in print and on television than our President.
Anyway, it's not a terribly interesting interview for the most part. He talks about his new film The Assassination of Richard Nixon, which I have not seen but would very much like to get to. And, you know, his usual anti-Bush, completely correct but not really all that useful rhetoric. But there's one little bit they get to, when discussing Bob Dylan, that's sort of fascinating.
See, Penn and Dylan used to hang out, it seems, and that's why Bob asked Sean to read his new book "Chronicles" for the book on tape. So, reporter Glenn Whipp asks Sean what he and Bob Dylan used to do when they spent time together:
Q: Are you friends?
A: Friendly acquaintances. I've never known him very well. There was a period of time when we used to box together. I had a ring at my house.
Q: Who came out ahead in those matches?
A: The interest was serious, but it was just for enjoyment.
Q: No broken bones?
A: No broken bones. No trips to the emergency room.
Q: You don't want to be the guy who put Bob Dylan in the hospital.
A: No. Or have it be the other way around.
Okay, the first ridiculous thing about this passage is that Sean Penn at one time had a boxing ring at his house. What a douchebag.
But, after you get past that, can you actually imagine Sean Penn and Bob Dylan boxing? Penn's a lot younger and taller than Bob but...really, it's just the image of Bob Dylan boxing someone that's so bizarre. Or did he just tell Sean Penn to relate this story to the media as a way of furthering the ongoing Dylan mystique that has enthralled dorks in a record stores for so long now?
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