THIRD AND LAST PART OF THE INTERVIEW WITH ROBERT ROSEN PART 3

THIRD AND LAST PART OF THE INTERVIEW WITH ROBERT ROSEN

They say Mark David Chapman is about to get out of jail. What consequences do you think that may bring about?

Mark David Chapman was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison. That means that every year since 2000 he’s been eligible for parole, and every year since 2000 he’s been denied parole. Chapman will never get out of prison. And in the unlikely event that he does, there are a lot of crazy people out there who’ve threatened to do him harm. I’m sure some of them are serious.

In your opinion, do you think there are plenty of books still to be written about John Lennon? Would you like to write a new one about him?

I’d like to see Paul McCartney dig deep down into his soul and write an honest memoir. But I’m not sure he’s capable of doing that. So, I’d at least like to see him write something like Bob Dylan’s Chronicles, which I think is less than honest but certainly compelling and well worth reading. And I’d like to see Lennon’s diaries published—I mean the actual diaries I transcribed, the whole thing, just as they were written. I think the diaries were a very rough draft of the great memoir that John never had a chance to complete.
My main book-publishing priority at the moment is to bring Beaver Street kicking and screaming into the world. But I should mention that I’ve written a screenplay called The Diaries of Juan Dolio. A rock icon is murdered, and his personal assistant flees to Mexico with his secret diaries. As they say in Hollywood pitch-speak, it’s A Hard Day’s Night meets The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. I want Justin Timberlake to play the personal assistant, Gael García Bernal to play his friend the Mexican journalist, and Penélope Cruz and Salma Hayek to play the bruja sisters. Por favor. Now all I have to do is raise $10 million or so. I’ll direct it myself if I have to.
 
What’s your personal opinion on "Free as a Bird" and "Real Love"? They say there might be new songs coming up with George and John’s vocals in them, do you like this actually?

I don’t think anything will ever come close to capturing the energy, spirit, and excitement of any of the Beatles songs that were released between 1964 and 1970. “Free as a Bird” and “Real Love” (which I first heard in 1980 on Lennon’s Bermuda demo tape) are interesting experiments. I enjoyed listening to them; it sent a chill up my spine to hear Lennon singing with the Beatles again. And I enjoyed the videos, too. So, of course I’d be curious to hear anything else they come up with.

From all the Beatle books you have read, which one would you recommend to all Beatle readers?

To get a good sense of how John’s mind worked, read Lennon’s own books: In His Own Write, A Spaniard in the Works, and Skywriting by Word of Mouth.
Everything else should be read with varying degrees of skepticism. The interview books are, for the most part, a demonstration of Lennon’s genius for PR and self-promotion. Which is not to say there’s no truth in them. There is, but you have to know where to look.
The “official” bios and the Ono-sanctioned books are the worst—90-95% whitewash and myth making. The anti-Ono books, as well, are poisoned with hatred and bullshit. But again, there is truth to be found in them if you know where to look, and the more you know about the Beatles and Lennon, the easier it is to find the truth.
One of the best-written, best-researched, and most evenhanded books I’ve come across lately is The Gospel According to the Beatles by Steve Turner. Unlike most writers, Turner didn’t take sides. He just told the story of the Beatles as honestly as he could. He uncovered a lot of new material about Stu Sutcliffe and the early days in Hamburg; he did an especially good job of explaining the “Bigger than Jesus” controversy; and he uncovered some new material about Lennon’s very brief “born again” period.
And, of course, please read Nowhere Man—in any language. Because until John’s diaries are published, which probably won’t happen in our lifetime, Nowhere Man will remain the most accurate representation of what Lennon wrote about in his final years.
 
What’s your opinion of Chapter 27, the film about John’s assassination?

I devoted an entire blog to the movie because the filmmakers ripped off their title from the “Chapter 27” section of Nowhere Man and didn’t give me credit for it. They also didn’t explain what the title means—that by killing Lennon, Chapman believed that he was going to write the missing chapter of J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, which ends on chapter 26, in Lennon’s blood (as I say in my book). And they didn’t show how 27, the “triple 9,” connected Lennon to Chapman. They just grafted an intriguing title onto their film. That’s why I call my review of Chapter 27 “BYOC (Bring Your Own Context).” You’re not going to fully understand the movie unless you’ve read The Catcher in the Rye, Nowhere Man, and Let Me Take You Down, the Chapman bio by Jack Jones that the filmmakers supposedly based the movie on.
Fortunately, Mojo magazine in the UK, Proceso in Mexico, The Louie Free Radio Show in the US, and a lot of websites all over the world, most recently in Italy, Brazil, and Norway, pointed out the obvious—that Chapter 27 comes from Nowhere Man. And it’s obvious to anyone who’s read the book.
Still, I don’t think the movie is as bad as most of the critics said. It’s not, as Premiere magazine suggested, “the most godawful, irredeemable film to yet emerge in the 21st century.” To its credit, it features three interesting performances: Jared Leto as Chapman; Lindsay Lohan as Jude, a Lennon groupie who’s based on a real person; and Judah Friedlander as Paul Goresh, the photographer who took the picture of Lennon signing Chapman’s Double Fantasy album a few hours before the murder.
But there’s no getting around the fact that Chapter 27 is a total bummer. Watching it is like spending 84 minutes trapped in the company of a socially awkward psychopath.
The Killing of John Lennon is a much better film. You watch it and at least you understand why Chapman’s doing what he’s doing. It gives you some insight into his character. It gives you context. And the title is self-explanatory.