In Blank on Blank, the new video series from Public Radio Exchange, one the world’s biggest rock stars dissects the notion of a dignified death.
—
Blank on Blank, a new project from Public Radio Exchange, has completely made my day. This video series brings new life to old and abandoned interviews in the form of short animated vignettes. The site has already posted 11 interviews with male pop culture icons—everyone from Maurice Sendak to James Brown.
In spare, black and white illustration, you can watch Jim Morrison explain why “fat is beautiful” or listen to David Foster Wallace discuss the problem with ambition. But the one that really grabbed me is this 2001 interview with U2 frontman Bono, remembering the last lesson his father gave him, one about the real meaning of dignity in death.
Anthony Bozza interviewed Bono for a Rolling Stone end-of-the-year retrospective, and asked the singer about his most memorable personal encounter of the year. The answer, paired with haunting, minimal drawings, is an intimate and bruising meditation on the false standards we impose on our heroes. The multimedia aspect here works so well, finding something sacred in the mundane. One frame at 1:52, a simple shot of Bono drinking a Guinness as he thinks about his father’s hospital bed, transposed next to four simple words—”to steady my nerves”—cut me deep, and will anyone who’ve ever listened hard enough to hear the frank, profound observations left by those at the end of their days.
I won’t spoil his final epiphany, but its perfect, honest, simplicity makes you forget you’re hearing a confession from one of the biggest rock stars in the world. I’ll be tuning in for more.
What do you think about his final conclusion about the “importance” of dying dignified? Are we all “fucking mad”? What prayers are worth making for the dying?
Photo: “Bono on His Dad’s Final Days” video, Blank on Blank, Public Radio Exchange, Executive Produced by David Gerlach, interview by Anthony Bozza for Rolling Stone