I read the Basketball Diaries several times...it is a book of hope...Jim Carroll is a great man.

@power_pop_news

10 жыл бұрын

Joe - firstly, hope you're well. Jim Carroll is in many ways a great man. Read his "Living at the Movies" as it is also a fabulous read. That is, if you're a fan of really interesting poetry. Take care!

@anthonyfoutch3152

10 ай бұрын

I read the Diaries in the 80s after finding it in a mall book store in OH I stopped at when i was a truck driver, long before the movie. I still read it at least once a year. My favorite book.

I met Jim Carroll in 1995 and he signed my book of his poems. Instead of just signing his name he wrote a little note to me encouraging me to continue writing. Then he wrote Love, Jim Carroll. Later that night my sister and I were downtown in Seattle and walking near a 7-11. Here comes Jim strolling down the street. We made eye contact and we both laughed and waved as he passed. About two years later I waited for him outside of a bar he was speaking in and when he came out I asked if he remembered me. He smiled and said yes and gave me a kiss on the head. Jim was one of the realist, sweetest people you could ever meet.

@melissavictoriabomfim00

5 ай бұрын

Oh! What a docile gentle soul he was.❤

@user-fo2xj7wi4q

5 ай бұрын

@@melissavictoriabomfim00 HE WAS!!! I MISS him and wish I could talk to him as an older adult now! But I am grateful I had the experiences I had with him, when I was a teen.❤️

@Madpencildust22

3 ай бұрын

@@user-fo2xj7wi4q He seemed so kind and loving. The way he wrote and speaks. I didn’t even know he was the guy that sung in Tuff Turf. I liked him on there too. He had a way of drawing people in and he didn’t have to draw people in the way celebs do today.

@roosterillusion2764

Ай бұрын

I sat next to him on a plane. He was surprised I knew him and I told him he was my favorite author with hst 2nd. Real good dude

I hate how the interviewer is trying to make Carroll confess to something he had no control over.

@beccahday

9 жыл бұрын

Monaedeezy i didn't see it that way in the least.

@jamesp4521

7 жыл бұрын

beccahday if you couldn't see that, well then it would be damn easy to lead and put you into a corner during a debate.

@RyanInLA

6 жыл бұрын

yes that is Matt Lauer and he does that to everyone. Thankfully no one of any import will ever hire him again because apparently his belligerence extends beyond his TV interviews lol

@jackblood9526

6 жыл бұрын

Look at High ground Matt Lauer now!

@SeanGrady90

2 жыл бұрын

I’m with Beccah. It’s the interviewer’s job to ask these types of leading questions, this gives the person the opportunity to definitively state their side & combat questions the public want them to answer. I’m no Matt Lauer fan but he handled this interview well IMO.

Every kid should be shown the basketball diaries,its a cautionary tale.

@jules8159

3 жыл бұрын

Funny enough it’s talking about the movie with other ppl that went through the drug path that made me understand it and not wanting to ever do it.. I think something after the movie is needed to kind of get your head around it. Excellent movie I’ll forever hold dear in my heart

@claytonjames-stagg7780

3 жыл бұрын

I feel the same way about "The Basketball Diaries" - a true "Cautionary Tale" for Youth... I was using chemicals (drugs) before attending high-school; and was already addicted to opiates and opioids when I began to attend. I first seen the film around 2014, or 2015... I knew that "I fucked-up"... literally life changing. So after watching the film, I sought and read Jim Carroll's book; and I began to utilise the book (along with De Quincey's Confessions of an English Opium-Eater and Suspiria de Profundis) to help myself, and other Youth to "get-off drugs".

@MrJames-tw3so

2 жыл бұрын

he said it was a redemption story,you saying it's a cautionary story which will be true if you put down Halfway for good.

@anthonyfoutch3152

10 ай бұрын

They should read the book. The book was in the 60s but did not work in the 90s for the movie.

@anthonyfoutch3152

10 ай бұрын

and read "Forced Entries".@@MrJames-tw3so

i feel really sorry for jim here having to do an interview he doesnt wanna do and unfairly defend his work

Jim Carroll was an amazing writer and performer. I met him in Long Beach in the early 1980's. He was a gentle soul.

Jim Carrol had so much humanity and he was indeed a gentle person of hope. We miss you Jim R.I.P.

@jamesmacaw3865

4 жыл бұрын

For a NYC street kid, I was thinking the same

@johannmckraken9399

4 жыл бұрын

And when you stop and think about how young he was when he wrote “Basketball Diaries” it makes that piece of work all the more astounding. To have that kind of perception and insight as a adolescent is uncommon to say the least. I would have loved to be able to call Jim Carroll a friend.

@anthonyfoutch3152

10 ай бұрын

Greatest book ever written by a teen. Maybe in top 5 as best book ever written.@@johannmckraken9399

People like to find someone to blame when a tragedy like that happens because they can't accept that some people are messed up and you have no control over what will send them over the edge.

@ShaunHensley

2 жыл бұрын

Or even deeper, those parents don't want to face that they failed

@dunningdunning4711

Жыл бұрын

@@ShaunHensley Not just the parents, but America fetishizes guns and violence, cos that's where a lot of the cash is at (there's a reason America has the largest military budget in the world, while their social safety net is first responders - cops - shooting the mentally ill for having a breakdown; and their "interventions" in other countries aren't because they want to help people, however much they sell that white saviour routine to the public - when this is your government, what do you expect when the dominant ideology cross pollinates with mental illness). Asking for help is seen as weak, shooting a gun is seen as masculine. Therapy takes time, killing your classmates gets your name on the front of the paper. Fame, another sham game. America (and I'm talking specifically about America, cos that's where this happened) has a messed up culture that doesn't want to look itself in the mirror. And I say this as someone who doesn't believe in banning guns. But imho the truth is - to anyone out there who might stumble upon this inconsequential rambling - that "it's easy to laugh, it's easy to hate/it takes strength to be gentle and kind."

@jmart9414

Жыл бұрын

Life IS DIFFICULT TRAGIC EXCITING... 'Nothing isTrue. Everything is permitted.'

The truth is always pretty simple and straight up, and Jim Carroll slings it with ease. Logic, common sense. You are missed Jim.

Jim speaks so eloquently. His intelligence is only surpassed by his compassionate nature. I feel very lucky to have seen him play and read poetry. One of my prized possessions is an autographed copy of Catholic Boy. Jim wrote above his signature, "it's never too late". He's awesome.

@user-ev1gb6de4j

7 ай бұрын

My wife and I seen and heard Jim read poetry at an old broken down bar on 1st ave in Seattle. [1988 ?]

This is ridiculous. Liberal media at their worst. Jim Carroll has helped so many people. He has seem many of his friends die. But he survived by changing his life. He is a role model to alot of people.

@jenniferh.2150

11 ай бұрын

In 1999 this was hardly the “LiBeRaL MeDiA!!!!’’!” ALL media wanted to scapegoat something.

@anthonyfoutch3152

10 ай бұрын

Jim was a huge liberal.

@jenniferh.2150

10 ай бұрын

@@anthonyfoutch3152 Truth.

He sounds like such a sweet man

@riffraffrichard

Жыл бұрын

Yeah he has a kind heart

The world is a much lesser place without Jim Carroll in it.

Bless your heart Jim Carroll. May you at last rest in peace from all the years of suffering you endured

Jim Carroll You Rock!!! Thanks for many years of great music.

its choices, not influence that pulls the trigger

@user-fo2xj7wi4q

6 ай бұрын

Things can certainly influence peoples choices, but it would have been many factors building up over time...not a movie or video game or whatever.

Even in the face if all the disrespect being thrown at him, Jim Carroll is as eloquent as ever. An amazing man. RIP.

I really wish people would stop blaming Matt Lauer. I talked to Jim before he did the interview -- he was very upset about the events and worried about the interview. I think Lauer did a wonderful job of allowing Jim to say what he had to say.

@cassiecarter6042

8 жыл бұрын

+eammon wright Sorry, I don't know.

@seanwillis8483

5 жыл бұрын

Because Matt Lauer was a jackass. Jim Carrol didn't write the movie. He just wrote about stuff that happened to him in his life. Those writings had a very positive effect on so many people. Blaming him for murders is so disgusting. I don't even know how people can even watch news channels like this. They are brainwashed.

R.I.P. Jim Carroll :'(

Jim, we can tell just from your demeanor that you're a good soul. RIP

11 years ago and KZread is recommending me this until now

Thank you, all who have commented. I hope to hear more from you.

this interview was fair and gave jim a chance to defend against idiotic accusers. Our media has gotten so bad.

Jim Carrol genius .

i met jim one time and he was so great humble and honest a pure soul

Movies, games, books make rational people think, and irrational people act.

@sugarjohnson7402

9 жыл бұрын

You are absolutely right. Good point.

@AnthonyMonaghan

9 жыл бұрын

King Nero If that were the case Frank...I think there would be a whole lot more killings connected to this kind of media.

@davidpfeifer9489

5 жыл бұрын

Anthony Monaghan I think it’s the news putting their faces on the front page and “immortalizing” them.... that’s what they want! They should just say some mad man or some spineless swine... don’t say their name or show their face!!!

So the other billion people who have watched/read "The Basketball Diaries", played Mortal Combat, and listened to Marilyn Manson and haven't killed anyone don't mean anything at all, right? Do you think that just maybe the handful of people who have committed a violent crime/murders and have cited works of art or games as being their influence just might also have some mental illness at play? Stop blaming artists and media for the violent acts of mentally ill people, and start getting these people help.

@dunningdunning4711

Жыл бұрын

Exactly. If we're going to blame The Basketball Diaries, let's take this to its logical conclusion and ban the Bible. There's some nasty stuff in there that has been used to justify countless acts of violence, by individuals and groups.

I just started reading The Basketball Diaries... Great book, great guy!

I love the nostalgia and bright moments of the book … I just want to be pure

thanks for posting

Jim Carroll was a sweet and gentle soul. It’s ridiculous to point the finger at him!

Lauer did an OK interview. The interviewer is supposed to be challenging, to ask some questions that aren't totally comfortable. Also by asking somewhat challenging questions he allowed Carroll to explain what he thought the connections were between artistic expression, fantasy and what any particular person may take it for reality. Lauer didn't badger him, say "come on, everybody knows it's your fault," but gave Carroll room to explain how he could see how *some* people could make that connection.

This guy has lived the life. I've been through many decisions I had to make sure that I tried. But unfortunately some people get IT wrong with the message.

one man suffered to save others .. rip jimmy

NO WORDS, give me a fucking break! Would the movie Pineapple Express make you smoke POT??? The only celeb that I wanted to meet before-I DIED!! RIP James. You gave me hope!

Love how Jim is making this really profound point about the difficulties of adolescent masculinity and the interviewer just keeps everything on the surface. I wonder if he really doesn't get it, or he is just worried about probing too deeply for network TV.

Jim cleared this controversy up really fast with a clear understanding and logic. Ive been a huge fan ever since the "Catolic Boy " album in the rarly eighties. R.I.P. Jim

How goddamn ignorant some people can be. That damn attorney should be disbarred. Jim Carroll is a hero to me. He so well understands the dynamics relating to young American males and all the bullshit they're expected to live up to... I really admire him.

Amazing how someone can falsely accuse you Jim... Why not blame Marylyn Manson, Pearl Jam - Jeremy... fuck sakes... These kids were sick bottom line...

Good interview. Matt was fair and Jim absolutely eloquent.

you go Jim! you are very honest and eloquent.

Jim Caroll was a fucking genious. Met him in NYC on the street one day and got talking to him. One of the nicest huys I ever met.

I watched The Basketball Diaries for a 2nd time tonight, great film and Leonardo DiCaprio is an amazing actor. I came here to see the man behind the film. I've great admiration for him as I know firsthand what heroin does to you and others around you. I totally empathise with Jim, with the ridiculous claim that the film caused this young guy to do this shooting. I am sorry but I cannot understand how and why anyone could be influenced into doing such a horrendous act by watching a film, I thought it was only children up to the age of 7 that can get reality and fantasy mixed up. It just sounds a real cop-out, and poor Jim with his story of triumph and hope for other addicts has become the fall guy. Having seen Jim for the first time here, and seeing what a sincere man he is and stating the book is different to the film, I will add it to my reading list, thanks for uploading this.

Artist are living mirrors of society. They are created, they are involved, they reflect with total feeling in all they do. I love Jim Carroll for all his truthful honest expression of his life. It's the people around him who are totally fucked up with guilt and insecurity ! Jim RIP ! see ya in the next experiment ......

I wish Jim and I could have met. We had so much in common.

I remember reading Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn when i was about 7 years old. It was a mindblowing experience and i started reading furiously. But it took another 7 years until i found something that had a similar impact on me. I read the basketball diaries and with every page that i turned i was sucked more into it and forgot everything around me. I can only say that the book, as much as it evokes a certain romanticism about drugs, has been a purely positive thing for me.

Was working at a bar one night in the Lower East Side, me and my fellow bartender played "People Who Died" about seven times in a row and sang along to every word while closing up. The next day he called me and said, "Jim Carroll DIED why we were singing that song,"

Jim Carroll is such a genius. He knew exactly the world is coming to. Wish he could have been my teacher .loll.

Jim always seemed so frail.....Like a whisper in a hurricane.

Very intelligent and uniquely creative mind.

this interview was 7 days after I was born! :)

@artemsizov6753

3 жыл бұрын

And 14 months after I was born:)

NOBODY is responsible anymore - Victimhood raised to an art form...

Lauer did great. very respectful toward Jim.

This is total Bullshit. How many Artist's have to suffer over their material because parent's can't see their kids have emo problems. Maybe they should be more interested in their kids lives , than pointing the finger. This has gone on way back to Ozzy back in 81'. Total shit.!!!!! Wake up America.

@tommyradomski

10 жыл бұрын

I am sooo w that. Jim was sooo much more than a Poet, musician, ect..

@samwindmill8264

10 жыл бұрын

Goes back further than that man

@tommyradomski

9 жыл бұрын

Sam Windmill I AGREE MAN. I'm JUST SAYING IT'S SO FKN STUPID

@Street-Shred82

9 жыл бұрын

Couldn't agree more. Hard to even watch this interview

its not fair, he had nothing to do what was going on in that boys mind. he wrote his own book to what he felt and people are twisting his words and making it seem like he wanted that. he wanted to be pure not violent but he couldnt help how he felt so he wrote that down. i love you jimmy

I’m addicted to this mans music ❤️ Rip

Check out his classic debut LP "Catholic Boy" (1980).

@davidames1746

6 жыл бұрын

Classic?

Well,well,well,Jack Tomphson,why am I not suprised?

Blaming a movie or a book for someone murdering others is simply absurd.

The Basketball Diaries is a story of hope, redemption, of innocence lost and artistry created. If all the kid saw and took away from that story was just wanton violence, then there’s something fucking wrong with that kid’s head.

"Thank you man"

"Lauer has distanced himself from friendships after Couric wrote about his sexual misconduct allegations in her 2021 book"

jim seems so sweet, i love him! =)

I started to read that book. And who can mimick the scene from the movie?

Those are people who DIED, DIED

Jim was.not responsible for this. Jim was.good...jim was the one who ok he.was.so cool and I understand .

Great poet great rocker

Nice interview, superb comments by Carroll and actually not a bad job by Matt Lauer...at least he didn't constantly interrupt Jim, as would happen in most interviews now.

Jim Carrol and his are both a positive thing.

That was actually the best interview I've ever seen Matt Lauer conduct.

its the parents!!!!! not a book or a movie! raise your kids right!!!

exactly!

Beautiful man.

Time is so weird on this thing, but wtf....the media semi-responsibly gloms on to every little thing that will generate frenzy, I mean I had to say something I guess. I mean I met Jim Carroll back in...I guess it was 1982 or 1983 when Charlie brought him in to the bookstore for a meet and greet, and although I'd already read the book ( and I think I had already popped it so I could scrape some food money together...art school budgeting, you know), I bought a 2nd copy ( not much of an economist) kinda compulsively so I could get him to sign it for me. I strongly remember feeling that I was doing it for him, more than for me, because I felt for the guy...from the book, man, from the book, because I related to it a lot....and when I went there, and I found myself in the room with him, I was like...scared...because he was published partly, and the few times that I've done that sort of thing I feel like a real star-struck dork...overwhelmed with vague confusion.....and also, I knew that he was the real deal, he was, in one way or another, the living exponent of later -generation beat writing (little did I know that it would vapourize in subsequent years, the entire social ethos...). Anyway, I felt tremendous empathy with the story of his `misspent`youth, and yet, when faced with him directly, I felt exposed. My life, although not exactly innocent, had been provincial by comparison.. He really did know New York City. He wasn`t just from there. And it cost him plenty, and he liked it, and it told him what to do, and he listened...which was why I was afraid of him. Jim was really shaky...and incredibly tall! And incredibly white.....like bled white. Basketball star. Skank undead. He seemed so vulnerable, and ill. We talked about Patti Smith and Fred Smith...I must have really been reaching...anyway, despite his obvious discomfort with the writer`s professional necessity of being there, he was gracious and generous, and his nerves were all exposed and raw. Heroin is terrible. The other times I saw him, he was doing the rock thing...trying to make it fit into the music industry somehow. it was always a bad fit, in my opinion. He was one of the great things that came out of the St. Mark`s poetry project. and he should have been , like, the next Anne Sexton, or something.....he deserved so much more than what he got. I still respect his idea, 38 years later. This one is for you my brother....

@cassiecarter6042

8 жыл бұрын

+LaserGuided WhiteHaus Thank you for sharing this.

Jim Carroll....sip n pour.

A true genius I could listen to him speak all day ,I love how many times he references to idiot Matt Lauer “if you read the book “ Clearly he has not read this book or probably many books like this ,Catcher in The Rye ,Tom Sawyer …

Basketball Diaries is a very emotional movie . The big point is - HE GOT HELP AND RELIEF FROM ADDICTION AT THE END !!! He gets better, It can be done !

Jim Carroll is an artist, like Bob Ross. Jim Carroll says you need bad too illuminate good and good too illuminate bad. Ross says the same thing about paint. You can't use up all the dark to soon, because you need it too show the light. You also need the light colors too show the dark ones.

RIP Jim... you're a hero

I understand the anger. But this is ridiculous!

R.I.P. Jim!

people shouldn't be so stupid to be influenced by the media. but sense society still is, then should the media still put out influential product out there? of course Jim is going to defend his product no matter what, just like anyone else.

And on another topic, Jim seems like a very nice and responsible adult. He learned his lesson.

It’s not the movies or games ! It’s the way the kids are raised or mental health

Jim Carroll kicked his heroin habit long before he died (heart attack, 09/11/2009). He writes about it in Forced Entries.

Millions of kids have read the book and movie. How many school shootings were contributed to it? Society always blames others rather than looking on the inside of the internal problem.

It’s so interesting seeing an intelligent person on bullshit tv

I really wish Jim could have lived a little longer. I think he could have done a lot more good in the world. Love his writings and poetry and the hope he tried to put into others.

@anthonyfoutch3152

10 ай бұрын

I wish he had gave more interviews. Most us old junkies don't live long. I am very lucky to make it to 69 because all my using buddies are dead. I straightened up in 92 though.

The fact this man was a herion addict at 15 and then came this far I amazing

I think poor parents are behind all of this finger pointing. 35 years or more, and people won't accept that society can't exist under total censorship. It really isn't possible.

I started shooting up herion in 95 or 94, had a problem with dope for awhile and when I was fucked up I never blamed Pulp Fiction, Trainspotting or the Basketball Diaries. I blame myself for my drug problems. And btw those are all very good movies. Oh and I have been clean since 99.

@Valon4055

5 жыл бұрын

6 yrs later but well done lad. Hopefully still living it

Wow was he in the movie the junkie down in the basement talking bout his shaaaark skin suit

@richardrude9087

6 жыл бұрын

J.B. Rocks75 It was the smell of really good dope cooking up...exactly 🤤

@catholicboyweb

6 жыл бұрын

Yes, that was Jim Carroll playing Frankie Pinewater in the movie.

@johndez5213

6 жыл бұрын

J.B. Rock Lmaooo hell yeah. Shaaaark skiin eeeeeestah sooot

@gamesstationuk9913

4 жыл бұрын

It is him isn't it . Bloody hell

City Life compared to Country Life is a different understanding!

Jim Carroll is spot on

In the end, all of us will be held accountable for what we've said, what we've done and haven't done. Whether positive or negative, we are all responsible for the choices that we make, whether in thought, word or deed. It's easiest to pass the blame onto someone else. It's our job to encourage and support one another. We should always focus on the good and positive in this world while teaching others about the crap many of us go through, as hard as that may be.

Jim was easy to talk with and he told me that Mark got 3 auditions, the reality of the Hudson River jump scene, and he's missed he died.

last time i checked, jim carrol wasn't the one who held students and teachers hostage and went on a killing spree. all he did was try to show the world his story. people can be so ridiculous.

This man is brilliant.

The Manson Family listened to the Beatles heavily.

Stop the stupid blame game and be accountable for what you do. If you kill someone, anyone, it was YOU. Noone else forced you to do it.