The first time I saw this movie was a year ago...and it seemed like to me, that the character, John Norman Howard killed himself at the end by crashing his car. He couldn't deal with the decline of his own musical career, so he dropped in a deep depression. But it's somewhat confusing because in my opinion, he sabotaged his own career by being late and having concert fines and just being destructive. Am I correct?
shareI think you're 200% correct. He ruined it himself, but that's the kind of person he is, destructive.
shareHe was an addict. That's how they are. That's what they do. Addicts They are there own worse enemy!
shareI agree that he killed himself because of depression but wasn't it also for his wife? He didn't want her to have to worry about his screw ups and troublesome character and he didn't want to ruin her career by association.
Anyway, that's what I think (I'm kinda basing on the version with Judy Garland...)
by Stanton67
He was an addict. That's how they are. That's what they do. Addicts They are there own worse enemy!
THEIR
Idiot. Learn some English.
In the original script he killed himself, but Jon Peters thought of the character as himself and didn't want the character to do that. So it was changed to be more ambiguous.
share<< In the original script he killed himself, but Jon Peters thought of the character as himself and didn't want the character to do that. So it was changed to be more ambiguous. >>
I also imagine that since this event wasn't happening to the STREISAND character, the producers (Ms. Streisand and her boyfriend) weren't too concerned about completely working this out. ("Eh...he kills himself, he doesn't kill himself...who cares?")
I've just been watching this movie on TV tonight (pity I hadn't recorded it) but I'm fairly sure that the implication was meant to be that it was an accident. The contributing factors were that he was driving too fast and carelessly, not paying heed to the warning signs on the side of the road (by the way, what DOES a black rectangle with three orange/red diamonds one under the other mean?) and was drinking as he drove. There was one point where I wasn't sure if it was just supposed to be his head moving in accordance with the car's movement or if it was drooping but I'm fairly sure we're supposed to believe it was an accident.
shareI came out here to find this same thing out.
I've thought it was obvious that he killed himself since the first time I watched this movie a decade ago, what with the extra long staring at the sky before he drove off, the switching from his music to Ester's music, the way he was purposely swerving all over the place at 100 miles an hour and the entirety of the events leading up to it. For whatever reason my mom and I were talking about it yesterday and she swears it was supposed to be an accident. I love my mom, but I think she is wrong.
The way I see it, John Norman offed himself because he knew his career was never coming back, he didn't have the skills to produce or do anything else (all he did was talk about how he didn't know his own finances, phone number, ect) and the only reason anyone would record his new music was because of a lifetime friendship and/or his wife bullying them into doing it as a favor. He knew he'd never live up to Ester's idealized view of him, she loved him too much to let him fail and he loved her too much to disappoint her.
I don't even think it was addiction, I think John Norman had a destructive, depressed personality regardless of drugs. When Ester made him clean up, he still blew himself up at every opportunity. He knew he was always going to blow himself up - because that was his life pattern - and he didn't want to drag Ester down with him. He also was too weak willed to just walk away. He pretty much tried to chase her off by screwing the girl in their bed, the girl that was sure to let Ester know what happened considering she was a freaking Rolling Stones reporter trying to get a story and not some random groupie, and Ester didn't bat an eye. Instead she said "if you love me, fight for me" and practically begged John Norman to apologize so it would all go away.
Seriously, if that was a plain old car accident, then I don't understand this movie at all. The story makes zero sense to me in the context of what was shown.
This is the third remake of A Star is Born. In the first two, 1937 and 1955, Norman Maine, both times, drowned themselves in the Pacific Ocean. Now, I think it safe to say that John Norman Howard did INDEED intend to kill himself. Exact same movie but with a little upgrading. Esther Hoffman replaced Ester Blodget (thank goodness) and John Norman Howard replaced Norman Maine. I've seen them all an my favorite is the one with my idol, BABS!
shareI agree with a lot of the answers people are saying. Mine is simply a combination of some:
John Norman wasn't intending on killing himself (remember, he had to pick up his manager, Brian, from the airport) but I think he felt that if it happened, it happened. If he died, he died, and that's that.
Reason? I think he was in a great place mentally while at the ranch with Esther, but the moment he walked out, got into that car, drove off and plopped that 8-track in the player, it was back to reality for him. He was back in a destructive world where there was no hope in sight. No career prospects. No respect. Not even his dignity.
So at that point, if he died - he died.
John committed suicide. The trigger was when Esther told him he had trashed his life but wasn't going to trash hers, although after saying that she finds she still loved him too much to leave him. John realized that trashing her life was exactly what he would do, unable to stop himself, as he had been unable to stop his own self destruct. John realized Esther loved him too much to leave him and that he loved her too much to drag her down with him. He saw dying as the only way he could save her from him and his demons.
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