Mr. and Mr. Dick-Tallent, Joseph and William.

[stungunbilly]

Regarding Joe and Billy

 

Watching Hard Core Logo, I am convinced that, in an emotional, visceral way, Joe Dick and Billy Tallent love each other. Billy is more enigmatic than Joe, in that we get far less of his POV than Joe’s. I’d say that this makes him harder to love for some watchers than Joe, whose emotions are laid out for us in a way Billy’s usually aren’t. Joe is aggressive, directly manipulates and bulldozes many people as part of a larger plan to manipulate Billy, and openly states that he is dominant in their relationship. Billy lets Joe believe they have a future together, but dumps him for success when given the chance. He lies about this and then, when Joe injures him emotionally, he throws the lie in Joe’s face. Joe’s pain at Billy’s desertion is raw and vivid, and Billy’s feelings about the loss of Joe are never shown to us. They both hurt each other, but the audience is positioned to more directly experience Joe's hurt than Billy's.

So what do I see in Billy?

Billy seems to be more socially sensitive than Joe, more driven to keep the peace; to some extent this pings for me as the behavior of someone who had an alcoholic or emotionally disturbed parent, though it’s just a feeling. We know he is extremely talented as a guitarist, and the implication is that he has practiced it seriously, showing some ability to commit to developing a skill. He is more motivated towards financial success than Joe is, and is actually capable of an impressive level of achievement in this regard. While his charm and his less aggressive manner might seem to imply that he is shallow, it should be noted that he and Joe were best friends and bandmates for quite a long time. Anyone who has seen bands in formation and dissolution knows how much commitment that had to take.

We know he can be a liar, and a manipulator, in order to protect himself from someone else’s emotional reactions. This also fits into the idea of someone who has had unstable or addicted parenting. He seems to feel no remorse at controlling information to keep himself or his interests safe. Given Joe’s reaction, and the realization that he has known Joe for long enough to predict him, I have to say he is not entirely wrong to try to hide things from Joe.

There is every reason to think he wanted to achieve fortune and fame with Joe, but that Joe chose not to take that route and gave him no voice in that decision. Yet he still shows fondness for Joe that seems completely unfeigned, and although there is some likelihood that Joe raped him, he still returns for a final tour with his old band. He even puts himself in the position of being drunk and vulnerable to Joe. The implication is that he still feels a strong attraction and also loyalty to their past connection. If in fact Joe and Billy had consensual sex, it is still noteworthy that he should return when he clearly resents it and holds Joe responsible for the failure of their band and their friendship.

I think he loved Joe Dick, and also hated him, and that this was mutual. There is evidence of an intense, prolonged power struggle between the two of them that resolves itself in the most tragic possible way. Joe’s final actions come across to me as partly personal despair, and partly hostile action towards Billy. Yet another way of asserting dominance over his beloved, and also over his life. Billy puts so much energy into manipulating and then abandoning Joe, and this fits in my concept of them as punishing each other while still feeling an attachment stronger than any other they have made.

Basically, they both seem understandable, lovable, fucked up in the extreme, and in love to me. They matter to each other more than anyone else is likely to ever matter, they hurt each other more than anyone outside the relationship can understand completely, and neither can truly submit to the other’s needs or desires. But their goals, while similar, are not the same, and this fact tears them apart at the end.

So when people take sides between them, I just say, huh? You do realize they would turn on you in a second for dissing either of them, right?

They push all of each other’s screwy buttons, and make each other’s lives unnecessarily difficult, and are a perfect example of unhealthy codependence in action. And yet, they see each other more clearly than they can see anyone else.

 

In the end it’s love.