Musings on the fate of Joe Gipp

[rolanni]

Frequent auditors of this journal will recall that, my taste in cinema being what it is, I number Adventures in Babysitting among my top ten all-time favorite movies. It is, saving one Necessary Leap of Faith, a tightly plotted coming-of-age fable that never ceases to delight me. If you've never seen it, I recommend it in the highest possible terms*. Get thee to Netflix and add it to your queue.

It having been a Rough Week(tm) by anybody's measure of terrain, Steve and I decided last night that we had earned some downtime. We therefore feasted on grilled ham-and-cheese sandwiches, chatting about anything but the day-job, had a glass of wine, and carried the second into the living room, where he suggested that Adventures in Babysitting would be in order.

The rest of this discussion, which necessarily contains spoilers, is , out of courtesy for those who may not yet have viewed this fine film.

In the movie, three children (two 15-year-old boys and a little girl of about...9?) and their 17 year old babysitter are forced to leave the safe suburbs and drive into Deepest Chicago on their own. In short order, the tire blows out on their car, they are rescued by a well-meaning tow-truck driver, who shortly involves them in a domestic dispute. Fleeing this violence, they take refuge in a nearby unlocked car -- which is in the process of being boosted by one Joe Gipp.

Joe supplies stolen cars to a chop shop. He has pity on the kids and takes them with him, out of the range of fire. On the way to deliver the stolen goods, the babysitter extracts a promise from him that he not hurt "the kids." Unexpectedly, Joe turns out to be a man of his word, and to also possess a high moral character -- higher, at least, than his boss, or his boss's boss, both of whom want the kids caught and killed.

This being a coming-of-age fable, it's not just the babysitter and the kids who grow. In the course of keeping his promise, Joe is forced to knock down the big boss (a truly scary person who, I believe, stops at nothing in order to achieve his goals). The story gets the kids safely back to the 'burbs, parents none the wiser, but...

...we never hear what happens to Joe Gipp. Clearly, Chicago is no longer safe for him, nor any of the other big cities where the big boss has tentacles. He's a thief, he is in some ways a naif, he is not an educated man. Stealing cars is his art, and his livelihood.

So, I wonder: What happened to Joe? I want him to be OK, but I'm not sure I can see my way through to how this would come about. Steve suggests that he migrated to San Francisco and took up odd work with the old and prestigious Bowler Investigative Agency, which might do.

Those who have seen the movie -- what do you think happened to Joe Gipp?



----
*always remembering that I also recommend Earth Girls are Easy in those same high terms.

Comments

Whatever Happened ...

[(Anonymous)]

What I hope for Joe is that this incident "forces" him away from a life of crime - which to me appeared to just be an "easy out" for him. Who knows, maybe he went to work for 'Thor'.

[6-penny.livejournal.com]

I haven't seen the film, but perhaps he could encounter a scout................

[keristor.livejournal.com]

I haven't seen "Adventures in Babysitting", but "Earth Girls Are Easy" is fun. Not high Art but IMO well worth the admission price (I don't like most films which are Art, anyway, I watch for entertainment).

(I'm also slightly non-sober, having had 500ml of cider (that's a bit over a US pint of hard cider) at 8.4% alcohol by volume with takeaway Chinese. Not drunk, and I might just be within the UK driving limit (but wouldn't drive), but nicely not-exactly-sober. First alcohol I've had since Worldcon, I think, since then I've been driving the next morning so haven't had the opportunity...)

[mizkit.livejournal.com]

...I haven't seen Adventures in Babysitting for many years, but loved it. And also was very fond of Earth Girls Are Easy. Tell me, what are your feelings on The Replacement Killers? :)

[rolanni.livejournal.com]

Tell me, what are your feelings on The Replacement Killers?

I had not previously had this documentary brought to my attention. Sadly, it looks like it may be right up my alley.

*adds to Netflix queue*

Thanks!

[mizkit.livejournal.com]

It's one of my all-time favorite films. Given the two data points already in common, I should think if you like TRK then we could have an unusually good time watching movies together. :)

[nephir.livejournal.com]

I adore both movies -- both offer a cheesy innocent look at life that is refreshing and fun to experience.

As for Joe Gipp....he gets the hell outta Chicago and turns to more legal venues for money making. Maybe workin on cars still, perhaps to help out some other 'crime' fighting crew?

[gryphonlsb.livejournal.com]

No one gets out of here without singin the Blues

[pakwa26.livejournal.com]

I see that Laurie R King is the same person who wrote "Folly", which is a bit a favourite of mine... obviously I am going to have to go & chase up Abbeys bookshop to get more of her stuff in! Thanks for the heads up!

Joe

[(Anonymous)]

I have always thought Joe moved to either San Francisco, Oakland or perhaps Berkeley (though Berkeley politics would aggravate him) and became one of the point-people of curbside recycling... and has an art-car shop on the side, that makes the coolest beasts for Burning Man, where perhaps he meets up with Thor (who has gone off the deep end and is racing around Black Rock in rocket powered Chariot and Viking Deity garb, still waving Sara's plastic Hammer...)

Joe Gipp & Good Works

[orielisbooks.blogspot.com (from livejournal.com)]

I loved this movie! I even went so far as to buy the video tape (which is still hiding around the house somewhere).

I hadn't given much thought to Joe Gipp, to be honest, but reading some of the other comments I had a thought. I wonder if he might have become a missionary and is off in the jungle doing Good Works somewhere.

Or, of course, he could be raising money for the church by, ummm, reselling cars......

[aspidites.livejournal.com]

I adore "Adventures in Babysitting" (I have the DVD), and Joe Gipp was my favorite character in the film (I somehow always end up liking one of the secondary characters better than any of the primaries). I was disappointed that Chris didn't end up with him somehow... her frat-boy white knight is cute enough, and honorable enough, but Joe stood up to some very real danger for her and the kids. I hope Joe got out of Chicago and found an outlet for his talents confounding the wicked and helping other innocents out of their jams, jellies or marmalades :-)

(And "Earth Girls are Easy" is a triumph of late-80s kitsch! I can still hear Geena Davis saying, fondly, "Oh, Wiploc, I think I'll miss you the least!")

Stealing cars is his art, and his livelihood. ?

[elgordo303.livejournal.com]

I always thought Joe was one of those inherently competent people who just do everything well, that he fell into stealing cars as a way to make some easy money. Joe's in Aruba bartending for the touristas ....