There was good news and bad news on Jason Kottke’s blog today. The good news is that one of my favorite movies, Hands on a Hardbody, can be viewed in its entirety, for free, on Google Video. I’ve forced this movie on many visitors over the years, and I’ve never met anyone who did not love it. If you haven’t seen it, please go watch it now. You will enjoy this documentary following one year’s installment of a contest held by the Nissan dealership in Longview, Texas. The contest itself is wonderfully absurd: a number of contestants stand with one hand on a “hardbody” Nissan truck, and the last one standing wins the truck.
The bad news is below. Highlight the area below to read it, but you should really consider watching the movie before reading the bad news. It could taint your first viewing of the film.
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The contest has not been held since 2005, when a contestant shot himself in the head minutes after losing his chance at winning the truck. This news report says that he excused himself 48 hours into the contest, and then threw a trash can through a Kmart window. He entered the store, took and loaded a shotgun, and then shot himself.
by Sally
tami - thanks for this info! we love this movie, but it's impossible to get it on dvd (haven't been successful with netflix either…)
as for the bad news part, man that's depressing. i guess it really was a life and death thing for him, this idea of owning a truck and fitting into his culture.