The 1969 movie that united Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe: “He took this film to heart”
Patti Smith said that Robert Mapplethorpe rarely went to the cinema, but John Schlesinger’s 1969 film *Midnight Cowboy* deeply affected him. His response helped Smith understand how adrift he felt while they were living apart, and why the story of an outsider in New York resonated with him.
In her memoir *Just Kids*, Smith recalled that Mapplethorpe called the film a “masterpiece” and described himself as a “hustler”. The film follows a male prostitute and a con man who become unlikely friends in New York. Smith connected its themes of alienation and outsiderdom with Mapplethorpe’s life and art.
- *Midnight Cowboy* struck a deep chord with Robert Mapplethorpe.
- Patti Smith said the film helped her understand his state of mind.
- Its New York outsiders echoed themes in his life and art.
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Patti Smith is a singer and writer, and Robert Mapplethorpe was a photographer. They were close friends and creative partners in New York in the late 1960s and early 1970s, though they later lived apart.
Midnight Cowboy, directed by John Schlesinger, follows Joe Buck, a newcomer to New York who hopes to earn money as a male prostitute, and Enrico “Ratso” Rizzo, a con man. The two form an unlikely friendship as they struggle to get by.
The film’s story of people on the margins of city life offers context for how Mapplethorpe saw himself during a period of separation from Smith. Their different responses to the film also show how art can help people understand one another.