The Devil and Daniel Johnston

[adam]

Finally saw this. Thought it was an interesting topic, but thought the documentary itself could have been put together better. Could have used some extra trimming, I think.

One bone to pick, that I think is fairly important: They pointed out that Daniel was going off his meds before shows, and that seems to be when all his worst behavior was. I think they should have pointed out that withdrawal from those types of medications can cause "crazy" behavior; that is, he wasn't just acting nuts because he was off his meds and had returned to his normal baseline, he was acting nuts because withdrawal from mood-altering drugs is no small thing. He obviously has deep issues, but, having witnessed my father when he's messed up his medication, I think it's worth pointing out to those who might be unaware: when he pulled the keys from the plane on his father, that was withdrawal making him nuts. To represent that as his natural state is unfair.