Daniel Johnston makes music for the geek who dares to love – all the tragedy, confusion and naked failure of hope-filled but probably doomed romance is poured out with his nerdy voice – underground folk music from the suburban doldrums of loneliness and depression – but laced with genuinely funny comic book joy and faith.
This movie tells a story that is dominated by art and mental illness – both phenomena at war (and in collusion), both overwhelmingly powerful in Johnston’s life so that, apart from his family, he really seems to have nothing else.
It’s also the story of the unreality that results from a celebrity and music culture that seeks to exploit individuals it doesn’t understand and ultimately can’t cope with. Is this movie part of the ultimate trip that is Johnston’s life and people like me (viewing it and blogging about it) just another abstraction? I wish. Anyway – this is a good look at an “underground” American artist with one hell of a life story.
2 comments:
I dunno. I don't really agree with the first para or two of your post (even though they're worded cleverly). DJ made music and art intuitively and prolifically, especially before mental illness actually set in. His themes were wide-ranging and I think he had a genuine (almost occult-like) gift for insight into the world and life - which, in many of us, is obscured by the need to be functional and, somehow, rational. Maybe he actually IS a genius.
yeah I know what you mean (tho I am not just trying to "be clever" here - just writing a review don't ya know) - we live in a dialectic of subjectivity versus objective exploitation - and people like DJ seem to bridge both ... his stuff is art and it does artistic things to you - something no cultural era can ever fully explains....
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