The Devil and Daniel Johnston

[Jo]

Has anyone ever seen the documentary and/or heard of Daniel Johnston. Thoughts?

[Jo]

I agree Melissa. But I think it is an intimate look in Danile Johnston's mind. I showed it to my Health class to give them a better understanding of bipolar disorder. There were a lot of unfortunate situations that occured in his life, but I think in a way it could have been so much worse for him, but he had the right support systems.
And I do think it is a story about Daniel Johnston's and I do not think all artisits are "crazy"
Happy Reading,
Jo

[Jo]

Actually, I am clinical social worker (school counselor) that was roped into teaching the Health class. I have my MSW. Before and after the movie I did explain to my students that there are different types of bipolar, etc...
I just keep telling them that everything is on a continuum and they all seem to get it.
Best,
Jo

[Jo]

Apologies accepted. I think the way Daniel's mother treated was terrible. But I do not think his father treated him poorly. If anything he fuly supported him and later became his manager. I just think things could have ended up a lot worse if he did not have the friends and family who took him in (jail, homelessness, etc..)

[Beth A]

Melissa and Jo, thank you both for not stereotyping us crazy artists :-)! I didn't actually think that is what you meant, Jo, but as an artist who has been called crazy, I get a little prickly about wording.

Even still, so many mentally ill people are debased, abandoned, reviled...and they are perfectly nice, sweet, productive people if given the right care and, yes, support. They just happened to inherit the giant shaft being mental illness. They are often terribly misrepresented on film, which gives rise to more judgement and misunderstanding.

Sorry, I'm going in to a bit of a rant, but in my circle, this labeling and mistreatment has been extremely detrimental to some fabulous artists.

Ok, I'm done! Thanks!

~Beth

[K]

Its okay - bit slow on occasions.