The Devil and Daniel Johnston

This week I watched Jeff Feuerzeig's sophomore release the "Devil and Daniel Johnston." I found it to be a captivating look inside the mind of Daniel Johnston. What was most surprising was the amount of footage and audio recordings from Daniel's life. Daniel's super 8 films were unique in that they reflected the dirty DIY aesthetic of his recordings. Daniel made films and songs about his mother, about his poetry, about his first love Laurie (whose parents owned a funeral home), and anything else that happened to stream out of his consciousness at a particular moment. 

Daniel Johnston - True Love Will Find You in the End. 

(with international subtitles so Jeff feels right at home)

Whether it was his mental disorders or a troubled childhood, Daniel seemed to never grow up. Throughout his life he seemed content with pieces of lined paper and crayons. His art reflected a lifetime of unfiltered imagination. The space in which he created his art was incredibly important to him. His room had an inspiration wall filled with images and his entire room was brimming with precious objects and ephemera. When Daniel moved, he recreated the space to exacting standards. 

Casper the Friendly Ghost was a major figure in Daniel's life. Once, Daniel's father was piloting a small plane back to West Virginia with Daniel; they were on their way back from a music festival in Austin (I think it was SXSW). Daniel had a psychotic episode. Thinking he was Casper Daniel took the key out of the ignition and threw it out of the plane (I kno, crzy right?). After his Dad probably pissed himself profusely he was able to take control of the plane and crash-land it. They both emerged with minor injuries and Daniel was (once again) committed to a mental hospital. In the documentary, Daniel's father break down in tears- for the first time- while trying to describe the incident. His parents always said their goal was to live long enough to see Daniel cured.

Daniel's success is still somewhat of an enigma to me. His rise in popular culture was aided by his association to Kurt Cobain, Sonic Youth, and other popular musicians. Kurt wore Daniel's shirt and this brought him a lot of attention. He appeared on MTV beaming with confidence. He always seemed to carry himself like he was important. "I've already been in the limelight," he says. "It's just a bunch of light bulbs." (quote taken from a news article)

Kurt Wearing Daniel's shirt.

Daniel on MTV

Daniels fixation with Satan was very troubling to watch. It is hard to see a talented person become consumed by his fears. He hit his manager with a pipe, he caused an old lady to fall through her window, and he severed his relationship with his longtime manager (who had worked his entire life to build danny's career). He preached that Satan was among us and we should fear him, these views slipped into some of his performances and were some of the hardest moments to watch.

Bonus: Daniel was partial to Mountain Dew. There are shots in the film of him drinking it. While in a mental hospital he decided to write jingles and submit them. He wanted the Beatles to back him up (John Lennon, hollaback from your grave!). The Pepsi corporation did not write back. Remember kids, Demons drink Mountain Dew.

 "I was sinking deep in sin far from Mountain Dew"