# Documentaries about extremely dysfunctional people **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 20, 2007, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentaries-about-extremely-dysfunctional-people/408691 "2007-06-20T07:31:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentaries-about-extremely-dysfunctional-people/408691/21 "2007-06-20T17:45:03Z")
[QUOTE=Sampiro] I’m surprised I’m the first person to mention [Grey Gardens](http://imdb.com/title/tt0073076/) [/QUOTE] You’re not. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentaries-about-extremely-dysfunctional-people/408691/22 "2007-06-20T17:46:30Z")
[QUOTE=Sampiro] I’m surprised I’m the first person to mention [Grey Gardens](http://imdb.com/title/tt0073076/) . . . . [/QUOTE] Response deleted. Cervaise beat me to it. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentaries-about-extremely-dysfunctional-people/408691/23 "2007-06-20T17:57:55Z")
[QUOTE=Cervaise] You’re not. 😉 [/QUOTE] Ah- sorry, overlooked. (I also did a CTRL F and it didn’t pop up.) ## [Here’s a direct link](http://www.greygardensthemusical.com/movielandweb/index.htm) to the tabloid article that started it all then. Note the before and after pics of the mansion’s interior. I’ll add the documentaries about the West Memphis 3- [Paradise Lost: the Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradise_Lost:_The_Child_Murders_at_Robin_Hood_Hills) and [Paradise Lost 2: Revelations](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradise_Lost_2:_Revelations), films that should be mandatory viewing about a murder case that should be known to everybody as it’s 20,000 times more interesting and relevant and horrifying than Phil Spector/OJ/Robert Blake/etc.. These have some of the most dysfunctional folks you could ever hope to see, one of whom may have murdered and sexually mutilated (in some order) an 8 year old boy (but which one is a matter of major dispute, and not many believe it’s the one who’s on death row for it. West Memphis 3 Links: [wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Memphis_3)- [official](http://wm3.org) - lengthy [crimelibrary article](http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/famous/memphis/index_1.html) ). ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentaries-about-extremely-dysfunctional-people/408691/24 "2007-06-20T18:20:45Z")
[QUOTE=OpalCat] I read the wikipedia article but it was useless. What is so strange about the guy? The article pretty much just said that he dances and he’s poor and he’s been mentioned in a bunch of songs. [/QUOTE] You gotta see it to get it. He’s just bizarre, and says crazy shit, and a lot of his stories revolve around huffing a ton of gasoline. But, it fits into “extremely dysfunctional” and also sort of sad because he’s not only poor, but he’s stupid, somewhat violent, has substance abuse problems. . .the gamut of poor stereotypes. Yet, he’s oddly descriptive, and articulate in his own way which is why it can seem somewhat phony when you first see it. ---
**Author:** ![Talon\_Karrde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Talon\_Karrde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Talon_Karrde)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentaries-about-extremely-dysfunctional-people/408691/25 "2007-06-20T18:22:42Z")
There’s _Grizzly Man_, which is about Timothy Treadwell. ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentaries-about-extremely-dysfunctional-people/408691/26 "2007-06-20T19:00:57Z")
[QUOTE=Cervaise] One of the very best “WTF is wrong with these people” documentaries is _Grey Gardens._ Amazing from beginning to end. [/QUOTE] It’s a shame no one ever introduced the Bouviers to the [Collyer Brothers](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collyer_brothers). Love might have been in the air! Or at least, _something_ would have been in the air… ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentaries-about-extremely-dysfunctional-people/408691/27 "2007-06-20T19:03:28Z")
[Vernon, FL](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083281/), Errol Morris’s first documentary, about a town in FL where, among other things, some residents run insurance scams by amputating their own limbs. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Hildo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@Johnny\_Hildo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Hildo)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentaries-about-extremely-dysfunctional-people/408691/28 "2007-06-20T19:19:32Z")
[QUOTE=JohnT] [Vernon, FL](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083281/), Errol Morris’s first documentary [/QUOTE] [Gates of Heaven](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077598/) preceded this. ---
**Author:** ![yanceylebeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yanceylebeef/32/12290_2.png) [@yanceylebeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yanceylebeef)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentaries-about-extremely-dysfunctional-people/408691/29 "2007-06-20T19:27:44Z")
Just saw [You’re Gonna Miss Me](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0791268/) last night at the Tivoli. I can’t believe I’m goig to quote Kurt Loder for chrissakes, but he hit the nail on the head. Roky Erickson is one of the great lost vocalist of all time. A must see, and a picture perfect depiction of a truly disfunctional family. ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentaries-about-extremely-dysfunctional-people/408691/30 "2007-06-20T19:39:13Z")
[QUOTE=Johnny Hildo] [Gates of Heaven](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077598/) preceded this. [/QUOTE] But I don’t think _Gates of Heaven_ is about dysfunctional people. Unless you think loving your pet enough to buy a grave and monument for it is a dysfunction. ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentaries-about-extremely-dysfunctional-people/408691/31 "2007-06-20T20:11:13Z")
[QUOTE=JohnT] [Vernon, FL](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083281/), Errol Morris’s first documentary, about a town in FL where, among other things, some residents run insurance scams by amputating their own limbs. [/QUOTE] There’s no _personal_ reason I’m bothered that the name of the town where this stuff takes place is Vernon. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentaries-about-extremely-dysfunctional-people/408691/32 "2007-06-20T20:16:07Z")
A few HBO Undercover Documentaries that stand out for me for their particular dysfunctionality are [Small Town Ecstacy](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0337719/), [Life of Crime 1 & 2](http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Hbo+Undercover+Life+of+crime), and [Crank: Made in the USA](http://www.hbo.com/docs/programs/crank/). My favorite was the Life of Crime gang (Rob, Delkirious, and Freddy)… that was some crazy dysfunctional shit. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentaries-about-extremely-dysfunctional-people/408691/33 "2007-06-20T20:40:45Z")
Dysfunctional? [Titicut Follies](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062374/) fills that bill rather…er…nicely. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentaries-about-extremely-dysfunctional-people/408691/34 "2007-06-20T21:07:30Z")
[QUOTE=devilsknew] A few HBO Undercover Documentaries that stand out for me for their particular dysfunctionality are [Small Town Ecstacy](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0337719/), [Life of Crime 1 & 2](http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Hbo+Undercover+Life+of+crime), and [Crank: Made in the USA](http://www.hbo.com/docs/programs/crank/). [/QUOTE] Another one, which just re-aired last week (and which I watched at 4:00 a.m. or something, being up with insomnia) was [_Dope Sick Love_](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0451041/), which followed two male/female pairs of addicts as they worked the streets of NYC trying to get money for heroin and/or crack. I don’t know how long the filming took, but a couple of them in particular seemed to age about 10 years, and all of them looked horrible by the end. It was easily one of the most depressing things I’ve ever watched. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentaries-about-extremely-dysfunctional-people/408691/35 "2007-06-20T21:39:51Z")
[QUOTE=Fiver] But I don’t think _Gates of Heaven_ is about dysfunctional people. Unless you think loving your pet enough to buy a grave and monument for it is a dysfunction. [/QUOTE] John T asserted that _Vernon_ was EM’s first doc. Johnny H’s post simply refuted that assertion. ---
**Author:** ![Mike\_Fun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a9adbd/32.png) [@Mike\_Fun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike_Fun)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentaries-about-extremely-dysfunctional-people/408691/36 "2007-06-20T23:17:10Z")
“Monster Road” about the animator Bruce Bickford. Maybe not totally dysfunctional, but very weird. His father with demetia is quite an amazing character, too. “In the Realms of the Unreal” about writer/artist Henry Darger. He was a recluse whose epic work was completely unknown until after his death. Apparently he never saw a female nude so he depicted females with male genitalia. “The Devil and Daniel Johnston” has already been mentioned, but is worth a second mention. ---
**Author:** ![Mike\_Fun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a9adbd/32.png) [@Mike\_Fun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike_Fun)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentaries-about-extremely-dysfunctional-people/408691/37 "2007-06-20T23:32:48Z")
Oh yeah, and there’s “Sick: The Life and Death of Bob Flanagan, Supermasochist” ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentaries-about-extremely-dysfunctional-people/408691/38 "2007-06-20T23:43:43Z")
[_Hated_](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0107086). Not, absolutely _ **NOT** _, for the weak of stomach, or spirit. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentaries-about-extremely-dysfunctional-people/408691/39 "2007-06-21T04:37:54Z")
This movie seemed to have caused a stir at this year’s Cannes film festival: [Zoo](http://imdb.com/title/tt0874423/): a documentary on horses and the men who love them - especially one man, a Boeing engineer, who died after a passionate encounter in the rural town of Enumclaw, WA. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentaries-about-extremely-dysfunctional-people/408691/40 "2007-06-21T04:54:02Z")
I wish I could remember the title but I saw a documentary on Sundance about men who opted for voluntary castration. There was an underground community of such men and they could even find people willing to perform such operations. I don’t think they were all transgendered though I believe at least one of them was. Marc [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentaries-about-extremely-dysfunctional-people/408691.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentaries-about-extremely-dysfunctional-people/408691.md?page=3)