Documentary Project: Guided Reflection

I suppose that something that surprised me about the documentary, was how accepting/tolerating people were towards J.T. LeRoy. Despite not giving the ideal vision of a man or woman that society often pushes onto us, J.T. was able to become very popular during his time. Him and his work was loved by everyone, and yet he didn't conform to gender or sexuality norms from what was shown in the public.

One question that I have after the viewing, is, did Laura ever get the mental help that she needed as herself? Or does she still do her therapy through J.T.? She seemed to have gone through so much from her childhood to now. Acting as J.T. or writing as a man seemed to be the only way that she could explore the trauma that she went through as it gave it some distance from herself. Laura even mentions that being forced to write as a woman in a college class was what broke her down so much that she stopped writing altogether.

We might avoid including research in out summaries because we can relate to ourselves the events in the piece of media that we are summarizing, making it personal. And in this case, where the piece of media is a documentary, it can often be filled with the opinions or feelings of the person(s) its about, who are talking about the situation, and who are creating the piece of media through its purpose. I believe the film's purpose was to answer the audience's question of why, as well as give Laura a chance to explain herself. By telling the story through the people involved, especially Laura Albert, they used ethos as she is a primary source of sorts in the situation. The film uses pathos with the incorporation of Laura's backstory and some of the readings of J.T. LeRoy to appeal to the reason why Laura did what she did and the connection between her life and the stories she wrote.


Amazon.com: Author: The Jt Leroy Story : Laura Albert, Bruce Benderson, Dennis Cooper, Panio Gianopoulos, Winona Ryder, Ira Silverberg, Jeff Feuerzeig, Jim Czarnecki, Molly Thompson, Brett Ratner, A&E IndieFilms, Jeff Feuerzeig: Movies

Source(s): (Jeff Feuerzeig). (2016). Author: The JT LeRoy story [Film]. Amazon MGM Studios & Magnolia Pictures.

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