Roky Erickson and his band, the 13th Floor Elevators were a 60's rock band that seemed on the cusp of great success. They achieved a small amount of fame and this was greatly due to the power of Roky Erickson's voice. (It's very easy to believe that Janis Joplin was greatly influenced by Erickson as the film contends.) As with many other bands of the era, the group experimented heavily with psychedelic drugs. When Roky combined rampant drug use along with a preexisting mental illness he began behaving much more erratically, and slowly began fading away from society.
"You're Gonna Miss Me.." attempts to fill in what has happened to Roky in the twenty or so years since he disappeared from the public eye as well as show his current status. As it turns out, Erickson has been living in Austin under the care of his mother who has made him virtually unavailable to any other members of his family or doctors to help him with his illness. Indeed, one of the first times we see Roky today he is enraptured with a Mr. Potato Head doll. A huge rift has developed within his family, as it appears that Erickson's mother is also in dire need of some psychiatry as well. The creators of "You're Gonna Miss Me" have certainly chosen an interesting subject, and generally present it well. They did a fine job of capturing Roky, his living conditions, and his relationship with his mother. They also managed to locate more than enough footage throughout the years to document Roky's unraveling.
Despite the compelling material, there are a number of problems with the documentary. First, there is only passing attention paid to Erickson's father, brothers, or son. There was obviously much that had happened over the years between the family and Roky's mother that was not discussed during the documentary. I felt that those people had a lot to do with the story, but I was never allowed to really get to know them. There was even a remark made in passing during the film that Roky's father may have molested one or more of his sons, but for whatever reason the filmmakers chose not to investigate this further. The ending of the documentary left me wanting as well. There was a long period of time that Roky was in therapy and was taking medicine that the audience does not get to see. We jump from Roky being almost completely out of it to somewhat coherent months later. It would have been fascinating to see Erickson slowly reemerge. Although we get to see Roky pick up the guitar the guitar again, he clearly had a long way to go, and I'm sure the movie would have played better if the filmmakers had continued following Erickson for a while longer. Luckily the DVD bonus materials help achieve that sense of closure the film lacks.
The 13th Floor Elevators still have many fans today (some of them famous musician tons in their own right), and Erickson's fall into the depths of mental illness is an interesting and tragic one. The viewer can't help but feel that if the right actions had been taken at any number of critical times in Erickson's life that he might have avoided a large number of his problems.
"You're Gonna Miss Me.." attempts to fill in what has happened to Roky in the twenty or so years since he disappeared from the public eye as well as show his current status. As it turns out, Erickson has been living in Austin under the care of his mother who has made him virtually unavailable to any other members of his family or doctors to help him with his illness. Indeed, one of the first times we see Roky today he is enraptured with a Mr. Potato Head doll. A huge rift has developed within his family, as it appears that Erickson's mother is also in dire need of some psychiatry as well. The creators of "You're Gonna Miss Me" have certainly chosen an interesting subject, and generally present it well. They did a fine job of capturing Roky, his living conditions, and his relationship with his mother. They also managed to locate more than enough footage throughout the years to document Roky's unraveling.
Despite the compelling material, there are a number of problems with the documentary. First, there is only passing attention paid to Erickson's father, brothers, or son. There was obviously much that had happened over the years between the family and Roky's mother that was not discussed during the documentary. I felt that those people had a lot to do with the story, but I was never allowed to really get to know them. There was even a remark made in passing during the film that Roky's father may have molested one or more of his sons, but for whatever reason the filmmakers chose not to investigate this further. The ending of the documentary left me wanting as well. There was a long period of time that Roky was in therapy and was taking medicine that the audience does not get to see. We jump from Roky being almost completely out of it to somewhat coherent months later. It would have been fascinating to see Erickson slowly reemerge. Although we get to see Roky pick up the guitar the guitar again, he clearly had a long way to go, and I'm sure the movie would have played better if the filmmakers had continued following Erickson for a while longer. Luckily the DVD bonus materials help achieve that sense of closure the film lacks.
The 13th Floor Elevators still have many fans today (some of them famous musician tons in their own right), and Erickson's fall into the depths of mental illness is an interesting and tragic one. The viewer can't help but feel that if the right actions had been taken at any number of critical times in Erickson's life that he might have avoided a large number of his problems.
