Documentary du Jour

Stevie is gut-wrenching in that classic "here's a guy born into an impossible situation to begin with, then refuses to make a good decision, and just happens to have had for an 'Advocate Big Brother' a guy who would go on to become a world-famous filmmaker, meaning his later downward spiral would be caught on film, despite the filmmaker's earnest efforts to help" way.  In other words, a ridiculously compelling trainwreck you feel guilty even watching.

And yes, the filmmaker is the guy that did Hoop Dreams. I'm gonna hafta watch the entire thing again since there's about a third of it I missed from going "...wait a minute, I know that voice, I know that voice...OMYGOD!  It's the Hoop Dreams guy!!!!"

Towards the end of the film, James himself expresses his guilt over making the movie, acquainting it with the feeling of abandonment he felt all those years ago when he left Stevie in 1985 to pursue his film career. That he acknowledges this shows us that through the process of making "Stevie," James himself has also learned a thing or two about himself, and his own existence. Surely he could have done this without bringing a camera crew along; it just so happens that he created a great movie in the process. To see it is to remember it; to remember it is to learn from it; to learn from it is to discover new meaning and purpose, with the knowledge that there are people out there- who, on different levels are just like you and me- who can grow and learn from their missteps.