Author: The JT LeRoy Story

Dir: Jeff Feuerzeig

2016

****

I knew nothing of JT LeRoy before watching Jeff Feuerzeig's fascinating documentary and I'm almost thankful that I didn't. JT LeRoy or Jeremiah 'Terminator' LeRoy was a transgendered victim of child abuse who was forced into homelessness, drugs and prostitution at a young age. After approaching several cutting edge novelists and journalists such as Dennis Cooper, Bruce Benderson, Mary Gaitskill and Joel Rose as well as poets such as Sharon Olds and Mary Karr, LeRoy was encouraged to write about his life and was eventually published to critical acclaim. He became a darling among authors, actors, musicians and celebrity in general. Due to being shy and without wanting to become famous, recitals of his work would be read out by celebrity friends such as Winona Ryder and Matthew Modine. Enticed by the huge reaction her life-story and subsequent novel had, LeRoy decided to become public and was soon drinking champagne shoulder to shoulder with everybody that was anybody in the early 00s. Gus Van Saint was inspired by him, Marilyn Manson and Nancy Sinatra credited him in their albums, Courtney Love and other celebrity hangers-on gushed over him and he even had a fling with Asia Argento after she adapted his second novel (The Heart is Deceitful Among All Things), a collection of ten short stories about his tough childhood. He became an inspiration for many and someone to look up to as well as exploit. Not bad going for a person who doesn't even exist. JT LeRoy was declared a hoax by the press in 2006 but as Jeff Feuerzeig's documentary unfolds you start to wonder if it really was. That said, it is a very one sided view of the story and straight from the horse's mouth and in some respects maybe it needed to be. It raises some fascinating questions about art, creativity and the blurred lines between credibility and worth. Some people do end up looking stupid and I'm sure many felt that way, Courtney Love doesn't come off very well (does she ever) but I have great sympathy for Asia Argento in particular as she later admitted that she couldn't make another movie for 10 years after the truth came out, she felt a fool, felt manipulated and lost all self-esteem. There was suggestions early on that JT was an AIDS sufferer and he benefited from the attention this got. In the end, bitter law suits indicating fraud were filed and won, all because of a lie that got out of hand. It's fiction vs fraud, a very individual case of one woman's imagination and a case of split-personality stemming from years of uncertainty and self-denial. The manipulated became the manipulator in many ways but it goes to show you can't quash the creative. It also highlights the vacuous narcissism of celebrity and the gullibility of the media. There is a real victim within the story and the film itself is still an extension of a wild delusion but one that is well worth riding for a short while. Certain issues remain unresolved but many questions can only be answered by oneself. It’s an incredible story, one that I’m sure the creative world won’t forget in a long time.