My Psychedelic Love Story

I was hoping for a little more Timothy Leary to be honest but was treated to the unrelenting self-obsession of this woman. To be fair, I think this filled in some of the blanks (in my mind) about Leary (This confirmed my memory - that he wasted his potential - he was simply a hedonist). You don't need this account to come to this conclusion, but her account is sometimes gripping - her wealth, access to famous people, etc. Always must be in on the action, must not be bored! One wishes for some humility, some wisdom - if just for the sake of the children/grandchildren she left behind. One also wishes there were some attempt to fact check. I don't believe a Freedom of information request was made - just a lame statement to the effect that the CIA was unable to verify any documents (something no agency would do, I don't believe).

He certainly still gets credit in the media . This documentary however is about Johanna and her perspective and experience. I find her to be a very credible reporter of her experience and it's refreshing and kept me watching. While the content is less interesting and the information is of course from her experience, her account is what what held my interest and was at times riveting as it unfurled.

A must watch. Mind blowing, truthful, daring, real, raw, excellent story telling, not a dull moment. Excellent editing. A true self documentary drama about life and times with Timothy Leary and his lover. Even as a christian dont be ignorant of the other side of tarot cards and crowley mentions. Watch it open minded. Whether you think they are drug addicts, satanists or anti government hippies this documentary drama is mind blowing and well written. Joanna is an excellent story teller and obviously has an almost photographic memory. They should make this into a full feature movie. The story includes espionage, wealth, degradation, drugs, gangs, international financiers, first class hotels, diplomats and more. A definite must watch. I could imagine Bryan Cranston or Jim Carrey playing Timothy Leary in this movie and Amy Adams as Joanna.

A major failure by the great documentarian Errol Morris about the recently deceased Joanna Harcourt-Smith. She was the girlfriend of Timothy Leary who, when he escaped prison, joined him on his globetrotting romp to keep ahead of the police. Morris makes a classic error, since he's talking a lot of about LSD, and other psychedelics, he thinks it adds to the experience to keep having "trippy" images constantly mixed into the the story. So photographs swirl and expand and displayed text also bubbles up and just gives you a headache. "Like I'm too high, man." I made it through about 12 minutes.

I wish Errol Morris would stop fake re-enactments - it's a documentary. He started this with "The Thin Blue Line". Because it was so successful, almost every director since the 1980s uses this technique which I'd call anti-documentary. But he picks fine topics, such as Bannon (which is his best one), "American Dharma" which use Bannon's favorite movies as a parallel dialogue or point of reference to the conversation and it's very effective, partly because the movies are so great, and "Fog of War"

I've been involved with this story for decades. I have always had my doubts about Joanna. I think every person vital in understanding the mind, being involved with the anti-war movement, anti-establishment politics in general feel she is a fraud. And if you remember, she says "I lie all the time and have my entire life". I don't know why she then went on to describe her heritage over and over. I do know why. She wants the sympathy and guilt from the beginning to make the rest of the story (for those on the fence) to believe her.

She thinks she's a CIA plant. Many others think she worked for the CIA to get Timothy Leary in trouble and having to actually "cop-out" or sell-out and become a snitch, an FBI informant working with the government.

Why was that so important, even for President Nixon? Because the CIA, etc., know how influential heroes are, which is why the US Government, and in particular, the FBI were trying to deport John Lennon.

Many in that period became cynical and apathetic, even nihilistic. George Carlin would lament this in his great comedy bit-rant "Everybody's a Rat" (check it out), which is the goal of "power", so that you can substitute that loss of soul nutrition by being obedient consumers, and have money become your god, because then you are easily controlled and playing into the hands of the establishment - doing their dirty work for them. As opposed to sacrificing yourself for a greater cause, even the lost causes, as Mort Sahl would and still says (one example of a man who would not sell-out)..

Free speech isn't a fad - it's our 1st Amendment in the Constitution. If someone tells you "You're not allowed to talk about ______" - do it 10x as much. The most important issues are usually the ones that aren't discussed enough (or hardly at all).

The tale of Timothy Leary is a game of chess/chicken. The government let him escape, but used that as leverage. I don't think anyone won. The people lost.