Austin Music Awards 2008 Photo licensed under Creative CommonsMy opinions about the people in the documentary You're Gonna Miss Me are based on what I saw and what I've read. I don't know these people personally. Having said that, I'll toss some ideas around about Roky Erickson, his situation and his family.
I watched the documentary a second time, and I saw things a bit differently. I understand Roky's mother better. She is an extremely bright woman with an elevated vocubulary. She is a frustrated performer who still dreams of being on the stage. Unfortunately, she is more than a pack rat. She appears to be a hoarder of the stacks of junk and filth around her that keep her at a low level of functioning.
Roky's youngest brother Sumner talks about growing up in a decaying house and the need to make noise before entering the kitchen so the rats would run away. The mother and the silent father did not teach their children to solve their own problems, at least by example. It's no wonder that the mom could not release Roky from his inward prison, no matter how much she loves him, when she's stuck in one herself.
