Gary

I grew up watching Gary Coleman since I was a baby. In particular, the sitcom Diff'rent Stroke was a family favourite. This documentary help shed light to the up and downs of this young man who could have still been alive to this day.

It is a cautionary tale in that he could have enjoyed the millions that he worked hard over the years yet as a minor (and I somewhat do not blame him for this), he had to entrust his money to a group of individuals who took advantage of him. It is even worse that he was Black.

His story is a cautionary tale never to entrust one's money to individuals who at the end will take advantage of you.

A 2024 doc about the short, successful but ultimately life of one Gary Coleman. Being probably one of the most recognizable & successful young actors of his generation when he got his role on Diff'rent Strokes (a groundbreaking sitcom which posited a white rich man who adopts 2 black kids) where his catchphrase 'whatcha talking about...?' became a pop culture trigger but after his own health issues (his kidney transplant at a young age pretty much stunted his growth & kept him perennially diminutive), the sheen of his role soon wore on him. Another personal issue would come about when his parents annexed Coleman's monies for failed ventures which prompted him to sue them partnered w/his questionable nuptials w/a much younger & to be honest immature woman leaving the last few years of life anything but pleasant. Using talking head interviews w/the people who knew him & copious clips of the man himself, you can't help but feel sympathy for this man who gave so much of himself to entertain others.

I've got mixed feelings about this documentary. Partly because it's stated multiple times throughout that he wanted peace and to leave celebrity behind. But, the true point of it was to show just how talented he was and that he was so much more than his infamous character Arnold. He was let down by so many people, including the public, who refused to see him any other way.

This documentary highlights his health condition, his talent, his relationships, and the people who either truly or possibly loved him. That's for each one of us watching to decide. I'm leaving it with the point of the documentary. He was so very talented and it was so unfortunate that he never had the opportunity to show us his full range.

There's something very uncomfortable about this documentary on the turbulent life of the precocious talent that was Gary Coleman. For a generation he was loved wherever his flagship show "Different Strokes" was shown, and broke down various barriers without even needing to try but just be himself.

The reality was that behind the curtains, it was all another story and this documentary is meant to be trying to reveal the reality. However, as Gary Coleman has passed away, we are left to rely on a series of contributors whom we are wholly left mostly unconvinced by their sincerity or honesty in their recalling of the young man.

It makes the entire documentary difficult watch, as we know that he was a maturing male stuck in the body of young boy.

Like many others, I was charmed by Gary Coleman in his heyday and loved his exuberance & humour. Sad to see how life transpired for him and certain of his peers.

This documentary probably on what they had on hand, should have been buried. If it's meant to reveal the truth, I'm not sure any judge would be able to give a final judgement on what was presented.

Give this a miss I think, and really maybe now let's leave Gary Coleman to rest in peace.

For an excellent behind the scenes view of what Gary was really like on the set of Diffrent Strokes I highly recommend reading Todd Bridges biography. Todd provides a lot of detail and context that was sorely missing from this documentary. The majority of people know Gary Coleman from DS. Yet much of his experiences on the show was glossed over in this documentary. The behavior of his parents on set was legendary. Particularly his father--although his Mother was very much a stage mother. It is a sad and familiar story. Why so much screen time was given to his ex-wife is bewildering as she didn't know him very long and she was clearly a just another leech in a long line of leeches--who sucked the money and life out of Coleman. Her 911 call was suspect IMO giving details in a calm voice while there is blood everywhere and your boyfriend is unresponsive? Strange.