The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker

On the surface, this doc charts the viral popularity of Kai, but really it's about the insidious, predatory nature of parasites who deliberately ignored his VERY obvious mental illness to exploit him for their own gain. The warning signs were there from the minute the cameras started rolling - this is a deeply unwell young man who seems unable to parse reality from delusion, and his story inevitably ends in violence. But hey, he gets clicks so the Kardashian producers want to give him a reality TV show. He looks uncomfortable, like a caged animal in a zoo, but I want a selfie to show my friends. Most of the interviews are industry people detailing the various ways they tried to profit off of him while ignoring glaringly obvious red flags, with few if any showing remorse or even self-awareness. This doc also borders on exploitative, but it has value as a satire of our celebrity-obsessed culture and flippant attitude towards mental illness. I'm just not sure that was the goal.

It seems like an unintentional documentary on how the kid could have been rescued or helped with many chances to do so but all the people he kept crossing paths with only saw how they could benefit from him or cast him aside when they were done with their intents for him. Fairly crazy to look at these many people just act as if they don't know what they are doing, fairly mesmerizing, really. The pattern just keeps repeating from different people and even from the same people he crosses more than once, noone wants to see past themselves and face the reality that is in front of them basically screaming for help. What a sad society.

So this is a much ado about nothing situation. All this people who are trying to make a buck off of this neuro-atypical kid are disgusting. Of course they pretend to be looking out for him and to want to make him rich, but they could not care less about his well being. They just want to ride the wave of his viral moment. That is not a surprise. In fact nothing is a surprise in this doc, and all the moments that are presented as cliffhangers and mindblowing events are so predictable and ultimately uninteresting, because from the point of view of the ugly people trying to exploit him. If it had been a doc about him, his mental health, the relationship between that and his life choices, or the absence of such relationship, it would have been a much better doc. But the bottom line for this is "we could have made so much money out of him, but he is troubled for real, not just to entertain us."

I'm not sure I knew about Kai before watching this. It's a watchable documentary but the participants in it make all sorts of irritating biased claims that suit their angle. To begin with I personally did not think of Kai's behavior as heroic even for a split second. He seemed chaotic in his speaking, was showing how he hammered the other person with way too much enthusiasm and just showed signs immediately that he's someone to beware of. The fact that so many wanted to see him as a hero (and are still speaking as though he had that great charisma factor) and how the media sensationalized him should be a deeply disturbing commentary on the state of what society values at any time and how media plays a role. Since the story is real and interviews are somewhat interesting it was watchable. But unlike many other documentaries, I don't see much of a lesson learned or any critical discussion to stimulate ideas that are useful. The underexplored murder also cast a shadow on the elderly victim, and I felt that the victim may be victimized again. I don't know what happened but we're only hearing the side of the murderer. Not the best doc. And certainly a real story that none should be proud of particularly the media. Face up to the consequences of your decisions.

When I first started watching this, I thought it might be a Mockumentary. It was all over the place and I found it obnoxious. As it progressed, it got better.

This story has few conclusions and leaves you with a lot of questions. I'm wondering if this guy got by being a hustler then snapped at one of his johns.

It is sad to see all the people who had no interest in him except when they thought they could make money off of him. I don't think any of them wanted to improve his lot in life or to get him psychological help. Granted, he did come across as a free spirit who could take care of himself, but when disturbing behavior came out, they all fled.

You want to feel sorry for him, but once a person hurts another in such a vicious way, I lose all empathy.