Every creative uses art to confront the demons of their trauma from childhood, innermost insecurities, mental health issues, and more. Comedy is one of the most freeing forms, I would say too (talking as a former one myself). Many comedians do this, yet it’s not as highlighted in the media, nor is a comic when put in a lens ready to be as reflective as such. That is until you age and gain some buckles under life’s belt, leading you to reflect on your interpersonal relationships with the ones you love most. The Judd Apatow co-directed doc Paralyzed by Hope: The Maria Bamford Story handles this with nuance while tributing the singular wittiness and anxiety-ridden eccentricism of Maria Bamford.
From Duluth to the Stage
The doc chronicles the life story in Bamford, her humble roots at Duluth, Minnesota—an oddball, shy kid with some gifted talents (having been a violinist since 3). But she showed signs of OCD and self-consciousness about her appearance, which wasn’t helped by her mother imposing traditionalist beauty standards at the time (it was the 70s) and favoring her sister Sarah Bamford Seidelmann. She also developed suicidal ideation as a form of comfort and an eating disorder to boot. All these anxieties and insecurities that stemmed from their personal life were channeled through sketch comedy when she went to college in Minneapolis at the University of Minnesota.
Paralyzed by Hope takes on the bio cradle-to-current format, with archival footage of Bamford’s sets across the years being the framework and structure for its storytelling. It’s broken up into chapters with headings titled “starting up” or “finding community” that could’ve been done without bogging the bio-doc down to wiki-styled basicness.
Bamford Carries It
That said, the doc functions well because of Bamford. Her openness about her mental health and medications, all amid a burgeoning professional comedy and acting career, propels the engrossing. It gets personal on her brain functionality, whether from her clips or the intimate 1:1 conversation shared between Apatow and Bamford. Many who have struggled with mental illness in some capacity—with the way the world has been heading lately, it’d be insane if you don’t—can find connection in the doc. Bamford’s comedic style truly spoke to me in how she functioned as an extroverted-introvert who has a specific lifestyle she needs to abide by and the mood stabilizers to get her through the day. Glad this Sundance doc was seen at home and not at a festival because her specific morbid, dead parents’ jokes later in the film had me guffawing. She has that humor that any twisted, dark, comedic-loving person can appreciate, amplified if you similarly experienced hers.
Bamford possesses such a unique view on the world and has an engrossing navigation that, as the doc spotlights, only wises with age. As it furthers into the latter half, the film sharpens into being a therapeutic release for her as she and her sister come to reconcile about their relationship with their parents and their regrets on weaponizing their comedy. Specifically the toil many comics face in publicizing everything and what lines should be drawn for the sake of privacy. Many are the living embodiment of a Freudian irony for the sake of creativity, but that can also bleed into the Mitski line from her genius interview, “Let me use this pain and exploit it for my money.” While Bamford definitely did the latter, the film is a tribute to her artistry and kind-hearted humanity through and through.
The Apatow Problem (and the Sarandos Jump Scare)
Throughout it, I kept wondering why Apatow hadn’t gone to her to write a personal feature until it revealed through Mitchell Hurwitz that he was and she just didn’t want that level of fame—which also ended up being a meta throughline in her starring early two-season Netflix series Lady Dynamite. Though I am exhausted from having Ted Sarandos jump scares in comedian docs, it is genuinely funny to hear him say how he used his executive power in greenlighting season 2 for himself.
Considering this was a Sundance flick, I bet Apatow and Berkeley (who also co-directed Who Is Martin Mull?, and that Sarandos also appeared in) got Sarandos in as, yes, a reasonable talking head relevant to her story, but also a failsafe. Like if it didn’t get any buyers at Sundance, he’d swoop in and nab it because he is a bigger fan of Maria Bamford than the theatrical moviegoing experience.
That said, the Apatow issues that come from all of this work retain, specifically being tooooooo long and needing a 15-20 minute trim. It’s the same complaint we had just a week ago with his Norm: The Tale of Norm Macdonald, though this one lands far better.
Fans of Bamford’s work will be enthused by this doc and get an intimate and honest look at her life, her career, and her alluring singularity and comedic nuance. Extremely honest and intimate to the point, it will definitely make some converts. As someone who is only familiar with her voice acting work, this really made me want to start watching her specials and shows, something hardly any of these bio-docs made me feel. Watch this be how Lady Dynamite gets a revival.
Paralyzed by Hope: The Maria Bamford Story is streaming on Netflix now as part of this week’s new releases.