1. The new documentary about Anthony Bourdain, Roadrunner, is less about Bourdain than it is about mourning Bourdain, the still unprocessed grief felt not just by Bourdain's family & friends but his many fans at his suicide.
2. As a film about mourning, it's very effective, capturing what energizing life force Bourdain was to those around him and why he was so loved, while also outlining some of the sources of his inner turmoil.
3. The film's use of computer technology to recreate Bourdain's voice has been rightly criticized but for me the bigger problem was the decision not to interview Bourdain's final romantic partner, Asia Argento.
4. There's a host of reasons why Argento is a contentious figure, and interviewing her would have opened up many cans of worms, but to include other mourners and not her seems to be to say that her grief doesn't matter.
5. For the latest podcast, I talk (and debate) with @DavidKlion about Bourdain, depression, Roadrunner, the AI voice, the exclusion of Asia Argento, etc. jeetheer.substack.com/p/podcast-reme…
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