Henry Darger | Down the Rabbit Hole

[@srkibble]

Just imagine, there were probably more people out there like him, but their works were thrown in the trash. Henry only narrowly avoided being entirely unnoticed by the world.

[@informitas0117]

There are probably less frequent now as it's easy to make a youtube channel or post online even if you are only partial to the idea. Not everyone ofcourse, just saying it's easier to publish now. Most of my art will never be seen as it was made for me and not anyone else, I'm sure many think like that.

[@Nantosuelta]

there are millions of incredible artists in this day and age who's art goes entirely unrealized. The most talented artists rarely show their work and many times suffer from self esteem issues and extreme perfectionism, they dont share anything that they created usually because to them it isn't any good.

[@FluffyFerretFarm]

He was a pedophile and it's ashame his twisted mind actually came to light..

[@Hobo_Knight]

@@FluffyFerretFarm how's he a pedophile?

[@tietaejae9869]

Hobo Knight i think he means that Darger is a pedophile because of his fascination with the purity of little girls/children in general. i disagree, i see Darger as more of an unknowing innocent himself. ironically, the worst and best he knows of barely goes beyond prepubescence.

[@noontide1209]

"Too late now" like, damn. That moment of clarity where he realized people would have liked his works mustve been heavy

[@otterno.1128]

I think he was too scared to show them to anyone, it is a very odd concept and more about his personal mental state rather than a publishable book. Still, would love to read them, 15,000 pages of that incredible artwork..

[@dustgraystone9448]

NewBenCity That and after the fact, people were accusing him of murder and sexualy abusing children... so ya.... depressing possible bullshit.

[@DamienZshadow]

As an artist myself who feels perpetually stuck and working on a graphic novel but never being satisfied with how to start it, that shook me up really hard. I really have to get this thing done before I turn 70 years old!

[@FiendMatadorSlayerOfNoobs]

+DamienZshadow Not really an art person myself, but I'm rooting for ya!

[@DamienZshadow]

Thank you!

[@aidanchilders9043]

A side note, Fredrik, that didn't make it into the video: Henry Darger's grave can be found in All Saints Cemetery in Des Plaines, Iowa. The headstone reads: "Henry Darger. Artist and Protector of Children."

[@akristen4971]

Sounds as if he had horrific trauma through his childhood

[@FionnMarr]

Now I feel like I am doing nothing with my life.

[@Emperor.Penguin.]

he's in Des Plaines, Illinois, not Iowa

[@jerrysmith8814]

Damn

[@Demiglitch]

That's badass.

[@Pratttan2]

“When one mentioned the artwork to him and complimented him on it, Darger reacted with surprise but all he replied with was ‘Too late now...’” Damn, that shit hurted

[@Radical_Rainbow]

"Too late, now." Heartbreaking.

[@xxXXXxxx852]

i hope so much that god really exists and that this man is enjoying heaven right now

[@parzivalthewanderer9687]

I am an atheist, but I do hope he is somewhere lovely. As an artist that has taught themself, and is extremely misunderstood and quiet, I know how much it means to have your art seen and cared about. It is a depressing shame that he never got to see it in his life, but is beautiful knowing he is respected and well known today.

[@abloogywoogywoo]

@@xxXXXxxx852 If god exists, if heaven exists, why live in this shitty world at all? They don't. Man made it all up in the face of this cold bleak reality.

[@Blanderr]

@@abloogywoogywoo alright there Nietzsche. You seem very sure of yourself in your assumptions, care to back them up?

[@abloogywoogywoo]

@@Blanderr Define "god" first asshole.

[@seangannon6005]

I love how his self insert character changes sides. At first I thought he was just writing an idealised version of himself into it but the character is more a general reflection of himself with development and changes in mindset

[@cryptiecreep]

He was a traumatized, deeply hurt man who had almost nothing. He had to create his own, and with nobody to bounce things off of, things got more and more muddled, and the lines between fiction and reality blurred. I hope that poor man has found peace now.

[@ssharkbait]

UPDATE: Wow I had no idea this comment had so many responses. Sorry for the late update. Unfortunately he is no longer at our facility. His health took a turn for the worst and he stopped drawing so I never got the chance to speak to him about maybe posting online or displaying at a gallery. I still have some of his work though. I’m not sure if it would be ethical to post anything as I never got permission from him, but I’m willing to describe it more and answer anymore questions anyone has. I’ll be sure to check back periodically. He reminds me so much of a man who lives in a facility I work at. He’s an artist too. He does little comics that are often about war, the police, and religion. He hates authority figures with a passion and often rants about them. The comics usually have a character saying a line or two that doesn’t really make much sense in the context of the comic. His work is highly stylized and sometimes has a bit of humor thrown in. He draws portraits of my co workers with captions like “The Queen! That’s just how it is.” He claims a bunch of things from his childhood like that his father started him on fire once but there’s no record of that. He does talk about being sexually abused as a teenager and how he didn’t support segregation which made his parents angry. He’s very sweet. He tells me all the time my fiancé is a lucky man and I’ll be a lovely wife. He also says stuff like. “You have a great head of hair! You’re a wonderful black woman.” He talks a lot about how art makes him happy and he wishes he could’ve made it his career. I really want to help him out with getting his art out there cause it’s what he talks about most of the time but I’m not sure how. Unfortunately he might end up like Henry with his work celebrated after he’s long gone. He’s a paranoid schizophrenic by the way, which I definitely think Henry was.

[@borby4584]

Burt C0caine I hope that he does well, he sounds like an interesting man.

[@daratheresa]

He sounds like an interesting individual! I hope his art can get out there in the world :)

[@kimgkomg]

My dad's a correctional officer too

[@ragingsun1615]

get him to put up an internet gallery.

[@StoutShako]

Tell him that at least 200 strangers on the internet are rooting for him!

[@theskullraider5058]

The dude's headstone reads "Artist" and "Protector of Children" Damn... that's heavy

[@unknowndane4754]

God damn it dude, I know it's a year since you left this, but I had to look it up just to make sure you weren't shitting me, and all I can react with was "aww good for him"

[@michaelphone8739]

ok

[@HyperWraithAL]

@@michaelphone8739ok

[@patronsaintofpoison]

It makes me sick that so many artists live and die in poverty, yet after their deaths their work is sold at auctions for hundreds of thousands of dollars

[@amygulley316]

Starving artist

[@patronsaintofpoison]

@k immaded I am not talking about someone's personal reason for making art. I am talking about the manner in which art is regarded by other people, by society at large. Vincent van Gogh was endlessly teased by the people living in the town where he died; they a thought he was a total weirdo, lugging his huge wooden easel and supplies around with him, painting fields and flowers, and they treated him as such. Yet a little more than a century after he died, one of his paintings sells for millions of dollars. MILLIONS. OKAY. THEY DON'T EVEN KNOW IF HE REALLY SHOT HIMSELF, BECAUSE THERE WAS NO WAY HE COULD HAVE AFFORDED A GUN.

[@patronsaintofpoison]

@@octaviapinfold apparently you are not familiar with a particular genre of Japanese comic books...

[@firstprimehunter]

I think part of being an artist is suffering in some way. If you’re successful your skill stagnates. You lose sight of what fueled your art in the first place. It just becomes a product

[@deltan6212]

@@octaviapinfold "Banned by the UN" Lmfao, it's a moral vote, don't expect anyone to enforce it. The UN is useless.

[@cherrycordiaI]

I think his early life on the farm/asylum fucked him up so much that he became obsessed with the idea of this perfect Christian nation where children are protected and live carefree lives.

[@LNERfan]

And perhaps the prevalent nudity stemmed from the sexual abuse. Man. Asylums fucked people UP back in the day.

[@JamesPawson]

Search for _Willowbrook State School_ -- Geraldo Rivera broke into fame with his expose on that children's asylum, footage is on youtube. It will truly disturb you.

[@FrstSpctr88]

Cherrycordial Much like how any kind of abuse of children creates troubled adults. Example that is not in reference of Darger: A male child sexually abused (or any kind of abuse that hurts their psyche, tho results are similar to the abuse) by an adult woman, can grow up into a rapist, pedophile or psychopath who'se victims are based on the abuser, though they could grow up normal and live a normal life, become reclusive, become normal tho very afraid of having children of their own due to fear of sexually abusing their own child or commit suicide at some point of their lives... On other hand, Darger had no proper childhood, which would result in over-protective behaviour of children, that is usually viewed as pedophilia, one similar case would be Michael Jackson, who became a singer at young age which robbed him of childhood and lead to the weird childrens room. I doubt the pedophilia accusations of MJ (I don't like his music anyway), when apparently parents of said abused children pulled off their accusations, once they got their money compensations, which is similar to some celebrities getting accusations of usually unprovable crimes dating over centuries. Back to topic, Genius children should be allowed to decide themselves if they want to skip grades, not by adults with coercion...

[@josephperez9872]

666 likes on this comment holy shit

[@Sariluhoo]

All those children are himself. Would make sense with the penises.

[@henotic.essence]

It's so sad. It looks like he wanted to protect all children, based on his horrific childhood. The story he wrote definitely shifts moods as he would go through tribulation.

[@CircmcisionIsChi1dAbus3]

The traumatized mind spends 90% of its energy trying to make sure they don't cause that trauma to occur again in anyone else. That's why those individuals often become doctors. The Injured Healer is a well known literary figure. The pain, becomes the source of the healing. Which is why its often avoided because you have to painfully re-experience those traumas if you want them to heal, that's why psychologists offices will have tissues on hand for when emotions start rising to the surface. Its a painful process, its like being shot, the wound sealed over, and then YOU are now having to cut open the sealed wound with a knife, removing the bullet, and sewing yourself up. That's why emotional development is so crucial to not SCREW UP AT CHILDHOOD.

[@anarchy_79]

At the same time... He wanted to protect the children, from the extremely macabre artwork of them being strangled, tortured, and slaughtered. Maybe his art is in fact his emotional struggles with his inner demons. Like they said about his childhood- he was aggressive, violent, chased a girl with a knife. Maybe he's trying to protect the girls in his own imagination from the fate that he himself is going to decide for them, protecting them from his own uncontrollable urges and demons. In the end, it is futile, and they are plastered on a tapestry of blood and guts and bones. Just a passing thought I had.

[@KonkeyVG]

On the fact that the girls had penises (which sounds like an interesting name of an essay), I think it is very reasonable to assume he simply didn't know what the female anatomy looked like. Given the lack of sex education of the period (especially in an asylum turn work camp), the absence of his mother, the separation from his father during much of his upbringing (crucially his formative puberty years) and his clear social maladjustment from late teens to adulthood, there simply doesn't seem like an instance where he would have been educated about the female anatomy. Unless there is any instance in his work where a vagina is drawn correctly or any sexual experience is mentioned in his autobiography, I think this is the most logical conclusion, more so than assuming the otherwise asexual man was homosexual or transgender.

[@BenjaminBattington]

Right on

[@malik87breaker]

Or maybe "she" is transgenderly :P

[@MichaelDavis-gn9vp]

+Malik Josenius what?

[@malik87breaker]

It's just that, the "transgender community" demans that they have to be called the opposite over what they were born as(the gender originality) :D.

[@SirBlackReeds]

Or simply celibate. He could have never pursued romantic exploits simply because he didn't think women would be interested him. Plus, he was a recluse.

[@kevinwessels4810]

"However, this suddenly shifts from autobiography to a 5,000-page fiction detailing a devastating account of a tornado named Sweetie-Pie..."

[@pirjocheerio4016]

Dude was nuts lol got it could draw cool shit tho

[@davis4555]

I wanted to know more about that story!

[@redneckhapa]

Yeah, that's peak weird. I don't think any artist can top that haha.

[@MrMiniTakitos]

I think he was just an imaginative person, probably found the auto-biography to be boring and decided to make things more interesting.

[@ragingsun1615]

Some habits are hard to break

[@TheSmolBrit]

I personally don't believe his fascination with young kids stemmed from pedophilia. I think it's the simple fact that naked young kids have always classically been a symbol of purity, innocence, happiness, etc. And this is something he never had in his childhood. Seeing him desperately trying to capture it is heartbreaking.

[@Caidezes]

Yeah. It seems more like a coping mechanism than anything depraved. Poor guy was scarred by his horrible childhood and all he had left of it as an adult were bad memories. So he expressed himself through his art (both written and drawn). People who instantly think of him as a pedophile or murderer now aren't much different from the same type of people who'd toss a kid into an insane asylum just for masturbating back in the day.

[@user-od4zo1ow6d]

Do more research. Before being committed for exposing himself and masturbating in public (this is totally reasonable that he was locked up for this. He wasn’t locked up for masturbating in private), he had a history of psychotic and dangerous behavior including slashing a nun with a knife, setting fires, and attacking one of his peers.

[@albiondave7312]

the man was a fuckin paedo would you want your kids around him ....stop trying to normalize it

[@cai3886]

@@user-od4zo1ow6d I mean..this wouldn't make him a pedophile though. I can't say if he was or wasn't but it definitely seems like he was not mentally stable. I don't see how him masturbating in public or setting a house on fire would connect to a sexual attraction to children though.

[@Davros539]

@@albiondave7312 citation needed

[@caseyhullfish1345]

Not gonna lie, I misread the title as 'Henry Danger' and I was so curious as to what could POSSIBLY warrant a whole Down the Rabbit Hole on a nickelodeon sitcom

[@molotera8789]

A stop on the Schneider allegations route

[@austincde]

I read it as "Harvey danger" and curious if this is why flagpole sitter was written lol

[@5ld734]

I thought the same thing, I saw that I had 50 percent into the video (must have watched previously) and it was quite a surprise to realize that this really wasnt about henry danger after all

[@ZeromusHarvey]

"Protector of children" This, combined with his childhood, is quite depressing. He became his own protector in his mind. This whole story sounds like a man who just had a horrible upbringing and, for a time, some people who treated him like garbadge-looking at you Depal. I'm glad in his last years his neighbors were kind to him, at least.

[@metademetra]

It sounds like to me that he wanted to give someone the security he never had.

[@ElanaVital83]

It's strange, but I think that a healthy coping mechanism. We all have to parent our inner child to come to terms with our pasts.

[@jamesjones8338]

"Looking at you depal" that shit cracked me tfu

[@MrSomebodyStrange]

​@@ElanaVital83 Wouldn''t say it's healthy. The man basically spent his whole life in his head trying to rewrite the past and return his stolen childhood, but in the process he excluded himself from reality and never overcame his trauma

[@ElanaVital83]

@@MrSomebodyStrange He definitely needed a therapist's help. But he was on the right track

[@megaharben]

"Too late now" Fuck. That's depressing.

[@fumomofumosarum5893]

That will be my famous last words, too.

[@crossveilkyt]

It hit me so much harder than I thought it would.

[@EternaMidnight]

Hitting me real hard rn, like I should try even harder in my artistic pursuits so I can get them to a point of feeling comfortable showing others before this happens to me ._.

[@nakenmil]

True - but think about what they'd do to him if it had been discovered in his lifetime with all the pedophilia accusations.

[@xxProjectJxx]

Exactly. It probably wouldn't have gone well for him. Would've been just one more bad event in a life he'd finally made somewhat stable.

[@lurkingshadow666]

“His limited disposable income. Witch was already strained due to his trips to the amusement park. “ Sounds like a fun dude

[@faith_alone]

Which*

[@yokedmonster]

She's a witch!?!!

[@faith_alone]

@@yokedmonster She's a *which

[@paulburtoft5801]

@cromwell2007 churches! churches!

[@Hugh-Man0006]

If you overlook his penchant for whipping out his dong and stroking his way to oblivion

[@ArcadeTheatre]

Henry Darger was creating crazy spiritually-inspired stories with fantastical artwork and ridiculous titles before any JRPG developer in existence and I think that is beautiful.

[@wormdoodles]

Henry Darger's one of my favorite artists, probably because there's just something about him that endears me to him. He was a child who was lonely and horrifically physically, emotionally, and most likely sexually abused. He turned out as well as you'd expect. His landlords were really stand-up people, though. They refused to evict him, gave him money off his rent, and even threw a birthday party for him before he died. There's just something about Henry Darger that I have to defend.

[@JD-lo9tg]

That something is humanity.

[@connor48880]

The fact that his landlords cared for him, oh my God It actually makes me tear up thinking that they cared enough to not only take money off his rent, but also _throw him a birthday party._ That just about restores my faith in humanity

[@mishafinadorin8049]

Aside from his personal struggles, he did not actually turn out that bad at all. In the end he just lived a quiet life and made art.

[@catharinepizzarello4784]

Reaching to the light. Even after all he endured. I never knew about him. Thank you so much for sharing. Gives me hope.

[@joebin3106]

😳Average Twitter User😳

[@milesedgeworth132]

The difference between Chris-chan and Henry is the intent. He made beautiful landscapes and his works were improved with time. His story was one for himself. He showed nobody his art. Unlike Chris-chan who went out of his way to get fame and attention, with most of his works being obvious attempts to make himself look good, Henry did it all because it was a reflection of his own mind. His self-insert was not one of egotistical nature, but one of genuine belief in himself. Henry Darger was an artist who dedicated to expressing all his emotions into pieces of beautifully crafted paintings and manuscripts. His thoughts and beliefs in every stroke and color in an attempt to escape or understand himself. Every method he used in his works, finding pictures and clippings, tracing and pasting, all tell a story. Not for wealth or exposure. Not for compliments and affection. But for himself. And that's why his art is fascinating, and why his art transcends everyday pieces. He was a man who did art for the sake of art. So stop comparing the two.

[@robertmoreno2893]

This comment is underrated

[@mariam19554]

As far as I can see, this man was not a pedophile. I believe he connected nudity with purity and not with sexuality. And it is really sad that most people see nudity as something sexual, even though it has been used in art to express so much more. And he was a tracer because it was the only way for him to learn how to draw. I find his art beautiful and with it's own swing to it. But I do get where you are coming from.

[@jacobscrackers98]

But then why did he do them at all?

[@bigblue344]

I still think that the two are alike like being a shut in, pretending to win arguments out loud, refusing to work on his story after outside influence (losing his reference page) and an obsession with childhood. Henry though by far is more respectable and humble.

[@meinerHeld]

Is it possible to favorite a comment? Can I put it in a comment playlist?

[@skinnysnorlax1876]

"Do you think I would be fool enough to run away from heaven?" Wow....that's a chilling quote

[@aitnobetafaq]

I believe heaven wasnt the place he was running away from. But heaven is staying young and innocent forever

[@shaggy6516]

Hm yes..deep...hm....yeessss

[@Bassmasterwitacaster]

You gay

[@Bassmasterwitacaster]

@@aitnobetafaq you even gayer

[@puririiin]

leroy jenkem I’m sorry, who are you again?

[@batfink274]

DTRH: "very little is known of Henry Daggers Childhood" DTRH: tells an elaborate story of Henry Daggers childhood like he was reading from a biography written by Henry's best friend.

[@subekennedy9554]

I think Fredrik wasnt satisfied wigh the information available lol. I'm sure with most subjects you go through lots of information then pick out the important stuff but what was told in the video was literally all anyone knew of

[@Civilian08]

Autobiographies are written by the person they're about. If his best friend wrote it, it's a biography.

[@Firguy_the_Foot_Fetishist]

@@Civilian08 Unless it's ghostwritten, of course.

[@surelock3221]

Chris Chan: I never kiss and tell. Also Chris: Moments later, writes an essay detailing his experience with a prostitute.

[@cardioandfriends]

@@Firguy_the_Foot_Fetishist that’s called a “biography”

[@yowo123]

"Too late now." How tragic..

[@Feepis]

This man is so interesting, his life is so fucked, but he's interesting. He faced so much adversity and trauma throughout the majority of his life, yet he was so devoted to his craft. I need to read his works, and frankly, I'm upset that the Realms of the Unreal is unpublished

[@zcxvasdfqwer1234]

Babycakes what a stupid thing to say "frankly"

[@fanfan9554]

I don't think he was a pedophile, CatandBonez. Just reminiscing on his younger days, of torment.

[@dont-feed-ben4833]

IIRC there are two entire missing volumes of Realms, making it very difficult to read and understand. Indeed, that means that Realms had even more than 15,000 pages assuming that those missing volumes exist.

[@SkeletonsfromHell]

Considering he believed children being hurt and abused was the greatest sin one could ever commit, he was most certainly not a pedophile, as their entire existence is based on causing serious harm to children. he was an emotionally traumatized man who admired the concept of youth and innocence and wished he could have it back.

[@dont-feed-ben4833]

Skeletons from Hell "the concept of youth and innocence and wished he could have it back" Correction: I'm not sure if he had it to begin with!

[@turtl3lunch]

his way of wanting to protect children and seeing childhood as purity seems to be he had been sexually abused. his obssession and collections of things he “needed” really give off vibes of autism/OCD, along with his intelligence at such a young age he genuinely seemed like a good man who only wanted to protect children and create pieces of art and it breaks my heart he passed away alone and with no one

[@skerigyttorp]

turtl3lunch I agree with you but just wanna point out that ocd and autism is in no way the same thing or in a lot of ways even similar

[@ayajade6683]

@@skerigyttorp the OCD point stems from his ritual to enter the bathroom and hoarding which is an OCD disorder

[@skerigyttorp]

Aya Jade yes I know but just wanted to point out that ocd and austism is not the same thing.

[@johnnymao]

He made strange sounds with his mouth in the middle of class, was prone to occasional violence, his fixation on certain things - I would say autism is not a far off guess.

[@johnnymao]

I should also qualify - not all autistic people are violent, but often their frustrations can manifest in physical violence. The frustrations may be borne from external noise/stressors, interruptions to train of thought or routine etc.

[@saintultra2737]

You can see the suffering in his art via the righteousness of his work towards children. If there's an afterlife, I hope he's resting in peace with the knowledge that many people love his art.

[@jasonodea9177]

Of all of the articles and videos I've seen on Henry Darger so far, this one seemed the most comprehensive, accurate and well told. Even better than the 2004 documentary about him, which seemed to jump around his history and magnum opus a lot, which I found to be confusing. This video, however, lays it all out nice and sequentially and with clarity. I wonder why no curious minds tried to reach out to him throughout his life. Especially as the years passed, him getting older, his friend dying, being harassed by that nun at his job, losing that photo, things really seemed to be getting darker. Of course connecting with him was probably difficult, perhaps impossible. Maybe what I'm thinking right now is just hindsight, that if I lived back then and knew him I would just think he's a boring old man and would never have investigated further. But then again, I am also a strange person and relate to his sensitivity and withdrawal. It seemed like he really could have used a friend during those years, someone who would have understood. He was growing deeply lonely, resentful and hopeless. I hope the trend of sympathy and most importantly trying to understand him continues.

[@FredrikKnudsen]

That documentary was my first introduction to him, though I eventually grew resentful of it after I researched more into him and discovered just how much the story had been muddled. Maybe the point was to create a more abstract understanding of his life, but I still felt frustrated. Still, it's just a different style of documentary; I prefer clarity and directness.

[@tmtmtlsml]

This is almost a year late, but I think some of the reason why people were happy to leave him to his own devices was a direct effect of the times we're talking about. We're so used to a heightened, almost invasive, level of connectivity that privacy is almost a foreign concept, but in the pre-internet and pre-television days, there was a much greater interpersonal distance. Probably the best way to describe it is just to copy the lyrics of Simon and Garfunkel's 1966 song, "A Most Peculiar Man": He was a most peculiar man. That's what Mrs. Riordan said and she should know; She lived upstairs from him. She said he was a most peculiar man. He was a most peculiar man. He lived all alone within a house, Within a room, within himself. A most peculiar man. He had no friends, he seldom spoke, And no one in turn ever spoke to him, 'Cause he wasn't friendly and he didn't care And he wasn't like them. Oh, no! He was a most peculiar man. He died last Saturday. He turned on the gas and he went to sleep With the windows closed so he'd never wake up To his silent world and his tiny room; And Mrs. Riordan says he has a brother somewhere Who should be notified soon. And all the people said, "What a shame that he's dead, But wasn't he a most peculiar man?"

[@wormdoodles]

From what I've read, his landlords were really decent people. They refused to evict him even though others complained, they gave him ten dollars off his rent every month, they threw him a birthday party and visited him in the nursing home every week before he died.

[@KPater-mf4je]

@@tmtmtlsml I disagree that privacy has disappeared thanks to the Internet. If anything, more people are living isolated lives now than before. Some people are taught to avoid strangers, and so they are paranoid to meet anybody new. Others think that getting to know someone is a hassle, and prefer their isolation to the tedium of talking to strangers. In fact, the friendliest people I meet on the street are senior citizens. They love to chat. They're not on the Internet, most of them don't see their younger family members very often, so they like to find a youngster who is willing to have a chat with them. Some children and teenagers also fall into conversation with others easily, perhaps because they are so eager to get attention and make new friends. Expats and immigrants also tend to find each other quickly and get to know one another. That's understandable: they need cultural support, somebody of their own kind who could help them perhaps. But young adults? Or any adult between 20 and 40? The vast majority absolutely detests the idea of even looking in the direction of a stranger, will absolutely not get to know somebody just because they are peculiar (in fact, they will avoid that person because of it!), and are just completely possessed with selfishness and profit. Friend invited you on a picnic on a Saturday? Childish nonsense, probably will cost money! A colleague you barely know asks they could add you on Steam to co-op Portal 2? Avoid them immediately and lie about your Steam handle! There's a man living on your street who writes bizarre, controversial stories and illustrates them? What a loser, call me back when he's made enough money to afford a Tesla! The only friends you make are those that you are thrown into by accident, like people you see constantly at college or at work, and even then, there is still an unbridgeable aloofness that is not solved by social media. If anything, the pretend friendships on social media make the isolation in the real life more noticeable. If anything, I would say that in those days, "interpersonal distance" was either the same as today or actually much shorter ! Going through the biographies of various artists, I constantly read about "introduction letters" and penpals and what-not. Ilf and Petrov visited America in the 1920's to compare it to the Soviet Union, and as soon as they touched foot in America they met with dozens of American writers, businessmen and Russian expats. They had drinks with Hemingway and dined with Dos Passos. When Karl Capek visited England, he was immediately whisked away to literary clubs and gatherings, where he met Shaw, Chesterton, Wells and Galsworthy, to name a notable few. In those days, it was customary for artists to meet up even if it meant crossing the ocean, and it was especially common for people to have letters of introduction and to receive invitations. Darger, however, was a strange man and a recluse, and his artwork (if one can call it that) had nothing in common with any other artist at the time. Perhaps he could have sought out the schools of surrealists and made acquaintances there. But he didn't, and without reaching out to anyone, few people knew about him, and understandably so. Today, even the most famous writer or artist is just as much of a recluse as Darger, and THAT is strange. World-famous writers do not want to meet up -- maybe they collaborate once, but they do not spend time together, do not dine together, don't establish a literary club together. And it gets worse. My parents recounted to me what it was like in the 70's through 90's, and even in those days, people were curious and would make the acquaintance of newcomers, invite colleagues to BBQs, the housewives would go shopping together or babysit each other's kids, and the whole neighborhood would know this one guy who was great at making pork chops and they motivated him to start his own food business. As the 90's drew to a close and war was on the horizon, people became more closed off, diffident and racist. Now, with a few barely weathered recessions behind us, people are even more closed off, because they're afraid that getting to know somebody means eventually spending money on or with them.

[@FlockOfHawks]

@@KPater-mf4je Perfect !

[@FredrikKnudsen]

A few notes: the pronunciation of "Darger" is sometimes contested, but I used the pronunciation that I heard while listening to scholars speak about him. Also, I originally uploaded this with a very minor error; I pronounced "Forbes" as "Four-Bees." That's why you may have gotten this twice in your sub box. This was an emotionally grueling episode to make. Henry Darger's art is stunning to me, but knowing where it came from gives it a layer that used to be invisible to me. Special thanks to Elise McCall, who introduced him to me.

[@RabbyArt]

You do an awesome job in your channel and this is easily my favourite video of yours so far. it's an emotional rollercoaster that leaves you with a black hole in the stomach. Congratulations on being such a charismatic and effective chronicler.

[@rangda_prime]

I liked this episode very much, but i found it strange that you did not mention his obvious autism. I say this as an autistic person who sits by himself fidgeting with my creative projects all day. Nothing like Darger's though, his art was obviously fueled by the extensive trauma of his childhood.

[@iwazhere7077]

I first learned about Darger due to the lyrics "Henry must have been lonely" in a from autumn to ashes song.

[@Zebo12345678]

@@rangda_prime As obvious as it seems, it was never diagnosed, so I assume that's why it was never mentioned in the video. These videos always stick to proven facts. I would definitely agree that there's plenty of evidence to suggest he had some degree of autism though.

[@Jakepearl13]

Four-bees,we have the FINANCIAL INFORMATION

[@sansfromcoolmathgames]

This is so sad. He got his childhood ripped away, but he was like a child who never grew up.

[@gus8180]

Severus Snape he was the original Micheal Jackson

[@thebuddhasmiles]

This is so sad. Can we get 50 likes?

[@madquack6449]

Makes you really kind of like this guy, kind of.

[@JeffreyOsb]

Sounds like Michael Jackson.

[@tmtmtlsml]

Everyone making the Michael Jackson parallel and I'm over here like, "Just like Pierrot Le Fou from Cowboy Bebop." Man how I cried the first time I saw that episode...

[@Diaphanus]

"The Story of the Vivian Girls, in What Is Known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glandeco-Angelinian War Storm, Caused by the Child Slave Rebellion" Ah, my favorite Isekai.

[@TheSetkon]

*Darger dies* "Hey... you're finally awake, general. There is a settlement of christian girls that needs your help. I'll mark it on your map."

[@simonhenry8797]

yea it sounds like a light novel title

[@FirstLast-uz6eq]

yeah and it's about LOLI DICKGIRLS darger was a mangaka pioneer on the order of Tezuka

[@ameliabrittain158]

STOOOOOOOOOOP

[@sushiibird7799]

@@FirstLast-uz6eq everything was going well until the dickgirls were mentioned

[@Gooieduck1224]

The human imagination is amazing. That a person could go through so much pain, and live such a lonely life, yet continue to work and find joy and make such beautiful art without accolades or appreciation til the very end. He didn't have alot, but he made do with what he had. Very inspiring, thanks for the video

[@GentleHeretic]

I wonder if he associated nudity with purity, something akin to Adam and Eve prior to Original Sin. Or not and I have no idea what I'm getting into; I'm no theologian and I'm absolutely not some armchair psychologist.

[@GentleHeretic]

That's what I was thinking. He seemed pretty devout, even during his darker turn when he was trying to retaliate against God.

[@raywoods5213]

Nudity is associated with innocence. Young children will often run around in the nude displaying a lack of comprehension of our current society.

[@raywoods5213]

Though it really has nothing to do with innocence, that is just the western view of things.

[@BigDictator5335]

These days Christians associate nudity with satanism. And sex is evil. Which is really annoying.

[@PoliticalAndTheologicalStudy]

@Le Rational SkepticTM I would argue it is neither moral nor immoral because sex acts between two consenting people of legal age has no more bearing on morality than a preference for apples over oranges.

[@Fargosis16]

Fredrik I seriously love your stuff, I feel like (at least In western culture I cannot speak for other areas) non-fiction/informative entertainment/media is seriously under appreciated and overlooked unless it's *ahem* pop-science or equally click baity or meme-y. You are a true beacon, and like an apple in a peach orchard, you are nothing less than sweet, refreshing, unique, and a lovely treat every time I have the chance to indulge

[@FredrikKnudsen]

+Fargosis16 This may be one of the sweetest compliments I've received. I'll treasure this.

[@Fargosis16]

You're very welcome and I'm glad I could bring what light i could into your day! I must confess, as before I found your channel I had pondered over the possibility of doing something similar albeit with a narrow scope (although i am now toying with an alternative idea in which i would try and take a handful of 'youtube genres' and mash em into one show, although i generally do not like to talk about projects publicly until I have something concrete to show for it). However if anyone was going to tap into the untouched mines of interesting but generally uncommon or unknown of information in an informative and engaging way, I'm glad it was someone as skilled, careful, and passionate as you my friend, and I wish you many more weeks, months, and years of enthusiastic research and recordings.

[@snorlaxx420xx8]

Fargosis16 Gay

[@codypriceYouTubeAddednumbers]

nope, you're very much wrong here. What the fuck do you think the show Vice is all about on HBO. Where are you getting this perception that non-fiction/informative entertainment is under appreciated in the west? Literally there are tons of awesome documentaries on netflix, almost always when there is a dope documentary on netflix like "Making of a Murder" its all anybody talks about for weeks, and did you somehow miss that special that came on this year called, "The People verses O.J an American Crime story," it went more in depth on depicting what happened during the trial, that was all over mainstream media. The west loves True Crimes man. I hate seeing blatant lies, how you could ever come to the conclusion that the west doesn't value non-fiction entertainment is just sad because you're clearly just trying to be negative towards the west for no reason. I bet you're not even in your 20s and you wanna pretend like you know what you're talking about to seem smart and profound but you couldn't be more off base. I could debate you forever on this, you're just lying. Sure a lot of other forms of entertainment seem to catch a lot more attention in the mainstream, but that doesn't mean when something that is informative and true comes along people just over look it or devalue it in some sort of way, it gets talked about and tweeted about and facebooked about just like everything else. What i will give to you is, i know its hard to make "good" non-fiction/informative media worth watching, that is something this dude does very well, which is why i like it and so would other people if they knew about it, but just because a lot of people don't know about it, doesn't mean its under appreciated. Like i said, when there is a awesome doc on Netflix or tv, people talk about it and it gets around, its valued. I don't know where you could live at in this world where the media is going to be a majority of the time non-fiction/informative entertainment, other than maybe if you lived in North Korea. I don't get how you first could say the west doesn't appreciate non-fiction, that is all they do on tv channels like the Travel channel or Discovery Channel, etc. And secondly where do you think you could possibly live where the tv shows or the forms of entertainment are going to be a majority non-fiction/informative entertainment, most places around the world when they flip on the tv or go online to watch something do it for escapism, they don't typically want to be reminded 24/7 about lives horrors when they wanna just relax, that doesn't mean though people in the west don't appreciate informative entertainment when we see it, it just have to be done in a way worth watching or else its fucking boring, thats literally how everything on tv or the internet works, if you're gonna present something in a boring way its not gonna keep peoples attention. You can't just say a whole side of the world doesn't appreciate something just because its not in your face 24 fucking 7. When i actually think about it, there is so much informative non-fiction entertainment that is on tv or the thousands of documentaries that get made in America that you can find online through things like netflix, Hulu, HBO Go, etc. It really makes me see how stupid a certain group of people can be, they don't even wanna just take like 10 seconds to think if what you're saying is total bullshit or not, its sad seeing people just agree without putting any actual thought in to it. Its that mentality that says, "oh, he's talking shit about America. Agree!"

[@lastspartan15]

Cody Pryce you mad?

[@darkjosem13]

"The Story of how I got reincarnated as a general of The Vivian Girls in What is Known as the Realms of the Unreal of the Glandeco-Angelinian War Storm Caused by the Child Slave Rebellion."

[@borby4584]

A classic Light Novel, and one of my favorites. Hopefully it gets an anime adaptation

[@Sigismund697]

Fuck there it is

[@fusionfountain]

What’s the OP?

[@WeirdTale]

@@borby4584 XD

[@lobstrosity7163]

Weebs ruin everything.

[@claytontaylor5875]

"Too late now" gave me goosebumps, absolutely tragic.

[@Ghosty144]

I was just researching this guy yesterday! I can't help but admire him. He devoted his life to art and writing, not because he wanted fame or money, but because he loved doing it. He put all of his feelings and emotions into his work rather than taking it out on others or doing something destructive. I'm happy that his neighbors/landlords/employers treated him so well, and I'm happy to see people's reactions to him being mostly positive. People (understandably) compare him to Chris-chan, but I think Darger was a much better person. He kept to himself instead of constantly seeking fame/attention, he actually worked for his money reather than begging for donations and using mental illness as an excuse, he tried his best to be a decent person despite having a mental disability and being abused throughout his life (much worse than Chris-chan has ever endured).

[@freddytheshadowninja]

"Dude was dirt cheap, using every piece of drawing reference he came upon" "His artwork is now exchanged in auction houses for millions of dollars" See now, this is the other part of art that pisses me off. Genuine inspiration is monetized, none of which is used for the benefit of the genuine artist.

[@prismstudios001]

It sucks, but ...It`s the way it works....Trust me.

[@tentackleso4463]

Instead of just trusting you, do u wanna try explaining so we can make our own decisions in whether to trust you?

[@RobinTheBot]

Welcome to unmodified capitalism.

[@LastWaltz123]

@@RobinTheBot Darger chose to live a life in seclusion, and therefore his work never garnered the attention it did when it was discovered by a true third party (landlords) who had previously never known his talents. I dont see how this is capitalisms issue? Had he wanted too he could have tried to live the life of a profressional artist and maybe been successful.

[@GreebleClown]

@@LastWaltz123 He probably had no idea that his work was any good, or that anyone would be interested.

[@PUNCHEDPUNCHEDPUNCHED]

I'm so glad his neighbours and landlord were their for him like silent watchers even till the end. Though it's sad he only found out when he was dying, I hope even for millisecond, even if it was subconsciously, that he felt even the tiniest bit of warmth when he found out his neighbour liked it a lot

[@TheBrazilRules]

This is a beatiful story about the human soul. Even with the possible mental illness, he still strived to be a good person and protect innocence.

[@NietzscheanMan]

"possible mental illness".

[@seventhplay]

Something about this case has hit me harder than the others. A lot of what you touch is either fictional or people being self-centered. Chris-chan was the closest to something that actually made me feel something, but that is such a massive case with so many people involved that it feels hard to understand it individually. This, however... Damn, it is hard to explain, maybe as a fellow artist, it has resonated in odd ways with me. I don't even know why, if it is the fact he kept on living normally, the amount of uncertainty in the story or that something of this size was almost thrown out in the trash like old paper. All this has been haunting my mind for this whole afternoon now... Anyway, great video, as always!

[@anthonylipira9526]

My guess is that his work was a way to cope with all his childhood trauma.

[@callandry722]

I don't think any of this was to cope but I do think it came out because of his abuse. I would be saddened but not surprised if it was found out that he had experienced sexual abuse too. It would make sense because of some of his artworks.

[@LB-mt6cq]

Yeah and also a way to work through stuff as an adult, like how he changed up his author insert character and plot line when he was mad at God, and then again when he went back to his religion. That made it interesting and not so much a Mary Sue character, though it kinda was to begin with lol

[@abloogywoogywoo]

@@LB-mt6cq I'd stay mad, personally. The aggrieved party should never be forced to make amends with those who wronged them. The omnipotent bastard that destined his life to be so crap is unworthy of our time or reverence.

[@abloogywoogywoo]

@@akiyo3243 I would say winners don't do drugs, but judging by that pile of shit you dare to call a response, I'd say its far too late for that.

[@ponponpatapon9670]

@@akiyo3243 isn't god omniscient? which is inherently incompatible with free will, because he will know everything we will do and everything that will ever happen?? if we permit this quality for god, then it's pretty safe to say that despite the dumb arguments to the contrary, god *did*-and still does!-destine some unfortunate people to live shitty, pained lives.

[@mijiah]

This man is not only a grim reminder of how one’s own mind can become a prison, but also how creativity and pure inspired passion can open the locks.

[@CircmcisionIsChi1dAbus3]

the mind can become a prison only so long as their environment feels like a prison. He used his own mind as a playground as well, don't forget that. If all you have is your mind, it can become a prison, but for the creative mind, that same prison can become anything you imagine. That's the artists curse.

[@BooboochaProductions]

There is a song by Neutral Milk Hotel named "April 8th" that was inspired by the life of Henry Darger. The title is itself a reference to the date on which Elise Paroubek was murdered. It's definitely worth a listen if you find the life of Henry Darger interesting.

[@MoonOnATuesday]

Smile. oh my god, how did I not know this? That's one of my favourite songs.

[@christianmcguire9839]

I thought that band was a joke in parks and recreation

[@MoonOnATuesday]

honestly so did I when i read 'Will greyson, will greyson'

[@cadesturgeon2172]

Neutral Milk Hotel is the literal best

[@MoonOnATuesday]

Cade Sturgeon a fuckin gree

[@bonggzilla]

this reminds me of this german guy who lived his whole life alone building origami stuff. after his death they found amazing art all over the house almost like a museum. man i forgot the name

[@mrblonde609]

Erwin Hapke

[@cAPSlOCKrOXX]

This and TempleOS. These two are my favorite. You do a great job finding interesting things to cover.

[@krakenmahboy]

TempleOS and it's Down the Rabbit Hole episode were a masterpiece work. This one is already sizing up to be great.

[@senaruryuin2773]

It almost sounds like he was autistic in some manner, based on how he acted in school. Weird noises and odd acting out and fits of temper fit the bill

[@johnnymao]

Absolutely. Coupled with the fixated way he approached his art I think this is a reasonable assumption.

[@tomkandy]

and logging weather observations which is a really popular special interest.

[@instinctbrosgaming9699]

I'd actually never considered that until now, which is odd since I myself have autism. Despite this, it is incredibly plausible and I wouldn't be surprised if this were the case. Autism wasn't being diagnosed until 1943 and any prior diagnoses were chocked up to schizophrenia. The reason why masturbation was the reason for his admittance into the asylum was likely because he could have been autistic, but we didn't know about autism yet so they would think it was schizophrenia, but schizophrenia almost never occurs in children so they had to come up with the next best thing.

[@GreenEyedDazzler]

@@instinctbrosgaming9699 Jesus you are autistic lmao

[@IRGhost0]

yeah, sounds like chris chan behavior.

[@iambleh]

i thought this was a Down The Rabbit Hole episode on Henry Danger.

[@Chensoman]

Same lmao

[@Itariatan]

Yes XD.

[@meowtherainbowx4163]

Dan Schneider is creepy enough that if enough things come to light, he could get his own episode in a few years.

[@caramelcomplx9518]

Lol same

[@vincentsleeves2810]

I HAD VISIONS I WAS IN THEM

[@Ordoabchao-x9k]

Maybe i should write that thing I've always wanted. Maybe it doesn't matter if it's published as long as it exist. You know i wondered into this video via autoplay and it ended up inspiring me

[@asdfgidji879]

hell ya! if you ever want someone to proof read I at least for the moment have a lot of freetime and i like reading

[@RelativelyBest]

You become a writer when you realize that you have a story to tell, and that nobody else can tell it for you. That's the important part, I think. It doesn't matter if you just create for the sake of creating, or if your creation is intended as a gift to the world, or even creating out of a desire for recognition, a livelihood, or fame. Those are all equally valid reason to write, and they're all paths towards artistry. But it starts with having a story to tell.

[@AlJavier06]

I know this is an old comment but you should absolutely write, even just to yourself. Once you feel confident enough about you work, publish it to online avenues, then I'll read it.

[@ivanpeniche5472]

Salve!

[@krakenmahboy]

Like the others above, I would be totally down to read some fresh writing by someone with the name "Chaos Triumphant."

[@choptop81]

I feel like the Voynich Manuscript was most likely created by a person like Darger or Charles Dellschau (or even Chris-Chan). A personal art project to illustrate their own mental world, and nobody can figure out wtf it means because the only person it meant anything to is dead and their identity has been lost to history.

[@ksiorze]

choptop Wow I never thought of that

[@DieHardjagged]

Now that i have seen this video and now happen to see your Message.. yes, it most likely could be like this.

[@merrittanimation7721]

That makes sense. Like if Tolkien was a complete shut in

[@Azidoazideazide.]

I very much like this theory, this could be one of the best explanations. If this were true it would mean that the creator was very dedicated and meticulous, I believe I have read that the writing in the manuscript appears to be an actual language and the translation has never been decoded.

[@Assimandeli]

@@Azidoazideazide. But it's still a full book with covers and such, right? I wonder how cheap it would have been to write something like that in the 1400's. Would a local town loonie have enough money for a book he could write in? Back in the day, wasn't it mostly monks who wrote crap? Or maybe somebody who was rich decided to put those drawings/writings into proper covers, who knows.

[@Cendar]

Kinda reminds me of my brother. He's autistic and tends to make noises in class and talking to himself. Creating stories and enjoys being by himself. Love the little guy.

[@lukemorgan9231]

I hope nobody destroys their passion for creating stories or destroy them mentally.

[@whitneybaxter3299]

I know this comment is over a year old but I think you hit the nail on the head. Henry was most likely on the spectrum. With culture and science being what it was at the time he was probably just disregarded as a “weirdo” and subsequently fell through the cracks of society. The fact that he was horribly abused just adds to the tragedy of his life. However maybe it’s not as tragic as we view it today because his escapist mentality probably was a type of self-therapy. Hopefully we can learn from these people and see that there is potential in everyone.

[@hippyjoe]

@@lukemorgan9231 Unfortunately it happens a lot, still, especially to undiagnosed autistic children. The school scene from The Wall really hits hard...

[@rclark777]

I honestly believe that if he had been born today, Darger would be a far more well-adjusted adult and his stories would be published on the Internet or something.

[@pavelthefabulous5675]

The virgin Chris Chan vs the Chad Henry Darger

[@KappaClaus]

Chan GANG vs Darger Dorks

[@noshcocologue1106]

May have been his twin flame

[@ananapanana3680]

@@danielguerrero2575 vs. The Gad Terry Davis

[@BornRemaining]

CWC really is like a nuttier, less-talented version of Henry, isn't he? God save our cows...

[@williamhayes2479]

To be honest, everyone is a chad when compared to Chris Chan.

[@lubu4u312]

Armchair psychologist here: He was probably obsessed with children because that was the best time in his life. He himself described his childhood as heaven, the art seems to be a nostalgic call to the past rather than a corrupt fetish or sick fascination. They are naked because thats the purest form of a human. Completely untainted by societal customs, just raw human. Why mostly girls? Probably because women are beautiful. Humans have sculpted, painted or drawn figures of women since we could sculpt, paint or draw. Put all three of these things together and you get naked little girls fighting a war....? Hmmmm... Maaaaaaybe just a dash of schizophrenia.

[@lubu4u312]

Also my theroy is that those are probably just poorly drawn vaginas/did not know how to properly draw a vagina, hence why he didnt try originally. There also wasnt the internet or porno magazines. Its very plausible he died a virgin unless there was a woman in his life Knudsen didn't mention. Its entirely possible he did not know what one looked like so that was either his attempt or just said fuck it they all get dicks. Interesting artistic choice... though...

[@SirBlackReeds]

And he had a sister he never knew about.

[@DelNiceBeto]

that sounds like a hentai plot

[@Hanfgurkenhasser]

@@lubu4u312 "fuck it they all get dicks" Maybe it's my lack of sleep but this made me laugh. A lot. :D

[@amberlee4536]

Sounds about right, he also sounds like he might have been autistic

[@confrontingchaos7593]

"Kyoko's initial reaction was to throw it out." Thank goodness no one listened to her. I know I don't have much context for why she responded that way, but I simply cannot imagine anyone reacting that way.

[@bachpham6862]

I guess seeing naked children drawings gave some goosebumps initially Reminds me of Franz Kafka. Before his death, he gave all of his work to Max Brod, and told him to specifically destroy all of his work. Max Brod, thankfully, did not comply to Kafka's request, and instead choose to publish it.

[@wmurd]

You think of his works as art just beacause you were told so -- there are tons of trash like that out there, but this very trash is known to a general public by lucky chance

[@icecell]

Probably because his works don't really look that good.

[@Kirbychu1]

This is the equivalent to those deviantART galleries you stumble upon that have no/few watchers, but portray a huge convoluted fan fic with recolored/edited art to serve as the visuals.

[@priwncess]

It be lil minty

[@mercedesslaughter5862]

Or when you see gross fetish side.

[@PaigeHankins28]

The thing that still upsets me, to this day, is the number of people who seem to be under the impression that he was some serial murderer based on his more violent scenes. There is no evidence that Darger had ever harmed anyone in his life, and a number of alternate reasons that have been cited as influences for these scenes (for me, the Catholic tradition of brutal martyrdom seems most likely)--still, the theory persists. It doesn't help that James MacGregor postulated the theory while being Darger's main biographer at the time. Jackass.

[@pokekitty1]

i guess he wasn't aware that dargar's headstone has the words protector of children on it which shows that some people didn't believe what he was saying about a deceased man's mindset.

[@pirjocheerio4016]

Who knows

[@alkebulanawah4242]

Y was he obsessed with little girls? Obv he never killed them since he lacked knowledge of their anatomy

[@no_peace]

Totally agree. Do they also think Hieronymus Bosch was a serial killer? People are wild I mean www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-11-nightmarish-depictions-hell-art-history/amp

[@Pippin2luv]

I think his participation in WW1 might have contributed to some of the violence depicted in his art.

[@v4nzz950]

This gave me the chills, a lot of your videos do. There's something so raw and tragic about this man's life. The "Too late now..." just broke me. While I think that he does deserve to be known as a truly selfless artist, I don't think that was a good way of living. People clearly had an interest on his work, he could've lived the recognizition of his skill and yet he didn't. He died as quietly as he lived. And maybe that's the way he wanted it to be. We'll never know.

[@nomadicscrapper2965]

Doesn't everyone want to leave there mark on the world? Isn't that the millennial goal

[@sleepingdogpro]

Seems he wanted a family more than anything. This barely touches on how often he kept trying to adopt. He never stood a chance there.

[@TheAlmightyAss]

Some people just do art for the sake of creating art. Why does everything have to be a commodity now?

[@stargloss7143]

I see a few people suggesting a video on worlds.com and I'd like to take a moment to validate this. The virtual chat of the 90s that basically was supposed to be the future is now a rotting corpse trying to stand on two legs. It's dying, the servers are going, the hardware is not going to last much longer and there are places in the game that are so glitched up from this, that they don't load, textures don't load, collision doesn't detect properly, etc. It's dying, it needs to be properly talked about because there's no possible way to archive it. I used to play around with worlds when I was a kid and to know that it's going to bite the dust sooner than later is heartbreaking. I've seen it slowly degrade into what it is now, and any day now something could happen that would take it down for good. If you need any help, let me know, I know there's a lot of people who are willing to help with this, too. There is surprisingly a lot of people who would be interested in giving you anything you need to work on this project if you wished to do so.

[@hellsingmongrel]

Holy crap, I remember playing on aerosmith worlds back in the old daus, and from time to time tried to find it again, but never could! Now I found it, thanks!

[@mink5251]

Sounds like a man with autism in a time where those behaviours were severely misunderstood and he was punished and traumatized for it ): His art is hauntingly beautiful. He really created his pieces for himself, he had a whole world in his head that he wanted to put to paper. He sounds like a lovely man and I’m glad that through his later years he was so well taken care of

[@hasanalharaz7454]

This sounds nothing like autism

[@mink5251]

@@hasanalharaz7454 I have autism myself and was using my experience as an autistic person as a reference - autism is a spectrum, it is not just the stereotypes

[@brendanj383]

I was just thinking the same thing! Whether he was somewhere on the spectrum or had a little of something else like Asperger syndrome, it clearly allowed him to completely dive in to something he had the strongest passion for. This is so inspiring!

[@cardioandfriends]

@@hasanalharaz7454 sounds like 3 autists against 1 rando now

[@christianhowell3140]

Bout to say, saw a lot of myself in the story of his childhood. "Advanced intellect for my age", love of animals, odd disruptive noises during class, socially isolation, occasionally violent bouts of anger, s**ual preoccupation at a way-too-young age, golly gee it's like I'm right back in grade school. I was lucky I grew up in a time and family where I got help instead of getting sent to a labor camp

[@thesapphireone]

I really respect that Fredrick Knudsen did such a good job on this well-researched, somber look at Henry Darger’s life, compared to how much I despise how most news articles that make baseless, poorly researched accusations that he was a child murderer or pedophile, without backing it up with any solid evidence, like they just cherry pick and exaggerate the negative aspects of his life and personality, without actually analysing what could’ve lead to that. But hats off to you sir, I love that you always back up your research with solid evidence, you keep a neutral, documentary-like tone without any personal bias or manipulation behind it, and you talk about the events in your videos with humanity and empathy that it deserves, rather that just to get attention or views. While I don’t think he was a saint and I obviously never knew him personally, he certainly sounded like an eccentric, passionate, friendly guy who was dealt a bad hand in life, and used his art as a way of coping with the trauma of what he went through, expressing his need to protect children from those same things, since his paintings depicted the girls fighting their enemies, with the winner presumably depending on his emotional state at the time, and yet, despite it all he managed to lead a content, quiet, if not without it’s flaws, life, creating beautiful art and stories, he still had people that loved being with him, like his best friend William, who showed him compassion, genuinely treated him like a human being, to happily talk with, go to amusement parks, and enjoyed each other’s company, his landlords were so kind to help pay off his rent, let him stay in his house rather than just simply evict him, even throwing him a birthday party, and years later down the line, his artwork has gone on to inspire millions of people, including myself, and I hope he’s happily reunited with William, once again having pleasant little conversations about anything that comes to mind, and both are at peace in heaven.

[@ezekielwillerson9204]

Oh my gosh, he is NOTHING like Chris Chan! Stop comparing him! Chris did NOT deserve to be treated like that, and I believe that all of the bullying pushed him closer to breaking (or broke him) but he was not at all like Mr. Darger. Even in personality alone, when the crazy nun harassed Darger, he did not retaliate. And in artwork, Darger did not see himself as the pinacle of art or fiction, and continued to constantly improve. He was also working l, and being productive. His art was for himself, not for notice. So many more differences, just stop comparing.

[@thisismyname5657]

He really was like Chris Chan, though. A reclusive self taught artist who was likely mentally handicapped and has an unlikely fanbase. Except yeah, Darger was actually talented and was a decent guy.

[@alexanderchippel]

@@thisismyname5657 I think Chris-Chan's poor behavior is a result of his developmental disabilities and being raised poorly. I don't think its all his fault, the way he acts.

[@alexanderchippel]

@Enclave Communications Officer Being homophobic doesn't make someone a bad person. It can make them a but unpleasant, or irritating, but not a bad person.

[@AnimeFan9833]

@@alexanderchippel Hating others for things they can't change make someone a bad person in my eyes. A lot of chiris-chan is "excusable", with his disablity and childhood, regardless of that, he still behaved like and absolute ass. Autism/Depression/Bullying are legit reasons for his poor social skills and weird behavior but not for things like, drawing his only friend being molested by him and then practically threatening her with rape. If we excuse everything with a persons upbringing then words like "bad" and "good" only apply to parents and caretakers but no one else.

[@alexanderchippel]

@@AnimeFan9833 Hating someone for somthing they can't change always a bad thing. Pedophiles and rapists can't be changed.

[@senoreverything6366]

I remember hearing about Vivien Girls when I was on a sort of rabbit hole of my own, looking at the rarest and most mysterious books ever made. I forgot this legendary and fantastical man existed until now. Thank you.

[@Sakikothefox]

the time this happened in and the whole backstory makes it stand out. i dont think its fair to compare his art quality or life to chris. the guy actually went to work even though he was ill, abused as a child and didnt have therapy or meds for it. chris cant even churn out a constant flow of shitty sonichu pages even though he has all the time in the world and a sheltered life.

[@madhu4920]

He had a really hard life and I wish that he found some moment of peace in his last days. It seems like people liked him despite limited interaction which does say something...he must have had a hard time connecting with others. It really makes you wonder, how many people lead lives like Henry Darger and were forgotten in favor?

[@NeutralNinetails]

Not to meantion his art is actually good and interesting.

[@FieldMarshalFeels]

Who the fuck compares this guy to Chris? Darger was actually competent despite limited resources. Chris can't write for shit and his art is that of a first grader despite having the entire internet as a resource.

[@christopherjones8448]

"tooeliteforyou" to answer you question, dude has a pony with sunglasses for a profile pic, ik because it's right below yours on my screen XD

[@FaeQueenCory]

How has no one scanned, bound, and printed his magnum opus? It's so weird and surreal.... surely there'd be a market for that.... novel?

[@yltraviole]

At 20:20 the video shows a book of "selected writings". If it really was thousands of pages long, as Fredrik said, it would probably be pretty hard to get the entire novel published.

[@ExValeFor]

break it up into fuckloads of sequels profit just gotta pay for psych treatment for whoever ends up editing that shit

[@FredrikKnudsen]

It's perplexing to me, too. I think that there's a lot of concern due to the fragility of his works. Just getting in to see the archives could involve a wait of years, from what I could find.

[@PrismCasillica]

I wonder if there's hesitation to publish it because of child nudity.

[@daltonlang3745]

steve5123456789 the nudity of the children isn't very explicit in the way they are drawn I bet the reason it hasn't been published Is because of how fragile the paper is.

[@pedrosantos6183]

"then one day, quite suddenly, darger's hatred for god ceased" That was beautifully spoken, bravo.

[@yourmincemeat5233]

Read your comment right when it was said

[@jordanwhite8718]

And then it’s immediately ruined when Frederick says the only reason his hatred stops was because he read a comic about people suffering in hell. His hatred stopped due to fear not because he actually went through some personal growth. Religion wins again.

[@CircmcisionIsChi1dAbus3]

​@@jordanwhite8718 Fear is a very real and universal motivator for human behavior. Why do you think that lessens their outcome? If their hatred vanished, the manner in which it vanished doesn't invalidate the difficulty of abolishing life long hatred for emotional abuse. If the guys every day life was a living hell, the religious stories of hell itself could very well have given him the insight into the conditions that create hell itself. Not every person takes a literalist interpretation of stories, ESPECIALLY not a writers mind. A writer would see stories far different than you, that's why this materialist and literalist interpretation of religion is not the only one that exists. Harry Potter is a beautiful story with or without the literal belief in magical wizards. For someone to give up anger, thats an accomplishment that shouldn't be trivialized because it didn't happen under the condition you prefer it to happen. You know whats one of the oldest forms of human motivation? Fear. It runs our operating system, its the operating system that our entire concept of logic and reason is founded on. If the choice is between emotion and logic, the human will always default to emotion first.

[@jordanwhite8718]

@@CircmcisionIsChi1dAbus3 But you’re assuming that he got rid of his hatred. You’re assuming he went through personal growth and that he came to except what happened to him. What’s more likely is that just like all the other times he rebelled he had to choke down his true feelings. One thing that Henry’s life seems to have taught him is that if you act in a way that others disapprove of you will be crushed. This comic was reminding him of that painful lesson. And because he could never be himself, he ended up dying old and alone. If fear is the only thing you live, for then you should probably stop living. It’s better to die than live the rest of your life in fear.

[@CircmcisionIsChi1dAbus3]

​@@jordanwhite8718 an artist going through personal growth and giving up misplaced hatred for religious figures? Yah...how unusual. Artists don't have emotional depth and emotional intelligence to draw from at all, especially with being highly introspective. You can refuse to see the silver lining all you want. Someone giving up their hatred for a human ideal is a step in the right direction either way. Imagine a resentful hatred for children, what kind of life do you imagine such a person would have? Well you can easily imagine because it takes the form of quite a few villain archetypes like Cruella Deville and Trunchbolt from Matilda. Hatred for god is not a true feeling, its misguided and represents some hatred for something else, and given his frequent abandonment by his loved ones and his involvement in catholic school, there's a very obvious explanation for his misplaced hatred. "One thing that Henry’s life seems to have taught him is that if you act in a way that others disapprove of you will be crushed." yah and the continuation of that lesson is "the refusal to live your own life results in the slow agonizing torture of what life you have left to throw away." "This comic was reminding him of that painful lesson." certainly an expression of trauma, its not like anyone else was going to share it with him, he had no one, by giving up his hatred for god he would have obtained the one last opportunity to talk to someone who cares for him as he is, not as he thinks others want him to be. That hatred for god might as well have been self hatred. He likely felt that he deserved the life he had, that he was being punished, but when punishments never end, that feeling of self loathing turns to bitter resentment because it starts to feel unfair, like someone who is getting bullied eventually getting angry and punching back, but the source of his problems was never god, he just likely resented god for not saving him. children feel the same way about parents all the time. "he ended up dying old and alone." that's certainly better than dying young with no accomplishments. He is a famous writer. If he suffered in silence, at the very least he created something of value from it so we don't have to do the same thing to extract the same information. do you know how many people live his exact life without creating anything valuable? people jump out of buildings with nothing but painful memories, if that pain generates some sort of creative expression, its far better than nothing. Given the situation, he did quite well. People in his position go fully insane they don't keep their humanity all the time. He LOVED his work, and he hated it as well, you see that in the contrasting innocence and violence. Similar to a traumatized child who will often draw the same picture of the traumatic event. A child who survives a fire that kills their family will often draw flames and burning houses over and over. Like in The Ring, the child draws those black rings over and over again representing the trauma of the child that falls down the well because that child echoes her suffering through the troubles of the modern child going through troubles of their own.

[@threedaysgrace2233]

Honestly, his drawings look so much like Greek paintings. Like Greek culture of women were most flat-chested and the face looking masculine since the greeks like the appearance of men more than women in sculptures. Overall this video gives me this type of feeling of being inspired, confuse, a bit disgusted since is supposed to be little girls. And yet a little happy I learned about a writer who made fiction about himself. Something today writers do not like.

[@molotera8789]

His art reminds me more of Hieronymus Bosch

[@carlorozyclemente1999]

7:33 This longass title is almost like your average japanese light novel with long ass title

[@megantron5331]

Self-inserts and loli fembois? This guy was way ahead of his time.

[@vueno8552]

It was a joke dip

[@its_uh_bella]

Not to mention super long titles.

[@spritelady4669]

Dante of Dante's inferno kind of beat this guy to the self-insert punch, though. 🤷🏻‍♀️

[@jonathanwright8025]

Homer did it before them - bringing in the blind poet to entertain Nausica, iirc.

[@ToonCatTV]

god damn it lmao

[@Rat-Baby]

I really appreciate these videos. They manage to be so unsettling and interesting while relying only on facts without any gimmicks. I can tell that a lot of work went into the research as well. All around, I would say that this is one of my favorite series on KZbin.

[@oneinathousand2156]

It’s very heartwarming that Henry had at least one best friend (or perhaps a lover if you believe some people’s interpretation, I’m 50/50 on it) in his life for so long, it goes to show that anyone, even someone as socially awkward and withdrawn as Henry could find someone whom he cared about and who cared for him back.

[@cruelcimmcia859]

"Too late now" I almost cried, felt so heavy.

[@Force-hiddenmasquerade]

maybe i should've become a recluse to make illustrations all day every day instead of paying thousands to go to art school

[@midnightkiteflight6333]

Hidden Masquerade I often wonder if I should have gone to art school at all.

[@vilAvain]

Good luck paying off all that student loans m8

[@woodlefoof2]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/iZnMh4uqnbJnerM maybe this will clarify the maybe in your question

[@Ramjambler]

How can you justify going to school for something that is simply human expression?

[@zarrg5611]

I'd imagine the Bauhaus was worth going too...

[@BlueBoboDoo100]

I truly believe this is one of the best channels on KZbin. Your research and quality are incredibly impressive. I'd never heard of Henry Darger before this, and I'm really fascinated by his art. I'm especially fascinated by the parallels to Chris chan and how differently both are regarded even though they're both creators of strange, amateur, self-inserting, derivative stories and illustrations.

[@fuyuseetaa]

I'm constantly reminded of my father's penchant for coming into the living room when I'm watching something at the worst, most horribly out of context or awkward time. My father came in while I was watching a documentary about Henry Darger, and of course he came in while they were speculating why the little girls were always drawn with the incorrect parts. I swear they talked about this for a solid minute or two. But I'd like to add that I highly doubt Darger was a p*dophile and that these kinds of accusations are close minded in my opinion. As it's said in the video, I believe he looked to children as being as close to God as possible, clean and pure, and that the most evil force present in this world is the one who violates and dirties it; that he was less fixated on children themselves, and moreso on their angelic purity and the childhood that not just he, but the little girl in the newspaper clipping too, were robbed of.

[@DopeioThePhoneBoi]

Its like Chris-chan, only not a bad person and he can actually draw decently. So interesting. What a neat guy.

[@Sonchikas1]

He was tracing you smart ass.

[@DopeioThePhoneBoi]

DreamSoulshine He didn't trace, he used references. There's a difference.

[@Sonchikas1]

Well, the video says that he was tracing pictures. 8:25

[@ChristLover53]

Honestly, there's nothing wrong with tracing as long as you don't show it around claiming you did it all yourself and such. It can be good practice for understanding certain bits in the drawing a person did. Though you should not claim it as your own.

[@LeiKultur]

I wonder if Darger tried to grow a vagina on his taint as well.

[@evna9246]

Thought it said Henry Danger. That would've been very interesting.

[@elliehugg]

lol me too

[@LoliconSamalik]

Evna Gotta love those cheesy 80s action movies

[@fireflocs]

I sincerely think Henry Danger is named after Henry Darger.

[@MasaomiKida251]

I read it like that as well lol.

[@Brother-Martell]

Evna lol me too

[@SuperNuclearUnicorn]

Interesting that John Manley has the face of Tsar Nicholas II. Given the time I wonder if using the Tsar as a villain was intentional of not

[@starcola3035]

I think it's just a tracing. The two have nothing else in common that comes to mind. I think he just wanted people who looked like old timey war generals.

[@manny7289]

@@starcola3035 but "old timey war generals" were the generals of the time.

[@starcola3035]

@@manny7289 I meant 50 years earlier since he seemed to base them off Confederate people.

[@Cheyne_TetraMFG]

@@starcola3035 That's possible, but given when he was doing this work, some of it was certainly made around the time of the October Revolution, in which the Tsar was killed, which would've probably been big news at the time.

[@ThePooper3000]

@@Cheyne_TetraMFG Exactly. A lot of his characters were tracings of newspaper clippings. So it's entirely possible that he simply found an image of Tsar Nicholas II on the front page of the local paper, liked how the man looked, and decided to use it for tracing.

[@pgk60]

The KZbin algorithm offered your video in my Home feed. I liked it. You were very fair and nonjudgmental with what would seem an easy target for many accusations. Thanks.

[@khdayskh1314]

7:39 Sounds like a modern Japanese light novel title...

[@carlorozyclemente1999]

would be fun to pitch this to the japanese and turn it to actual light novel

[@marunomi]

Exactly what I thought! It even has futanari in it.

[@PureFlakes]

When will In the Realms of the Unreal be adapted into a manga??

[@Akron162]

The guy probably never saw a naked woman, so he just drew what he knew. Cut him some slack.

[@mrblonde609]

11:56 The plants look like vaginas though.

[@cai3886]

@@mrblonde609 Lol, do you know what a vagina looks like??

[@AnimeProphet666]

@@mrblonde609 flowers are plant vaginas, take a botany class

[@pirjocheerio4016]

Oh plz dude was wacko all these pedo apologists I wouldn't put it in my house but libtards will prolly

[@April_a26]

@@pirjocheerio4016 "people I disagree with support pedophiles, because I said so."

[@DylanHansonwarriorpro]

wow his reaction to people complementing his art "too late now" broke my heart

[@valoov]

I remember seeing a piece of his art at an outsider art exhibition a few years back. I was really touched by it then but had a hard time remembering his name afterwards. When I saw the title of this video I thought wait.. wasn't that that artist? So thank you for this video. I'm happy to have found him again and to hear more of his story. I feel genuinely sad for how cruel the world was to him... It sounds to me like he had something childlike or naive about him, even as an adult, for example with how upset he got over losing a certain picture. I'm sad when I think about how lonely he might have felt. I hope he's resting in peace.

[@Nocturn3]

I did not expect this level of crazy when I started watching...

[@Thorgrax]

A more tragic more talented version of Chris Chan.

[@peteaxe2067]

Thorgrax lmao

[@crandigo5687]

EnriqueLovinLife At least his art can be considered as good art, not a drawing from a 7 year old.

[@mineerthegamer]

Crandigo one day Chris' art will be considered legendary for sure, remember arts value nearly triples after the artist dies.

[@mineerthegamer]

alexandra galici I wouldn't call Chris dangerous. At least not anymore now he is so pathetic I don't think he could even use a weapon

[@MegaSader]

mineerthegamer So it'll go for three cents. Nice.

[@aa-tx7th]

A true artist. Unsullied by teaching or influence. What an interesting person. Im glad his work will survive.

[@LucidEyes17]

His use of color is incredible, at 8:00, looks like its exploding off the page. The lighting is amazing too. A lot is said about what a weird and isolated life he led, speculations on his mental health, but we can't miss what a fine and serious visual artist he was.

[@bingo__bongo]

dude wtf the man 7:30 is emperor Nicholas 2 of Russia but with blonde hair and beard

[@Mattlesss]

Indeed !

[@commenter_HIMIK-MAN]

Probably he was one of his reference images.

[@ineffablemars]

lol I literally just said this 😂 I had to pause it it looks so much like him

[@nicholaswinwood5893]

Army Generals of the day were required to have a mustache, although I can definitely see the likeness.

[@hectormontes7056]

*Czar Nicholas II

[@jamesjoelholmes4541]

I've been fascinated my Henry Darger's life and works for many years. Thank you for creating this beautiful and insightful essay.

[@Dalieday]

I've been bingewatching your videos for about a week. I really like your content. I can see that you treat your themes with a lot of care and go to great lengths to remain as objective as you can. Keep up the good work!

[@ButtersTheGreat1]

Crazy to think Henry Darger wrote the worlds first Light Novel

[@ahmaddanielazmi1339]

There's nothing light about a 15 thousand page epic. But the title is certainly on brand for Light Novel titles.

[@notgray88]

@@ahmaddanielazmi1339 Henry Darger: The Isekai

[@someuser4166]

9:12 he also made the first futas it seems

[@drukej9412]

he'd had the time of his life as a modern internet artist/writer

[@oniplus4545]

man wrote double sided stories with illustrations + an alternate ending he ain't making puny light novel he's making visual novel with routes

[@borick2024]

Fascinating! My heart reaches out to the pure artists of the world, who create just for the sake of it. Thank you.

[@DanXmas]

this guy was a fucking enigma, great work as always

[@sdziscool]

>drawings to go with the book >earthling in an alternate world >girls with penises >abhorrently long title So this is how the first light novel was made...

[@Infernape7890]

Wonder if "Problem Children are Coming from Another World, Aren't They?" is a sequel.

[@romulusnuma116]

My god your write

[@mistermystery1999]

I feel like "light" is a under estimate

[@Bear38-u7l]

Those last words the weight and mix of emotions all coming together and then flat realization “too late now” then passes on quietly what a character

[@grimoirepit3348]

Amazing video, man. Worth the wait, and I bet the researching was grueling. Keep it up, please!

[@thickpee1493]

Patrick Morgan it was literally just now posted

[@Furrycowboy]

Thickpee it was re-uploaded.

[@scampublic5439]

Its a re-upload from 15-30 minutes ago

[@colorremote8542]

Thuckpee lol

[@thickpee1493]

scampublic yh but it wasn't up long enough to be watched

[@jimmyboy131]

Does anyone secretly fear that your life might end up as the subject of one of these videos?

[@DeadlyAlienInvader]

jimmyboy131 yeah......especially since I keep getting strange ideas for fan fics

[@zarrg5611]

But on the 4th of April 2029 things took a turn for the worse...

[@Hanfgurkenhasser]

@@zarrg5611 Is that when the fire nation will attack?

[@choo_choo_]

Sorry kid, you've gotta be interesting to have any chance of that.

[@istvanmitca5691]

@@Hanfgurkenhasser no that's the time when germany finally wins a war.

[@elliswomack5234]

The respect I have for this man is as vast as it is troubling. As someone who is, himself, trying to write a work of staggering size, I have to admire him for his dedication, especially in the face of his probable madness. Was this man a misunderstood genius? Maybe, Maybe not. But he was creative, and he was determined and damn it, if that's not the most important thing of all.

[@GenericProtagonist7]

Not to be too much of a dramatic, but everyone is a misunderstood genius in someway. Even the most incomprehensible madness ever put to paper, when looked the through the eyes of it's author, is a work of art with aspects of greatness. That potential is always there but very few are able to genuinely appreciate it.

[@flippisni]

I think the panic he felt when he lost the newspaper clipping of the child that died spoke a lot about him. In a sense, through his art he could give her a chance to live a happy life, as well as keeping her memory alive. I can't imagine the heartbreak and pain he must have felt losing that newspaper clipping and being unable to find it in the archives.

[@poooopoo]

@@flippisni so true. i wish people could try to understand his life through a different perspective of understanding and compassion, to not paint him such a negative and contrary way that so many of the senseless comments try to argue

[@ItsRevival]

@@flippisni That makes a lot of sense as to why he was so distraught over it

[@orbitaloutcast9878]

Henry darger was such an amazing, awe inspiring man and in spite of his madness, I'm glad that he was someone who lived to exist. His art work was so innocent and wholesome that in a way, his whole life was both embodied and revolved around recapturing that innocence that was ripped from him. The innocense and self immersion in his self interpretation of a world which he used as an outlet to express his frustration. If, I were to ever become old, I'd look to henry as a reference, for how I'd want to express myself through the medium.

[@Jokuman357]

What a humble and symphatetic man. I think he drew children alot because he wanted one so badly, and just couldn't get one. I can relate, If I want something I usually find myself drawing it. It's like some coping mechanism, i don't know. But great video, very inspiring and heart warming.

[@poooopoo]

and him wanting a child was with the pure intention of fatherhood and the joy of a family, something he never had in his youth