Darius Goes West Review 3

Editor's Note.  Students in the Media and Message course watched Darius Goes West. Here are a few of their reviews of the award-winning documentary about an Athens teenager with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.

By Madison Howard
M&M TIPster


Have you ever seen a documentary that was interesting and made you care about it? Yesterday, I would have said no. Most documentaries are boring and make you want to sleep during them. But not Darius Goes West.
This documentary was moving and wonderful. It showed the life of a 16 year old teen with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. His name is Darius and he is from Athens Georgia. This film follows him from Athens Georgia, to Los Angeles California. He wanted to persuade MTV Studios to allow him to appear on the show, Pimp My Ride. Darius wanted them to "pimp" his wheelchair.
He and twelve friends go on a road trip to try and make this possible. They have fun and treat Darius like a "normal" person, instead of someone with a fatal disease.
Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy is the most deadly dystrophy. It has a 100% death rate. People with this disease usually live only to be in their teens or twenty's. A good scenario would be that they would live to be thirty.


Darius didn't do this for himself. He wanted to spread awareness for future generations. This movie won many awards and has gotten this disease more public so that people can help find a cure.


Darius' brother, Mario, died of this disease when he was only nineteen. Darius knows that he will die just like his brother. He knows that he will most likely not live to see the age of thirty- one. But, he is determined to help others.
Part of the trip was to show how wheelchair inaccessible places are. There are gas stations and many other places that if you're in a wheelchair, you can't visit.


This documentary was the best that I have ever seen. You laughed, you cried, and you smiled at the fact that even though Darius has every reason to be angry at the world, he wasn't. He just wanted to make a difference.
More information about Darius and this movie at the Darius Goes West website.