Blind and Battered: The Story Of A Blind Kingpin is a no-frills, hard-hitting documentary done the right way by a production team that clearly knows storytelling. It doesn't hurt that at the center of this tale is a truly compelling, singular character born into adverse circumstances made even more complicated by his responses to them.
Mac Wayne, we learn, was born to a mother who was a sex worker at the time. His father wasn't known to him, and never will be. It goes without saying that we expect the nearly impossible from kids when they're born into a socially and economically crippling situation, yet they're expected to find their own way out while avoiding all the usual traps. Wayne's putting flour and sugar in plastic packets and carrying his mom's gun by age nine; as a teen, he fully loses his sight when he puts a gun to his head - not in a suicide attempt, but as a perverse, frightened, animalistic response to feeling imminently threatened. He comes out of the ordeal blind, and a transformation begins: Over time, his loss of his sense of sight drives the sharpening of his other senses...most notably his business sense.
Ultimately, this isn't just the story of a blind drug dealer and pimp. Like the best documentaries, it goes beyond its own plot points to reveal a very big, almost transcendent personality; a smart, cagey young man touted as both a good human and as a live wire by those who know him best. It's a combination of traits to which many can be drawn, and you can hear that's the case in the admiration they show for him as they're recounting his exploits. It's also about someone very nearly strong enough to find his way out of a impossible situation, only to fall short when lured back by their risks and rewards. Money, respect, a sense of pride in being good at one's work, and no doubt a dark sense of thrill-seeking are all powerful intoxicants, and we can feel their hold on a candid and philosophical Mac Wayne as he's interviewed.
Wayne is apparently still alive somewhere in the world, and can keep his story going. For now, Blind and Battered introduces us to his unique personality, and tells what we hope are his life's early chapters amazingly well.