When the movie Kids was released in 1995 you would have thought (judging from the gluttonous appetite of journalists covering the film) that it was a documentary about the depraved apathy of Gen-Xers rather than a fictional flick about a group of teens in NYC who spend 24-hours doing whatever it is that they do.
Granted, it had a disturbing amount of underage drugs, drinking and sex in it (which caused the film to be given an NC-17 rating), but the controversy surrounding the depictions of all the degeneracies shocked the old folk something awful (think hundreds, if not thousands, of magazine and newspaper stories all screaming about the debauched children of the Baby Boomers) and while those loud “discussions” may have lifted up a small handful of the actors like Rosario Dawson and Chloë Sevigny as well as the writer (a 19 year-old Harmony Korine-Gummo, Julien Donkey-Boy, Spring Breakers) and director (Larry Clark-Bully), as successes, for just about everyone else in the film, they were left underpaid, exploited and unable to truly cope with the aftermath of being the kids of Kids.
In the new documentary The Kids (co-written by one of the original movie’s cast members, Hamilton Harris) we get a deeper look not only into how the movie was made, but also into the lives of the cast members who were a real life self-made family
It is at once heartbreaking and empowering.
Told via interviews, photos and film/video recordings of the actors themselves, The Kids shows just how their community thrived together despite most of them living in extreme poverty, how their own survival depended on each other and what it was like to be manipulated into being in a movie that made them super famous but left them worse off than before.
Tying the documentary together is Hamilton Harris, who guides the viewer through it like an unofficial narrator, introducing the charismatic Harold Hunter (who introduced Harmony Korine to the group and vouched for him) and the emotionally bruised Justin Pierce (both of whom were the breakout stars in the original film) and giving members of the group a chance to reminisce about what it was like growing up on the streets during the very violent NYC 90s, how Kids came about, and how some of them blame Korine and Clark for what ultimately happened to Harold and Justin.
Both Korine and Clark declined to be a part of the documentary which is odd considering just how important Kids was to both of their careers, and their absence only seems to strengthen a lot of the criticisms that the cast and group have with both of them. Because of this, Korine and Clark come off as manipulative interlopers who infiltrated a group of kids dealing with a lot of mental health, substance abuse and violence issues, profited off that manipulation and then left these teens to deal with the aftermath while they reaped the rewards.
It isn’t a flattering look for either of them but the criticism are backed up with video and their non-response feels like confirmation.
If you haven’t seen the original movie Kids (or it’s been years since you have) I highly recommend that you do and then pair it with this documentary to get a real sense of the people behind the film.
The Kids is a harsh, sad, angering and ultimately uplifting film and is the perfect companion to a movie that feels so exposed. It is also an excellent response to why, if you watched the movie, you might have felt a little skeezy doing so (some of the scenes in the original movie always felt borderline criminal- and come to find out, a lot of it was), something that has always plagued me after a viewing (I now understand why I always want a shower after watching Kids).
*******
Produced by Shannon Swan, Hamilton Chango Harris,
Peter Bici, Caroline Rothstein, Jessica Forsyth
Written by Eddie Martin and Hamilton Chango Harris
Directed by Eddie Martin
Featuring Jon Abrahams, Priscilla Forsyth, Hamilton Harris,
Harold Hunter, Javier Nunez, Jamal Simmons, Tobin Yelland
