Throwback Thursday #1: Kids

"Most notorious teen movie ever made." - Eric Hynes, Rolling Stone Magazine

Written by Harmony Korine and directed by Larry Clark, the film kids is a coming-of-age story about a diverse group of teenagers going through life in New City in the 90s. This film is not regular cliche nor cheesy teen movie. The film depicted the life of teenagers dealing with substance abuse, sex, and to top everything all off, the epidemic of the horrific disease Aids, which was widely apparent throughout the film.

Let me just give you little bit of the story plot. A boy named Telly, played by Leo Fitzpatrick makes it his mission to sleep with as many girls as he can. Little does he know, that he contracted the virus HIV. When I first watched this film, I was a shocked and disgusted. Due to its very explicit content, i have never seen a movie of teenagers displayed on screen before. What also surprised me is that this was happening in real life.

Eric Hynes, who wrote an article about the film, [ 'Kids':The Oral history of the most controversial film of the nineties], pointed out the process of the film. The director of the film, Larry Clarke would document and talk to the kids from local skate parks of New York city. By learning from diverse group of teenagers, Larry Clarke and Harmony Korine got a grasp of what it was like being a New York city kid in the 90s.

Rosario Dawson, who started her acting career with this movie, talked about how the movie reminded her how this was a regular occurrence for her growing up.

" I remember 14 specifically being the year when a lot of the girls stopped playing with stickers. They were blossoming, they would make sure to have their sneakers super clean, [with] their nails done and their earrings, talking about the sex they were having raw-dog style. I was never dazzled by the idea of having a fake ID, or going into the clubs. So for me the script felt like the conversations I’d hear. It wasn’t my lifestyle, it was definitely easy to emulate and mimic. "

What made this film interesting to me is the real sense of rawness portrayed in this film. Even though, I felt disgusted by watching the film, I grew an appreciation for by reading more about the New York youth culture and reading about the actors' personal stories through the making of the film. For more detailed stories how the film processed, the original article is down below.

https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-news/kids-the-oral-history-of-the-most-controversial-film-of-the-nineties-105069/

Source:

https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-news/kids-the-oral-history-of-the-most-controversial-film-of-the-nineties-105069/