'Kids 1995' Watching this film has been one of the most random uni experiences so far, however when referring to the module Being Bad it is completely understandable why we were asked to attend the showing of the film.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kids-DVD-Leo-Fitzpatrick/dp/B000056IEI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1268088409&sr=1-1
The plot of the American drama film follows a group of New York adolescents through out a day and night, showing acts of theft, drug abuse, underage drinking, underage sex and crimes of rape .
I must admit although in some ways I found the film realistic I did find the film uncomfortable to watch and a little disturbing. As some scenes were quite graphic and showed a little too much of what audiences really needed to see.
However you could tell from the opening scene that this is what the writers and directors obviously wanted to portray to their audience. The desired affect would have been achieved as although today the topics that are mentioned through out the film; drugs, underage sex, HIV are all more common, especially within the world of the media during the time of the films release they would have been more hidden. I found the opening of the film a bit cringey in all honesty, watching a seven teen year old boy getting it on with a twelve year old girl is never going to be very pleasant but as this is what introduced the film I was a little bit taken back. Plus the idea of this young guy going round picking on young virgins as conquests wasn't the most pleasant story line. However the point of the story creating the 'shock factor' to it's audience works really well in that sense.
After we'd watched the film there was a discussion about whether we found the film shocking, the members of the audience varied and it showed that some did and didn't depending on age and ethnicity. However I think in some senses younger members of an audience watching this type of film can find it easier to relate to as sex and drug abuse has become so open over the years. Even in high schools sex becomes a very open topic, and many people will be able to relate to the idea of house parties and acting in certain ways similar to that of the film.
On the other hand, although I was not surprised with the topics that were mentioned in the film, and how they were shown I was surprised when the ending happened and the rape scene was shown. The scene was very graphic and I must admit that I didn't actually watch all of it because it really did make me feel a bit sick, but seriously how long did this scene go on for! It lasted ages and I was sitting there looking at my friend to tell me when it had finished, because to be honest it was just something that I would rather not watch. Although I did think that the scene was unnecessary, in the idea of the film creating a certain effect on its audience then it definitely worked. Also considering how traumatic and awful it would be to have this happen to anyone it raises a certain sense of awareness that rape actually does happen, and it can occur at such a young age!
There was a quote on the power point before the film was shown it said 'A film about kids but not for kids!' This is extremely accurate. We also discussed who the target audience for the film was. The idea of the film being targeted towards parents was brought forward as people said it would inform them about how teenagers act. Then some people in the audience were debating whether to show the film to younger children to show them the reality of sex and drugs and how acting in certain ways can create serious down falls in life. But seriously I would never show that to a child or anyone below the age of sixteen and even when I was sixteen I don't think that I would have wanted to watch it, I wasn't really comfortable watching it now at the age of nineteen.
The films message was interesting and the ideas of the lack of parental guidance was obvious through out as there was only two adults really shown and one of those was a drug dealer. I think the film could inform parents of how children can become corrupted without adult guidance and having a role model in life. As the characters in the film show a complete disregard of morals, dignity and respect for one and other.
The idea of justice within the film is an interesting topic as we find out that the main character Telly has aids and has given them to Jennie. Firstly this part of the story shows the idea of just how easy it is to get aids as Ruby, Jennie's friend has had sex about nine times and hasn't used protection and her results come up clear, however Jennie has only ever had sex once and only went to support Ruby finds out she has HIV. Although Jennie's character is liked through out the film there is a large sense of hate towards her when she sees Telly having sex with a younger girl Darcy and doesn't do anything to stop it. Although she is very wasted and appears really upset about what she sees. Then Jennie gets raped by Casper, Telly's friend who through out the film is shown as a comic and not a bad guy, there is a sense of justice (although not one big enough for what he did) because although Casper has raped Jennie he will now get aids as well. I did enjoy some parts of the film as to be fair it was interesting, but it really wasn't what I expected to see on a Thursday afternoon at uni. However for the module it was a perfect choice for Being Bad!
