The controversy that surrounds Kids is as interesting a phenomenon as the film itself. It was originally slapped with an NC-17 rating, only to have it removed before its release. It garnered an Adults Only warning that should be well heeded. Some critics, including teens, laud the film’s realism, and praise it as a wake-up call. Others condemn its negative portrait of teenagers. Some call the characters lame, boorish or amoral. Others recognize themselves or their friends.
Telly (Leo Fitzpatrick), the self-proclaimed “virgin surgeon,” is the first of many unlikable teenagers to whom we’re introduced. He deflowers a pubescent girl by convincing her with lies that he loves her. She’s worried that she could get pregnant. “Trust me,” he argues. After his conquest, Telly hits the streets of Manhattan with his homeboy Casper (Justin Pierce) where the two discuss his plunder.
We follow a day in the life of these aimless male youths. They hook up with other inner-city kids then get high, hang, skateboard, shout homophobic insults, steal, and gang rush another kid whom they nearly kill. They represent a community unto themselves having no aspirations other than sex and drugs, and communicating with their “yo boy” street lingo. While the boys laugh at the chances of contracting STDs and brag about how much girls like attending to their sexual whims, those same girls are across town discussing the bitter taste of semen and getting tested for AIDs. With such a laissez-faire approach to sex, it’s not a surprise when someone tests positive then is shocked because “I only did it once.”
Street realism’s been done before, such as in Mean Streets and Saturday Night Fever, only the era is different and the kids are younger. What makes people anxious is Clark’s unadulterated presentation. The hand-held camera follows the characters in a documentary style: it doesn’t look staged. The camera makes us observe, and doesn’t allow us to look away when the situation becomes uncomfortable. Clark shot on street locations, and used unknown actors who use authentic dialogue penned by 19-year old Harmony Korine (Gummo). The cast, all first-time actors, is superb. Fitzpatrick’s character is completely unlikable and Pierce plays a charismatic loser yet we want to know why they’re such jerks. Chloe Sevigny, who went on to do such films as Boys Don’t Cry, is impressive as Jennie, a victim of her own naivete. The actors become their characters. For all we know, this could be real. Almost.
Dissecting the motives of testosterone driven males, expounding relationships as conquests, the film offers a skewed explanation for teen crisis and the larger issue of AIDS. Does Clark sell out the teenagers whose story he’s telling? If the depiction is considered a definitive portrayal of teens in the ‘90s then Kids is nothing more than caustic exploitation. Or it could be the penultimate warning to teenagers to shape up. No matter the interpretation, the film’s sensationalism is eerily frank no matter if it’s presented in good taste or not.
