The Kids Aren't Alright...

I've been consistently questioned about why I consider Larry Clark, the director of Kids and Bully, a crucial, genius, important filmmaker. Most of the time I don't bother responding, because people mainly see what they want to see, or believe what they want to believe. When things get hard, or require a little brainwork, it's easier to just disregard something as "trash" and avoid putting the energy in.

Filmmaking is a lot more than showing you what you want to see, or showing you what you already know. Sometimes it's about showing you what you don't see, or don't believe...or don't want to believe.

Larry Clark shows a side of youth that we, as middle-class sheltered suburbanites, don't normally see. We are lucky for that. But there is a dirty underlining to youth desperation, and Clark's films are able to dig in and show us, not as perversion or sadism, but as a warning.

His films, while detestable, perverse, and wildly outrageous, have an energy that so much of the film industry does not. They are real, either based on true stories, or cast regular people who are very much involved in the projected lifestyle. While Clark's subjects may be nihilistic, Clark himself is not. He very much believes himself to be a moralist, who doesn't just show the bad news in the newspapers, but shows how they begin, and why.

Bully showed a youth culture that was driven by instant gratification and group mentality, while the parents naively looked the other way. Never have I seen such a simple, perfect metaphor of the state of our society before. When it comes to Clark's films, many people would probably choose to look the other way as well. It is their right, but as Clark stringently professes, there are consequences for every choice.

Here's a good article on Clark from the New York magazine if you want to read more about him.

posted by steven @ 1:20 AM