First movie of Hot Docs...rush seats! All three of the showings of this double bill about our youth were rush, and so I pressed my luck (does anyone else remember that TV show and also has this blur of how the show actually worked?) and got lucky!
Kids & Money takes a look at teens and pre-teens living in Los Angeles and their take on fashion, fortune and fitting in. Maybe it's because of my experiences and the line of work that I'm in, but nothing in the movie surprised me. The documentary felt a little short and just scratched the surface of many issues that teens face these days. I wanted to hear so much more about what the kids had to say. What their parents had to say. Watch more of their lives and analyze their every waking hour. While some kids were completely off base with reality, many others were very insightful for their age. Being a kids these days is difficult. And depending on where you live and where you're from, it can be even harder. Mind you, being an adult can provide for many of the same problems - I'm not sure if we're better equipped to deal with the issues and/or if we're more immune to the effects of society. Based on the description of the movie and some of the reviews that I've read, along with the fact that all of the shows were sold out, I was expecting a lot more out of this film. It provided for a lot of laughs (although I'm not sure what was so funny. I get that some of the comments were funny because they seem so off-base, but that doesn't mean that it's not true or isn't prevalent) but It really was just superficial (no pun intended). I really wanted further investigation into the issues and I didn't get that. It was quite limited. I would recommend watching this if it you happened to flip by it on your TV and you want a smidge of insight into the lives of some of our youth, but other than that, it's no big deal. Unfortunately.
Emoticons followed six young ladies and their involvement with the online world. For communication, for comfort, for advice for friendship, the internet is a powerful tool. This Dutch movie (I do like the sound of the Dutch language. It rolls off the tongue.) was not a light hearted romp like the first feature. Many of the girls turned to the internet in difficult times but after awhile, I felt like the movie was starting to drag. Again, it was a great movie and I got the point of the documentary quite quickly, but it was like something was missing. The a-ha moment. The breakthrough. something. It's fascinating how powerful of a tool the internet is, but, I don't know...this movie was also kind of ______. Maybe it's because I"m starting to get tired, and lazy to type, but although each film wasn't bad - it wasn't stellar.
I was hoping that someone from each of the productions would be on hand to give a little speech and provide a little bit more insight into the film, but unfortunately it was not meant to be. Maybe if I had heard them speak more about what they were trying to get out of the film, their experiences working on the production or even to hear some of the questions being asked I would have a better sense of satisfaction, but no such luck.
Anyway, I'm still happy that I went to the film. It did get me thinking about some of the issues that students go through. Even though nothing new came to the surface (at least to me) it was still a chance to think a little bit about the issues and many just having this extra chance to think about them will help me in the future in a couple different facets of my life.
I'm intrigued to read more reviews of the films now that I've seen them for myself.
Oh, I spoke with a member of the press today and was told that Air India 182 is fantastic, but (even better) it will be playing on CBC television towards the end of June.
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