Anyone here ever see that 1984 documentary "Streetwise"?

[Taverner]

I re-watched it last night, and maybe I'm just a wimp, but I can't watch that movie without bawling my eyes out.

If you haven't seen it, its a documentary about homeless kids (literally, kids) in Seattle. One of them is a 13-year old prostitute - Tiny. It's probably the most depressing movie you'll ever see.

Apparently of the kids, several have died. I want to show this movie to the Tea Party so maybe, just maybe, they might learn some compassion.

[ohiosmith]

1. I think you over estimate the capacity of TPs to feel for anyone other than themselves.

:hi:

[Taverner]

2. Yes - this is true

I remember talking about homelessness with a republican friend. His statement was "they're weak - and we need to cull them from the herd." Real Ayn Rand/Adolf Hitler shit. The schadenfreude in you might like to know that he's had two divorces, gone bankrupt twice and can't get a job. Yeah, he's a friend but irony makes me laugh like that.

[gratuitous]

3. Yup

It was heart-breaking. Not because of the disposable, throwaway kids. Not because of the absolute squalor of their miserable, fucked-up lives. But mostly because of the persistent fantasy that their mom or their dad was secretly one of the rich people they often saw downtown, who was one day going to pluck them out of poverty and restore them to their rightful place. These were people totally out of control of their own lives, without the means to even envision a better life, enslaved to an impossible vision.

The other heart-breaking aspect to it was the fatalism, and the persistent hope that after death, they'd be at a banquet with all their friends, drinking and partying. It truly wouldn't take much to take care of these kids, but our society can't spare even the little they need, preoccupied as we are with making sure Kim Kardashian has enough money to buy her dozenth car.

At about the same time there was an independent film called "Street Singin'" and I often get the titles confused. It's a good tonic for the despair of "Streetwise."

[Taverner]

5. We humans will go to great lengths to feed ourselves hope, even if delusional

What you pointed out is a good example - and very tragic


False hope is NOT better than no hope at all...

[Iggo]

4. delete

upon second reading, not necessary.

[geardaddy]

6. Yes, I remember seeing that.

Agreed. It is the most depressing movie I've ever seen.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

7. I volunteered with an agency that helped street kids in Portland

One of the sobering things they told us during orientation was that only 1/3 of street kids made it into productive adulthood. Of the rest, half died before the age of 25, and half ended up institutionalized.

What they had in common were parents who were alcoholic/drug addicted/criminal/mentally ill/abusive/"respectable" but sociopathic/some of the above/all of the above. About 1/3 of the kids had been thrown out for being gay or transgendered.

One girl was thrown out of the house when she became pregnant at the age of 12. Well, you know that getting pregnant wasn't her idea. The father was her mother's boyfriend, but instead of throwing out the boyfriend and pressing criminal charges, she dumped her daughter out onto the streets. This girl had three more children by the age of 21.

One mother told a pair of twins on their sixteenth birthday, "You're old enough to get full-time jobs. I don't want you back here after school. You no longer live in this house."

One boy spent Thanksgiving weekend skiing with a friend and his family and came home to find that his parents had moved away to another city without telling him.

A boy with cerebral palsy and mild retardation was thrown out on the streets at age 11. The agency placed him in a group home, where he lived for a couple of years. He used to drop by the agency and call all the women "Mama." One day, he died in a freak accident, and when the police informed his mother, her only response was, "I hope this doesn't mean I have to pay for his funeral."

One girl told me that she was going to spend the weekend at her father's house. I asked why she didn't live with him, and she said that her father's girlfriend didn't like her, so she had to live on the streets unless the girlfriend was out of town.

Another pair of twins was passed around among relatives all their lives. By the time I met them, they were a striking pair of identical twin leather punks. However, they both ended up in prison the last I heard.

If you think the movie was depressing...

Since Streetwise was made in 1986, I wouldn't be surprised if the children of the kids portrayed in the film are showing up at Seattle social service agencies now. The agency I volunteered for had just seen their first second-generation street kid shortly before I started there.

[GreenPartyVoter]

8. Beyond depressing. Desperately, achingly awful.

:cry:

[Taverner]

10. That's heartbreaking

I couldn't do your job

[Lydia Leftcoast]

13. It's not my job anymore, and it was never a paying job

Now my closest association with street kids is working in my church's meal program for homeless and low-income youth.

But the stories are still sad.

[seabeyond]

9. she will turn into an 18 yr old prostitute and then we can all cheer, and be thrilled with her

choice....

use her as we see fit.

just a little pissed at a thread cheering the handful of naked women amongst the 50-60 men paying them.

"they might learn some compassion"

[Taverner]

11. Although I think prostitution should be legal, I don't think it is by any means optimal

Some things shouldn't be treated as crimes. Prostitution and addiction come to mind. Criminalizing it just makes the problem worse.

[seabeyond]

12. i can agree with that.. well, to a point.

i would like to see sweden model. decriminalize the prostitute and hit the jon and pimp. maybe... i really dont care

but i dont like to pretend it isnt ugly....

as i think about the 13 yr old that you are talking about

[Taverner]

14. Yes. No 13 year old should have to deal with what Tiny dealt with.

Seriously. That movie motivated my Peace Corps experience.