Product: Kids (1995)
Rating: 5.0
MAJOR WAKE-UP CALL
When it first came out, my daughter (then a teen) said "You don't want to see it, Mom"...so I didn't see it, I buried my head in the sand. Until a couple of women in an HIV prevention group I run encouraged me to see it...WOW...talk about blowing the illusion of "safety in numbers"...The movie is powerful, wonderfully filmed, raw and honest and terrifying. A young Latina, zealously guarded by her family ("don't get a boyfriend", but perhaps no explanation as to WHY to stay away from boyfriends) is easily seduced by a young boy who only has sex with virgins, so he won't catch any diseases. Later, one of his virgin victims learns she is HIV positive and you ask yourself, HOW? How,when he only does virgins and he was her first and only...the answer to that question blew me away. HOW can anyone REMEMBER what or who they do when they are high and drunk and passed out or in a black out? How can these, or any, kids survive and flourish in a place where parents are unavailable for whatever reason (work) or excuse (drugging, immature themselves) and the wolves come in peer-sized packages? Major wake up call, people...parents, teachers, friends, families, survivors, recovering people...UNITE...GET INFORMED, GET INVOLVED...SAVE THE KIDS.