After some initial formulations, they seemed to feel that the raison d'etre for Kids was the need to show what is happening. Both accused me of being out of touch with today's adolescent world. They recognized the characters, and although they were as appalled as I was by the events on the screen, the characters resonated within them. Once again, after some initial formualtions, they concluded that the point was to show you the horrors of being young in the 90s. James and Gretchen are correct about both points.
Kids is very much an attempt to alert people who are out of touch with adolescent behavior today.
It poses no solutions and makes no moral point. It is an attempt to expose the world for what it is. A few months ago, I watched a fabulous documentary called Home Economics on the PBS series P.O.V . The movie was about a group of wives and families living in a distant Los Angeles suburb. The director began the interviews by asking the wives and mothers about their impressions of their houses.