Kids + Money (2008)

            This 2008 short documentary is as eye opening as it is repulsive.  The state of American consumerism and self-indulgence is spewed from the mouth of a dozen Los Angeles teenagers whose preoccupation with wealth supersedes their attention to race.  Having been bred in a culture of heightened awareness to financial status has more demanded than created the infatuation with presentation and social awareness.

            The numerous talking heads are usually smack dab in the middle of an expansive abode or amongst hoards of frivolous clothing purchases.  One girl, hyper-aware of social stratification at her high school, models the various clique clothing while articulating the general expense.  Another boy sorts through stacks of $300 jeans and dozens of $100-300 dollars sneakers scattered across is floor.  On numerous occasions the kids recount their general expenditures, whether it be hundreds of dollars for casual shopping or the same amount for pre and post-prom activities.  And while a few kids provide the monetary supplement themselves, one girl scoffs at the idea that she will ever have to work.

            Perhaps the most interesting thing we see in these kids is a semi-developed attention to social stratification and organization.  Miniature sociologists with surprising scrutiny.  They identify, clearly, the importance of money in everything they say and do.  At the same time, for many of them, the dollars directly inhibit their attention to everything else.  A day at school is composed of gathering visual data about everyone else’s clothing choices.  Their approval depends on its quality, uniqueness, and brand. 

The success of the day, then, is determined by one’s ability to fashion themselves an individual amongst the crowd.  For the filmic spectator, we see such conclusions drawn by the kids are anything but true.  By trying to be unique, they simply fit the mold as cookie-cutter name-brand consumer.  Their efforts, in the end, have perhaps satisfied themselves yet leave the audience (at least the critical audience) slightly baffled and certainly disgusted.

            It is no doubt that the high-maintenance lifestyle that demands expensive cars, numerous nannies, designer fashion, and attention to socioeconomic status is perpetuated by the very industry that has been discussed on this website.  And informative films like this, even if seen by those that buy into the same mindset, will probably do little to alter the cultural course.  It, like many other topics, makes questions about the future all the more relevant.  With such a disposable consumption mindset we are very soon going to drown completely in the manifestations of our own desires.  This being after we have drowned the rest of the world first.

            There do exist a few redeeming kids within the film.  The most innocent and unfortunate being the sister of a girl who first counts her 30 plus pairs of jeans before listing the various parts of her anatomy that she is unhappy with.  While the girls recount their life at school, the first tries to reason why a group of girls do not like her.  Repeatedly stating as a possible cause that she is nice, her sister interrupts her by listing the numerous ways in which the fat girls are jealous of her money and her friends and her looks.  I have never wanted to punch a twelve-year-old girl more. Highly recommended.