Ken Park
Well Paul, I watched "Ken Park" the other afternoon. I've put it on the shelf next to "Thirteen"...I figured they would make a great "dysfunction junction" double feature!
Since I've worked in social services and mental health for so long the subject matter didn't shock me all that much. I've heard from women who are sleeping with their daughter's boyfriends and I've heard about the way people use religion to find solace after a tragedy but twist it to the point where it is stifling for their children. I've worked with a mentally ill kid who is being raised by his grandparents whom I won't be surprised to hear has killed someone someday in the future (he threatened to use the internet to find and kill me and my family someday when I've forgotten all about him...the people in the psych unit told me not to take his threat too seriously even though his father is in prison for strangling a prostitute he didn't want to pay...I didn't take their advice and looked into buying a gun because I don't think the apple ever falls too far from the tree and I don't want to end up as the lead-in story on the evening news). I've heard from the kids who have left home because of sexual abuse from parents and step-parents. I've read the files of a girl whose parents would organize family orgies and invite their friends to join in. I've heard about the drug and alcohol filled orgies that are taking place in upscale neighborhoods when the parents go away for a few weeks and leave the kids at home with no supervision. All this stuff, and more, happens in real life and all too often for most people to want to believe or accept. For me, the movie operated almost on the level of a documentary.
The only thing that shocked me was the actual climax of the autoerotic asphyxiation scene. Considering everything else that was in the film I figured he would go all the way and show the "money shot"...I just wasn't sure that he would.
All in all I say it was bold filmmaking and the kind that I would actually like to see more of. If half of the stuff that my wife, who is a clinical social worker, tells me about from her family sessions were put into a film it would never be allowed in a theater and people would say that it was too over the top and exagerated. Everyone accept for the parents who found their daughter's MySpace.com website with a pic of her drunk and giving blowjobs. They know this stuff is for real. And, I'm sure they wish someone would have given them a heads up before it was too late.
Since I've worked in social services and mental health for so long the subject matter didn't shock me all that much. I've heard from women who are sleeping with their daughter's boyfriends and I've heard about the way people use religion to find solace after a tragedy but twist it to the point where it is stifling for their children. I've worked with a mentally ill kid who is being raised by his grandparents whom I won't be surprised to hear has killed someone someday in the future (he threatened to use the internet to find and kill me and my family someday when I've forgotten all about him...the people in the psych unit told me not to take his threat too seriously even though his father is in prison for strangling a prostitute he didn't want to pay...I didn't take their advice and looked into buying a gun because I don't think the apple ever falls too far from the tree and I don't want to end up as the lead-in story on the evening news). I've heard from the kids who have left home because of sexual abuse from parents and step-parents. I've read the files of a girl whose parents would organize family orgies and invite their friends to join in. I've heard about the drug and alcohol filled orgies that are taking place in upscale neighborhoods when the parents go away for a few weeks and leave the kids at home with no supervision. All this stuff, and more, happens in real life and all too often for most people to want to believe or accept. For me, the movie operated almost on the level of a documentary.
The only thing that shocked me was the actual climax of the autoerotic asphyxiation scene. Considering everything else that was in the film I figured he would go all the way and show the "money shot"...I just wasn't sure that he would.
All in all I say it was bold filmmaking and the kind that I would actually like to see more of. If half of the stuff that my wife, who is a clinical social worker, tells me about from her family sessions were put into a film it would never be allowed in a theater and people would say that it was too over the top and exagerated. Everyone accept for the parents who found their daughter's MySpace.com website with a pic of her drunk and giving blowjobs. They know this stuff is for real. And, I'm sure they wish someone would have given them a heads up before it was too late.
posted by BMo2xl at 8:17 PM
4 comments
