Change Your Image
marcelajonkisz
Reviews
American Street Kid (2016)
I'm glad it was filmed for 7 years
After the first half an hour of watching, I was getting annoyed with this documentary and I thought if that was the way everything was going to be portrayed until the end, then it would just be a mostly false presentation of the situation. Why? Because I've dealt with people addicted to drugs and I could see how incredibly naive Michael was thinking that if he could organize rehabs for everyone, then they would just happily stay there, be grateful for having a roof over their heads, get a job afterwards and basically stop being homeless thanks to that. The moment when he started renting hotel rooms for more and more young homeless people (not all of them could be call kids in my opinion) while constantly blaming everybody around for the fact that these people were living that way, then I thought about not watching this any longer.
The thing is that there is a difference when the problem is the lack of finances to have a place to stay but if somebody's been taking drugs for many years and had to learn how to "hustle" to survive on the street, then even if he found a job for each of them and a house for all of them to stay in, they would end up in the same spot pretty quickly without THEIR decision that they'd had enough and wanted to accept the help and start with first getting clean. So the moment he sent Bublez to rehab, I was wondering if they were going to show how quickly she would leave with some excuse and be back taking drugs on the street.
But thankfully, this documentary shows what was happening with the kinds for the following 7 years and that's when it shows the true story of being a young, homeless and addicted person. I know that Michael meant well but it's a human nature that he would be manipulated by some of them, he would be lied to by others to get something from him - both calculated gain but also more attention than others. And he wasn't putting any boundaries at the beginning, believing everything he was told and wishfully thinking that he resolved some problems within the first few months of being with these people.
That's why I am so glad that he continued the help and the documentary for years after that, showing how much time and effort it takes from both sides to help one addicted, homeless person. And I applaud him for being with some of these people for so many years and not giving up, so not disappointing them like nearly everybody in their life. It was a pleasure to see the change in those who trusted him and decided to fight for themselves. Most of the people in their situation is not going to be successful even with all the possible help available - because only a small percent of people can recover from addiction and even then they can relapse and lose everything.
He did a great job in the end and I think it's worth to see it.
Baby Reindeer (2024)
WOW, just wow!
At 9pm I thought I'd watch some 1-2 episodes of the dark comedy...and it's 3am after I've just binged the whole thing and I have to cool down to be able to fall asleep! There was no way I could have stopped earlier, it is that good and that different from nearly anything I've seen in many months and even more exceptional when you realize that this really happened.
I barely ever comment anything I watch, only when it leaves me with very strong feeling afterwards and that's what happened here. At the same time I'm finding it hard to find the words to describe it to not to make it sound less important than it is. But for me that definitely wasn't a comedy and at times it was difficult to watch because of these strong feelings of unease, anger, sadness and even anxiety.
All I can say is that it is a must watch for anyone who is NOT expecting the absurd, dark comedy to have a bit of a laugh. And when the disappointed haters start giving it somewhere between 1 and 5 stars and saying what an overrated cr*p it is, then I'd guess that this was what they wanted to watch and what they were only ready for.
Valentine Road (2013)
Very difficult to watch
If you are an open-minded, empathic and tolerant person that believes everybody can wear what they want, name themselves the way they want and identify themselves as a different gender than what they have between their legs - you are going to be very, very shocked and extremely upset and angry, if you manage to watch this documentary in full (there were a few moments when I could barely listen to some people).
This has already been said in the other reviews here, the most upsetting and shocking part is not just the fact that a kid killed a kid but it's listening to many unbelievably intolerant, brainless and god-fearing middle-aged or elderly women being outraged that some disgusting transgender child made a poor white, straight kid shot him twice in the head in the classroom and now a horrible prosecutor wants to destroy this shooter's life, even though he suffered through an extreme trauma (cause a gay kid asking a straight guy "to be his valentine" in public was really called "an extreme bullying").
Basically the transgender little kid behaved in such a horrific way that it's only natural that the swastika drawing boy shot him in cold blood in front of the whole class. And I'm not exaggerating, I could not believe what I was hearing.
Oh, and the killer's lady lawyer tattooing her love for the underage killer on her wrist and crying about how much she loved him for being so special - she was something else altogether amongst all the sick grouppies...
This documentary is unreal, so unbelievable... because it is real.
Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets (2023)
Left me feeling helpless
I have just finished the second episode and I am not sure if I can watch the next one, not because the documentary is bad but because once again I saw the reality that makes me feel helpless. I am a woman and there is nothing in the world that bothers me more than the abuse of children and elderly by adults and of women by men. And it usually happens in the name of god or in politics or goes together with being in any kind of power or money.
I live in Europe and I've never heard of the Duggars or these people calling themselves "pastors". I don't believe in god and to be honest each story like that makes it even more impossible for me to ever come even near any religion. As usual, it is patriarchal, money and power-oriented and based on abuse, violence and fear inducing.
The second episode was very difficult for me to watch. It was a mixture of sadness and anger - I am sad for all the victims, while these predators make my blood boil.
I can't believe that viewers of the Duggars reality show were happy to watch kids raising kids, mother sounding like a psychopath when commanding her children with the sweetest voice and a palpable male domination. And all that was popular for many years, that's really sickening.
I think this is a very good documentary, really worth watching. I will watch the remaining two episodes but I need a break because it is emotionally difficult to accept that the things like that were, are and will be happening to vulnerable people.
Under Cover (2022)
What actions are expected and from who?
I would say that this film is about women who are "houseless" not homeless. Most of the women live in flats, just don't own them as they are from non-profit organisation. One woman from Germany living in car says that many landlords were bothering her but it doesn't sound like a financial reason, plus she could go back to Germany. Other 2 in vans are an activist and a traveller who don't want to live in homes for women with financial problems.
It doesn't look like women in this film are left without help from others, some didn't tell their family. I'm not sure what is expected to be done here.