The film features Chloë Sevigny, Leo Fitzpatrick, Justin Pierce, Harold Hunter, and Rosario Dawson, all of them in their debut performances. The film is centered on a day in the life of a group of sexually active teenagers in New York City and their unrestrained behavior towards sex and substance abuse (alcohol and other drugs) during the era of HIV in the mid-1990s.
Kids created considerable controversy upon its release in 1995, and caused much public debate over its artistic merit, even receiving an NC-17 rating from the MPAA. It was later released without a rating.
'Kids' a tough look at the realities teens face today
July 20, 1995
(CNN)--"He stole her virginity."
"Yeah, but it's not even the fact that he de-virginized me. It's the fact that after it was gone, he never spoke to me again."
Nobody is claiming that the new film "Kids" is pleasant.... As the director put it, "I was trying to bring you into a reality that grownups just don't see. It's like eavesdropping on this world. Think about what it's like to be a kid. How you're living for the moment. How you just want to have fun. How you're not thinking about tomorrow."
Famed attorney Alan Dershowitz was paid to defend the controversial film against an NC-17 rating. In his argument, he stressed that the film is not pornographic, rather it's about real-life issues: "This is a film about rape. This is a film about drug-induced stupors and sexual irresponsibility. This is a film about emotional exploitation of young women by predatory young men."
Renowned photographer Larry Clark makes his directorial debut with "Kids." The film focuses on Telly, a skateboard-riding teen who likes to have sex often, but only with virgins.
Jack Mathews, film critic for Newsday, has seen the movie. He said, "The idea that there's this kid who's HIV-positive, who's deflowering virgins, and passing it along is just about the most horrific 90's nightmare any parent could imagine. Whether people see it as a cautionary tale, as the director says, or as exploitation, we'll find out."
The film's original distributor, Miramax, fought a losing battle to get the Motion Picture Association of America to give "Kids" the "R" rating. "Kids" was instead given the NC- 17 rating, which meant positively no children under 17 could see it.
Miramax is now owned by Disney, which won't allow the release of an NC-17 film. So the founders and original owners of Miramax, Bob and Harvey Weinstein, bought the movie back from Miramax and set up a new independent company called Excalibur Films, so it could release "Kids" without a rating.
Eamonn Bowles is the chief operating officer for Excalibur Films. Bowles: "We're not suggesting that younger teenagers go see this film by themselves by any means. But I do think in the proper context with parents, where they can articulate and use this film as a reference point for things that are happening in their lives, it could be an incredible tool."
The Motion Picture Association's Jack Valenti feels the NC-17 was the correct rating, saying, "If ever a movie should be barred from viewing by children, 'Kids' may be that film."
The director of the Whitney Museum, however, feels differently and brought his 17-year-old daughter to see it. Lindsay Ross, his daughter, believes that "the reason it's so scary is it's not science fiction, it's real, and it's really happening all over the place."
A camera-ducking Madonna said she was blown away by the film. Is there a message? She said yes. It's "unsafe sex kills."
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