Boys State

On rewatch, the feelings I have about this were just as potent.  Even though a lot of these boys are still in their developmental years, this documentary exposes a lot of things that I find to be true about masculinity as a whole. The way that pack mentality becomes toxic, the silent majority being less heard than a vocal minority, the inability to take things seriously. These are all things I experienced, and was a part of during my high schooling. this documentary shows that they are common and they can be dangerous.  It also exposes some deep truths about the American political system. In my opinion political ideology is too important to people in this era that it has become like a religion. These kids are not even at an age where it is legal to vote and already they have decided whole heartedly what they believe about how society should be run.  In terms of film, I actually have the least to say, there isn’t much that I’ve been paying attention to purely because of how much this documentary intrigues me. I must acknowledge that there is a massive bias within this documentary’s narrative, but in being an observational documentary it manages to not feel like a piece of propaganda.  That being said the way that these filmmakers have utilised the score, the editing and the cinematography, emphasises the drama of an otherwise normal event. These boys may only being doing a mock-election, but to me it felt just as important as a real election if not more - because we get the chance to see our politicians from a candid perspective. We see their Arcs as they rise or fall from power, and in being observational, we are shown that these arc’s are genuine.  SO YEAH I’ve got plenty more to say about this phenomenal doco, but I’m not sure it’s worth saying. This is the first review I’ve given five stars since i first downloaded this app, which is definitely an indication that I LOVE this film. Go check it out, I think it’s an important documentary and it deserves lots of attention.