finallyhomerescue If any one watched the movie & actually understood it they might understand the absurdity of that statement. When these weird people showed up & started following us around most just wanted to jump them & take their cameras & other stuff but none of us knew anyone who would buy something like that. We were on the streets for a reason & most of us had not had very good luck with adults so it was not really in our best interest to deal with them, but these folks were smart, somehow they got in good with Lulu one day Lulu told us hands off the old people, don't mess with them. So that was the way it was, after them being around for a while some of us kind of talked to them, most of us just wanted them to go away, they were strange, they didn't want sex, they weren't trying to hit or hurt us & most of us just got used to them. A lot of the others that were in the movie were trying to stay alive in some small way, the green river killer was working the crowd & that movie might be the only proof we were ever even here. Some of the kids were just trying to prove that they were making it & doing fine without their parents. D's dad was a dipstick & that is always how he talked to him. Somewhere it says that Lulu's last words were to tell these people that she was dead, that is BS, she was NOT attacked by other streetkids for no reason, she was defending her girlfriend from a drunk insane man, that is the way it was, that is the way she was. None of us got paid for this, as a matter of fact I don't even think any of us could con those folks into buying us a burger & fries at the Unique. For all of the armchair critics here who didn't have to live like this, or wasn't there, you might want to get out more. For any of those reading who may be still alive from there this is Breezy RIP Patti, Lulu, Dewaynne, John, & Bert...

nelik when approaching a movie such as streetwise we should consider several objectives that might make it more reasonable to take in the info shown on screen. first of all we cant make an accurate judgment of a piece made 20 years and more ago using todays perspective.its a different political climate, cinematography has evolved and new phrases are constantly introduced into its on going changing semiology, and though most people understand whats going on using their own morals, for the kids in the movie its their own 15 minutes of fame regardless of universal notions. second of all everything on screen is somewhat fabricated to fit into the audience's eye. whats portrayed on screen has one source and a thousand interpretations. even if this movie is more fake than real, there has to be an agenda for making it. this movie didn't sprout out of nothing or nowhere. it depicts real life. yes them British folks making the movie used neck microphones, and there were voice-overs. questions if whether they mashed up reality in order to make a quick buck, or get recognition in the field of documentaries, or even as a service for social services. one of the options has probably a firm grasp into the truth. the outcome matters. if the movie made an impact, and you understood that people live like that, regardless to whether they were spotted in your own neighborhood, than the fabrication aspect was necessary. and thats all she wrote

udar55 I first saw this Academy Award nominated documentary when I was 11 or 12 years old and I can't think of what possessed me to want to see it. Director Martin Bell profiles several homeless kids in the Seattle area. This is pretty powerful stuff even today. Semi-main character Dewayne is a very compelling story and it is still shocks me when it is revealed he is 16 (he looks 12). Bell parlayed the father/son relationship of Dewayne seen here into the feature American HEART with Jeff Bridges and Edward Furlong. I would love to see a follow-up on the kids today (kinda like how they did SCARED STRAIGHT: 20 YEARS LATER). Wikipedia offers some insight into their current lives and it is cause for some hope. Most grew up to create normal lives although some passed away (including a featured teen who ended up being a victim of Gary Ridgeway, the Green River Killer).

jkubat Great documentary. I watched it for a film class, and I would have to say the film-making was really quite amazing. I am shocked to see the extent of which these young teens have already experienced in their short lives. Martin does a great job at weaving these different characters lives in such a way as to show life on the streets from their point of view. WOW! I would have to say that this film reminds me of my response to Requiem for a Dream...loved it because it was brutally honest, hated it because the life on the streets is something that one can never change. I love Martin's capturing of typical street life.