Personalizing a political problem of division at the same time as the Supreme Court of the United States has confirmed aggressive legislation at the level of the state which prohibits the assertive care for the sexes for minors, “Just Kids” invites the public to obtain two known of three adolescents trying to live in harmony while having the impression of not belonging to their own bodies. The format of the documentary can be conventional – featuring heads and interviews that start cameras with the central trio and their families – but it always makes a powerful and humanizing case for those affected by the decision.
The film is credited to the Toboni sisters, Gianna (who made) and Jacqueline (one of his producers). Their script, co-written with Samantha Wender, identifies the decision of the 2015 Supreme Court to legalize homosexual marriage as the spark which brought together the right Christian political machine to refuse trans health care they are looking for. As experts, civil rights activists and healthcare professionals explain, care that affirming the sexes have become the target of a war of ideological legislation after this important stage.
The adolescent protagonists of the film represent a range of environments and experiences. In South Carolina, the public meets Joplin, 15, who idolizes her veteran father brandishing firearms. In Waco, Texas, there is Alazaiah, 17, a sparkling and positive tiktker with sparks in his hair. Elsewhere in Texas, the film presents a 14 -year -old Tribistan, whose single mother is desperately trying to do enough to take care of her two children.
The three are shown that they have full and flourishing lives at school and at home. The film follows its subjects and their families while adolescents take the preliminary measures of their transitional journey. It is refreshing to see that everyone comes from a support center – a surprising but welcome contrast with so many queer stories in which young people try to find the acceptance of their family and their community.
“Just Kids” makes a strong counter-argument for those who seek to limit the rights of these adolescents by favoring their perspectives, stressing how everything they want is to live according to their own conditions. The historical, social and medical context sometimes comes in rather dry facts, but the reactions of the protagonists make these details visceral.
For example, the film shares that there are some 200,000 internal refugees in the United States, including the largest internal migration since the era of dust in the 1930s. These families had to leave their homes and move to states that accept their children. However, the film shows the assessment of laws that change, refused medical care, invoices accumulating, threats from neighbors, abusive telephone calls and hateful treatments of classmates. All this becomes emotionally powerful when seen through the eyes of subjects.
A heartbreaking scene in which a doctor informs one of the children via zoom on the impact of new laws on their treatment almost as a breakup and leaves a lasting impression. The doctor was prohibited from continuing to provide gender care, which meant that they had to leave the patient’s original state and can no longer provide medical assistance through state lines. While the face filled with tears of the child fills the framework, the tragic effect of these laws becomes clearly clear.
Elsewhere, “Just Kids” shows evidence of injustice with the threat of investigations on child protection services hovering into these three magnetic families. Escape is the solution for some; The fight against the court is the choice that another family made.
After reaching this emotional apex at around three -quarters, “Just Kids” cannot offer anything at the same level in its last section. The film seems long, as if it were stuck in one place, repeatedly traveling the same problems. It is perhaps because the story always takes place and these young people have only started their life. “Just Kids” only covers a year, after all. However, he finds catharsis by showing them advancing, receiving and restoring love as and when. The tone of the film remains full of hope, despite the adversity faced with its protagonists.
“Just Kids” shows with clarity the effects of laws on the life of young trans. He calls into question, thanks to the testimony of the protagonists, which legislators mean when they say that they seek to “protect children”. In fact, as the film shows by showing the disturbances and chaos brought to these families, such efforts are more like political posture. The film could be modest in its cinematographic ambitions, but its message aims to change its mind and finally lives.
