Larry
Clark’s Kids and the tsunami of
decadence that follows a pubescent cast acting unabashedly on their basest urges
hasn’t gotten any easier to watch since premiering in 1995. Encompassing the sexual depravity, “Telly’s”
HIV positive pursuit of any virgin he can bed practically smothers the viewer
and demands whether such a mindset actually prevailed amongst the Washington
Square Skateboarding scene it was based.
Hamilton Harris, who hailed directly from the whirlwind and the film,
allays the long smoldering anxiety. “It’s completely overblown,” he says by
Skype from Holland and plans to release The Kids next summer to give voice to
the real polymer wheeled occupants of the iconic arches.
“You
never hear it from the people at the
core of the story,” he says.
In
turn, the untold story Mr. Harris unfolds stays the course and steers away from
the external controversies. “I come at this from an angle of growth and healing,
and how skateboarding was used as a tool to evolve,” he says. “That’s what the
world needs to know.”
Displacing the salacious fictions that attracted so much
attention, Mr. Harris assures that skateboards still necessitated usage well
beyond their horizontal plane. “You got New York City in the early 90s. The
crack era, the height of cocaine, the murder rate, racial tensions – there’s
quite a lot to heal from,” he says.
Life
at home – regardless of ethnicity - also presented problems and the
skateboarding bond again served as elixir. “It wasn’t just black kids whose moms
and dads were all crack smoking and dope using. You know what I’m saying. That
s… was everywhere, and we all got the same things in common. But we also skate
and skating was like our antidote,” says Mr. Harris.
He’s
living proof. “If I didn’t have that. I’d be the typical poor ‘African American’
who grew up in the housing projects. Doing what they are still doing today,” he
says, “I’d be dead.”
But
the sheer thrill and ability of busting a can is still something he marvels at.
“It had its purpose in dealing with the psychic and emotional traumas, but I
also had incredible focus and balance,” he says.
Not
to dismiss that it was usually under the influence, Harris remembers how Tobin
Yelland’s photography proved a revelation for Clark. “Who are these dudes, I
need to meet these guys,” Mr. Harris relays Clark’s
“epiphany.”
Thus
immersing himself, Clark tabbed Harris, Leo Fitzpatrick and Justin Pierce, among
others, from Washington Square to roll out his vision. And the unknowns jumped
at it. “You have the opportunity to be in a movie, it was a great experience,”
says Mr. Harris.
So
the script a stretch, the hurt feelings that possibly followed didn’t trump
signatures on the dotted line, according to Mr. Harris. “That’s a choice,” he
says.
Still, Harris understands that not everyone involved let
it roll off their sleeves so easily, but he hopes The Kids puts them in a pensive mindset
that facilitates moving on. “I did this for whatever reason, and now X amount of
time later, I can reflect on it. I’m here now, and my life revolves in this
direction. That’s what I hope people get in the end,” he says.
The same goes for
those that didn’t make it into the film or deferred but were stigmatized by
Clark’s interpretation. The young women,
depicted by the likes of Chloe Sevigny
and Rosario Dawson, were particularly vocal. “The girls it was based on
that we used to hang out with was like F… that. That’s not how I am,” he
remembers.
For
himself, he wasn’t all together happy that he was always rolling the joint with
no explanation of its use as a coping mechanism for the
chaos.
Even
so, Mr. Harris is able to attribute Kids to the filmmaker’s vision, and the
inspiration it’s derived from. “Tulsa and Teenage Lust – that’s Larry’s life,”
he says of Clark’s hometown and autobiography.
As
for the criticism likening Kids to child pornography, Harris doesn’t hesitate to
question all those lined up to shoot the messenger. “Who’s anyone to judge an
experience,” he asserts.
20
years later, Harris marvels at how the true nature of Washington Square Park can
be found in Clark’s subtext - regardless of the window dressing. “Yeah, there
was the image to the five senses, but there was something behind that you pick
up on. Larry caught that s… on film,” he says.
But
The Kids isn’t about capturing a time
or freezing a moment. “I was told the only way out is through,” he
says.
Going
through the racism, the poverty, drugs, self-doubt and abandonment was something
he knows that put him here today. “I’ve chosen to take responsibility for all
those experiences, and I’m grateful or I wouldn’t be able to tell this story,”
he concludes.
