Sitting through the previews for upcoming films (and even ads and TV series) can be a disheartening experience. I imagine at some point our ancestors will be looking back on us saying, "What were they thinking??" We're either supposed to cheer at out-of-touch realities about as realistic as winning the lottery or be engulfed in nihilistic darkness that's supposed to be oh-so-edgy or we're to laugh and cry on cue to manipulative melodramas with their tried and true formulas. Scary stuff, that. As hollow and empty as a money lender's heart.
So when I find something that breaks that mold in these treacherous times it's a truly remarkable find. Honesty is in severe drought. Short Term 12 is set at a foster care facility for "at risk" teens. That alone will put off many people but that's why this is a film review for cowards. These are kids we want to sweep under the carpet. This is us facing our failings as a society. This is the mirror of pain we all avoid.
Years ago when I was a meds courier there was a children's facility on my route. I instinctively feared going there. I'm rotten with kids in the first place and having to face the predicament of these displaced children was not something I was looking forward to. Trust me, when it comes to cowardice I'm a lifelong dedicated coward. But I can also tell you that one visit changed my outlook forever.
No matter what any movie may show there's no substitute for the real thing. The cold, Soviet, antiseptic feeling of always living in spaces and things owned by others shook me to the core. It doesn't matter how nice or new it is it's still not yours and if you're using it you better be fucking grateful! For being robbed of a family your reward is a grudging acknowledgement of your existence and guilt trips funded to the fair. Watching those young little kids being marched down the hallway as an example of family life is a memory branded on me for life. Thank God.
Fear was replaced with desire. I can only pray someday I'm in a position to do something for those children. If you ever have the chance to visit a children's home, do not hesitate. Put away your fears and self-doubt and be prepared to be rewarded in ways you thought not possible. Love and tears await you. And it was this experience I hoped to recapture in Short Term 12 - and boy did I ever.
As politicians prey on our weaknesses, wars eat at our soul and greed is hailed as God's divinity, we still have those brave few who still hold the strands of the fabric of society together. We discount them, we fear them and most of all we dread to do their thankless job of being the glue to our many shattered parts. Lord knows I can't do it and it takes more courage than any soldier has ever faced. Here is the true front line of saving souls.
I did go to see this film with a bit of trepidation. Fricking indie film with all the red flags of a lefty jerk off session for "fixing" broken children with the prerequisite manufactured angst. I would have walked out on that torture fest in a heartbeat. But here we have a story of a counselor having never faced her own inner demons of a broken childhood even as she helps those experiencing the same journey. Her trip is their trip and vice versa.
We all know in real life answers don't always come and tragedy occurs in horrific fashion. One need only watch the news to see that. But this is a movie about what can happen when healing comes and we let others in. (Frankly, it'd be unbearable to watch otherwise it would be so bleak.) So while we do see tinges of a lefty circle jerk it's all very forgivable in the reality of the characters and the humanity of their situations and reactions. In other words: I was bawling throughout.
Put aside your reservations and take a chance on what you might see in the mirror. I can guarantee you will be pleasantly surprised. Go see Short Term 12 ("Short Term 12" refers to the length of stay for most kids: 12 months) and take a gander at the true front lines of society. Your heart will thank you later.
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