Youth workers must navigate the competing demands of students, parents, churches and schools. We are given “guest passes” to walk the practice fields, halls and hangouts of teenagers. What if any one of those institutions revokes our pass, creating an impediment to our ministry and calling? Can films provide a window into the social settings youth workers inhabit? What can be gleaned from others’ problems with authorities?
French teenagers brought their real-life stories to the riveting drama, The Class. It puts a human face on adolescent struggles in Paris, especially African, Arab and Asian immigrants finding their way in a new country. Don’t be scared by the subtitles. This French class offers perspective on our embattled American school systems. Their teacher, Mr. Marin, becomes a model of patience and dedication.
The eye-popping, Claymation film, Coraline, explores kids’ desire to find “other” parents. Based on Neil Gaimon’s acclaimed graphic novel, Coraline starts innocently enough as a fantasy film in glorious 3D, but Coraline’s longing to escape her mundane surroundings turns progressively darker. Boring parents caught up in their work prove preferable to more entertaining but possessive “others.”
In Phoebe in Wonderland, a mother is over-committed to her scholarly writing. She resists administrators’ attempts to label daughter Phoebe as “a problem.” Only an empathetic drama teacher provides a creative outlet for Phoebe’s phobias. Can youth workers offer an equally empathetic ear toward those who are deemed “difficult”? Follow Phoebe down this colorful rabbit hole.
Clint Eastwood stars as a racist widower in Gran Torino. Yet, he comes to the defense of his Hmong neighbors against a violent gang. Gran Torino tracks the unlikely friendship between an aging war vet and two teenagers who lack a male role model. It is funnier and more touching than one might expect. Eastwood offers a strong meditation on faith, courage, sacrifice and how a boy becomes a man.
For those who feel school principals are conspiring against them, two new documentaries frame even weightier battles with authority. Farmers in South Central Los Angeles take on City Hall in The Garden. They lobby for their community garden with lawyers, politicians and the media. Justice may be on their side, but that doesn’t mean they can beat the system.
Community organizing and sit-ins enable the women of Liberia to Pray the Devil Back to Hell. Their devil happens to be Dictator Charles Taylor, who tortured innocent people and dragged down an entire country. For youth workers who feel overwhelmed by the system, this moving documentary reminds us how potent faith and prayer remains.
