Boys State - review

 

The conceit of a bunch of kids in control of institutions designed for adults is a universally fascinating one. It made the novel ‘Lord of the Flies’ into a household name and has inspired the creation of student political groups, model UN’s for example, in schools around the world. Of course to find the idea stretched to its absurd and terrifyingly compelling extreme you must look to America, where every year, in every state, an organisation called The American League runs Boy’s State, a week long camp were about a thousand sixteen and seventeen-year-olds get together to form to faux political parties and hold elections for various offices, culminating in state governor.

The idea of hundreds of teenage boys playing mock politics sounds about a appealing as one of the circles of hell, but that’s the pit we’re taken into in the new documentary from Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine, which takes its title from the event, Boys State. Specifically, the film focuses in on a handful of remarkable young men at the Texas chapter of the surprisingly prestigious camp, which has been attended by many former political figures of note, including Bill Clinton, Dick Chaney and Corey Booker.

The films real strength lies in the boys it focuses on, the main characters if you will; firstly there’s Steven Garza, an honest and mild mannered child of immigrants who has a strong belief in the power of respect and co-operation; his opposite in both the election and personal values (a least as the film shows it) is Ben Feinstein, a multiple amputee who has a doll of Ronald Reagan on his desk, and who’s fight to overcome his disability has hardened him into a “bootstraps conservative” who will do anything to gain power, the end that justifies all means. Other key figures include Robert, an insincere showman, and René, a charismatic public speaker who has some of Steven’s moral spirit and some of Ben’s Machiavellian shiftiness.

I don’t invoke Shakespeare lightly; Ben is an astonishingly savvy political operative for someone still in high school, with a keen grasp of the power dynamics both within a party and of public opinion. He is just one example of the way the youth of America have internalised a certain type of political discourse that has been corroding the countries institutions since well before any of the kids in this film were born. The way Ben leads his party in a co-ordinated online smear campaign is a truly frightening reminder of how vulnerable global democracy is right now to those who are willing to punch in the right social cheat codes.

On the other hand Steven appears as a kind of Captain America figure, who’s pure heart is so radiant and compelling that he manages to cut through the testosterone fuelled hollering of the camps many public forums and convince some of the boys that maybe they can make a better world built on trust, honesty and empathy, free from the personal attacks and deception that define so much of our lives right now. Amongst the nauseating, hyper-patriotic cacophony of the Boys State camp, watching Stevens’s contagious empathy take root and win over many of the boys hearts, minds and votes is a deeply moving shot of hope, that maybe the kids are alright after all.

The degree to which the film shapes the way we view these boys and their stories is unknowable (Robert admits to creating a fake persona to win votes, who can tell who believes what), but the questions it raises about the way our society affects our children, and the way they will go on to affect it back are some of the most compelling of the year and will keep Boys State rattling around in your head for a long time to come, especially with a rea life election just around the corner.