A guest DVD review from Fidan K.:

Thirteen

This movie was a definite F. I first heard of this movie on Oprah and the show made it seem that it was about middle-class families living normal lives and that the debauchery the kids engage in is part of the new youth culture. I was intrigued to see what has become of the youth today and how so much could have changed from when I was 13 (only 8 years ago). The movie offered very little character development as to why the family and the kids are so misled and live haphazardly. The downhill turn of the protagonist, Tracy, was too fast to be realistic and the kids in the movie looked much older than 13. The movie offered no shock factor as drugs and other illegal behavior in teens is not surprising in low-income families with alcoholic moms and their cocaine addict boyfriends. Therefore, soccer moms can breathe a sigh of relief that things aren't as bad as Oprah says they are.