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The Kids Grow Up

Name: The Kids Grow Up
Director: Doug Block
Released: 2010
Duration: 90 min

Representation Score

6.0/10

Good

2010

Director

Doug Block

Runtime

90 minutes

Average Rating

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New Showbiz Analysis

Doug Block’s documentary provides an intimate, personal perspective on the transition from childhood to adulthood. By centering the female experience and exploring the complexities of modern parenting and identity, it offers a nuanced look at family dynamics. However, its narrow focus on a specific family limits its broader relevance to diverse social identities. Despite this, the film effectively captures the subjective truths of family life without resorting to moralistic clichés.

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Category Breakdown

Does The Kids Grow Up have LGBTQ+ representation?

Fair

The film focuses on a typical coming-of-age journey, lacking explicit queer narratives or non-straight representations. It centers on a specific family's experiences rather than diverse LGBTQ+ identities.

How does The Kids Grow Up portray gender?

Good

The narrative emphasizes the daughter's role as the primary driver of the film's emotional arc, highlighting her ability to act and emotional depth. It avoids passive female stereotypes by showcasing her active involvement.

How racially and ethnically diverse is The Kids Grow Up?

Fair

The film concentrates on the dynamics within a specific family, avoiding overt stereotypes but maintaining a narrow focus on a particular socioeconomic and ethnic background.

How does The Kids Grow Up represent religion and culture?

Good

The documentary uses a fly-on-the-wall approach to explore the breakdown of traditional family structures. It depicts youthful rebellion as a necessary challenge to parental authority.

Does The Kids Grow Up include disability representation?

Minimal

There is no indication of visible or invisible disabilities being represented in the film.

Present on Screen

Highlights the daughter's active role in shaping the film's emotional arc.
Uses a nuanced, observational documentary style to explore family dynamics.
Avoids moralistic clichés, focusing on the subjective truths of family life.

Limited or Absent

Does not include explicit representation of LGBTQ+ identities or non-assuming gender matches what was assigned at birth expressions.
Maintains a narrow focus on a specific socioeconomic and ethnic background.
Does not depict visible or invisible disabilities.

Official Synopsis

In his 51 BIRCH STREET, one of the most highly praised personal documentaries of recent years, Doug Block took a hard look at his parents marriage and his own relationship with his father. With his latest film, Block turns in the other direction, offering an exceptionally moving film about his relationship with his only child, Lucy. THE KIDS GROW UP is a chronicle of Lucy's emotionally-fraught last year at home before leaving for college. Moving fluidly between past, present and the fast-approaching future, Block uses a lifetime of footage to craft not only a loving portrait of a girl transitioning into womanhood, but also an incredibly candid look at modern-day parenting, marriage, and what it means to let go.

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