Earlier this week, Larry Clark’s controversial film Kids became available to stream for free on the website of the streetwear clothing brand, Supreme. Less than 48 hours later, it was taken down.
So why was the film removed from the website? Maybe it shouldn’t have been there in the first place. Supreme is, first and foremost, a clothing brand, not a film production company. It was surprising to see Supreme promote Kids because of the film’s explicit themes of rape, HIV and underaged drinking/drugs/sex. However, this decision wasn’t entirely unforeseen because of the brand and films’ history together.
Kids premiered in the summer of 1995 to appalled audiences. Despite being brutally authentic, the flick was intensely graphic. Even in a world with HBO’s Euphoria, 25 years later Kids is still controversial. The film, written by a teenaged Harmony Korine (Gummo, Spring Breakers), starred young Hollywood breakouts Chloe Sevigny and Rosario Dawson. Leo Fitzpatrick played every parents’ worst nightmare, Telly, while Supreme-skater the late Justin Pierce rounded out the lead cast as reckless hooligan Casper.
The documentary-style feature was purchased and distributed by none other than Harvey Weinstein, former film producer & co-founder of Miramax Films, who is serving a 23-year sentence for rape and criminal sexual act. Kids initially received an NC-17 rating from the MPAA but ultimately was released as unrated. The creators feared they could face jail time due to the accusations of child pornography and exploitation that ensued.
Let us take a look at how Supreme fits into the story.
Picture from CR Fashion Book
Supreme founder James Jebbia opened the first shop in 1994 on Lafayette Street in New York City. The store rapidly developed a youthful following, kicking off in skateboard culture. A home for runaways, outsiders and the “cool kids,” Supreme represented punk, controversy, exclusivity, intimidation, swagger, rebellion, attitude, fearlessness and realism. As a customer, maybe you manifested all of these traits or maybe you didn’t but strove to embody them. Regardless, many felt and still do that you weren’t just buying a hoodie or a t-shirt; you were buying a way of life.
Around the time Supreme hit in the mid-90s, Clark was shooting the movie near the shop. The crew enlisted a bunch of the teens and skaters who enveloped the area as extras. The majority of the kids were wearing clothes from Supreme; therefore, the aesthetic of Kids naturally represented the brand and its followers.
We asked a devotee of the brand if he had ever seen the movie, “yes, of course…it’s on supreme.com right now. It’s an old skate movie – very nostalgic plus they’ve done a collab with them.” The content of the film becomes misconstrued when endorsed by Supreme. Calling Kids a skate movie is like calling Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan a ballet movie. Both worlds are merely a backdrop for a much larger story.
Sure, some may be nostalgic for city life in the 90s, the fashion and the freedom; however, the setting was circumstance. There was a broader story to tell about the negligent spread of AIDS. Kids didn’t glamorize youth; it revealed the dark underbelly of an adolescent culture.
When streetwear publication Highsnobiety posted on their Instagram page that Supreme’s website was streaming Kids, the response was alarming. Many commented with praise and excitement or “that’s one of my favorite movies.” The film is not easy viewing. What does this say about the youth of today and yesterday?
Others reacted differently to the post commenting, “never wanna watch that movie again” and “AIDS and non-consensual sex, I just saved two hours of my life.” One account summarized, “all the young kids into Supreme these days have no idea what this movie is.”
The brand makes Kids seem cool and young Supreme disciples need to know it’s not what it seems. It’s a chilling warning and “a wake-up call to the world” (New York Times, Janet Maslin). It’s one thing to promote the aesthetic of the film; it’s another to promote the content. Supreme must have realized that showing the full movie on their website was not on-brand.
What do you think? Should Supreme have left the film up or never streamed it at all?
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