By Glenn Dunks
I watched the new Apple+ and A24 documentary Boys State and, sorry to break it to you, but America is nuts. Like, really. A lot. I’m allergic to nuts—anaphylactic, send me hospital kind of allergic—and I felt as if I were about to break out in hives watching Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss’ compelling and unsettling new movie. A film about the next generation of wannabe political leaders that stands as a frightening neon-lit (just barely) metaphor for the country’s political climate.
The premise here is something that sounds far more bizarrely foreign to me than anything with subtitles. A strange, long-standing experiment known as Boys State, a social summer camp of sorts that requires military interviews for some reason where 1,200 young Texan teenage boys seek the life-changing opportunity to seemingly learn how to best weaponize their gender, their race and adopt all the sleazy tricks in the political book. "That’s politics—you play to win...”
Upon their arrival, these boys (and it’s important to remember that’s what they are, 17-year-olds!) are divided into two conceptual parties albeit with no set left/right leanings. They must then mimic the adults they see around them in public office by running for positions such as party leader (or ‘party whip’) and Governor in an effort to win a mock election all under the guise of building civic understanding as well character, strength and, perhaps quite tellingly, business acumen.
More closely, we follow a few of the individual participants including meningitis survivor Ben Feinstein, Beto O’Rourke supporter Steven Garza, now activist René Otero, and one boy, Robert MacDougal, who looks like he just left his gig as councelor at Camp Crystal Lake and who in one of the film’s more surprising twists gets a fast education in how short of a distance his teen idol looks will get him. At least in this arena. Although it’s not too hard to believe his vehement if manufactured anti-abortion stance, which he repeatedly makes the center of his stump speeches to a moderately enthusiastic response, proves he could one day find easily himself in good company with right-winged leaders of influence and power if the money was right.
And trust me, while it’s not comfortable viewing watching a thousand teenage boys discuss a woman’s right to choose with not a single female in sight (there is a ‘Girls State’, but we’re not privy to any of it), it’s just as awkward watching them discuss gun rights. This includes Steven Garza, who expresses a desire in background checks but who finds his recent past as a leader for an anti-guns rally gets used by his opponents in a smear campaign. Likewise, René Otero, one of the few African American attendees who becomes the target of an immediate impeachment request from his own party when he won't respond to every stupid motion put forward as well as racist memes from those on the other side.
Herein lies the alarming nature of Boys State. While it is true that some have come into this event with something of an idealized and progressive platform (particularly for Texas), it’s remarkable how quickly many of the participants are able to manipulate others, stifle conversation, and bullishly charge through this particular political arena expecting their (SEVENTEEN-YEAR-OLD!!) agendas be not just heard, but readily accepted.
It’s remarkable how quickly the issues raised fall predictably to women’s rights, immigration, and guns. It’s remarkable how easily some people’s political beliefs can be so easily put up for sale. It’s remarkable how inbred unfettered patriotism (bordering on nationalism) bubbles out from their mouths whether they believe it or are just deploying it for votes. It’s remarkable how this very uniquely American form of extreme enthusiasm manifests itself into alpha and beta personality types so easily. It’s almost as remarkable as the fact that, for the most part, the impassioned and hopeful candidates actually find some success in many ways, proving at least in this microcosm of a teenage political thunderdome that there’s some hope left and that some approximation of good can win out.
All of this is juxtaposed against fleeting images from other segments of the camp body who take ‘jobs’ as journalists, organisers and cameramen (who are, essentially, the voters who will decide the outcome of the election), as well as footage from a talent contest of which its purpose is unclear. McBaine and Moss have clearly chosen cleverly to focus on the political angle here, but these glimpses into Boys State’s other elements are intriguing if vague, and even just a little bit more of them and how they fit into this experiment may have levelled out some of the documentary’s more genuinely upsetting moments. Crowd shots featuring large swathes of sweaty teenage boys all too enthusiastically trumpeting their make believe political parties like frat kids full of beer are just a bit much to take when they come on the heels of hoots and hollers in support of taking away a woman’s right to choose or loud echoing boos when one Governor candidate says everyday citizens shouldn’t be allowed bazookas.
Many of the kids go to Boys State to, it would seem, get a leg-up on a political career—opening credits so such disparate individuals like Bill Clinton, Cory Booker, Dick Cheney and Rush Limbaugh; even Mark Wahlberg and Roger Ebert apparently attended. They arrive on day one with the intention of seeking to run for roles with well-rehearsed speeches in their pocket. The film is actually at its best when it does remind us that these are just boys. The lack of confidence in some as they step up the mic; the weird over-confidence of others as if they’ve been preparing for this their entire lives.
The film is full of quotes that strike so decisively at the heart of the America’s political divides. Conservative Ben compliments one boy by saying he reminds him of a “young Ben Shapiro.” The suggestion that it appears to be a “conservative indoctrination camp” is laughed off early, and yet. “I’m playing this like a game” is probably too on the nose albeit an accurate nose. But my favourite of them all is from the poised beyond his years René who really encapsulates everything so well but in particular his opposition with whom he has a combative, tense relationship: “I think he’s a fantastic politician. But I don’t think fantastic politician is a compliment, either.” Ouch.
Release: Currently streaming on Apple+.
Oscar chances: I think definitely. The might of Apple and A24 should guarantee it a solid cut-through, and its political relevance will only improve no matter who wins in November. I’d be predicting it.