Homeless: The Motel Kids of Orange County

This was a gritty topic that had the potential to be as good as other HBO documentaries in the category ("Aslyum", "The Best Hotel on Skid Row") but came nowhere close. It had no style, no technique, and little cinematic effect. Basically, it looked like the result of somebody wandering around with a camcorder.

There was no narration, which set it back immediately. "The Best Hotel on Skid Row" was narrated by Charles Bukowski (poet, novelist and short story writer) with a distinguishing gravelly voice that set the tone for the low-end world of skid hotels that the viewer getting a tour of. "Homeless: The Motel Kids of Orange County" was like watching a home movie.

The person filming this did a horrible injustice to these children. She asked questions to solicit shame, sadness, worthlessness and hopelessness. The problem certainly did need to be explored, but not in a way that exploits, belittles or harms innocent children. She did nothing to help them or offer any hope. In fact she asked questions such as, "Why would God allow children to be homeless?" What's the purpose for this question except to make a child feel unloved by God or disbelieve one exists. That is not her place. She asked the children many disturbing questions about their situations, as if the children could somehow change them. She belittled the parents who were trying to make a better life for their families. This person is from a wealthy family with resources to actually help these people and all she did was add to their pain.

I watched The Florida Project and read about this doc and decided to give it a chance. At first the way of questioning was a little off-putting but manageable. After halfway through it becomes unbearable. Hard to imagine someone could speak so callously to children.

She was talking to some parents in a judgmental tone instead of just asking questions to find out information. It was a turn off. She did better with the children.

I think there is a compelling story here to tell; unfortunately the filmmaker didn't find it. The documentary was disjointed and exploitative. There was no narrative and no cohesion; many kids were introduced for a few minutes and then never heard from again. And we didn't get a full storyline for any of them; many of the kids from the few featured families just mugged for the camera. I wanted to know more about the family backgrounds and about the situations the led to their motel residency.

While I understand why Pelosi selected Orange County, she never really contrasted the kids' experience with that of their more well off peers. Simply parading them past Disneyland and talking about how they had never been inside didn't provide any real insight.

Finally, I think the background research was lacking. The first woman's claim that you can't get a studio in Orange County for less than $1300 is flat out wrong. Maybe that's true in Irvine or Newport Beach, but definitely not in Orange, Anaheim, Santa Ana, and other cities in the area. I also would have liked to have learned about other organizations that are helping disadvantaged children in the area as well as charitable efforts of OC corporations - including the vilified Walt Disney Company.

This was a very disappointing film. The kids are cute and charming and their story deserves to be told by a more talented filmmaker.