The Florida Project (Sean Baker, 2017)

[mfunk9786]

Oof. That poor charity.

[soundchaser]

As a wise philosopher once wrote: I would hang any print for this film, but I won't hang that.

[Omensetter]

^
It's like the artist was only allowed to use a ruler. I suppose there's some solace to be found in that these will likely sell out given A24's cult.

If you want to give to the charity directly and not have those molekids stare at you, here's a direct link to the charity: https://www.raicestexas.org/

[knives]

This seems a weird film to use to promote this charity given how it is about how

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sometimes separating kids from their parents is a good thing.

[mfunk9786]

There's a page+ of discussion on the film that I participated in that I'll let stand for itself, but that is one hell of a moral to take away from The Florida Project. How corrupt of you, knives!

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Seriously, though, I'd say it's about how better socioeconomic safety nets would make it so far fewer mothers would ever need to be separated from their children, if they end up having children at a young age at all to begin with that they don't have the tools to care for properly.

[knives]

Truly I should be a Chicago politician.

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I actually completely agree with you, but in the same breath where I say the film subtly shows how the system failed them it shows how the mother became bad for the daughter which is something she can't understand. The film has a fairly complicated idea going on that can't be reduced to one talking point.

Still and oddball choice though.

[mfunk9786]

Especially odd to give all the kids progeria, when I don't recall that being a plotline in the film

[therewillbeblus]

I wrote up a long piece on this when it came out and lost it, but most of what was in there has been said here already. Baker is one of the few pure humanist filmmakers active today with Starlet and this as his dual masterpieces of empathy on fire, and this is the best depiction I'll likely ever see of what were the lives of the kids and families I work with prior to being removed from homes by DCF for neglect. Enough films have been made about child abuse but this one shows the grey area of neglect and empathizes with the mother who is imperfect and does harm, but also accounts for the limited resources and her own social context without diminishing her worth. I love how she refuses to express any gratitude to Dafoe, precisely because it maddens me and forces me to confront my own contextual bias. Baker is clearly leaving space for the unsaid in that she was likely raised without parental advice for "good" manners, has a lack of systemic and social supports, and is resilient in offensively taking advantage of what she can to meet her needs. This behavior mirrors the kids I work with and many of their parents who also grew up in the system or with similar challenges and forced parentification and creative maneuvering to meet their needs, and is an authentic representation of this family system. A big part of my job is working on permanency and reunifying kids with parents who have behaved very much like this mother, down to a T at times, as well as helping them find adoptive homes if the parents cannot do their part to work towards reunification, but this is no judgment fest. The film demands that we sit with our own biases and reflect on how we got them, through our own upbringings and values, and the camera lens views the mother's flaws but also her undeniable strengths. I for one have seen very few parents play with their kids as genuinely as she does, having grown up in communities that weren't exactly cold attitudes but primarily focused on action rather than play (get involved in community activities, get good grades, get into a good college, get a good job, etc.) That's not a knock on either motive or behavior, but this mother loves her kid, and that may not be enough, but it's worth something great that nobody is allowed to strip from her.