I’m Casper, the Friendly Ghost

American director, writer, and artist Larry Clark uses drug-addicted teenagers fucking each other, half-naked alcoholics attending grimy underground parties, and scenes of brutal violence among these often neglected social groups for his movies, photographs, and related works. In other words: He’s one of my favorite creative minds. Larry Clark’s debut film, Kids, profoundly impacted both myself and other members of the Millennial demographic during the 1990s. It makes almost any other portrait of American adolescence look like The Picture of Dorian Gray, Janet Maslin wrote of the unrated movie in her review for The New York Times.

When I was about thirteen years old, I first encountered the anti-fairy tale of New York teenagers Telly, Casper, Jennie, and Ruby, who seemingly have no other purpose in their aimless lives than to drink, do cocaine, and humping the shit out of their friends, on Swiss television, late at night. The events that unfold in this narrative deeply affected me and shocked me to the core, leaving my childhood behind when the credits finally rolled. AIDS, violence, and rape entered into my small, innocent child’s soul, and I have to admit: Yes, Larry Clark screwed me over and deflowered me in the same breath. It hurt like hell - and it still does.

Even today, some quotes, scenes, and faces haunt me and have shaped my life in a rather unsavory way. Like the man without legs singing his plea in the subway car, Chloé Sevigny being raped by Justin Pierce on the couch while intoxicated, which triggered a fetish for white socks in me, and how Leo Fitzpatrick infected both Sarah Henderson and Yakira Peguero with HIV. Kids became a banned phenomenon in many countries in the mid-90s but gradually transformed into a critically acclaimed cult classic showered with awards, recognition, and respect. For me personally, the movie will always remain my first time. Thank you, Larry, you damn jerk.