An anonymous commentator is very insistent that I review Jet Boy (2001), like five requests so far. He is particularly insistent that I take a look at the star, Branden Nadon, whom he states is "Hot, hot, hot!"
I agree that the 33-year old Canadian actor is quite attractive, but....
Surely anonymous commentator doesn't mean that he was hot in Jet Boy, at age 14!
I do not find 14 year olds attractive. I did when I was 14, which is why there are posts on child actors and teen idols here. I do not support or condone adult-child relationships.
So here's your review of Jet Boy:
14 year old Nathan lives in Toronto with his heroin-addict mother. He has a "normal" life, going to school and having friends, but he also helps support Mom by hustling in the park. His clients are usually adult men who perv on kids.
This is extremely delicate subject matter, because "guilt by association": if you watch it, film it, or even mention it, people will think you participate in it. The actor hired to play Nathan's first client nearly ran off the set, until Branden took him aside and advised, "It's not real. It's just a movie." You'll jump at the opportunity to play a serial killer, but balk at playing a perv in a car?
When Mom dies of a heroin overdose, the authorities plan on sending him to foster car, so Nathan runs away. He thinks that he might have a long-lost father in Vancouver. At a diner, he meets drug dealer Boom (Dylan Walsh), who has his own reasons for wanting to leave town. They go on the road together.
But Boom is not what he seems (Spoiler alert: he's an undercover cop working on busting a drug kingpin.)
Nathan tries to initiate sex with Boom, as the only relationships he knows are sexual, but Boom gently insists on being a father figure. He also introduce Nathan to his ex-girlfriend's son, a boy his own age to hang out with and maybe "like."
Of course, there are complications. The two argue, Nathan runs away -- after all, he's never known an adult he could trust before.
He ends up on the streets of Vancouver, hustling again (spoiler alert: Nathan has no father waiting for him; it was just a fantasy).
Then Boom tracks him down, determined to stay in his life, be a father, let him be a kid.
Excellent performances, and the Canadian locales are interesting, but still, the subject matter is rather too discomforting to make for a pleasant viewing experience.
And isn't it exactly the opposite of finding Branden "hot, hot, hot"?
There are several shirtless shots of the 14-year old Branden online. I'm not going to post any of them.
Yikes. Creepy.
ReplyDeleteHence my comment about "not even pretending". Child prostitution obviously exists, but anyone who masturbates while writing about it kind of is the problem.
DeleteAnd make no mistake, pedophiles will pretend they're just like us, engaged in "consensual" albeit taboo relationships and simply persecuted by the ignorant. So in a way Jet Boy is at least not hypocritical, proudly exploiting children for sexual purposes.
I still vomit a few internal organs, but I guess it's better?
Yeesh. Jet Boy: For when you're not even pretending.
ReplyDeleteI was wondering why, if the director was aiming at a mainstream audience and not just the "Branden is hot, hot, hot!" crowd, the kid has his clothes off so often. You could easily tell the same story with no skin.
DeleteBy the way, if you're doing requests, a much more mainstream request: Maybe Batwoman in the next couple months? Once there are enough episodes to make a judgment.
ReplyDeleteI might do requests, if I can get it on Netflix or Amazon Prime.
DeleteI saw "Batwoman" and my take is don't bother
ReplyDeleteYou saw all of two episodes, one of which was part of Crisis on Infinite Earths, and made a snap judgment based on that? Aren't you clever?
DeleteAnd I say this as someone who still thinks of Andreyko as "the dude who made Dick Grayson cheat on his fiancée by welding that arc, which begins with a psychic raping him, with The Killing Joke, even with the time difference". DickBabs, because tearing down long-dead ships just might make you forget she's closer to Bruce's age. Also, no mention of the other thing happening in Gotham in 1988.
But anyway, Batwoman is actually pretty good (and the show does okay at Rotten Tomatoes), despite its creator trying to turn the Boy Wonder into a ho-bag.
The latest whinge seems to be that Bruce is evil on her world. You know, despite a recent event with no less than eight evil Batmen running about. And that Frank Miller world where a popular fan interpretation is that Dick is saving Carrie from the Goddamned Batman's depraved lust for children.