Havoc

Anne Hathaway trades in her Princess Diaries image for what I'm going to call Crash for kids. Crash showed the relationship between adults of different races in LA today. Havoc takes this to the teens, adds a cohesive plot and even more sobering ramifications to consider. The excellent Hathaway takes us to the heart and soul of a disaffected Pacific Palisades teen, showing the workaholic and alcoholic parents, the blow jobs for the wannabe boyfriend, the desire for anything that feels real and the ability to put it all in perspective for herself and protect herself.

Every social force is more apparent when you look at it through the eyes of the young people. We see an entire culture of white high schoolers more gansta than the east side teens. When 50 Cent was asked about the fact that most of his albums are sold to white suburban kids he replied, "Those kids want the boogeyman, they want to be scared and they're willing to pay $18.99 to do it". It really makes you wonder who's buying into the bling image.

The parents are interested in their own upscale image and protecting their kids, but, hey, these poor rebellious kids have no war to protest, at least not one they're being drafted for so, got to rebel against something, or at least make it look like you are. Was college protest ever serious, or do white kids just pose, as they do in this movie? They go downtown like it's some kind of reality show attraction... but then find that, in some ways, the hispanic community, rife as it is with poverty and drugs, is actually very family oriented... something they lack.