Movie Review: Boys State

Boys State **** / *****
Directed by: Jesse Moss & Amanda McBaine.

Boys State is a documentary that, as the cliché goes, will make you both hopeful and depressed about future generations, and their attitude about politics. It takes place at the annual event put on the American Legion, where they select 1,000 young men from a state, and allow them to, over the course of a week, form their own government (there is a separate event for women – and I really want to see someone make Girl’s State). This one is set in 2018 in Texas – and perhaps was the place selected by directors Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine (who together made the excellent doc The Overnighters back in 2014) because the year before, the boys voted to secede from America – the type of headlining grabbing event that make people roll their eyes. The young men are split into two parties at random – the Federalist and the Nationalists – and have to elect a State Chair, local representatives, etc. – run primaries for major offices, the key one being Governor – and then running a campaign to see how wins. They don’t do a lot of actual governing – it’s more about the process.

 Whether the filmmakers meant it to or not, this year’s Texas Boys State gave them the perfect opportunity to show both the positive, and negative, side of American politics. It breaks down nicely too – with the Nationalists ending up more on the positive, idealistic side – and Federalists giving into the type of dirty politics than Americans claim to be sick of, being seemingly wins anyway. Rene Otero runs for, and wins the State Party chair for the Nationalists – and is a smart, charming, young man, who leans to the progressive side of the political spectrum, even as he knows he is entering a world where everyone is more conservative than he is (for example, both parties seem to end up pro-gun and pro-life). He knows how to play the game though – and even manipulate it for his own purposes, while not leaving aside his ideals. The soft spoken Steven Garza, barely gets enough signatures to get on the ballot for the Governor for the Nationalists, but ends up winning the nomination – on the strength of his speeches, his idealism, and his honesty. When it comes to light that he led a March for Life event in Houston – which is pro-gun control, in a state where almost no one is, he doesn’t back down from it, doesn’t back away – he explains it in a way that turns even more people to his side. You leave the movie, despite all that happens, hoping that both of these young men continue in politics.

The Federalist side, not so much. The State Party Chair there is won by Ben Feinstein – a double amputee due to meningitis. He had set his sights on Governor, but when it becomes clear that won’t happen, he contents himself on being the power behind the throne – the dirty trickster. The Federalist Governor candidate ends up being Eddy – who everyone compares to Ben Shapiro – here proving that to some people that is something to aspire to. If Otero and Garza aspire to politics to try and do something good – to change society for the better – it seems like Eddy, and particularly Feinstein, are in it to win it.

It isn’t that simple of course. Other people are in the documentary – the most memorable may well be Robert, a real live Richard Linklater character, a tall athletic, charming kid who is used to getting what he wants, runs  - for Governor of the Nationalists – openly admits to the camera that he is lying about some of his positions (he is pro-choice for example although he campaign as the exact opposite– as a side note, it’s bizarre and kind of disturbing how passionate all these boys are on the subject of abortion), and he loses to Garza – because people respond to his authenticity – instead of Robert’s cynicism. Hopefully, it’s a lesson Robert learns.

But ultimately, it may not be the one that the kids take away from Boys State – which is depressing in some ways, because normally we can at least count on the young people in the country to be idealistic that’s why the Parkland kids inspired so many. The lesson at the heart of Boys State – at least the one the kids involved seem to take away – is how to win. It doesn’t matter what you stand for, so long as you win. If they’re this cynical at 17, that doesn’t bode well for the future. Everyone learned something during their time at Boys State – some learned the right lessons, and some decidedly did not.