‘The Wackness’ vs. ‘Kids’: Which Is More Authentically 1994?
Sure, the new movie The Wackness — about a New York City teen whose weed-dealing exploits take him all over the city in the summer of '94 — is chock-full of references to Zimas, pagers, Kurt Cobain, and A Tribe Called Quest. But really, how on the money is it? To find out, we consulted another film about New York City teens that was actually filmed in 1994: Larry Clark's burnout-teens vérité Kids. What’s more true to the NYC nineties we remember: Zima or AIDS? Let’s take a look. —Piper Weiss
 Kids |
 The Wackness |
|
| Story line | NYC kids spend one day in the summer of ‘94 smoking weed and deflowering virgins. | NYC prep-school kid spends the summer of ‘94 dealing weed and getting himself deflowered. |
| Uniform | Backpacks, loose T-shirts, baggy khakis, Adidas. | Backpacks, loose T-shirts, baggy khakis, Adidas. |
| References to Giuliani, Kurt Cobain, pagers, and 90210 | Zero. | Eight. |
| References to AIDS | Too many to count. | Zero. |
| Uses of the word "wack" | Zero. | Too many to count. |
| Creepy real-life character from the streets of New York | The "I have no legs" guy on the subway. | Mary-Kate Olsen. |
| Dramatic slow-motion walking scene | A group of kids with 40s walking down the Park Avenue median. | Ben Kingsley and Josh Peck strolling down a street, bridge in the background. |
| Main character's worst fear realized | Getting AIDS. | Moving to New Jersey. |
| Reaction from a New Yorker who was actually a teen in 1994 | Aside from all the sex, fairly realistic. | Totally unbelievable: We never added a suffix to the word "wack." |
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