Documentary Review: 'Boys State'

The new to Apple TV documentary Boys State is at once a major achievement and a dystopian, nightmare hellscape. Why? Well, because it’s the clearest indication yet of the damage we’ve done to our children with our ugly, thoughtless and needless political rhetoric. This documentary that should be an inspiring look at politically engaged young people seeking to become the future leaders of this country turns a harsh, unforgiving, light on the bankrupt and corrupt version of politics and leadership we are passing down to the next generation.

Boys State revolves around the state of Texas gathering of the American Legion’s annual Boys State, a 70 plus year old gathering that has never failed to produce future leaders in politics, legislature and the legal world. Boys State brings together more than 1000 young men to learn about politics by engaging in a mock election for all imaginable offices. Before we jump the gun to the accusation of sexism, there is also a Girls State where girls engage in the same political learning. You can decide for yourself how you feel about the separation of boys and girls in this endeavor.

The Documentary introduces us to several young men of disparate backgrounds and politics as divisive as any modern social media discourse. The best of the bunch is young Steven Garza an idealistic young man who believes in both the 2nd amendment and the March for Life. He’s a complex and thoughtful young man who proves to be a powerful centrist figure among a deeply divided young electorate. Steven is serious and thoughtful and a little insecure as he contemplates the compromises he’s willing to make in order to unite his assigned party.

The 1200 young men are divided into two parties to mirror our modern politique. Indoctrination is never mentioned once by anyone in the documentary but it is deeply implied. Boys State may have begun with the best of intentions decades ago but it would be ignorant to attempt to argue that they aren’t part of the problem that plagues modern society, the notion of political teams. The idea that our politics place us on a side that must be defended as if it were a battle station comes directly from the silly idea that there can only be two parties in any given election.

Steven is assigned to the Nationalist Party and decides to run for Governor, the highest office at Boys State. But first, Steven must gather 30 signatures to get on the primary ballot. Then he will debate the other candidates for Governor to win votes in the primary election. If he wins the Primary, Steven will then compete with the Federalist Party candidate in the General Election that is the culmination of Boys State. The election is extensive with party chairs chosen, and all imaginable elected offices up for grabs. From the lowest rung party functionaries all the way up to Governor.

Opposite Steven on the side of the Federalists is young Ben Feinstein. Ben arrives at Boys State with the desire to run for Governor. However, Ben finds very quickly that he’s not a particularly likable person and thus he switches gears to become the party chair, a job few seem to genuinely want. Ben relishes the job and dubs himself a Kingmaker. Ben is the dystopian, dead eyed, soul of Boys State. He's a Gollum-esque figure obsessed only with winning. Ben is the child of the 24 hour cable news cycle crossed with Steven Crowder and Ben Shapiro.

Ben is the kind of person who is capable of telling his parties’ candidate for Governor that people have compared the candidate to Ben Shapiro and he means it as a compliment. Ben is a terrifying creature who takes to political dirty tricks as if he’d studied at the altar of Karl Rove. Ben isn’t the only morally bankrupt character on display but he is the only one who appears to have no earnestness or innocence behind his actions. Ben appears to have willingly traded his soul for the all consuming ambition to win at all cost.

Ben is an extreme example of the way we have botched our modern political discourse. Other characters demonstrate the damage we’ve wrought in a more dispiriting fashion. Two Nationalist characters emerge through the story in Robert and Renee. Robert is the perfect politician, handsome, endlessly confident and malleable. He’s running against Steven for Governor in the primary and offers a chilling reminder of how a Presidential primary becomes an ugly primer for a General election. Robert is a pragmatist and unabashed about trying to be all things to all voters.

Renee is a remarkable young man, a light skinned black kid of an effeminate manner who manages to charm a group of conservative teenagers to elect him their party chair. Rene’s story unfolds in a fashion that is among the most heartbreaking. Ben makes him a target of his political attacks and that plus in-fighting in his own party leads to Rene telling the filmmakers in a particularly vulnerable moment that there is nothing he won’t do to keep his position, no matter what he might have to give up.

Boys State is brilliant. It’s among the most remarkable and timely works of art in this young century. That said, I don’t know if I want to recommend it. It’s one of the saddest movie experiences of my life. We’ve failed politics so horrifically in this country that we’ve managed to create a generation of young people who believe public service and elected office isn’t about serving constituents or aiding your community The values we’ve created and passed down to the next generation are all about winning, winning at all cost.

Whether it means compromising your morals to make deals and consolidate power or if it means spouting outright lies and engaging in dirty tricks, we’ve created little monsters obsessed with winning. Yes, along the way, we’ve also created Steven Garza but by the end of Boys State, or even the middle of Boys State, we can see the light in his eyes beginning to dim. It starts with small compromises here and there and by the end, he appears as eager to simply win as anyone else.

Boys State depressed me to a degree beyond my already existing COVID malaise. As I said, it’s brilliant and timely, but I hate how it makes me feel. That said, if you have a stronger stomach for modern politics than I do, Boys State debuts on August 14th on Apple TV. The documentary began life being distributed by A24, the single best content factory in Hollywood. A24 had initially intended to release Boys State in theaters and instead sold the movie to Apple TV after COVID closed all the theaters. This factoid makes Boys State even more depressingly of the moment.