Streetwise (documentary)
Encyclopedia
Streetwise is a 1984 documentary film
by director Martin Bell, not to be confused with the war journalist Martin Bell
. It followed in the wake of a July 1983 Life
magazine article, "Streets of the Lost", by Cheryl McCall and the photographer Mary Ellen Mark
, Bell's wife.
According to Mark's accompanying, 1988 book, also named Streetwise, McCall and Mark traveled to Seattle specifically to reveal that even in a town that billed itself as America's most livable city, there still existed rampant homelessness and desperation. After making connections with several homeless children during the writing of the article, Mark convinced Bell that the children were worthy of his making a documentary based on their lives. McCall and Mark were also instrumental in making the film. Streetwise follows the lives of several homeless teenagers, although it focuses most on 14-year-old Erin Blackwell, a child prostitute who goes by the name of Tiny. Much of the time, Tiny stays at the home of her alcoholic mother, Pat, who seems unfazed by her daughter's prostitution, calling it a "phase".
.
, the Green River Killer.
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
by director Martin Bell, not to be confused with the war journalist Martin Bell
Martin Bell
Martin Bell, OBE, is a British UNICEF Ambassador, a former broadcast war reporter and former independent politician...
. It followed in the wake of a July 1983 Life
Life (magazine)
Life generally refers to three American magazines:*A humor and general interest magazine published from 1883 to 1936. Time founder Henry Luce bought the magazine in 1936 solely so that he could acquire the rights to its name....
magazine article, "Streets of the Lost", by Cheryl McCall and the photographer Mary Ellen Mark
Mary Ellen Mark
Mary Ellen Mark is an American photographer known for her photojournalism, portraiture, and advertising photography. She has had 16 collections of her work published and has been exhibited at galleries and museums worldwide. She has received numerous accolades, including three Robert F...
, Bell's wife.
According to Mark's accompanying, 1988 book, also named Streetwise, McCall and Mark traveled to Seattle specifically to reveal that even in a town that billed itself as America's most livable city, there still existed rampant homelessness and desperation. After making connections with several homeless children during the writing of the article, Mark convinced Bell that the children were worthy of his making a documentary based on their lives. McCall and Mark were also instrumental in making the film. Streetwise follows the lives of several homeless teenagers, although it focuses most on 14-year-old Erin Blackwell, a child prostitute who goes by the name of Tiny. Much of the time, Tiny stays at the home of her alcoholic mother, Pat, who seems unfazed by her daughter's prostitution, calling it a "phase".
Book
Mark photographed many of the children throughout the filming of Streetwise and published a book of the same name in 1988. The photographs are captioned with quotations from the film. The transcript of Bell's film appears at the end of the book, with only minor differences.Tiny
When Streetwise was nominated for a 1984 Academy Award for documentary, Tiny attended the Oscar ceremony with Bell and Mark. Despite Tiny's celebrity, however, her life did not radically change track. Mark has returned to Seattle to photograph Tiny many times since 1983, and photographs of Tiny have appeared in Mark's later books, which reveal that in the years after the Streetwise projects, Tiny continued her prostitution, became a drug addict, became obese, and gave birth to nine children fathered by several different men. In the mid-2000s, however, Mark and Bell's 23-minute film, Erin, revealed that Tiny had cleaned up and settled down with a husband and her minor children.Plot summary
Streetwise portrays the lives of nine desperate teenagers. Thrown too young into a seedy grown up world, these runaways and castaways survive, but just barely. Rat, the dumpster diver, Tiny, the teenage prostitute, Shellie, the baby-faced blonde, DeWayne, the hustler, all old beyond their years. All underage survivors fighting for life and love on the streets of downtown Seattle, WashingtonSeattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
.
Cast list
- Roberta Joseph Hayes as Herself
- Justin Early
- Kim
- Lulu
- Patti
- Shadow
- Erin (A.K.A. "Tiny")
- Dewayne
- Lillie
- Munchkin
- Rat
- Shellie
- Baby GrampsBaby GrampsBaby Gramps is a guitar performer, who, though born in Miami, Florida, has been based in the Northwest USA for at least the last 40 years. He is famous for his palindromes...
- Tom WaitsTom WaitsThomas Alan "Tom" Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car."...
as Himself - Patrice
Theatrical release information
- US Theatrical Release Date: 1984
- Production Company: Bear Creek
- Filming Locations: Seattle, Washington, USA
What became of the kids
As shown in the movie, Dewayne Pomeroy hanged himself in July 1984, the day before his 17th birthday. Some of the street kids held a balloon release and planted a tree in Freeway Park in his memory. Lou Ellen "Lulu" Couch was stabbed by a man at an arcade on 1st and Pike Street during a fight in December 1985. Her last words were, "Tell Martin and Mary Ellen Lulu died". Approximately 319 people attended her funeral. Two floor plaques at the Pike Place Market bear the names of Dewayne and Lulu. Roberta Joseph Hayes fell victim to Gary RidgwayGary Ridgway
Gary Leon Ridgway is an American serial killer known as the Green River Killer. He murdered numerous women in Washington during the 1980s and 1990s, earning his nickname when the first five victims were found in the Green River. He strangled them, usually with his arm but sometimes using ligatures...
, the Green River Killer.
External links
- Mary Ellen Mark (official site)
- Miller, Brian. "Where She Is Now: Once the teen star of Streetwise, Tiny's tale is continued after 22 years", Seattle WeeklySeattle WeeklySeattle Weekly is a freely distributed newspaper in Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded by Darrell Oldham and David Brewster as The Weekly...
, October 4, 2006 - Justin Reed Early (official site)