Exposes America's prison problem and explores various criminal justice…
Tre Maison Dasan
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TRE MAISON DASAN is an intimate portrait of three boys growing up, each with a parent in prison. Directly told through the child’s perspective, the film is an exploration of relationships and separation, masculinity, and coming of age in America when a parent is behind bars.
Tre, Maison and Dasan are three very different boys. Tre is a spirited 13 year old who hides his emotions behind a mask of tough talk and hard edges. Maison is a bright eyed 11 year old with an encyclopedic mind and deep love for those around him. Dasan is a sensitive 6 year old with an incredible capacity for empathy and curiosity. Their parents are not incarcerated for the low-level offenses that have become infamous in conversations around mass-incarceration, but their histories and relationships beg many questions about Justice and the lasting and rippling effects of a system at large.
'Beautiful film...An excellent addition to any education, nursing, public health, public policy, or social work curriculum. Through the eyes of the namesake children, we feel the pain of incarceration-related parental separation and stigma. We hear Tre's father aptly say 'This isn't normal, man' during their visits, and yet parental incarceration has become the norm for millions of American children. The film will help prepare students to support affected families. It will also encourage dialogue on systems-level changes that will better serve families and communities than our current over-reliance on incarceration.' Laurie Goshin, Associate Professor of Nursing, Hunter College - CUNY
'Heart-rending...Fascinating and deeply touching...A remarkable film, powerful in its emotional content and profound in its criticism of a system that sets the next generation up for failure...Nonfiction filmmaking doesn't get much better than this.' Christopher Llewellyn Reed, Hammer to Nail
'Poignant...The significance of maintaining the attachment relationship via prison visits and telephone calls was realistically and heartbreakingly apparent throughout the film. Tre Maison Dasanallows one to see incarceration through the eyes of children, incarcerated parents, and loving grandparents who often provide care when their sons and daughters are incarcerated. The film left me wondering what will happen to Tre? My hope is that he will be provided with the opportunity to maximize his potential and realize his true worth.' Dr. Marian S. Harris, Professor of Social Work, University of Washington Tacoma
'Tre Maison Dasan presents a vivid portrayal of the collateral consequences of mass incarceration. In telling the story of three boys impacted by parental incarceration, the film provides valuable perspective for anyone working in, or wanting to work in, the criminal justice field.' Dr. Danielle Rousseau, Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice, Boston University
'Tre Maison Dasan gives a raw, in-depth look at the experiences of children with incarcerated parents. This documentary is a must-see to understand the extensive impacts of mass incarceration.' Breanna Boppre, Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice, Wichita State University
'Engrossing...Potent, sometimes wrenchingly intimate...This feature directorial debut is an excellent non-fiction drama.' Dennis Harvey, Variety
'Gripping...Offers a fresh and heartrending perspective...This picture opens our eyes to a social disruption that has been underexposed and that we all ignore at our peril.' Stephen Farber, Hollywood Reporter
'Capture[s] some deeply emotional moments.' Andy Smith, Providence Journal
'This is not a 'homeless to Harvard' story, it's about more typical children who are living with a tremendous stigma and whose futures may not be bright. And the story may be a more common occurrence than many of us would believe.' Paul Parcellin, Film Threat
'Engrossing and illuminating.' Jay Seaver, eFilmCritic
Citation
Main credits
Tiller, Denali (film director)
Tiller, Denali (film producer)
Piligian, Craig (film producer)
Stern, Rebecca (film producer)
Gourlay, Jon (photographer)
Rojas Felice, Carlos (editor of moving image work)
Talmi, Gil (composer (expression))
Janson, Tre (on-screen participant)
Lopes, Dasan (on-screen participant)
Teixeira, Maison (on-screen participant)
Other credits
Original score, Gil Talmi; editor, Carlos Rojas Felice; cinematographer, Jon Gourlay.
Distributor subjects
No distributor subjects provided.Keywords
TRE: My grandfather who passed away, me when I was a baby, me and my mom. My grandfather, and he always used to say, 'cause he was in the Marines, he always used to say, "We're on a manhunt," so. This was my grandmother, who passed away by smoking cigarettes, but really a good woman. That's it.
DASAN: Ready? This is gonna be the top. There, see that? That's how you make a Superman triangle. It's kind of crumbled up in the back, so you can just look on this side. See, perfect, right?
MAISON: Let’s see, all right. Look how it turned out, look, cool, huh?
[TELEPHONE]: This is Global Tell Link, your call may be monitored or recorded. I have a prepaid call from an inmate in Rhode Island Correctional Institution, if you wish to accept this prepaid-- Your call is being connected.
01:02:03:20
MAISON: Hi, Dad.
MANNY: Hey, how are you?
MAISON: I’m good.
ALIVIA: Grandma, can you turn up the volume?
TRE: Every Saturday I see my dad, I tell him everything, like, what happened through the whole entire week. He's been trying to build up with me, and I've been trying to build up with him, but at the same time, it's a hard relationship, with him and me.
MAISON: Dad! And Maison comes out of nowhere!
MANNY: How’re you doing?
TRE: This dude ain’t coming.
ALIVIA: I did it with one hand.
STEPHANIE: What’d you guys do yesterday? Did you ride your scooter?
MAISON: How do I make, like, a really strong person?
TYREE: What’s up? How you doing? What's wrong? What's up? What's wrong, man? Tre, what's wrong? What's wrong? Let's go over and talk. Let’s go over and talk, do you want some tissues?
TRE: Yeah.
TYREE: Put your head up, put your head up. Put your head up, put your head up. Always hold your head up, what, what? You don't have what? Look at me, look at me, Tre. Tre, look at me, look at me, look at me. You're hurting, I know it, you're hurting right now. You're hurting right now, but this is gonna pass. Look at me, look at me. This is going to pass. This is going to pass. This is gonna pass, all right?
TRE: I’m sorry.
TYREE: Nope, come here, come here, come here, Tre.
STEPHANIE: I’ll see you later? I love you.
DASAN: Love you, too.
STEPHANIE: I’ll see you guys later.
MAISON: Goodbye, Dad, I love you.
MANNY: Bye, I love you too.
[Child]: Bye, Daddy, bye, Daddy!
[MAISON]: Bye, Dad!
[Intercom]: The jail is now closed, the jail has now closed, all inmates, return to your cells for count.
DASAN: You have to go like that, see, watch. Like that, one foot this way, one foot that, that way. Let's try, and fast.
[Interviewer]: How do you guys know each other?
DASAN: We’re cousins.
ALIVIA: Cousins.
[Interviewer]: Do you think you're more like cousins, or more like brother and sister?
ALIVIA: More like cousins.
DASAN: More like brother and sister.
[Interviewer]: Who's been the kindest to you in your life?
DASAN: Hmm. I'd say Alivia, and my mom.
ALIVA: Are you forgetting somebody?
DASAN: Oh, and Grandpa, and Grandma.
ALIVIA: You're forgetting somebody.
DASAN: Who can I forget?
ALIVIA: My dad!
DASAN: Oh, yeah, I don't really see him much.
ALIVIA: Yeah, he has to work every day, and you don't live with me, so.
DASAN: Well, sometimes I could sleep over.
[Interviewer]: Dasan, can you tell me about your dad?
DASAN: He's in Trinidad.
ALIVIA: Trinidad, what's Trinidad?
DASAN: It’s a place where dads live, some dads. Dads that, that can't find a place to live.
ALIVIA: Oh. Is there a place called Trini-Mom?
DASAN: I think you're talking about Zinimom.
[Interviewer]: Is that where moms go?
DASAN: Yep.
ALIVIA: Zinimom, Trinidad.
[Interviewer]: Is that where your mom went?
DASAN: No, my mom's still here.
[LUIS]: Hello, I'm still waiting, they're doing the paperwork, they told me to just wait outside.
[INES]: Okay.
[LUIS]: So I'll give you a ring as soon as anything happens. It's four o'clock.
[INTERCOM]: Doors open.
[LUIS]: Oh, boy. I guess, let me see if I can help you with the bag.
LUIS: Welcome home!
STEPHANIE: Okay!
LUIS: Welcome
STEPHANIE: This is exciting, look at my discharged ID. Let's go, I'm tired of this parking lot, I've had enough of it.
LUIS: Thank god.
LUIS: Wanna call Mom?
STEPHANIE: Yes. Hello! I'm out! Oh, I can't wait to see my baby. Okay, I'm ready for this bus now.
[INES]: So Stephanie, in the morning, he’ll get picked up over there on that side.
[LUIS]: Oh that bus, I wonder if that's the bus.
[INES]: No, if it's 107, it's not that one..
STEPHANIE: That's 107.
[INES]: That's 107, tell him that's not it. Okay, here comes--
[STEPHANIE]: Is this it, is this it?
[INES]: Yep, this is it.
STEPHANIE: Where's my baby, is he here? Hi! Hi baby!
DASAN: Hi, Mommy!
STEPHANIE: Oh, come here, I’m so happy to see you. Oh my god. Let me see you, let me see you. Oh, bubba! Are you happy?
DASAN: Yeah!
STEPHANIE: Me too. I missed you so much, bubba.
DASAN: Me too.
[LUIS]: Are you okay now, dude?
DASAN: Mm-hmm.
[INES]: I know I am, here's your child in one piece. Well, one scrape after two years.
STEPHANIE: It's all right, it's all right.
DASAN: I have a tablet.
STEPHANIE: You have to show me everything. I want to see everything.
DASAN: You're gonna sleep with me.
[SHIRLEY]: Okay, do you want sandals on, or you want your sneakers on?
[MAISON]: Sandals on, all right, I'm going skipping.
[SHIRLEY]: Hello?
[TELEPHONE]: This is Global Tell Link, your call may be monitored or recorded. I have a prepaid call from an inmate in Rhode Island Correctional Institution. If you wish to accept this prepaid call, dial zero now.
[MAISON]: You’re telling me that you have a machine that can take me inside the internet? And I’ll be able to get out safely? Of course you will!
MAISON: Hey! I didn't agree to this! Yes, you did, you signed the contract, remember? No, not my new Ruby Goldberg machine! Are you okay? Oh, no… She's gone! Fate! My sister's trapped, trapped in the internet! Woah… what do these trolls do? they shoot flames — No, nevermind, that's, that's not, actually, that's not it…
[MAISON]: My mom lives in California, she went to California, when my dad went to jail, I get to see her a lot.
MAISON: 25 times 10 equals 250 hours every single year. And I see my dad for 300 hours a year, so 300, 600, 900, 900, three, six, nine, 12, 15, 18, 21, 24, 27. 30, 33, so I see my dad for, like, 1/11th of the time I see my Nana. In May, next year, me, my Nana, my dad and my mom are going to have a, have to have a big discussion sometimes in May about, well, in May, 2017 about where I'm going to live after I'm done at Nathaniel Greene 'cause this is my last year. I'd like to stay in Rhode Island, but if I have to move to California, I don't know, I mean, I'd just like to stay in Rhode Island, honestly, I don't want to move to California.
[INTERVIEWER]: Does that stress you out sometimes?
MAISON: Yeah, I think that's the big challenge in my story arc.
[SHIRLEY]: Hey, Mais, it's your dad.
[MANNY]: Did you do all your, did you do your homework, your homework tonight?
MAISON: Uh. Yeah, I did it, it took me, like, five minutes, it was so easy.
[MANNY]: What was it, what was it on?
MAISON: Math.
[MANNY]: All right.
MAISON: Anyway, Dad, would you like to speak to my Nana?
[MANNY]: Yes, please.
MAISON: Okay, all right, bye, Dad, love you, good night.
[MANNY]: Good night.
MAISON: Muah!
TRE: This is just a rap, though, this is, like, a quick, little one, right?
TRE: ♪ Tre ♪ ♪ Tre, aka Hollywood ♪ ♪ Ooh, Tre, aka breezy! ♪
TRE: I won't be like that in there, I’m gonna be crazy tonight.
TRE: ♪ Shake 'em to the left ♪ ♪ Shake 'em to the right ♪ ♪ Hands in the air, get ready to take flight, uh ♪ ♪ Yeah, get ready to take flight ♪ ♪ Yeah, get ready to take flight ♪ ♪ I get it like I want to ♪ ♪ I'm just that guy, if you're looking at me, honey ♪ ♪ Yeah, you better say hi ♪ ♪ Yeah, people, I'm that guy ♪ ♪ I stay clean, fresh, and suited and fly ♪ ♪ I ride my bike around the park ♪ ♪ Yeah, every single day before the dark ♪ ♪ Got all the ladies screaming and yelling Tre, hey ♪ ♪ Come play my way ♪ ♪ I'm loving this beat, it's getting me moving ♪ ♪ I see I've got all of y'all grooving, yeah ♪ ♪ I do this, what, 'cause I love it ♪ ♪ And one day, I plan on making something of it ♪ ♪ Breezy, remember the name ♪ ♪ Repping my styles, looking for some fame, yeah ♪
TRE: I’ll be here tomorrow, though, all right?
[KERRI]: Please stay off my phone, Tre.
[TRE]: You have to deal with it right now.
TRE: I’m using it!
KERRI: I’m using it, I have to make a phone call right now!
TRE: All right, I'll give it--
KERRI: I need to make a phone call.
TRE: I’ll give it right back!
KERRI: I'm calling somebody right now!
TRE: I'll give it right back.
KERRI: Get off!
TRE: Can I give it right back?
KERRI: Get off my phone, I need to make a phone call.
TRE: Can I, can I--
KERRI: Get off my phone.
TRE: Can I give it right back, I'll give it right back.
KERRI: I need to make a phone call right now, it's my phone.
TRE: Yeah, well, log out of my Facebook.
KERRI: I ain’t logging out of shit, I'm deactivating your Facebook right now.
TRE: No, you're not.
KERRI: Get off my phone! Get off me, Tre! Yeah, you ain't touching my phone.
TRE: I'll try, you think when you're sleeping I won't? Stay away from me, get off…
KERRI: You hear him?
TRE: Get off of me.
KERRI: I'm not touching you, I'm--
TRE: You're touching me right now. Get off of me.
KERRI: I'm not touching you! I’m glad people are seeing this, some people can't believe the way he treats me.
TRE: I can't believe how the way you treat me. She don't care.
KERRI: Bye.
TRE: She says it all the time. No, fuck her. I'll say it right to her, 'cause, you know, I was actually supposed to go with her today, so fuck her. Oh, damn, this door is broken. You seen what I did to this one, the back of it? I'm gonna give this bum something.
[TRE]: Let me get a few of these.
[NEIGHBOR]: Huh?
[TRE]: Let me get some of these, for my mom, please, let me take four, and I got you after. Thanks, bro.
TRE: These are for my mom, you know what I mean?
[STEPHANIE]: Did you vacuum in here?
[DASAN]: Yeah.
[STEPHANIE]: Dasan, there's still a lot of stuff on this floor.
STEPHANIE: Vacuum it again.
DASAN: Okay. This vacuum might be a little loud.
DERRICK: Hello.
STEPHANIE: Hello!
DERRICK: How are you?
STEPHANIE: Good. Hi mom.
INES: I saw him outside.
DERRICK: That's me, my badge, ID.
[LUIS]:Oh, okay.
DERRICK: Okay? You already know me.
STEPHANIE: Yeah.
DERRICK: Yeah. My job as a parole officer, yes, we have to go with these conditions and make sure that--
STEPHANIE: Oh, before you continue, can we not say the J-A-I-L word because he--
DERRICK: Yeah.
STEPHANIE: Okay, thank you.
DERRICK: Okay. So what would you like to see happen in your near future?
STEPHANIE: Well, I've started looking for another job.
DERRICK: Okay.
STEPHANIE: I actually have, I went on one interview, and the girl was like, "Oh, yeah, I'm gonna sign you up for the training class, you just tell me when to say," …that’s Dasan.
DERRICK: Hello, I’ll pound you ‘cause I’m sick, there you go. How you doing, little man.
STEPHANIE: That's Derrick. Say hi, say…
DERRICK: Hello, nice to meet you.
STEPHANIE: He's a little shy.
DERRICK: That's okay.
INES: Yeah…
[LUIS]: At first.
INES: Sure he is.
[DERRICK]: I know you're working, you're in counseling, you know, you have your child, like, how are you coping with all that stuff? You know, 'cause my job is to say, you know, and that's why people who are coming out of that place, since we won't use the word, how do you deal with that? With your son, what do you have set up for him?
[STEPHANIE]: I really want to put him in Cub Scouts, but nobody's reaching back out to me, like, I called a bunch of different groups, but maybe they're out for summer?
[DERRICK]: There's a lot of services for kids. So you gotta find out what you want. How old is he?
[STEPHANIE]: He's six.
[DERRICK]: Six.
[STEPHANIE]: So I gotta figure out, also, like, what he's into?
DASAN: Spider-Man videos.
[DERRICK]: He's six, he doesn't know yet. How old are you?
[STEPHANIE]: 26.
[DERRICK]: Yeah. It's not supposed to be like that here, but my job is to lead you to the right direction, I'll help you do that.
[STEPHANIE]: Okay.
[DERRICK]: Nice seeing you again.
DASAN: Come on!
[DERRICK]: All right, okay, all right.
DASAN: Make up your mind, lady.
[STEPHANIE]: See ya!
[DERRICK]: See ya.
[COMPUTER]: Five!
DASAN: You said it's six, why is it five now?
[COMPUTER]: Let’s put the shapes away!
STEPHANIE: Ah-ha, very good. Are you skipping stuff, or are you going in order?
DASAN: I'm going in order.
STEPHANIE: Okay.
[COMPUTER]: The shape song.
STEPHANIE: The shape song! Crazy nut.
SHIRLEY: These pants are not gonna fit you no more. Actually, they don't now, so go in the bedroom.
MAISON: Okay.
SHIRLEY: Mais, yeah, they're too little, come and change.
MAISON: No, what?.
SHIRLEY: Mais, change the pants.
MAISON: I like these pants, I like them, Nana, please let me keep them on, I really like them so much.
SHIRLEY: I don't like that, them pants need to come off.
MAISON: I like them.
SHIRLEY: You like them?
MAISON: Yes, I do.
SHIRLEY: Okay. Did you wet your face there?
MAISON: Yeah.
SHIRLEY: Let me see, you can dry it now.
MAISON: Okay.
SHIRLEY: Mais, shoes, let's go! So I keep telling myself four and half more years, at the most, that we have to do this. Well, I have to. Right, Mais?
MAISON: Yeah.
SHIRLEY: Then hopefully it's all over.
MAISON: Hmm?
SHIRLEY: Hopefully then it'll be all over, and we'll never have to come to this place again.
MAISON: I like the paintings on the wall.
SHIRLEY: You do?
MAISON: Yeah, but I don't want to come back to it any time soon, when my dad's out, ever, ever again.
TRE: I’m doing some new stuff, you wanna hear? ♪ Yo, free my bro, free my bro, Tye ♪ ♪ I'm telling you right now, yo ♪ ♪ I'll have a nigga die, why you asking why ♪ ♪ Why you asking why, 'cause you know my ass is high♪ ♪ Yeah, you know from my bro, Tye♪ ♪ He is locked up in the pen ♪ ♪ I don't care, nigga, never next ♪ ♪ Yeah, you know, yeah, that we’re west ♪ ♪ South side, yeah, we're never next ♪ ♪ And I'm telling you, yo ♪ ♪ We'll bust your figure out the rest ♪ ♪ Pick up in your vest♪ ♪ I dig open your vest♪ That's a banging beat, though.
SHIRLEY: Let’s go.
MAISON: Okay.
SHIRLEY: Okay, I'll see you when I pick you up.
MAISON: Okay, bye, Nana, I love you.
[CORRECTIONAL OFFICER]: No keys, right? All right. All right, no keys, right, all right.
TYREE: What up? Let me see your hair.
TRE: Yeah, it's a mess right now.
TYREE: Jesus Christ, kid.
TRE: I gotta get it braided. They were gonna give me three years probation, and if I messed up, three years to serve, and they were gonna give me the felony, and keep me on the seven o'clock curfew. And they, they didn't do that, though. They dropped it down to nine months probation, if I mess up, three months to serve in the Training School, and any charge I get, the, more months, you know what I mean?
TYREE: Okay, so what we gonna do?
TRE: Stay out of trouble for nine months.
TYREE: Just nine months?
TRE: No, I, oh.
TYREE:"Please keep this with you in case you are stopped by the police, and they think that you are still on a court order curfew. Okay, well, this is the first, this is the first part of it.
MANNY: You’ve gotten taller since the last time I seen you.
MAISON: Yeah, I know, do you have a TV?
MANNY: Yes.
MAISON: You do?
MANNY: Yes.
MAISON: So what do you watch on TV?
MANNY: Well, like, what, like what kind of shows?
MAISON: Yeah. Do you get Nickelodeon?
MANNY: No, I don't get Nickelodeon.
MAISON: Do you get Cartoon Network?
MANNY: No.
MAISON: Do you got PBS Kids?
MANNY: Yes.
MAISON: Oh, really?
MANNY: Ah, now what?
MAISON: Dad?
MANNY: What's up?
MAISON: I think that I'm being too silly, I think I'm starting to just be not aware of my surroundings, and much too hyper. I'm starting to think, because I'm not aware of my surroundings, I could easily do something that is embarrassing.
MANNY: Embarrassing? So you're worried, you're not, you're not gonna do something and be yourself because you're scared of being embarrassed?
MAISON: No, not embarrassing, I just, being hyper makes me not aware of what's going on, and makes me do and say things that I'm not aware of what I'm saying.
MANNY: No, I don't agree with you. You shouldn't be worrying about doing something that embarrasses you, or worry about you being hyper, or not really paying attention, okay?
MAISON: Okay.
MANNY: Stop worrying about stuff like that, man.
MAISON: All right.
MANNY: You're a kid, you gotta enjoy your childhood.
TYREE: I’m glad to see you, man.
TRE: I know.
TYREE: I missed you, I really, really missed you, man. I said, "Oh, he's mad at me again."
TRE: No, I wasn't.
TYREE: Turn your head this way. Why has it been so long since the last time I saw you?
TRE: I don't know, I just, I don't know, I just haven't came.
TYREE: Just didn't feel like it, huh?
TRE: I don’t know, I've just been tired.
TYREE: Tired? You only gotta see me once a week!
TRE: I know.
TYREE: What you mean you tired?
TRE: And I’m getting skinny.
TYREE: Stressed out about something?
TRE: I think so, yeah.
TYREE: What, what you, what you stressed out about?
TRE: My mom's boyfriend.
TYREE: Why, what's up?
TRE: He aggravates me, he gets on my nerves.
TYREE: I thought he was looking out for you.
TRE: Me, too.
TYREE: It's the best I could do, go look at it in the mirror in the bathroom, I tell you.
MAISON: When I was really young, back when I was first seeing him, I called it the Naughty School, back in 2006, up all the way through, like, 2010, but in 2011, I learned that it wasn't actually Naughty School, and I found out it was actually, like, a prison. And I asked him why he was here. A lot of people were fighting, and I don't think you were the one who did the thing to that guy. Were you?
MANNY: Uh. I did some things that night, yeah. Whether or not I killed him, I'm not sure. But I don't think anybody is sure which one of us killed him.
MAISON: Did you? You didn't.
MANNY: I've just answered that question.
MAISON: You didn't?
MANNY: I told you, I'm not sure, I can't say I definitely did, and I can't say I definitely didn’t. The chances are pretty good that I may have, but I'm not entirely certain. I've explained all this to you before, remember?
MAISON: Yeah.
MANNY: You cant… you know, I don't want you to block that out of your mind. I don't want you to think that I'm an innocent person in here.
MAISON: Okay, I still love you, always.
MANNY: I love you, too. But I don't want you to convince yourself that I'm here, and I didn't do anything, okay?
MAISON: Okay.
MANNY: I can tell you that I didn't mean to do it.
MAISON: Okay.
MANNY: You understand me?
MAISON: Yeah.
MANNY: Huh?
MAISON: Yes.
MANNY: All right, you okay?
MAISON: Yeah.
MANNY: Anything else you want to ask me?
MAISON: No, not really.
MANNY: Why, too painful?
MAISON: I guess so, I still love you.
MANNY: I love you, too, it’s no question of that. I know you do. You all right?
MAISON: Yeah.
TYREE: Have you tried to sit down and talk to your mom?
TRE: Yeah, but.
TYREE: What's up with her?
TRE: She always runs her mouth to him, so I can't say nothing to her. That's why all the doors are broken to the house, 'cause of me, 'cause he gets me to that point, I can't stop.
TYREE: Just--
TRE: And, wait, how much longer you got?
TYREE: Well, I'll go, I'll go up for parole this year, man, but I'm still undecided if I’m actually going to try and take it. I don't know, Tre, why, what you want me to do?
TRE: I don't know, like, I don't know about that parole, I only know about probation. I don't know about parole and all that.
TYREE: One time, my bracelet went off at four o'clock in the morning.
TRE: Yeah, they done that to me before, too.
TYREE: Listen, I'm in the bed asleep! Then the phone starts ringing, “take and reset it”, all right, “I'll reset it”, hung up. Half an hour later, it went off again.
TRE: When I had it, I had to keep charging it for, like, two hours straight without getting up, that used to be…
TYREE: Tre, this is not normal. This is not normal, for a father and son to be sitting here, comparing house arrest stories. We need new memories, this ain't it, we need some fishing. Look at the fare! This is not normal, kid, this is not normal.
TRE: I want to give you a hug.
TYREE: What's up, man? You're getting older, but you're still a big-ass baby.
MANNY: You all right?
MAISON: Yeah, I’m fine.
MANNY: All right.
MAISON: Ahhh, stop!
MANNY: I want you to leave happy, I don't want you to leave sad.
MAISON: Okay, alright.
MANNY: You okay?
MAISON: Tag!Okay, bye, Dad, love you.
MANNY: Alright, go on.
MAISON: Tag!
MAISON: Tag, yep.
SHIRLEY: How was Dad?
MAISON: He was good.
SHIRLEY: You're freezing. Turn the TV off, okay? Or you can put your music on, landscape or something. Cover your mouth when you yawn.
MAISON: No. Oh, okay.
SHIRLEY: Oh, you're getting very mouthy. Lift your head up.
MAISON: Okay.
SHIRLEY: Lay down. You're getting very bossy, we'll have to have little conversation tomorrow when you get home from school.
MAISON: Okay.
SHIRLEY: Mm, it might result in no iPad.
MAISON: Oh, no, no!
SHIRLEY: Think before you open your gob.
MAISON: I love you, Nana.
SHIRLEY: Yeah, it's got nothing to do with love.
MAISON: No, I just want a hug, I'm really sorry and I'm, I'm such an attitude-y person.
SHIRLEY: Oh, yeah, okay.
MAISON: And I have such a terrible attitude. Nana, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, don't go yet.
SHIRLEY: Maison, it's 10 o'clock.
MAISON: I know, but I'm anxious because I don't want you to say that I have a bad attitude.
SHIRLEY: Okay, you don't have a bad attitude.
MAISON: But I do, do I?
SHIRLEY: We’re gonna work on it.
MAISON: I’m really anxious right now.
SHIRLEY: Okay, well, anxious your eyes, close your mouth, and close your eyes.
MAISON: Nana, I love you, Nana.
SHIRLEY: I love you, too.
MAISON: Don't turn the light off, oh.
SHIRLEY: You have to be up at 6:30.
MAISON: I'm just really anxious right now.
SHIRLEY: Deep breaths, tell myself, tell yourself, I'm going to sleep, I'm going to sleep, good night mind, okay? There's your weighted blanket.
MAISON: Good night, Nana, I love you.
SHIRLEY: Good night again. Sometimes it just takes the hyperness off. Just let it dissolve under your tongue? Gonna send you to la la land.
MAISON: Okay.
SHIRLEY: Remember that song, la la land?
MAISON: ♪ La la ♪ ♪ I need to la la land ♪ ♪ I hope to see you soon in la la land ♪ Right, you can film me sleeping for another five minutes.
STEPHANIE: Love you.
DASAN: Huh?
STEPHANIE: Love you!
DASAN: Love you, too!
STEPHANIE: Love you! Sleep, in the dark.
SHIRLEY: Oh, your bus is early, so he parks down there.
[GROUP]: I will be a better somebody when I leave.
[INTERCOM]: I am powerful.
[CHILDREN]: I am powerful.
[INTERCOM]: I am strong.
[CHILDREN]: I am strong.
[INTERCOM]: I deserve the education that I get here.
[CHILDREN]: I deserve the education that I get here.
[INTERCOM]: I have things to do.
[CHILDREN]: I have things to do.
[INTERCOM]: People to impress.
[CHILDREN]: People to impress.
[INTERCOM]: And places to go.
[CHILDREN]: And places to go.
[INTERCOM]: You may be seated.
MAISON: You know, I've started to start meditating more often, you know, I literally just do this, watch.
[GIRL]: Wow.
MAISON: Yeah. That's what my life has come to, meditation. Do you mind if I type it, do you mind if I type it?
MS. HERMEZ: No, i don't mind if you type it, go ahead.
MAISON: He's a rapper--
MS. HERMEZ: Oh, I know who this guy is.
MAISON: Yeah, I kind of like this one, but still--
MS. HERMEZ: Do you think the crown is too much?
MAISON: Yeah.
MS. HERMEZ:'Cause you would have to draw half.
MAISON: Yeah.
MS. HERMEZ: Nothing, like, you know how some put his hand near their face, and then you’d have to draw the hands?
MAISON: Yeah.
MS. HERMEZ: This one is perfect--
MAISON: I know, but I'd just like to find the right pic that I think is exactly right for me.
MS. HERMEZ: Do you want to think about it while I get some of these other ones done?
MAISON: Yeah, I'll think about it.
MS. HERMEZ: All right, Maison. Guys, I want you all in a seat, please, let's go.
MAISON: Well, I was diagnosed with Asperger's, and… Asperger’s Syndrome.
[INTERVIEWER]: What is your brain doing when you're hyper?
MAISON: It's just sort of going, like, a mile a minute, thinking about a bunch of different things, like, like, like these are the epitome of my thoughts, like, thought here, thought here, thought here, thought here, thought here, thought here. And, like, when I'm, sometimes, I'll be trying to go to sleep, and then, like, I'll just, there's so many things in my head that I did today. It's like firing sparks and charges into my, into my nervous system. I try to breathe in, and out.
MAISON: Hey, how's your egg, what liquid did you choose? Orange what?
[BOY]: Soda.
MAISON: Oh, you know, Noel chose death sauce, like, extremely hot, hot sauce, she put the egg in it, the egg disintegrated, I'm not even kidding! Today was a good day.
STEPHANIE: How was school?
MAISON: It was good. Hey, think about it, like, when you're in the freezing cold, you wish it was hot like this, right?
STEPHANIE: No, no I don't.
MAISON: Yeah you do! Let's say it's, like, February. What would you give for, like, it to be this nice, and be like this in February, instead of, like, the bitter cold we get?
TELISA: So I was talking to your probation officer, and I was told that perhaps we'll have a conversation today?
STEPHANIE: Yeah, I think we should, but also I feel like I'm chickening out a little bit.
TELISA: Yeah, why?
STEPHANIE: I don't know, I'm, like, nervous. I don't know how to even, like, start a conversation.
TELISA: If I had to guess, the worst thing that could happen is, is you don't tell him, and he finds out some other way. As long as you're ready, I think he'd be ready.
STEPHANIE: Um, can you guys come out for a minute so we can talk about something?
ALIVIA: Sure.
STEPHANIE: So I want to talk to you guys about something that I've been meaning to talk to you about for a long time. Do you guys think you can handle the truth?
DASAN: Yes.
ALIVIA: Yes.
STEPHANIE: Are you sure?
DASAN: Yes.
ALIVIA: Yeah.
STEPHANIE: So where did you guys think that I was, when I was away for all that time?
DASAN: At school.
STEPHANIE: At school?
ALIVIA: At school.
STEPHANIE: So, that wasn't really a school.
DASAN: What was it?
STEPHANIE: It was a prison. Do you understand what that means?
DASAN: No.
STEPHANIE: No?
ALIVIA: No.
TELISA: Do you guys understand, when you do something that Mommy or Auntie doesn't like, you have to go in a timeout?
STEPHANIE: So, Mommy was in a grownup timeout.
DASAN: What did you do?
STEPHANIE: I did something that I was not supposed to do, I did the wrong thing, remember how Mommy always tells you to do the right thing?
DASAN: Yeah?
STEPHANIE: So I made a mistake, and I did the wrong thing.
DASAN: What, but what did you do, what, what wrong thing did you do?
TELISA: I think whatever Mommy did, she wasn't gonna be proud of it.
STEPHANIE: Do you guys have any questions?
ALIVIA: No.
DASAN: Yes! What did you do?
STEPHANIE: Oh, man. I'm not gonna escape this question, huh?
TELISA: He's saying he can handle it.
STEPHANIE: So remember at our old house?
DASAN: Yeah.
STEPHANIE: And the house next door?
DASAN: Uh-huh?
STEPHANIE: Where there was a fire?
DASAN: Uh-huh?
STEPHANIE: Mommy kind of made that fire.
DASAN: But why, Mommy?
STEPHANIE: Why what?
DASAN: Why did you do it?
STEPHANIE: Because I was really mad.
DASAN: Were you mad at them?
STEPHANIE: Yeah.
DASAN: Why?
STEPHANIE: Because they kept messing with you, and with Grandpa. Remember all the times I had flat tires, and when, well, you were too little when the car got set on fire. But they were doing a lot, and I was really upset. You remember the car that got set on fire? Yeah.
DASAN: Was I in that car?
STEPHANIE: No, but your carseat was in that car, and your toys were in that car. A lot of our stuff was in that car. So I was upset with them, and I, I made a bad decision.
DASAN: Did they go to prison after they set it on fire?
STEPHANIE: No, they didn't.
DASAN: Why?
STEPHANIE: Because they didn't get caught.
ALIVIA: You should have told on them.
STEPHANIE: I tried, but it didn't work.
DASAN: Didn't you have any evidence, or something?
STEPHANIE: No. Any other questions?
ALIVIA: No.
STEPHANIE: No, not really.
TELISA: It sounds like you might have some later on, though, "not really," you might have some later on?
DASAN: Maybe.
TELISA: Do you think it'd be okay if he asked you some questions later on?
STEPHANIE: Yeah.
TELISA: Do you think you can handle the truth?
DASAN: Yeah.
TELISA: You sure?
DASAN: Yeah.
TELISA: Okay. Sometimes it's tough, huh?
DASAN: Yeah.
STEPHANIE: You okay?
DASAN: Yeah.
STEPHANIE: You sure?
DASAN: I am a little bit sad.
STEPHANIE: You're a little bit sad?
DASAN: Mm-hmm.
STEPHANIE: Do you want a hug? How come you're a little bit sad?
DASAN: I'm just sad.
STEPHANIE: Why? It's okay. You okay, Liv? How come you're sad? Hmm? You can tell me. Are you sad because I was in prison? Well I'm home now.
TRE: Oh, shit.
[MAN ON TELEVISION]: And merry Christmas to me.
[MAN ON TELEVISION]: Are you unaccompanied?
[WOMAN ON TELEVISION]: I'm single.
TRE: Oh, shit, the cops are here, though. My mom’s here.
KERRI: It smells in here.
TRE: What?
KERRI: Like something. You know, I'm making a decision, I'm, like, this close to putting you somewhere for a little bit.
TRE: All right.
KERRI: And I asked you mad times, clean up.
TRE: I did clean up, I didn't clean up today? Tell me, you've been saying that all day, I did it today.
KERRI: I think you need to go, I--
TRE: I don't care.
KERRI: I know, I'm like, all, I gotta make a couple phone calls.
TRE: Yo, I'm hungry, yo.
KERRI: Well, there's mad food, I took mad food home from work.
TRE: I don't want that food.
KERRI: Stop smoking that shit, and you won't be wanting to eat all the time. Where you going?
TRE: I'm leaving, I'll be back.
KERRI: Where are you going?
TRE: Not far, around here. Do you want this locked?
KERRI: No.
TRE: What are these, joggers?
KERRI: Yeah, if they don't fit, let me know, and I'll take 'em back.
TRE: All right, oh, yeah, these are gonna fit, I already can tell, yep.
KERRI: You like them?
TRE: Yep. Yeah.
KERRI: That's what you wanted, right?
TRE: Yeah. Thank you.
JOYCE: Can we jump in now, and share some time with you?
TRE: I’m not trying to talk.
KERRI: This is the kind of talks we need, Tre, that we don't get done.
JOYCE: What I want to know from you is, how do you feel about people who leave you?
TRE: Mad.
JOYCE: Mad, right?
TRE: Mm-hmm.
JOYCE: Who are you mad at most?
TRE: My dad.
JOYCE: Okay, who else are you mad at?
TRE: My dad.
JOYCE: Who else are you mad at?
TRE: My dad.
JOYCE: Why just your dad?
TRE: Because my dad's never been there for me.
JOYCE: Okay, is he the only man in your life you love who has ever left you?
TRE: No.
JOYCE: Who else left you?
TRE: My grandfather.
JOYCE: Okay, have you forgiven him? We've talked a little bit about this.
TRE: Yes.
JOYCE: I want you to be able to get away from any blame or guilt that you might have, or might feel about anybody who's left you in your life. None of this has ever been your fault.
KERRI: None.
JOYCE: Not one thing.
TRE: Yeah, right.
JOYCE: Where do you think anything was your fault?
TRE: My dad.
JOYCE: Why do you think that was your fault?
TRE:'Cause he didn't think I loved him, or cared for him.
KERRI: That's not true, your father, your father was in and out of prison before you were even born.
JOYCE: You didn't do anything, sweetheart.
KERRI: Nothing. When I was pregnant with you, your father was in prison.
JOYCE: Now, we're gonna go to two places. Okay. I want you to close your eyes, Tre, I want you to close your eyes, Kerri. Now, I want you both to think about the best thing that's ever happened to you.
KERRI: I know what he, what his most happiest time in life was.
JOYCE: Tell your mom what you, what the most happiest time in your life was.
TRE: Playing football, and being in the car…
KERRI: And boxing with papa.
JOYCE: Kerri, tell us the happiest time in your life, tell Tre, when were you the most happy?
KERRI: When I had Tre.
JOYCE: And when you had him, what were you feeling?
KERRI: I had the most beautiful baby in the world.
JOYCE: Yeah. And at the end of the day, that's what you two have, just like it is right now. When it's all said and done, this is who you are, this is what you have.
TRE: Tre, Tre, Tre, what can I say? I'm back here again? It’s hard for me to stay away from my mom and home. I miss my mom so very much, that's why I need to get my head together. I've got to get my mind right 'cause if not, I'm gonna be locked up, just like my dad, and he even tells me, "You're gonna be dead or in prison." I know I can do right, it's just that big chip on my shoulder, and my grandfather always told me, "Tre, no matter what, you're a good kid and a soldier." And when I found out that he passed away, I have not been right until then. That was three days after Christmas, he killed himself. People don't know what I'm really going through. Yes, I got disabilities, but that can't change me for who I am. Well, I hope I get the help I need because I need it. Just telling myself, Tre, I can do it.
SHIRLEY: Okay, have fun. Okay Mel, see ya.
MAISON: Okay, I will.
MEL: Okay, bye! Take off your backpack, Mais.
MAISON: Okay.
MEL: All this kissing, and wow! Let me see.
MAISON: I love you, Mom.
MEL: I love you, too, baby.
MAISON: She moved in 2008, right before I was about to go to preschool. She didn't have a job here, and she didn't really have any friends to support her here, so she had friends in California that would support her. So she decided to make the move because she thought it would be better for her life and my life.
MEL: I'm gonna say goodbye to everybody.
[WOMAN1]: Of course.
MEL: Maison, come on.
MAISON: Yeah? we're going now?
[WOMAN1]: Bye Maison. Have a good day at school tomorrow!
MAISON: I will.
[WOMAN2]: Have a good School year!
MAISON: I will. Bye, Mom, I love you.
[WOMAN2] Enjoy your little surprise.
MAISON: I’ve had a great time.
MEL: I'm gonna go get the car.
MAISON: Oh, you are, okay.
MEL: Yeah.
MAISON: I'm gonna miss you. So this is our last moment of the summer?
MEL: Yeah, but we will see each other again. I'm gonna be here before you know it.
MAISON: In December.
MEL: I love you, baby.
MAISON: I love you, too. I miss my mom, but I'm not, I'm not gonna cry. I would be really happy if she lived at least, at least, at least if she lived in, like, I don't know, maybe, like, New Jersey, or Delaware, that would be fine. I mean, it's better than having to, living in California, and only getting to see her, like, once… if she lived in, like, Delaware or something, I'd be able to see her, like, twice a year, or something. I kind of wish she was at home, but if she wants to spend the rest, her last day with them, I'm fine with it. I mean, I'd like it either way. If she was spending it with me, or with them. 'Cause they're her friends, and she's really close to them, they're probably, like, partying the heck out right now.
SHIRLEY: Careful.
MAISON: Hey Nana!
[DASAN]: Yeah.
[STEPHANIE]: All right, go. Try to jump with it.
[DASAN]: I can't.
[STEPHANIE]: Try it!
[DASAN]: Okay, I'll try. Here we go.
[STEPHANIE]: Oops, you okay?
[DASAN]: Help! Somebody! Help!
[STEPHANIE]: Oh, Dasan.
STEPHANIE: Bubba, you want to come help me?
DASAN: With what?
STEPHANIE: Hold this?
DASAN: No.
STEPHANIE: I kind of wasn't asking, come here. This one, and right here.
DASAN: Cool.
STEPHANIE: All right, it's gonna be fast, super fast. Ready, look, it's already hot--
DASAN: Just don't steam me
STEPHANIE: I'm not gonna steam you, I promise. Come on, steam. I'm not gonna get you.
DASAN: I think it's all good.
STEPHANIE: Yeah, I gotta do the back now.
DASAN: Oh, come on, Mommy!
STEPHANIE: We're almost done.
DASAN: Fine.
STEPHANIE: You don't want Mommy going to work wrinkled, do you?
DASAN: You're going to work with this?
STEPHANIE: Yes. Why wouldn't I go--
DASAN: Who's gonna watch me?
STEPHANIE: What do you mean, who's gonna watch you? Grandma's coming home.
DASAN: Oh.
STEPHANIE: She'll be home soon, too.
[BIRTHDAY SONG IN PORTUGUESE CREOLE]
[BOY]: Blow it Dasan!
[WOMAN]: Are those trick candles?
DASAN: Mommy, can you put this in your bag?
STEPHANIE: I do not have space for that in my bag, you better find your pockets. Whatever you can fit in your pockets, you can keep.
DASAN: I'll fit all of them. I'm putting it in every pocket. Every pocket I have.
ALIVIA: Come on, Dasan.
DASAN: I have a bunch of lollipops in here.
ALIVIA: That's, ooh, and that's it.
DASAN: You could take everything else, I don't really care.
ALIVIA: No, you can have it. Oh, and this, that's it.
MAISON: How much do flowers cost?
SHIRLEY: Today and tomorrow they're gonna cost as much as they want to charge because they know that people are gonna buy them.
MAISON: Exactly, and what, when else would we buy flowers, on Halloween?
SHIRLEY: Buy her some chocolates or something.
MAISON: Nana, please, I want to do this.
SHIRLEY: Maybe you should just give her the rose, that's chocolate, too.
MAISON: Okay.
SHIRLEY: Or you want to give her both?
MAISON: No, I'll give her both, this one's fine. Only you, no.
SHIRLEY: Look for “Friends”
MAISON: ugh, ick. They’re all sappy, and, they're all sappy, and ick, and blech, and mushy, gushy, gooey.
SHIRLEY: Okay, just give her the flower.
MAISON: Yeah, okay, good idea.
SHIRLEY: So, so, listen, how are you gonna give it to her tomorrow? Nothing wrong, I think you're too a lot young to be in love, I'm sorry.
MAISON: Well, I, uhg.
[SHIRLEY]: Hello?
[TELEPHONE]: This is Global Tell Link, your call may be monitored or recorded--
SHIRLEY: It's your dad, Mais.
MAISON: Okay, yeah, I've told Nana, I've told some of my friends, but I've, that's what I was gonna tell you on Saturday.
SHIRLEY: What do you think she's gonna say to you? We have valuable lessons to learn in life, right?
MAISON: Yeah, you're worried about me?
SHIRLEY: Yeah. I don't want you to get your heart broke.
MAISON: Okay.
SHIRLEY: And you will, at some point, we all do.
MAISON: I know.
SHIRLEY: But you're just 12, and that's what you have to remember.
MAISON: I know, I know, I know.
SHIRLEY: Okay?
MAISON: Mm-hmm.
MAISON: Oh! I wasn't expecting you.
SHIRLEY: Well, I'm talking to them on the thing.
MAISON: Oh, you are?
SHIRLEY: I think I was, anyway.
MAISON: Uh… she said yes.
SHIRLEY: Oh, ooh!
MAISON: Okay.
SHIRLEY: Get in the car. Give me a high give, good work. You're not getting married, though?
MAISON: What?
SHIRLEY: Not for another 20 years.
MAISON: What, Nana, oh my goodness.
[MANNY]: Hey, handsome, how'd it go?
MAISON: It went great!
[MANNY]: Oh my god, tell me what you said.
MAISON: I told, oh, I told, I gave it to her, and then I told her I thought she was pretty, and that she was really special to me, and she said, "Thank you," and then I asked her if she'd be my valentine, she said yes.
[MANNY]: Say that again?
MAISON: I asked her if she'd be my valentine, and she said yes.
[MANNY]: Yes! Ah ha! Oh my god, I've been so freaking stressed out all day, man. Good for you, well done.
MAISON: Thanks.
[MANNY]: It paid off for you, huh?
MAISON: Yeah.
[MANNY]: Did you guys hold hands and stuff?
MAISON: Well, I mean, we hugged.
[MANNY]: Yeah?
MAISON: Yeah.
[MANNY]: Holy shit, my boy,
MAISON: Hmm.
SHIRLEY: He said it was the best day of his life at school today. Yeah.
[SHIRLEY]: They all clapped for him, yeah. And the teacher.
MAISON: All right, so, Dad?
MANNY: Yes?
MAISON: Here's gonna be the interview of the, of the month, so.
MANNY: Okay.
MAISON: What is the most nostalgic memory of your life?
MANNY: Nostalgic?
MAISON: Yep.
MANNY: What, like my favorite memory?
MAISON: Yeah.
MANNY: You know the answer to that.
MAISON: What is it?
MANNY: What do you think it is?
MAISON: Me being born?
MANNY: Yes, it is.
MAISON: Ugh. What do you think has changed in the past 10 years?
MANNY: Oh, a lot of stuff.
MAISON: Like technology?
MANNY: Technology, yeah, technology's changed a lot.
MAISON: What about cartoons?
MANNY: Do I think cartoons have changed?
MAISON: Yeah.
MANNY: So you're asking me, 39 years old, what I thought of how much cartoons have changed from when I was 29?
MAISON: Yep.
MANNY: I don't remember that many cartoons.
MAISON: Anyway, a different question, a different topic.
MANNY: Okay, how do you feel when you come here to visit me?
MAISON: I feel great, 'cause I love seeing you.
MANNY: Yeah, I love seeing you, too.
MAISON: Okay.
MANNY: And it doesn't affect how you feel about me, coming in here to see me?
MAISON: No.
MANNY: No? Are you mad at me for coming to prison?
MAISON: No.
MANNY: Mm, that was a little bit of a pause, you can tell me the truth, I'm not gonna get--
MAISON: I'm not mad at you, it was just something that happened that night, and it was just something you couldn't control, it was, it was right here!
MANNY: Fate?
MAISON: Yep.
MANNY: You believe in fate?
MAISON: Yep.
MANNY: Hmm, what makes you believe in fate?
MAISON: I think that everything happens for a reason.
MANNY: And you think that our lives are pre, pre-planned by a superior being, or something?
MAISON: I think so, yeah.
MANNY: Really?
MAISON: Are you mad at yourself for being in here?
MANNY: Yes, very.
MAISON: Okay, ask me another question, oh, actually, I was gonna say one more thing.
MANNY: Okay--
MAISON: You shouldn't be mad at yourself.
MANNY: I am.
MAISON: Okay.
MANNY: And that'll never change.
MAISON: You're never, you're always gonna be mad at yourself for this?
MANNY: Yeah. And that madness will prevent me from ever doing anything again.
MAISON: Look, Dad, I know what happened, but--
MANNY: You don't have to try to make me feel better.
MAISON: I mean, you have to face it, that's the past! Once you get out of here, you're gonna have, like, a new life, you're gonna, like, it's like you're gonna be, it’ll be, start on a, let me take my glasses off, you're gonna start on a clean slate, like this, right here, this is your clean slate, and you're gonna start here.
MANNY: Okay.
MAISON: I know it's a really dirty table, but still.
MANNY: It's just like my past. I wish it worked like that, a lot of people won't hire convicted felons.
MAISON: Oh. Don't call yourself a felon.
MANNY: Well, in the eyes of the law, that's what I am.
MAISON: Yeah, but the law, the law's eyes are blind.
MANNY: Hmm.
MAISON: The law is blind, all it can see is good and bad.
MANNY: What do you think it does to kids?
MAISON: It makes them sad because then they, they feel like they don't know when they're gonna see their dad again. I know I'm gonna see you in a few years again, which is, which I'm really excited for--
MANNY: In a few years, why?
MAISON: Like, maybe in 2018--
MANNY: I'm not gonna see you next week?
MAISON: No, I mean, when you're out of here.
MANNY: Oh.
MAISON: I'm gonna see you not wearing a khaki shirt, and not wearing a white shirt under it in a few years for the first time in a very long time.
MANNY: What if for the first time when I get out of here, I show up wearing a khaki shirt, will you be mad?
MAISON: I will tell you to take it off, and put something else on, Because I never want you to wear a khaki shirt again once you're out of here.
MANNY: I won't. I won't wear a khaki shirt again. Are you gonna wear khaki?
MAISON: No!
MANNY: Good.
MAISON: Never.
MANNY: You're never gonna get in trouble?
MAISON: Never ever.
MANNY: Look at me.
MAISON: Never!
MANNY: Good. What do you think about the prison system, and all that stuff?
MAISON: They do not have any feelings, the system does not have any feelings, it just knows what it is told to do.
MANNY: What if the person who killed the person, and then the person who was killed, both have kids?
MAISON: Well, yeah, 'cause there's two sides.
MANNY: There is.
MAISON: ’Cause what if that person who was convicted for killing the guy had kids, too? I think that the person who killed the other person, should spend, at most, three or four years in here, and then that's it, just three.
MANNY: So a human life is only worth three or four years?
MAISON: Maybe five years, I think that's probably the ideal time, 'cause--
MANNY: But now you see the degree of difficulty, right?
MAISON: Yeah, I don't want them to have 10 years, though, maybe seven? Six?
MANNY: It's not really a question, I'm not asking you to decide how many years people should spend in prison. How do you think victims' families feel, being robbed of their family member?
MAISON: Very sad.
MANNY: Do you think everybody involved becomes a victim?
MAISON: What do you mean, like, everyone involved in the receiving end?
MANNY: Both, well, think about it.
MAISON: Yes, because, yes.
MANNY: All right, let's move on.
MAISON: Okay, a different question?
MANNY: You ask me some questions now.
MAISON: Okay.
MANNY: I asked you a lot of 'em.
[KERRI]: Yeah, keep looking, motherfucker, that's the kid right there, and that boy, that's them right there, that's them right there, that's them right there, that's them right there. That dude, that older dude, he's only been back from Puerto Rico for a month, that's the kid that just did this shit. Now that they see, they see the cameras, maybe we can scare them off a little bit.
[INTERVIEWER]: Yeah, maybe we'll just stake it out with you.
KERRI: Right, we’ll just camp. They’ll think it’s the news. These moths, it's something. I don't know. We have an infestation of moths from the guy that died next door, yeah. It's like an omen or something, you gotta look it up. I looked up moths, like, has something to do with, it's an omen of death.
TRE: I don't give a fuck, this ain't shit. They took all my fucking sneakers.
KERRI: I'm so sick of going through this stuff, yeah. And I’m not bringing any of that on me, this was nothing to do with me.
TRE: All right, no need for that attitude. You always gotta give a fucking attitude.
KERRI: I'm supposed to be so happy right now, right?
TRE: Oh, so you, so you gotta give me an attitude? I'm not trying to be in this fucking house with this stupid shit.
[KERRI]: I'm gonna take my sleeping pills.
TRE: Take your sleeping pills, that's all you do is take fucking sleeping pills.
[KERRI]: I haven't slept in fucking five days.
TRE: That's a fucking lie.
[KERRI]: Oh, it is?
TRE: Yep.
[KERRI]: Oh, really, is it, that's a lie?
TRE: You'd better, you better stay away from me, if you touch me--
[KERRI]: That's a lie?
TRE: If you touch me, touch me--
[KERRI]: That's a lie?
TRE: Yo, back up, if you touch me, I'm gonna swing. Don't fucking touch me no more. Don't fucking try to touch me, I'm telling you.
[KERRI]: Why don't you leave, don't come back.
TRE: I can do what I want.
[KERRI]: Don't come back.
TRE: I can do what I want.
[KERRI]: You're torturing me, leave me alone.
TRE: I'm not torturing you.
[KERRI]: Yes, uh, with these kids? This is all because of you, this is all because of you again.
TRE: No, they decided to come in the fucking house, I only brought 'em here, they decided to came.
[KERRI]: "I only brought 'em here."
TRE: Yeah, I only brought 'em here. Yeah, I did. You didn't care at first.
[KERRI]: I’m calling the police, I’m just going to have DCYF come and get you.
TRE: I don't give a fuck about the cops, always gotta call the fucking cops and shit.
[KERRI]: I can't do it. I keep hurting myself, I can't do it.
TRE: Fucking cop caller.
[TRE]: ♪ Gang ♪ ♪ Free all my niggas, RIP all my niggas, man ♪ ♪ What the fuck it is, man, west end ♪ ♪ Do whatever, get lost. ♪ ♪ It's a crazy world, F one to no one, nigga ♪ ♪ Gang, I'm from the west ♪ ♪ Where they put them TECs to your head, I'm from the west ♪ ♪ I said, fuck school, I've had to run up this check ♪ ♪ RIP, to all my loved ones that are dead ♪ ♪ And I'm screaming, free all my haters out the fed ♪ ♪ You see me and OSF, rolling in the jeep ♪ ♪ What you know about the streets or about the beef ♪ ♪ Yeah, I got that Glock 9 with a red beam ♪ ♪ If you try to fuck with me, you're going six feet ♪ ♪ I was posting on the ave ♪ ♪ Had to keep a gat ♪ ♪ If you try to roll up on me ♪ ♪ I'ma have to get you clapped ♪ ♪ All I do is speak them facts ♪ ♪ All I do is fucking trap ♪ ♪ Call up my bro Jack ♪ ♪ Yeah, he got that loud pack ♪ ♪ I was, I'm from the west ♪ ♪ Where I put them TECs to your head, I'm from the west ♪ ♪ I said, fuck school I had to run up this check ♪ ♪ RIP, to all my loved ones that are dead ♪ ♪ And I'm screaming free all my haters ♪ ♪ out the feds ♪
TYREE: What’s up? How you doing? What you been up to? Let's go talk.
TYREE: It's like one minute you're up, the next minute you're down, and I'm trying to get you on the, you know, just the straight and narrow, as much as we possibly can right now. I mean, I’ll take a little bit. A little bit's good enough right now, 'cause I know you got a lot of issues and problems that you're dealing with, that understand all of it. I don’t know, Tre. I’m getting lost. And don't take that as, I'm giving up on you, 'cause I'm never gonna give up on you. I'm never gonna do that. But, come on, Tre. Come on, man.
TYREE: They keep telling me, "Tre got locked up," or, "Tre did this," or, "Tre did that." And what, not only it angers me, but it makes me scared, is that they're gonna call me down to that captain's office one day. And tell me that something happened to you to the point where as though you're not gonna be able to come back in this place again. You'll never be able to see your mother again, you'll never be able to see me again. And now I gotta prepare to put you in the fucking ground. Don’t get me wrong, even though I'm feeling a little sad and a little upset and angry right now, I'm so glad that you're sitting in front of me right now. But this ain't normal, man.
TYREE: Tre, I'm tired. I'm tired. And I'm fucking frightened for you right now. But I don't think that you, you're getting it. I just don't think you're getting it. And I want you to, I want you to, I want you to so bad, man. When it's time for you to have kids, don't you want to be there for them? Or do you want your kids feeling how you feel right now about me? I know you got resentment towards me, I know you feel some kind of way about me being here. And sometimes you probably get up in the morning, and you're pissed off. Fuck my Dad. If he cared, he have been there. I know you feel like that. Don't lie to me and tell me you don't. You're not wrong for feeling like that. You're not wrong. I'm not gonna tell you you're wrong, you're not.
TYREE: You got the right to be upset, you got the right to be angry. I told you a long time ago, kid, you're a lot smarter than me, and you got a chance to take and make decisions that I did not make. In order to make sure that your future and your path don't end up here. I'm not mad at you, Tre, I'm not mad at you, I love you, I swear to god, I fucking love you, kid. I'm not mad at you. And I understand half of what you're going through, it has to do with me being here. I'm sorry, man, I'm so fucking sorry, dude.
[TYREE]: I failed, I failed.
TRE: I got out, like, three weeks ago, right?
TYREE: Yeah.
TRE: But the reason why I haven't been here in, like, the last week or two.
TYREE: Yeah?
TRE: Is because my mom was in the hospital, and he's locked up again, but he's getting out in two weeks, like, he's getting out in two weeks, and he only got two months, and… Mom was pregnant. But, the baby died.
TYREE: I'm sorry to hear that.
TRE: So.
TYREE: I'm really sorry to hear that. Come here. Come here. Come here, man. I'm sorry to hear that, Tre. I'm sorry to hear that. I know, that was gonna be your brother or your sister, right?
TRE: Yeah.
TYREE: I'm sorry to hear that, man.
[INTERVIEWER]: Do you think you're a good person?
TRE: On the inside, yeah, maybe sometimes on the outside, no.
[INTERVIEWER]: What makes someone a good person?
TRE: If they help people out, if they need help, you can help 'em.
[INTERVIEWER]: Do you do that?
TRE: Sometimes.
[INTERVIEWER]: So what do you mean when you say, on the inside, you're a good person, but maybe not on the outside?
TRE: Like, I don't know, people know me as a bad kid. But some people knows me as a good kid, so.
[INTERVIEWER]: How do you feel that you are?
TRE: What?
[INTERVIEWER]: Like, what do you feel that you are, good or bad?
TRE: Both.
DASAN: In the hole, right, in the hole. Doink.
SCOUT LEADER: You're gonna line up facing me, okay? We do, Marcos is a tiger, and Dasan is a tiger. We have several people who are here who haven't been here before, so I want to show them, first of all, what signs up means. Okay, let's get in a little line, okay, take us away.
[GROUP]: I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. And to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
DASAN: Okay, this is scaring me.
STEPHANIE: It’s scaring you?
DASAN: Yeah.
STEPHANIE: Why?
DASAN: Because I watch a lot of alligator movies, and most of them look like this, and, I’m scared.
STEPHANIE: There's no alligators here, bud, I promise.
SCOUT LEADER: So, Dasan, you know, we have these, these class Bs, our not-formal uniforms that we wear when we're hiking? And here's yours, I made it for you, okay?
DASAN: Thank you.
SCOUT LEADER: Pretty cool, right?
DASAN: Yeah.
SCOUT LEADER: You got the same Pack 88 Providence. Gimme some of that, go booyah, booyah!
STEPHANIE: Dasan, you've gotta help me, 'cause I don't know what I'm doing.
DASAN: I don't know what I'm doing, either.
STEPHANIE: Yeah, so we gotta put our heads together, go ahead, take your backpack off, let's figure this out. Oh! Okay. There's a lot of pieces.
SCOUT LEADER: So I like for, and do you want to sleep, like, slanting? No, I don't either, so you gotta try to find a nice, and maybe some nice leaves like this, that are nice and soft. This looks like a nice spot here your mom’s got going, okay?
DASAN: I gotta help my mom. We both don't know what we're doing.
STEPHANIE: I don't know what I'm doing.
SCOUT LEADER: All right, and this is the fun part, see these little clips?
STEPHANIE: Mm-hmm.
SCOUT LEADER: Clip 'em right out against the frame.
STEPHANIE: Bud, go play with the other kids, man.
DASAN: I'm trying to get this out.
STEPHANIE: Don't worry about that, let me use that as a pillow right now, you go play. Go on, go make friends, bud.
DASAN: Hold on, can I lay on down for a little bit?
STEPHANIE: Hey.
DASAN: Mm-hmm?
STEPHANIE: Come on.
DASAN: I want to lay down for a little bit.
SCOUT LEADER: Who's gonna do the Scout’s Law with us, sorry, Scout's Oath?
[GROUP]: I will do my best, to do my duty, to god and my country, to obey the scout law, to help other people at all times, to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight!
SCOUT LEADER: Very good, okay.
DASAN: Look how gold it is, it's perfect, perfaaaact.
[BOY 1]: A wolf! I need a wolf, I need a wolf!
[BOY 2]: Attack him, attack him. I'll attack with you. It’s called a double king tip… kick. Are you ready? At the same time. 1, 2, 3 come on!
DASAN: This is the way, ow! No! no! Take you down! Can you get off him, blue guy? I'm trying to attack the, the one with the grey.
[BOY 2]: Get Kicked, get kicked!I finally got him down.
[BOY 2]: I defend you.
DASAN: No! Ow!
[BOY 2]: That's how you beat somebody.
STEPHANIE: Take a breath, what happened?
DASAN: It hurts.
STEPHANIE: What happened? Take a breath. Take another breath. What happened? What happened? Dasan. What happened?
SCOUT LEADER: So, so I think… we just got a, are these the folks? Okay.
[BOY 3]: Yes, we are.
SCOUT LEADER: Yeah, so, and they were just doing the same thing with each other. We made this agreement, now, that on scout things, we're not gonna play that way.
[BOY 3]: Okay.
SCOUT LEADER: Okay? All right?
[BOY 2]: Your dad’s right there.
[BOY 3]: I can, um, make pain go away in the middle of a fight by just not thinking about the pain.
[DAD]: Well, no more fights.
STEPHANIE: Stand up straight, stand up straight. You gotta relax, you're all right, you're not hurt, you're not bleeding. You’ll be all right. Stop, breathe.
HEIDI: It looks like she was on Klonopin here, no, wait a minute. I think she was at the hospital every two weeks for the last two months, that's when it seems… every two weeks, she was going in. I guess that was the only way she could get anything. As a sister, I look around, and I say to myself, wow, you know? This is it? And now this boy has to continue on without his mother, which is not fair. No child should have to live without a parent.
[TRE]: ♪ Nobody knows the pain I go through ♪ ♪ Yeah, you know that I be chilling ♪ ♪ Yeah, I'm on the move ♪ ♪ I'm just trying to get through what I gotta do ♪ ♪ They just wanna see me end up on the news ♪ ♪ Nobody knows the pain that I go through ♪ ♪ Yeah, you know that I be chilling ♪ ♪ Yeah, I'm on the move ♪ ♪ I'm just trying to go through what I gotta do ♪ ♪ They just wanna see me end up on the news ♪ ♪ I'm gonna make my mama proud ♪ ♪ And I become no fool ♪ ♪ I had to get it♪ ♪ I was out there, robbing all, busting twos ♪ ♪ My mama said, just please be careful that ♪ ♪ What you do ♪ ♪ People lose faith, they want to see you in the ground ♪ ♪ I ain't gonna lie, I was trapping in my town ♪ ♪ Shooting rounds, pretty much just wanna see me down ♪ ♪ It was hard to leave the streets, yeah, but I'm up now ♪ ♪ I'm just trying to get this♪ ♪ I pray to god every day, trying to go the right way ♪ ♪ All I used to do is take that rand to the bass ♪ ♪ Go home, see my family's face ♪ ♪ All I used to do was wait ♪ ♪ Mama told me right up to my face ♪ ♪ Just boy do you, you'll let them niggas hate♪ ♪ 'Cause there's a lot of faces ♪ ♪ A lot of snakes, yeah, in the streets ♪ ♪ So I have to roll around with that damn heat ♪ ♪ You never believe that I was all up in the kitchen ♪ ♪ Pistol whipping, never slipping ♪ ♪ Had to do it for a living ♪ ♪ Try to do it for my mom ♪ ♪ Told you I didn't have no pops ♪ ♪ I was out there on my block ♪ ♪ Had to bust a lot of Glocks ♪ ♪ Nobody knows the pain I go through ♪ ♪ Yeah, you know that I be chilling ♪ ♪ Yeah, I'm on the move ♪ ♪ I'm just trying go get through what I gotta do ♪ ♪ They just wanna see me end up on the news ♪ ♪ Nobody knows the pain that I go through ♪ ♪ Yeah, you know that I be chilling ♪ ♪ Yeah, I'm on the move ♪ ♪ I'm just trying to go through what I gotta do ♪ ♪ They just want to see me end up on the news ♪ ♪
[DASAN]: It’s me, Dasan, just rhyming for my mom ♪ ♪ Rapping on this beat ♪ ♪ I think I'm the bomb ♪ ♪ Hey, it's cool, I learned to swim in pools ♪ ♪ I follow the rules, and I'm good in school ♪ ♪ And I'm ♪ ♪ And I'm ♪ ♪ And I'm, and I'm ♪ ♪ And I'm ♪ ♪ And I'm, and I'm ♪ ♪ And I'm, and I'm good ♪ ♪
[STEPHANIE]: I’m feeling great today in a major way ♪ ♪ I'm feeling great today, can't hear what haters say ♪ ♪ I'm feeling great today in a major way ♪ ♪ I'm feeling great today, hey! ♪ ♪
[ALIVIA]: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah ♪ ♪ My name is queen Liv and life is good ♪ ♪ If you're not smiling, then I think you should ♪ ♪ Why you gonna pout when the sun is out? ♪ ♪ That's crazy 'cause that's not what life is about ♪ ♪ I know I'm only 10, but I know some things ♪ ♪ I may not be a bird, but I'm fly like wings ♪ ♪ Keep your head up, look on the bright side ♪ ♪ And life will be a really fun ride ♪ ♪
[STEPHANIE]: I'm feeling great today in a major way ♪ ♪ Feeling great today, can't hear what haters say ♪ ♪ I'm feeling great today in a major way ♪ ♪ I'm feeling great today, can't hear what haters say ♪ ♪ I'm feeling great today in a major way ♪ ♪ I'm feeling great today, can't hear what haters say ♪ ♪ I'm feeling great today in a major way ♪ ♪ I'm feeling great today, hey! ♪ ♪
[MAISON]: This goes out to the people of this world ♪ ♪ This goes out to the ones that know about it ♪ ♪ This comes out from the heart and mind ♪ ♪ And if you don't know, you know, now you see ♪ ♪ The full picture ♪ ♪
[RAP]: Hey, mass incarceration, foul indoctrination ♪ ♪ Skin color's all they see up in this wild nation ♪ ♪ Fleece you of your wealth and of your education ♪ ♪ And then they send you down the river with no destination ♪ ♪ So they judge me off of traits that I can't change ♪ ♪ But the color of my skin don't mean a damn thing ♪ ♪ Immutable and beautiful, you see, it doesn't change ♪ ♪ But maybe you can, maybe you can understand ♪ ♪ What it's like to be a brown man ♪ ♪ Up in this land, where not much is expected of me ♪ ♪ Because supposedly I'm predisposed to criminality ♪ ♪ Which is far from the truth, and especially from me, man ♪ ♪ Just let me be, let me have my individuality ♪ ♪ Give it back ♪ ♪ When you see me on the street ♪ ♪ Maybe crack a smile at me ♪ ♪ Why can't we just be friendly, why? ♪ ♪ Why do you label me an enemy? ♪ ♪
[MAISON]: This goes out to the people of this world ♪ ♪ This goes out to the ones that know about it ♪ ♪ This comes out from the heart and mind ♪ ♪ And if you don't know, you know, now you see ♪ ♪ The full picture ♪
Distributor: Bullfrog Films
Length: 94 minutes
Date: 2020
Genre: Expository
Language: English
Color/BW:
Closed Captioning: Available
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