NR | 2h 21 m | Documentary | 2024
The Starbucks depict left-liberal lobbies mainstreaming the destruction of traditional values: morality, truth, family, marriage, the innocence of children, and the primacy of parents in a child’s upbringing. With the breathtaking narrative of a true-crime procedural, TWOC unravels the depravity of America’s progressivism, the cost of ignoring or trivializing that depravity, and practical ways for troubled parents to protect themselves and their children.
A gripping montage of actual op-eds, news bulletins, research papers, websites, social media, children’s textbooks, and TV shows frames the sexualization of children, their spaces, their bodies, and their minds as a “cultural revolution” that’s “remaking parenting and education.”
Sample this: Patrons of the Gay, Lesbian, & Straight Education Network (GLSEN) website include Disney, Hollister, and Nickelodeon; others, such as PetSmart, Gucci, Calvin Klein, CBS, WME, Goldman Sachs, and Walmart, are from a 2022 GLSEN white paper. Never mind that there’s little that’s “straight” about GLSEN’s advocacy.
Democrats Critiqued
Are the filmmakers correct in critiquing Democrats for enabling and empowering a once tiny, vocal minority? Yes. They needn’t now be as vocal. They’re no longer a minority. TWOC doesn’t state this, but it needs stating: As stated in Out for America, nearly 75 percent of all LGBTQ+ elected officials are Democrat. That includes all three governors, nearly all of the dozen reps in the U.S. Congress, over half the mayors, over half the representatives in state legislatures, and well over half those in the judiciary.Unlike typical exposés, TWOC shows (and names) its talking heads. They’re not blurred to protect confidentiality. That’s a sign of hope. An expanding swathe of people are willing to put themselves on the line against powerful lobbies, for the sake of America’s children.
Do the Starbucks invite accusations of bolstering a predetermined position instead of being neutral and open-minded? Perhaps. After all, they state their position, favoring the innocence of children. But how’s that different from documentarians who routinely confess or express their biases? Consider David Attenborough admitting his love of nature, Carl Sagan his fascination for space, Jacques Cousteau his love of the ocean, or Al Gore his contempt for global warming deniers.
The Starbucks want to protect children and to equip parents to do just that. So, of course, they’re not neutral. As much the interviewees as interviewers, they’re telling their story, too. And it must be heard. Not that they didn’t try quizzing opposing perspectives, it’s just that the other side lacked clear or convincing answers.
False Equivalences
There’s a related issue that the Starbucks might want to cover in a future film. LGBT+ propagandists wield dangerously false equivalences, arguing that if people are allowed freedom to mutilate their bodies for cosmetic reasons, then why not use that freedom to assert that what they feel is their identity?This ignores two truths.
First, no matter how ill-advised, women seeking liposuction or breast-enhancement still want to feel better, as women (not men). Balding men seeking hair replacement want to look better as men (not women). Neither is altering their legal status or pretending to alter their biological status in the public sphere. Neither is forcing their thoughts, words, and actions beyond their bodies, demanding public compliance and homage.
Second, children aren’t allowed these freedoms any more than they’re allowed other freedoms granted to adults: marriage, voting, driving, and substance use or abuse. A minor accessing hormonal treatments, puberty blockers, and surgery isn’t the same as an adult opting for a nose job or facelift. None of what’s being normalized is in the same ballpark as a teenager opting for a new hairstyle, nail polish, nose ring, or tattoo.
For their courage in capturing voices throughout North America with such clarity, conviction, creativity, and urgency, the filmmakers deserve the best awards there are for documentaries.
