Check It is a must-see documentary that shows a summer in the lives of LGBTQ+ teenagers in Washington, D.C. The film, which is directed by Dana Flor and Toby Oppenheimer and executive produced by Steve Buscemi, is being promoted by Louis C. K., who has it on his website where you can watch it for $5. The film is a very real and clear depiction of teenagers who, growing up, were surrounded by intolerance and bullied. They formed a gang, because there’s safety in numbers. They bonded beyond the normal confines of a gang, because they needed each other to survive. The gang, “Check It,” started out with thirteen members in 2009 and has grown to over 200 members.
The documentary is also careful to show all aspects of their lives — like prostitution, crime, fashion, and their aspirations beyond Check It — rather than following a single path, or even a single person. It shows Check It robbing a convenience store, attempting to steal a car, and attacking people on the street. There’s a scene where girls that know of Check It talk about how the public perceives Check It: as a dangerous gang that beats people for looking at them the wrong way. But from the inside, you find an understanding that these girls lack. By exploring every angle of their lives, film lets the viewer understand who Check It is and why is it so important.
Check It is documentation of the first all-gay gang in America and it shows the truly complicated lives led by its members. Day Day said, “Even though we had to go about it a violent way we still proved the point: if no one was going to stand up for us we were going to stand up for ourselves.” This idea emanates throughout the movie. Most of the kids in Check It value it so much because not only does it allow them to feel safe when they’re out but it helps guide a new generation which is what the members seemed most proud of.
Photo Credit: Louis C.K.’s Site
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