The latest Kate Winslet movie, ?¢‚Ǩ?ìLittle Children,?¢‚Ǩ¬ù puts a mirror in front of America?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s paint-dried suburban white upper-middle class, such a tired subject it is fast becoming its own genre.

“Little Children”, a?Ǭ†Todd Field film, (his second widely distributed film, his first?Ǭ†being?Ǭ†?¢‚Ǩ?ìIn the Bedroom?¢‚Ǩ¬ù) is an?Ǭ†intense experience?Ǭ†and entertaining throughout?Ǭ†because of its skilled acting, editing and directing. Otherwise it?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s a collection of flat, sterile images and?Ǭ†overly dramatic scenarios?Ǭ†involving low points in the lives of emotionally challenged yet well-off white people.

Why do I care? I don?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t. Why does it matter? It doesn?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t. Yes, modern American life is mostly?Ǭ†pointless self-indulgent waste. And that includes the popular act of rearing children who will grow up and likely experience a less fruitful more spineless life than their parents. But that doesn’t mean I want American movies to be useless too.

Making a documentary of Winslet?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s day-to-day life as a real-life mother would have been a more worthwhile and interesting endeavor than spending millions of dollars to make this movie.

Of course it?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s not a?Ǭ†revelation to say Hollywood movies are less thought-provoking than a good documentary. But as an intern at The Documentary Channel, I?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢ve now watched enough non-fiction films that I think my tastes have changed?Ǭ†for good.?Ǭ†Watching just 10 minutes of Barbet Schroeder?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s ?¢‚Ǩ?ìThe Charles Bukowski Tapes,?¢‚Ǩ¬ù a 1985 documentary film made about the beer-and-wine-loving?Ǭ†author, was much?Ǭ†more fulfilling?Ǭ†than watching all two hours of ?¢‚Ǩ?ìLittle Children,?¢‚Ǩ¬ù a movie based on a popular book of the same title written by Tom Perrotta.