Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing

This documentary gives the truth behind something that has become way too popular within our generation: kidfluencing. This is when, in most cases, parents force their children to participate in videos and photos for social media to gain more followers.

The documentary covers the story of The Squad, a group of kids that make videos for youtube, and in the center of the group sits Piper Rockelle. Her mother, Tiffany Smith, resides at the head of the horror in this story. 

When watching this, all I could feel was disgust. This mother had no care for her daughter and would put her in situations where she could get harmed or in situations where she would harm her own daughter and other squad members. The other parents let all this happen before finally pulling their kids out of a toxic environment.

Viewing this gives you an insight into the horrid experiences these children went through. It makes you feel pity and disgust and wonder if these people are really ok. 

This documentary is a great watch if you’re curious as to things that happen when no one’s watching. It isn’t scary or gory, it just makes you a little uncomfortable.

The Program: Cons, Cults and Kidnapping

Academy at Ivy Ridge was a “school” in upstate New York. Kids were taken out of their beds in the middle of night and sent away to this school. This documentary exposes sexual abuse, physical abuse, and emotional abuse that happened to these teenagers at this reforming school.

During these episodes the victims share their stories about the trauma they experienced while being in this facility. They explains the horrors that happened to them, the torture they endured, and it is horrific.

They talk about the different rules they had to follow like, no talking, no looking out of the windows, you couldn’t even smile. This place was evil, the things they did to teenagers were unlawful and disgusting.

This documentary was definitely challenging to watch, the victims walked through the building as they relived the horrors of their teen years. It explained and even showed some of the worst moments here and watching it was definitely hard. 

American Murder: Gabby Petito

Staying in the same van as your boyfriend travelling the country would cause anyone to go crazy. However, crazy enough to kill your girlfriend? 

Gabby Petito was a young woman who originally just worked at Taco Bell and did normal things. She had a boyfriend, Brian Laundrie, who was incredibly controlling and wanted Petito all to himself. He utilized her love for the outdoors to convince her to go into a van for a four month trip. This led her to be away from everyone except for him.

Brian Laudrie committed suicide after Gabby Petito went missing, he wrote a letter where he pleaded his guilt, but said it was for her good, because she was already in pain. 

This documentary opens your eyes to the truth of van life, and explains how wrong this went and how awful he is. Watching this documentary made me so uncomfortable and scared, but it is incredibly interesting and informative.

Trainwreck: The Astroworld Tragedy

The Astroworld Tragedy documentary was shocking. At first I dove into it and thought it was gonna be the easier of the few I was watching, that it couldn’t be as horrifying as murders or evil moms, but I was far off. The documentary takes place in Houston where the Astrowold festival was coming around, and at the headline was Travis Scott. He was from Houston, so it was not an event to miss. 

Tens of thousands of people show up, as this happens police and authorities lose control and a ton of people get inside unticketed. With this factor and the way Scott’s set was designed, the factors started piling up, as did the people, so when Scott’s performance began, it was already clear something was wrong.

The tapes from the concert were frightening, to say the least, watching people suffocate and have to be pulled out of the pile. Hearing stories from people there, witnesses, family and friends of the victims, made this documentary appalling.

The Menendez Brothers

On Aug. 20, 1989 Jose and Kitty Menendez were shot and killed in their home in Beverly Hills, no suspects, only two brothers who arrived home late from a movie, who happened to have gunpowder on their hands.

The documentary features mostly the trial and the impact it has on the two brothers, Lyle and Erik Menendez. The boys narrate the documentary and tell the whole story exactly as they experienced it. 

Watching this, leads to some confusion of whether or not they should be allowed out. It gives you insight into why they did what they did and how they did it. Their reasons are perfectly logical and understandable, if only there was a different judge, it might have ended differently.