Documentary Analysis: Minding The Gap

Minding the Gap is a 2018 documentary that follows the lives of three young men Bing Liu, Keire Johnson, and Zack Mulligan who are growing up in Rockford, Illinois and are brought together by their love of skateboarding. The film explores the complex situations and relationships between peers and caregivers that are prevalent in many 21st century cultures, and watches the three friends develop emotionally, physically, and cognitively as they do their best to bridge the gap between adolescence and adulthood. The film uses footage that is taken over a large span of time and captures many key moments in which each respective boy is faced with a new challenge or opportunity. There isn’t a lot that is left up to the imagination, but one is drawn

The range of emotions is dramatically increased in adolescence and can bring about many changes in a young person’s life for better or for worse. In “Minding the Gap,” Bing is angry and frustrated with his mother for not protecting him and his stepbrother from his abusive stepfather, but he is also realizing that his mother didn’t know about a lot of the things that were going on at home while she was at work and Bing has to recognize that it’s not a blame game when it comes to trauma, but rather a process with which each individual must recognize their own role and to help each other heal and continue to live. Zack is experiencing a mix of emotions as he tries to come to terms with becoming a father. He is excited about the prospect of having a child but also scared and uncertain about his ability to be a good parent. Because of the abuse he suffered as a child, Zack suffers from several issues such as anxiety and depression, common symptoms for many children under the same circumstances (Berk, 2017, p.426), and he is worried that he cannot provide an environment for his own child that will avoid those same symptoms. He eventually distances himself from his kid and from Nina because he doesn’t trust himself with his own kid. Zack had become a participant in the cycle of abuse that chains throughout many domestic homes and while he doesn’t admit to it on camera, he acknowledges it through his actions and takes action to break that cycle. Keire is struggling with the emotional toll of being a young black man in a predominantly white community. He is angry and frustrated with the racial injustices he sees around him and the small acts or racism he experiences on a daily basis. Even through all this turmoil, Keire is able to recognize the benefit to having such things happen to him, he says that some of the things that his white friends will resent and complain about are