American Boy: A Profile of Steven Prince1978

The Scorses-a-thon I didn’t look up anything about this guy before I watched this, as I wanted to have as pure of an experience as possible, but I learned after that it wouldn’t have made a difference anyway because Steven Prince does not have a Wikipedia page. So the only information immediately available is that which is relayed through this documentary. Which makes this all the more tragic and fascinating.  Maybe it’s crazier how much we know about so many people. Maybe in this modern era, we expect all information to be readily available, lying ever waiting at the end of one’s fingertips. And in the time of social media, a lack of an online presence is a lack of existence at all.  And yet there are billions of Steven Princes who have lived and died and were regarded and remembered not at all. If it weren’t for this film, we would know absolutely nothing about his life, and yet now we know so much, so much of who Steven Prince is as a person.  And much like ItalianAmerican Scorsese takes a super specific person and makes him represent an entire nation.  Steven Prince is an American. And while a unique individual represents the broad feeling and soul of the American youth in the 1970s.  I love the casual nature of these first Scorsese documentaries, but then Scorsese does something really interesting at the end of this one where he makes Steven tell the same story multiple times until he gets the wording perfect. This is a crazy commentary on the nature of documentaries that I just can’t begin to get into.  My only problem is that I wish I got to learn even more about Steven Prince. This honestly could have been an hour longer, and I still would have enjoyed it.