Streetwise (1984) on Netflix

Name: Streetwise
Genre: Documentary
Released: 1984-12-07
Duration: 91 min
Rating: 8.2
Cast: Erin Blackwell, Dewayne Pomeroy, Roberta Joseph Hayes, Lulu Couch

NR19841h 31mDocumentary

Nine teenagers live on the streets of Seattle, surviving by panhandling, prostitution and petty theft. Much of the documentary centers on Erin Blackwell, called Tiny, fourteen, a prostitute.

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Netflix4.4/5
IMDb8.2/103,863 votes
Rotten Tomatoes93%

Trailer

Plot summary

A documentary follows nine teenagers who live on the streets of Seattle and describe how they get by: panhandling, prostitution and petty theft. Among them are Rat, a dumpster diver; Shellie, the baby-faced one; and DeWayne, a hustler. Much of the time is given to Erin Blackwell, who goes by Tiny and is fourteen, a young prostitute who often stays at the home of Pat, her mother, an alcoholic who calls her daughter's trade a phase. The project grew out of a magazine article.

Cast

Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Streetwise (1984)

Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.

SPOILER
Roberta Joseph Hayes, one of the young people in Streetwise, was picked up by Gary Ridgway, the Green River Killer, after leaving jail in Portland in 1987, and became his 47th victim; her strangled body was not found until 1991.
SPOILER
Dewayne Pomeroy, whose suicide is shown in Streetwise, hanged himself the day before his 17th birthday in 1984; street kids held a balloon release and planted a tree in Freeway Park in his memory, and his story with his felon father inspired the 1992 film American Heart, starring Jeff Bridges.
A monologue by the street kid Rat about flying, from Streetwise, has been sampled in songs including The Avalanches' "Zap!" (2016), How to Dress Well's "Say My Name or Say Whatever" (2012), Burial's "Unknown Summer" (2023), Priori and Sabola's "Learn to Fly" (2024), Floater's "Albatross" (2000) and Saraya's "Seducer" (1991).
When Streetwise was nominated for a 1984 Academy Award for documentary, its teenage subject Erin "Tiny" Blackwell attended the Oscar ceremony with director Martin Bell and photographer Mary Ellen Mark.