Little Children

Narrator: "Ray from next door was a transvestite." Brief shot of Ray in drag. (0:28)

Sex offender Ronnie tells his mother May, "I have a psychosexual disorder." (0:56)

Ex-police officer Larry tells law school graduate Brad, after describing how he mistakenly shot and killed a young man while on duty, "I was diagnosed with posttraumatic stress syndrome by three different psychiatrists." (1:10)

Brad's wife and documentary filmmaker Kathy reviews footage of a boy talking about his father having been killed in Iraq. (1:11)

Sarah attends a literary group discussing Flaubert's Mme. Bovary: "... killed herself with rat poison... supposed to be depressing." (1:15)

Ronnie's date Sheila tells Ronnie about her psychiatric history, including taking medication of "all kinds, mostly psychotropic."
Ronnie: "So you had some kind of a breakdown... Nervous breakdowns don't just come out of nowhere."
Sheila: "Maybe it was the stress of being on my own. Maybe it's a chemical imbalance in my brain. Every psychiatrist I go to has a different opinion. This one guy... says I must have been sexually abused as a child... repressing the memory."
Sheila: "... my second breakdown..." (1:26)

A nurse tells Ronnie his mother has died in the hospital. Ronnie grieves. (1:52)

Ronnie tells Sarah, "She's gone. Mommy's gone." (2:04)


Larry finds Ronnie sitting in a playground swing. He notices blood dripping from the seat. Ronnie stands, and, pulling down his pants, reveals to Larry's horror that he has mutilated himself. (2:08)

Bereavement | chemical imbalance | cross-dressing | nervous breakdown | psychotropic | self mutilation | Sexual Abuse of Child | suicide