I’ll take a dozen boxes…Cookie Queens is a treat

For Kaci

Alysa Nahmias’ documentary focusing on four enterprising Girl Scouts during the Girl Scout cookie-selling season is one of the most charming, funny, and yes, I’ll say it, life-affirming docs I’ve seen. 

Its stars are Olive, a twelve year old cookie selling machine who is articulate without being precocious; Nikki, from Chino, California, at nine, whose two older sisters are cookie queens of legend; Shannon Elizabeth, a First Nations girl from El Paso, Texas, whose specific story had me a little stressed as her parents, supportive though they be, were banking their mortgage payment on her; and Ara, a five-year-old diabetic who had me wrapped around her little finger. All four are what a bygone generation would call “plucky”, but to stop there renders a disservice.

I’ll admit that I was expecting something more hard-boiled. I thought there would be more of a critique of late-stage capitalism and how it’s infected even the youngest among us or maybe even how these kids are exploited by the organization and/or their parents, and while I suspect that somewhere there might be a documentary offering such a critique, this isn’t that.

Although, having said that, this isn’t to say that the question of child labor and exploitation doesn’t come up and if there is a critique of capitalism and/or manipulation, it is implicit in how we manage fundraisers across the board, which speaks to the larger issues surrounding quid pro quo uses of labor and capital to get something, that something being a larger endowment for the organization on the one hand at a macro scale and on the micro; a European vacation, a backpack, or just to go to camp.

All that is just implied. What Nahmias has given us is a portrait of fours remarkable kids and a look at their support groups (the parents are amazing). 

I won’t go into a lot of granular detail about the girls, but each one is a singular individual. Olive seems to live a pretty comfortable middle class life in Charlotte, and is something of a local celebrity since she seems to beat her personal best each year; as I mentioned above, she is remarkably articulate, but not one of these kids who goes out of her way to sound like an adult. We see her with her best friend and get glimpses of her character when she questions the value of being the “best seller” of cookies each season. For her, it’s less a defining characteristic than her place within the troop. 

She obviously has other interests and other skills, but when she asks what she’d be if she wasn’t raking in the bucks for the Scouts, your heart pings a little. However, what’s additionally fascinating is how she questions other aspects of cookie capitalism. Out of a discussion about the meager cut that the girls get - 1$ out of six per box - Olive is quick to note that it’s not fair. Toward the end of the film, she types a letter to the CEO of the Girl Scouts essentially asking for raises for the girls who are doing the heavy lifting. She is aware that the money from the sales goes to maintaining salaries and infrastructure of the Girl Scouts of America, but stresses the amount of work it takes to make or surpass goals. 

She questions her status and the work she puts in more pointedly when telling her mother that she sometimes feels she would be letting her mother down if she - Olive - didn’t pursue higher goals each time. It’s a solid question and her mother doesn’t deflect it, but asks her daughter if she feels that some of that does come from her without motherly pressure. It’s a tough conversation but both sides come at the issue with obvious love and frankness.

Note that she also said her goal as an adult is to become a Supreme Court Justice. This can’t happen soon enough. She’s twelve, so I guess we’ll have to be patient.

Nikki, following in her older sisters’ footsteps really wants that European vacation. Her sisters, Nyah and Nala are her north stars and it’s Nala, if I recall rightly, who won a state trophy. Nikki doesn’t go it alone and has the support of her sisters and her mother and while the shots of her out selling drum up some excitement, it’s the more intimate moments with her mom and sisters that make her part work. Particularly with Nala, as when she gives Nikki a make-up job and Nikki says incredulously, “you do this every day?!” And Nala says, yep. 

Nikki asks Nala why she’s so grumpy and Nala says homework and other stuff and we see it; she’s a capital-T teenager and later we hear both Nala and Nyah say how much they miss being younger and how getting older means more responsibilities and doing things you don’t want to do. Nikki has two of the best guides into growing up I’ve ever seen.

Plus, there’s their mother. When Nikki asks her if she was ever a Scout, her mom says no, but she always wanted to be one, which is why when Nyah was five, she was enrolled her in the Scouts. Her mom voices what many a parent has voiced before her regarding one of the older daughter’s sullenness, “oh, she’s become such a teenager.” And yet, you see the kid in the teen come out when the Nala, Nikki, and their mom are in front of a store and Nala starts singing the Girl Scout Cookie song. 

Shannon Elizabeth’s story is a bit more grounded in fiscal realities and had me worried for her and her family throughout the film. Her goal was to sell 1,750 boxes and since the families buy the cookies outright from the organization, the loss can be significant. Shannon Elizabeth’s mother wasn’t kidding about the mortgage payment, but you see why she was willing to take the gamble. Cross-cut with Shannon Elizabeth’s selling and the heart-to-hearts with her parents, is the girl working with her sensei as a Karate student. 

In her videos, she calls herself “the Cookie Ninja”; she is a warrior. Her mother also gives her (and us) insights into their tribal culture and how that weaves into the fabric of the family. 

Last, there’s Ara, at five the youngest and the one for whom I wanted the most. I used the word plucky above, but that doesn’t describe this child’s motivation. Her parents watch her insulin, she goes to Pilates (“so my knees get stronger so I can pull my wagon”), and she plays the piano. Her penmanship is better than mine and at one point, she’s talking to a guy who buys some cookies for his family, but not himself because he’s diabetic, as well. 

When we first see Ara setting out, pulling that wagon full of boxes, it really is the little engine that could. She is fearless in walking up to adults and asking if they’d like to buy Girl Scout cookies, and I question the humanity of (and maybe admire their resilience?) in passing by the tyke or the best ones who at least speak to her (how do you not acknowledge a little kid like that?).

I wondered just how much of what she was doing made sense to her, but I needn’t have worried; Ara is able to handle cash transactions and when she meets goal, she decides to go further. The Scouts are given some additional weeks to sell and Ara decides to make another push to 80 boxes. To make that last push, her folks set her up with a keyboard where she plays a pretty cute tune (I don’t know what the title is) and along the way, as casually as possible, in talking to people, mentions that she’s selling Girl Scout cookies. This kid’s gonna be okay.

After the sales push, Ara is in the kitchen with low-sugar jam, making “sugar-free cookies” and it appears they came out just fine. She returns to the neighbor’s house who’s diabetic and tells him she’s made sugar free cookies and yes, sells him a box for six bucks. I hope she kept the full amount.

It needs to be said that this is not saccharine movie. Sure, there are moments that are going to have you finding a catch in the throat and maybe a little wetness to brush away, but it’s earned. Nahmias is looking at four unique girls, and is not blind to the inequalities of economics or race. Nor do you get the feeling that each girl exists in a vacuum. Yes, they are the focus of the movie, but you’re well aware that in addition to other interests, they are very much Girl Scouts. Even so, there is a part of me that would have liked a little more of a pullback to include a slightly wider shot of the Girl Scouts as an organization.

For the record, as far as the parents go, they are all remarkable in their own rights. Nikki’s dad is off-camera mostly, but it was heartening to see two parents there for each child. The moms rightly have priority, but can we hear it for girldads? Those guys were clutch, too.

Nahmias’ team across the board has delivered a tight, lovely package. Antonio Cisneros’ cinematography is damn near exquisite. A lot of the compositions tell us what we need to know and show us a larger context as needed that serves a narrative as well as physical space. Amanda Jones’ score is full of bangers but doesn’t intrude on what’s in front of the eyes. 

I can’t say I give a lot of thought to either the Boy or Girl Scouts, but I’ve been impressed with people I know who were (and are!) Scouts. The organizations might be plagued with issues now and again (and sometimes substantial), but there is something to be said in particular, for the organization that Juliette Gordon Low began. Despite not seeing that wider look I alluded to above, each of these girls showed me the special persistence, intelligence, and thoughtfulness that seem to characterize a Girl Scout. 

If, by the way, this isn’t playing in your area, head to cookiequeensfilm.com to the contact page and email them about bringing the film to your town. If you’re affiliated with the Girl Scouts, my assumption is that they’ll make arrangements for your group.