(inspiring piano notes) - [Narrator] Mainstream media has always played an out-sized role and how young people define themselves.

From body image, to gender roles to career choices, popular culture often dictates adherence to strict norms.

Coming up on Our Time, filmmakers, MaKayla DeLa Cruz, Casey Foshee-Gurtler, Casey Foshee-Gurtler, and Marley Kaiser, challenge the social expectations challenge the social expectations that have led to self policing in their own lives.

In doing so, they imagine new ways of living and loving, outside of the box.

(bright inspirational music) - Why don't people understand me?

- I'm tired of running so fast.

- I want to be heard.

- Why are people afraid?

- I'm ready for change.

(upbeat inspirational music) - I hear you.

- I see you.

- My time, - my time, - Our time is now.

- [Narrator] Major funding for this program is provided by the Russell Grinnell Memorial trust, Steve & Mary Anne Walldorf and Betsy & Warren Dean.

Additional funding is provided by the Joseph Henry Edmondson foundation, the Brenden Mann Foundation, the Loo family, The Moniker Foundation, the Buck Foundation, the CALM Foundation, Half the Sky Giving Circle and honor of Chris Beyer and Will Stoller-Lee.

A complete list is available online.

(slow melancholy music) - Little, Makayla!

- You look like your dad!

- You have dark hair.

You don't look like me at all.

- Did you hear how much she weighed?

- 7 pound.

- You're kind of big!

I thought you're going to be a little one.

- Show how cute you are.

My little cutie.

- Say, hi!

- Hi.

- Say I'm gorgeous.

What's your name?

- Makayla.

- How old are you?

- I'm two.

- When is your birthday?

- April 10th.

- April 10th.

You gotta look right here.

In there, and you see this.

Hi gorgeous!

- Okay, Boys and girls.

Very quiet.

Now, sit down.

We're ready to start.

- There's this one time when I was about six or seven, we were supposed to do a dance in front of the church and I ended up grabbing one of the microphones.

(children singing) My mom was really embarrassed, but my dad was proud of me because I just decided to just do that.

(relaxing guitar strokes) I would not do that today.

I was bold.

I joined boys football in sixth grade, Like, all boys football.

So I was the only girl.

When I was younger, I just felt unstoppable.

I felt like I could take over the world if I wanted to.

Losing that part of me really changed my personality.

I really noticed was Carl's Jr commercials with the swimsuit models.

(exciting rock music) We're so conditioned to think that these people don't have imperfections or insecurities themselves because they're so beautiful.

because they're so beautiful.

(melancholy piano notes) Around the time that I was in sixth grade, middle school, that's when things started to spiral out of control with my body image.

(melancholy classical music) The girls would always wear skirts and stuff, but I could never wear that because I didn't feel confident enough or that it would look right with my body type.

That's one thing that made me realize that I didn't really like my body.

I really became a tomboy; jeans, skull jackets.

I really felt pressured by everybody.

That's why I started to wear makeup and started to change my appearance.

In ninth grade, it hit me really hard.

I would not eat at all.

I would just lay in bed all day and that would just be what I would do.

I got super skinny and my hair started falling out.

It's crazy to look back on that and think that's where I let myself get to.

People in my school, all they talk about is their appearance.

That's the only thing that matters.

It kind of makes me feel a little like they're lying to me when they call me beautiful.

I don't see what other people see.

(buzzing) (slow R&B music) I'm getting this girl from Bleach.

I'm getting this girl from Bleach.

Her name is Rukia.

She's one of the main characters, and I just love her so much because she's such a bad bitch I love her so much.

When I get a tattoo, it doesn't matter how other people look at it.

I think it's my story.

I think it's my story.

Oh my God.

I don't know.

Mom's going to be pissed.

My mom's gonna be so pissed.

[laughing] Oh god.

Oh god.

- Put your feet in there.

Is it cold?

There's a stove.

You could do your cooking.

Here is a sink for your dishes.

- I'm Shauna Roberts and I'm 41.

- There's Makayla and her daddy.

There's his nose.

- My name's Edward and I'm 46.

- I think I was average probably until maybe middle school.

Then I was chubby.

- I was a skinny kid my whole life.

I was really conscious of the way I was evolving by changing my wardrobe, even going as extreme as doing weight gainers.

- I went through a phase where I lost 75 pounds.

More people started noticing my body and making comments.

That made me more uncomfortable than it ever did to be big.

- I've really come a long way.

I wanted to signify the greatest milestone that I've come across: my daughter.

What better way to do it then with a tattoo?

- I'm still a work-in-progress.

I realized that to own it and be your own person, that's a good quality to have.

(bright inspirational music) (electronic device buzzes) (small chuckle) - Junior year, I reconnected with one of my best friends, Estalina.

She really helped me see the things that I was doing, that wasn't very healthy for myself.

I've met my boyfriend, Alvero.

(laughter in distance) - No, I won't get emotional.

I don't cry in front of others.

I'm a man.

(man chuckles) My name is Alvero Miranda.

I'm 22.

When I was a kid, I was plump and happy.

My brothers played a big part in getting me to get thinner mostly because of the name calling and they would run and climb over everything.

and they would run and climb over everything.

I couldn't do that because I would get winded and I felt left out.

I didn't feel good after that.

I just want to feel comfortable with me and be proud of what I see when I wake up in the morning.

- Can you talk about when I weighed myself?

- No, don't.

I got up the scale and I was like, that can't be right.

And I stepped on it again, then I was hysterical.

I hate having to change my outfit eight times and then wearing something that covers every part of my body.

I hate that I have to buy new clothes every now and then because my thighs ru together and they put a hole in my pants.

I just hate all of those things that I have to do that I feel like are my fault.

I feel like everything's my fault.

(dramatic melancholy music) - When you weighed yourself.

I guess I was pretty heartbroken because you didn't like what you saw, but it broke my heart, mostly because I guess I love you so much.

It hurt me to see you so not happy with yourself.

I guess it just broke my heart.

- I always thought that he was lying when he told me those things like I'm beautiful or I'm curvy or I'm sexy.

For him to actually be vulnerable with me and to cry about it and be even more devastating than I was, was super in a weird way, uplifting.

- I don't really think I can talk too much about that because I still don't even really like myself.

I'm still struggling with how I see myself.

- My boyfriend, he has a birthmark on his face and I think it's so beautiful.

I just love everything about him.

And I couldn't imagine him thinking that's not beautiful because it's just right for me.

- I'm slowly starting to accept it because the past six months I've kind of been with a special person and they make me feel comfortable with my skin.

I don't really care about how I see myself lately.

- No matter what you look like, I'll always love you.

The you, I fell in love with is, the funny, sweet girl.

The girl that makes me laugh so much.

By just looking at her.

That's how beautiful you are.

(bright inspirational music) (children singing) - The Youth Documentary Academy empowers young filmmakers to identify and craft their own stories through intensive training and mentorship in the art of documentary film.

(dramatic guitar strums) - I was always a weird kid with very specific passions.

I was just free.

- Casey.

- What?

- You should come be with me.

- I will.

I'm going to bring us in here so I can draw.

(melancholy guitar strums) I've been so happy because people have been drawing my character recently.

- What?

Your original character?

Which one is that?

- Her name's Roxy.

Hey drew four of them.

- Okay.

She's a newspaper reporter.

Her girlfriend is very conflicted.

- Girlfriend?

- Her girlfriend is a photographer and she's a reporter so they've traveled around the world and report on stories at the end.

And then they live happily ever after.

- People do that?

Like invent their own characters?

- Yeah!

It's basically a big old fan fiction that I decided to draw a comic for.

- Sometimes, I don't really know what you're talking about.

(Casey laughs) - It's okay.

(bright guitar strums) - That one's not finished.

(women laughing) - I would sometimes feel embarrassed when you wear your Luke cosplay, these weird orphan boys shorts and this golfer hat.

A bright blue golfer hat!

[Casey laughing] If you were dressing up like Pokemon or Mario or something like that, at least people will be like, "She's dressing up like Mario!"

Sometimes I just imagine people being like, "One, is this a boy or a girl?"

With kids nowadays it's almost like, it's cool to be different.

When I was in high school, it was not cool to be different.

It was not cool at all.

(bright guitar strums) Back then, there was jocks and there was everyone else.

If you didn't fit into that scene, you got a lot of (expletive).

My three good girlfriends sat down with me and told me, "You need to start curling your hair and wearing makeup and trying to wear better clothes.

", basically.

Because all I would do is wear baggy sweaters and baggy jeans.

I try to tone it down and be more neutral, especially here in Colorado Springs.

I just couldn't figure out how to be like everyone else.

I had this giant feeling that there was something wrong with me.

I didn't fit in.

- New game.

- This is a game?

- Mhmm.

[voices from video game] (Casey chuckles) - He fell asleep on the couch.

How do you think our relationship has changed over the past few years?

- We used to fight a lot and we rubbed each other the wrong way.

- Help me get the armadillo straight.

- Help me get the armadillo straight.

- Wait a second.

I'm recording something.

- That's how we'll know that it's on right.

- Okay, wait a sec.

- When you guys were little, I had read a book.

One of the things it had said in there was if you could let your baby do whatever it wanted to do, they would become geniuses.

That's how people learn about things by doing it, by touching it.

- Should we grab it?

- Yes.

- On a way back?

It's probably a squirrel.

- No, that's too big to be a squirrel.

Probably, a beaver.

- Why would beavers be here?

- I would let you guys climb up on things like the back of the couch.

People would come over and be like, "Oh my God!

You can't do that!

Get down!"

(light guitar strums) I'm certainly not parent of the damn year, for sure.

I feel like some parents are way more controlling.

I'm trying to be less controlling.

Let you guys be.

(classical guitar strums) (laughter in distance) - What?

- How long have marker on your hands?

- Probably, all day.

Actually, I was drawing earlier.

With labels, they can be really important.

At first, I thought I was bisexual then I was a lesbian.

Then I thought I was pan.

I felt confident in those labels when I first had them.

But then like I started questioning myself more.

I don't know.

I just haven't been able to find one recently that I feel fits me.

- I didn't know.

Being trans was a thing for a really long time.

And then there were these trans guys on YouTube and it was like, "huh?"

Their stories look familiar.

I was nervous because at the time you were identifying as lesbian, I was like, "She's going to break up with me."

And I was like, "I don't want that."

- I remember you were asking me all these weird questions, like "Casey, would you love me if I were a boy?"

I was like, "She can not break up with me."

I was so worried.

Then you were like, "I'm trans."

And I'm like, "Oh, thank God."

I thought you were going to say something bad.

(Casey laughs) I'll keep looking.

But I feel like "queer".

It's just a good way to put it for now.

It gets to the point.

(slow rock music) Up on this log or something, I don't know.

You just worry.

- I worry.

I worry about Aohdan more than you.

Making decisions that physically alter you, does freak me out a bit.

It freaks me out a bit.

But I've always tried to just support you guys and support him.

I hope you know that.

- Yeah, I know.

I try to be as supportive as I can with it because I want them to have the environment that you gave me.

You gave me a very nice.

I've liked growing up with you.

You probably don't care about what I'm saying half the time, but you at least listen.

- You've stayed strong and you stayed true to yourself.

I've learned a lot from you and I feel like I should be more like you.

I don't want to be a parent that is like, "You could do anything you want."

and completely unrealistic about it.

But with you, you spend so much time drawing.

And you've put so much effort and energy that I really think that you could do it.

I think you can succeed as an artist.

(bright guitar strums) - You're not afraid to be weird and be who you are.

It's really amazing to me that you're just so open up about your interests and what you care about.

You're just a really big inspiration for me.

- So are you.

(inspirational rock music) I want to get married to you and move somewhere really good.

- Scotland's really good , I'm just saying.

- You want to go to Scotland?

- I looked it up and it's amazing.

- I want to go somewhere with a good animation company.

That's all I worry about.

(bright inspirational music) (running water) - In water, I feel weightless.

In water, I feel relaxed.

In water, I am myself.

In water, I feel closer to people than I would.

In water, I feel calm.

In water, I don't think about the bad things.

(water bubbles) (deep breathing) (dramatic piano notes) (ocean running) The funny thing about the stars is not the fact that we can give them names, but they decide our fate.

As a Pisces, I will see all the high seas.

(dramatic classical music) Isolation, but not alone.

Weightless, but still carrying weight.

Blue marks left behind and I'm in my swimsuit, going from my best... time.

(splashing in water) (dramatic classical music) (upbeat inspirational music) - Major funding for this program is provided by the Russell Grinnell Memorial Trust, Steve & Mary Anne Walldorf and Betsy & Warren Dean.

Additional funding is provided by the Joseph Henry Edmondson foundation, the Brenden Mann Foundation, the Lou family, The Moniker Foundation, the Buck Foundation, the CALM Foundation, Half the Sky Giving Circle and honor of Chris Beyer and Will Stoller-Lee.

A complete list is available online.