Movie: Wassup Rockers (2005)

Directed by Larry Clark of Kids fame. Wassup Rockers is about the misadventures of a rag-tag crew of Latino skateboarders from South-Central Los Angeles who decide to spend a day in Beverly Hills.

This film is so damaged, I don't know where to begin.

First of all, kudos to a Hollywood studio and director for finally realizing Latino people actually exist. It was refreshing to catch a glimpse of such an invisible subculture as Latino skateboarders, and I think Larry Clark was able to once again showcase his uncanny ability to catch kids being themselves.

Unfortunately, that's where the compliments end. Because this film is smothered in racism, cliches, and stupid plot devices to such an extent that the entire film ends up doing more damage to the Latino community than aiding it.

This film doesn't know if it wants to be a documentary, a comedy, or some sort of socially critical drama, and ultimately it succeeds at none of the above. From an academic standpoint, an attempt could be made to view this film as some sort of analogy for Homer's The Odyssey, but that would be a mighty stretch. Because Wassup Rockers really isn't that deep, and granting it such a prestigious subtextual analysis is by far unwarranted. Not to mention, if it was an analogy for The Odyssey, it would be a poorly executed one anyway.

The problems here seem to reside primarily in the plot and the failed character development. Where Kids soared at showing us the seedy underbelly of the New York teen set, mainly by focusing on a few kids at a time, Wassup Rockers fails miserably from the beginning by presenting us with 7+ characters, all of which look and dress similarly. At no time is there any adequate explanation for why so many of these guys live together, or why they dress so oddly, or even why they enjoy skateboarding. We aren't shown their parents, nor is it explained how they managed to afford the equipment for their punk band. None of these guys has a job. They simply exist and we, as viewers, are supposed to somehow just accept it. Fine.

Unfortunately, the plot doesn't really develop from there. The crew decides to go to Beverly Hills one day, out of the blue, seemingly to skate in the High School parking lot. They are pulled over and their car impounded, but they inexplicably decide to continue on their quest by riding two city buses. Once they finally arrive in Beverly Hills, an inordinate amount of time is spent showing the crew doing tricks off a small stairway. It immediately becomes clear that these kids, despite their interest in skateboarding, aren't very good at it. Within minutes, they are set upon by a couple of debutantes who invite the crew back to their house. Of course, the crew gets busted by a bumbling white police officer shortly thereafter. The rest of the movie continues downhill from there. The suspension of disbelief collapses entirely as the film devolves into a stew of racism, homophobia, ageism, sexism, and whatnot.

Unfortunately, the attempt to stretch the boundaries of PC conventions is sadly sophomoric and ultimately comes off feeling strained and disingenuous. Cliches abound. Young black girls are confrontational or want to "braid their hair"; black males are violent, gun-wielding maniacs; homosexuals are foppishly dressed and inexplicably wealthy; whites are illustrated as depressed, unethical, homicidal, exploitative, alcoholic; Latino adults are seemingly all housekeepers, gossips, or just plain poor. In fact, it's difficult to see even one example of a positive adult role model in this film. The brief moments of humor are not enough to carry this movie or make an excuse for the blatantly offensive stereotypes peppered throughout.

I would not recommend this film to anyone. Maybe minority teenagers who are tired of the typical white fare coming out of Hollywood might find this film a little intriguing; anyone else would be better served watching paint dry.

Sifted: 4/10 (for excellent production values, if nothing else. Lighting, cinematography, editing and music were all more than adequate. This film is unusually stylized for being such a disaster, in fact).