AN ERA OF THE DESIRABLES

The smell of revolution was in the air, as subcultures exploded and seemed to rage out of control throughout the span the decade known as the 80’s. Intensely desirable people shaped the era into something everyone wanted to be apart of and no one could ignore. No stranger to this, skateboarding was right in the middle of it. Vert skating grew in popularity and an elite group of extraordinary kids were turned into international rock stars overnight. The mainstream media ate it up and the success seemed like it would never end.

“Stoked” as so rightfully named did an incredible job of getting you stoked...”

Wacky designed Vision ads, reflected the era featuring pro’s like “ Gator”. They quickly became an everyday language amongst kids, these guys ripped! there was no reason to question it. They were raw, they were gnarly and for me, personally I had never seen or been apart of something like this before. From the moment I picked up my first board (which just happened to be a Vision board), I never looked back until recent years.

I had been waiting for this documentary to come out for at least 3 or 4 months, and I must admit, I was a little skeptical because it wasn’t done by a skateboarder. While watching “Stoked” I was amazed at how well done and thorough the story was. The director Helen Stickler had included a wide variety of views and opinions from skateboarding pro’s of the time and from today, as well as an assortment of friends, his ex-girlfriend and even the detectives and lawyers who worked on the case.

She had the small cinema on College laughing, and shouting at some of the scenes within the rise of the film. “Stoked” as so rightfully named did an incredible job of getting you stoked, by putting you though a roller coaster of insane highs including colorful antics, crazy vert demos, wild drunken parting, hilarious dancing scene’s, wacky MTV spots, broken fashion laws, and a slew of other highlights from the era of the 80’s. It also touched upon the dramatic differences between the skateboarding industry then, and the way it is today.

But this was just the beginning of the real story of Gator that we where soon to find out. Leaving nothing to the imagination this documentary was hard to take at some moments, as the film flipped to the other side of the coin. Most notably of this, was a disturbing scene that took place while on a European road trip. This in turn brought us to the details of the events that lead to the demise Gator’s spirit and soul, and eventually the rape & murder of Jessica Bergston. Another hard thing to stomach was Gator on the stand in the courtroom admitting to everything and explaining that in his mind, even though he committed this horrendous crime, he would be kept from persecution by his faith in God.

It’s funny how the premise of this documentary touches upon topics still present. The same thing could easily happen in skateboarding today. It’s a topic rarely addressed by the industry as a whole. The story of the disposable hero seems to be a standard few see or care about. Perhaps that’s why the story of Gator shown such a dark shadow on the skate industry for years to come. There is definitely a lesson to be seen here as the skate industry just keeps getting bigger and more demanding than ever before. It seems to be chewing up and spitting out disposable heroes faster these days, and the respect of the history seems to be lost sometimes in this next generation. All in all this film is a must see for everyone, young and old, just don’t expect yourself to leave without feeling something.

Chris Tuckett