Skate Kitchen

Dir: Crystal Moselle

2018

****

I was transfixed by Crystal Moselle’s Skate Kitchen from start to finish. I was a skate-boarder in the late 80s/early 90s and would frequent London’s famous Undercroft under the Southbank centre – known as the spiritual home of British skateboarding. Truth be told the place holds far more in terms of culture than it does as a skate park, myself and my friends were passionate about skating but we never became any good because the park was quite limited. It became a place for posers. I wrote an article years ago in the late 90s on the fate of skateboarding and what it had become and it was a bit doom and gloom. I’m happy to report that the scene is alive and well but the fact remains that there are still two types of boarder: the true skater and the total posers. I suppose you can be both but the coolest boarders I know don’t try to be cool – cool isn’t on their list of what is important to them – they are just cool because they have determination, commitment and have mastered their hobby. Some are better than others but the kids I skated with nearly 30 years ago who still skate now – and are still not very good – are way cooler than me for keeping the flame lit and the dream alive. Being a small part of the Undercrofts vast history is an honour, I was a proud skater and for me it was a large part of being a Londoner. This is why Skate Kitchen really appealed to me because the film captures the passion and the celebrates New York. Older people love to knock the youth of today. I find it bizarre when I hear people my age mock people in their early twenties for not knowing what a Betamax tape is or who Punky Brewster was – like they somehow should – but the truth is that the youth of today have kept many golden aspects of our youth alive, and in some cases they have helped them evolve into greater things. The advance of technology hasn’t always been good but the kids are doing some cool things these days, organising themselves, starting collectives and capturing amazing footage and sharing it with each other. We used to take photos and try and get them published for cash. It was my generation who bought Vision Street Wear and helped the commercialisation of the skate world. I have wondered for some time weather youth will ever have a movement like previous generations have had – the jury is still out – but Skate Kitchen gives me hope that the kids still value certain aspects of traditional youth culture. Skating was born from kids who had no money. It was a punk thing, a piece of board and a couple of wheels which you would decorate yourself. Skating could be freedom, the challenge you needed in order to push yourself, the healthy kind of competitive activity that brought people together. I was an indie kid but after mixing with loads of other kids from various backgrounds I discovered hip-hop, Ska and loads of bands I still adore to this day. I loved that Skate Kitchen followed real skaters as they ride their way through their city. New York is the secret star of the film, providing the ultimate backdrop to the sport that I love. It feels very similar to the movement in London and it makes me wonder why there hasn’t been a London version before now. It took me right back to the 90s to be honest and that was a good feeling. So there are times when the film got a bit too Larry Clark for my liking and it was clear that only a couple of the girls had real skating talent, the others more interested in the scene rather than the sport. There is a very uncomfortable orgy scene that is totally out of place half way through the film but luckily our protagonist feels the same way and leaves – I just wish we could have. The conclusion that all can be forgiven in a circle of friends felt very authentic to me. The clichéd parent who doesn’t want their kid skating falls a little flat and is dated as hell (especially as I’m older than said parent) but I suppose a hint of narrative was needed. For the most part though the kids just chat, hang and skate their ways through another summer in the city. It’s a teen drama in the classical sense too but only from a distance, with no moral bullshit to wade through or lectures on young adulthood. It is what it is, carefree and real. I’m not saying I totally understand the youth of today – I really don’t – but I can see that certain things haven’t changed. The talk like idiots and their music sucks but apart from that they understand the importance of creative output. They’re doing something, their outside, they’re creative and they are full of ideas. Most importantly they’re enjoying their youth, something so many people regret not doing enough of when they’re older. The film is dreamlike in the way it captures the passion, joy and freedom that skating can give. It’s The Long Summer for a new generation and proof that a little bit of Generation X lives on in the world of the Millennial. Skate or die dude.