Of course, we also have Flanagan as an adult reflecting on what he went through back then. At the time, being fed LSD for the first at age 13 and going to see Clockwork Orange by a Beastie Boy sounds as cool as cool gets. However, as an adult, all the cool runs out of the memory, with real questions of child abuse.
Flanagan also gets frank about being sexually taken advantage of as a kid by older women in the scene. This is somewhat of a reckoning for the newly middle-aged, as what was fun to us as teens horrifies us as “responsible adults,” and with good reason. The looks on his face as he tries to sort through all of it are haunting to the core.
Certain subjects are avoided, such as all the angle dust and underage cruising at the CBGB hardcore matinees. Also, there are some things taken at face value without digging deeper, like the fascination over British skinheads.
“…one of the finest pieces ever made on hardcore music and its survivors.”
But the sheer worth of this documentary as a companion to other important hardcore studies is immeasurable. Anyone who has re-watched American Hardcore obsessively will appreciate the fleshing out of the New York scene here.
Also, everyone lucky enough to catch Something Divine about Ray Cappo, lead singer of Youth Of Today, will get a very special treat here. Cappo relates to Miller the story about the night Flanagan explained to him the way of Krishna while walking the streets together. This, of course, led to Cappo’s lifetime devotion to the practice, which is documented in Something Divine.
It is all different thrashing lines in the universe, all caught in a mosh, with everyone trying to figure out how we got and where we can go. The film shows how punk culture and hardcore music were an empowering escape from bad teen situations. It also shows the exit doors for other escapes, like hard drugs and arrested adolescents.
Harley Flanagan: Wired For Chaos will be relished by anyone who has stared at an oncoming brick wall and laughed at it. It will flat-out amaze everyone else.
Harley Flanagan: Wired For Chaos screened at the 2025 Slamdance Film Festival.
"…instant required viewing for anyone who has ever worn studded leather..."
