I recall that old joke “What’s the difference between porn and art? A government grant.” For Larry Clark’s films, you can pretty much make the same assertion. For Clark’s really bad films such as “Kids”, “Bully”, and “Teenage Caveman”, the director really explored nothing but his ability to catch prepubescent sex from all angles.
His three more notable efforts are terrible films, and the way in knowing this is if you cut out the sex scenes, and you’ll immediately notice that there’s really no evidence of a story or characterization anywhere, because the plots are mere clotheslines for the prepubescent sex scenes people loosely call “art”.
Yes, its art, sure it is. And Jenna Jameson is Meryl Streep.
Sorry to say, Clark, but Mendes spoke more about senseless violence and carnage in one film than you did in three. The whole “Teens are evil sex crazed monsters” gimmick takes a new angle from the privileged suburban youths, to Hispanic skaters this time, who corrupt a suburban neighborhood.
In a nutshell, with awful acting, and a rambling plot, Clark basically puts on-screen the fears of society that Ecuadorians, or more appropriately, Hispanics, will undoubtedly corrupt white suburbia or Utopia and he conveys this through endless scenes of our characters skating and discussing sex.
I remember a brief time when indies had something to say, they were expressive and interesting and gave new spins to different genres. The directors wanted to say something, and that fleeting instance is gone. “Wassup Rockers” has themes it sets up: Monotony of youth, wasted youth, fun with friends, the difficulty of high school, the sheer difference between upper class and lower class, but the themes are set up and then completely pushed into the background in exchange for almost endless dribble that feels more like a first time attempt of a film student rather than an actual film.
I’ve given up hope with Clark, because, even though this film is void of the usual pointless sex scenes and graphic violence, he’s constantly done nothing but reach new heights of sheer mediocrity with films that become consistently worse over time. “Wassup Rockers” is yet another lemon from the director that achieves nothing, nor does it say anything. “Wassup Rockers” is an awful attempt to show how youth is wasted by wasting our time as proof.
The joke’s on us.
