Home
sign up| features / film feature |
 content by: editor |
 stoked interview
 to access audio and video on collective you need real player.Death and skateboarding in Helen Stickler’s documentary. Fame is a dangerous thing. It can really screw you up. One minute you’re the world’s most talented and sought after skateboarder, a hero of American subculture on a cool $100k a year, the next you’re facing a lifetime behind bars as the wheels fall spectacularly off the cart.The harrowing tale of 80s skate star Mark “Gator” Rogowski’s fall from grace is told in Stoked, a new documentary from filmmaker Helen Stickler. It’s a roller coaster ride, jam-packed with the kind of awesome skating that made overnight stars of Gator, Tony Hawk and Steve Caballero, all of whom feature. Told via interviews with the scene’s players, Gator’s relatives and archive footage from the time, Stickler decided she wanted to make the film when she discovered that the truth about the skating star’s life was riddled with rumour and hearsay.  “There was this huge discussion about Gator and what had really gone on after he committed his crime [he was jailed in 1991 for sexual abuse and murder],” says Stickler. “I realised that there wasn’t really any straight answer, everybody had their own story about it and there were a lot of rumours and speculation. I became really fascinated to find out what had really happened. Once I got into it, it was a really challenging story to tell.” In order to tell the story, Stickler visited Gator in prison, spending over 100 hours with him trying to piece together why he suddenly flipped and murdered his ex-girlfriend’s best mate, burying her in the desert. She concludes that a combination of his sudden loss of profile, as ramp skating was overshadowed by street skating, and a chemical imbalance in his brain caused Gator to implode. “I think that he needed a lot of attention, and that’s something that can come round and bite you in the ass.”  Stoked is an upfront documentary that’s superbly researched and told. It’s funny and harrowing in equal measure - a peerless account of the 80s skateboarding movement and the tragedies of fame.
Chris Wilson
Stoked: The Rise And Fall Of Gator, on selected release 25 June 04.
 conversations
Read members' comments.
|
 |
related info
 useful links
note: The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
see also
books  books and comics archive Author interviews and reviews from 2002 to 2008. |
send to a friend
access 1000s of articles
