Los Punks is a pretty good movie. I hold my punk documentaries up to a very high standard, a standard that has yet to be fully achieved, mind you. This one approaches that standard where most fall very, very short. I’ve long ago given up validating or explaining punk to people, but I certainly don’t begrudge anyone else for trying. To the uninitiated, the world of Los Punks probably appears to be one of rampant chaos and destruction, and you wouldn’t be completely wrong in that observation. However, there is a certain degree of dedication and order that must be present to pull off this lifestyle. It’s a good looking film filled with great music and interesting characters but falls just a bit short. Story of my life.
First time Director, Angela Boatwright, has managed to captured the D.I.Y. ethic of punk rock better than most. The very nature of the back-yard shows put on by the youth of East L.A., Watts, and Boyle Heights embodies the D.I.Y. spirit. These mostly Latino and Chicano first and second-generation immigrants have embraced punk rock in a way that is truly inspiring, even to a jaded old punk like me.
The film documents the often illegal punk shows held in various backyards throughout the Los Angeles area. We get to know a handful of attendees, promoters, and bands, hear their stories and watch them navigate life. Their stories are told with care and sympathy, which lies in stark contrast to the chaos of the shows they attend. I may be accused of bias here, but for those of you who don’t know, I’ll fill you in: punks are among the kindest, giving, and most accepting people out there. I am fully aware that the outward doesn’t match up with the inward, but that’s one of the things I love so much about punk. Looks can be deceiving. Boatwright’s approach to her subjects does not betray this, but she is also careful to show the violence and substance abuse that some punks fall into as well. None of the latter is romanticized, which I appreciate, but it is present and represented accurately.
It’s very easy to count Los Punk as a direct descendant of such punk doc classics as The Decline of Western Civilization (1981) and Another State of Mind (1984). It hits many of the same marks that those films did, and it’s certainly made better than its predecessors, but it falls short somewhere in the urgency of it all. The fact is, when the earlier films were made, punk was fresh and extremely misunderstood by mainstream outlets (just look at how punks have always been portrayed in film and on television). Decline and Another State of Mind served as exposes to this wild punk lifestyle, while Los Punks tells a story we’ve heard many times. But, then again, I’m speaking from my own experience. I can only imagine if I were a 15-year-old kid right now, just discovering punk, what I would make of Los Punks. There’s a good chance I would want to run away to L.A. and start a band. My mind would most likely be blown wide open, just as it was when I first got into punk 25 years ago. On that level, the film is a success, without a doubt.
That Los Punks doesn’t quite stack up to its forebearers isn’t my main problem with it, though. My gripe is with the inclusion of the band The Casualties. If you’re in the dark about this, I’ll clue you in. The band’s singer, Jorge Herrera, has been accused of rape and sexual misconduct several times over the last handful of years, and I see their inclusion as a huge negative to the film. I suppose it’s possible that the allegations hadn’t come to light as of the making of the film, or maybe the filmmakers simply weren’t aware of them but seeing The Casualties on screen very nearly ruined the whole movie for me. They don’t appear until near the end of the film, so I had a good hour or more of enjoyment before they showed up, but I just can’t excuse their presence. I hope that the young men and women who look up to them in the film have had second thoughts. They are not a band to be looked up to, praised, or even listened to as far as I’m concerned.
Putting all of that aside, Los Punks is an entertaining look into the phenomenally influential youth culture known as punk rock. The young punks putting on these shows and playing in these bands are the true essence of what punk is all about and I hope they all stick with it because they’re damn good at it. It is my hope that Los Punks turns a whole new generation of kids on to a truly amazing form of music, fashion, and way of life. It may not have grabbed me the way that other older and similar films did, but I’m old so what do I know.
James is a writer, record collector, wrestling nerd, and tabletop gamer living with his family in Asheville, North Carolina. He is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association, the North Carolina Film Critics Association, and contributes to The Daily Orca, Razorcake Magazine, Mountain Xpress, and Asheville Movies.