StarCat/CatStar

was what was wrong with society, and punk was the pugnacious protest
against that.
Penelope Spheeris, who directed the trio of films , was and is an avowed
music lover, and she made her films as an homage to the 70s, 80s, and 90s
music scenes in LA.
And actually, one of the documentaries is not about punk at all, but about
heavy metal - or, rather, hair metal. Which as a genre, really isn't as
explosively rebellious as punk, but rather represents a glorying in
hedonistic excess, the apex of corroded values fed by capitalism's amoral
indulgences.
But the first and third documentaries are very much about punk - the first
one being about the burgeoning hardcore scene of 1970s LA, and the third
one being about the resurgence of punk - but even moreso, about the
charming gutter punks that constituted part of this scene. And it's the
third one which achingly resonates with the most pathos. But we'll go
chronologically and build from there.
The first documentary feels as fresh as ever, despite the fact that it was
made in 1979 and features long-defunct punk bands such as Black Flag,
Fear, and the Germs, among others. Indeed, the documentary induces an
extreme case of nostalgia, as I long for the days of more straightforward,
belligerent punk, rather than the half-assed non-mutinous musicians
imposed on us today.
The Germs, perhaps, are the main band standout in the documentary, as
the singer Darby Crash (who died from a suicidal overdose shortly after
the documentary was released) displays a thoroughly offbeat charisma in
both the interview portion as well as in the music footage. Darby has long