To start, Wild Style is not a documentary despite what it says on IMDb (just saying ... minor gripe), although it was sort of shot like one and it does a fantastic job of documenting HipHop in 83 quite lovely.
With that said, Wild Style doesn't look like your typical Hollywood type movie (those came later). Younger generations may have a hard time understanding the praise it receives, or the reasons for its cult following status. It doesn't have the big budget, or hit all the familiar notes casual moviegoers are accustomed to. It's far too gritty and raw for that. Charlie Ahearn took the conventional rule book and threw it out the window, but that's all part of the charm. For us Old school, New school, True school, or Too cool for school HipHopers in the audience, our culture was never represented on the big screen like this before, and though a few may have tried, nobody had done it quite like this since.
Finally, the art in Wild Style is presented to us, not by actors, but by the artists who were there when this phenomenon was emerging. The viewer comes away with a good understanding of HipHop's four elements and how they define a culture. If nothing else, Wild Style serves as a great time capsule piece during HipHop's infancy.
With that said, Wild Style doesn't look like your typical Hollywood type movie (those came later). Younger generations may have a hard time understanding the praise it receives, or the reasons for its cult following status. It doesn't have the big budget, or hit all the familiar notes casual moviegoers are accustomed to. It's far too gritty and raw for that. Charlie Ahearn took the conventional rule book and threw it out the window, but that's all part of the charm. For us Old school, New school, True school, or Too cool for school HipHopers in the audience, our culture was never represented on the big screen like this before, and though a few may have tried, nobody had done it quite like this since.
Finally, the art in Wild Style is presented to us, not by actors, but by the artists who were there when this phenomenon was emerging. The viewer comes away with a good understanding of HipHop's four elements and how they define a culture. If nothing else, Wild Style serves as a great time capsule piece during HipHop's infancy.