Pre-Crack New York City

Style Wars remains not only my favorite documentary but one of my all time favorite movies, and while I find the spirit of these kids uplifting cheerful and greatly admirable by the end of the film I can't seem to shake the perceived sense of melancholy surrounding this fascinating time period (1979-1984) in urban NYC, as the movie ends right before the impending dread that was the Crack epidemic. We all know the absolute devastating effect this had on impoverished Black and to a lesser extent Latino communities across all major American cities at the time.

Homicide, addiction, and imprisonment was effectively out of control in urban black communities, dwelling into that topic the tragedy arrives when you come to terms with reality and the effects that crack would indefinitely have had on their lives. More than half of these poor kids probably never survived the 80's, statistically the odds were against them, and if they did survive they most likely ended up imprisoned, addicted or remained in perpetual poverty. It's bittersweet in the sense that this documentary really is as much about the beginning of an art form as it is the ending of era, it captures the one treasure that these kids hold dear to them right before the harsh realities of inner city NYC would pull them away from, very heartbreaking.

Any thoughts ?