Mark “Gator” Rogowski was a household name for suburban skateboarders in the 80s. His image plastered skateboard-related zines and gear, as well as fashionable mags like Interview. The handsome, outspoken rebel was one of the first pro skaters, like Christian Hosoi and Tony Hawk, to find super-stardom in the newly popular extreme sport. Gator was also one of the first of the bunch to have his career and life go down in flames. Stoked attempts to document his life, troubles and rage that led to the murder of his ex-girlfriend’s best friend, for which Rogowski now serves a lengthy prison sentence. At times Stoked feels like a by-the-numbers episode of VH1’s Behind the Music: Gator quickly rose to pop stardom from a ragged punk youth, only to fall hard into tragedy and scandal. Unlike the very biased (but still great) skateboarding history Dogtown and Z-Boys, Stoked benefits from having Helen Stickler’s “outsider” perspective. Similar to Dogtown, her documentary is constructed mostly from footage shot during the heyday of the scene. The film makes it easy to see how, when suddenly thrown into the limelight, some of the immature kids lost their already loose grips on reality and responsibility. Many of Gator’s off-the-cuff, outlaw posturings during interviews become eerily prophetic of what dangerous turns his life would soon take. Stoked is an intimate look into a subculture that quickly grew far beyond anyone’s wildest dreams, and in some cases out of control. It also serves as a reminder that fame and fortune don’t necessarily equal happiness or a cure to one’s problems.

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