Should you Stream: Epically Later’d and Soaked in Bleach

Image Courtesy of Thrasher Magazine

Like most 90’s and early 2000’s kids, my childhood consisted of playing Tony Hawk’s Underground, and pretending to skate the mini ramp at my best friend Jake’s house. Of course, our moms worried about us getting hurt, so we always had to wear knee pads, elbow pads and helmets, much to our displeasure. As soon as our moms would go back inside, our protective gear would immediately come off because we couldn’t skate looking uncool.

Since then, I’ve not only had a special place in my heart for Tony Hawk, but I’ve loved the culture of skating. I fell out of love with actually skating (I’m too much of a klutz), but I still watched YouTube videos of skate tricks, competitions and interviews with top skaters.

Naturally, I stumbled upon a series on YouTube by Viceland called “Epically Later’d.” I immediately clicked the video, which ended up being a 15 minute episode about Bam Margera’s skating career.

The series documents the lives of skaters from the 90’s and early 2000’s. The show interviewed iconoic skaters like Jason Dill, Chad Muska, Kevin “Spanky” Long, and my personal favorite, Elissa Steamer. Even though they never made episode about Tony Hawk, it is one of my favorite shows.

“Epically Later’d” showcases the artists at their peak as well as their lives now. Plus, it has a totally rad name.

Disclaimer: The show talks about and shows scenes of drug abuse. If those topics make you uncomfortable, I would be careful; however, if you love skate culture as much as I do, watch it. Be careful though, you might watch the whole series in one sitting like me and forget to do your homework.

The mid 80’s to the early 2000’s produced most of my favorite bands, shows, and general entertainment. Bon Jovi, Blink 182, and Iron Maiden are on my everyday playlist. As a child, I grew up listening to Led Zeppelin, Iron Maiden, Metallica, Rush and more.

Just like every other teen who went through an emo phase, I was obsessed with Nirvana. I owned all their albums, a few shirts, and had several of their posters strewn across my walls.

Not only does Nirvana have amazing music, but one of my favorite conspiracies: whether or not Kurt Cobain’s death was a suicide.

The movie “Soaked In Bleach” explores this conspiracy. The film does a fantastic job of showing arguments from both sides and what the evidence provided means for both. The delivery is unbiased and lets the audience decide what they believe for themselves. It incorporates both footage from Nirvana, photos of the crime scene that were released, and interviews from friends. 

“Soaked In Bleach” provides a thought provoking message and has an underlying theme of not taking everything that is said to you at face-value.  

Next time you have a movie day, try out one of these two unique programs. It might just give you a new perspective on pop culture from that time period.