Dumb: The Story of Big Brother Magazine

Patrick O'Dell's 2017 documentary covers the rise and dissolution of a skateboarding magazine launched in the mid-nineties. Big Brother rejected the seriousness of the industry; with its uncensored language, provocative content and deliberate crudeness it quickly sat at the centre of skate culture. The magazine's video supplements later became a television show whose cast shaped a section of American popular culture. The documentary covers that transition in detail. The narrative does not exalt the magazine. It is said that some of the content was plainly harmful, that some stunts genuinely endangered people and that the magazine's language carried the exclusions of its period, though the criticism is kept brief. Who it's for: those curious about skate culture and nineties independent publishing. Who it's not for: viewers uncomfortable with crude humour and footage of dangerous behaviour; the documentary shows plenty of both.