jackassworld

Shortly after the release of jackass the movie in 2002, Jeff Tremaine said if I had any big ideas for feature films or anything of the like that this would be high time to spit them out. I guess there was a certain industry hype building on the heels of jackass and its number one box office release, so it made perfect sense to try and capitalize on the opportunity. The only thing I could really come up with at the time was a documentary about our old boss, Steve Rocco, the progenitor of Big Brother magazine and the pervasive “fuck all” spirit (and bankroll) that pretty much enabled the chaotic universe from which jackass would one day peel off.

Although Rocco has a very checkered and infamous past in skateboarding, what I always found most interesting was his family life and upbringing. Growing up in El Segundo, CA, he was one of seven kids that worked in his father’s dry cleaning business (the chemical side effects of which were long mused about). A serial nepotist, he eventually employed most all of the Rocco family members in his upstart skateboard company, World Industries, which went from having all the appearances of a fly-by-night shady operation in 1988 to becoming a literal multi-million dollar empire by 1991. Success and craziness ensued, but in just a few short years, amid a mad fever pitch of business, greed and psychotic mayhem, the Rocco family imploded, leaving one dead, one estranged, and one homeless on the streets—all the necessary tabloid elements to spin a good yarn.

I never followed through with the concept, though. Instead I went off and wrote a big book about skateboard graphics that included a few chapters on this notorious period of time oft referred to as “the early ’90s” in skateboarding history. I’d like to think this section influenced Mike Hill and Whyte House Productions to pick up the torch and follow through with The Man Who Souled the World, a documentary about Rocco, but for all I know that may just be me being a pompous fuckin’ ass (oddly enough, the hypothetical working title for the unrealized documentary I’d had in my head at the time was “The Man Who Would Be King”).

Regardless, the film suitably lays out the history of Rocco, from his lowly origins as a freestyle skateboarder to his revolutionary takeover of the industry in the late ’80s and early ’90s and his eventual “cashing out” in the late ’90s. Most all facets of his conglomeration are covered, including Big Brother (the DVD also has an entire bonus feature dedicated to the “worst” of Big Brother with interview clips from Jeff Tremaine, Marc McKee, Rick Kosick, Earl Parker and myself), with a lot of never before seen footage from those early days when video cameras were not yet the ubiquitous norm. Appropriately, former Big Brother subscription manager, Wee Man, handles the storybook narrative chores with his usual aplomb.

The only real downside to the documentary is that a few key people—primarily George Powell, Stacy Peralta, Spike Jonze, Rick Howard, Walter Sims and I’m guessing Brad Dorfman, too—declined to be interviewed on the subject of Rocco and their past involvement with him, but there’s a wealth of others that fill in some crucial historical blanks, like Jason Lee, Mike Vallely, John Lucero, and Rodney Mullen, not to mention a great quote from Tony Magnusson where he draws a parallel comparison between the accomplishments of Hitler and Rocco.

The historical time line of events does get blurred on occasion, e.g. the inclusion of Johnny Knoxville’s self-defense weaponry tests from the second Big Brother video, number two, which was produced a year after Rocco sold the mag off to Larry Flynt, but that’s just nitpicking, really. The upside is a lot of the clips shown from these old videos will never make it onto respectable DVD form, so here’s the next best place to find it.

What’s most important about Rocco, perhaps even more so than the sizable imprint his foot left on the ass of skateboarding, is that he inspired many of those around him to not simply take no for an answer-a shit-ass legacy that lives on to this very day.

For those not fortunate to have lived this raw time period in skateboarding history, this is a great look at the lawless fun that was and will likely never be again. For further information: http://www.themanwho.com

If you’re interested in seeing what all jackass bits came from or were inspired by previous Big Brother video segments, here’s a random sampling:

Knoxville’s Skateboard Drop-In

Johnny Coxville

Pontius’ Jock Strap

Steve-O’s Street Fishing