A pissin', poopin' punk rocker

HATED (1994)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

For sheer exploitation and uneven shock value, "Hated" is one shockumentary to end all shockumentaries. It is beyond shock value, it is a repellent, disgusting foray into the life of a man who remains as enigmatic as Oskar Schindler.

G.G. Allin, who died in 1993 of a drug overdose, was not just any punk rock musician - he took the limits of a live performance beyond what almost any musician would ever dare or attempt on stage. G.G. would relieve himself on stage, eat his own feces, pummel his forehead with a microphone, insert bananas in his ass, batter and provoke the audience members, and in general cause havoc and sometimes actual riots (he also managed to sing some of his own songs during his violent outbursts). He would often be arrested for his obscene behavior at every performance, thus allowing him to state that the country is trying to get rid of good old rock n'roll.

G.G. explains his reasons for such extreme behavior, albeit rather ambiguous reasons. G.G. claims he is trying to bring back the danger in rock and roll. But is this not punk rock music? And since when does bodily fluids and punching your fans in the face constitute as anything more than sheer stupidity? And you thought Sid Vicious went too far! Is it no wonder that G.G. was arrested?

"Hated" has a few interviews with the people in G.G.'s life, including G.G.'s brother (who seems saner and is a member of the Murder Junkies band), his pals from high school, schoolteachers, former band members repulsed by his behavior, and a major fan who read about G.G's high-wire antics in an ad and said, "Yeah, this is cool. That is punk rock."

"Hated" succeeds in being shocking but there is relatively scant insight into the man. As a band member states, "Society has no place for G.G." If that is so, then how does G.G. feel about himself? He hates everybody but does he hate himself? Does someone have to hate themselves to perform outrageous acts of indecency? And what exactly does G.G. think he is accomplishing on stage? Is his feeling of a sick society reflected in the fact that he can punch one of his fans in the face and they keep coming back for more by standing up and cheering him on? Perhaps, but what is so rebellious about taking a dump and then eating it? Divine got there first in 1972 on celluloid, but so what? That we are all animals? I would have liked to have seen G.G. talk about his performance strategy and what he is trying to convey, if anything, through his music. All I understood was that G.G. was the ultimate shock rebel and likes to roam from city to city with a paper bag and the same pair of clothes, but like all artists whose sole intent is to shock, what is G.G. rebelling against? His only intent seems to be to provoke people, angering them and turning them against themselves. There is a segment showing an early performance where he provokes a woman and ends up hitting her.

Directed by Todd Phillips (who went on to make gross-out comedies like "The Hangover"), "Hated" is often compelling but it succeeds more as pure shock value than as an insightful, illuminating portrait of a madman on and off the stage.