The Decline of Western Civilization

Director Penelope Spheeris' controversial documentary The Decline of Western Civilization, about the Los Angeles hard-core punk rock scene circa 1980, was perceived as shocking by some, even prompting the L.A. police chief Daryl Gates to request banning all screenings of the film. Despite the qualms, the work remains a bracing historical and musical record of that culture, mixing outrageous performances and whirling mosh-pits with far more restrained interviews. Featured bands include Black Flag, Fear, X, The Germs and Circle Jerks. Scenes of older club owners making game attempts to describe this new type of music prove comic highlights.

Spheeris made two other musical documentaries in this trilogy, chronicling the hair-metal and gutter-punk scenes, and — in a definite change of pace — the 1992 Wayne's World.

The Decline of Western Civilization was added to the National Film Registry in 2016.