"In this half-hour documentary, Producer Sandra King provides an intimate portrait of a public phenomenon: Graffiti. Over an 18 month period, King and her crew followed the teenage members of a graffiti 'crew,' Vandals on the Street, as they painted and rapped and moved through the streets of downtown Newark. What emerges is a unique glimpse behind the 'tags' at the kind of inner city kids who write on walls, but who also make art; who create out of wedlock children, but who also form binding relationships; who drop out of school and never read a book, but who create their own brand of poetry through the medium of 'rap.' "Too Sweet Hakeem and his friends may seem to be part of an alien sort of urban subculture, but they are actually reaching for the same things, the same success and recognition as everyone else. "'The Writing on the Wall['] allows its subjects to speak for themselves; this is a real documentary--no reporter, no narration. And what becomes clear is that whether or not they can ever achieve it, the American dream is very real to Hakeem and his Vandals on the Street."--1986 Peabody Awards entry form. Footage of councilman Ron L. Rice talking with schoolchildren and encouraging them not to do graffiti. Architect / artist Phil Danzig talks about the origins of graffiti. Art historian John Carlin talks about the impulse behind graffiti. Gallery director Roberta Crane talks about the nuisance aspects as well as the artistic aspects of the form. Joyce Goldman, director of the Division of Buildings and Grounds for the County of Essex, talks about the negative aspects of graffiti for public property. Photographer/filmmaker Henry Chalfont describes the influence of New York on graffiti styles. Hakeem shares his philosophies and art processes; other members of VOS are also profiled. The program talks to city officials and art experts as well who analyze New Jersey graffiti and share their opinions on its validity as an art form or a public nuisance. The program also features musical performances by VOS.
