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Style Wars Trivia Quiz

To the wider public, graffiti was a crime; to its practitioners, it was an art. The film "Style Wars" explored the scene. (Please note: since the graffiti writers go by nicknames in the film, I use the same here.) Try a quiz on this acclaimed movie.

A multiple-choice quiz by neon000. Estimated time: 5 mins.

Author
neon000

Time
5 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
256,295

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Tough

Avg Score
5 / 10

Plays
201

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. A certain slang term, which appeared repeatedly in the film, would be sprayed by a graffiti artist over someone else's writing. It was considered an insult to the other person and their designs. What was it? Hint

Toy

Ha ha ha

Oops

Loser

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Question 2 of 10

2. Graffiti may appear anywhere, but the film focused on what type of surface? Hint

Racquetball courts

Parking lots

Shop walls

Train cars

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Question 3 of 10

3. Graffiti artists took on nicknames that reflected their personalities or the things they liked to do. What was the nickname of breakdancer Richard Colon, who appeared in the film? Hint

Crazy Legs

Mr. Sneakers

Crazy Feet

Footwork

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Question 4 of 10

4. One section of the film took its name from a comment by graffiti writer 'Skeme'. He wanted to do things that could be seen by riders of any train route in the city. How did he describe the plan? Hint

Destroy all lines

Make my name heard

Get my name up in lights

The express line to fame

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Question 5 of 10

5. The "whole car" graffiti design was considered one of the most coveted goals in the subculture. Which of the following painted the surface of an entire train car, not once but three times, from 1978 to 1980? Hint

Mare

Frosty Freeze

Dondi

Seen

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Question 6 of 10

6. The documentary was set in New York. Who was the city's mayor at the time of the film? Hint

David Dinkins

Edward Koch

Rudolph Giuliani

Michael Bloomberg

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Question 7 of 10

7. Which graffiti artist in the film talked about his delight in simply adding his own nickname to other people's writing, as a nuisance? Hint

Cap

Dez

Skeme

Frosty Freeze

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Question 8 of 10

8. Who directed the film? Hint

Henry Chalfant and Tony Silver

Spike Lee

Penelope Spheeris

Tony Jaa

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Question 9 of 10

9. What ironic design by graffiti artist 'Dez' once appeared on a Broadway local train? Hint

A police officer glaring at the names of Dez and friends

A giant pair of handcuffs, over a picture of spray paint cans

A judge at a courtroom bench

A self-portrait of the graffiti writer on a stage, with the words "On Broadway"

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Question 10 of 10

10. Who was the last person interviewed on screen? Hint

A maintenance man who talked about cleaning up graffiti

A graffiti writer who said he wanted to settle down

A city official who viewed graffiti as a public nuisance

A police officer who talked about arresting graffiti writers

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

Answer: Toy

To spray "toy" on someone else's graffiti was considered very rude. It meant that the other person and their paint pieces could be "toyed" with. In the eyes of the people who did it, graffiti was not just for the way it looked; it was a way for working-class youth to establish an identity, and to claim something as their own.

2. Graffiti may appear anywhere, but the film focused on what type of surface?

Answer: Train cars

The film took place in New York, where graffiti covered the subway lines for years. In the 1980s and 1990s, the city undertook massive cleanup efforts.

3. Graffiti artists took on nicknames that reflected their personalities or the things they liked to do. What was the nickname of breakdancer Richard Colon, who appeared in the film?

Answer: Crazy Legs

"Crazy Legs" was a member of the Rock Steady Crew. He appeared in a number of other films and video games from the 1980s to the 2000s.

Answer: Destroy all lines

To a graffiti writer, "destroy all lines" meant to spray pieces all over as many trains as possible. This enabled them to be seen by train riders in every part of the city, every day. Even if many New Yorkers never met Cap, Frosty Freeze and the rest in person, they knew their names from the subway cars.

The phrase "Destroy All Lines" appeared as a title card to introduce Skeme's comments and other footage.

Answer: Dondi

Dondi's three-car span was entitled "Children of the Grave". Donald 'Dondi' White was the subject of the biography, "Style Master General", written by Andrew and Michael White in 2001. Donald passed away due to AIDS in 1998. He was 37.

6. The documentary was set in New York. Who was the city's mayor at the time of the film?

Answer: Edward Koch

Koch was born in the Bronx in 1924. He served as mayor of New York City from 1978 to 1989.

7. Which graffiti artist in the film talked about his delight in simply adding his own nickname to other people's writing, as a nuisance?

Answer: Cap

'Cap' bragged about how he ruined many others' graffiti pieces just by scrawling in his own name somewhere on things they'd painted. This quickly ruined the look of whatever came before. Also, it was an easy way to make Cap's own name known to the public. Other graffiti writers didn't like it, but there was little they could do to stop such a simple device.

8. Who directed the film?

Answer: Henry Chalfant and Tony Silver

Chalfant was also the author of two books on the graffiti phenomenon. They were "Spray Can Art" and "Subway Art".

9. What ironic design by graffiti artist 'Dez' once appeared on a Broadway local train?

Answer: A police officer glaring at the names of Dez and friends

Dez, also called Dezzy Dez, sprayed his name and those of two friends, and at the far edge of the picture, added the figure of a cop. The officer was raising a nightstick with one hand, and with the other, pressing his cap to his head. Although graffiti was against the law, it remained an 'underground' way of expressing oneself, and some of the more elaborate pieces did have an oddball sense of humor.

10. Who was the last person interviewed on screen?

Answer: A city official who viewed graffiti as a public nuisance

This man gave an opinion which was echoed by many older city residents in the 1970s and 1980s. Commuters were daily confronted by the sight of graffiti designs all over the trains. The government responded to complaints by running cleanup initiatives in the 1980s and 1990s.

Source: Author neon000

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor Nannanut before going online.
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