A cornerstone of Gen-X culture was the fear of “selling out.” Joy was not tied to the clutches of capitalism. You made art for the love of the game, not for profit. Nirvana, the standard-bearers of the entire generation, famously kept their ticket prices low, criticizing the artists who exploited their fans.

That kind of anti-profit mindset drives the narrative of the 1996 Disney Channel Original Movie Brink!, a loose adaptation of the 1865 Dutch children’s novel Hans Brinker, or the Silver Skates. Andy “Brink” Brinker (Eric von Detten) is a young high school student who skates strictly for fun. His friend group is known as the “Soul-Skaters,” eschewing monetary gain in favor of their love of the game.

A rival group of high schoolers skate for Team X-Bladz, which pays them a salary, along free with gear and promotional opportunities. Team X-Bladz is led by Val (Sam Horrigan), a vicious bully unafraid to cheat to achieve his objectives. Val sees his teammates as a commodity, victory his only lodestar.

The Brinker household is put under financial strain when Andy’s father, Ralph (David Graf), suffers an injury at work. With his father’s disability pay coming to an end, and an uncertain future at his construction job, Andy joins Team X-Bladz, leaving his friends out to dry at the upcoming Invitational. Andy leaves everyone in the dark, including his father, who forbade him to try out for Team X-Bladz, instead finding employment for his son at the local dog groomer, Pup ‘N Suds.

Brink! is a decidedly anti-capitalist narrative that goes to great lengths to avoid engaging with the financial reality of the Brinker family, undercutting the film’s valuable warnings to future influencer generations. Andy is a phenomenal skater. Even Val, the stereotypical high school bully, acknowledges the raw talent of his carefree rival.

The real antagonist in Brink! is the American healthcare system. Director Greg Beeman covers for capitalism in several peculiar ways. Val’s villainy is amped up to the point of absurdity. Jimmy (Geoffrey Blake), the owner of Team X-Bladz, is not a bad dude at all. He’s actually quite pleasant in all of his interactions with Andy. His only real crime is putting control of his expensive team in the hands of a vicious high school student.

The other members of Team X-Bladz are also not bad people. Boomer (Walter Emmanuel Jones, an original Power Ranger) is quite nice to the Soul-Skaters. The film tries hard to promote an anti-capitalist message, at odds with the reality that Val, who possesses a tenuous grasp on the levers of Team X-Bladz, is the film’s only bad guy.

The film also bends over backwards to craft a scenario that makes the perpetually affable Brink into a bad guy. Andy was trying to do the right thing by helping his father out. His main crime was lying to his friends, particularly defecting to a rival team ahead of the Invitational, itself a precursor to the Championship (neither tournament has any name more specific than that).

The narrative loses a bit of steam when Andy’s lies catch up to him. His friends shun him, even after he explains his parents’ financial situation. To them, refusing sponsorships was something they all did together, because money would dilute their enjoyment of the sport.

The film’s through line boils down to “Skating is what we do. It’s not who we are.” Brink achieved this revelation after his father confessed to having put too much of his own identity into his job. The message is clear. Work and play are separate.

In a fairy tale world, this theme might make some sense. The problem is that film doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Even in 1998, Brink! is dealing with broader safety-net issues that still plague America to this day.

The “Soul-Skaters” are supposed to be the good guys. But Jimmy and his Team X-Bladz aren’t really villains besides Val. Andy’s friends on the other hand, refuse to forgive Andy until he rejects his opportunity for financial gain. Andy is the best skater among them, presented with a real chance to help benefit his family. His real friends stood in the way of that, a theme endorsed by the film’s narrative.

Gen-X hated selling out. Gen-X can also afford homes. The idea of suppressing monetizable skills in favor of some purity test is fine in the abstract.

But Brink! is a film made by Gen-X for predominantly millennial audiences. Few millennials have the same safety nets that were already disappearing in the 90s. The influencer era has opened so many doors for artists and athletes to monetize their talents.

Is that really so wrong? Brink! is a fun film. Von Detten has a certain charm that makes him easy to root for. This film tackles big themes, among the more ambitious efforts of the 90s DCOM output.

Andy Brink has a lot of integrity. Brink! as a film leaves a lot to be desired on that front. High school is a period where children start to grow up. Capitalism is an unavoidable aspect of reality. Unfortunately, for many, so is selling out. Gen-X might think that’s lame, but people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones at future generations, most of whom can’t afford any house at all.