SLC Punk

“I didn’t sell out, I bought in.” I went into writing this review the same as my others with more of a facet by facet breakdown but in writing my initial outline I realized so much of my thoughts on this movie come down to the way the narrative is crafted over casting or entertainment value so I'm going to keep the latter elements brief here. The narrative would be less spectacular had the framing of this movie not been as immersive as it has been. Mockumentaries are not new nor are films that rely on 4th wall breaks however I feel no movie has made me feel like a participant in the film as much as this movie has. Matthew Lillard as a leading man does a great job at balancing together these contemplative asides that serve as narration alongside these 4th wall breaks that integrate the viewer into the punk scene, both of which highlight the dramatic and comedic facets of this movie respectively. Both help to give this almost sociological premise a lens but he goes to make it feel very personal, with the scene at the party being exemplary of making you feel in the shoes of someone both studying and socializing with this subculture. All that aside I need to move on because as creative of an angle as this is a painting is more than its frame. This movie is very critical of the Punk Subculture but it makes sure to avoid boiling down its members to a formula, it accounts for Agency. Stevo is shown to be quite intelligent when it comes to school and Bob is capable of very deep levels of compassion and affection, outside of the call of chaos. They show that regardless of the flaws Punk may have there is room for difference within it, Punk is not inherently fatalistic, a dead end that if you don’t shake yourself off course of soon it will drag you down with it. What it does do however is show how the superficiality of it however can and it does this by showing us at least 3 paragons of relative virtue in or surrounding the scene. Trish is very outwardly Punk, she appears to have bought into what I label as superficiality. However we never see her partake in the various debates in the film regarding what is and isn’t punk. Sure she might be labeled in a way but that is assigned, not chosen, which falls in line with the age of the character, she did not adopt the label but likely served as one of its earliest prototypes. Then you have Mike, someone who exemplifies the emotions of the scene. His outbursts of rage might seem performative however we see that this anger is simply an inherent part of him, the scene is simply an outlet. His attire shows that he has no real allegiance to the subculture, his loyalty is to his emotions. His anger is intertwined by a deem amount of compassion he holds, something that when sparked leads him to pursuing an outlet with purpose. And then there is Eddie, who while not a punk, associates with the scene, with his virtue being that despite his proximity to an overwhelming culture he is simply himself. Insults do not stick to him because he knows who he is. He isn’t a poser because he claims nothing and when called homophobic remarks he takes zero offense to it because that would involve conforming to a way of thinking in which one is not only telling him who he is but also endorsing an ideology that seeks to erode others individual personhood in favor of conformity something even the punks. This all makes this movie ironically enough more open to anti-capitalist/authoritarian strings of thought than the Punks themselves are. Now this is by no means subtext but it serves a good example of how counter culture becomes commodified and erodes consciousness of one's surroundings and promotes infighting over structure action. Punk becomes a simulacrum of resistance as we put more effort into reifying our labels than into embodying the ideals they’re supposed to embody through bits of performance. And I will say at first I did think this movie was going to be very dismissive of Punk in the ways I hadn't hoped but it speaks through characters to dissuade this conclusion the most exemplary of this is Stevo’s dad. This movie does such a good job of making you feel on the ground with the culture that his father’s dismal was taken personally by me where even I, someone who doesn’t really use poser as a part of their vocabulary jumped to calling him in his head at anecdotes of his time as a Beatnik. But what prevents me from seeing the message of this movie as the inevitability of selling out and becoming a cog in a well organized machine of complacency of evil is in just how his father never once loses faith in him in fact praising him when he’s not even within earshot. The root of punk ideology is never criticized as it is the soul of all change, we simply lose track of it when it gets lost in the seas of paint we lather feelings and ideas in that turns them into ideology. While Stevo’s dad sees Stevo the Punk he also sees the dedication and emotion that make someone exemplary. And while it can seem very stuffy and out of touch to be told to “work within the system” if your alternative is spending more time fighting amongst your own over clothing rather than fighting the opposition than is tidying up your act for the masses really selling out? While I was prepared to give this movie an 8 due to the ending unfortunately not taking to me emotionally as I had hoped to do so is to miss the point. This movie, like its message, is pragmatic, the destination is never laid out, we are simply along for the ride. The stench of death loomed over this movie as was inevitable, I couldn’t expect that to surprise me. However the culmination of this movies themes as a call to be transcribed are in my eyes valuable, with their lingering effects serving as a suitable ending. Rating: Light 9 / 10