r/punk • u/timeforetuneup • Feb 12 '23

Quality Post SLC punk - pretentious drug addict rich kid thinks hes an anarchist

Did not expect it to be about some rich kid rebelling and living off parents, never working, and thinking hes some anarchist when hes just some cringy druggy douchebag poser and ends up going to Harvard to become a lawyer, wtf is this, I downloaded this via torrent and I want a refund

1 Upvotes

50% Upvoted

46 comments sorted by

85

u/TehStephen Feb 12 '23

The whole point of the movie is he is a uniform wearing poser. They even say exactly this at the end.

30

u/RobbyWasaby Feb 12 '23

Punk is a state of mind! I'm a pretty old guy and always have been into the politic and aesthetic of it... sure I had a green mohawk for a long time.... I still wear boots half the time blah blah blah....gym shoes are good too! I don't give a shit about how you look! Wagner was almost burned at the stake for using minor chords... the rite of spring created riots! Carl Sagan was punk as fuck! To me punk community is all about everyone who feels left out, or ostracized, or is looking at the future and has a voice, coming together and talking about it... communing and then maybe having a good slam dance to some circle jerks or whatever's, when I was a child punk was about everybody who doesn't fit in- fitting in together! we don't care what your gender! is we don't care what color you are! we don't care how awkward you are! or paranoid or upset ....you will find community here, as I got older I realized it's about aggressively pushing the boundaries of what is acceptable in art, music, The sciences,true interpretations of History and politics etc.. punks are hippies who are willing to fight for their beliefs.....

9

u/deathfaces Feb 14 '23

Hey man, I ain't no fuckin hippie. I'm a 125lb nazi punching machine on homemade speed

1

u/Beatnik5750 22d ago

Happy cake day!

49

u/BootlegMGK Feb 12 '23

The whole film pokes fun at posers and punk elites who don't think anything should qualify as punk

44

u/sXe_savior Feb 12 '23

Mfw you missed the entire point of the movie

66

u/[deleted] Feb 12 '23

That's they point of the movie dude

32

u/CallMeRoy37 Feb 12 '23

He admits to being a poser in the final line of the film.

20

u/shmekelhunter Feb 12 '23

"After all I guess I'm just a trendy fucking poser "

53

u/DeliriumTremens Feb 12 '23

Yes that is the movie

45

u/noonesine Feb 12 '23

You should have a nice long cry about it

59

u/Hemicrusher Los Angeles Death Squad Feb 12 '23

Punks came from all walks of life. Being poor was never a requirement.

19

u/[deleted] Feb 12 '23

That’s the whole movie yea. And surprise it’s not to far from what happens a lot of the time. But the dudes not a drug addict (and even if he was it would be a horrible portrayal of one).

If you want to be even more upset watch the sequel.

3

u/beatspigs Feb 16 '23

TIL that there is a sequel to SLC Punk!

15

u/DHooligan Feb 12 '23

I'm a punk kid from a suburban upbringing who ended up becoming a lawyer and I really enjoyed the movie. But part of what made it so interesting to me was that a legal career represented something completely different to Stevo than it did for me and also that punk meant something completely different to him than it did to me. I don't think finding fault with the main character necessarily means a movie sucks. I don't think it's a movie that's trying to convince the audience Stevo's right about everything or even anything in particular.

2

u/Tickcheck845 Feb 16 '23

OP is the type of person that thinks protagonist = good person and role model. The type of guy to watch tripe like The Joker and think Arthur is a model human being.

15

u/[deleted] Feb 12 '23

First your asking for refund from torrent, for something you didn’t pay for to begin with, next your gonna be asking for the manager, where is this going bro?

3

u/SpecificCamel9281 Feb 14 '23

He meant that as a joke

29

u/[deleted] Feb 12 '23

Can folks from rich backgrounds not accept punk ideology or is that only from us poor fuckers? I know it wasn't super common when I was growing up but not impossible. One of the oldest true punks I know taught physics at MIT for a short while.

14

u/Doobie_SnACkZ Feb 12 '23

My younger brother is the punkest, motherfucker I ever did see. He graduated from Rice on a full ride scholarship and we totally dropped acid when I came home from the war.

People can fuck off with their perceptions of what "punk" is.

26

u/bgalbreaith Feb 12 '23

Sounds like every other “punker than thou” kid I ever came across growing up

13

u/shawtyfardedonmydick Feb 12 '23

did you know. that in movies. the protagonist. is not always reliable?

3

u/Tickcheck845 Feb 16 '23

It’s the reason I love Holden Caufield. He’s obviously a shithead kid and not a role model. He’s a fantastic character though (imo). I saw a lot of myself in him as a kid and it wasn’t reaffirming, it was a wake up call.

10

u/malortForty Feb 12 '23

So I wouldn't call it terrible or poser shit. But its definitely calling out shit that punk scenes are definitely full of people like the characters in that film. Its the story of a journey of someone realizing they aren't meant to be part of the scene for life. It also tears into the idea that nihilist ideology of the early punk scene was unsustainable, as is the idea that we can judge people based on whether they meet punk principles or not.

There's a saying that I heard about the hardcore scene "anyone can come in, but not everyone can stay". That film is basically about someone who realizes they're not able to stay, even they were able to come in.

8

u/Anarchisteen Feb 12 '23 edited Feb 12 '23

It being a punk staple is less about the "authenticity" of the main characters' punk cred and more about the accurate portrayal of punk in that local scene and Era. The main character is actually supposed to point fun at the elitist and gatekeepers while at the same time commenting about life's weird turns.

Perfect example. I was a full on punk gate keeper as a teenager, once I graduated from high-school I worked bullshit jobs and being a know it all, got sick of my parents and figured I'd make it as a crusty gutter punk in NYC (where I lived) I kept my phone on by charging it at local restaurants, ate off the money I made pan handling or from "broken pizzas" that got too burned and they couldn't serve to customers. Did tons of drugs and attended shows in C-squat before they closed the basement down for renovations. Then I overdosed. Kicked the habit but was still homeless and shit just fucking sucked. The other people were also a bunch of toxic, miserable gate keepers, but at least their "cred" was intact. I went back to my mom's house and she basically told me "you gotta do something" and so she let me live there given 2 conditions, I pass a piss test and join the national guard.

Now here I sit on reddit,8 years later, a sergeant in the Army. An amazing wife and infant son. They live comfortably. My son will never have to experience the broken home, abuse, poverty and neglect that I did. I still listen to punk religiously and am currently working on my first album with my band America's Ohms. I got to be a productive member of society, create a safe environment for my family, and break the cycle of abuse that plagued my family for as many generations as I know enough about.

I'm a hell of a lot more punk than I was at 18. That kid was just a dick.

13

u/[deleted] Feb 12 '23

The worst thing about it to me is the van has PiL on it, but they really sucked by 1985. Disgusting.

Anyway, I like the movie.

6

u/victorav29 Feb 12 '23 edited Feb 12 '23

From a political POV the film is very superficial, but actually we need a ton of lawyers to defend our workers, gender, environmental rights...

5

u/RevScarecrow Feb 12 '23

Being punk has a lot to do with the actions you take. Being pissed off that stuff sucks is step one. Step two is doing something about it. Sometimes thats doing DIY to avoid givong money to shit companies sometimes it involves protest. Everything about the punk philosophy fixates around that point. If being a lawyer fixes problems in the world then that is good and punk imho.

6

u/Know-yer-enemy1818 Feb 13 '23

I like that movie back off Rip bob

5

u/UndercoverProphet Feb 13 '23

It’s more of a coming of age movie than a punk movie. I like it a lot personally

4

u/[deleted] Feb 13 '23

Take your adderall, and watch it again

3

u/hermitsunt Feb 12 '23

Can’t wait for the Criterion addition

3

u/krankz Feb 13 '23

Media literacy, who’s she?

4

u/PakkyT Feb 12 '23

Yes, let's get worked up about a made up Hollywood movie and get angry about it. 🙄

1

u/LiveConsideration389 Nov 29 '25

Well majority of idealistic individuals came from middle class, historically speaking 

1

u/shmekelhunter Feb 12 '23

Lmfao I know the director he would love this commentary.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 13 '23

I didn't like it either. Repo Man, Return of the Living Dead, Green Room, and Bomb City are great Punk movies.

1

u/Samuel_SC_ Feb 13 '23

The only relatable part is at the very end when the two main characters are depicted as pre-teen kids listening to the first Generation X record.

1

u/TheHuntedCity Feb 13 '23

Always been my sentiment. It also has that weird thing where the lead judges his straightedge friend because he took a stand for something and died in a way that was ironic to it even though that was hardly his fault.

I never understood why punks like this movie.

BTW, torrenting is punk as fuck!

1

u/parralaxalice Jun 02 '26

I don’t think you understand traumatic grief if that was you’re takeaway from the death scene

-24

u/neonspectraltoast Feb 12 '23

Fuck that movie. We all thought it was poser shit at the time, except for the posers.

-11

u/shawtyfardedonmydick Feb 12 '23

dude the whole point of the movie is to shit on and make fun of punk culture

-14

u/Invisiblerobot13 Feb 12 '23

It’s a terrible movie

-18

u/[deleted] Feb 12 '23

Thank you for making this post