NatGeo’s Inside Straight Edge
National Geographic Channel, available here on Astro, aired an episode entitled Inside Straight-Edge, a look at the movement in the US.
“Inside Straight Edge,” a powerful hourlong documentary airing tonight on the National Geographic Channel, explores the two faces of this growing youth culture: positive, tight-knit communities that try to set an example through abstinence; and more militant, fanatical groups that use their intense focus on wiping out substance abuse as justification for violence.
Sonic Youth frontman Thurston Moore narrates the documentary. His presence may help the filmmakers attract an audience interested in a youth movement that’s becoming more prevalent – and harder to define.
The term straight edge was first used in 1981 by the punk band Minor Threat. Their 45-second song “Straight Edge,” famous for the line, “I’ve got the straight edge,” unintentionally sparked the beginning of a movement focused on self-control and protest.
The images associated with straight edge are punk rockers with Mohawks, hardcore kids with tattoos covering their arms and legs, and skaters with X’s written on their hands. The message of abstinence is spread at high-energy concerts, where teens bond over their commitment and release pent-up energy and frustration from the pressures of being young.
Straight edge has grown exponentially over the past few decades and has even become something of the norm in certain towns and cities across the country. “Inside Straight Edge” looks at three cities where the movement is substantial: Boston, Salt Lake City, and Reno.” – read more here – boston.com
Here’s a review from someone who’s seen the screener: blogs.rgj.com
I do wonder if that got shown here on Astro too, but I don’t have fooking Astro to start with! Hopefully someone would put it on torrent soon.
Straight edge–huh–don’t get me started now…I was never very receptive to the idea–mainly because I feel it’s just another unneccesary label for the word ‘positivity’ or ‘clean-living’-am I saying it’s less HC or ‘Punk’-not at all, because you can be whatever way you want to be in the punk /HC ‘scene’- that’s the beauty of it.If you wanna go around with an ‘X’ drawn on your hand and go Hardcore dancing with all the other tough guys–cool–if you wanna drink vodka and smoke a shitload of dope before a show –cool-from a sociological and musical standpoint, it’s interestingly surprising how diverse the SxE scene became–you had the Hare krishna bullshit of Shelter, you had the old-school grindcore of Monster X and you had the right-wing vigilanteism of Earth Crisis–and it’s at this particular extreme where it does in fact become less HC/punk in my opinion because it has been hijacked by right-wing nutjobs and transformed into something extreme beyond recognition–interesting to note that Earth Crisi was a fave band of the ‘posi-core’ (yuppiecore?) kids who hung out at CM in the mid-90’s–in their lyrics they espoused violence against drug-dealers…in which case a loooottt of people who hung out at Komplek Teruntum and Kuantan Plaza around that time woulda been injured if carried out :)-but seriously–I always wondered if that was who they meant, or was it minorities , or was it whomever did not fit their archetypical mold of purity? Their rhetoric is reminiscent of authoritarian regimes of yore ‘A firestorm to purify’?What the fuck is that and what makes them so pure–it’s just that absolutist mentality that fucks with me–but maybe I’m using a poor example…after all, Earth Crisis is probably the worst example I could use…but I don’t know–thew whole HC scene in general is a different animal than it was when I was a kid-we used to get upset if we found out a Victory band had an endorsement deal with Vans-mind you, we didn’t know the particulars of the deal-it was just a kneejerk reaction;now you have the Vans Warped Tour…and as for Victory:they have a lot to answer for for unleashing Hawthorne Heights, Silverstein and Taking Back Sunday on the world…I mean what the fuck?!!Here in Ohio,Victory for HC/punk and Metal Blade for metal are SYNONYMOUS, ONE AND THE SAME with the music industry..you just avoid them as a rule of thumb..but I digress.
Straight Edge would have helped the glue sniffin man from “pau’ing” me 2 gudang garam ciggies in komplex teruntum! ahah
geee wwwiiizz — semantics…
This sXe thing, is kinda kewl to me, I’ve got friends who wear the ‘X’ to parties to refrain from being offered booze, pills, and relentless calls of seduction! So it is rather like a “Sin Repellent” – An understood thing among party peeps “Theres no point touching those X marked girls”. And check this, my friends dont even listen to hardcore…. “Minor who?, Ian Mc Wot?”
The “militancy” side of HC Punk and sXe annoys the shit out of me. Meaningless, things like being publicly condemned for indulging in booze, or sex or even being an “Emo”. I mean, what happened to making your own ‘choices’?
And for the most, its not like everyone is in the same predicament. So who is anyone to judge?
Im definately not down with this whole violent homogenizing motion being carried out, you know, this whole blood thirst people have against people who don’t subscribe to their whatever ‘fundemental’ thingy’s….
I think that glue-sniffing guy might have been me…:)Sure he wasn’t a white guy in his early-30’s?
Unless your name was ‘Botok Mafia’ from bukit sagu, who barged into TAS studio room 1 and demanded XPDC / Amuk covers. If it was, you owe me 2 gudang garams Mr!
Nope, definitely not me.