The Punks are Alright!

Punk music brings an interesting perspective to world issues, characterized by a rebellious attitude and DIY. In most cases, a rebellious attitude may have a negative connotation, but in this case the rebellious attitude and different mindset of the community of punk listeners brings forth many problems in society. Religion is always being debated throughout the world, but in the movie, Henrike brought forth an interesting issue that he runs into every time he goes to church. He talked in the movie about going to church with a mohawk and the priest at the church being fully accepting of him, saying as long as he is faithful then it doesn't matter what type of hair he has. But regardless, every time he goes into church he talked about strange looks that he got from two older ladies because of his stylistic choice with his hair. Despite the fact that he was coming to church for the same purpose as the women, he was judged just by the way he looked in a religious community where all that is supposed to matter is a shared belief in the same faith. Punk-rockers everywhere also express their unique perspectives in political debates. A huge debate has always been how powerful big business should be in the United States and the rest of the world. Because of the cheaper land and the lesser wages paid due to a number of factors in other countries, bigger businesses tend to buy factories or other manufacturing plants in other countries with extremely unfair worker rights and awful wages. In the movie, a perfect example of this was given through Dali, a punk listener in Indonesia who works in a factory owned by Nike for two dollars and sixty-five cents per day. Other than having these extremely unfair worker rights, it also hinders Indonesia from developing from some of the most awful conditions in the world to a better country. By letting businesses in the United States come into Indonesia and control a huge part of the economy it doesn't allow them to develop and promote their own businesses to the same extent. In a country that is so dependent on other countries for their economy (such as the United States businesses paying taxes) they can't be independent and embrace the DIY mindset that punk music stands for.

The movie truly opened my eyes to a lot of the negative effects of having this dependent form of economy, particularly to the children going up. Being raised in a lesser developed society exposes many children to bad influences such as the drug wars in Indonesia and Brazil. It is hard not to get sucked up in these dangerous and unhealthy aspects of life when there aren't very many other opportunities to entertain the children and keep them occupied with different activities in life. Music, such as punk, is one of the options that can, in a sense, take kids away from the bad conditions that are present where they grow up such as in Brazil and Indonesia and lead them down a better path than the one that they would otherwise take following the normal lifestyle of people growing up in lesser developed and safe areas.

I have a hard time relating to the lives of the artists in the movie directly because the situations in which they live in are very different from the life I've lived. Growing up in lesser developed, more dangerous places, like those highlighted in the movie in Brazil and Indonesia is something that I've been fortunate enough to avoid in my life. On top of that, I've always been surrounded by amazing family and friends to help guide me in the right direction. However, I can relate to the punk music that the artists pride themselves on. Particularly, I can relate to the confrontational style of the music and the rebellious lifestyle that the music talks about. I have been a part of protests and events for the point of promoting a belief and making a point. A perfect example of this occurred last summer when I participated in Pride Parade in San Francisco, not only was I there to have a good time, but also to be a part of making a point to accept anyone no matter who they choose to love or be attracted to. Even if it is rebellion to a lesser degree of some of the stories that the artists in the movies told, I have had rebellious attitudes at a variety of points throughout my childhood. My rebellious actions have ranged from staying up past my bed time without telling my parents when I was four years old to not doing a homework assignment on the day it was due. 

Looking at the larger picture, the decisions that I make effect everywhere in the world, including the places where the featured people in the movie live. As mentioned in the first paragraph, big businesses in the United States are expanding their manufacturing and production plants to other countries for monetary purposes, hindering the quality of life in the country and potentially preventing them from developing. My decision on what products I buy, like many others can affect this. If I take the confrontational and DIY mindset of punk music listeners and avoid buying as many of the products from the big businesses as possible, it will help to make a statement against the negative effects of global business. Technically, if enough people do this and big businesses have to shut down their factories in foreign countries it will technically cause people to lose their jobs, but it will force the country itself to take initiative and work towards providing jobs for businesses within the country and maybe gain more fair rights for their citizens as workers. In the overall picture, I am one very tiny peace of a huge puzzle whose decisions affects the global market, however, I am part of the connection to everyone in the movie and around all other parts of the world.