The Death of an Anarchist Pt. 2 The Industry of Culture *repost due to title screwup* (263 hits)
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Submitted by RockDocc (View user info) at 2006-08-20 00:26:44 EDT
PT.1 http://www.ubersite.com/m/91973
The Death of an Anarchist Pt. 2. The Industry of Culture.
Gil Scott Heron is famous for the line, "The Revolution will not be televised."
But in a way the opposite has happened. Nothing's given the change to brew
and develop anymore, before the media takes hold of it and grinds it to death.
Also, there's an instant commodification of everything that might develop into
something 'revolutionary.'
—Dishwasher Pete (quoted in Vale 1997:17)
Punk was about revolution against the status quo, anger at the government, and just sheer boredom with everything "normal". In Britain Punk began as youths raised their collective voices against rising unemployment, a declining economy and the hypocrisy of the rich people who seemed to lord over all of it. In America on the other hand, punk started as a middle-class revolution against boredom, against the soft rebellion of the hippies, and the commercialization of rock and roll along everything else they held dear. Punk promised a new scene, a scene that could not be capitalized on, a scene that could not be replicated, and a style that was guaranteed to shock. Unfortunately, shock wears away, with a scene comes a following, with a following comes a uniformed style; and with that style comes commercialization. When the first television commercials featuring the popular "punk" style of the late 70's and early 80's (the stereotype was Mohawk, studded jacket and "bad" attitude) the death knell for Punk as it was known had finally been rung. The establishment had found a way to capitalize on the movement that fought against everything held dear. They began to make money off of the non-conformist attitudes of the punk underground.
This in itself was not the end of Punk as music, this wasn't the end of Punk as a style, it was the death of Punk as a revolution, the death of an idea, and the birth of the commercialization of all things counter-culture. Movies began to portray punks as the heroes of the day. Outspoken but unheard, the outsider not even wanting to break in, it was the perfect hero for Hollywood. The punk portrayed in Hollywood turned from a counter culture villain into a lovable outsider, the kind of child that nearly all children who wanted to be different, emulated. This sort of popularization of the punk lifestyle that was started years earlier by both record labels and clothing designers now served to destroy the last vantage point of the "punk"; as the angry non-conformist who fought against everything the culture they were born in, espoused.
This was the end of punk as an idea. This was the end of non-conformism as a lifestyle, and the beginning of the commercialization of anti-consumerism.
More movements were to follow in punk's footsteps. Heavy Metal gave way to the commercialized Glam Metal, jeans were sold pre-ripped, jackets were pre studded, and the businessman; once the enemy of all things Non-Conformist, began to embrace the commercialized version of punk and metal. Some sporting the longer hair, a few getting tattoos and others sporting the prefab rebel look; preripped jeans and a five o' clock shadow. Punk, the counter culture revolution, and the notion of the non-conformist had given way to Uncle Jessie and W.A.S.P.
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