Is ‘SLC Punk’ Still Rocking After 25 Years?

The cult classic SLC Punk is turning 25. The young punk film has grown up now. It’s gone to college and has a kid that we don’t talk about (there is a sequel but we pretend it doesn’t exist). Debuting in Germany in September 1998 and April 1999 in the United States, SLC Punk brought a counterculture movement to movie theaters. Written and directed by James Merendino, the movie stars Matthew Lillard, Michael Goorjian, Devon Sawa, future Broadway star Adam Pascal, and a baby-faced Jason Segel. And it totally rocked.

The movie takes place in Salt Lake City, Utah, otherwise known as the conservative Mormon capital of the world. In the fall of 1985, two young college-age punks Steveo (Lillard) and “Heroin” Bob (Michael Goorjian) were just trying to live their anarchist dream. Their industrial apartment lacks furniture. The wall decor is mainly graffiti and defaced pictures of then-president Ronald Reagan. They party, listen to underground punk bands, beat up neo-Nazis, and defend their lifestyle eloquently to anyone who will listen.

But as the fall draws to a close, things start to feel different. Many are shifting out of the punk scene into other things or growing up and moving on from the SLC. It all culminates with Bob’s death from an accidental overdose. Steveo is adrift yet sees the end of the era for what it was. The last scene features Steveo in a suit and a shaved head eulogizing Bob and their punk days. He decides the only thing he can do is go to Harvard Law School like his parents want, but he’ll still try to bring the system down from within.

Punk’s not dead

We all have that movie that we saw, and it changed our lives completely. For me, watching SLC Punk as a baby teen shifted something deep into my core. Before watching the movie, I was just getting into punk music, clothes, and culture. My first aim username was “RancidGrrrl,” to honor the band Rancid and the Riot Grrrl movement. (I know, I was super cool.) When I watched SLC Punk from my bedroom in a small town, I wanted to shout “Yes! this! this is me!” I was both in love with and wanted to be Steveo.

Having not seen the movie in years, I was nervous about watching it again. I didn’t want it to be full of things I now know are terrible but may have once overlooked. Seeing SLC Punk brought on a huge wave of nostalgia that I was not expecting. It was probably my most emotional viewing of the movie. There were a couple of uses of a certain homophobic slur that used to be said a lot, but other than that, I think the movie holds up. Not liking Regan Republicans and neo-Nazis is still something we should all be doing. Sticking to your ideals and living your truth is also something to be admired. And everyone should be supporting indie bands.

Steveo’s closing monologue hits harder now more than ever. He reflects on how the anarchist lifestyle isn’t sustainable, no matter how much you want it to be. We all have to get jobs at some point. However, you don’t have to give up who you are to do that. Steveo points out “We can do a hell of a lot more damage in the system than outside of it. That was the final irony.” Some of us may no longer wear spikes and razor blades (only our hairstyles remain the same), but that doesn’t mean that young punk isn’t still alive and well inside of us. Or maybe it is what Steveo said in the closing line of the movie, “I guess when all was said and done, I was nothing more than a God-damned, trendy-ass poser.”

(featured image: Sony Pictures Classics)