SLC Punk! (DVD) Print

Stevo: And so there I was. I was gonna go to Harvard. It was obvious. I was gonna be a lawyer and play in the God-damned system, and that was that. I was my old man. He knew, so what else could I do? I mean, there's no future in anarchy; I mean let's face it. But when I was into it, there was never a thought of the future. I mean we were certain the world was gonna end, but when it didn't, I had to do something, so fuck it. I could always be a litigator in New York and piss the shit out of the judges. I mean that was me: a trouble maker of the future. The guy that was one of those guys that my parents so arrogantly saved the world for, so we could fuck it up. We can do a hell of a lot more damage in the system than outside of it. That was the final irony, I think. That, and well, this. And "fuck you" for all of you who were thinking it: I guess when all was said and done, I was nothing more than a God-damned, trendy-ass poser. Stevo: Only posers die, you fucking idiot! Stevo: Posers were people who looked like punks but they did it for fashion. And they were fools, they'd say "anarchy in the UK." What the fuck's that? Anarchy in the UK. What good is that to those of us in Utah, America? It was a Sex Pistols thing. They were British, they were allowed to go on about Anarchy in the UK. You don't live your life by lyrics. Bob: You're pretty fucking weird you know that? Stevo: Do you love her? Bob: I don't know. I'd have to think about that. Stevo: It's not really a thinking question. Stevo: I like Sandy. Now Sandy has nothing to do with anarchy in general, she's just a beautiful, wonderful, funny, witty, loving, sexy, tough-as-nails, little weird girl, and I absolutely adore her. I like Sandy a lot.
 Stevo: To me, England was nothing more than a big fucking American state... like, uhh, North Dakota or Canada. Stevo: The sun never sets on the British Empire... well the sun never sets on my asshole.
 Clothing Store Woman: Can I help you? Sean: Yeah, I called about the job. Clothing Store Woman: You called? Sean: Yeah, I wanna sell clothes, women's clothes. Clothing Store Woman: I don't know. Have you ever had experience? Sean: With what? Clothing Store Woman: Women's clothes? Sean: What the fuck would I be doing with women's clothes? What do I look like a transvestite? I'm not no fucking transvestite, all right? Clothing Store Woman: No, no, no, I mean, have you ever worked in retail? Sean: Huh? Clothing Store Woman: You know, selling... clothes. Sean: Well if I was selling clothes already, what would I be doing here? I really don't think this is the right way to start a working relationship. You got a real, a real bad attitude, lady. In fact I don't even wan't your job, I don't care how much you'd pay me, cause I got integrity, in-fucking-tegrity. WAAAH.
 Stevo: What do you do when your foundation falls apart? I don't know. They don't teach you that in school. Mark: This looks like a silver record, but it’s not a silver record. It’s a laser disc! Heroin Bob: Well, it's a crazy fucked up world and we're all just floating along waiting for someone who can walk on water, man. Sean: Satan is in the house. He killed my mom... and turned her into a bull. Stevo: There's nothing going on. That's what I saw when I looked out over the city: nothing. How the Mormon settlers looked upon this valley and felt that it was the promised land is beyond me. I don't know, maybe it looked different back then. Stevo: The Fight: What does it mean and where does it come from? An Essay: Homosapien. A man. He is alone in the universe. A punker. Still a man. He is alone in the universe, but he connects. How? They hit each other. No clearer way to evaluate whether or not you're alive. Now. Complications. A reason to fight. Somebody different. Difference creates dispute. Dispute is a reason to fight. Now, to fight is a reason to feel pain. Life is pain. So to fight with reason is to be alive with reason. Final analysis: To fight, a reason to live. Problems and Contradictions: I am an anarchist. I believe that there should be no rules, only chaos. Fighting appears to be chaos. And when we slam in the pit a show it is. But when we fight for a reason, like rednecks, there's a system, we fight for what we stand for, chaos. Fighting is a structure, fighting is to establish power, power is government and government is not anarchy. Government is war and war is fighting. The circle goes like this: our redneck skirmishes are cheap perversions of conventional warfare. War implies extreme government because wars are fought to enforce rules or ideals, even freedom. But other people ideals forced on someone else, even if it is something like freedom, is still a rule; not anarchy. This contradiction was becoming clear to me in the fall of '85. Even as early as my first party, "Why did I love to fight?" I framed it, but still, I don't understand it. It goes against my beliefs as a true anarchist. But there it was. Competition, fighting, capitalism, government, THE SYSTEM. That's what we did. It's what we always did. Rednecks kicked the shit out of punks, punks kicked the shit out of mods, mods kicked the shit out of skinheads, skinheads took out the heavy metal guys, and the heavy metal guys beat the living shit out of new wavers and the new wavers did nothing. What was the point? Final summation? None. [Stevo and Mark are laying on Mark’s waterbed together] Mark: This one is a waterbed. But it’s not a normal waterbed, because a normal one goes like this [makes a wave motion with his hand]. Lots of waves. Funny thing is, this one doesn’t have any waves. Stevo: Well, why didn’t you just buy a normal mattress… that doesn’t have waves? Mark: This one doesn’t have waves. Stevo: You see life is like that. We change, that's all. You see, the guy I am now is not the guy I was then. If the guy I was then met the guy I am now he'd beat the shit out of me. Those are the facts. Stevo: Wait, time out. I just wanted to ask real quick, if I can. You believe in rebellion, freedom and love, right? Mom: Absolutely, yes. Dad: Rebellion, freedom, love. Stevo: You two are divorced. So love failed. Two: Mom, you're a New Ager, clinging to every scrap of Eastern religion that may justify why the above said love failed. Three: Dad, you're a slick, corporate, preppy-ass lawyer. I don't really have to say anything else about you do I dad? Four: You move from New York City, the Mecca and hub of the cultural world to Utah! Nowhere! To change nothing! More to perpetuate this cycle of greed, fascism and triviality. Your movement of the people, by and for the people got you... nothing! You just hide behind some lost sense of drugs, sex and rock and roll. Ooooh, Kumbaya! I am the future! I am the future of this great nation which you, father, so arrogantly saved this world for. Look, I have my own agenda. Harvard, out. University of Utah, in. I'm gonna get a 4.0 in damage. I love you guys! Don't get me wrong, it's all about this. But for the first time in my life, I'm 18 and I can say "FUUUUUCK YOU!" Dad: Steven, I didn't sell out son. I bought in. Keep that in mind. That kid's gonna make a hell of a lawyer, huh? Mom: Yeah, he takes after his father. He's a son of a bitch. Dad: Fuck you, dear. from ’SLC Punk!’ (1998) Starring Junior (Ashley’s Black Friday), Hugo Stiglitz (“I’m Clive Owen.”’s King Arthur), Frank (Donnie Darko), Annabeth Gish (Paxton’s Last Supper), Shaggy (Waters’ Serial Mom), Michael A. Goorjian (Forever Young), Jennifer Lien (Janeway’s Voyager), Jason Segel (Freaks and Geeks), Summer Phoenix (DuVall’s Faculty), Adam Pascal (School of Rock), McNally Sagal (Pleasantvile), and Shooter McGavin (“You eat shit for breakfast?”). Written and Directed by James Merendino (Death Club). SLC Punk! is a 1998 American comedy-drama film written and directed by James Merendino. The film is about the young punk rock fan Steven "Stevo" Levy, a college graduate living in Salt Lake City. The character is portrayed as a punk in the mid-1980s. SLC Punk! was chosen as the opening-night feature at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival. Merendino created the film based on his experience growing up in Salt Lake City. Although the film is not autobiographical, Merendino has said that many characters were based on people he knew. Source: Wikipedia