Pop Exodus: The Great Punk Direction Controversy of 2015

Carson Bear

Courtesy of Redbubble.

The story goes like this: some One Direction fan in some nether region of the Internet decided that they wanted to make bootleg t-shirts of other bands with 1D‰’s name on them.

At first, it seemed that everyone was in on the joke: these bands are not in fact the same band as One Direction. They are also often well respected among a somewhat elitist community that seriously dislikes 1D and everything it stands for. So, to put those bands‰’ logos on a shirt and brand them as One Direction is a genius move sure to offend some uppity Black Flag fan. 

Which is exactly what happened next: “The f*ck*d up thing is no one will call this cultural appropriation. F*ck this sh*t. Punk culture is a culture of its own creation created to subvert mainstream society. Seeing this pisses me off to no end. You like 1D? Cool, good for f*ck*ng you. But keep your mainstream band off punk band labels,‰” one Tumblr user (fluidanarchoskunk) said. 

Courtesy of Tumblr user louisdamntomlinson.

But that‰’s not all. Someone had the audacity to reply, “Punk hasn‰’t subverted mainstream anything since like 1999,‰” and you can imagine the sheer outrage poor old fluidanarchoskunk felt at such a rude and uncalled for comment to their perfectly rational response to a One Direction t-shirt. 

In what I can only imagine to be a flash of white hot anger, fluidanarchoskunk responded yet again: “Chill out? Ok, so I‰’m supposed to let iconic band labels be used with a mainstream band because it‰’s ‘ironic’ and ‘edgy’. F*ck that. Punk culture has been more subversive than you think. We create our bands, not with profit in mind, but to get a message to people. It‰’s a way to vent our rage at the world. Playing Rage Against the Machine in an office isn‰’t appropriating the band, if anything, it‰’s expressing how the person feels about their work space. But taking another band’s label that is from a subversive culture, or counter-culture if you like that better, and putting a mainstream band name on it is f*ck*ng ignorant.‰Û 

There are just so many beautiful things happening among fluidanarchoskunk‰’s comments, I hardly know where to begin. Maybe with their belief that punk culture is something that can actually suffer from cultural appropriation. Let‰’s make something clear: it can‰’t. 

I didn‰’t realize some people were actually under the impression that non-oppressed cultures could be appropriated, and I don‰’t really feel the need to defend my opinions on the matter. Also present in fluidanarchoskunk‰’s argument is some very misguided belief that The Rolling Stones and Nirvana are in any way punk, or at the very least not in the mainstream. I don‰’t think that fluidanarchoskunk has ever been to a Target before. To be honest, I don‰’t have much of a response for fluidanarchoskunk‰’s misguided fury; I suppose that they lead a sad life in which they feel punks are seriously disrespected in society. I think that fluidanarchoskunk wants to identify with anti-capitalist values in their argument, but I think that a Stones shirt probably isn‰’t the best way to go about that. The best part of this contrived mess is the response from a small community of punks converted to the Holy Gospel of One Direction:

Courtesy of Tumblr user thepfa.

As much as I want the moral of the story here to be, “punks are awful, One Direction fans are hilarious,‰” the truth is not that simple. It‰’s easy to make fun of fluidanarchoskunk because of their ignorance both of punk and of the definition of cultural appropriation, but they inadvertently point to an underlying issue about the values of branding. 

When you buy a Sex Pistols t-shirt, what does it mean for you? Do you really just see your own appreciation for a great band and the memory of a good time you once had? Or is branding yourself a way to identify with a certain group of people? Maybe even prove your own worth to them? Branding yourself as a punk, which is meant to be an antithesis to normativity, has become a means of identifying with yet another group of people you need to impress. It‰’s a way of boxing yourself into one category, and creating an essentialized notion of that category‰’s ideal. If you‰’re a punk and you openly listen to One Direction, there‰’s a strong chance you‰’ll be ousted (at least by some) from an identity that‰’s meant to stand against the rigid structures of society. 

So when people decide to compare a bunch of “respected‰” bands to One Direction, punk or otherwise, I think they‰’re actually questioning why people are so loyal to these bands in the first place. Why do so many cultural elites extol the Stones and Nirvana, but hate 1D with a passion? Their disdain isn‰’t purely a question of personal preference. Often, it roots from a fear of looking foolish and of not fitting into your group well enough. 

While the fan culture around One Direction is often problematic, it‰’s also more accepting than any other musical environment I‰’ve been a part of. Apparently, my sentiments are shared by other members of the fandom. This quote from an anonymous Tumblr user sums up everything I‰’ve wanted to say in my column, and better than I ever could have: “Your hero discovers One Direction, and more importantly, the One Direction fandom. MY GOD, she thinks, THEY ARE JUST ACCEPTING ME. They aren‰’t trying to keep me out or challenging my validity or quizzing me about which songs are my favorites like there‰’s a wrong answer or a right one. For the first time ever, she feels like she WANTS to buy a band shirt and wear it BECAUSE she wants people to ask about it.”

So if you ever feel the need to complain about the sanctity of such and such an artist, especially when you‰’re comparing them to another less reputable one, you should probably first question why you‰’re bothering. If you‰’re interested in buying any of these classic Punk Direction shirts, you can do so on  Redbubble.