Straight edge

Straight edge (sometimes abbreviated sXe or signified with XXX or X) is a subculture of hardcore punk whose adherents refrain from using alcohol, tobacco and other recreational drugs, in a reaction to the excesses of punk subculture. For some, this extends to refraining from engaging in promiscuous sex, following a vegetarian or vegan diet, and/or not using caffeine or prescription drugs. The term straight edge was adopted from the 1981 song "Straight Edge" by the hardcore punk band Minor Threat.

Straight edge emerged amid the early-1980s hardcore punk scene. Since then, a wide variety of beliefs and ideas have been associated with some members of the movement, including vegetarianism and animal rights. Ross Haenfler writes that as of the late 1990s, approximately three out of four straight edge participants were vegetarian or vegan. While the commonly expressed aspects of the straight edge subculture have been abstinence from alcohol, nicotine, and illegal drugs, there have been considerable variations on how far to take the interpretations of "abstaining from intoxicants" or "living drug-free". Disagreements often arise as to the primary reasons for living straight edge. Straight edge politics are primarily left-wing and revolutionary but there have been conservative offshoots.

Boot Camp (film)

Boot Camp, also released in the UK as Punishment, is a 2008 psychological suspense thriller film written by Agatha Dominik and John Cox and directed by Christian Duguay.

The film's working title was Straight Edge and it was shot in Fiji as the first film to utilize the southwest Pacific Ocean island country's five-year-old incentive program that had been designed to create jobs while building a film production infrastructure. It is about teenagers sent to a rehabilitation camp (in Fiji) who are then abused and brainwashed. The film stars Mila Kunis, Gregory Smith and Peter Stormare. Filming began on October 2, 2006 in Fiji and then continued in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

The film was released on DVD internationally in 2008 and in the U.S. on August 25, 2009.

Plot

This film is the story of a group of unruly teenagers whose parents send them to a rehabilitation boot camp to turn them around. The camp collects each child individually, then delivers them to the boot camp facility owned by Dr. Arthur Hail, on a remote island in Fiji. There are no walls to stop the teenagers from leaving, but escape is impractical due to the surrounding sea. On arriving at the camp, the teenagers are forced to wear cuffs with sensors around their ankles—if they attempt to escape, security will be alerted.

Straight Edge (song)

"Straight Edge" is a track from Minor Threat's 1981 eponymous debut 7" EP, later reissued both as part of the 1984 collection Minor Threat, then as part of 1989's Complete Discography. The song was the inspiration for the name of the punk subculture straight edge.

Cultural impact

The song provides a very succinct summary of Ian MacKaye's interpretation of the straight edge philosophy, in the four opening lines,

But I've got better things to do
Than sit around and fuck my head

This anti-inebriation movement had been developing in punk prior to this song, but the song was a major influence in giving the scene a name, and in frontman Ian MacKaye, something of a (somewhat unwilling) figurehead. The song is also notable as being, at 46 seconds long, unusually short, especially considering its cultural impact. The track's themes were later followed up, and further detailed by the later Minor Threat songs "Out of Step (With the World)" and "In My Eyes".

Critical reception

Along with being cited regularly as an important moment in founding the Straight Edge punk scene, the track has continued to receive critical plaudits, with Pitchfork Media stating that "Straight Edge" "rings with as much immediacy as it ever has", while Allmusic's Blake Butler describes it as an "anthemic, pulse pounding manifesto", citing "this song's importance in the progression of hardcore".