As a student from a developing country, I was so surprised that punk music made a lot influences in Brazil and Indonesia, especially through young generation. Actually people in China did not have a specific era of punk music because of the culture restriction made by the government. This was the first time I considered the youth cultures in developing countries are actually different in the format, but same in the goal . I always believed that people in Brazil or in Indonesia mostly lived in a same condition that Chines did. However, the poverty and danger in those societies could be shock for people in either western world and in the third world. It is really hard for people like me, who live in cosmopolitan area, to imagine the real situation from news or pictures by social media. However, from “The Punks are alright!”, I felt the way which young people in both Brazil and Indonesia thought about their societies. It could be different in the way Chinese youth thought. Nevertheless, it was the same goal for young Chinese, Indonesians, and Brazilians to express themselves.
First of all, punk music and those punk musicians showed a sigh of resistance to the society, but still tried to make change of it. They disagreed with the old generation of people and the current situation of the society. In Indonesia, Jerinx argued that the country was actually a “Middle country” which it tried hard to study the western world but still struggled in the tradition. He completely disagreed with the government because of the reality that Indonesians were poor and less educated. Young people liked Jarinx and Dolly in the movie could have a hard time finding a job to survive. Those young people loved the Punks and joined this form of music almost every week if they did not need to work. It was basically a great way for youth to debate and consider about the changes of the place they lived and defined their true identity.
At the same time, in Brazil, young people not only suffered from the bad economy, but also were threatened by dangers like drugs, guns, and violence. It was remarkable for Henrike as a punk musician to help those children to be able to study in a school except walking around the dangerous streets. This example exemplified the possibilities for Punk Music to help young generation to solve problems in their society, though I used to consider that Punk Music was only a kind of way young people expressed their angers and oppositions to the society.
Second, in this movie, the connections between the Blind Pigs and young people around the world who loved their music reminded me about the potential of people in different culture can actually relate their lives together through music. As Henrike valued “Border doesn’t exist in Punks”, even a 22 years old young people in a place 9000 miles away from the United States appreciated the music for bringing him a thinking of his life. The Brazil boy Mauro said that Punks really touched the young people’s heart, which meant that people should participate in the music to see the real emotions from young people, instead of simply judging it by what they heard and saw. As an Asian, I could feel the difficulty for developing countries like Indonesia to choose a way to develop. In fact, Chinese youth used to start a music revolution in late 1980, which Rocks Music played a role similar to Punks Music in the movie. Although the actual life in China could be complete different at that time, almost every developing country may have a same period of time when social issues and culture identity crash together, which makes people to find a way to express their ideas. I understood those musicians when I remembered the time I played hip-hop music to explain my beliefs to my parents, while they were driving me to school. It was an easy way to express my puzzlement about the world I lived. Actually, I make connection to those artists in the movie, regarding the way I use music and remembering the generation in my country who shared the same value of music.
Then, a significant point from the movie was that the contributions from developing countries to the global world could effect both in good ways and in bad ways for themselves. Dolly’s life in Indonesia really alerted people in developed world that globalization could hurt people. When we consider the western way to be the best way for developing countries to build their economy, diverse culture, and even politics, people usually consider only one side --- how developing countries westernize. However, as I usually debate, I think about the importance of connections and interactions. For instance, when I bought a macbook from apple store, it actually contained distributions from many countries in the world. The fact was that the most parts of my laptop were produced in the third world countries like Vietnam or Indonesia. My decision of buying a macbook influenced their life. However, it did not mean that we made those people’s life better. The economy was not good there. Low price labors in these countries usually do not have the good working condition and salary as labors in western world have. Unfairness and injustice were there for a long time and are still there now. As a result, we should start to think about what we do in our daily life can actually change people’s destiny in somewhere in the world. I grew up in a peaceful place where the economy grew even faster than me, whereas those young people in the movie did not. Fortunately, more and more people start to care about people in third world and reconsider the daily choices they make which can make influences.
Basically, music can be shared easily than any other forms of communications. So, this kind of form of communication can take advantages in making connection between people in different background of culture. The main reason is that the same value can be found through music. No matter young generation or old generation, the ways they reflect the world are exactly how they shape their values. As a result, it is no strange that music can connect people who live in totally different world like Dolly and the Blind Pigs. In addition, music plays a much more important role than ever before in the globalization progress.
The Punks are alright. And the world will be alright, too.
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