A film worth watching if you have an hour is Alexander Oey's 2006 documentary, There is No Authority But Yourself, a quick introduction to seminal Punk band Crass. It is a simple film constructed mostly of interviews with lead singer Steve Ignorant and drummer Penny Rimbaud who putters around Dial House pulling weeds and cooking dinner. Oey doesn't go much into the background of Rimbaud and Gee Vaucher as art student Hippies, focusing instead on Steve Ignorant's working-class background and his inspiration to embrace Punk after seeing a performance of The Clash one night after work.
When I was an undergraduate, Crass was a huge presence -- its stenciled black-and-white DIY aesthetic was everywhere. Their anarchistic "The system is fucked!" ethos ruled the roost in early 1980s Berkeley. Crass was the gold standard.
Two quick takeaways from There is No Authority But Yourself:
- Steve Ignorant commenting that it was possible to live without money in the 1970s, something he believes impossible in today's world.
- Penny Rimbaud saying that he believes Beatniks, Hippies and Punks are all the same.
