Do we just submit questiosn here? Did i miss the numbers - how many people are estimated to be in straight edge?

this is awesome.

Do you like that music? Is there any rivalry in the punk rock scene between the straight edge crowd and the more hardcore/Sex Pistols like crowd. Clearly i'm showing my lack of knowledge on punk rock - but interesting to see how involved Straight Edge is in that music scene.

Did the producers try and interview Ian Mackaye or any of the other old DC punks? Did they refuse?

Thanks for putting this together. I think it is an important element of society that is not discussed often enough. I believe sXe saved my life and I would not be where I am today without it. I think it is important to also look at the people that remain drug and alcohol free for their entire lives. I am a 27 year old professional and I still consider myself sXe. It has shaped my life. Thanks again.

This is actually quite sad. In all my years, and there have been many, I never envisioned straight edge as a gang. It was just an adjective and a short way of saying that you chose not to imbibe. Watching this documentary I have come to the realization that the media and others that need to be a part of the herd have manipulated a simple and honest idea and made it a joke.

im going to be honest, so far this blows. i think its focusing on the bad. which thinking about it, if you didnt show that itd be pretty boring. we're just normal people that choose not to drink and stuff.

i hope you show more stuff later in the program than the violence that has been caused in the name of sxe.

I have to say, so far, so good - the film is well balanced. I can only speak for me, that means a lot to someone like me, the straight edge movement is my life.

why did you not include the no promiscuity rule? you said no drinking, no smoking, no drugs, yet everyone also includes no promiscuous behavior. was it too much for "nat geo?" props for showing verse, they deserve the press. as for fsu, they have been a plague to the hardcore scene for awhile.

I am unimpressed by the straight edge movement... it seems to be another expression of a disenfranchised youth overindulged by the previous generation... if not for the proliferation of the prescription drug era there would be no measurable increase or decrease of "illegal drug" and/or "social drinking" indulgence in this millenium baby age.

Are most "straight edge" people tied into this punk scene? It seems to me like most people who are drug/alcohol free are probably athletes, accountants, parents, Christians, or members of any other subgroup of American society. Can't you be straight edge without the black clothing, busted haircuts, unskilled musicians, and hatred toward American culture as a whole?

Uhhh....problem.

FSU has nothing to do with straightedge? Although a violent gang created to run the nazis out of the boston punk scene is admirable in its purpose, very very few members of FSU are straightedge.

Why is this entire documentary phrased in terms of "membership?" It's an idea, and there are extremists. This gross assumption is comparable to calling or suggesting that all muslims (or even SOME rather than an extremely small percentage) are terrorists.

I used to be straight edge. I wish it was shown that one of the traits of being stright edge is fighting racism.

Wow. Straight edge as a gang? What the heck? How does a philosophical idea that is fundamentally a persona choice become a freaking gang? These "gang" members are nothing more than sheep seeking acceptance. They need a new hobby. They should have talked to Kent McClard of Ebullition Records. His compilation "XXX: Some Ideas are Poisonous" was probably the best "straight edge" release in the 90's. It really combated the meat head mentality that you are seeing on this documentary.

VP of discipline? That guys an idiot - bunch of people wearing the same shirt is trouble? Look out for those Polo gangs

I am glad that the movement is finally getting some press time but it is sad that it is focused on the gang/negative aspect though. I am very glad that people are living clean but I wish the gang stuff would just go away.
I have been straight edge for three years (it is tough living in MN b/c no one knows about it) and have talked to tons of people about it, even did a speech on it in my junior year speech class. I have turned about 5 or 6 people onto it including my younger brother. I am proud to say I am 18 and Straight Edge.

How about covering some of the girls/women involved in the scene?

Tiffany - I'm glad that straight edge is a positive influence in your life, however, you are exhibiting everything this documentary is showing. You "turned" 5 or 6 people straight edge? Isn't that the definition of gang related activity? I don't think this documentary is using the term 'gang' as what you typically think of a gang, but a group of individuals banning together for a common cause.

Did you discuss any of the murders that FSU members are currently charged with across the nation? Did you ever take the time to ask how many or what percentage of FSU members were actually straightedge before choosing to put them in the forefront?

Was there ever any mention of Earth Crisis or any of the militant days of the 90s as being the true source of the current militant side?

Why did you not feature actual straightedge gangs or did they not want to participate?

maybe you should do some more research before portraying straight edge culture in this way. once again, mainstream media attempts to understand an underground movement and gets it completely wrong. way to go, idiots.

get your facts right before portraying straight edge culture. Once again mainstream media attempts to understand an underground movement and gets it totally wrong. Way to go.

So I'm in a gang...cool?

Some idiots need to be a part of some group. Why didn't they mention early practitioners of "Hate Edge" like Slap Shot? Did I miss the history portion? What about Vegan Reich and those guys. Indiana had one of those goofy gang movements in the 90s. Who are they defending themselves from? Who is attacking them? They sound like skinheads to me.

I'm not surprised that people close to the topic may think its negative. I know nothing about straight edge - but its not coming off to me negative at all. People in Straight edge can't look at the big picture and see it from others eyes, that's common with any belief. I'm seeing a few idiots ruin the image for others - but the most part, striaght edge seems pretty basic to me. You guys in straight edge need to relax a bit and not assume how the rest of us will take things. Quit blaming everyone else for your own image issues - its not the media's fault - its the idiot kids who get into trouble

F.Y.I. Straight edge turning completely corruupt is not a new concept. Both the the Crips of L.A. to the GDs of Chicago started out as positive organizations and were converted into violent criminal gangs. It depends mostly on which way the leadership takes the organization!!!! REMEMBER YOUR HISTORY!

I think the way that you represented FSU as being affiliated with straight edge was misguided to say the least. There are many members of FSU that are affiliated with drug and alcohol usage, were you aware of this?

Also Kris,
Tiffany didn't use her english properly so you turn it around on her? Fucks up with that? Sorry I didn't know this was an english subject too.

Also Kris,
Tiffany didn't use her english properly so you turn it around on her? Fucks up with that? Sorry I didn't know this was an english class too.

Would be interesting to hear what Ian MacKaye would say if he were interviewed for this.

"Straight Edge" has morphed in to an excuse to act a certain way. To me, being straight edge meant falling in to the "unclassifyable" category within the standard cliques that people associate themselves with. Now, it's something completely different, which doesn't bother me much. Just be and think for yourself — and if that means a drug-free, positive way of life then that great.

a gang ??? wow.. what a funny doc... ats some hardcore kids, thats it...

This wasn't a straight edge doc, but a sensationalistic gang expose. I expect to see this schlocky, badly done yellow journalism on daytime TV.

What would MacKaye say? He's expressed numerous times that it was simply a personal choice. And what a bummer about Thurston Moore narrating. What a blow to his clout.

james - you just said soemthing great - ORGANIZATIONS.
sxe is NOT an organization. its a personal life choice. thats it. thats why we (sxe people) dont like this, cause its making it seem like an organization. i decided to do this for me. thats it. it wasnt for a group or anything and thats what 99% of us went through as well.

call it how you will. say we see it differently cause we are that way etc etc etc but the truth is is that we're living it and know the real story behind it.

'two sides of sxe'
no, theres no sides of it, its just living a certain way.

i think they are making it more than it is. and they really shouldve done more research.
im a professional, i wear no sxe merch anymore, i just live a certain way of life. but i aaw no one like that on the doc.
its just bogus to me.

They kid at the end said all that needed to be said. He would "let down" others. SXE is for him is not a personal choice. It is nothing more than peer pressure. The young kids at the end are just followers. They just followed something that was once was a philosophical choice. Those are the types of kids that are unbridled fanatics at anything they do. Again, just another example of how weak minded and afraid of nonconformity many are.

Why was the section with the three vegan, anarchist, straight-edge kids not shown on the show? I understand time was a big consideration, but it was a great segment and showed a radically different side of straight-edge than was presented anywhere else during the show.

I'm 40 yrs old and was very involved in the S/X scene in the 80's.
I now it shouldn't suprise me but, because a handful of kids act like idiots, a whole subculture is labeled a dangerous gang? I guess some things will never change. Mr. producer a bit more history: 80's D.C., N.Y. and Boston would have put things in perspective for those who have no clue about this life style. If I didn't know better I would think crazy "militant" straight edge kids were competing with The Bloods for turf across the country.

Signed,
Pissed off old guy, who feels a diservice has been done to what for the most part is a positive movement.

will this documentary be available for purchase in the future?

first of all FSU is not a straight edge group which is what it was shown to be.
Boston Beatdown was also not a straight edge thing. just a bunch of hardcore kids.

It was a good docu. wasnt as bad as i thought. but there were many mistakes made throughout the docu.

I have to say, after watching that I don't know a thing about "straight edge". I'm approaching 40 years old and in high school I suppose we considered ourselves straight edge, but, it was just a song and it was just a personal choice shared by a few friends in high school, mostly to get far away from the jocks and everything they stood for. Growing up in DC, I think we had a different view of things and maybe saw things more clearly. It is for sure, now I don't see things that clear at least like these gang members. I just had no idea. I was talking to my teenager the other day about ways to say no if pressured and mentioned straight edge and if that is still something kids know about.... maybe I made a mistake.

That was ridiculous. Let's hope the rest of the media doesn't catch on.

This show was complete garbage. You talked to all the wrong people. Those arnt hardcore kids, they are jocks who call themselves edge. They dont belong to my scene, and they never will. This movement is ALL ABOUT being positive. Once you chang that you DO NOT represent edge anymore, no matter what you or your tattoos say.

I'm still in the middle of watching this but so far it seems like a documentary made to explain the parents why they shouldn't let their kids "join" straightedge. Including clueing them in on the "lingo".
For anyone who truely wants to know what straight edge is about, please don't take this documentary as an acurate portrayal.
Staight edge is a personal choice, a personal ethic, that lots of different kinds of people embrace. Scenes vary greatly from city to city, and range anywhere from pretty rough and violent, to SO passive that kids won't even dance at shows because they are too worried about it getting out of control.
It is unfortunate that the directors chose to focus on old news from boston and utah instead of focusing on some of the more current or neutral aspects of the scene.
Most sxe kids aren't "posi" or "militant" but somewhere in between... its not some clearly drawn line.
And putting in FSU? They aren't a "straight edge gang"... why make them such a focus?
I was dissapointed that the vegan sxe clip I heard would be in this documentary wasn't included...
Anyway, I've been sxe 10 years and I was hoping to not watch yet another documentary about salt lake kids carving x's in peoples backs... at least they didnt show the carl on geraldo clip...
Wasted hour of my life

I'm still in the middle of watching this but so far it seems like a documentary made to explain the parents why they shouldn't let their kids "join" straightedge. Including clueing them in on the "lingo".
For anyone who truely wants to know what straight edge is about, please don't take this documentary as an acurate portrayal.
Staight edge is a personal choice, a personal ethic, that lots of different kinds of people embrace. Scenes vary greatly from city to city, and range anywhere from pretty rough and violent, to SO passive that kids won't even dance at shows because they are too worried about it getting out of control.
It is unfortunate that the directors chose to focus on old news from boston and utah instead of focusing on some of the more current or neutral aspects of the scene.
Most sxe kids aren't "posi" or "militant" but somewhere in between... its not some clearly drawn line.
And putting in FSU? They aren't a "straight edge gang"... why make them such a focus?
I was dissapointed that the vegan sxe clip I heard would be in this documentary wasn't included...
Anyway, I've been sxe 10 years and I was hoping to not watch yet another documentary about salt lake kids carving x's in peoples backs... at least they didnt show the carl on geraldo clip...
Wasted hour of my life

I understand the principal of trying to spread the message of edge, but it makes it out to be that this is all a gang. Gangs and crews form not of straight edge, but of people in and out of edge cause they're bored and/or want to be cool. I'm straight edge and I've never even been in any fights or anything that's been violent related to straight edge. Maybe it's where I'm from, but nothing really happens around here like that much. Maybe a couple of times, but not like this makes it out to be. I don't want everyone thinking that we're all in gangs or something, cause most of my edge friends aren't.

I have two questions.

Did you ever consider looking at the ways the struggle continues into adulthood. Staying drug and alcohol free isn't just for rebellious adolescents.

Throughout the making of this documentary did you find many females involved in this movement?

Thanks!

Egad -- as a documentary titled "Inside Straight Edge" it was a TERRIBLE documentary! Clearly, Smith and his crew were much more comfortable hanging out with cops and authority figures than giving any sort of attention to the range of sXe. It *specifically* focused on violence and gang mentality. There was no mention of vegetarianism, veganism, krishna consciousness, anti-fur, sober venues, etc. It was so obviously one-sided for the last 3/4 of the program, it should've been called "Inside Gangs: A Focus on Straight Edge."

Imagine if they focused on a bunch of posi kids drinking cool aid for one hour and pointing fingers in the air. That would have been a yawn fest! Boooooring. I thought the show was funny (and a bit sad). This show has some great one liners. This is nothing more than what the media did in the mid 80s, portraying every punk with a shaved head as a "skinhead" making parents think their kids were nazis! I wouldn't get too upset with the show.

the producers couldn't even answer ignorant or basic knowledge questions on this blog! i think if "nat geo" wanted to appeal to the same youthful audience they are trying attract, they should let a director who is immersed in the culture make the film you show on your program. instead of throwing an idea at a staff member and learn the basic from ian, why not take a DIY documentarian and fund their project to make the well informed film that won't warrant all this criticism from the sxe culture.

i live in virginia beach, va and growing up in my neighborhood probably half my friends were gang or drug related, the other half in the hardcore/punk scene, of which probably half of those were sxe. we knew of sxe gangs in the major cities as far back as 15 years ago, half of whom were our friends and didn't care whether or not we were sxe or not. the ones we didn't get along with were more likely the facist extremists. we also knew at the time of sxe gangs in salt lake city doing drive bys on bars and beating wino's to death in tampa bay. if the producers had spent a little more time researching the subject they may have been able to create a more informative and unbiased documentry, instead of one that came off as a day late, a dollar short and not being able to see much further than the camera lens it was shot from.

I found this incredibly disheartening.

A hardcopy expose similar to this came out about 6 years ago and my aunt saw it and the next time she saw me she said "you're in that gang! I know about you!" hahaha it took me like an hour to convince her I hadn't joined a cult. Than I carved an x in her back and blew up her car cause it had leather seats...
(Note to fbi monitoring all internet activity relating to the "sxe gang movement and vegan terrorism" that last part was a joke)

I give natgeo props for at least talking about a positive side to straight edge, even if it was only for about a quarter of the production.

I can only imagine how hard it must have been to choose what scenes to include and what to edit out, but how can you call this an objective portrayal of straight edge when you leave out an entire segment of it's population. Girls.

There was not one interview, mention, or image of the women of the scene. Shame on you.

Maybe if you had cut down on the sensational gang/violence footage you would have been able to create a more accurate portrayal of straight edge and the INDIVIDUALS that make up the scene.

All of us, even the 30 somethings, professionals, and straight edge parents.

Great documentary! I have some questions:

Does religion play any role in the values of these teens?

Why no/so few females?

Any support from community organizations...?

Is there a consistent "creed" for the group?

Let me know.

Dang -- so many good points. Where were the female sXe kids? There have been all-female sXe bands. There are religous factions of sXe: krishna, Christian, and beyond, and bands that espouse those aspects.

Karen: you should probably ask the kids posting replies on here instead of the directors if you are truly intrested since they (the directors) have clearly proven they don't know what they are talking about...

Religion: some kids are christian, some are krishna, some are muslim, some are athiests, some are mormon, some are agnostic. No religion doesn't play a role other than sxe values may coinside with someones personal religious beliefs.

Like most heavy music scenes it is heavily dominated by males... just because it is less socialy acceptable for women to express themselves through heavy music or what may be viewed as "violent" dancing. There are a ton of women involved in hardcore and punk and who are also sxe. Look at the sisterhood site...

Support from community usually would come in the form of a teen center letting us put on shows. That's about it.

And as far as a creed... like a motto? I don't really understand the question. There are a ton of commonly quoted lyrics but no motto.
It isn't a club, or a group... its just a label to describe a choice to live a clean lifestyle.

things that i caught that were total crap

14 minutes of a positive segment and then all the rest is negative.

FSU is straight edge? thats news to me.

Boston Beatdown was all straight edge? news to me too.

burning down mcdonalds.....i didnt know ALF was a straight edge gang to. but i guess since FSU is then ALF must be as well.

many, many mistakes.

Mass media focusing on an essentially underground culture bombs big time.

Way to interview and follow around one of the most negative Straight Edge bands out right now. Why not interview Verse, and Have Heart, instead of just showing them playing. What happened to the clip of of the Vegan anarchist?

This documentary was TERRIBLE. Straight Edge CAN NOT be captured in a piddly 45 minutes.

Fail.

Do your own research people! That's the biggest thing. National Geographic may be great at telling us what the blankety blank tribe of eastern New Guinea does in a typical day, but they're apparently no better at talking about sXe than 20/20 was.

Oh AFB, Reno sXe. What would Kevin Seconds say..

google compassion media- the edge project- I have a feeling what they're working on will be way better than what natgeo put together...

In response to "BobbyG," straight edge is exclusive to the hardcore/punk scene.

I hope this program re-airs. I didn't find out about it until just now.

Momo: you didn't miss anything

This was a pretty big load of crap.
They focus on Posi for all of like 5 minutes, and go straight into beatings and assumed straight edge related firebombings.

Its really pretty disappointing to see something I hold dear be trashed like that.

Although it does bug me alot to see so many fake edge kids these days claiming it because they think theyll look cool. Then they drop it soon after because they think theyll look cooler with a cig in their hand.

Having been in the scene for well over 20 years, I have to say that this show (I'm not calling it a documentary) made me sad. How things have changed.