fedor8
This surprisingly low-key documentary is interesting as it clarifies the differences between three basic types of baldies: racist, anti-racist, and just plain ol' apolitical skins. Although, to be fair, the one thing they all do have in common - apart from their mysterious hatred of hair - is that they're all rather daft. Perhaps the Nazi skins are somewhat dumber than the rest, but those anti-globalism SHARP skins aren't exactly sharp either. The other positive aspect of SA (Oi! Hang On! "SA"??!) is the high entertainment level that watching a bunch of deluded morons behave and talk like Neanderthals brings.What are skinheads? Generally speaking, skins are a bunch of insecure, inferiority-complex misfits with debilitating amounts of brain damage - which is usually inborn, i.e. hereditary. They're extremely afraid of life, they suffer from constant anxiety, their self-esteem is very low or non-existent, i.e. they are mentally weak losers, hence aren't fit for the tough competition that's out there, waiting for them in the real world - a world which they naturally start despising early on in their lives simply because they can't be a part of it (or so they believe).So, burdened with all these mental problems, utter desperation, and a sense of total hopelessness, they seek solace, warmth, coziness in an underground movement that is just as anti-individualistic, as much a slave to fashion and limiting rules as any other "pop army" (Mods, rude boys, punks, hippies, Emos... low IQs, the lot of them). Once they've joined other baldies, it gives them a sudden injection of self-respect. In this new little skinhead world that they join, they find themselves a Utopia of sorts: there are no more pressures, there is no rat-race, there is no ambition, and most importantly: no expectations whatsoever. No one there expects them to have or make money, to be smart, or to be good-looking.In fact, the reason why they wear awful hair (or no hair) and dress as badly as they can is their way of saying "we're ugly and we're proud of it". Of course they're not actually happy about being ugly, but when surrounded by like-minded misfits they feel as if their deficiencies no longer matter and are even a point of pride. Naturally, in order to support and justify this fantasy-world life-style to THEMSELVES for years on, they are forced to be in heavy denial all the time. Hence when a girl skin (in SA) says that "I don't want a swimming pool, a house, or a car" that statement is just about as convincing as a life-sentence-serving prison inmate saying he doesn't regret what he had done. Of course that poor girl wants all those luxuries... After all, she's a woman, isn't she? Speaking of skinhead girls, I've hardly ever seen hair that ugly! The female skinhead hair-do is simply appalling: their heads look like large, over-fed Emo hamsters. I don't want to insult hamsters, though. I hereby apologize to any hamsters that might be reading this text...Most male skinheads are weaklings who try to escape harsh reality by living out their immature macho fantasies (much like kids do through Superman, Batman and 50 Cent) through an image that allegedly represents toughness. However, how tough is it to gang up with your bald friends on one person? That is how they usually operate i.e. like typical wimpy cowards. (In that sense, they remind me of those hardcore guys in "Boston Beatdown": they too like those "brave" 10-on-1 situations. "Hey, he's on the ground, and he's alone! Let's kick him in the head!") Naturally, not all skinheads are weaklings. Some join the movement because they are psychopaths who find a perfect environment in which to practice their aggression and sadism.The reason most skinheads are either on the Extreme Left or the Extreme Right is rather obvious; political extremes always attract two basic categories: those who feel totally left out i.e. people with mental diseases, and the uneducated, easy-to-fool working class.Which brings me to "White Power". Actually, I like to call them "Whine Power" because they only seem to have the ability to whine/bitch/moan/complain about how unjust their DEMOCRATIC societies are. These spoilt blue-collar kids should move to Zambia and see what living a hard existence is really about... (A little question to Karl Marx: is THIS the proletariat you envisioned - in your deluded day-dreams - to start a revolution and take power?) And you don't get any more spoilt than Swedish Nazi skins, who feature in the second half of SA. Here's a country that guarantees even the most hopeless of losers a monthly unemployment check, health care, and just about everything else. And yet, we have a bunch of malcontents complaining about Jews screwing them over. Jews?? Didn't the Swedes get rid of them with the help of Hitler 60 years ago? An EU study placed Sweden at the top of "The Most Racist EU nation" table. A fact that is hardly surprising to anyone familiar with Sweden's extremely high levels of intolerance...The Nazi skins music is so primitive, so Cro-Magnon, that it makes the most extreme black metal sound like Debussy. The Sex Pistols sound like Dream Theater compared to these guys.One amusing paradox that Nazi skinhead "thought" offers in SA is this weird, illogical tendency for them to band together, with Nazi skins from different countries joining up. Ever heard of an oxymoron called "international nationalism"? Well, check it out and laugh...After all is said and done, skins DO serve a purpose: to amuse us. Every society needs their unintentional clowns. Traditional circuses have all but disappeared, so it's nice to have some sort of plan B replacement. Oi, oi, oi!
chataoi
I saw Skinhead Attitude and I loved the introduction from Bad Manners' Buster, he really has THE concept from the skinhead culture. I think it was very smart to analyze the movement throughout Europe but I think that at some point of the documentary it shows TOO much about Boneheads which is totally absurd. THEY ARE NOT SKINHEADS, so they should not represent such a great part of the documentary. The interview with Lauren Atkin is great!!! The music man!! That's all about!! It would have been really awesome to saw less of what the stupid boneheads have done with our movement and show a lot more of what S.H.A.R.P Skinheads have done during these years. Also, show more about' rude boys and the variety of real Skinheads that exist nowadays (red, traditional, gay and sharp). Anyways, said all that, I think it a very good documentary, well done, nice people and it really gets closer to what the Skinhead Movement was, is and will be about. SKA, OI, BEER, RUDENESS, SOCCER, INTELLIGENCE AND NON RACISM!! Oi Oi Oi!!
geezer74
I just saw SKINHEAD ATTITUDE on video, and I think his excellent. Nice ska music with interviews of Jimmy Pursey from 'Sham 69' or ska legend Laurel Aitken, just to name a few. The movie shows the difference between the traditional, anti racist skins, like they were in the beginning of the late 60's and the fascist white-power skinheads.I just got a little bit angry that they had to show a bunch of cousin married, white-trash, racist Texan rednecks. If you look at them they have absolutely nothing to do with the skinhead cult. They're not even dressed like skinheads. Just some mad, white power scum.p.s. the girl (a 22 year old skingirl from France called Karole) who travels with the film maker around the world, is really cute!
Psy Dragon
This documentary gives a very good insight into the different fractions of the Skinhead-Subculture. The main protagonist is a traditional skaconsuming Skinheadgirl, who travels from place to place around Europe to America to highlight different sides of the movement. Beginning with the birth in the late sixties, the film then concentrates on the political aspect of the whole thing. Which sadly makes it rather repetitive in the end.Since the consumer made up his mind about the political stance long before entering the cinema, there are no fresh notions to be learned in the right/left-discussion at all. The script shifts from an engaging portrait to an excessive tally sheet-like approach.After reaching a controversial peak with the introduction of Combat 18, the film fails to enthrall again and thus the tragic segment about a homicide in Nevada, in itself an entire movie, never really unfolds.It was a bold move to try to outline this contradictionary culture in such a short time, but for a filmviewer, who has no clue about the Skins in general, this is a pretty good initiation.
