The Importance of Being Punk Rock

Punk is one of those beautiful, lofty ideals. It was the sledgehammer taken to the bloated corpse of self-indulgent guitar rock. A brutal response wrapped in anarchy and youth rebellion and so many other ambitious notions just out of our grasp. But punk is best as an aspiration. The detonation point where art as revolt and revolt as art collide, exploding inside a moment. Perhaps imperfect and largely unsustainable, but as the pointed end of your message--for the right time and place--it is an arsenal powerful enough to pit the most powerful man in Russia against a group of women in colored balaclavas.

On February 21st, the punk band Pussy Riot (why yes, that is the greatest band name ever) went into Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the Savior and performed about a minute of sacrilegious anti-Putin protest. A few supporters and journalists were there to capture the event. A couple of police showed up. No charges were filed, and one of many anti-Putin protests came to an end. Soon after, this video made the internet:

A defiant act just rambunctious, bold, and outright provocative enough to be unadulterated punk rock. It was a punk prayer, a call to the Mother Mary to oust Putin. And from this stone thrown into Russia's murky sociopolitical pond, a sea change may be afoot.

On seeing the video the head of the Russian Orthodox Church was so reviled, he called for action from President Vladimir Putin. To put their relationship in context, Patriarch Kirill describes Putin's term as a 'godly miracle' to which Putin replied, "We must move away from the primitive notion of separation between church and state. On the contrary, we must devote ourselves to the totally different idea of cooperation."

The ensuing wake has been a primer in all things Putin era Russia. Three women--one who admits she is in Pussy Riot--have been arrested and accused of "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred," a felony offense which carries up to seven years in prison. These women have been imprisoned without trial, refused bail, and given little time to prepare for the prosecutions 2800 page case. In the interim, the state media organs have launched a full character assault.

As the trial now begins, all political motives have been barred from discussion. Their protest is being sold as a hate crime against the Russian Orthodox Church and witnesses get to attest to things like the spiritual damage caused from seeing the video online. All of this for young women with no priors who particiapted in a non-violent demonstration against the state. The whole affair is sodden with implications of Putin's expanding tyranny and an ongoing solidification of a church-state hegemony, but the dark cloud Putin uses to smother his opponents can't seem to completely envelop Pussy Riot.

Russia is polarized. The mood and details are beautifully chronicled here in an article every literate human being should read. If you can't read, I'll come over and read it to you. In fact, stop reading this and go read the other article. Come back if you want, it may not be necessary, but the feeling gleaned from almost every article is this is a watershed moment. Certainly in Putin's presidency, and possibly the future of Russia. All it took was five women, pastel tights, homemade ski masks, and punk rock.

There is some potent symbolism behind Pussy Riot being punks. Pussy Riot had to cram feminism, insurrection, and satire into a projectile that can travel light and hit hard. A simple protest song on an acoustic guitar wouldn't suffice. Punk is rock's dirty bomb. The term itself is rank with suggestion. It carries with it a storm of anger and idealism and irreverence, all the things Pussy Riot tries to live up to with their so-called "actions." Punk, in its perfect form, is relentless and above ownership and serves as an extension of the band's anonymity. Pussy Riot can be any Russian woman with the will to make her voice heard.

Punk rock music isn't the issue central to why this trial is so significant, but it was the weapon used to commit the crime. Punk rock gave Pussy Riot their voice, and this voice took them inside the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. As Pussy Riot's voice resonated and the numbers grew, Putin's hand was forced. The only question remains; how far will he go? Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a man with enough wealth and ambition to threaten the Putin regime, was relieved of his billions and still languishes in prison after what the US State Department deemed an "...arbitrary use of the justice system." The Russian State Investigative Committee charged anti-Putin protest leader and blogger Alexei Navalny with embezzlement. The evidence so vague the case has already been dropped twice, yet the figures in the newest accusations balloon from $40,000 to $500,000. If convicted, Navalny faces up to ten years in prison. But three young women? For seven years? Over a punk prayer?

The verdict handed down will be as much about Pussy Riot as it is the future of a free Russia. A recent poll shows 43% of the Russian people think the 2-7 year sentence is too extreme (29% still think they should be punished with forced labor, but it's Russia. Baby Steps.) The point is the Russian people are watching and the unknowns surrounding their reaction could be a dangerous fate to tempt. Putin and his machine have finally squeezed just hard enough to allow punk rock to work.

Punk rock is not peace time music. Punk rock is not the sound of the quietly content. Punk is a sublime idea of dissent ground out in three chord fury. My overuse of the term has me feeling like a dilettante and a heartless manipulator, but when self-appointed punks like Pussy Riot capture an idea drawn in exact opposition to the severity of their circumstances, the term is one of awe and profound respect. Real punks. Real Punks locked in an ideological struggle with a fascist state. There is nothing to romanticize as these women could pay a serious price, another casualty of Putin's tightening control, but the outcome won't go unnoticed. Even Putin has back pedaled in a recent call for leniency. At best it's a signal to the court, at worst (see: likely) a politically savvy move to feign some semblance of due process for the West. But the gesture alone is a tiny concession. A quick glance over his shoulder at the growing shadow cast by Pussy Riot. A slight fissure, the tiniest hairline fracture on Putin's iron clad grip, and that is pretty fucking punk rock.