Yes, Punk

Looking at both the Yes Men and Punk culture was interesting. I felt that the Yes Men movie was entertaining as well as informative. I never really knew anything about the WTO, so this was my first impression of them. The way these men went about their cause was creative. Humor is always a good tool to use when getting a point across, something I also admired about the Guerilla Girls. The satirical methods of the Yes Men captured my attention and lured me in to what their ultimate goal was, which was to make the people aware of the absurdities and faults of the WTO. Appearance, as far as fashion, was not as big of an issue for them as it was for the Punk article. The only real 'appearance' related idea was the gold suit that Andy (or Mike) wore in the first conference. That was meant to be a joke and to expose the ridiculousness of the WTO's ideas. The Punks used appearance as a part of their life and it was the main angle of their protest, besides the music itself. The Yes Men seemed to be less concerned with fashion.
Despite some successes, I still feel the Yes Men could have given more facts and actual evidence to go with their satire. The last 'bit' they did in the movie was more serious and definitely more factual then their previous escapades. This could hurt their ethos for people who are very fact-oriented and more serious. Overall though, I enjoyed their tactics.
The Punk culture on the other hand was also pretty cool to me because I know very little about the rock genre in general, so that was some nice history. I feel that it was admirable how the Punk followers started out. They went against the ideas of what society deems normal and popular. To be yourself and stand up when others are following the crowd is a cool thing. I am however a little questionable about the intentions of people who dress like that and falsely claim their punk lifestyle. There are always posers and fakes in every group, so its not surprising to me. The claims and ideas have to match the lifestyle in order to be respected and taken seriously. People should dress how they want, whatever style fits them. The only thing is you shouldn't call yourself something that you're not.