Life Through a Queer Lens
Welcome to the Life Through a Queer Lens Podcast, where anyone with an open mind and heart can learn about the LGBTQIA+ Community from the people within it! We're your hosts, Jenene (she/her, they/them) and Kit (they/them).
Life Through a Queer Lens
EP62: Punk Lace Codes
Picture this: our living room, popcorn scattered everywhere, laughter echoing, and a family movie night that turned into a rollercoaster of emotions. The movie adaptation of "Wicked" had us totally spellbound, and with Jeff Goldblum's brilliant portrayal of a character with a god complex, it was an experience worth every teardrop and chuckle. The decision to split the film into two parts gave the storytelling the depth it needed, reflecting themes that resonate powerfully today. And, of course, let's not forget the quirky family traditions and the endless debate on alternatives to the classic, yet annoying, censor beep.
Switching from the silver screen to the punk scene, we unravel the mystery of the Lace Code. It’s not just a TikTok fad but a longstanding symbol of identity, especially for LGBTQIA+ members within the punk community. Those purple laces on Doc Martens are a quiet yet fierce declaration of solidarity and pride, bridging generations and offering a sense of belonging. We dive into the misconceptions and celebrate the vibrant history of this cultural emblem, emphasizing its ongoing significance. Join us for a fascinating exploration of theater, film, and punk culture that promises to leave you both enlightened and entertained.
Check out our linktree
If anyone is seeking a safe place for chiropractic care on Long Island, you're welcome at Sound Chiropractic in Oakdale, NY.
For Chiropractic care or information,
check out our link tree here
directly to website here
Lace code didn't come from TikTok. Holy shit, people talking about it on TikTok. For a second I was confused. I was like what are we talking about here? Wait a minute. Lace code, that's a word. So what the fuck? Hello y'all, I just got back from seeing Wicked and oh my god, oh my god. The little theater kid in me was geeking. The entire time I cried over and over and over again. I did this my makeup. I did this when I got home because, like no, if I did this before I left, it would be down my cheeks.
Speaker 2:I cried so many times and correct me if I'm wrong. The first part two hours and 40 minutes total runtime, and there's a second part that's coming out like a year from now.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So basically what they did and I didn't realize this before going in to see the movie but basically what they did where, if you have ever seen the Broadway play, they ended this film where the intermission occurs. Hmm, so this film ends with defying gravity, which was, I gotta say it was peak because if they tried to smush the entire story into two and a half hours, it would have lost so much of it, it would have lost so many necessary pieces and if they had done it as like a TV show, it wouldn't have hit as hard. I think as two movies. It's perfect. But I had no idea it was going to be two movies going in All of a sudden. My mom and I are watching and part one pops up on screen and we both went Part one.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's what I heard. Yeah, but you're right, it wouldn't lose a lot of detail and nuance it wouldn't use a lot of detail and nuance.
Speaker 1:Yeah, have you read the book? I have not. That's actually one of the things that, especially now after seeing this movie, I'm like oh yeah, I definitely need to read the book. I would absolutely love to read the book, especially since I understand especially at this point when it was written the author, the thematic messaging of it is very political. The messaging of the book is very intrinsically political and that was the author's intention. So if any of you out there are coming for people saying that Wicked is political, you're wrong. Go ahead and put your shoe in your mouth. It happens we be like that. It's okay to be wrong, but it was designed to be a political story by the author and it's like the whole idea of powerful men with no actual power, with no actual plan, with no actual anything will always make make up an enemy. They will when they need to. They will always make up an enemy. That's the whole thing. And if that's not political, then go ahead and put your shoe in your mouth yeah, and that's always been wicked storyline, exactly.
Speaker 2:You know like it's more relevant today just due to what's going on. It's so applicable and it's more in our faces quick side note about that movie.
Speaker 1:No one quite plays from the days of seth grundle to the days of oz. No one quite plays a man with a god complex like jeff fucking goldblum man, I can't wait to see. I think I might go see it tomorrow actually I would recommend I will die on that hill, though no one plays a man with a god complex like that motherfucker. I can't wait from the days of seth brundle, when he thought he could do it all himself.
Speaker 1:Oh my god good shit so yeah, and also the queer moments, the moments that were just like, oh, this was made like for you know this, I don't want to say the stereotypical theater kid, but the stereotypical theater kid, you know what I mean like this was made for the girls, gays and bays love it and you can see it in so many different moments and it's really really cool.
Speaker 2:Like the more dramatic, the better.
Speaker 1:Yeah, oh yeah. My mom and I thoroughly enjoyed it, especially listen if, because I didn't really have too much interest in seeing this movie. I'm not gonna lie. If you have a slightly older family member, especially a femme family member who really liked the play, who is really here for the music, go see it with them. You will get into it so fast. It won't even be hard. Go see it with them because you will have a fucking blast. My mom and I had so much fun. It does matter. Theater buffs are way more fun.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Agreed. Agreed, as someone whose stepdad doesn't like musicals he's not very fun.
Speaker 2:I love you dad. But when?
Speaker 1:it comes to movies, he's not fun. It's just like oh, this has Sylvester Stallone in it, let's watch that he wanted to name. We had a husky named Rogue, and I am not even shitting you. This man wanted to name her first blood, like the rambo movie oh my god and my mom.
Speaker 1:My mom is the only reason that didn't happen. Bless you, mom, because she she was like when this dog inevitably runs away from home, I'm not driving around the neighborhood going first blood first. Where are you? She ran away all the fucking time. That husky ran away constantly, to the point where every neighbor knew our dog's name. Imagine if that name was First Blood.
Speaker 2:Oh God.
Speaker 1:My mom literally saved us, so yeah, when it comes to movies, man is boring.
Speaker 2:Yeah, your mom's definitely the queen of, I don't know, captain Obvious or Practicality, we'll call her Queen of Practicality. Captain Obvious or Practicality, we'll call her Queen of.
Speaker 1:Practicality. No, honestly, sleep Ugh, I'm freaking crying. So I need to find some type of sound effect, a silly like dope, something that I can cover our swear words with that isn't just the, the sensor beat right because that's aggravating and overstimulating even to me.
Speaker 1:I fucking hate the sensor beat, so I want to find something that's not that but is original and fun. And you know, oh, my god wait, do you think it would be at all possible or feasible for me to find a free-to-use sound clip of Beaker going? You know, the Muppet Beaker.
Speaker 2:Talking. I think it's totally doable. What if we just use him? Totally doable. Me, me, me me me, me, me, Me me. What if we?
Speaker 1:just use Beaker.
Speaker 2:Good idea.
Speaker 1:If you would like to be the sweetest chef, let me know I'll be Beaker. Just Swear words. Wait, that's so good, okay, cool. I'm glad we figured that out, because that's one of the main things that I've been sitting there like what am I going to cover swear words with? And I haven't really sat down with it alone, because every time I do, I panic.
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah, I get that. Oh, my god Beaker.
Speaker 1:The Muppets. We will cover our swear words with Muppet sounds.
Speaker 2:I love it. That's a perfect, perfect solution. Muppet sounds I love it. That's a perfect, perfect solution.
Speaker 1:What the fuck we could get animal in there. I like to joke that my boyfriend is animal from the Muppets and I'm gonzo because I am gonzo. Look at me.
Speaker 2:I could see.
Speaker 1:Okay, alright, I could see, alright, I feel like every non-binary person is a little bit gonzo, little bit. All my non-binary guys, let me know, all my, all my days, my girls' days and days, let me know. Are we just gonzo?
Speaker 2:I think so I'm down with that? Are we all just?
Speaker 1:different variations of gonzo.
Speaker 2:I'm down with that. All right, I'm done fucking around with that. I still have a line on my face, but I can't get rid of it, so fuck it.
Speaker 1:Wait Genuinely, I'm not gonna front. I think it's the hat.
Speaker 2:I took it off and it's still there.
Speaker 1:I look like a tool. Now, fuck me, holy shit.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but I look like a tool.
Speaker 1:now, how's that? I can't breathe.
Speaker 2:You don't even know, I have a ring light.
Speaker 1:I have a lamp and I have my ceiling light and everything's coming down in the right direction. Like I said, you're like that guy on Distractible who has everything set up as perfectly as he can and nothing works. Bro, it's Markiplier. I'm sure y'all listening know him. It's markiplier. Markiplier has everything set up as perfectly as he can and all of a sudden his sound goes out and nobody can hear it and they're like oh nobody real, that's me right now I am actual tears in my eyes.
Speaker 1:From now, I just look like a tool actual tears oh, my god that was so fucking funny I'm done that needs to stay in the episode. Oh my god, that killed me here, wait hang on that just broke my brain, oh going backward.
Speaker 2:All right, I'm going backward. I'll get there.
Speaker 1:Enough holy shit, okay broski, you can't just come out with one-liners like that and almost end my fucking life. Oh my god, that just took me out oh, god try also, it is 5 32. This is my first lick of caffeine today and it's a c4, because I hate myself and apparently I don't want to go to bed until six am.
Speaker 2:I was gonna say how much caffeine is in those 280 milligrams 200 okay caps off at 200.
Speaker 1:I used to drink energy drinks that were about 300 milligrams of caffeine per energy drink, and then I would still have a cup of coffee. That was when I would be going to bed and I would notice my heart racing and I'd be like maybe I need to cut down yeah, yeah, same.
Speaker 2:I've been in the same, not even 30, yeah sign everything's fine yeah, I think 300 milligrams is like the suggested daily max Exactly, you know.
Speaker 1:So our interesting fact for today has to do with staying safe and staying out, because I figured I may as well keep it on theme I'm a gay bitch after all. So today's interesting fact is about lace code is about lace code, and lace code, or the secret punk language told through shoelaces done in ladder lace style specifically, are as old as Doc Martens themselves, first emerging from the punk scene in London. Doc Martens have never released shoes in stock with white laces or red laces. You ever wonder why? It's because of lace code. Lace code is why Doc Martin said we are not touching red laces and we are not touching white laces, because Docs were made for the punk community and they didn't want to fuck that up. So here's what the different laces on your Doc Martin's combat boots, your protest boots, mean when done in ladder lace style. Uh, though, for some of these, I just wouldn't wear these laces in any style period in a doc martin boot because it's just a bad look. So first we have white laces in ladder lace, and that is for white supremacy, so just keep them away from your docs. Don't put white laces in ladder lace, and that is for white supremacy, so just keep them away from your docks. Don't put white laces in your docks Worn by members of the KKK or neo-Nazis. So if you see someone in white ladder laces in their docks, run, stay away. This is another one to stay away from Red ladder laces. So red Any red in ladder laces no-transcript. They believe in Hitler and his ideologies. They have strong nationalist beliefs. They are Nazis. Those are the skinhead punks. Those are Nazi punks. You feel me, if you see a punk in red ladder laces, that is a Nazi punk. Run away. Fuck Nazi punks. Dead Kennedys said it best Nazi punks, fuck off.
Speaker 1:Blue is for sharpies or cop killers. Avoid wearing blue laces in your docks at protests. Cops know to look for that and avoid it. It's also worn by those who believe in the philosophy of ACAB, also known as all cops are bastards. So blue laces and docks are not just for cop killers However, they are known to be worn by cop killers but is also just for the philosophy of ACAB. So stay away from blue laces in your docks at protests because that will put a target on you Unless, again, you live that life. If you live that life, solidarity brother.
Speaker 1:Yellow is for anti-racist. Many docs come with yellow as their stock laces. So that's one of the reasons why yellow became the anti-racist lace is because when a lot of Nazis started flooding into the punk movement, punks wanted a way to differentiate themselves from the Nazis and when docs were releasing around the same time, they were releasing already with yellow laces. So yellow just de facto became the anti-racist color. So if you would like to show that you are a member of SHARP or Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice, wearing yellow laces is a good way to differentiate that.
Speaker 1:If you would just like to show that you are a member of shark or skinheads against racial prejudice, wearing yellow laces is a good way to differentiate that. If you would just like to show that you are anti-racist in general, yellow laces are a good way to do that. But yeah, especially if you are a skinhead punk, if you have a bald head and you are a punk, throw some yellow laces in your dots, just so people know you're safe, because you already look scary. You feel me. Just throw some yellow laces in your dogs. Let people know that you're a safe guy to be. That's a good idea. Let people know that you're a shark. And there is a difference between sharps and sharpies. Sharpies are a specific gang of cop killers, whereas sharps are the acronym skinheads against racial prejudice, and they are themselves separate groups, though they do intersect frequently because of police brutality.
Speaker 2:That's a helpful differentiation.
Speaker 1:Yeah, a member of the LGBTQIA plus community. So if you would like to show your pride in a way that is safe and also pretty effective, pop some purple laces in your Doc Martens. If you need tutorials on how to do ladder laces, they exist all over YouTube. Literally just Google ladder lace tutorial, doc Martens, and you will find them from punks of every age.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and keep this one in mind, because a lot of laymen don't know that purple laces and docks is for being queer, so that's a good way to stay out and stay safe. When this first came around, it allowed for many queer punks to communicate their place in the community with other safe or queer punks, which, especially when this first started being a thing, was vital for the survival of the queer community within the punk community and in general. And then, last but not least, black slash green are considered neutral, symbolic of non-alignment toward any political movement or movement in general, and that's mainly because black is another one of those stock laces that come with Doc Martens, and I'm not sure why green Green is just like the other neutral color.
Speaker 2:A lot of military equipment or merch, I don't know what to call it. Outfitting A lot of military outfitting is green Camouflage, is kind of neutral.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no fair. That is the basics of lace code for you all, which is it has been alive in the punk community since the 70s. There's a lot of Internet talk right now about this either being a dead thing from the punk community, like no one does it anymore, or B it's just some new TikTok fad brain rot bullshit. Lace Code is not dead and Lace Code was not born on TikTok. Stop making me feel old. I'm not even 30. Lace Code didn't come from TikTok. Holy shit, people talking about it on TikTok. For a second I was confused. I was like what are we talking about here? Wait a minute. Lace Code, that's what we're talking about. What the fuck? What the fuck, mimi, you?