“This song goes out to the fat nazi piece of shit who’s got our tattoo without our permission in the movie American History X!” This is the line that opens the live version of Anti-Heros’ song, “I’m An Anti-Hero.” While that sentence is pretty clear on why the Georgia-based Oi! band was upset, it went so much deeper than that. Anti-Heros took New Line Cinema to court over the film. On Today’s Art History Uncensored, we’ll be discussing why.
American History X
If you’ve ever heard the phrase “No publicity is bad publicity,” you’re probably wondering why the band was mad about getting so much of it. The problem is that saying is mostly bunk, and the type of exposure really does matter.
American History X centers around reformed neo-nazi Derek (Edward Norton), who has just been released from prison. He tries to step in to keep his little brother, Danny (Edward Furlong), from making the same mistakes. But Derek has to also fight against going back to his old ways, especially around his ex-girlfriend Stacey (Fairuza Balk) and best friend Seth (Ethan Suplee). Seth being the “fat nazi piece of shit” in question.
The actors in it are all covered in Nazi iconography, scored by plenty of hateful music. Some are even sung by Seth himself, as seen at the beginning of the NSFW clip below:
Anti-Heroes & Oi!
Anti-Heroes belong to the Oi! subgenre of punk rock. It originated in the UK in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and was a staple in the US punk scene by the 1990s. Most of these bands are/were working-class, and lyrics often reflect these struggles. This working-class commonality makes it overlap heavily with skinhead culture, which unfortunately has a huge problem with white supremacy. To the point where many outside of the community assume all skinheads are white supremacists. This is just flat-out not true. For the sake of clarity, anytime a racist skinhead is referenced in this article, they will be called by their proper name in the community: bonehead.
Given the stigma that exists around the subculture, Anti-Heros have been outspokenly anti-racist. Now, here is the thing: the casual moviegoer has probably never heard of Anti-Heros. And the first time people are really seeing their logo is on a particularly shitty neo-nazi. People are going to assume a neo-nazi has a tattoo of a neo-nazi band. Hence the grounds for the lawsuit.
“N.L.C.”
In 1999, about a year after American History X hit theaters, they released “N.L.C.,” standing for New Line Cinema, an under 2-minute song addressing the lawsuit. “You asked to use it, but we said no. Don’t use us in your nazi show,” the lyrics read. “We ain’t racist, but you don’t know. Now it’s time to say I told you so.” And the chorus goes, “N.L.C you’re full of shit, shit, shit, shit.”
Unfortunately, given punk’s notoriously low-fi recording quality, that’s about the only part of the lyric that we can distinctly make out. However, it once again summarizes what the band says happened. Alleging that New Line Cinema asked to use their logo, they said no for fear of being labeled white supremacists. The studio gave the character Seth the tattoo anyway, since Ethan Suplee certainly doesn’t have one.
“I’m An Anti-Hero”
Now here is where it gets a bit weird. The aforementioned song, “I’m An Anti-Hero,” was also released in 1999. Despite calling Suplee’s character a “fat nazi piece of shit,” the song is played to the tune of “Anti-Social” by Skrewdriver. A well-known neo-nazi band, and inspiration to boneheads everywhere. (Now if they’d follow in the lead singer’s footsteps, the world would be a lot better place). This choice in rebuttal was never explained but assumed to be ironic given the obvious hypocrisy here.
The band’s 1986 album The Anti-Heros Are Here features the song “Nignorant.” Their 1987 album That’s Right! has the song “Porch Monkey,” a rather outdated racial slur. There are also homophobic slurs in some of their lyrics. While some try to defend “Porch Monkey” as a song against lazy white trash, it’s hard to believe that the band wasn’t aware of the expression’s racist overtones. Which is more than likely the point, shocking people into listening. More just pointing out some serious inconsistencies in the optics here.
Irony and satire, well done or not, are common in the genre as a whole. As is subverting and misusing iconography. Making it harder to distinguish who is sincere, who is doing it with an eye roll, and who is sincere until called out and then doing it with an eye roll. The latter is simply described as Schrödinger’s bigot.
The Lawsuit Against American History X
New Line Cinema was forced to digitally remove or blur Anti-Heros’ logo from the character’s arm in all subsequent home video, DVD, and digital releases of American History X. An undisclosed settlement was reached as well. All factors indicate that the band probably did have some legal ground to stand on, like being asked but refusing for fear of being considered boneheads.
So their version of events in “N.L.C.” probably wasn’t full of shit (shit, shit, shit). Because let’s face it, New Line Cinema had a lot more money and legal resources than an Oi! band from Georgia. There is no way to know for sure unless either party steps forward to clarify. And given that it’s been over 2 decades now, we doubt anyone will, or that legal can say anything, given how common nondisclosure agreements are in cases like this.
Bands use logos to represent themselves, and they have the right, to some degree, to control how they are represented. If New Line did ask permission, it shows the company was clearly aware that the band might refuse; otherwise, why ask? Being classified as neo-nazi’s by the general public could not only end the band’s music career but also possibly their lives. With white supremacy becoming such an issue in the scene, the anti-racist movement had to become even more vocal and often violent.
“Nazi punks fuck off” is a saying for a reason, and the expression “The only good nazi is a dead nazi,” just cranks that to 11.
