20051101

n+1 article on what's wrong with the hipsters

So I like the music, I like the fashion, I like a lot of the lifestyle ( indie club shows, exhibit receptions, cheap beer, etc.), but I'm not really ever gonna' fit in with it. I think one of the things that always bugged me about the last few mainstream sub-cultures (esp. our current hipsters) is the lack of a cause, and the fact that achievement in traditional areas isn't valued. It's much cooler to be a waiter/struggling something, than to be any type of wageslave. This n+1 article: captain neato nicely sums up a lot of what I mean. It's not that I'm against the silverlake, williamsburg neo-bohemian lifestyle, I like a lot of it. I just don't really fit into the community completely. It's not that I'm a little too A-type and corporate, I'm sure there are plenty of pseudo-bohemians with "real" jobs (and not just trustfunds), but the difference is I like a lot about corp life, and am not embarassed about trying to excel in it.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

neo-bohemianism is awesome!! Lets rank ourselves by how well we can convice other people that we're down-trodden.

signed,
a suddenly very bitter Jack

...and then we can make a play about aids

u said...

hipster beer, in general, is ass.

I love me some ironic t-shirts, but the "movement" as a whole is ridiculous. Mainly because it's supposed to be anti-mainstream, but it's got at least as many velvet ropes as the most obnoxious Hollywood clique. Plus, at least the A-listers have clear rules - fame, fortune, or good looks are what they want. Shallow, but consistent. Hipsters want you to be rich, but not obviously, brilliant, but wasting your talents, quirky, but filled with ennui . . . discriminating, but wearing the couture of the homeless and redneck, and drinking assy beer. Boo.

A Fake Doctor said...

What hipster movement? I'm in law school. I have virtually no friends and do not fit in. I have two piercings, enjoy dressing in black, and listen to goth-rock from the '80s. Is it a movement if I'm the only one? Is a person a hipster just because (s)he's into geek chic? 'Cause let me tell you, gadgetry is an expensive habit. Hell, just buying a couple used CD's a week is straining my income. So that's my pointless take on the topic.