What's up with all the hipsters?
July 25, 2010 12:53 PM Subscribe
What's your thought on hipsters? What are they? Are they here to stay? Enlighten me.
Until recently, I've never really given a damn about all this hipster thing. I've heard the term, know some people who have referred to themselves as one, also know people who abhorred being associated with one, but have basically tuned out whatever it is as I am almost always off in my own world. I've always thought it was some variation or other of any of these things: gypsies, hippies, free love, beat generation and the general Kerouac-ness of being. I may be wrong.**
But I've been getting a lot of free time lately, and have been surfing the internet, watching tv, walking the streets basically. And I've just been really hit by this thing among us. Suddenly a lot of people are riding bikes again. Without helmets. Their bikes are these pretty things that I'm not sure was really made to zigzag across dangerous traffic without a helmet on. Suddenly a lot of people like boat shoes. And Ringo Starr. A lot of people are wearing Lego watches and necklaces. Skinny jeans and those shades with what looks like shutters in them. CD players are being chucked for turntables, and everybody's suddenly either a writer, a musician, or an artist reading Rothko on the train.
I am suddenly asking myself where have I been. Is this hipster thing for younger people? Does it mean that I have just grown older? Is being a hipster different from following a trend, or joining the bandwagon?
Case in point: I know someone who was really into architecture and origami and Magritte ever since we were little. It was a quiet kind of liking, I guess. Never really talked about it, or if it was brought up into a conversation, nobody would really listen, and it would fade into obscurity. Then the movie 500 Days of Summer came out. And then suddenly everybody's buying architecture books, making paper cranes, and displaying The Son of Man in their living rooms. And I think of my friend, who has Alain de Botton's The Architecture of Happiness ever since time immemorial in the bookshelf, among other of de Botton's books. Now my friend doesn't want to talk about his interests anymore, is annoyed at hearing someone talk about such-and-such, et cetera.
I guess what I just want to understand is: there are things, stuff, that we like but don't necessarily garner much attention before. It's not cool or hip by any standards, and it's okay, because it's a solitary thing, the liking, that is. There isn't any clamor for it. And we're fine with that. But then suddenly, one day, we wake up, and it's all over the place. Everybody's talking about it, it's cool, it's trendy, it's what-have-you and suddenly there is a sinking feeling you can't explain. What is that? Why is that?
Do any of you get this feeling at all? I've browsed several AskMefi threads like this one, but never really found a discussion dedicated to this topic. On the other hand, should that be clue enough to what people think? Heh.
Anyway, I am just curious. I haven't really formed an opinion about it yet, and just trying to elaborate on my friend's state of mind as best as I can. I want to understand why that is. I remember the scene in Almost Famous, where Lester Bangs tells the young William, "We are uncool," because of who they are and what they do. But when circumstance change and suddenly the golden gods are interested in your interests, won't that fuck you up a little, too? I mean, all the time getting used to being the only one, or part of the few, who like what you like, won't there be that tiniest bit of resentment when it suddenly becomes popular?
Whew. So there. What do you guys think?
**Should be noted that I am still drunk writing this, and have just come home from an incredibly long drinking session with friends at some hole in the wall, which was pretty low-key and had the best price for cheap beer, until it was featured at what my friends said was a hipster magazine, so it was now littered with some of the flashiest and maybe weirdest people I've seen in awhile, and the beer is suddenly incredibly expensive, and is suddenly Pabst Blue Ribbon, which sparked this conversation and train of thought
Until recently, I've never really given a damn about all this hipster thing. I've heard the term, know some people who have referred to themselves as one, also know people who abhorred being associated with one, but have basically tuned out whatever it is as I am almost always off in my own world. I've always thought it was some variation or other of any of these things: gypsies, hippies, free love, beat generation and the general Kerouac-ness of being. I may be wrong.**
But I've been getting a lot of free time lately, and have been surfing the internet, watching tv, walking the streets basically. And I've just been really hit by this thing among us. Suddenly a lot of people are riding bikes again. Without helmets. Their bikes are these pretty things that I'm not sure was really made to zigzag across dangerous traffic without a helmet on. Suddenly a lot of people like boat shoes. And Ringo Starr. A lot of people are wearing Lego watches and necklaces. Skinny jeans and those shades with what looks like shutters in them. CD players are being chucked for turntables, and everybody's suddenly either a writer, a musician, or an artist reading Rothko on the train.
I am suddenly asking myself where have I been. Is this hipster thing for younger people? Does it mean that I have just grown older? Is being a hipster different from following a trend, or joining the bandwagon?
Case in point: I know someone who was really into architecture and origami and Magritte ever since we were little. It was a quiet kind of liking, I guess. Never really talked about it, or if it was brought up into a conversation, nobody would really listen, and it would fade into obscurity. Then the movie 500 Days of Summer came out. And then suddenly everybody's buying architecture books, making paper cranes, and displaying The Son of Man in their living rooms. And I think of my friend, who has Alain de Botton's The Architecture of Happiness ever since time immemorial in the bookshelf, among other of de Botton's books. Now my friend doesn't want to talk about his interests anymore, is annoyed at hearing someone talk about such-and-such, et cetera.
I guess what I just want to understand is: there are things, stuff, that we like but don't necessarily garner much attention before. It's not cool or hip by any standards, and it's okay, because it's a solitary thing, the liking, that is. There isn't any clamor for it. And we're fine with that. But then suddenly, one day, we wake up, and it's all over the place. Everybody's talking about it, it's cool, it's trendy, it's what-have-you and suddenly there is a sinking feeling you can't explain. What is that? Why is that?
Do any of you get this feeling at all? I've browsed several AskMefi threads like this one, but never really found a discussion dedicated to this topic. On the other hand, should that be clue enough to what people think? Heh.
Anyway, I am just curious. I haven't really formed an opinion about it yet, and just trying to elaborate on my friend's state of mind as best as I can. I want to understand why that is. I remember the scene in Almost Famous, where Lester Bangs tells the young William, "We are uncool," because of who they are and what they do. But when circumstance change and suddenly the golden gods are interested in your interests, won't that fuck you up a little, too? I mean, all the time getting used to being the only one, or part of the few, who like what you like, won't there be that tiniest bit of resentment when it suddenly becomes popular?
Whew. So there. What do you guys think?
**Should be noted that I am still drunk writing this, and have just come home from an incredibly long drinking session with friends at some hole in the wall, which was pretty low-key and had the best price for cheap beer, until it was featured at what my friends said was a hipster magazine, so it was now littered with some of the flashiest and maybe weirdest people I've seen in awhile, and the beer is suddenly incredibly expensive, and is suddenly Pabst Blue Ribbon, which sparked this conversation and train of thought
This post was deleted for the following reason: There's a few decent mefi leads in the comments, so hopefully that helps you, but this really way too loose and chatty/bloggy to work as an askme question. -- cortex
Best answer: Here is the thread you are looking for, linking to several other threads you should read.
posted by Omnomnom at 12:58 PM on July 25, 2010
posted by Omnomnom at 12:58 PM on July 25, 2010
Best answer: Nasreddin and Greg Nog describe the phenomenon pretty much perfectly, and I'm saying that as someone looking in from the outside.
posted by griphus at 12:58 PM on July 25, 2010
posted by griphus at 12:58 PM on July 25, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by proj at 12:57 PM on July 25, 2010