Random

[textualdeviance]

I wonder if there will ever be a point where being ironically anti-social, sarcastic and retro will become out of fashion and being well-groomed, well-dressed, nice to people and mentally healthy will be cool.

See, I think when Hot Topic started, all of that actually became uncool. If you can buy it in a mall, mass-produced, it's not subversive anymore.

Which is not to say that the fuzzy bunnies are the way to go, either, just that when a suburban mallrat dyes her hair blue, gets a nose piercing and wears a t-shirt with a Dukes of Hazzard iron-on on it, it's no longer counter-culture, but pop culture.

I blame Buffy.

It's annoying that, at nearly 33, all of the stuff that I've always authentically been, since I was a teen myself, has now been co-opted by a bunch of sniveling brats who see it only as fashion. Those of us who were authentically disenfranchised and disaffected and expressed that in the music we listened to and the way we dressed are now seeing that culture being bought and sold by spoiled kids who have no freaking idea why we were doing what we were doing. Sarcasm, depression, anti-social attitudes are cultivated as a means to be "cool" and not because they're really things that were really happening to us.

And yes, we had to walk uphill both ways to school in our Docs and we liked it, dammit. ;)

I guess mostly, I'm just annoyed that I've had to cut back my own "counter culture" expression because I don't want people getting the idea that I'm trying to be like the cool kids when I'm obviously too old for that anymore, not realizing that I was doing the same damned thing, and doing it as more than fashion, before these kids were even out of diapers.



ETA: Unlocked this since a few folks wanted to see it.

Comments

[amenaspointyhat.livejournal.com]

My friends and I have had this conversation several times. I was most definitely an outcast when I was a teen. My group of friends watched anime and read Poppy Z. Brite (BTW Lost Souls is a GREAT book if you're looking for one to read) and we smoked and cut school and we looked the part. Now you could walk into a high school and the valedictorian would look like Avril Lavinge. I might add how annoyed I am at her *tie and tank* look cuz I was wearin ties in the eighth grade. =( As a girl in a band, I feel like I have to deal with the posers on a completely different level. The MTV generation has taken over, and music has become a farce. Punk rockers (and even alt rockers) looked different than the Bon Jovi's and the Matchbox Twentys but now there's this huge mishmash of everyone trying to look like a rock star even though by the time they finish consulting their fashion stylist their career is already over.
I think this may be the first time in history that being phony is cool. Look like whatever subculture you want! We don't care if you've never watched Jem (ohhh which I LOOOOOVVVVEEE) or seen an actual record or ever had to go against the grain for any reason. Go for it! The people that this means something to won't care. Right?
I only hope that this will fade out within the next few years and we can all be happy being the people that we are and not feeling like if you wear what you like you'll like like some average asshole on the street.

[textualdeviance.livejournal.com]

I only hope that this will fade out within the next few years and we can all be happy being the people that we are and not feeling like if you wear what you like you'll like like some average asshole on the street.

God, I hope so. I'm afraid, though, that as long as these bland white kids are bored with their lives, they'll still be trying to co-opt whatever culture seems more cool to them at the time.

[amenaspointyhat.livejournal.com]

Alright so at the insistance of my best friend, I will refer to a certain group of middle class white males as "wegroes" for all non-offensive purposes. Anyhow, these being one of those groups of people. I feel like you are who you are and there's no reason to be ashamed of that, but outwardly trying to be someone else pisses me off. I could go into a whole other aspect of looking like you're supposed to (because I'm black and black people don't like the fact that I dress alternatively) but that's a story for a rainy day.
Remeber that song "I think I'm turning Japanese" ? If someone on MTV said it was cool, every kid in America would be.

[muffinhat.livejournal.com]

Oh my...Avril..*grabs big metal shovel*

Sometimes I dont think even THEY know what they're trying to label themselves. For example, I read in some magazine (hey, I gotta look at SOMETHING while I'm waiting the the checkout line) that Avril had apparently taken offense to the fact that so many people were calling her a punk. "I'm not punk, I'm unique!"

Well, Avril hon, I'm not honest and I think you're cool! ~_^