Thursday, November 8, 2007

I am the Anti-Hip, or a Spade's a Spade.

My roommate recently complimented me by saying that i "call a spade a spade." I think that's a pretty great compliment considering how often people say things for unknown and often illogical motives: to impress, to form/retain some sort of image, flatter, etc. In the words of Operation Ivy, "civilization, ha. i call it as i see it. i call it bullshit, you know i simply cannot believe it."
This will probably be the first in a series of rants about the tendency towards "indie" "hipster" garbage that i see around all too much lately.
first off, i recently heard someone say "indie is the new sweet bro" with some level of surprise, as if they didn't know that before. i reserved any comment at the time, because i don't need to go looking for conflict and because i dearly love the person who said it, but i was shocked to see that people thought that was some sort of new idea. "indie" has always been the safe haven for the smugly obscure and willingly pretentious. i feel perfectly qualified to say so because i have wasted my share of time on being "hip" in the past.
referring to a person as "indie" is now, and always has been as stupid as referring to someone as "AN EMO." i don't want to come off as condescending or pretentious myself, but indie (independent) should never have been used as anything more than an arbitrary description for bands who weren't signed to large record labels or any record label. how it somehow mutated into a genre of music, and subsequently a cliché categorization for people. but what the hell does it mean? seriously. it doesn't make any sense as a musical genre (please describe to me what an "indie" band sounds like) or as an adjective to describe a person. it is not a social movement. even in its newfound meaning it is a trite trend that has little to do with character and everything to do with fashion. to quote rancid "you got no passion its all fashion."
"INDIE" is not A TREND. it is a SYNONYM for TREND. indie is the newest thing. indie is the fad. its the right brands, the right clothing, the right (or left, as the case may be) political stance, the right computer, the right taste in music, art, movies, etc.
"sweet bro"?? maybe i misunderstand the concept but when i hear this i imagine hollister and american eagle, popped collars, top 40 music selections, etc. but what most mean when they say it is a veiled cockiness, or sense of self declared status. but"indie" is the same thing: veiled cockiness and self-declared status because you are "in the know." you know whats going on while everyone else is groping for what the next new thing is going to be.
you know what i wish the next big thing would be? just liking shit because you like it: you find value in it.
its ok to not like the arcade fire or the new (or old) wes anderson movie. its alright to believe in conservative politics and wear baggy clothes.
at the same time its fine to wear your cardigan and american apparel v-neck. its fine to get your 100+ dollar jeans that somehow make you look more disheveled than a pair you could have gotten at walmart (God forbid!!) go listen to sigur ros or whatever other boring instrumental group is around that week.
im just wishing for more people with broader horizons i suppose. i'll continue on that topic another time.

please commence sending me "your a hypocrite, because your jeans are too tight, and you like wes anderson and leftist politics!" messages. im ready. im fully aware that they're coming.

5 comments:

manda said...

what i hate is when people tell me why i like the things i like, as if i don't really like anything and they know better than me. i like what i like what i like. i like being cool.

Unknown said...

sorry josh. i tried to kill indie years ago. but it didn't work. :(

as a result, i've sworn to never step foot in williamsburg.

joshua. said...

mikey. i do love you so. why are you so far from me?

samsam said...

amen amanda////////

Marcilyn said...

i like this.