08/06/08
Text: Nik Mercer
Adbusters, one of the print world's most prolific and prominent envelope pushers and occasional rabble-rousers, published a lengthy essay, "Hipster: The Dead End of Western Civilization," in its latest issue. The exposé sets its tone with a bold thesis: "[H]ipsterdom is the end product of all prior countercultures, it’s been stripped of its subversion and originality... after punk was plasticized and hip-hop lost its impetus for social change, all of the formerly dominant streams of 'counter-culture' have merged together. Now, one mutating, trans-Atlantic melting pot of styles, tastes and behavior has come to define the generally indefinable idea of the 'Hipster.'"
Sounds like Adbusters is attempting to start an all out war pitting those with culture against those in want of it—hipsters! But wait, first read the article and then judge. Author Douglas Haddow offers some compelling points. Namely, he aptly notes hipsters' seeming desire to reappropriate the staples of working class Americans (Apparel V-neck shirt, Pabst Blue Ribbon beer and Parliament cigarettes) to meaningless hipster garbage and bitterly states that, as "[l]overs of apathy and irony, hipsters are connected through a global network of blogs and shops that push forth a global vision of fashion-informed aesthetics. Loosely associated with some form of creative output, they attend art parties, take lo-fi pictures with analog cameras, ride their bikes to night clubs and sweat it up at nouveau disco-coke parties."
Harsh! If Harrow's at fault for anything, it's for excessively overgeneralizing the whole hipster "culture." Anthem holds, for example, that P.B.R. was never hip, it was just always cheap. Likewise, plaid shirts have been worn by frat bros for decades and Parliament has always had some sort of appeal for its "old person" vibe. Hipster may be lacking in voice and may be still searching for individual identity, but don't give them too much hell.
"Hipster: The Dead End of Western Civilization"
the adbuster article has it's moments...but for the most part is pretty damn lame. the comments are amusing for the most part too. I love when reporters report on a world they don't understand for the sake of making fun. It would be nice to have someone report on it from the other angle...from the inside looking out. It bums me out to read articles that come from the uninformed. There is such a big difference between reporting and sharing.
daydre
August 6, 2008 at 11:50 AM
wow ... that was an unbelievably weak response to the assault waged by adbusters on anthem's target market. you guys must have at least one staffer with a PhD in critical theory that could have taken on the article a bit more thoroughly, no? and to be fair, how does one overgeneralize a culture that can only be defined by its constituents concern with vacuous aesthetics and only temporary appreciations. sincerity has been replaced by consumption amongst hipsters, and to such a subversive degree (at least as far as they seem to know) that they don't even realise they have become the exact droids that massive corporations satiate over. i don't mind fashion, easily expired music or getting high myself, but i do mind when these things make up the whole of its parts in to what could even loosely be considered a movement. oh and daydre, how would an "insider" explain the hipster movement? the thing is that any person can do it quite easily ... go shopping in melrose (or if you are in iowa, urban outfitters), go to a dj mehdi or erol alkan show (no disprespect - both sick djs), take pictures of how high you and your friends are, post them on a blog, get a subscription to anthem, and get a job at a book store (but be sure that everyone knows you read f. scott fitzgerald, not dan brown). there is no insider's look at hipsters, because it is impossible to have an inside of something that is so thoroughly vacant. it is only existent in terms of how it is perceived by the outside, and that is its tragedy ...
andersenpooper
August 21, 2008 at 6:40 AM