04.27.09
Alright, I just saw this posted at Cpluv and figured I had better put it up. This is a quick shot-in-the-arm documentary from Shawn Bannon. It is a fascinating little morsel of culture to be sure. I am kind of ambivalent about the entire hipster culture scene though. I always have been. I have always kind of ridden the fringes of different social groups and have done the same with hipsterdom. Some of my friends tease me that I am hipster, but I have always thought otherwise. I have a very regular fulltime job, a mortage and a wife. I will probably have some kids soon too. I came from a very working class family, and I have never been given anything in my life. Ever. I have worked for everything I have and continue to do so. I have no privileged upbringing to rebel against. So sometimes I feel a bit like the everyman and I don’t exactly live the Jack Kerouac Bohemian lifestyle, if you catch my drift. I am not saying that every hipster was raised on the east coast and is rebelling against Oxford roots either.
So what is your take on this? Are we seeing a genuine rise of a new kind of hippy that is truly outside the circle and championing an alternative lifestyle that expunges the slavery of the American dream? Or is this just a bunch of privileged white kids who had it good and have decided they are too cool for school (and will later transform into fashion-conscious yuppies)?
Like I said, I am ambivalent and just not sure what I think. A part of me thinks this is really cool and would love to get in there with them and ride through the tunnels screaming like a banshee and another part of me just wants to call BS on the whole scene. Most of my friends could be described as hipsters, and I know a big part of my audience is. And I am not saying that the L.A. bike scene is the typical hipster scene either. I think it is a little bit of something different. Again, ambivalence.
Leave a comment and tell me how you feel. I am genuinely curious. Cool or not?
