Peering through the dark used-to-be-alley, turned local music venue hangout outside of one of Orange County’s many small music venue stand hundreds of teens whose heads emerge as mountains from an encircling cloud of smoke, while all sharing a can of PBR. Dressed in skinny jeans, plaid or V-necked shirts, these teens are taking a quick smoke break before then next band goes on stage. To the common eye some might just associate these teens with the local “emo” crowd, but these teens know that “emo” has come and gone and there is something new emerging. Whether any of these teens will admit it or not, they are a part of a new indie music, fashion conscious, socially driven cultural movement that has been termed “hipster.” Just like the “emo”/ “scenester” crowd of the late 1990’s and early 2000’s, the “hipster” crowd has emerged in the later 2000's asking new questions and seeking new answers as we move into a new decade.
Most likely this term “hipster” is used because by cultural watch dogs, because of this cultural movement’s similarities to the 1940s hipsters, who followed the then emerging jazz movements of their time. Frank Tirro, in his book Jazz, defines a hipster of the 1940s as, “an underground man…he is amoral, anarchistic, gentle, and over civilized to the point of decadence.” In 1940 most hipsters belonged to upper-middle class society but sought to mirror those in the urban New York Jazz community, seeing something in the midst of the urban Jazz crowd they felt lacked from their upper-middle class upbringing.
Today’s hipsters no longer belong to one social class, or even one specific ethnic group, but come from all walks of life and ethnicities searching for meaning and asking questions. The people of this subculture, who might just be looking to be “cool,” are far from the hipsters of the 1940s; they are simpler than some think. In fact, today’s hipsters take many subconscious cues from their 1940 counterparts; some might even argue that they can be defined as decadent, just as their former brothers and sisters. In an Adbusters article “Hipster: The Dead End of Western Civilization,” Douglas Haddow argues that “hipsterdom” is a stripped down version of prior countercultural movements that is unable to create anything meaningful or new. While Haddow is quite critical of the hipster movement, he is correct in stating that most hipsters appear to be a “homogenous group” who are seeking to discover their own sense of identity and meaning, rather than pursuing anything greater. Yet, within this subculture social issues are of utmost importance. Riding around on fixed-gear bikes to their favorite new ethnic veggie eatery or organic coffee shop, sporting their newest non-sweat shop clothing find, hipsters care just enough to not make any really difference in the world. Their ideals shared around smoke filled circles are the extent of their political and social involvement, which is lack luster, especially compared to countercultural movements of the past. Therefore, the question has to be asked whether or not much of their social mindedness might just be a way that they distinguish themselves from others, while creating their own cultural homogeneity.
Much like the “emo” movement of the late 1990’s, hipster culture is slowly moving into high school and junior high youth culture. In fact, as Paste magazine demonstrates, today’s hipsters’ roots can be traced to the college emo music and scenester culture of the early 2000s. It is yet to be seen how corporate America will market the hipster counterculture moment to the masses. Will they alter and destroy the essence of the questions being asked by those who are within this counter-culture movement as they did with emo culture? The masses of record companies, Hot Topic, and Spin Magazine turned a movement grounded in finding a emotional connection to what was happening in their world, especially in light of being raised in the 1980’s world of men-as-emotionless-beings, into a money market of darkness, cultural depression, and self-affliction. Companies turned questions of “what do I do with what I feel?” into be this, purchase this product to help you find the answers. Only time will tell what hipsterdom will become as it moves forward into the next decade; it could totally disappear or it could become the next “big thing” for our students. What the church needs to do is to pay attention to how this movement will affect our students and families in the coming years. The answer to that question lies within the questions being asked by the communities in which the movement arises. Next week we will take a deeper look at these questions and seek to discover biblically based answers.
No comments:
Post a Comment