Friday, March 07, 2008

(Action replay) Hipsters re-jump the couch

There’s yet another proclamation of the death of the hipster in the current issue of The New Yorker. Hari Kunzru’s story, “Raj, Bohemian” is so unempathetic and superficial that it’s so ironic, so meta… Man! You know?

There’s a veritable parade of transplants, trust-fund babies, and all the minimalist, alt, indie, eclectic creeds. It doesn’t help that all of this list has rapidly become assimilated by the mainstream and, actually, is already so infiltrated by it, that it’s positively putrid with ennui. [Can you tell I’ve been reading Zizek again?]

There is, obv, no Kunzru hate for hipsters. But his disdain [zing] actually cuts more. That may be somewhat deserved by the post-hipster, perennially unhappy sellout Misshapen species. But what about the fuzzy, farm-share ascetics and Etsy aesthetic types we actually know? I thought it was a good read but a flawed story. Or vice versa. May be *you* can tell.

_


2 comments:

ZenDenizen said...

Thanks for inviting me to your blog. It seems you took the passive aggressive approach and I might have done the same if I was in the right mood (and definitely would have said something when I was younger). Now I just think that the person I'm dealing with is probably psychotic and could potentially have a gun, key my car or slash my tires so I'd just circle the block if I had to. There is no shame in how you reacted and it's probably better that you cried and purged right then and there. I got into a similar situation at the parking lot at Garden State Plaza for a spot. The middle aged white guy screamed and cursed at me (my mom and sister were in the car, too). I just gave him a dirty look and let him have the spot but I kept thinking to myself, "what an idiot, I know where YOU park and can put nails under your tire, you on the other hand now have NO idea where I am, hahahahaha." It bothered me for a little while after but these things eventually fade.

ZenDenizen said...

I feel fooling for commenting on the wrong post. Figures, I'm obsessed with mocking hipsters :)

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