I don't think we need to make up some story about why hipster culture declined ... it had a good solid 10 years. That's about how long these things last.
I was the right age in the right place at the right time (20s-30s, Brooklyn) and fully enjoyed hipster culture. Still do. The music was great, the art was fun, the fashion was accessible. It had a massive influence on culture.
I'm not sorry it's over, what followed was exciting too (though I feel too old to be part of it)
Anyway...I can't decide if I want to read this. That time and place is so sparkly in my memory, do I want to add someone else's memories?
The music still is good! As are the mason jars and edison bulbs and vinyl records! I am of the opinion it is perfectly fine, good even, to continue preferring the things that were popular when you were in your early twenties. Much better than being the old guy constantly trying to keep up with what the kids are into.
Really?? I think it's awesome when older people enjoy new things. It's embarrassing when they do it just to be cool, but if it comes from a place of genuine curiosity and enjoyment, that's awesome.
I just spent the weekend with my 73-year old uncle. We spent hours sharing music, everything from the 1960s folk rock of his youth to Sabrina Carpenter. And yep, some indie too! He's the best.
I guess I should clarify: enjoying new things is great! I enjoy some new music too. It's when the older folk are trying so hard to keep up, to throw off the things of their youth as being no longer cool, that they begin to resemble Danny Devito in an early Always Sunny episode, trying to put on skinny jeans. So I think we're really saying the same thing.
As a forty-something dude who is too nostalgic for his own good, this sounds like a book I would love and a book that would be incredibly painful to read. Also, I like the scoring system for the Richardson prize!
Decline is the wrong word. There is more culture than ever. Use of that word interrupts discussion. Stagnation is more appropriate. That we can discuss.
"If you’re over forty and have creative aspirations, then you likely believe there’s been some kind of cultural decline in America. But I am not actually certain this decline is real." - If you're nearly 60 with the same aspirations... you (I) don't know what you (I) believe anymore... but I do believe you are doing good and important work.
I think a really interesting compare and contrast would be between The Wayback Machine and the Scott Pilgrim comic books, which are also a love-letter to the hipster indie music scene (Toronto, not NYC). The bit in this review about the lack of a compelling villain and letting the protagonist be good made me think of them, because they do that *really* well — the protagonist comes off as fundamentally good, even though the books skewer him pretty mercilessly, and the villain is a great foil: all the same flaws as the protagonist but none of the redeeming qualities. Overall, the tone is more hopeful and naive — maybe reflecting the fact they were written in an earlier era.
I also just really want to encourage more people to read them: I think the writing is brilliant, and they get overlooked by readers because they are comics.
I love Scott Pilgrim. It is one of my favorite things. I saw the movie first, not knowing what it was, and then I walked out and read all the comics. When I saw the movie (in theaters in 2010) and read the comics I hadn’t actually experienced hipster life yet, so it was all very nakedly aspirational for me.
I agree! They made lots of fun of Scott for his various bad skeevy things, but he got to be the hero bc he wasn’t part of the rapey horrible ex boyfriend group.
“We, as fortysomething Naomis and Nathans, don’t do those things anymore, but that’s just because we’re old—not because they aren’t happening.“
Fortysomething is “old?” All I can say is that you are in for one hell of a surprise.
Word. When I turned forty, I thought "Damn...I'm forty." But I still didn't _feel_ old. Now that I'm fifty, I totally do.
(Do the kids say "word" anymore?)
I don't think we need to make up some story about why hipster culture declined ... it had a good solid 10 years. That's about how long these things last.
I was the right age in the right place at the right time (20s-30s, Brooklyn) and fully enjoyed hipster culture. Still do. The music was great, the art was fun, the fashion was accessible. It had a massive influence on culture.
I'm not sorry it's over, what followed was exciting too (though I feel too old to be part of it)
Anyway...I can't decide if I want to read this. That time and place is so sparkly in my memory, do I want to add someone else's memories?
The music still is good! As are the mason jars and edison bulbs and vinyl records! I am of the opinion it is perfectly fine, good even, to continue preferring the things that were popular when you were in your early twenties. Much better than being the old guy constantly trying to keep up with what the kids are into.
Luckily the things I preferred in my twenties (the music of Taylor Swift and the soundtrack to Les Miserables) are still very popular.
Les Mis soundtrack will never go out of style.
Really?? I think it's awesome when older people enjoy new things. It's embarrassing when they do it just to be cool, but if it comes from a place of genuine curiosity and enjoyment, that's awesome.
I just spent the weekend with my 73-year old uncle. We spent hours sharing music, everything from the 1960s folk rock of his youth to Sabrina Carpenter. And yep, some indie too! He's the best.
I guess I should clarify: enjoying new things is great! I enjoy some new music too. It's when the older folk are trying so hard to keep up, to throw off the things of their youth as being no longer cool, that they begin to resemble Danny Devito in an early Always Sunny episode, trying to put on skinny jeans. So I think we're really saying the same thing.
100%.
Have you got any old favorites to recommend for me? I should put together a playlist. Getting inspired.
What is embarrassing is old people who gripe about how nothing is as good as it used to be.
As a forty-something dude who is too nostalgic for his own good, this sounds like a book I would love and a book that would be incredibly painful to read. Also, I like the scoring system for the Richardson prize!
Thank you!
Decline is the wrong word. There is more culture than ever. Use of that word interrupts discussion. Stagnation is more appropriate. That we can discuss.
"If you’re over forty and have creative aspirations, then you likely believe there’s been some kind of cultural decline in America. But I am not actually certain this decline is real." - If you're nearly 60 with the same aspirations... you (I) don't know what you (I) believe anymore... but I do believe you are doing good and important work.
I think a really interesting compare and contrast would be between The Wayback Machine and the Scott Pilgrim comic books, which are also a love-letter to the hipster indie music scene (Toronto, not NYC). The bit in this review about the lack of a compelling villain and letting the protagonist be good made me think of them, because they do that *really* well — the protagonist comes off as fundamentally good, even though the books skewer him pretty mercilessly, and the villain is a great foil: all the same flaws as the protagonist but none of the redeeming qualities. Overall, the tone is more hopeful and naive — maybe reflecting the fact they were written in an earlier era.
I also just really want to encourage more people to read them: I think the writing is brilliant, and they get overlooked by readers because they are comics.
I love Scott Pilgrim. It is one of my favorite things. I saw the movie first, not knowing what it was, and then I walked out and read all the comics. When I saw the movie (in theaters in 2010) and read the comics I hadn’t actually experienced hipster life yet, so it was all very nakedly aspirational for me.
I agree! They made lots of fun of Scott for his various bad skeevy things, but he got to be the hero bc he wasn’t part of the rapey horrible ex boyfriend group.
Respectfully, could you make a quick correction? My last name is "Dodds," not Dodd. Thanks
Sorry! I’ll fix