hipsters

Saw this first on SMILEFORCAMERA.COM
This is exquisite and can't tell you how many hepcats I know that would fit this mold perfectly, and i must confess i definitely can snap into these on occasion. In July of 2008 Adbuster's published a scathing commentary on the western hipster.

"With nothing to defend, uphold or even embrace, the idea of "hipsterdom" is left wide open for attack. And yet, it is this ironic lack of authenticity that has allowed hipsterdom to grow into a global phenomenon that is set to consume the very core of Western counterculture. Most critics make a point of attacking the hipster’s lack of individuality, but it is this stubborn obfuscation that distinguishes them from their predecessors, while allowing hipsterdom to easily blend in and mutate other social movements, sub-cultures and lifestyles."

FYI: Adbuster's now has an online shoe store, marketing to the unmarketable so everyone can be fashionably unfashionable - everyone's a potential soft-market, i guess (oh, the irony is thicker than the frames of Rivers Cuomo's sweet specs). Its the great dilemma of this breed: At one moment, scowling at the rest of society for being complete conformists, and then patronizing shops and online-boutiques specifically engineered for their exact narrow-casted target market (so explain to me how a non-conformist even has a target market). It's a curiously engineered breed and someone's cashing in on their "culture."

"...a culture lost in the superficiality of its past and unable to create any new meaning. Not only is it unsustainable, it is suicidal. While previous youth movements have challenged the dysfunction and decadence of their elders, today we have the "hipster" – a youth subculture that mirrors the doomed shallowness of mainstream society."

Painfully self-aware enough to understand my attraction to certain aspects of "hipsterdom," i tread lightly, always keeping close attention to the man in the mirror (God bless you, Michael).  My exploration continues soon. Please, leave me your comments and opinions. I'd like to start an open dialogue on this topic.