Friday, July 20, 2012

Dominicans, Scots, and Hipsters

Greetings from the midst of Writerdom, an elite kingdom stationed in between the steep hills of Finalstan and the perilous mountains of JuniorYearia. The weather in this wonderful place is, well, hot, and the neatness of my room isn't so desirable either, so in all truth, my words are becoming the only positive phenomenon about this summer. As it should be, I guess, because I am a writer! Anyways, I hope all of you fine people are having a great time party-hardying with amusement parks and aquatic sports and lawn mowing, and I do hope you have gone to the movies as well. Why, one may ask? Well, I think it is the foremost duty of each and every American to have experienced


Delightfully dramatic, is it not?
     Brave tells the story of medieval Scottish princess Merida, whose adventurous ways are very contrary to the usual habits of a princess. Merida's favorite activities include horseback riding and archery, two activities that are not typical of the typical princess. Actually, they are so contrary to the precedent--the precedent oh-so-annoyingly pressed by Merida's mother--that our main gal starts to want a life away from royalty. Or another drastic change, such as a magical altering of her mother's positive opinion on Merida's wedding (watch the movie to find out how that one works out for her.) 
     We see yet another individual acting against the precedent in

     Not as dramatic, huh? Oh, well...
     Anyway, we see Oscar going against the grain in that while his other male, Dominican counterparts spend most of their time banging girls and talking about banging girls, Oscar is completely dedicated to his life as a writer of Science Fiction. Yes, he wants to bang some girls himself, but he (usually) doesn't let this desire get in the way of his career as a writer. Such a situation makes the young man experience suicide attempts, abductions, and the worsening of his formidable eating disorder. Tough stuff.
     We see yet another example of an individual (supposedly) acting against the precedent in


Yes, I know it's Darren Criss. That's not the point. The point is, in the words of an NYC Fashion Snob, look what he's wearing!
     It's the pure definition of hipster.
     In case you've been living under the Arctic Ocean for the past three years, a hipster is a man or woman who has a distinct hatred for everything "mainstream," what young people are, according to precedents, supposed to like. The precedent is that young people adore any culture that is distinctive to their epoch of entertainment history. Therefore, mainstream music includes Nicki Minaj, mainstream movies Twilight, mainstream books Twilight, and mainstream clothes anything that's not plaid. Their entire dogma is that to live a life in counterculture, to go against the grain, to violate precedents, in itself makes one's life worthwhile. Said dogma encourages the enjoyment of culture that either is not from their epoch in entertainment history or resembles culture from another epoch in entertainment history. However, what I detest about hipsters is that they do not--or most of them do not--act against the precedent for any certain reason. Merida, for example, does not want to be betrothed because it will obligate her to stop being such an outdoorsy type of individual; there would be no more riding horses and archery for hours on end. Oscar goes against precedent because he loves to write so much, and spending more time writing than banging women is a life that he prefers most of the time.
     However, I have found that most hipsters don't even attempt to enjoy anything that has been embraced by pop culture. A single phenomenon that the hipster feels too many people are liking is condemned as unlikable in his mind, which is absolute bogus because, as your mother told you in childhood, one can't know that he doesn't like something if he doesn't try it. Even though I usually prefer music that is not appreciated by pop culture, I have attempted and eventually enjoyed listening to artists like Lady GaGa and Adele.
     And the best part about the Hipster Movement to me is that, as months go on, more and more people are identifying themselves as hipsters. Hipsters are in fact....*gasp* becoming mainstream! But will the thousands of people who have adopted those signature glasses and plaid clothes stop being what is now themselves?