Current mood:
savage
Category:
Music If you so happened to read my last entry from earlier this evening you'll see that I was wanting to address people that would poke fun and even try to belittle my taste in music or because I would still listen to a band like Nine Inch Nails. The truth is, are you ready for this? I don't think you are? Are you sure? Ok, here goes. I still listen to bands from the 90's. Sorry, I just do. However, I also listen to bands that you've never heard of either that are really fucking good. Here is the deal. There are a lot of people that I know out there that desperately want to be "trendy." Maybe "hipster" would have been a better word because trendy is very broad and it doesn't do the same job as hipster would to accomplish establishing my point. People that only listen to bands that are either not signed or signed to record labels that are "indie" are people that sometimes get on my nerves. Do you know people that play the "oh, I've been fans of them since the dawn of time" game? "I've been a fan of XYZ band for three years before everyone knew who they were." "Well, I discovered them and signed them, so fuck you." That's what I usually like to say to people that do that type of thing.
I get made fun of by a friend of mine for liking Soundgarden still. Why? I'm not sure, probably because he thinks they suck. Not that the sentiment is not authentic, he thought they sucked when they were popular, so I know he's not just saying that now because it's cool to not like "grunge" or popular music from the 90's anymore. They guy cheered when Kurt Cobain killed himself. I should know, he told me the next day in school. Of course this was the same friend who would only wear his Dr. Dre and Cross Colors shirts to Sioux Falls SkyForce games when we were in middle school because he didn't want to be made fun of. So everyone has their own tolerance level for wanting to deal with the oppression of the majority, which I'm not condemning.
Too many people my age subscribe to the "High Fidelity" credo of music, movies, and books defining who you are. To me that part and angle of the movie was always rubbish. The whole point of that movie in the end is that those things in popular culture do not define you and it's the relationships you establish throughout your life that are important. Your preconceived notions on what people like and don't like and how it defines them are usually incorrect. Take the part when John Cusack's character "signs" the shoplifting skaters to his non existent record label because their music is surprisingly good. Don't get me wrong, that is one of my favorite movies. But so was Grosse Pointe Blank. It's 99.8% of the reason I saw High Fidelity in the theater when it came out in the first place. One of about 57 people anyway. Fact is most people are looking to be led, so if that's where you choose to start a belief system, having things in pop culture define you, so be it. Listening to a band no one knows about doesn't make you cool, it makes you resourceful. Being resourceful doesn't make you cool either, but nice try. Anyone can discover cool new music now. It's not that difficult as it was when I got to middle school or high school. I actually had to either find a ride or drive myself to Ernie Novembers (an independent music shop) in Sioux Falls and find stuff out for myself or by word of mouth while there. Or reading Spin when it was actually cool. Listening to "popular music" doesn't make you smart, cool, or funny. Not listening to it doesn't make you any of those qualities either.
Another part of the larger issue here is the way people dress. Look, dressing like the way the latest and greatest indie band dresses is not making a statement, nor do you look hip. I had a friend of mine who dressed like she was homeless/Urban Outfiter poster child for awhile, then dressed like The Strokes when they were hot, the back to homeless then retro t-shirts and outfits with vintage fake tour shirts. That phase drove me the most nuts. I wear t-shirts and jeans most days. T-shirts with sports teams on them. I wear Nike's and white socks made by Hanes. I watch baseball all the goddamn time from April to October and football from September to February. Yet I still listen to music that is seen as "hip" or "trendy." What you listen to or how you dress should not dictate what gives you pleasure in life. I try not to let music or anything define the way I dress or act or anything. That's the point. Being original isn't trying to be different from everyone else. Being original is being different from everyone else by accident, or being the same as most people on the surface but knowing what you are worth and how that makes you unique.
People also make too much of an effort to separate themselves from the rest of the world by displaying an "original" behavior. Those people drive me the craziest. The ones that always stick out in the crowd or your group but drive you up the fucking wall. People that act different for attention and attention alone and consciously do this are retarded. If you are going to react a certain way to something, then have the mind to stop yourself and try to act differently because everyone else is acting the same, you're stupid. That's all. I'm no psychiatrist so I can't articulate and develop this point as much as I would like to.
All in all, when someone likes to blast me that I'm not cool with for liking what I like I don't generally take offense. I just pass them off as being mostly misguided and maybe a little unsure of what they really like or enjoy in life because they have to make themselves feel better at my, or anyone else's expense. I'll still make fun of bands that I think suck, or movies for that matter. I just don't think that if you like said band or movie that you should stop liking them just because myself or someone else says otherwise.
 | Currently listening :
Year Zero
By Nine Inch Nails
Release date: By 17 April, 2007 |
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