17 July 2008

But where do the hipsters fit in?

So in the wasteland of cable television that I like to call "summer," I've watched a few episodes of Randy Jackson Presents: America's Best Dance Crew. It's actually good and bad, because the "dance crews" are amazing, but Lil' Mama is one of the judges.

Anyway, one of the groups on the show calls themselves The Fanny Pak... and yup, you guessed it, they're total hipsters. In some ways, it's a welcome change, since all the other groups that are left are hip hop or B-boys. But in other ways, Fanny Pak are freakin' annoying -- namely in all the same ways that hipsters are typically annoying.

This got me thinking about the ways that hipsters are always trying to be unique and onto the "next big thing" before anyone else is. But I honestly don't think they're so original as they believe they are. Remember in SATC when Samantha said, "first come the gays, then the girls, and then the industry?" Well, where do the hipsters fit into that? I'm going to posit that they fit somewhere between the gays and the girls.

See, sometimes hipsters and teenagers are on approximately the same page regarding what they think is cool -- their tastes in music and especially fashion (ex: skinny jeans, American Apparel, headbands) can be very similar, as I've noticed when comparing the kids at my school to the 20-something and 30-something hipsters in downtown Tucson. But sometimes, the hipsters are a little more forward thinking -- for example, gay prom is something that has existed since the mid-90's (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong), and the hipsters were only a few years behind with hipster 80's prom. Then again, when the Tucson hipsters did 80's prom for New Year's 2007/2008, it was at Surly Wench (gay-friendly).

Anyway, my point is that Samantha's quote could be amended to say, "first come the gays, then the hipsters, then the girls, and then the industry." I have another theory on where hip hop fits in, but I've really got to get back to the 100 Greatest Songs of the 90's on VH1. ;)

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