The Antichrist_Star
Master Don Juan
- Joined
- Sep 9, 2002
- Messages
- 1,066
- Reaction score
- 3
- Age
- 39
"This is an an opinion piece that I posted on my LiveJournal recently. And I just thought I would share it with all of you. I hope that you enjoy. Caution... it's fairly long."
AS
'We don't rebel to sell... it just suits us well.'
MM
Don't listen to me. I'm just a guy, sitting on a bed with a pen in his hand. I'm not claiming to know it all, hell, I'm not claiming to know anything... this is just my two cents. One particular day in November (election day) is one that I wish I could forget. I watched despondently as more and more states become filled with red. My jaw hit the floor... I could not understand it. Mr. Bush did not employ the rouse like he did last time... no, this was much worse. George had actually won the popular vote, by four million at that. Being completely spellbound, I began seraching for answers: Had all of those Americans happily drank the Kool-Aid? Was it time to move to Canada? As myself and other liberal minded people scratched our heads, the reality of it all slap me like a sack of bricks... there are fifty-four million people in America who actually think the way the Mr. Bush does.
"But that couldn't be." I said to myself. Anyone with half a brain would know that George is full of ****. No... the person who was full of **** was me and a bunch of other people just like me. Look at us... we are so 'progressive' because we tolerate things like men wearing makeup (myself for instance) or believe that homosexuals should be able to marry. We are more 'cultured' than the 'masses' because we know of music beyond what is played on MTV and watch art house films. We are of higher intelligence because we would rather talk about the meaning of life rather than last week's 'O.C.' episode. I have a newsflash... in reality, no one gives a ****.
I know this is not what you want to here... especially from one of your peers, but the truth is the truth. Because you know something? Those Bible thumping, minivan driving, deluded suburbanities are probably happier than we give them credit for. Now, to me and you, a life like that is a fate worse than death but the (ironic) problem I have noticed among those who consider themselves 'non-conformists' or 'individuals' is the insipid assumption that everyone should be just like them. And what's worse... the elitist attitude that is cast on those who are not like them. So right now, I'm going to say what many cheerleaders, jocks, or right wing bigots has probably said to you under their breath... **** you. Do you really think that you are better than people because you waste your time endlessly scanning for bands that no one has heard of to say you found the next big thing? You think that you are cultured because you watch movies with subtitles instead of campy, overblown summer blockbusters? Do you think that you are cooler because you scour thrift stores for cool threads instead of shopping at Abercrombie & Fitch?
You sort of do, don't you? Well... get over yourself you pretentious prick. Again, I'm not talking to you as an outsider... I am one of you too. Everytime I bless my friends with new music, I get a smile on my face. I much prefer a 'Garden State' over a 'House of Wax.' And while I am not exactly a thrift store guy, I am definitely more Andre 3000 than Abercrombie model. But something I have been noticing recently has sparked me to write this composition... I noticed that my peer group (more so myself) had started taking ourselves way too seriously.
For the most part, it is a well known fact that I am a fairly peculiar person... mostly because I have a penchant for eye makeup and knee high boots. I understand now that a guy like that is hard to take seriously, but their came a point were I began to take pride in my obscurity. Once I took a deeper look into our culture, I realized that I was not alone. Much like the sixties, seventies, and early nineties, we are in an age of 'counter culture' or a 'deconstruction' of the common culture. Much of the earlier part of this generation's (83' to 87' babies) have grown up under the glory days of the Clinton administration and have been forced to survive under the theocracy that is the Bush administration. Large counter culture movements seem to occur under similar conditions. In the sixties and seventies, it was the bore and conformity of the fifties and the Vietnam War. In the nineties, it was the Gulf War and an economy which had been struggling since the early eighties.
This recent movement has been much of the same. The economy has been struggling since 9/11 and the combination of a second Gulf War and poor fiscal responsibility has left America with three billion dollars in debt. Not to mention the recent increases in censorship and 'homeland security' and the continual blending of church and state. All of this becomes a receipe for disenfranchised people. These people are angry at the program and begin to rebel against it. We want to circumvent the security... and push the boundaries of censorship. We protest the church in order to preserve the state. But eventually... it stops being about the 'cause' and starts being about us.
We become so obsessed with non-conformity that we eventually conform to it. There comes a point in every counter culture movement were the 'non-conformists' become the 'conformists.' It pains me to say it, but I believe that we have reached that point... and for me at least, this is where it must end. I am so sick of being artistic and obscure for no other reason beyond art's sake. I am sick of force feeding myself ****ty music because MTV does not play it. I hate taking everything so ****ing seriously. I do not always want to listen to world changing music like Radiohead or Marilyn Manson. Sometimes... I just want to shake my ass and to be honest Radiohead just will not cut it like Britney Spears can. I do not always want to walk out of a film scratching my head... sometimes, I just want to see **** blown up. And call me crazy... but I ****ing love malls (some of them anyway).
This is not about me 'selling out' (whatever the **** that means) or anything else... in fact, I am probably more passionate than I have ever been in the past. But I am just tired of living up to some image or striving to be an individual when all I really want is for my peers to tell me how 'cool' I am. I do not want to be a hipster, non-conformist, or anything else... I just want to ****ing be. I am through with categorizing myself... I'll leave that for the 'cool' people. But I say again... do not listen to me. I am after all, just a man sitting on a bed with a pen. You do whatever it is that you want to do... just make sure it makes you happy.
AS
AS
'We don't rebel to sell... it just suits us well.'
MM
Don't listen to me. I'm just a guy, sitting on a bed with a pen in his hand. I'm not claiming to know it all, hell, I'm not claiming to know anything... this is just my two cents. One particular day in November (election day) is one that I wish I could forget. I watched despondently as more and more states become filled with red. My jaw hit the floor... I could not understand it. Mr. Bush did not employ the rouse like he did last time... no, this was much worse. George had actually won the popular vote, by four million at that. Being completely spellbound, I began seraching for answers: Had all of those Americans happily drank the Kool-Aid? Was it time to move to Canada? As myself and other liberal minded people scratched our heads, the reality of it all slap me like a sack of bricks... there are fifty-four million people in America who actually think the way the Mr. Bush does.
"But that couldn't be." I said to myself. Anyone with half a brain would know that George is full of ****. No... the person who was full of **** was me and a bunch of other people just like me. Look at us... we are so 'progressive' because we tolerate things like men wearing makeup (myself for instance) or believe that homosexuals should be able to marry. We are more 'cultured' than the 'masses' because we know of music beyond what is played on MTV and watch art house films. We are of higher intelligence because we would rather talk about the meaning of life rather than last week's 'O.C.' episode. I have a newsflash... in reality, no one gives a ****.
I know this is not what you want to here... especially from one of your peers, but the truth is the truth. Because you know something? Those Bible thumping, minivan driving, deluded suburbanities are probably happier than we give them credit for. Now, to me and you, a life like that is a fate worse than death but the (ironic) problem I have noticed among those who consider themselves 'non-conformists' or 'individuals' is the insipid assumption that everyone should be just like them. And what's worse... the elitist attitude that is cast on those who are not like them. So right now, I'm going to say what many cheerleaders, jocks, or right wing bigots has probably said to you under their breath... **** you. Do you really think that you are better than people because you waste your time endlessly scanning for bands that no one has heard of to say you found the next big thing? You think that you are cultured because you watch movies with subtitles instead of campy, overblown summer blockbusters? Do you think that you are cooler because you scour thrift stores for cool threads instead of shopping at Abercrombie & Fitch?
You sort of do, don't you? Well... get over yourself you pretentious prick. Again, I'm not talking to you as an outsider... I am one of you too. Everytime I bless my friends with new music, I get a smile on my face. I much prefer a 'Garden State' over a 'House of Wax.' And while I am not exactly a thrift store guy, I am definitely more Andre 3000 than Abercrombie model. But something I have been noticing recently has sparked me to write this composition... I noticed that my peer group (more so myself) had started taking ourselves way too seriously.
For the most part, it is a well known fact that I am a fairly peculiar person... mostly because I have a penchant for eye makeup and knee high boots. I understand now that a guy like that is hard to take seriously, but their came a point were I began to take pride in my obscurity. Once I took a deeper look into our culture, I realized that I was not alone. Much like the sixties, seventies, and early nineties, we are in an age of 'counter culture' or a 'deconstruction' of the common culture. Much of the earlier part of this generation's (83' to 87' babies) have grown up under the glory days of the Clinton administration and have been forced to survive under the theocracy that is the Bush administration. Large counter culture movements seem to occur under similar conditions. In the sixties and seventies, it was the bore and conformity of the fifties and the Vietnam War. In the nineties, it was the Gulf War and an economy which had been struggling since the early eighties.
This recent movement has been much of the same. The economy has been struggling since 9/11 and the combination of a second Gulf War and poor fiscal responsibility has left America with three billion dollars in debt. Not to mention the recent increases in censorship and 'homeland security' and the continual blending of church and state. All of this becomes a receipe for disenfranchised people. These people are angry at the program and begin to rebel against it. We want to circumvent the security... and push the boundaries of censorship. We protest the church in order to preserve the state. But eventually... it stops being about the 'cause' and starts being about us.
We become so obsessed with non-conformity that we eventually conform to it. There comes a point in every counter culture movement were the 'non-conformists' become the 'conformists.' It pains me to say it, but I believe that we have reached that point... and for me at least, this is where it must end. I am so sick of being artistic and obscure for no other reason beyond art's sake. I am sick of force feeding myself ****ty music because MTV does not play it. I hate taking everything so ****ing seriously. I do not always want to listen to world changing music like Radiohead or Marilyn Manson. Sometimes... I just want to shake my ass and to be honest Radiohead just will not cut it like Britney Spears can. I do not always want to walk out of a film scratching my head... sometimes, I just want to see **** blown up. And call me crazy... but I ****ing love malls (some of them anyway).
This is not about me 'selling out' (whatever the **** that means) or anything else... in fact, I am probably more passionate than I have ever been in the past. But I am just tired of living up to some image or striving to be an individual when all I really want is for my peers to tell me how 'cool' I am. I do not want to be a hipster, non-conformist, or anything else... I just want to ****ing be. I am through with categorizing myself... I'll leave that for the 'cool' people. But I say again... do not listen to me. I am after all, just a man sitting on a bed with a pen. You do whatever it is that you want to do... just make sure it makes you happy.
AS
