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June 9, 2012
November 30, 2013
Ilya Shambat wrote on alt.gothic:
"One example that I have observed was a young
man named Kevin in San Francisco Bay Area. He
was into Jim Morrison, had long hair and walked
around shirtless, and took me on an excursion
to the ocean coast where he and his friend
played a digiridoo all night. His mother kept
calling him a poser; but what she did not
understand is that, when someone does something
that's not a trend and that's not cool, then it
must be something that means a lot to him. So
that, while many of the original hippies were
doing it because it was a trend, someone who
does it when it is not a trend and remains
persistent in doing it is the real McCoy."
Well, okay, you have a good point here:
moving counter-trend can be taken as "I was into it
evidence of authenticity. after it was LATE_STAGES
cool."
I'm going to argue against it,
though, because that's the kind This would make the recurring
of guy I am. waves of white boy funk fans
some of the most authentic
For one thing, in an example such as the people around.
one you cite of the Morrison fan, you
might argue that this retro-hippie is
copping a pose to achieve some in-group
approval, it's just that at this point
the group is a genuine "sub-culture" KNIFE
rather than a nation-wide trend.
But maybe that's not a terribly interesting line of
argument, what I'm actually more interested in is
questioning the notion that authenticity is all about
"being true to yourself", that it's all about finding
sincere expression of the core of your soul. Every
individual, then, is regarded as this mysterious white
hole of creativity, and we all must listen down inside
ourselves to determine the modes of social interaction
that are right for us. But what really then is the point
of the social interaction at all, if inside each of us we
already have this perfect sphere at the core?
Realistically, doesn't this core actually come from
somewhere outside of ourselves? Isn't it strongly
influenced (if not solely determined) by that social
interaction?
Creativity does not *have* to be something practiced by a
lone individual in isolation: it could be that the entire
sub-culture is the real creative unit, that the process
of exploration needs to be a group exploration. SELF
And if the group is successful, if they find something
that really resonates with the zeitgeist, that speaks to
a generation... why shouldn't what they come up with
spread far and wide and become a trend?
Are you supposed to abandon your life-style
if it happens to be in sync with the times? Be true to
yourselves.
Popularity is not, in itself,
proof of inauthenticity.
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