irony in popular culture

Although I sometimes appreciate irony, I despise hipsters for being fake nerds for the sake of irony. They are actually self-loathing, pretentious assholes who don't have the common decency to kill themselves. Hmm, looking at that NYT article, I see that writer makes a similar point with less harsh terminology. And she has some great insights, like irony as form of risk-aversion.

I'm reasonably happy with my life. After years of struggle, I now have both a job and a personal relationship where I can say what I mean. I like what I like because I like it, and I have my own personal style of talking, dressing, and moving that is just me. If anybody doesn't like it, they can fuck off.

Michael Barnes wrote: It's all coming back around to dishonesty and a failure for people to be genuine.

It's the increasing trend of style over substance where it's more cool to be clever than real. It's easier than figuring out who you really are and what exactly you stand for and today's culture is all about easy.

True, and I would also argue that some of that feeds into the concept of "geek culture" as well. It's much easier to identify yourself by the media that you consume that by who you are as a person. You can also use that media to disguise who you really are, or to provide an intermediary that keeps the real "you" at a distance from others.

Michael Barnes wrote: But then there's that whole fake nerd girl thing too.

Soooo true, I hate fake nerd girls too. That droopy B-cup ain't foolin' anyone sister.

Michael Barnes wrote: It's all coming back around to dishonesty and a failure for people to be genuine. As much as I hate "geek" culture of all stripes, one thing I'll give them all credit for is that they like what they like without shame, reservation, sarcasm, or irony. I appreciate that, and it's probably why I still don't mind going to conventions or being around nerds.

Totally. I think the best and worst things about the stereotypical geek is his or her ability to get consumed with something trivial, like a game. Games are frivolous in the big picture, and inflating and exaggerating their importance in life can be a sign of gross immaturity. But on the other hand, isn't it the most amazing thing when someone can have a free enough spirit to let the imagination run wild and break up the routine with some "make-believe", theatre or even, in a sense, art? Sometimes people get into that space of imagination to avoid being an adult, and they can become losers like Eugene (though I love Eugene...speaking of whom, Simon, we need MOAR EUGENE PLEZ), or nerds prone to nerd-rage, who sulk in their basement because their RPG character got offed. But sometimes these people are like magic in a grey world. I love playing boardgames with people who really get into it, and into character. But I hate playing with people who don't know how to turn the game world off.

How do we have a healthy and mature fantasy life? That issue reminds me, in a way, of Don Quixote (my favourite fictional character) tilting at windmills, fighting anyone who would dare doubt that the barber's basin on his head is actually a sacred and magical helmet. DQ is a story about serious problems like loneliness, aging, poverty, marginalization, and how real problems can never defeat the sense of wonder and imagination that gives any of us a certain nobility in the face of all that shit. I don't think DQ would like hipsters at all.

Irony is a beautiful, subtle, vital artistic tool. Sarcasm and nostalgia are poison, and our culture is ingesting them at an ever-increasing rate.

We have gone from the search for Meaning to the declaration that there is none to asserting that even asking the question is pointless. The first two states can produce Art; the last only produces schlock, and pretends that since everything is schlock, that's OK. It isn't.

Hatchling wrote: Totally. I think the best and worst things about the stereotypical geek is his or her ability to get consumed with something trivial, like a game. Games are frivolous in the big picture

Games are no more frivolous in the "big" picture than anything else we do for personal fulfillment. Games are social, creative and entertaining. They free the imagination and exercise the mind.

Of course you need balance in life. Too much of any one thing including work or play can be destructive. Short of obsession, I have no problem with the stereotypical geek.

#GeeksRUs

Hah, I have a friend who married a girl who, in all seriousness, posts things on Facebook like "watching Big Bang Theory and loving it! I am such a nerd!" followed by whatever emoticon is trendy at the moment. Is this what nerdiness has become?

Maybe I am too possessive of what I consider to be nerd/geek culture. When a friend reads ONE book a year and it happens to be Joe Abercrombie's First Law, if he says it is great does that mean as much as when I, who read 30 books and thus had to dredge through the crap as well as the gold, says it is great?