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Anything threatening to be a subculture is commodified before it can walk (2014)

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Re: Anything threatening to be a subculture is commodified before it can walk (2014)

#191

Post by harrall »

sporkydistance wrote: post #67

Steve Albini captured this perfectly in an essay to The Baffler called "Commodify your Dissent". I highly recommend it, as it described the commodification of subculture that started in the 80's and really swallowed everything in the 1990's (in the USA at least); Here's the book: https://store.thebaffler.com/products/commodify-your-dissent One of his examples is that music and clothing companies realized there was a…

Punk and skateboarding may have been commodified but if you still go to shows or go skate, it’s still filled with kids (and now adults) just having fun.

And now within subcultures are sub-subcultures. Within skateboarding, everyone hangs with each other but at the same time, your Baker kids aren’t your Creature kids and they aren’t your Andy Anderson/Rodney Mullen kids.

Some people may join a subculture to be “non-conformists” but most people pick up things because they like it. Sometimes what you like isn’t something everyone else likes and a subculture is born.

There are still millions of these pockets of subcultures that are completely invisible to most people on the outside.

Zines and DIY screen printing are still very much alive. If you live in a big city, check out some small local punk venues if you want to re-connect (or connect if you want to check it out). And of course, you can always start skating again (but maybe wear gear the first day).

Re: Anything threatening to be a subculture is commodified before it can walk (2014)

#192

Post by voldacar »

sporkydistance wrote: post #67

Steve Albini captured this perfectly in an essay to The Baffler called "Commodify your Dissent". I highly recommend it, as it described the commodification of subculture that started in the 80's and really swallowed everything in the 1990's (in the USA at least); Here's the book: https://store.thebaffler.com/products/commodify-your-dissent One of his examples is that music and clothing companies realized there was a…

Wearing a t-shirt with a prefabricated group identity marker, whether purchased or self-manufactured, makes one a curious sort of "non-conformist".

Re: Anything threatening to be a subculture is commodified before it can walk (2014)

#193

Post by Y_Y »

brudgers wrote: post #175
Y_Y wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> When the scene takes over, the reference point shifts to how it looks I accept this valid criticism of "posers" but I'd like to add that there's a strange loop here. It feels alien to me, but lots of people I know like to watch videos of themselves doing things (e.g. choreographed dances). It certainly does help to see how to improve, but also they get satisfaction from seeing themselves do the thing.

Maybe watching video of self-performance is subconscious confirmation that the work that went into making the video has indeed been done...and successfully posted...and does not stoke embarrassment.

I mean they were watching them privately, not necessarily as part of social media

Re: Anything threatening to be a subculture is commodified before it can walk (2014)

#194

Post by eadmund »

I want my subcultures to be commodified. I want it to be easy for folks who are interested in the things I’m interested in to join in. I want there to be an efficient market with mass producers to get people started, and then tiers of progressively more artisan producers as folks get deeper into the things I enjoy.

That’s why it’s sad to me every time a producer closes up shop.

Re: Anything threatening to be a subculture is commodified before it can walk (2014)

#195

Post by DennisP »

sporkydistance wrote: post #171
thinkingtoilet wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not just commodification. If you were a punk in the 80s with a green mohawk, you might find it cute to put one on your kid in the 2000s. I have long hair, my son has long hair. This isn't a commodification of a culture, it's me, like every parent ever, using my culture to inform how I raise my kids. What am I going to do? Not dress and present my kid how I want to and how I identify?

If you were punk you wouldn't give a fuck what I think and wouldn't have wasted your breath on me getting defensive. Just sayin'.

GP didn't say he was a punk, he said he had long hair. I think you're reading defensiveness into it, all I saw was a reasonably interesting point.

Re: Anything threatening to be a subculture is commodified before it can walk (2014)

#196

Post by Miraste »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #42
torginus wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would also add things that are unprofitable and/or participating in them requires a high degree of personal investment which can't be substituted with money. Which describes a lot of things if you think about it.

Those get commercialized quickly, too. You'd think that e.g. dumpster-diving for food would be "unprofitable" and require "high degree of personal investment which can't be substituted with money", but freeganism already turned into aspirational hobby for many, and has its own little ecosystem of influencers selling books. It fits in nicely among its even more commercial cousins, like "minimalism", "healthy eating",…

None of those require any personal investment.

I think GP meant something that takes a lot of your personal time to do, while staying unprofitable no matter the skill level. For example, ROM hacks and emulators: they're difficult and time-consuming to create, and they can't be monetized for legal reasons.

Re: Anything threatening to be a subculture is commodified before it can walk (2014)

#197

Post by brudgers »

Y_Y wrote: post #193
brudgers wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe watching video of self-performance is subconscious confirmation that the work that went into making the video has indeed been done...and successfully posted...and does not stoke embarrassment.

I mean they were watching them privately, not necessarily as part of social media

That does not surprise me.

When I make things, I often spend time confirming the work is done. And seeing what I actually made.

It is part of the psychological experience of making things for me.

Re: Anything threatening to be a subculture is commodified before it can walk (2014)

#198

Post by roenxi »

voldacar wrote: post #192
sporkydistance wrote: post #67

Steve Albini captured this perfectly in an essay to The Baffler called "Commodify your Dissent". I highly recommend it, as it described the commodification of subculture that started in the 80's and really swallowed everything in the 1990's (in the USA at least); Here's the book: https://store.thebaffler.com/products/commodify-your-dissent One of his examples is that music and clothing companies realized there was a…

Wearing a t-shirt with a prefabricated group identity marker, whether purchased or self-manufactured, makes one a curious sort of "non-conformist".

It is pretty cute. People want desperately to conform, and they know the non-conformists are cool. So they do the logical thing and conform with the non-conformists.

Heart in the right spot. Execution has room to improve.

Re: Anything threatening to be a subculture is commodified before it can walk (2014)

#199

Post by harimau777 »

dkarl wrote: post #96
pier25 wrote: post #72

Capitalism absorbs everything. Just look at the anarchism symbol. It has been turned into a fashion element for edgy teenagers. Even a brand. https://www.acupuncture1993.com/

All that's being "ruined" is people's ability to pretend that building identity through access to exclusive cultural groups and hard-to-get consumer items represents some kind rarified social achievement. Commodifying it punctures their illusion of specialness and makes it clear that they don't value their culture in itself, they value how it sets them apart from putatively lesser people. If capitalism ruins that for…

Perhaps it's precisely that "illusion of specialness" that gives people the sense of agency to fight capitalism (or whatever other ill you want to put in its place). In that case, capitalism ruining people's ability to "ruin" that would be a big deal.

Re: Anything threatening to be a subculture is commodified before it can walk (2014)

#200

Post by rcakebread »

"Commodify Your Dissent" by The Dead Milkmen

Who will sponsor my green revolution?

Will you buy the rights to my class war?

Purchase the t-shirts and the audio version of the book

They took your anger and polished up

Then they sold it back to you

They took your anger and repackaged it

And there's nothing you can do

Put your name on my new army's designer uniforms

Rebellion and subversion will make your Rom-Com cool

You'll capture that "indie" feel that the kids are crazy for

They took your frustrations and dressed them up

Before a focus group

They painted your frustrations in earth tones colors

And there's nothing you can do

Country music used to be about music and not about the county

There once was a time when rap was dangerous

Now flag-waving idiots and millionaire illiterates dance across the screen

Johnny Cash died for you

This sense of outrage can be yours if the price is right

Galleries and Poetry readings Jingles and cartoons

This is the river in which we've learned to swim

Sub-culture vultures circle above

The great unread white and blue

And there's nothing you can do

Country music used to be about music and not about the county

There once was a time when rap was dangerous

Now flag-waving idiots and millionaire illiterates dance across the screen

Jam Master Jay died for you

C'mon Bourgeoisie and get behind me

Captains of industry I'm waiting for your calls

Operators are standing by so don't delay

Your parents are reading hipster lit

And they try to dress like you

They took your anger and repackaged it

And there's nothing you can do

Punks, Goths, and Rivetheads disappeared into the mall

Just like the yippies, and the beatniks, and freaks

This is the river in which we've learned to swim

And this is the river in which we will all drown

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