I occasionally run into people and geek out about anime or science fiction novels and the like. Its always unexpected though. Its funny because one of the reasons I drifted away from things like anime, etc. is because I wasn't too into the scene that was built up around those interests. You are right about the hordes of n00bs man, they ruin a lot of things (MMA scene, for instance), but then again maybe its just, as you said, pretentious. Check out these excerpts a friend sent me a while back:
"fashion operates on the principle of constant disappointment and failure. for fashion to discriminate between the elite and the mediocre, most people must fail to make the grade
...
its standards are set not by the aspirants coming up from below but by those who have already arrived and need to protect their status as the established elite
...
the elites draw the lines, and do so in ways that exclude most of those who seek entry into elite status; otherwise, their status becomes diluted and their symbolic capital devalued. commercial elites will seek to impose their own fashions on society, to undo the standards set elsewhere and beyond their reach. accordingly, those above who set fashions and those below who follow them are engaged in a constant skirmish, as those below seek to expand the realm of the fashionable in ways that will include them and those above seek to place new barriers to entry."
Obviously there are going to be good reasons for those barriers, since noobs are noobs for a reason, but its interesting to think about elitism and how it might shape our opinion of things like the commercialization of anime, MMA, hip-hop, etc.
you know, there is probably a less wordy way to explain that the culture of cool is set forth each new season by a cabal of designers, dorks, and pr folk. i don't really think i'm terribly elitist, and the thing that got me most into clothing is probably the precariousness of the notion of style. i could roll around in thrift store clothes and mix it with some accessories got at a steep discount or whatever, as long as the overall aesthetic fits. most of what it is is just feeling comfortable in your own skin. i like to think that it's the mindset that makes the man, but if the clothes make it easier to think that way, then so be it.
katt williams said it best: bitch, it's called SELF-esteem!
I occasionally run into people and geek out about anime or science fiction novels and the like. Its always unexpected though. Its funny because one of the reasons I drifted away from things like anime, etc. is because I wasn't too into the scene that was built up around those interests. You are right about the hordes of n00bs man, they ruin a lot of things (MMA scene, for instance), but then again maybe its just, as you said, pretentious. Check out these excerpts a friend sent me a while back:
"fashion operates on the principle of constant disappointment and failure. for fashion to discriminate between the elite and the mediocre, most people must fail to make the grade
...
its standards are set not by the aspirants coming up from below but by those who have already arrived and need to protect their status as the established elite
...
the elites draw the lines, and do so in ways that exclude most of those who seek entry into elite status; otherwise, their status becomes diluted and their symbolic capital devalued. commercial elites will seek to impose their own fashions on society, to undo the standards set elsewhere and beyond their reach. accordingly, those above who set fashions and those below who follow them are engaged in a constant skirmish, as those below seek to expand the realm of the fashionable in ways that will include them and those above seek to place new barriers to entry."
Obviously there are going to be good reasons for those barriers, since noobs are noobs for a reason, but its interesting to think about elitism and how it might shape our opinion of things like the commercialization of anime, MMA, hip-hop, etc.
Reply
katt williams said it best: bitch, it's called SELF-esteem!
Reply
Leave a comment