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[shopping_city]

Would it even be possible for someone like me or you to wear jam shorts now-a-days without being sucked into a vortex of irony/anti-irony sincerity (which isn't the same as sincerity)/double irony? You could wear them because you thought they were really ugly, like "ha ha look how ugly they are" or wear them insisting/pretending that you didn't

Comments

[microbeast]

I think being concsious of not wanting to be ironic only does the opposite of what you want, because you are constantly having to think about your motives or reasons for liking something. I have realized that there are a lot of things that I just like and just because other people like it ironically or makes jokes about it doesn't mean that my like of it is any less sincere. So if I saw a pair of jam shorts and liked them I could wear them and they wouldn't be ironic just because someone else wears them as a joke. I think irony can be okay sometimes though, but the fact that our culture is completely based on it is completely ridiculous. I think though, it is because the pop culture of the 90s was kind of borrowed from all past decades, such as fashion and a lot of nostalgia for things that older people liked when they were kids (Scooby Doo and stuff like that) and now the 00s (00s?) are kind of a backlash against that (I have no idea if this is actually true). These sentences don't really have much to do with one another and are only vaguely thought-out but you get the idea.

[shopping_city]

Yeah, I know that you mean. I do the same thing, I like things that I like regardless of whether my appreciation could be construed as ironic, but sometimes I can't help but wonder if in a way I'm pretending that irony doesn't exist. I like irony (in the sense of the word we're using) and I use it all the time, but I don't like what it's done to the culture. Now I feel like I'm being melodramatic though. As long as I (or whoever) know my motives are true then what difference does it make? Irony doesn't enter into it.

What is the backlash against the postmodernism (sorry for the use of this term) of the 90s? I think I know what you're talking about, but I'm confused.

[microbeast]

I haven't really developed the idea more than what I have told you, what are you confused about? Maybe it will be easier to talk about if I have some kind of starting out point. I am pretty jealous that when you quit your job you won't have a computer. When I finish school for the summer I won't need a computer anymore, but when I go home I will just have another computer.

[shopping_city]

I'm not sure how to ask about this idea other than asking, "what do you mean?", which isn't helpful, obviously. Do you mean that irony has been heightened by the naughts backlash against the nineties? Woosh, this sort of thing is hard to talk about.

yeah, I'm looking forward to not having a computer again because really when I don't have a computer I don't think about using computers. But now, sheesh, I dream about using computers, I dream about websites, I think about what I should look up when I'm at work when I'm not at work--what is that? The only problem is that it's hard to look for a job without using a computer (especially a job you need a resume for).

[microbeast]

I don't think it is really a conscious thing I guess, and when I say backlash I don't really mean it. I more mean, I guess youth culture is usually supposed to be or is (I don't actually know if this is true, also) kind of go against what already exists. This makes no sense but I am going to keep talking about it anyway. And I guess it is just that, in the past what was common was nostalgia for older things and now it is making fun of older things. Oh shit! What if all of this started with comedy movies based on old television shows, like the Beverly Hillbillies movie? If so then I am all for it.

The thing with computers is that through high school I had absolutely nothing to do so I just did stuff online. Now I have things to do but it is too much of a habit now. I guess I just need to cut it out and delete all of my online dating site profiles and accounts, it's probably not really a half assed thing you can do, breaking a fake addiction I mean.

[microbeast]

Also I think some of it has to do with people not wanting to take anything seriously, which is what people seem to really vaule nowadays. Maybe it has something to do with 9/11, which is probably the most embarrassing thing I have ever had for some reason. Another thought was that not wanting to take things seriously has to do with online fights, where one person usually wins by saying 'stop taking this so seriously it's just online' which is more what I hope for.