Lets not forgot the most dangerous sub group of all... hipsters. Out to destroy the very definition of cool ... (Sorry Ariana)
http://www.adbusters.org/magazine/79/hipster.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAO4EVMlpwM
The Fall Semester...
16 years ago
Actually, I would argue the contrary. I think that the culture the "hipster" has created has been nothing but beneficial to mainstream culture. The style made popular by this so-called-subculture is commercialized, packaged and prepared. They are, from an industry standpoint, defining "what is cool". If anything, they have helped to increase the revenue of many corporations (i.e. urban outfitters) I suppose they could be considered dangerous from a "I liked that band before they were popular" type standpoint.
ReplyDeleteHi Constantine,
ReplyDeleteI'd like to hear more from you about how hipsters are considered dangerous by mainstream culture, since that was part of the assignment.
Right off the bat though I would agree with Ellen that hipsters are a large group of consumers that serve to promote mainstream commercial culture and therefore do not pose a threat in any way. Rather, I would argue the opposite -- that hipsters actually nullify the elements of 'dangerous' countercultures they have adapted.
But your example is actually a really interesting one, since it points out the complicated relationships that often exist between official and popular cultures, something we can talk more about in the next class.