The Hip-Nerd Duality

 A response to Jacob's post.


When it comes to hip at the moment, I would say that comics and super heroes are considered hip. For the most part, there are several young adults that would gladly admit to loving super heroes. Particularly since comics seems to be aimed more towards an older audience rather than a younger one. While comics were very popular through the '30s to '50s, there was an understanding that comics were only meant for children. It is difficult for a medium to become hip when it is only meant for certain age groups. If an individual read comics past a certain age it either became something hidden or they became someone to ostracize; hence, the nerds were born.

Hip and nerd culture were not the same thing. Every person does have their own individual tastes. However, culture decides collectively what is hip. Society as a whole tends to think of hip as those who go against the grain. Heroes rose to popularity during the Great Depression and World War II; times when people would be more likely to dream about a hero to come save everyone. By the definition of the origins of heroes, they could not be part of hip because a rebel's goal is not to restore the previously accepted order. In general, people tend to be more comfortable going against norms and traditions when everything is going well. A well known example of a hip generation is the roaring '20s.

 The '20s went well for the U.S. economically. This took place after the social movements of the mid-eighteen hundreds. Jazz and flappers were the hip culture of the time. The older generation hated it. The young folks pushed their buttons and rebelled against the strict morals of earlier generations with: alcohol, jazz, and necking, oh my. While there's nothing wrong with the interests of the '30s and '40s, the interests of those decades lack the cultural mixing that generally accompany hip. Sticking within the accepted segregation lines of the races in the early 20th century was the accepted norm, and the lack of diversity in early Super Hero comics reflects that.

While the '20s was not exactly known for it's racial equality, the two sides of the culture coin were more likely blend and mix their ideas together when the culture was not being disturbed by outside forces. When society became more stable in the later 20th century, people did not have the same desire to fantasize about someone who could save the world from the nightmares happening around them, and feel less desire to revert back to the cultural norms that preserved them before. It could be argued that the current demand for comic book heroes is driven by our difficult times as the first wave of modern, popular hero movies came out in the early 2000s after 9/11 and held continuing popularity throughout our troubles with the Middle East. However, I don't think that is what the cultural love of heroes is at the moment. Nerd culture in general has changed a lot since technology has become more accessible, which allows for a more diverse group of individuals to communicate over the internet. Cultural reactions to the idea of nerds seems to have changed drastically.

 

It may be that interest in comics has risen in the interest of adopting nerdy interests; however, comics seem to be taking on the idea of hip more as more cultures are being represented in comics. Characters of various racial background are represented in the X-Men series. Just last year, another series, Ms. Marvel, was published about a Muslim American super hero, which suggests to me that comics are becoming more inclusive and more able to take on sort of what hip is as more cultures are able to combine their own cultural ideas and share their own experiences as well as rebel against an unequal system. 

"I liked it Before it was Cool."

“I liked it before it was cool.” This statement is one of the many things most associated with hipsters. Cool is now the state to be discarded. In a way, it makes sense. Rebellion is what the United States was founded on. It seems to be the natural progression of things. Hip was pushed aside for the idea of cool, as cool is now in the process of being pushed aside for hipsters. Both cool and hip are defined by buying into what consumerism has thrown at the public through music, fashion, and other media. Hipsters fight against the power of large companies by choosing to listen to indie bands, shop at thrift stores, and choosing vintage items that otherwise would have been left to collect dust or rot in a garbage dump. Hipster chooses to define itself from hip by choosing to pick up what hip has thrown away and by choosing what never belonged to hip in the first place. Once something belongs to hip, it no longer belongs to hipsters. The ideas of “cool” and “hip” became something to rebel as soon as it was accepted. The older generation for the most part accepts that being “cool” is what is going to help their children, or members of the younger generation, fit in. After all, cool is what they wanted when they were younger. They believe that the younger generation wants to be cool, which may or may not be true. Cool was a rebellion. Rebellions die when they know longer have reason to fight and new ones take their place. Hipsters were born from the death of cool's rebellion. Eventually, hipsters are becoming the accepted norm, their reason for rebellion will die, and a new rebellion will take it's place. Hopefully they don't take their claimed love for intelligence with them.

Leland believes that hip is a form of rebellion. I would agree with that statement. Hips standards often completely disregard the standards of our culture. Hip claims to unite where society has failed as he mentions that black and white are obviously mixed together. Jazz and gospel music are obvious examples but it goes back farther than that. Our own religions have become mixed together and influenced one another. Hips rejects the divides we have placed between one another, but offers nothing to fix these divides. Ultimately, the music, clothes, and pop culture consumed by the masses cannot force individuals to change their lives or the practices in their lives. It can just make it feel as though great strides have been made because we believe that allowing ourselves to openly talk about them is the same as taking action. While this rebellion is a step in the right direction. We need to embrace both the hip and the hipsters if we want to make changes in society.  

New Beginnings

Welcome to Explorations! Throughout my semester of English Rhetoric, I will use this blog to explore the ideas and concepts of this course. With the layout and design of this blog, I mean to display the idea that we well all be on our own symbolic adventures and coming to our own conclusions. The image of the trailing trees is meant to lead the reader into the main text of the blog, or symbolically of their own path to get a glimpse of mine. Green is more of a natural color that belongs with the theme of nature and adventure. I chose to combine this with purple as the two contrast well. Purple also represents creativity and sensitivity. With this blog, this is meant to represent an understanding that all of our ideas and journeys are going to be different. We will all take a different route to get there. All ideas are worth exploring. I wish you all luck reaching your own profound conclusion throughout the semester.