Nicki Minaj's Verse From "Monster". Nicki Minaj, I Am Not.

Nicki Minaj's verse from "Monster". Nicki Minaj, I am not.

Hi. So. I know we've never really talked or anything but I wanted to tell you how much I enjoy reading all of your reviews. Keep doing what you're doing, man!

Thanks so much! That means a lot to me. I'm glad people are enjoying my ramblings. lol

Favorite TV Series: "Futurama"

This is my absolute favorite TV show of all time. While I will admit that there may be shows out there that are better written or more refined, this show is just perfect to me. I first discovered this show during its time on Adult Swim. On a side note, I love Adult Swim. Anyway, I first saw the episode "The Sting", and, while the randomness and general instability of the episode did freak me out a bit, I was totally hooked. While I was bummed that the series had already been cancelled, I made it my mission to watch every single episode that had been made. That goal was accomplished fairly quickly considering how obsessed I was, and the last episode I watched was the actual last episode of the series, "The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings". While I do really like the way that they ended the series with that episode, the fact that the series was over still made me kind of upset. Needless to say, I was unspeakably happy when they brought this series back. I thought "Bender's Big Score" was great. The other three movies, on the other hand, were a mixed bag. I thought the weakest was "Bender's Game". The plot was convoluted and didn't make a whole lot of sense. That's not to say it was bad (even the worst episodes of "Futurama" are better than good episodes of other shows), it just wasn't my favorite. After being brought back, I personally think the series is just as good as it's ever been. It took a few episodes to get back in the groove, but I really do like the new episodes. The only difference is that these do not have the nostalgic value that the old ones do. My favorite thing about this show, besides the smart and witty writing, is the characters. Zoidberg and Fry are my personal favorites (though I do concede that episodes centered around Zoidberg tend to be below average). Another thing that I love about this show is that it has actually formed its own mythology. It has a consistent history and universe that it inhabits. While the episodes are largely...episodic, there are almost constant references back and forward to other adventures that the Planet Express crew has been on. I absolutely love everything about this show. I hope this time it stays on for as long as it deserves (which might just be forever). 

State Of Mind: What Makes A Hipster?

For whatever reason (I can’t exactly pinpoint why), I’ve been very intrigued lately by the concept of the hipster. More to the point, I’ve been wondering what makes someone a hipster. Is it clothes? Taste in music/TV/movies? Personality? Lifestyle? I know that there are bits and pieces of all of those things that come into play, but I want to dig a bit deeper than that. I want to know exactly what divides a normal person with some odd and obscure tastes and tendencies and an out-and-out hipster.

(A note before we really dig in: I’ve been thinking about this in terms of me, so, if it comes across as me asking questions about myself, that’s probably why. I will use myself as an example for a lot of these arguments, just for the sake of having a real world example without having to implicate any of my friends, but I’ll try to keep it as hypothetical and objective as possible. Feel free to throw in your two cents with by inboxing me or reblogging this with some thoughts attached. For the record, though, I don’t consider myself a hipster.)

Now, the first thing that a lot of people think of when they think of a hipster is a sense of pretension. Hipsters tend to look down upon things that aren’t traditionally hipster as “too mainstream” and beneath them. What if someone liked very similar things and didn’t have that sense of pretension, though? For example, I love cult classic and so-bad-it’s-good movies and TV so much that I would consider myself something of a connoisseur in that regard. However, I would never look down upon someone just because they didn’t like a movie that I liked or because we don’t have the same tastes. Does that automatically exclude me from being a hipster?

Another important aspect to the hipster lifestyle is the aesthetic. Unneeded glasses, bright colors, ironic shirts, and various other fashion statements have all become staples of hipster closets, and antique, out-of-date possessions have become mainstays of hipster living spaces. It is said that this style developed from people appropriating things from other subcultures and using them for themselves. The end product is both a form of artistic and ironic expression. What if you do all of these things without a sense of ironic detachment, though? I’ve been wearing ridiculous T-shirts and bright, clashing colors just because I like the way that it looks. I’ve also been known to wear fake glasses simply because I’ve wanted to wear glasses since I was about 6-years-old. I also have records pinned to my bedroom wall, and I’ve been trying to find space for some old film reels, a foghorn-like speaker, an old music mixer, and a mini record player. I don’t have all of this stuff because I don’t like listening to the man or mainstream culture; it’s because I honestly think that it’s cool and interesting looking.

Last up (at least for the purposes of this thought piece) is the hipster personality and lifestyle. Like I said before, hipsters are known for their condescension and ironic detachment. This applies to their taste in music, movies, clothing, humor, etc. However, does enjoying irony automatically add points to someone’s hipster score? Irony is the source of almost all comedy. What kind of irony, then, is exclusive to hipsters? Does it have to be mean-spirited? Can a hipster enjoy some unironically? I always make extremely racist, misogynist, homophobic, and generally nihilistic jokes with my friends, but I always do it with a metaphorical winking eye and lack of any mean intentions. (This relates to my beliefs about political correctness, both in general and how it is filtered through comedy, but that’s a topic for another thought piece.) Where, then, does that type of well-intentioned ironic humor fall on the hipster humor spectrum? Is it less hipster for not being mean, or is it just as hipster because it’s irony pointed at social norms?

The lifestyle is probably what I have the least to say about, since it involves having money and being over 21 (neither of which apply to me). From what I understand, it involves being somewhat aimless after college and basically living in certain types of bars/restaurants/record stores and at concerts. While I can admit that my life after college will be somewhat aimless (simply because what I’m studying doesn’t really match up to what I really want to do with my life), I can’t say for sure until I get there, so I guess my stake in this article is over.

Reading it over now, I realize how much this whole thing comes off as me either really trying to prove my hipsterdom or trying way too hard to disprove it. You know what, though? So be it. I just really wanted to write something like this and get it off of my chest. Am I a hipster because I listen to some bands that no one has heard of? Because I dress weird? Because I like certain types of movies and TV? Because I like a retro aesthetic? Because I have an ironic sense of humor? I can’t say for sure, and everyone has a different opinion on what makes a hipster. I just know that, no matter what, I would never put someone else down for not liking the things that I do or lord my tastes and opinions over other people. Negativity begets negativity, and isn’t there enough of that in the world? And maybe my positivity and enthusiasm is the only thing keeping me from truly being a hipster. I don’t care. I’m going to do what I like because I like it, with or without a label.