Where did all the hipsters come from?

I‘m sipping a scummy pint of cloudy beer in the back of a trendy dive bar turned nightclub in the heart of the city’s heroin district. In front of me stand a gang of hippiesh grunge-punk types, who crowd around each other and collectively scoff at the smoking laws by sneaking puffs of "fuck-you," reveling in their perceived rebellion as the haggard, staggering staff look on without the slightest concern.
                                                                   ---Douglas Haddow


I'm not entirely sure how to feel about this whole hipster movement. I live in a location where fashion and trends tend to be a little out-dated and behind; non-mainstream. Also, a lot of the locals here are pretty damn annoying at times and it seems that hipsters are annoying a lot of people these days. So, does this mean I live in a community full of hipsters? Considering 90% of the town give in to the commodification of the "Old Wild West" donning western gear for only a week and a half out of the year. I'm gonna say NOT.

Now, I'm a big fan of Independent artists when it comes to my music taste. As far as fashion goes, I'd like to claim I have my own style, and I was giving it to the man by deviating from all that is trendy. Even at a young age, my mother was buying me Hilfiger, and I refused to wear it. Does this mean that I'm a hipster? GASP!

The truth is though, I buy and wear what I think I'll look "cute" in. Let's face it, Hilfiger did nothing for my hips. The fact that a piece of wardrobe looks unique does appeal to me, but I ask myself, "Can I really pull this off." Sometimes, I probably don't. In these instances, I would hope my friends gave me a good sit-down "FACE IT" session. So, I would say while I am a pretty groovy dude, a hipster I am not. I love argyle way too much and happily give in to this trend.

According to Douglas Haddow of Adbusters, "after punk was plasticized and hip hop lost its impetus for social change, all of the formerly dominant streams of 'counter-culture' have merged together. Now, one mutating, trans-Atlantic melting pot of styles, tastes and behavior has come to define the generally indefinable idea of the 'Hipster.' "

I am a huge fan of mutants, so that's a point for the hipster side.

Click to see Mutant Hipsters

Unfortunately, I like my mutants to be bad-ass and not pretentious little frackers, so point taken back.

Sidenote: The comic book geek in me feels the need to point out that Juggernaut clearly has his helmet on and the whole purpose of his helmet is to prevent his bro, Xavier, from projecting or reading his thoughts. While this video is both hilarious and brilliant, there is that little discrepancy that no one probably cares about...

I could appreciate the notion that hipsters refuse to follow trends and go outside the "stylish" garb that all the tweens and metrosexuals are currently drooling over. However, that appreciation quickly dwindled when one of my good friends came up with a fun and exciting new game to play while roaming the streets of any urban city of your choice. 

While this game is super fun, it appears to me that the hipsters seem to be the butt of a lot of jokes and the object for a lot of disdain. Perhaps it's the idea that they want to go against everything that is mainstream, yet have created a trend that has become both mainstream and homogeneous. Hmmmm, this seems to go against everything the hipsters claim they are...maybe I just don't understand.

Again, I think Haddow says it best: "We are a lost generation, desperately clinging to anything that feels real, but too afraid to become it ourselves. We are a defeated generation, resigned to the hypocrisy of those before us, who once sang songs of rebellion and now sell them back to us. We are the last generation, a culmination of all previous things, destroyed by the vapidity that surrounds us. The hipster represents the end of Western civilization – a culture so detached and disconnected that it has stopped giving birth to anything new."