GUEST POST: Customer Service
Editor's Note: Our guest writer, Christiaan Van Vuuren, is Australian, so we can't really verify whether or not his assertions about Bondi Beach are correct. Also, they didn't teach "Australian" at my private school (and those Outback Steak House commercials were no help at all), so we basically have no idea what he's saying above or below. Since fucking when is "heaps" an adjective? Peace.
Bondi Beach is a beautiful little corner of Sydney, Australia. It's a place where people come from all over the world to enjoy the sun, sand and surf... Not to mention the excessive party life. As a former resident of Bondi, I have watched many a stable person move in and become an overnight alcoholic. It's a wonderful place.
But the young people of today are changing as a result of information technology. Being part of some kind of easily categorized sub-culture group has become increasingly mainstream, and the harder that people try to be unique and different, the more they conform to a particular mould.
As a result, a new social formula has emerged, from three different sub-cultures, and they have been taking over...
Emo + Metro + Hobo = Hipster.
On every street corner, Hipsters spread themselves out in neat little groups, leaning on old graffitied brickwork, occupying bus shelters, jamming on their ukuleles, spinning vinyl records at every opportunity, dominating garage sales and generally looking heaps fucking cool. Hipsters are a product of their environment. They try very hard to look like they don't give a shit about anything, but they give a shit about everything... They give a shit, about not giving a shit.
We know this isn’t just an Australian thing, it’s a global thing, and people from every major city in the world will complain that Hipsters are taking over... You only need to google it online to see the hundreds of blogs that are dedicated to Hipster culture (take this blog for example) or search it on Youtube to see how many people are commenting on the Hipster way of life.
They are easily identifiable, and have a very interesting view of the world... To both celebrate this culture, and show what a contradictory lifestyle it can be, we have recently created a Youtube web series called “Hipsters” (yes, very creative name, I know). It's about two Bondi boys, Dom and Adrian, who are trying to get their own hipster fashion label off the ground... Dom and Adrian think that they are making the world a better place, but it's pretty clear that they are part of the problem.
We wanted to make our web series something that would stretch beyond the obvious flaws of this sub-culture, and really take the piss out of it, playing on what a contradictory lifestyle they live.
Fashion, Technology, The social scene, Partying at the coolest spots, DJ’s, Drugs, Organic Foods, Yoga, Pilates, Exercise and self improvement, Retro music, The 80’s and 90‘s, vintage, underground, The environment, Popular politics, Social media...
In each of the above areas of the Hipster life, there are interesting contradictions... Take their political views for example. Hipsters like to consider themselves to be very environmentally aware, and they are constantly talking about ways they could minimize their environmental footprints UNLESS it infringes in any way on their lifestyle. They will still drive 4WD’s, smoke cigarettes, leave empty beers bottles laying around, and put recyclables in the wrong bin... Then take their own personal health for example. They will spend all week eating healthy organic foods, doing Yoga, Pilates and working out at the gym, then come the weekend they will binge drink and party from Thursday through Sunday, skip meals, snort lines, eat fast food, and hardly sleep. It’s a lifestyle of extremes, and we want to have fun making videos around that.
We are creating more of the Hipsters videos in January, so feel free to submit ideas here at “Stuff Hipsters Hate” and we will consider them for future episodes!
