Hipster Trap

Critical Review #2

Thorton elicits that "[t]his club scene sees itself as an outlaw culture, but its main antagonist is not the police (who arrest and imprison) but the media who continually threaten to release its cultural knowledge to other social groups" (90). The "mainstream" here is never us, rather, it is them (whomever that them may be). Because Western culture predominantly values autonomy and individuality over all else, we never want to be seen as "just like everybody else", what some might label as a conformist. We want to be unlike the rest. A certain dichotomy arises, however, when we strive to be individuals within a group. We long for the solidarity that common interests offer (i.e. a group of friends, similar taste in music) but at some point we become selfish and see the Sharons and the Tracys invading what we once claimed as our own.

Why is it that we are so intent upon keeping music cultures out of the public eye? If music didn't have such a profound effect on everyone, then it wouldn't be as meaningful. So why is it that as soon as a band emerges and becomes more popular we brush it off as "overplayed" or "too trendy"?