Once again I feel obliged to post about the insufferable night-trawling generation that is infecting our city. I do not want to make this into another rant about hipsterdom. Done that, don’t care.
(I sigh disenchantedly)
No, it’s not particularly exciting for me, but nevertheless it is necessary that somebody should bring this to light.
(Lights a cig, takes a drag and begins).
Firstly, let’s take a look at the various blogs, photojournalistic archives, event promotions and brand activation groups that have sprung up all over Cape Town scene in recent months like young shoots in the spring. For your interest I have sourced a couple and posted them on my read this list. I’ll also mention that the likes of we-are-awesome and don’tparty are not the firsts of their kind – similar projects have been going for a while in the US, such as weknowhatyoudidlastnight.com and, as W-A-A will gladly endorse, mark the cobrasnake. Social photography is a thing of the 21st century with explosion of Internet networking, but in terms of recent years it has been actually around long before Cape Town became the new home of ‘awesome.’
(I roll my eyes and extinguish my cig).
So let’s take a step further and look at the WHY of this whole phenomenon. WHY do these young people (private-school educated, middle class and probably living off their parents’ generous trust fund) feel the pressing need to exhibit, promote and classify their social escapades for the world to bear witness to?
In youth culture there seems to be this exasperating sense of entitlement, the delusion that what we’re doing is far more awesome than what you could ever pull off, the self-made invention of ‘awesomeness’ and that my closeted bunch of hooligan friends are FAR more interesting/indierockandroll/connected/crazyass than you will ever be. Especially with our amazingly eccentric names like cobra or Celia or Zach the Square.
I am a witness to this fuckery. Without much choice, really, because you kids just shove all of your stupid mundane fucklit into my face. By simply logging onto the Internet I am bombarded with his new art blog, and yours, and his photography portfolio and her creative brand company and the like. FUCK THAT.
And yes, I did read your blog, but only so that I had some background to comment on its audacity, sheer ridiculousness, drunken grammar, appalling writing and the mundane farce and bid for attention.
I am tired of it.
Fuck your independent labels and whatever you have generated from the electrostatics of your twisted minds.
im an outsider on the scene. i am not part of it. i am not cool enough.
'djs making heartless kids feel your music'
(Yawns).
In the wake of cevroncity, the short-lived but controversial writer of the 8-bit era there has been little real criticism of the Cape Town scene. With every movement there will be a reaction. History has seen this in political wings and art movements. What will it take to provoke a reaction to this? Come on. REACT.
(I stir my coffee in an anti-clockwise direction).
This all comes down to an entitled space of self-consciousness.
1) Unhealthy, bordering pathological preoccupation with the self.
2) Elitist attitude towards others.
3) Need to document your social lives, believing that said social lives are more extraordinary than anyone else’s and that the others on the outside actually CARE.
4) Outsiders are the people outside of your circle of awesomeness. You are trying your very best to impress them while pretending that you’re so much better than them at the same time. Quite an accomplishment
5) Unable to see beyond your boring, superficial group of ‘friends.’ They wouldn’t have your back unless they were standing behind you with the knife about to stab you.
It’s awful awful awful awful.
(I hurl.)
YOU ARE A BORE. IT IS ABSOLUTE.
NOW GO HOME. AND GO TO BED.
Here’s a question for you kids: is the cape town afterdark scene REALLY worth this much attention? Go chew on that for a bit.
