Apparently, my friend said this great line the other day: “I want less feels. More feelings” and it got me thinking, Western culture has more or less become utterly devoid of meaning. So let’s talk irony and symbolism. I’m not going to pick on Miley (today) but pop culture and indeed even some of our friends seem to have tossed in the towel of authenticity in exchange for detached cynicism, lazy irony and mismatched and vaguely understood irony.
Picking on the ‘be authentic’ trend, how have we actually managed to replace being yourself with scheduled, premeditated schlock? Everyone come prepared with your example of how authentic you are! You know when I’m most authentic? When I’m brushing my teeth quickly and I flick toothpaste bubbles all over the bathroom mirror, I stare at it, wonder at how gross it kind of is, then resume brushing my teeth, leaving the toothpaste/mouth scum to fester in the blistering rays of the bathroom heat lamp. Authenticity isn’t something planned, it’s just what comes out. But so obsessed with the artificial aesthetics of authenticity we’ve become that our instagrams and facebook posts are little more than an illusory event in which we invite the public to passively gaze upon how REAL we are. If you want to see some REAL reality, check out Danny Devito’s posts of his feet which he lovingly calls “troll feet.”
Speaking of trolling, a recent article from Salon (ugh, I know right?) has been circulating in which they discuss late writer David Foster Wallace’s take on irony and how it’s killing culture. I think the Salon article sums it up beautifully: “television adopted a self-deprecating, ironic attitude to make viewers feel smarter than the naïve public, and to flatter them into continued watching.” And now it’s not just television, it’s us. Are Buzzfeed articles depicting the ’10 baby animals saving other baby animals that will melt your heart’ the best we can do? Everything is ‘totes adorbs’ or gives us ‘mad feels’ but what moves us? When did it become uncool to care?
Laziness has permeated seemingly every layer of culture and industry. The tech world is mired in it. Just watch CEO/nutbar Shingy talk about… well, nothing: here Is it totally necessary to make up words and pretend to get excited about shiny things? Even when the message is positive, there seems to be far less emphasis on actually presenting information and practical steps than ‘feeling good’ and ‘following our passion.’ My passion is eating sandwiches. All that following that passion got me was 15 pounds of extra me. #noregrets.
So. Are we doomed? Of course we’re not. Where there’s a major cultural trend, there’s always counter culture. It’s rife with artists, architects, teachers, thinkers, dreamers and oddballs doing odd jobs. And you should join them and start giving a damn. You’re cooler when you’re engaged and turned on, trust me.
Nick Thornton 