Accidental Chinese Hipsters
June 24, 2011 6:26 AM   Subscribe

Accidental Chinese Hipsters.
posted by josher71 (29 comments total)

This post was deleted for the following reason: People not really loving this. -- cortex



 


So hip that they are banned from viewing where I'm sitting.
posted by stormpooper at 6:44 AM on June 24, 2011


I was expecting this to be all hurf durf, but actually it's a nice sort of humor, I think.
posted by koeselitz at 6:47 AM on June 24, 2011 [1 favorite]


I can only guess that A) somebody’s grandchild has a good sense of humor, or that B) he is a fan of bananas, as it is totally reasonable for a person to be.

How 'bout C) he has been uprooted by capitalism and no longer has the option of 'authentic' clothing, and figured a banana makes as much sense as just about anything else.
posted by klue at 7:01 AM on June 24, 2011 [4 favorites]


Look at this fucking Tumblr.
posted by Smart Dalek at 7:01 AM on June 24, 2011


Hey, just be glad the old boy didn't have his shirt rolled up to his armpits with his bare midriff showing.

Because you can see that anywhere in Hong Kong on a hot summer day.
posted by bwg at 7:03 AM on June 24, 2011


Accidental hipsters? Where's the challenge? In an average Chinese city there are five million urban people getting around the city on crappy bikes.
posted by -harlequin- at 7:05 AM on June 24, 2011 [1 favorite]


Two whole pages.
posted by cashman at 7:07 AM on June 24, 2011


So hipsters just means ugly clothing now? I thought it was "loves fonts" or "rides a fixed-gear bike" or "drinks Pabst" or "is under 35". I guess it just means "those people I hate" for whoever says it.
posted by DU at 7:08 AM on June 24, 2011 [1 favorite]


Where can I get one of those baseball caps with the bill on the side? All the ones I've seen, they've got the bill on the front.
posted by ShutterBun at 7:09 AM on June 24, 2011 [4 favorites]


Seems kind of mean-spirited to me.
posted by KokuRyu at 7:10 AM on June 24, 2011


(ie I'm thinking that hipsters are accidental Chinese)
posted by -harlequin- at 7:10 AM on June 24, 2011 [2 favorites]


Yeah, I may have been totally wrong here.
posted by koeselitz at 7:11 AM on June 24, 2011


I'm going to go with D) He's a Velvet Underground fan.

John Cale and Lou Reed are both almost 70, Nico would be 73, Andy Warhol would be in his eighties.
posted by The corpse in the library at 7:12 AM on June 24, 2011 [3 favorites]


Ah, how mean can it be if the lady's grandchild saw the photo on Facebook and wasn't upset? It's just having some aesthetic fun with old folks, which is better than treating them like they're invisible.
posted by Scram at 7:14 AM on June 24, 2011 [2 favorites]


What the fuck? This is mean-spirited, racist, and not even that good. (And it's only 2 pages long, what?)

Old guy clearly lives in poverty, and dresses funny? Guy rolls up pant legs because it's hot? Have we sufficiently expanded the definition of "Hipster" to include literally everything that one happens to find disdainful? The term has literally become meaningless.

Also, some of these guys are not even Chinese.

And, seriously. You take a photo of a dude wearing a sweater, while standing next to a mother and child in matching leopard-print bodysuits, and only comment on the sweater???

Flagged as racism.
posted by schmod at 7:15 AM on June 24, 2011 [2 favorites]


When I was 16 (in the late 80's) I worked at the clothing store Le Chateau, which is where that generation of goths bought their clothes. One afternoon I walked up to the store and Nona, one of my coworkers, was sitting on the bench taking her break. She looked up at me and goes, "I totally need glasses. I saw someone on the lower level who was wearing all grey, big clunky shoes, and knee high socks and I thought it was some cutie I didn't know. Then I realized it was the mailman."
posted by 8dot3 at 7:17 AM on June 24, 2011 [4 favorites]


The term has literally become meaningless.

"become"?
posted by DU at 7:21 AM on June 24, 2011 [1 favorite]


I didn't see it as mean spirited at all which is why I posted it.
posted by josher71 at 7:25 AM on June 24, 2011


schmod: “What the fuck? This is mean-spirited, racist, and not even that good. (And it's only 2 pages long, what?) Old guy clearly lives in poverty, and dresses funny? Guy rolls up pant legs because it's hot? Have we sufficiently expanded the definition of "Hipster" to include literally everything that one happens to find disdainful?”

I guess I didn't pick up the disdain that you apparently did. The tagline claims this is supposed to be a loving gaze cast upon these people, and I got that feeling from some of the captions, which reminisce about the author's own parents and grandparents and seem to identify a lot with the people in the pictures. Heck, the author's roommate is one of the people pictured. From one of the captions:

“There is a lot of inter-generational love, understanding and teasing going on here, and to me that’s one of the most special things about Asian culture. Filial respect isn’t just about obedience, it also means including parents and grandparents in the playful side of life.”

You could be right; the writers of this blog might be total self-hating Asians who are spreading something noxious. But it doesn't feel that way to me, and it's pretty clear that they are under the impression that this is all very lighthearted.

Again, I don't know. I'm not really in a position to judge. But it's certainly more complex than simple racism, no?
posted by koeselitz at 7:27 AM on June 24, 2011


It's not mean-spirited at all. The humor is warm and inclusive. What Scram says.
posted by Steakfrites at 7:28 AM on June 24, 2011


I work for refugee children, and I can tell you, it's fairly common to have a Nepali high schooler dressing in pink for his first day at school, or a Burmese kid wearing a t shirt that says "hot mama". They are used to survive using donations, and I'm always torn between letting them be, and convincing them of wearing something more mainstream. I think this blog hits too close to home for me to find it funny. You can imagine the derision when the parents show up in school.


Any advice?
posted by Tarumba at 7:29 AM on June 24, 2011 [1 favorite]


they are "hipsters" because they are wearing funky stylish clothes duh
posted by exogenous at 7:29 AM on June 24, 2011 [1 favorite]


From the blog itself:

What do we do when our immigrant parents lack in teaching us successful American social behaviors? I chose to pursue a “career” in the arts and to make fun of old people (so far) on my blog. Sometimes I fear that I’m not reaching my full potential. But then I think about how un-boring my life has been living outside of the Azn Super Achievers fold, and my mental peace is restored.

I get where this guy is coming from. But, really, let's not include making fun of old people and the poor's clothing choices in the process of facing your racial identity. It's kinda lame.
posted by helmutdog at 7:31 AM on June 24, 2011 [1 favorite]


arent we sick of this shit yet?
posted by nathancaswell at 7:33 AM on June 24, 2011


James is the ultimate Azn American partner in crime, a self proclaimed “Brooklyn man” and successful indie writer, he was raised in South Carolina by Taiwanese immigrant parents and makes a tasty pork chop with scallions.

How is this in any way "accidental"?
posted by adamdschneider at 7:40 AM on June 24, 2011


The "Chinese" seems unnecessary. Old people of all races and backgrounds dress like this. It's called not giving a fuck, whereas the classic hipster thing appears to be giving a tremendously huge fuck about looking like you don't give a fuck.

Not that this blog would be any more redeemable if it was just "Accidental Hipsters."
posted by 256 at 7:45 AM on June 24, 2011


I have to say if I was out in a restaurant or airport in the US and saw a 60-year old guy wearing some of these clothes, the last thing I'd do is laugh. As long as the person was reasonably well groomed, what would cross my mind is that it's someone who's self-confident or positively eccentric. Because when it comes right down to it, what you almost always see on a 60-year old guy in the US is button shirt & slacks or some variation on belted shorts. I want to see more random fashion.
posted by crapmatic at 7:46 AM on June 24, 2011


When I Am an Old Hipster I Shall Wear Purple
posted by cashman at 7:46 AM on June 24, 2011


« Older Crowd-sourced radiation data being collected in...   |   "Hey! Over here! I'M OVER HEEERE!" Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments