Carrie in Portlandia
December 29, 2011 6:25 AM Subscribe
Stumptown Girl: An indie-rock star satirizes hipster culture, on “Portlandia.” A profile of Carrie Brownstein from The New Yorker.
This season, a couple launch a business based on the catchphrase “We can pickle that!"
I swear to god if that store existed I would be putting the proprietors' kids through college.
posted by griphus at 6:46 AM on December 29, 2011 [13 favorites]
I swear to god if that store existed I would be putting the proprietors' kids through college.
posted by griphus at 6:46 AM on December 29, 2011 [13 favorites]
In some ways, perhaps, Portlandia is like Synecdoche, Oregon.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 6:53 AM on December 29, 2011
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 6:53 AM on December 29, 2011
Fucking pickle munchers.
posted by nathancaswell at 6:53 AM on December 29, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by nathancaswell at 6:53 AM on December 29, 2011 [2 favorites]
Not being from Portland, I had no idea that mayor Kyle Maclachlan's assistant is played by the actual mayor of Portland. That's brilliant.
Also, this post needs the cacao tag.
posted by emelenjr at 6:54 AM on December 29, 2011 [12 favorites]
Also, this post needs the cacao tag.
posted by emelenjr at 6:54 AM on December 29, 2011 [12 favorites]
My (hipster) cousins have a successful pickle business. I just alerted them that they are about to be lampooned this year on Portlandia.
fwiw, they've been pickling since they were small children.
posted by k8t at 7:09 AM on December 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
fwiw, they've been pickling since they were small children.
posted by k8t at 7:09 AM on December 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
I was pickled in utero.
posted by srboisvert at 7:12 AM on December 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by srboisvert at 7:12 AM on December 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
The thing I love most about Portlandia is how much cognitive dissonance it hits me with just looking at the two leads.
"Wait a minute... that looks like Fred Armisen, except he's actually being funny and not just reading bad Obama jokes off a cue card. And she looks like that chick from Sleater-Kinney..."
Every time. I have to rewatch every episode because I miss jokes just marveling at the fact that these two people are making me laugh.
(I have the same problem with House because my brain can't process that it's Hugh Laurie.)
posted by Etrigan at 7:13 AM on December 29, 2011 [8 favorites]
"Wait a minute... that looks like Fred Armisen, except he's actually being funny and not just reading bad Obama jokes off a cue card. And she looks like that chick from Sleater-Kinney..."
Every time. I have to rewatch every episode because I miss jokes just marveling at the fact that these two people are making me laugh.
(I have the same problem with House because my brain can't process that it's Hugh Laurie.)
posted by Etrigan at 7:13 AM on December 29, 2011 [8 favorites]
Are they fermented or brined pickles? Is the vinegar locally sourced?
I'm sure we'll see more articles crop up about this show seeing as how the streaming rights (Roku, Xbox, AppleTV) were just released)
posted by sourwookie at 7:15 AM on December 29, 2011
I'm sure we'll see more articles crop up about this show seeing as how the streaming rights (Roku, Xbox, AppleTV) were just released)
posted by sourwookie at 7:15 AM on December 29, 2011
I want to be friends with Carrie Brownstein.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 7:19 AM on December 29, 2011 [7 favorites]
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 7:19 AM on December 29, 2011 [7 favorites]
This article reminded me of how much I like Carrie Brownstein, and what a . . . I want to call it a "blessing" . . . the "do it yourself" punk attitude has been for me. I had very little idea what she's been up to for the past years, but this paragraph sums it up:
She started writing a blog about music, for the Web site of National Public Radio, an enterprise that she kept up for three years; she also started writing a book, “The Sound of Where You Are,” about the current state of music-making, which is scheduled for publication in 2013. Thinking that an office job might be a good thing to try, she did a six-month stint at Wieden+Kennedy—the modish Portland ad agency responsible for Nike’s “Just Do It” campaign. (The agency’s playcentric workplace has been spoofed on “Portlandia.”) But working at an ad agency proved alienating, she said, because of the way “the work mimics art.” She added, “Music, to me, is an earnest populist endeavor and this was a cynical populist one.” During that period, she stopped playing the guitar, even at home; it felt too sad, like “putting your wedding ring back on after a divorce.” She spent so much time helping out at the Oregon Humane Society that she was honored as Volunteer of the Year. Then she remembered how much she liked acting.
This, while she's struggling to find the next big thing to do! I find that inspirational.
posted by ferdydurke at 7:19 AM on December 29, 2011 [14 favorites]
She started writing a blog about music, for the Web site of National Public Radio, an enterprise that she kept up for three years; she also started writing a book, “The Sound of Where You Are,” about the current state of music-making, which is scheduled for publication in 2013. Thinking that an office job might be a good thing to try, she did a six-month stint at Wieden+Kennedy—the modish Portland ad agency responsible for Nike’s “Just Do It” campaign. (The agency’s playcentric workplace has been spoofed on “Portlandia.”) But working at an ad agency proved alienating, she said, because of the way “the work mimics art.” She added, “Music, to me, is an earnest populist endeavor and this was a cynical populist one.” During that period, she stopped playing the guitar, even at home; it felt too sad, like “putting your wedding ring back on after a divorce.” She spent so much time helping out at the Oregon Humane Society that she was honored as Volunteer of the Year. Then she remembered how much she liked acting.
This, while she's struggling to find the next big thing to do! I find that inspirational.
posted by ferdydurke at 7:19 AM on December 29, 2011 [14 favorites]
She will forever be my rockstar crush.
posted by The Hamms Bear at 7:24 AM on December 29, 2011 [5 favorites]
posted by The Hamms Bear at 7:24 AM on December 29, 2011 [5 favorites]
I was bummed out that Sleater-Kinney broke up before I had a chance to take my daughter to see them. Turns out she loves Wild Flag and can't stand Corin Tucker's singing.
posted by The Hamms Bear at 7:26 AM on December 29, 2011
posted by The Hamms Bear at 7:26 AM on December 29, 2011
Both Brownstein and Tucker have gone in a different directions after Sleater Kinney. Tucker's new music could be described as very demure, by riot grrrl standards. Hamms Bear, Corin's new sound lacks that shrill yelp that she employed with Sleater Kinney.
(My own riot grrrl got to go to the last ever SK concert. . .here's Carrie from that night.)
posted by Danf at 7:40 AM on December 29, 2011 [2 favorites]
(My own riot grrrl got to go to the last ever SK concert. . .here's Carrie from that night.)
posted by Danf at 7:40 AM on December 29, 2011 [2 favorites]
Hey Carrie! Guess who we hate?? Beth Ditto!
posted by yellowbinder at 7:45 AM on December 29, 2011
posted by yellowbinder at 7:45 AM on December 29, 2011
The first season of Portlandia just recently became available via streaming on Netflix. I watched a couple episodes last night. I enjoyed it. The Aimee Mann as a cleaning lady bit was quite good.
posted by dortmunder at 7:47 AM on December 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by dortmunder at 7:47 AM on December 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
fwiw, they've been pickling since they were small children.
Then they should be done by now.
posted by Saxon Kane at 7:50 AM on December 29, 2011 [17 favorites]
Then they should be done by now.
posted by Saxon Kane at 7:50 AM on December 29, 2011 [17 favorites]
Did you read that New Yorker article about Portlandia? Yeah I already read that.
posted by hanoixan at 7:53 AM on December 29, 2011 [17 favorites]
posted by hanoixan at 7:53 AM on December 29, 2011 [17 favorites]
Did you read that New Yorker article about Portlandia? Yeah I already read that.
No. No. No. You're supposed to go say, "Man, they wrote about Portlandia in the New Yorker. That show is over! Over!"
posted by dortmunder at 8:00 AM on December 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
No. No. No. You're supposed to go say, "Man, they wrote about Portlandia in the New Yorker. That show is over! Over!"
posted by dortmunder at 8:00 AM on December 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
I read this the other day and was puzzled by the extent to which the author (in my reading) implies that Brownstein and Armisen are in spite of their denials actually romantically interested in each other.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 8:02 AM on December 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 8:02 AM on December 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
fwiw, they've been pickling since they were small children.
So they were doing it before it was cool. Yep, hipsters.
posted by scalefree at 8:02 AM on December 29, 2011
So they were doing it before it was cool. Yep, hipsters.
posted by scalefree at 8:02 AM on December 29, 2011
Not that I think Carrie Brownstein can do any wrong, but even so, Portland was a brilliant choice, because its self-importance has a more innocent flavor that can be lovingly made mock of -- the alphas are hippies who decided the woods weren't for them, high school losers who found a community, etc. You can puncture their pretensions gently.
You'd have to take a much harder / meaner tone in a show set in the comparable precincts of Brooklyn or San Francisco, to overcome the triumphalism of alphas who like as not have letterman jacket and prom-queen crowns in their parents' closets, and MBAs in their futures if things don't work out for their present ventures.
As for Armisen, I am glad that he has finally done something starting to justify certain of my friends' assertions that he was an awesome creative figure just biding his time in an SNL day job.
posted by MattD at 8:05 AM on December 29, 2011 [8 favorites]
You'd have to take a much harder / meaner tone in a show set in the comparable precincts of Brooklyn or San Francisco, to overcome the triumphalism of alphas who like as not have letterman jacket and prom-queen crowns in their parents' closets, and MBAs in their futures if things don't work out for their present ventures.
As for Armisen, I am glad that he has finally done something starting to justify certain of my friends' assertions that he was an awesome creative figure just biding his time in an SNL day job.
posted by MattD at 8:05 AM on December 29, 2011 [8 favorites]
As for Armisen, I am glad that he has finally done something starting to justify certain of my friends' assertions that he was an awesome creative figure just biding his time in an SNL day job.
We've known it for years. This DVD is truly amazing.
posted by Threeway Handshake at 8:17 AM on December 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
We've known it for years. This DVD is truly amazing.
posted by Threeway Handshake at 8:17 AM on December 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
"I was standing in line at Whole Foods, and the guy in front of me says, ‘I really wish you guys sold locally made fresh pasta.’ And the cashier says, ‘Look, we do.’ And the guy says, ‘No, no—that’s from Seattle.’ Really?"
This is like how yesterday i sent my friend in Guam a youtube link to the show's Dream of the 90's video
And youtube told him "the video was not available in his COUNTRY"
posted by khappucino at 8:18 AM on December 29, 2011 [3 favorites]
This is like how yesterday i sent my friend in Guam a youtube link to the show's Dream of the 90's video
And youtube told him "the video was not available in his COUNTRY"
posted by khappucino at 8:18 AM on December 29, 2011 [3 favorites]
Did you read that New Yorker article about Portlandia? Yeah I already read that.
No. No. No. You're supposed to go say, "Man, they wrote about Portlandia in the New Yorker. That show is over! Over!"
Not really. It was a bit on the show about being aware of current writing and news and the two characters are one-upping each other by claiming they've "read it!"
The premise of the show is mostly a about current pop culture trends and uses Portland as a locus for certain aspects of that. Taking something and extending it's meaning and relevance to an absurd degree does not mean it's mean spirited. Bad writing about so-called "hipster" culture would always reduce down to "I'm to cool for that" and would essentially be a negative pov, but that is rarely the case on Portlandia. They don't play characters jokingly; they play hyper-exaggerations straight. So for example a joke isn't about where the animals are sourced from or how their mental welfare was handled, but lies outside of that in a realm where asking about the chickens friends and traveling to check out the farm mid-order is acceptable.
posted by P.o.B. at 8:52 AM on December 29, 2011 [14 favorites]
No. No. No. You're supposed to go say, "Man, they wrote about Portlandia in the New Yorker. That show is over! Over!"
Not really. It was a bit on the show about being aware of current writing and news and the two characters are one-upping each other by claiming they've "read it!"
The premise of the show is mostly a about current pop culture trends and uses Portland as a locus for certain aspects of that. Taking something and extending it's meaning and relevance to an absurd degree does not mean it's mean spirited. Bad writing about so-called "hipster" culture would always reduce down to "I'm to cool for that" and would essentially be a negative pov, but that is rarely the case on Portlandia. They don't play characters jokingly; they play hyper-exaggerations straight. So for example a joke isn't about where the animals are sourced from or how their mental welfare was handled, but lies outside of that in a realm where asking about the chickens friends and traveling to check out the farm mid-order is acceptable.
posted by P.o.B. at 8:52 AM on December 29, 2011 [14 favorites]
FYI, the "Over!" thing is also a sketch.
posted by Threeway Handshake at 8:58 AM on December 29, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by Threeway Handshake at 8:58 AM on December 29, 2011 [3 favorites]
Watching "Portlandia" makes me really miss Austin, TX.
posted by ColdChef at 9:00 AM on December 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by ColdChef at 9:00 AM on December 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
I didn't love the album, but Wild Flag are insanely good live. If they tour hard for a couple years they will be huge just on the basis of the live show.
posted by anazgnos at 9:07 AM on December 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by anazgnos at 9:07 AM on December 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
Thanks for putting into words a concept that I recognized but couldnt express P.o.B.!
posted by Senor Cardgage at 9:08 AM on December 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Senor Cardgage at 9:08 AM on December 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
I read this the other day and was puzzled by the extent to which the author (in my reading) implies that Brownstein and Armisen are in spite of their denials actually romantically interested in each other.
Yes, I also found this is strange part of the article. I would have liked for her to either explore their relationship more deeply, or to have backed off of that hook a bit.
posted by OmieWise at 9:14 AM on December 29, 2011
Yes, I also found this is strange part of the article. I would have liked for her to either explore their relationship more deeply, or to have backed off of that hook a bit.
posted by OmieWise at 9:14 AM on December 29, 2011
So, I fired up Portlandia on youtube, and was enjoying its spot-on caricature of a chef searching for the ultimate kind of Wasabi, when it suddenly ended, and I realized I had actually watched the "Foreign Flavors" ad from this google ad campaign:
http://www.google.com/insidesearch/stories.html
posted by sp160n at 9:16 AM on December 29, 2011 [3 favorites]
http://www.google.com/insidesearch/stories.html
posted by sp160n at 9:16 AM on December 29, 2011 [3 favorites]
So for example a joke isn't about where the animals are sourced from or how their mental welfare was handled, but lies outside of that in a realm where asking about the chickens friends and traveling to check out the farm mid-order is acceptable.
This was the skit I loved best from that premiere (although, Steve Buschemi's "bathrom 4 customers only" was great too). As it digressed into a polygymous cult and somehow returned to the restaurant at the end was comedic gold, and a perfect example of the type of humor employed in the show.
Like everything else associated with the culture, I find that people 2+ years older/younger don't find it funny to the same degree I do.
It's the good and bad thing about being part of that peculiar generation born between 1978 and 1982.
posted by Bathtub Bobsled at 9:16 AM on December 29, 2011 [6 favorites]
This was the skit I loved best from that premiere (although, Steve Buschemi's "bathrom 4 customers only" was great too). As it digressed into a polygymous cult and somehow returned to the restaurant at the end was comedic gold, and a perfect example of the type of humor employed in the show.
Like everything else associated with the culture, I find that people 2+ years older/younger don't find it funny to the same degree I do.
It's the good and bad thing about being part of that peculiar generation born between 1978 and 1982.
posted by Bathtub Bobsled at 9:16 AM on December 29, 2011 [6 favorites]
I was born in 1972 and find the show to be very hilarious thank you very much!
posted by orme at 9:37 AM on December 29, 2011 [4 favorites]
posted by orme at 9:37 AM on December 29, 2011 [4 favorites]
Seattleites have a strange relationship with the show. There's this sort of "oh that's us too!" mixed with "oh hell now Portland's getting the spotlight what about meeeeee" thing going on.
I've been saying for a while that Seattle and Portland are the same city, it's just that one came into money during the 90s while the other didn't. So Portland sneers at Seattle's wealth and Seattle looks down on Portland's DIY sensibility.
And meanwhile, Vancouver just laughs at both cities.
posted by dw at 9:40 AM on December 29, 2011 [11 favorites]
I've been saying for a while that Seattle and Portland are the same city, it's just that one came into money during the 90s while the other didn't. So Portland sneers at Seattle's wealth and Seattle looks down on Portland's DIY sensibility.
And meanwhile, Vancouver just laughs at both cities.
posted by dw at 9:40 AM on December 29, 2011 [11 favorites]
I thought they were basically Seattle but 15 years behind?
posted by Artw at 9:42 AM on December 29, 2011
posted by Artw at 9:42 AM on December 29, 2011
Seattle had excellent public transit 15 years ago? What happened in the meantime?
posted by stet at 9:50 AM on December 29, 2011 [5 favorites]
posted by stet at 9:50 AM on December 29, 2011 [5 favorites]
Awwww I was just going to fire up the final episode I hadn't seen yet on Netflix (Canada) and it's disappeared! Only went up a week ago! Come back Carrie! We hate Kathleen Hanna!
posted by yellowbinder at 9:53 AM on December 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by yellowbinder at 9:53 AM on December 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
WHO HATES KATHLEEN HANNA
posted by nathancaswell at 9:56 AM on December 29, 2011 [5 favorites]
posted by nathancaswell at 9:56 AM on December 29, 2011 [5 favorites]
I had no idea that was the singer from Sleater-Kinney. That freaks me out. But she's a talented comic actress!
"Watching 'Portlandia' makes me really miss Austin, TX."
Yeah, it reminds me a lot of Austin, too.
"Like everything else associated with the culture, I find that people 2+ years older/younger don't find it funny to the same degree I do.
It's the good and bad thing about being part of that peculiar generation born between 1978 and 1982."
You're over-generalizing. I love the show and it strongly resonates with me, but I was born in 1964. By some definitions, I'm a baby-boomer. It's probably true that in most of North America the demographics of this culture skew younger; but in some places where the culture is prevalent, such as Portland, the distribution is more even.
Anyway, it was weird for me watching the show because I kept thinking, wow, this is my subculture. Sorta. But it bugged me because I'm totally not part of the (small) version of it here in Albuquerque.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 10:08 AM on December 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
"Watching 'Portlandia' makes me really miss Austin, TX."
Yeah, it reminds me a lot of Austin, too.
"Like everything else associated with the culture, I find that people 2+ years older/younger don't find it funny to the same degree I do.
It's the good and bad thing about being part of that peculiar generation born between 1978 and 1982."
You're over-generalizing. I love the show and it strongly resonates with me, but I was born in 1964. By some definitions, I'm a baby-boomer. It's probably true that in most of North America the demographics of this culture skew younger; but in some places where the culture is prevalent, such as Portland, the distribution is more even.
Anyway, it was weird for me watching the show because I kept thinking, wow, this is my subculture. Sorta. But it bugged me because I'm totally not part of the (small) version of it here in Albuquerque.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 10:08 AM on December 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
Portlandia” presents a heightened version of the city’s twee urbanity: a company sells artisanal light bulbs,
There really is an artisanal light bulb store, on Mississippi. The place is awesome. The outside windows are full of crazy lego displays and when you go inside the counter person says, "How can we light up your life today?"
I fucking love Portland.
posted by Lutoslawski at 10:13 AM on December 29, 2011 [10 favorites]
There really is an artisanal light bulb store, on Mississippi. The place is awesome. The outside windows are full of crazy lego displays and when you go inside the counter person says, "How can we light up your life today?"
I fucking love Portland.
posted by Lutoslawski at 10:13 AM on December 29, 2011 [10 favorites]
I’ve read about this show, mostly here, and always assumed it was a web thing. I had no idea it was actually on TV. I can’t keep up.
posted by bongo_x at 10:16 AM on December 29, 2011
posted by bongo_x at 10:16 AM on December 29, 2011
Great article, great show.
I think the central absurdity of the show is mentioned by Brownstein in the article, that sometimes in the indie world, you don't want people to get it.
Like the book store sketch, the owners want it to be so open and so inclusive that it comes all the way around and ends up being open to nobody.
Which is something I've often harped on people here for -- that you can be so open-minded, your brain will fall out.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 10:16 AM on December 29, 2011 [2 favorites]
I think the central absurdity of the show is mentioned by Brownstein in the article, that sometimes in the indie world, you don't want people to get it.
Like the book store sketch, the owners want it to be so open and so inclusive that it comes all the way around and ends up being open to nobody.
Which is something I've often harped on people here for -- that you can be so open-minded, your brain will fall out.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 10:16 AM on December 29, 2011 [2 favorites]
The Technology Loop skit totally nails me, and I'd guess a majority of MeFites.
posted by naju at 10:31 AM on December 29, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by naju at 10:31 AM on December 29, 2011 [2 favorites]
Seattle had excellent public transit 15 years ago? What happened in the meantime?
IT GOT EVEN BETTER.
That diagnosis of the Seattle reaction to the show was spot on. Not that it made it any less fun to drive to Portland, eat their vastly superior food, marvel at their lower housing prices and tame traffic, then go back to Seattle and try to continue feeling smug about our wise choice to live in the Central District instead. "At least we don't have kickball!" we muttered as we fell asleep.
posted by zvs at 10:32 AM on December 29, 2011 [4 favorites]
IT GOT EVEN BETTER.
That diagnosis of the Seattle reaction to the show was spot on. Not that it made it any less fun to drive to Portland, eat their vastly superior food, marvel at their lower housing prices and tame traffic, then go back to Seattle and try to continue feeling smug about our wise choice to live in the Central District instead. "At least we don't have kickball!" we muttered as we fell asleep.
posted by zvs at 10:32 AM on December 29, 2011 [4 favorites]
The Technology Loop yt skit totally nails me, and I'd guess a majority of MeFites.
Juggling World!
posted by smidgen at 10:46 AM on December 29, 2011
Juggling World!
posted by smidgen at 10:46 AM on December 29, 2011
And meanwhile, Vancouver just laughs at both cities.
Ahem. Cough.
Now that we have that out of the way, let's get cracking on our plan to secede and start the Republic of Cascadia.
posted by Mister Fabulous at 11:21 AM on December 29, 2011 [6 favorites]
Ahem. Cough.
Now that we have that out of the way, let's get cracking on our plan to secede and start the Republic of Cascadia.
posted by Mister Fabulous at 11:21 AM on December 29, 2011 [6 favorites]
Seattle had excellent public transit 15 years ago? What happened in the meantime?
Tim Eyman. Seriously, Metro was actually a pretty good bus system before Eyman's $30 car tabs ravaged the state budget in '99. If you took the Max away from Tri-Met you'd end up with a bus system that resembled something like Oklahoma City's -- doesn't really go anywhere and not at any convenient time.
Oh, and also, 40+ years of anti-transit NIMBYism combined with the We Must Have Consensus mentality in Seattle vs. 35 years of Shut Up We'll Find The Damn Money And Build It And Make You Like It attitude Portland took with the MAX.
posted by dw at 11:25 AM on December 29, 2011 [13 favorites]
Tim Eyman. Seriously, Metro was actually a pretty good bus system before Eyman's $30 car tabs ravaged the state budget in '99. If you took the Max away from Tri-Met you'd end up with a bus system that resembled something like Oklahoma City's -- doesn't really go anywhere and not at any convenient time.
Oh, and also, 40+ years of anti-transit NIMBYism combined with the We Must Have Consensus mentality in Seattle vs. 35 years of Shut Up We'll Find The Damn Money And Build It And Make You Like It attitude Portland took with the MAX.
posted by dw at 11:25 AM on December 29, 2011 [13 favorites]
"They don't play characters jokingly; they play hyper-exaggerations straight."
This is very true in intent. I wonder, though, if the loving intent we understand as insiders translates to others. A borderline misogynist is going to watch the feminist bookstore skit and laugh because it justifies their bigotry. The generalized case is that the enforcers of the status quo are walking away with a totally different message and it's a mean one. There's the old rumor that Dave Chapelle became disillusioned when he witnessed people watching his show and laughing at the wrong parts -- laughing through a racist lens instead of the one he intended.
This probably sounds like typical navel gazing, but Portlandia has already made it nearly verboten to make bird crafts. That prompts more creativity and is all fine and good. But there are some really subtle and contentious issues (e.g. gentrification) tied up in the new cultures that are emerging and there are real consequences to how they develop.
Now, keep in mind I'm going to throw another Portlandia party for PDX expats in the DC area (MeMail me) and I was Bicycle Rights Guy for Halloween. I just think the humor has become really formulaic at times. Harajuku Girls was both racist and predictable. Racism is one thing, but predictability in humor is fricking unforgivable. Drop the one trick pony. For instance, Kids in the Hall occasionally peppered their absurdist humor with sincerity, in turns humanizing Buddy Cole, the chicken lady or "crushing your head" guy. To me, the universal allergy to sincerity is absolutely the worst byproduct of emerging and youth cultures.
"Seattle had excellent public transit 15 years ago? What happened in the meantime?" -- stet
At least most of Seattle's transit runs past last call. Tri-Met is only great for homebodies.
posted by Skwirl at 11:31 AM on December 29, 2011 [6 favorites]
This is very true in intent. I wonder, though, if the loving intent we understand as insiders translates to others. A borderline misogynist is going to watch the feminist bookstore skit and laugh because it justifies their bigotry. The generalized case is that the enforcers of the status quo are walking away with a totally different message and it's a mean one. There's the old rumor that Dave Chapelle became disillusioned when he witnessed people watching his show and laughing at the wrong parts -- laughing through a racist lens instead of the one he intended.
This probably sounds like typical navel gazing, but Portlandia has already made it nearly verboten to make bird crafts. That prompts more creativity and is all fine and good. But there are some really subtle and contentious issues (e.g. gentrification) tied up in the new cultures that are emerging and there are real consequences to how they develop.
Now, keep in mind I'm going to throw another Portlandia party for PDX expats in the DC area (MeMail me) and I was Bicycle Rights Guy for Halloween. I just think the humor has become really formulaic at times. Harajuku Girls was both racist and predictable. Racism is one thing, but predictability in humor is fricking unforgivable. Drop the one trick pony. For instance, Kids in the Hall occasionally peppered their absurdist humor with sincerity, in turns humanizing Buddy Cole, the chicken lady or "crushing your head" guy. To me, the universal allergy to sincerity is absolutely the worst byproduct of emerging and youth cultures.
"Seattle had excellent public transit 15 years ago? What happened in the meantime?" -- stet
At least most of Seattle's transit runs past last call. Tri-Met is only great for homebodies.
posted by Skwirl at 11:31 AM on December 29, 2011 [6 favorites]
Now that we have that out of the way, let's get cracking on our plan to secede and start the Republic of Cascadia.
A moment's examination of the Republic of Cascadia notion immediately shows the utterly incompatible bedfellows it makes. Outside Multnomah County the concept is inseparable from an ultra-right wing flavor of libertarianism, the xenophobic kind that's indistinguishable from survivalism. Basically it represents everything behind the "states rights" code word, on steroids. No thanks.
posted by George_Spiggott at 11:31 AM on December 29, 2011
A moment's examination of the Republic of Cascadia notion immediately shows the utterly incompatible bedfellows it makes. Outside Multnomah County the concept is inseparable from an ultra-right wing flavor of libertarianism, the xenophobic kind that's indistinguishable from survivalism. Basically it represents everything behind the "states rights" code word, on steroids. No thanks.
posted by George_Spiggott at 11:31 AM on December 29, 2011
Artisanal=an ordinary product made ridiculous and overpriced.
posted by jonmc at 11:35 AM on December 29, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by jonmc at 11:35 AM on December 29, 2011 [2 favorites]
To me, the universal allergy to sincerity is absolutely the worst byproduct of emerging and youth cultures.
QFT. If nerd is basically a synonym for enthusiast and nerdiness is cool, then why do we derive so much enjoyment from mocking people's enthusiasms? We can't seem to decide as a culture whether being passionate about something is the ultimate in cool, or the ultimate in uncool.
posted by George_Spiggott at 11:41 AM on December 29, 2011 [6 favorites]
QFT. If nerd is basically a synonym for enthusiast and nerdiness is cool, then why do we derive so much enjoyment from mocking people's enthusiasms? We can't seem to decide as a culture whether being passionate about something is the ultimate in cool, or the ultimate in uncool.
posted by George_Spiggott at 11:41 AM on December 29, 2011 [6 favorites]
Seattleites have a strange relationship with the show. There's this sort of "oh that's us too!" mixed with "oh hell now Portland's getting the spotlight what about meeeeee" thing going on.
Being from Victoria, BC I can also relate to the show.
posted by jimmythefish at 11:43 AM on December 29, 2011
Being from Victoria, BC I can also relate to the show.
posted by jimmythefish at 11:43 AM on December 29, 2011
At least most of Seattle's transit runs past last call.
Except for the Light Rail.
I, for one, am extremely bitter about this.
posted by spinifex23 at 11:44 AM on December 29, 2011 [2 favorites]
Except for the Light Rail.
I, for one, am extremely bitter about this.
posted by spinifex23 at 11:44 AM on December 29, 2011 [2 favorites]
To me, the universal allergy to sincerity is absolutely the worst byproduct of emerging and youth cultures.
I see a lot of sincerity in Portlandia. They come from and love the culture they lampoon—it's the only way they'd be able to make this work as more than mockery and the only reason they have people who identify as of the culture watching and loving the show.
And there's a lot of sincerity in the very culture they lampoon! Nobody is pickling ironically or knitting or reading the New Yorker or negotiating safe words ironically. It's people doing what turns them on! Sincerely!
posted by wemayfreeze at 11:48 AM on December 29, 2011 [7 favorites]
I see a lot of sincerity in Portlandia. They come from and love the culture they lampoon—it's the only way they'd be able to make this work as more than mockery and the only reason they have people who identify as of the culture watching and loving the show.
And there's a lot of sincerity in the very culture they lampoon! Nobody is pickling ironically or knitting or reading the New Yorker or negotiating safe words ironically. It's people doing what turns them on! Sincerely!
posted by wemayfreeze at 11:48 AM on December 29, 2011 [7 favorites]
Co-singer.
posted by humboldt32 at 11:54 AM on December 29, 2011
posted by humboldt32 at 11:54 AM on December 29, 2011
We can't seem to decide as a culture whether being passionate about something is the ultimate in cool, or the ultimate in uncool.
It always has been and always will be uncool; the essence of cool is nonchalance, skill without effort. We go back and forth on weather it's admirable.
posted by Diablevert at 11:59 AM on December 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
It always has been and always will be uncool; the essence of cool is nonchalance, skill without effort. We go back and forth on weather it's admirable.
posted by Diablevert at 11:59 AM on December 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
I have two questions regarding the pilot episodes:
1. Do adult hide and seek leagues really exist?
2. Am I the only one who momentarily mistook Ziggy Highdust for George R. R. Martin?
posted by Dr. Zira at 12:08 PM on December 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
1. Do adult hide and seek leagues really exist?
2. Am I the only one who momentarily mistook Ziggy Highdust for George R. R. Martin?
posted by Dr. Zira at 12:08 PM on December 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
We can't seem to decide as a culture whether being passionate about something is the ultimate in cool, or the ultimate in uncool.
Sprezz, baby, sprezz.
posted by sourwookie at 12:16 PM on December 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
Sprezz, baby, sprezz.
posted by sourwookie at 12:16 PM on December 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
1. Do adult hide and seek leagues really exist?
I think the real-world equivalent was the Assassins games. Basically you got information on someone else in the league, and you were to "hunt" them down. Kills were done with water guns/balloons. All the while you are being hunted by someone else. If you killed someone, they had to hand over the information on their target.
posted by Mister Fabulous at 12:46 PM on December 29, 2011
I think the real-world equivalent was the Assassins games. Basically you got information on someone else in the league, and you were to "hunt" them down. Kills were done with water guns/balloons. All the while you are being hunted by someone else. If you killed someone, they had to hand over the information on their target.
posted by Mister Fabulous at 12:46 PM on December 29, 2011
If nerd is basically a synonym for enthusiast and nerdiness is cool, then why do we derive so much enjoyment from mocking people's enthusiasms?
Because detached "ironic" takes on everything is a safe way to navigate being insecure about one's own identity. Being able to have a snarky "oh yeah like I'm REALLY into this" escape clause on everything you do prevents you from ever showing vulnerability, plus you get to have your guilty pleasures while feeling like you're outsmarting everyone. The problem is, this sort of persona is like being that kid who would call "time out" right before getting caught in a game of tag: when you reduce your entire personality to some kind of "bit", you just come across as fake or irritating.
We can't seem to decide as a culture whether being passionate about something is the ultimate in cool, or the ultimate in uncool.
The thing is, passions are a bit of a gamble: one person's passion, however quirky or alien, can lead to great things: tales of men in capes with super powers, movies about space knights with laser swords, click wheel mp3 players, open source operating system communities, furious battles between plumbers and turtles, birds and pigs. It can help make movies out of failed television shows, and even help elect elect presidents.
That's the cool kind of passion, because those stories end in victory. The uncool kind of passion? Furries, Tea Partiers, Truthers, Time Cube, etc.
These are all extreme examples of course, but being detached is a good way of hedging your bets either way, so your extensive knowledge of say, Jem can be explained as some "meta" sociology research, instead of simply enjoying something potentially out of your desired demographic.
Personally I find the practice of enjoying things "ironically" to be a way to lie to yourself about the things you like; like when I used to say I was a "social smoker" to the point of buying a pack "for" my non smoking friend so I could bum off him.
That's just me tho.
posted by Uther Bentrazor at 12:50 PM on December 29, 2011 [10 favorites]
Because detached "ironic" takes on everything is a safe way to navigate being insecure about one's own identity. Being able to have a snarky "oh yeah like I'm REALLY into this" escape clause on everything you do prevents you from ever showing vulnerability, plus you get to have your guilty pleasures while feeling like you're outsmarting everyone. The problem is, this sort of persona is like being that kid who would call "time out" right before getting caught in a game of tag: when you reduce your entire personality to some kind of "bit", you just come across as fake or irritating.
We can't seem to decide as a culture whether being passionate about something is the ultimate in cool, or the ultimate in uncool.
The thing is, passions are a bit of a gamble: one person's passion, however quirky or alien, can lead to great things: tales of men in capes with super powers, movies about space knights with laser swords, click wheel mp3 players, open source operating system communities, furious battles between plumbers and turtles, birds and pigs. It can help make movies out of failed television shows, and even help elect elect presidents.
That's the cool kind of passion, because those stories end in victory. The uncool kind of passion? Furries, Tea Partiers, Truthers, Time Cube, etc.
These are all extreme examples of course, but being detached is a good way of hedging your bets either way, so your extensive knowledge of say, Jem can be explained as some "meta" sociology research, instead of simply enjoying something potentially out of your desired demographic.
Personally I find the practice of enjoying things "ironically" to be a way to lie to yourself about the things you like; like when I used to say I was a "social smoker" to the point of buying a pack "for" my non smoking friend so I could bum off him.
That's just me tho.
posted by Uther Bentrazor at 12:50 PM on December 29, 2011 [10 favorites]
There's the old rumor that Dave Chapelle became disillusioned when he witnessed people watching his show and laughing at the wrong parts -- laughing through a racist lens instead of the one he intended.
Wasn't that Chris Rock, and the "I love black people, but I can't stand n-----s" routine which he dropped after noticing that white people were laughing a bit too hard at it?
posted by acb at 12:52 PM on December 29, 2011
Wasn't that Chris Rock, and the "I love black people, but I can't stand n-----s" routine which he dropped after noticing that white people were laughing a bit too hard at it?
posted by acb at 12:52 PM on December 29, 2011
Wasn't that Chris Rock
Could be both, but it was definitely Chappelle.
posted by Diablevert at 1:00 PM on December 29, 2011
Could be both, but it was definitely Chappelle.
posted by Diablevert at 1:00 PM on December 29, 2011
Sarah Silverman: “Oh God, that’s the worst. I had a boyfriend who called it mouth-full-of-blood laughs. It’s when people are laughing at the wrong thing. One time the lead singer of a very popular band from the 1980s—I can’t give you his name—came up to me after a show, and I swear to God, he goes, ‘You’re my favorite comedian. You have the best n*gger jokes.’ I was like, ‘I…I…didn’t mean…” And he turns to his friends and says, ‘She’s got the best n*gger jokes!’ ….I’ll say just this: After that, I stopped believin’.”
posted by Artw at 1:03 PM on December 29, 2011 [4 favorites]
posted by Artw at 1:03 PM on December 29, 2011 [4 favorites]
Steve Perry is a racist? Huh...
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 1:08 PM on December 29, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 1:08 PM on December 29, 2011 [3 favorites]
Wow. I just Googled sprezz and it sounds awful. Like wearing your watch on the outside of your shirt cuff awful.
The bipolar experience with sincerity goes way back. For instance, there's the beat generation quest for authenticity versus the dismissal of things too serious or conforming.
The New Yorker article really touches on it a lot. Carrie's Portlandia satire versus Riot Grrl salvation dichotomy. Eschewing of labels but so wary of platonic friendship that you invent a video blog to justify it. Then again, journalists tend to exaggerate these kinds of conflicts.
My main point is that the internal conflict, expressed to outsiders, appears as weakness to be exploited. It happened to the beats, it happened to the mods, it happened to the hippies, the yippies, the punks, the preps, hip hop, ravers and the geeks. The "it" that happened was cynical consumption. Marketing co-option. Commercialization.
It's easier to co-opt a cartoon than it is to co-opt a movement. Portlandia is a cartoon. Fred and Carrie appear to understand the ideal of loving satire and make a point of it in interviews, but Portlandia rarely rises to that ideal, going for easy absurdist laughs.
posted by Skwirl at 1:14 PM on December 29, 2011
The bipolar experience with sincerity goes way back. For instance, there's the beat generation quest for authenticity versus the dismissal of things too serious or conforming.
The New Yorker article really touches on it a lot. Carrie's Portlandia satire versus Riot Grrl salvation dichotomy. Eschewing of labels but so wary of platonic friendship that you invent a video blog to justify it. Then again, journalists tend to exaggerate these kinds of conflicts.
My main point is that the internal conflict, expressed to outsiders, appears as weakness to be exploited. It happened to the beats, it happened to the mods, it happened to the hippies, the yippies, the punks, the preps, hip hop, ravers and the geeks. The "it" that happened was cynical consumption. Marketing co-option. Commercialization.
It's easier to co-opt a cartoon than it is to co-opt a movement. Portlandia is a cartoon. Fred and Carrie appear to understand the ideal of loving satire and make a point of it in interviews, but Portlandia rarely rises to that ideal, going for easy absurdist laughs.
posted by Skwirl at 1:14 PM on December 29, 2011
That's a really interesting anecdote about Sarah Silverman, and I had heard the Chappelle thing too. And, as Skwirl mentioned, laughing at the wrong thing is definitely possible with Portlandia and especially the Women and Women First Bookstore sketches (which are my favorite).
It's a conundrum to be sure, but one where I feel strongly about the solution: Make no compromises. If, for example, Armisen, Brownstein and the rest of the Portlandia writers either significantly altered the satirical direction of the bookstore sketches, or dropped the sketch entirely, then they hand the misogynists a much larger victory (or, more precisely, non-misogynists a defeat) than when they were giving the misogynists something to misunderstand and laugh-at-the-wrong-thing about.
posted by mreleganza at 2:03 PM on December 29, 2011
It's a conundrum to be sure, but one where I feel strongly about the solution: Make no compromises. If, for example, Armisen, Brownstein and the rest of the Portlandia writers either significantly altered the satirical direction of the bookstore sketches, or dropped the sketch entirely, then they hand the misogynists a much larger victory (or, more precisely, non-misogynists a defeat) than when they were giving the misogynists something to misunderstand and laugh-at-the-wrong-thing about.
posted by mreleganza at 2:03 PM on December 29, 2011
1. Do adult hide and seek leagues really exist?
I think the joke is, if adult dodgeball and kickball leagues actually exist, what's the extreme version of the idea?
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 2:59 PM on December 29, 2011 [2 favorites]
I think the joke is, if adult dodgeball and kickball leagues actually exist, what's the extreme version of the idea?
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 2:59 PM on December 29, 2011 [2 favorites]
I meant to put this in the boring rockstar stories thread: I was sitting at the bar before a Wild Flag show and Carrie Brownstein walked past me, close enough for me to reach out and touch her. But she looked kind of grumpy, so I didn't. And the fact that I'm not a creep. At least not that much.
posted by book 'em dano at 3:31 PM on December 29, 2011
posted by book 'em dano at 3:31 PM on December 29, 2011
What are the options for seeing this in not-America? It doesn't seem to have made it over to the UK yet.
posted by acb at 3:43 PM on December 29, 2011
posted by acb at 3:43 PM on December 29, 2011
acb: "What are the options for seeing this in not-America? It doesn't seem to have made it over to the UK yet."
All of the good parts are on Youtube (after watching it on Netflix, I realised I had seen nearly all of it from there). Also, IMDB.com has the full episodes as well.
posted by littlesq at 3:52 PM on December 29, 2011
All of the good parts are on Youtube (after watching it on Netflix, I realised I had seen nearly all of it from there). Also, IMDB.com has the full episodes as well.
posted by littlesq at 3:52 PM on December 29, 2011
Armisen has always been my favorite SNL cast member and it's great he's getting a chance to do more with a show.
Also I think the relationship he and Carrie have (they talk about it in the article) is really sweet. It must be really nice for both of them to work closely with someone that they basically are in love with.
posted by Fister Roboto at 4:53 PM on December 29, 2011
Also I think the relationship he and Carrie have (they talk about it in the article) is really sweet. It must be really nice for both of them to work closely with someone that they basically are in love with.
posted by Fister Roboto at 4:53 PM on December 29, 2011
This probably sounds like typical navel gazing, but Portlandia has already made it nearly verboten to make bird crafts.
I now get bird craft things on purpose, and wear them whenever the Portland Timbers play the Seattle Sounders.
I even give some away to other Sounders supporters. They're a huge hit.
posted by spinifex23 at 6:58 PM on December 29, 2011
I now get bird craft things on purpose, and wear them whenever the Portland Timbers play the Seattle Sounders.
I even give some away to other Sounders supporters. They're a huge hit.
posted by spinifex23 at 6:58 PM on December 29, 2011
Crafty Wonderland. the biggest local Portland craft show, was still chock-full of things with birds on 'em, too. Surprisingly.
posted by xil at 9:49 PM on December 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by xil at 9:49 PM on December 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
I don't always understand why people like the things they like.
posted by box at 7:13 AM on December 30, 2011
posted by box at 7:13 AM on December 30, 2011
I think Carrie Browstein is so thoroughgoingly awesome that even a shallow and trite NYTimes magazine profile can't make her seem anything less than unimpeachably badass.
posted by Cold Lurkey at 8:45 AM on December 30, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Cold Lurkey at 8:45 AM on December 30, 2011 [1 favorite]
This article offered some really good insights, definitely beyond the puff piece. Even though I'm also a little close for comfort to the culture they're lampooning, it's really worth considering the "the prideful culture of D.I.Y. entrepreneurship" and "what Freud called the narcissism of small differences: the need to distinguish oneself by minute shadings and to insist, with outsized militancy, on the importance of those shadings." Indeed it's very much worth poking fun at the sorts of obsessions people develop when their basic needs are met and their quality of life already very high. The author brings more critical context to the discussion what's happening in this kind of satire than one usually finds.
posted by Miko at 6:57 PM on December 30, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Miko at 6:57 PM on December 30, 2011 [1 favorite]
I read this the other day and was puzzled by the extent to which the author (in my reading) implies that Brownstein and Armisen are in spite of their denials actually romantically interested in each other.
It's a surprisingly relentless phenomenon when your best friend is of the opposite sex. It's really fucking annoying. I loved (and found familiarity in) Fred and Carrie's responses about this within the article, and then I amused myself wondering what kind of angle a Portlandia support group for it could take.
posted by desuetude at 11:20 PM on December 30, 2011
It's a surprisingly relentless phenomenon when your best friend is of the opposite sex. It's really fucking annoying. I loved (and found familiarity in) Fred and Carrie's responses about this within the article, and then I amused myself wondering what kind of angle a Portlandia support group for it could take.
posted by desuetude at 11:20 PM on December 30, 2011
"It's a surprisingly relentless phenomenon when your best friend is of the opposite sex."
It happened to me and my best friend, too, where we're both male but he's gay and I'm straight. And we've been roommates on several occasions. His gay friends would often refuse to believe that I was straight.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 10:20 AM on December 31, 2011
It happened to me and my best friend, too, where we're both male but he's gay and I'm straight. And we've been roommates on several occasions. His gay friends would often refuse to believe that I was straight.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 10:20 AM on December 31, 2011
IFC has put episode 2 of the upcoming season online in its entirety.
posted by mreleganza at 10:05 PM on January 4, 2012
posted by mreleganza at 10:05 PM on January 4, 2012
Oh, wow, the ending was awesome.
I'm such a fanboy.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 10:50 PM on January 4, 2012
I'm such a fanboy.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 10:50 PM on January 4, 2012
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posted by jonmc at 6:41 AM on December 29, 2011 [8 favorites]