I must work on my titles. The habit I have to write the title prior to the actual body of script, creates misleading titles, or, at the very best, titles that vaguely describe the point I try to give. Let it be. If you have read thus far, most probably you will continue, no?
The truth is I don't know where to start, so I'll probably be heading straight to the point; groups of people, not connected between them by a shared goal, a vision, as is the case with past artistic movements or musical scenes. Groups of people, that are being identified as such due to their common appearance, behavioural patterns or 'way of life', which most frequently are some sort of trend and disappear quickly into the oblivion of time, only to be visited as a distant, strange memory that acts as a reminder that time flies.
One example that comes to mind is that of the 'Emo' trend, where kids had weird hair, dressed like Edward Scissorhands and thought they knew it all. This specific hair-weirdness is now long gone, with a more prominent trend that affects a more mature in age population and specifically men, settling in western societies - the hipsters.
Why do I want to write about them? Do I know them? Not really. But I was always fascinated by the fact that people follow trends, either by choice or unconsciously. The hipsters are not that bad, actually. In my mind, they are guys that want to stand out: They grow long, extremely well-groomed beards; they dress like Leonardo Di Caprio in the Titanic; they like bicycles, the more old-fashioned, the better. And generally, they like vintage stuff and small coffee places and alternative food shops. The relatively unknown, but safe-sounding, music band. Vinyl.
The reason I write all this stuff is purely egotistical. I feel threatened by the chance that I will be identified by others as a hipster. I'm a simple person, with peculiar tastes. I like the clothes I buy and I wear them for years. Sometimes you can tell they are old, they achieve the badge of wear from the years of use, of washing and drying. I don't like footwear that look too modern or strangely shaped. I love music and have a CD and vinyl collection. I keep an eye open to the music underground and really have no clue of modern mainstream music. I don't watch TV or listen to music radio stations. I had a beard - not extremely well-groomed though. Am I a hipster?
I don't think so. I never followed any trend consciously and I'm quite self-aware about my tastes and likes. Therefore, though I have nothing against hipsters apart that some of them are really funny in their efforts to check all the boxes of 'hipsterism', I'd rather not be confused as one, since I know I am not. And while with a trend like the 'Emo' I was safe, since I never wore eyeliner except that Halloween night a few years back, with the Hipster trend there is an interloping of interests, at least on the surface. And while my impression of what a hipster is can be totally wrong, I would never ride a bloody old bicycle, the one with the huge front wheel and the tiny back wheel, as my means of transport.
My peculiar tastes and interests will remain, while the whole hipster thing will follow the path of all trends, change or evolve to something else and later on to something else again for people to follow. And while this, in a deeper level, reveals the need of humans to socialise, to belong somewhere with others, if it is based on appearance or behaviour, whatever may come next will just be another trend.
So, I have shaved my beard. I still like what I like. It's harder now to be identified as a hipster, despite that I may occasionally be seen walking in the street holding a vinyl record I bought a little while ago.
Now, I'm just a weirdo, not a beardo.