Thursday, November 4, 2010

Video: Henry Rollins vs. Hipsters

Urban Dictionary defines "hipsters" as "a subculture of men and women typically in their 20's and 30's that value independent thinking, counter-culture, progressive politics, an appreciation of art and indie-rock, creativity, intelligence, and witty banter."  In this video, Henry Rollins (counter-culture icon from my youth, spoken-word performer, and former leader of the punk band Black Flag) is showing Iranian activist Shirin Neshat around what looks to be The Cake Shop a bar/cafe in the Lower East Side of Manhattan that also has an extensive music collection.

If you watch the video on YouTube, take a look at the comments section and see how divided people's reactions are to what is being shown in the video.  Is this a case of Henry hearing what he expected to hear, i.e., an "elitist group of young people" attacking him because they think he's a sell out?   Do you think the women he confronts were mocking him, or did he just interpret it that way because that's where his head was already at?  Henry has always been a pretty angry dude and at war with the world.  When he was younger, "the world" was the establishment, now...?  I admire that he doesn't take shit from anyone, but I'm just not sure what actually happened here.

No comments:

Post a Comment