Poll: I am so freaking ALTERNATIVE!

[RandallJohn]

I don't know much about indie or hipster, but I'm slowly learning. What irritates me is that a lot of the apparently stereotypical signs of a "hipster" apply to me, and I didn't pick them up off of anyone (at least I don't think so.) It is driving me freaking nuts.

 

[rabidmidget]

I listen to indie music and play the occasional indie game, do I think this makes me superior to "mainstream" people? F*ck no, I simply enjoy them, if somebody alters their tastes to fit some kind of image/gain a false sense of superiority, they can get stuffed!

 

[Rednog]

The only response to indie that I can think of is:

 

[Resphyre]

oh god... you sicken me... the entire idea of indie is that its individual, so basically what theyre saying is to be individual you must conform to the one mass media. by strict definition of the word im the most indie guy i know... i however refuse to go near the culture/fashion/piginablender you call indie its not an attractive look the clothes are not effective in anyways nor do they look awesome in any way, the music itself is not a genre it just classifies anything thats not mainstream under its wing and godhelpme if someone calls angelspit indie ill make them snort ground wii discs till they die from internal bleeding
<\Rage>

this is a big problem where i live ive had time to from a distinct opinion on it

 

[theSovietConnection]

It depends. If they truly do like that lifestyle, I don't give a flying fuck, have fun with your life. It's when they start acting in a manner you know they don't like just to "fit in/be different" that I start to feel a twinge of pity. Or it could be mind-bending rage. I'm not sure yet.

 

[TomLikesGuitar]

oh god... you sicken me... the entire idea of indie is that its individual, so basically what theyre saying is to be individual you must conform to the one mass media. by strict definition of the word im the most indie guy i know... i however refuse to go near the culture/fashion/piginablender you call indie its not an attractive look the clothes are not effective in anyways nor do they look awesome in any way, the music itself is not a genre it just classifies anything thats not mainstream under its wing and godhelpme if someone calls angelspit indie ill make them snort ground wii discs till they die from internal bleeding
<\Rage>

this is a big problem where i live ive had time to from a distinct opinion on it

indie != individual
indie = independent

 

[rabidmidget]

I don't know much about indie or hipster, but I'm slowly learning. What irritates me is that a lot of the apparently stereotypical signs of a "hipster" apply to me, and I didn't pick them up off of anyone (at least I don't think so.) It is driving me freaking nuts.

That's true with me as well, dam indie music, why must you sound so good, but attract so many douchebags?

Oh god that sounded elitist, I'm already turning!

 

[Resphyre]

oh god... you sicken me... the entire idea of indie is that its individual, so basically what theyre saying is to be individual you must conform to the one mass media. by strict definition of the word im the most indie guy i know... i however refuse to go near the culture/fashion/piginablender you call indie its not an attractive look the clothes are not effective in anyways nor do they look awesome in any way, the music itself is not a genre it just classifies anything thats not mainstream under its wing and godhelpme if someone calls angelspit indie ill make them snort ground wii discs till they die from internal bleeding
<\Rage>

this is a big problem where i live ive had time to from a distinct opinion on it

indie != individual
indie = independent

thats what i was getting at?
ill admit the games can be pretty good though but thats a completely different story

 

[Sacman]

True alternative people don't care if their alternative or not... therefore, I pick option 5...<.<

 

[TomLikesGuitar]

oh god... you sicken me... the entire idea of indie is that its individual, so basically what theyre saying is to be individual you must conform to the one mass media. by strict definition of the word im the most indie guy i know... i however refuse to go near the culture/fashion/piginablender you call indie its not an attractive look the clothes are not effective in anyways nor do they look awesome in any way, the music itself is not a genre it just classifies anything thats not mainstream under its wing and godhelpme if someone calls angelspit indie ill make them snort ground wii discs till they die from internal bleeding
<\Rage>

this is a big problem where i live ive had time to from a distinct opinion on it

indie != individual
indie = independent

thats what i was getting at?
ill admit the games can be pretty good though but thats a completely different story

I was just saying the entire idea of indie is independent, not individual. It's literally just a fad of avoiding corporate or franchised mainstream entertainment, culture, and styles and making a concerted effort to find independent versions of everything.

 

[Electric Gel]

All these "cultures" look the same to me. A bunch of desperate kids trying to claw their way from the same stinking hole that we all reside in. Get a haircut, get a job and stop fanny arseing about.

 

[Sebenko]

oooh, it's been a while since I've brought this out:

Spoiler

Screw you and your individualism. You are not a unique snowflake. You are one of seven billion people scrabbling across earth. Why do you care? Is it somehow impossible for you to be happy unless you think you're so unlike everyone else?

You know the most idividual guy in that picture? Tubby. And no-one likes Tubby.

[small]Oooh, I haven't raged like that in a while[/small]

Maybe I just think gas masks are badass or something, but my attitude towards anyone who claims to be "individual" is pretty much that paragraph.

And before I hear "indie is not individual", You mentioned alternative. I see it as nothing more than a desperate attempt to stand out from the crowd.

 

[Sovvolf]

thats what i was getting at?
ill admit the games can be pretty good though but thats a completely different story

Indy games (or at least most of them) aren't part of the whole Indie culture. They are mainly called Indy games because they weren't developed or published by a big name developer but independently. Hence the word Indy Game.

Personally, I don't have anything against Indie music (my favourite bands are Oasis, The Jam and Stone Roses which are according to some, Indie) or clothing... I just have it against the pretentious dicks that call them selves Indie and refuse to listen to anything but Indie music or refuse to wear anything but Indie clothes because "They aren't conformists".

Well I wouldn't say I have it against them, I just think its extremely ironic that they scream out conformists while conforming to their own subculture. Its especially ironic when you realise that most of the people they are calling conformist, really couldn't give a shit about the genre of clothing/music/films/games that they play/watch/listen/wear as long as they enjoy it, they couldn't care less.

 

[Sonicron]

I find "indie" to be pretentious, overwrought, and full of people who are just "conforming to non-conformity".

You want to break from the mainstream? Try Schubert.

Most of your comments make me grin, and this one's no exception. ^^

I stand on this side of the fence as well. There's no reason anyone shouldn't be able to like indie music, just like anything else, but 'being indie' for the sake of it and railing against everyone else is hypocritical. These folks are a group, like all the others, except that it seems to come with an innate smugness and sense of airy superiory, and it puts me off.

Oh yeah, and a LOT of their clothes (or rather combinations of different sorts of clothing) make my eyes bleed. Seriously, they look horrendous.

 

[Thaliur]

I guess you're talking about "alternative people", some of whom are also called hipsters.

The problem ist, so many people right now are "alternative" and "not mainstream", that being not mainstream became mainstream, at least in certain social groups.

An example? Great.
A few months ago I was at a friend's birthday party. He had music on, mostly typical party music (no charts stuff though, just the general techno/electronic stuff direction. Could have been Trance too, I'm bad at determining genres), and one of the running gags, since most of the guests usually listened to any kind of rock music (be it punk, metal, whatever), was asking for "some mainstream music".

That's just the thing really. If something (or someone) can get a label saying what it is or they are, we just get another kind of mainstream, a phenomenon people also call "uniform nonconformism", which sums it up quite well, I think.

 

[Keava]

Oh yeah, and a LOT of their clothes (or rather combinations of different sorts of clothing) make my eyes bleed. Seriously, they look horrendous.

Ain't the indie creed saying you ought to dress at Salvation Army? Would explain a lot.

As for music itself, i don't know if i listen to indie, i avoid labels. I listen to what i find pleasing to my hearing senses. Further more was punk or cold wave indie when they made first steps? Was Joy Division indie punk or post-punk goth ? Is Amanda Palmer indie? I have no idea.

 

[josemlopes]

I am a bit but what I find interesting in indie games is when thay present great concepts for a game or very good game mechanics that wouldnt be in a mainstream game (Minecraft and Overgrowth are good examples)

I dont like indie games that in the end dont inovate at all, some of them seem to relly on their indie fanatic public to sell.

 

[Engarde]

I find "indie" to be pretentious, overwrought, and full of people who are just "conforming to non-conformity".

pretty much this. the very fact that there is an 'indie culture' is kind of a big sign that its just another form of mainstream. 'indie' is just like goth; your not rebelling against anything, your just conforming to a different group. there is no more of an dichotomy between "mainstream" and "inde" than there is between basketball fans and football fans; you follow different sports, but theyre still both sports.

Prettey much sums it up. I seem to find myself going against mainstream often, so I guess that is just my thing. I am not special, or 'indie', just as you have said. Conforming to non-conformity.