Essay #2 Identity

Gage Katz

Eric Dinsmore

English 114 B

April 23, 2012

The Independent rock scene is an ever changing genre within the rock world. Having its roots set in the early 90’s and having influence date back as early as the 80’s, Indie rock, as it is called, has lasted through multiple generations, and continues to define many young adults.

            The first Indie bands, then just noted as Independent bands, were mainly played on college radio, as their abnormal and unique sounds played on youth culture’s need to separate themselves from the generations before them. Bands like The Pixies and The Smiths, recorded and performed songs that differentiated heavily from the music of the time. These bands went on to influence some of the most famous grunge bands of the 90’s. Kurt Cobain of Nirvana has openly praised The Pixies as the band that influenced him to write many of their songs, including Smells Like Teen Spirit.

            While the Indie bands of the 80’s influenced many genres of the 90’s, the genre has stayed in the focus of young people, and continues to be a mainstream success. Today bands like The Fray, The Mars Volta, and Manchester Orchestra still have claim to the Indie rock genre, and while their sound has shifted from unusual and strange into light and easing, their claim to being independently operated has stayed somewhat intact.  When considering Indie rock, it is important to note that though many of these bands have found mainstream success, their lyrical content and overall style still reflect the bands of the 80’s.

            The influence of these bands, then and now, has remained focused on youth culture. As noted above, these bands found success in adhering to youth’s desire to separate from older generations and be identified as hip, young, and artistic. If we look at today’s Indie market, we can still see these ideals. The modern day ‘hipster’ happens to be the target audience for many Indie bands, however to say that this market is one that the genre attached to, would be to mistake a culture born from a genre, with a genre targeted at a culture.

            The culture of a rebellious nature is not one that is new to our society, in fact any cultural group over the years can trace their source to a need to separate themselves from the ideals of their predecessors. Elvis Presley and early rock is an obvious revolution against the ideals of their time, and later bands like Anthrax and Black Sabbath, though they rejected a new standard, were shaking things up in popular culture, and forced society to embrace new ideals, new concepts, and new ways of life. The hipster’s way of life is one that craves new input, new fads, and new trends.    

            The modern day hipster is the self-proclaimed antithesis of conformity. It may be interesting to note that this ideal was also held by the 00’s ‘emo’, but there is a very specific distinction between the two. Though these genres have similar roots, they differ in that the ‘emo’ was conced with lack of identity and loss of quality of life, while the ‘hipster’ and modern day indie is more concerned with the strife of the individual. Simply put, the emo lacked identity, while the hipster focuses itself on crafting one.

A Hipster of today is well read, listens to massive variety of music, and claims to be cultured in ways that surpass their non-hipster counterparts. While there is a lot of other musical influence going on in the indie rock listener’s life, the genre in question is often an underlying similarity among all of these pseudo nonconformists. Where the hipster defines themselves is in doing what is offbeat. The hipster will read books that won’t be made into movies, wears clothing you wouldn’t find at Abercrombie and Fitch, and most importantly, won’t listen to music found on the radio. The idea of music that pleases the masses just doesn’t sit well with the hipster, and it is here where indie rock finds its audience. The whole concept of indie is to be offbeat and different, just like the hipster.

The question then is how the music affects the hipster. As stated above, the themes of these lyrically conscious bands tend to be focused on issues of identity. More specifically, they focus on concepts of relationships, ways of life, and struggles that the average 99% percenter would have. These concepts in songs are not different from most other genres, but it’s the way the indie bands go about it, the way their lyrics are filled with strange unexplained metaphors and their compositions that separate themselves from the crowd. Manchester Orchestra’s opening line to Simple Math reads “Hunter eyes, I’m lost and hardly noticed, slight goodbye.” These lyrics are not straightforward, but a little cryptic and ambiguous, the rest of the song is needed to get a full understanding of the piece, and even then there are some questions left by the listener. This gives the hipster something to analyze and understand something to question and answer, something to fiddle with in the recesses of their mind.

The hipster defines themselves as a seeker of knowledge and understanding, however not in the empirical sense. Rather the hipster looks to understand and know art, often through the lens of a camera, or with a spray paint can rather than accepting academia’s definitions of composition and art. The hipster looks at composition and style and finds ways to separate themselves from histories main stream success.

In their lives you may find things that go unused by most of society, record players, tape decks, and all sorts of analogue trinkets that have long since been replaced by more modern technologies. Even with the newer pieces of techs that they use, a mac laptop, an iPhone, even modern cars, are being hipped with older tech, or at least the appearance of older tech. We can walk into many hipsters’ bedrooms and find covers for iPhones that look like cassettes, big studio headphones that plug into mp3 devices, laptop cases that sling over the shoulder and Billy Holly glasses.

The hipster of today is a throwback to things less known, less produced, and less culturally popular. They look towards the simplistic and stylish, finding interest in bands that feature banjos, like Mumford and Sons. The music and the life style go hand in hand, a genre for the eclectic and interesting that is both eclectic and interesting, a genre that focuses on separating their identity from the masses, for a group that separates themselves from the masses. And of course there is a contradiction in that they are a mass that separates them from the mass, but contradictions are a part of the American tradition. This is not a point I care to back up here further then pointing out that our most prominent contradiction is in the idea that any of the 99 percenters may be able to make it into the 1 percent, though we all know that it is physically impossible, given the number of 99 percenters and the exclusivity of the 1 percent.

In short, the modern day hipster is defined by the indie scene, and vice versa. They are two groups founded on the same principles, and adhere to similar lifestyles. To say one created the other is false, rather each feeds into the other.

Works Cited

"Manchester Orchestra." Simple Math Lyrics. AZ Lyrics, 10 May 2010. Web. 22 Apr. 2012. <www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/manchesterorchestra/simplemath.htmlhttp://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/manchesterorchestra/simplemath.htmlhttp://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/manchesterorchestra/simplemath.html

Hrodey, Matt. "What is a hipster? - Isthmus | The Daily Page." Madison, Wisconsin's source for events, news, movies, music, restaurants and more: Isthmus|The Daily Page. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2012. http://www.isthmus.com/isthmus/article.php?article=34485

What exactly is ‘emo,’ anyway? - Entertainment - Music - TODAY.com." TODAY.com: Matt Lauer, Ann Curry, Al Roker, Natalie Morales - TODAY show video, news, recipes, health, pets. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2012. http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/11720603/ns/today-entertainment/t/what-exactly-emo-anyway/#.T5TpLatAZu4

"Explore: Indie Rock | AllMusic." AllMusic. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2012. http://www.allmusic.com/explore/style/indie-rock-d2687

Frikkle, David. "Kurt Cobain." Kurt Cobain carries a torch for The Pixies. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2012. <www.rocktorch.com/2009/11/26/kurt-cobain-carries-a-torch-for-the-pixies/>

Project Space

Project Space

                For the Project Space project Cisco Eric Vardan and myself decided to go to see the movie Project X and see how people reacted towards the movie and look at who is watching it as wells as the theater space. We all went to different theaters to watch Project X. I went to the Regal Edwards Theater in Canyon Country. When I was in line to buy the ticket I was surprised how many kids were going to see this movie. A good thirty percent in line were kids whose parents were buying them their tickets. When I bought my ticket I got carded which never happens at any other theater, but they didn’t mind that 15 year old want to be cool kids were smoking cigarettes in front of the theater. When I got inside we got our normal snacks and drinks. I noticed that most of the employees were high school kids and I actually knew a couple of them that go to the high school that I went to. We went into theater 10 which is the best one to go into they call it the Coliseum. The Coliseum has the largest screen in the theater and has a state of the projector and screen and thirty four speakers. When the movie started the group of 15 year old want to be cool kids started making noise and yelling. They got kicked out and the space was quiet again. People were laughing pretty much the whole entire movie. A couple of my friends said they were getting a little dizzy from the way the movie was filmed. I really enjoyed the movie I thought it was really funny and I actually enjoyed the way it was filmed because I was originally a CTVA major so I do enjoy films and seeing how they use the camera. When I was leaving I kept hearing people say they were going to throw parties like that and people were caught up in this movie. But now only after a couple weeks since the movie came out people stopped talking about it and some theaters aren’t even showing it anymore. 

The Science of Shopping

4) Summarize in your own words the ways that retailers use spatial design to affect the consumer's behavior and buying habits.

Today in the shopping malls of the U.S. companies use the space around them to advertise their product to a centralized audience. This is noticeable in any shopping mall and is quite easy to see if you know what to look for. This Saturday I was at the mall buying some new clothes. We stopped at the food court and ate our lunch. I noticed an advertisement for an eight week long diet that is “guaranteed to work. This advertisement was placed right next to the Cinnabon. When I saw this I began to laugh because right away I saw how effective this use of space was. The line was mostly comprised of overweight people, and some even left the line after reading this sign. When I started looking for clothes I was pulled in to the H&M from what I saw in the window. I saw a big poster of a model who was perfect looking and I thought if I wear this outfit or shop at this store I will look good like the model. I spent nearly two hundred dollars and I walked out with some new clothes. As I was walking away all I could think about was the next day trying on my new clothes because I wanted to look and feel as good as the model did in that H&M poster. As I continued shopping for things the advertisements and the use of space was became clearer and clearer. Candy shops and ice cream parlors as wells a toy stores were conveniently placed right near clothing stores for kids. I sat and watched these stores for a while. Creeper status probably not the best idea, The amount of kids  kicking and screaming or begging their mom or dad to go look at toys or go buy candy or have some ice cream was outstanding. It was a good ninety five percent of the kids who did this one after the other. After my mall experience I left and looked back on the spatial use of advertising in the mall and thought it was quite genius and intriguing in a weird sense.

Who is Controlling You?

Gage Katz

Eric Dinsmore

English 114 B

February 27, 2012

Who is Controlling You?

In the movie Gamer, gender and economic class play a huge role in who is being played and who is actually playing. Gamer takes place in the near future in a world where people can control other people. In Gamer two games “Society” and “Slayers” were developed to let human beings use other human beings as “avatars”.

Society is an interactive social based game that lets “actors” volunteer to be played by random people and not have any influence on what happens to them. The people who pay to play avatars in Society, are usually middle class and of opposite sex than that of their avatars. The mind frames of the players are usually perverted and only use their avatars to get off, because they may be incapable in regular life. In certain scenes in the movie Kable’s wife who is an actor in Society, being controlled by a fat sweaty man who eats waffles in a power chair, starts conversing with another player and they quickly head to an apartment and are begin to get freaky. From what I have seen in the movie the main roles people use Society for is sex and sexual interactions, and do things they wouldn’t be able to do in real society.

Slayers on the other hand is a completely opposite from Society. The people who are in slayers are Death Row inmates that were given a second chance at life by surviving 30 rounds of Slayers. The people who control these inmates are generally wealthy from what is seen in the movie. The most famous of the Slayers is Kable. Kable is on his 28^th round of Slayers which has never been done before. Kable’s player is a rich seventeen year old who has played Kable since the beginning. He was offered countless times hundreds of millions of dollars to sell Kable. The type of people who are playing slayers are hardcore gamers that love to play shooters and are rich because they have to buy new weapons and armor for their Slayer which is expensive.

The gender of people who are the “avatars” in society are about even ratio male to female, but in Slayers the majority are male and in the whole movie you only see one female Slayer. I think this is because women are less inclined if they are on death row to go into slayers.

For my essay i chose to write about number 4. Explore gender roles in Gamer and/or The Surrogates. I chose to expand on how economic class and gender will appeal to different roles of gaming. If  you are rich you will most likely play Slayers but if you are a social mess and cannot socialize you may be playing society. The actors are in poverty and in desperate need of money and the Slayers are death row inmates with nothing to lose.  

Project Space

For our Project Space we decided to go to the CSUN Pub & Grill. People usually go to the Pub to study and eat. We also noticed that people were also just hanging with friends and having a good time. When we went the Pub was kind of dead because it was only 9:45 am and most people don’t want to eat and drink beer that early in the morning. As the day progresses though the Pub gets cracking people there are chilling with friends, drinking beer, eating food, and studying. It is almost impossible to get a table around noon. I feel the Pub fulfills its purpose as a social spot and as a study spot. The Pub is a true CSUN spot it has CSUN sports memorabilia all over its walls and screams matador pride.

RPGs: The Blur of Reality

In today’s gaming world RPGs are one of the biggest platform designs game developers use in creating games today. This year the biggest RGP released was Elder Scrolls newest chapter Skyrim. Personally I have put in over 250 hours of gameplay into Skyrim. The game allows you to create a character to develop and master different skills used in the middle ages. The avatar I created is a human named Leonidas. I made my avatar look exactly like Gerard Butler’s character in the movie 300. I made him a shield and sword fighter with exceptional archery and magic powers. When leveling up my avatar I wanted him to be as well rounded as possible. I wanted to make him as over powered as possible so I made him armor that had a rating of over 1000 and an attack rating over 300 making him basically invincible. After I achieved that point the game became boring because I could never be stopped.   After becoming addicted to this game reality became different for not only me but all the other gamers that have played the game. Even today talking with friends who played the game we always make references to the game and try to use our imagination and use the powers in the game to act it out in real life. My friends and I are constantly trying to use our shout powers with no success. My friends that have created avatars for this game remarkably resemble themselves in real life. They created their avatars to be an exaggerated version of themselves. So in Role Playing Games u can see how Waggoner may be right in saying they do in fact change the formation of identity. After playing Skyrim my identity has been changed and I sometimes wish that reality was Skyrim and I was my avatar and how much easier life would be.