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Permanent Solution · 10-24-2005, 11:54 PM

I thought about putting this in Punk and/or Hardcore, but I decided that at the core it would be best received here. I may repost it in another forum after I see how discussion goes here.

So, this is where I rant about the state of the scene, basically. I personally hate the modern day scene. I believe children coming into it have corrupted the nature of the scene and basically changed the meaning entirely in an entirely bad way.

The scene used to be a collection of diverse people united by their love of music, their choice of lifestyle and their beliefs. It didn't matter what you looked like, or what your social status was, everyone was friendly to one another and there was a sense of unity among all members of the scene.

Now that has been flipped around almost 180 degrees. It doesn't matter what you believe, and frankly most people don't even believe in anything. You don't have to like the music anymore, you just have to look like everyone else. The unity of ideals and the love of music is gone, to be replaced with a unity of appearances and in my experience, love of acting like a complete douche.

I've been to several shows where I overhear scenesters admitting they don't like the band that's playing, or don't even know who's playing. I love the band I'm coming to see, and they're coming to see a band to preserve their image. I can't unify myself with that.

Since when should appearance even matter? Who cares what you look like? An individual isn't made by what he looks like, an individual is made by how he thinks. The scene used to be full of individuals, sure they all loved the music, and shared ideals, but they didn't share ideals because the scene supported those ideals, they supported them because they believed in them.

Most kids in the scene nowadays aren't even old enough to care. Sure they jump on the anti-Bush bandwagon, but they really haven't even thought about it. Everyone in the scene now just conforms to non-conformity. Breaking the mold in the exact same way every other scenester does, listening to (or claiming to at least) the exact same bands, getting a crappy haircut, dying their hair, throwing on random mismatched clothing, and none of it matters. Who cares about any of that?

I personally cannot identify with the scene anymore. I can't stand the people I am sharing audience space with, I wish I felt a unity like I used to be able to, but now the only unity is a false one generated by people looking the same and acting the same. The anti-thesis of what the scene used to represent. At one time the scene was unified diversity, and now the scene is simply fake, on-the-surface unity.

Well, that's not entirely true. The scene is now socially united, it's full of privileged middle class suburban children looking for an identity and then stealing this one because it's convenient. There was a time when the poor and middle classes mixed in the scene. Now that you can only be part of the scene if you shop at Hot Topic the poorer classes have been thrust from the scene.

Anyways I'm ranting enough, my question to you is, how do you feel about this? Do you feel like you're part of the scene? DO you think it has changed for better or worse? Do you remember the scene before it became all about image? Anything else you want to discuss is welcome too.

10-24-2005, 11:54 PM	#1
Permanent Solution Feb. PPOTM \m/ Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: In a theater near you Posts: 41,441	The Scene I thought about putting this in Punk and/or Hardcore, but I decided that at the core it would be best received here. I may repost it in another forum after I see how discussion goes here. So, this is where I rant about the state of the scene, basically. I personally hate the modern day scene. I believe children coming into it have corrupted the nature of the scene and basically changed the meaning entirely in an entirely bad way. The scene used to be a collection of diverse people united by their love of music, their choice of lifestyle and their beliefs. It didn't matter what you looked like, or what your social status was, everyone was friendly to one another and there was a sense of unity among all members of the scene. Now that has been flipped around almost 180 degrees. It doesn't matter what you believe, and frankly most people don't even believe in anything. You don't have to like the music anymore, you just have to look like everyone else. The unity of ideals and the love of music is gone, to be replaced with a unity of appearances and in my experience, love of acting like a complete douche. I've been to several shows where I overhear scenesters admitting they don't like the band that's playing, or don't even know who's playing. I love the band I'm coming to see, and they're coming to see a band to preserve their image. I can't unify myself with that. Since when should appearance even matter? Who cares what you look like? An individual isn't made by what he looks like, an individual is made by how he thinks. The scene used to be full of individuals, sure they all loved the music, and shared ideals, but they didn't share ideals because the scene supported those ideals, they supported them because they believed in them. Most kids in the scene nowadays aren't even old enough to care. Sure they jump on the anti-Bush bandwagon, but they really haven't even thought about it. Everyone in the scene now just conforms to non-conformity. Breaking the mold in the exact same way every other scenester does, listening to (or claiming to at least) the exact same bands, getting a crappy haircut, dying their hair, throwing on random mismatched clothing, and none of it matters. Who cares about any of that? I personally cannot identify with the scene anymore. I can't stand the people I am sharing audience space with, I wish I felt a unity like I used to be able to, but now the only unity is a false one generated by people looking the same and acting the same. The anti-thesis of what the scene used to represent. At one time the scene was unified diversity, and now the scene is simply fake, on-the-surface unity. Well, that's not entirely true. The scene is now socially united, it's full of privileged middle class suburban children looking for an identity and then stealing this one because it's convenient. There was a time when the poor and middle classes mixed in the scene. Now that you can only be part of the scene if you shop at Hot Topic the poorer classes have been thrust from the scene. Anyways I'm ranting enough, my question to you is, how do you feel about this? Do you feel like you're part of the scene? DO you think it has changed for better or worse? Do you remember the scene before it became all about image? Anything else you want to discuss is welcome too.