uh, via the New Yorker blog, David Fincher is apparently finta do a Fight Club musical? book by Palahniuk, music by Trent uhhh Reznor? sounds totally fucking stupid in a potentially awesome way
as discussed w Wolfgang/Cleary Inc and others the other night, I def think of FC as an 'epochal' movie, maybe I was just young and impressionable (remember vividly having my mind blown by it during the first week of college in 1999, Liz Greene represent!) but I think it really marked a hinge in US popular culture - it was kind of like the official end of not only 'political correctness' in the wider culture but its reflection in the righteous, refusenik, ideologically-policed DIY/indie/etc culture of the 1990s.
Fight Club, in both its content and the form of its presentation (gritty, artsy, yet undeniably slick with an obviously non-DIY budget) was an axe chop through the door between popular and 'alternative', a door that I think was later totally blown off its hinges by 9/11, after which getting hung up on ideals like authenticity and artistic purity/integrity et al seemed not only old-fashioned but totally insignificant in the face of the terrifying present and a lot of people's desperate need to just have some fucking fun. hence electroclash, hence coke rap replacing backpacker rap, hence the vaguely gross feeling you get (or at least *I* get, as a hinge, 1980-baby myself) 7 years later reading Pitchfork watching Juno going to Coachella or whatever et al and seeing all the aesthetic signifiers of music that you used to think had some deeper meaning beyond how it sounds playing in the background while you read blogs being harnessed to such well-marketed, cheerfully corporate endeavors. I think FC was really emblematic of this shift, and its aesthetics and its vibe also really helped to pave the way for the 00s in a lot of obvious as well as not-so-obvious ways -
- and, while I've had a lot of fun over the last few years, I can't help but notice that it's 2008, and we're probably (over?)ripe for another cycle of cultural creative destruction. what's next? I feel changes coming, looking for signs
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2 comments:
Way to pose the question. Def worth thinking about.
Like here's a thought: I think HEY YA offered a different path for 21st century energies - one that's still waiting to be explored with deep commitment and creativity.
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