I was reading a story recently about a current beef between music combos Panic At The Disco and Bloc Party. If you want to read a story about it here's a link, but basically Bloc Party said they're "Keeping it real" and Panic care more about being a ringtone on some teen girls phone than making good music.
This isn't about me liking or caring about either band (Panic annoys the bejesus out of me and Bloc Party is unique, but not in a way that I'm interested in), it's about pretension.
I have a personal war against pretension (which is why I won't put a ! after panic), as illustrated in my personal manifesto the Popagenda (check number 7). Yes, I realize that having a manifesto is pretentious, but it is a means to an end. The problem with fighting against pretension is the same as the war against Drugs, Poverty or Terrorism; there is no nation-state, no true figurehead, no Death Star to destroy to ultimately win it.
I hate it so much because it's often just a tool of revenge to make people feel bad about themselves; most pretentious people spent their teenage years as the Anthony Michael Hall in their personal John Hughes movie. I did too, although I was more of a "Duckie" guy myself.
It's a basic clash between the two main forms of pretension: Those who aren't as cool as they think they are (Panic) and those who aren't as smart as they think they are (Bloc Party).
The key is that everyone is full of shit, it's all about whose smell we can stand.
2 comments:
You know, if I thought some girl somewhere had used any of the music I've done in my life as a ring tone on her phone, I'd actually be pretty psyched.
i always had the biggest crush on Duckie. besides, everybody knew he was the real catch, just a few years ahead of his time.
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