HRO’s New Sincerity
More profoundly, possibly, he also obsesses over what it is to be authentic.
In a world fraught with multiple meanings, trends moving at the speed of light, and not enough language to capture it, Carles becomes (understandably) disappointed by irony. But, much like the langue of internet-speak, it’s the only thing he knows.
Not to ass-kiss here (seriously, I just like the quote), but the professor for whom I am writing this wrote once about “turning irony about irony into sincerity, even profundity.” This phenomenon is exactly what Carles is trying to do (in character) and the blog accomplishes as a whole.
Carles, with the armament of postmodern irony and cynicism at his fingertips, having grown up in a world that embraced them fully, writes nothing that is not ironic. He is famous for using ‘scare quotes’, always single, to ‘express’ that something has been ‘said before’. He knows his thoughts ‘aren’t original’. And he knows how to poke fun at that thought:
I think that ‘Record Store’ Day should probably just become a subsidiary of SXSW or something, since it is probably just an excuse to have an ‘in-store concert’, and maybe get an ‘alcohol sponsor.’ I understand that this might just be a gimmicky event for people to ‘meet in-real-life’ so that the can get a thrill out of how they ‘read about something kewl on the internet’ and then ‘ventured into public 2 have a meaningful experience with like-minded people.’ Wonder if RECORD STORE DAY would even exist ‘without the internet.’
-from this post
A lot has been said in various disciplines about the death of irony (notably, in a post-9/11 world and in a post-Obama world), though many admit that it hasn’t, and won’t. More plausible, some say, is the use of irony about irony, in a Dery-esque way, becoming a perverse and wonderful New Sincerity. Radio host Jesse Thorn is one of the forefronts of this; since 2006 he has espoused his New Sincerity movement, which he describes as “irony and sincerity combined like Voltron, to form a new movement of astonishing power. Or think of it as the absence of irony and sincerity, where less is (obviously) more.” Armchair philosophy, maybe, but the thoughts have some wide-reaching implications. Fed up with the postmodern cynicism (which hipsters themselves may be the epitome of), people are looking for a new way to sincerely assert feelings. The hard thing is that the language and means for that don’t exist today.
Which is what Carles does, in spades. Along with the “via” joke and the “alt” motif, his ruminations over what is “authentic” are the most consistent on the entire site (and indeed, his entire online identity – tumblr, twitter, and myspace included). It sounds like a joke (“Searching 4 the most authentic photograph in the world”) but that’s because “joke” is all he knows. Yes, it is sort of meant to be funny (‘funnie’) but that’s all he can do. He means it, too. Carles is reaching desperately for some truth. He always writes about “just wanting to” do something that is impossible in the postmodern age: find an original thought, or do something new. Something authentic.
I just want to go to a music festival
And let the world know that I am down with almost every relevant band
and chill and ‘be myself’-from this post
To say nothing of the fact that his version of “authenticity” seems to come from advertisements and marketers aimed at his generation, at least he’s striving for something and not being content with the jaded cynicism of “traditional” hipster culture. He can’t escape those ‘ironiquotes’, though, because there isn’t anything new to be said. And so he’ll keep trying to reach authenticity, ever reaching for something just out of reach until the cultural language shifts at a basic level.
